Things I like

How many random things do you have shoved somewhere in the range of your dresser? As I was moving I realized I had accumulated a few random tags over the past year. Guess I should have cleaned that basket a little more often. I'm not doing project life or anything of that nature. I really don't do much in the daily life scrapping. So I thought this would be a fun way to document some of the things I'm into these days.  

 I don't want to be materialistic about what I buy, but I thought it would be a fun way to document what I'm into in my young 20's. Most of these tags are from things I use most days. I got the Apple from my phone, the Vera tag is from a receipt holder from my teaching bag (do they not have the most pretty packaging ever for online orders), and well my Coach bag is my constant sidekick when I'm out and about.

 I used Tim Holtz crackle distress paint in Weathered Wood to paint the grid lines. I recommend not painting too thick, and letting it air dry.

Then I used my Sew Easy to punch the holes, and I hand sewed the blue thread in. I always try to do a random "about me" page each year. It is fun to look back and see how I have changed.

How have you documented yourself lately?

Chicago Trip

Back in November my cousin J and I took a bus trip to Chicago. It was a great deal. Her local park and rec department organizes the trip. They drive you right downtown to the magnificent mile. Anyone who has driven down there in the past knows it can be intimidating to drive in true Chicago traffic. This was the perfect trip. We got to socialize the whole way and really enjoy seeing the sights through Chicago.

This was a tough page for me to come up with. The pictures have been sitting in a pile for quite some time. I was perplexed by the royal blue sky at dusk on the Watertower and the Hancock Tower.

 I finally picked the Basic Grey Out of Print paper line for these pictures. I inked a lot of it with Tim Holtz Faded Jeans distress ink, to fit my pictures better.

I have a new favorite stencil in my stash. It is from The Crafter's Workshop. I picked it up at an art store during my vacation. There was nothing scrappy in this store, but I do enjoy browsing art stores from time to time.

 I created this flower by layering scalloped circles, and misting the flower until it was damped (with water). I crumpled the entire thing up a bunch of times until I got the shaped I was looking for.

You can see I used a combo of mists and gelatos with the stencil. First I splattered some gold mist all over the paper. I had to play with the color from the crazy shoes we were trying on at Nordstroms and the fact that they were just putting up the Christmas lights. I mean what else is there to do during a random downpour besides try on fun shoes.

The blue gelatos were from a Faber Castell pack I picked up a Michaels on the way to my crop. I kept hearing about them, and I had a coupon so I decided what was $5. I could give them a shot. They were very fun. They were the consistency of lipstick, and I rubbed them on my messy mat. Then I misted them with water to make a thicker watercolor. They were very fun.

Looking forward to next years trip. I'm ready for some new clothes.

Girls Weekend

This past weekend I was able to attend a little meet up by some of the ladies I chat with a Scrappin Peeps. We met at the Woodridge Lodge, which is a crafting lodge groups can rent out for their functions. We had ladies from Wisconsin and Minnesota make the drive.

We had an absolute blast. We scrapped. We stamped. We did mixed media. I learned some new techniques, specifically gelatos and modeling paste on canvas. I just wanted to share a few pictures of our weekend and my canvas. My goal is to get some of my scrapbook pages edited and posted this week. We report back to school in the morning, so I'm back into teacher mode. My classroom won't be ready for another week, so I'm working on lots of projects at home.

I wanted to share some pictures of the crop since all my scrappy friends couldn't join since schedules are nearly impossible to coordinate.

How much food do you need for two days?

The lodge, the porch was great for sitting on!

The crop room

 And this was my big project on Saturday night. I've never done any major mixed media. I play around with stuff sometimes, but not like this.

So I started modge podging paper to a canvas.

Then some paint, and I put some ink down as well

 And drum roll please....the final product.....

 I absolutely love how the modeling paste mixed with glimmer mist looks. I actually had did this underneath without the paste, and it was underwhelming and blended in too much. So I went right over again with the paste and more mist.

 Some hearts and another stencil with the paste on the right. I'm downright addicted to this stuff. I will be running out asap to buy some. The letters were cut on the cricut and modge podged down.

And lastly a group shot of all of us on the deck. The owner was awesome taking all of our pictures.

Our Group

Celebrating a Birthday

Just wanted to post a picture of the birthday card I made for my sister for her birthday! She is out of state on an internship, so I we aren't celebrating together this year. I'm heading off on a weekend crop and she is celebrating with her friends.

 Big surprise, guess who pulled out the alcohol inks. I used two tones of purple, the light in the middle and the dark around the edges. First I embossed with a background stamp. I stamped the flowers and alcohol inked them. Then I reversed the embossing ink, and fussy cut them. The bling is all from the iRock system.

Sister's shot from a recent wedding

 And a preview of my work in progress scrap loft. I got this used cabinet at a garage sale for $10. I tore out the TV stand and put in some shelf and voila-hidden scrap storage.

 Two of my favorite canvas' I've gotten and a random little bird from my Grandma's.

Hello lots of storage space!

My favorite command hooks from my dorm made for great hangers for cricut mats, misting masks, and some other hanging items. 

More pictures to come later. I'm in the process of getting back to teaching. My classroom construction isn't ready, so I'm working on lots of projects from home for the time being. Dreading the unpacking but excited to see my kiddos.