MIA...

Sorry that I have been missing lately. I am playing catch up around here on articles, housework, and a fun circle journal project. And on top of that, everytime I have tried to do a blog entry, blogger has been acting up...

This is a circle journal that is just getting started over at the Cottage. My theme is "Finding Your Inner Diva" and our group is called the Journal Divas.

The cover:







Inside cover and intro page:





My entry:





Sign in pages:



Today I am mailing this and finishing up on an article for The Scrapbook Magazine and trying to seriously clean house. We are having guests over for dinner two different times this week so I have to make it guest-worthy! And try to figure out a couple of worry-free, easy menus... I am not a domestic goddess so this is going to be a stretch for me... aacckkk!
smiles,
christi

Being an adult...

This is a layout from a contest that I almost entered. LOL! I pulled my entry on the last day because if I had won that incredible prize, it still would have cost me several hundreds of dollars that we really shouldn't be spending on something totally for me right now. So I did the adult thing and pulled myself from the contest... I kept thinking that if I won, then it was meant to be and that it was something that I needed to do for me. Doesn't being an adult suck?? LOL! But I made the right decision and I still have a fun layout to show for it.

But as I said this is a scraplift. It's a scraplift of Ashley Caulder's Summer Lily layout in the June/July 2006 issue, page 118 which I loved.

In other news, just trying to get stuff done around here. I have magazine work and a circle journal that are first on the agenda today and then we have to make a trip to the pet store.

DS(who is 11 yo) is taking care of a cat and fish and numerous flowers for a neighbor that is out of town. When she asked me about it, I thought it was just a cat, but actually there was a fish included too. A fish without a filter in his tank which means that DS is having to do that too. Have I mentioned that I have NEVER been able to keep either fish nor plants alive??? Well, DS is very much like me. Sam, the fish died yesterday. We will be calling Sam's owner today to inform her of his sad passing and then off to find a Sam Jr so that the 5 yo little girl who lives with Sam will not be traumatized when she gets home to an empty tank.

smiles,
christi

Fun with Stamped in Ink

Well, for that final creative prompt (to see it,check July 19th), I decided to pull out my Stamped In Ink stamps and see how creative I could get. I had a lot of fun playing with this one. As you can see, I flipped the inspiration piece. The alphabet paper on the left has been stamped with the Echelon alphabet from Stamped in Ink. I really like the look of this and think that I will probably be doing this more. All of the swirls/flourishes are also Stamped in Ink stamps. The papers are Wild Asparagus and Blonde Moments.

So what does everyone think about the new goodies that we are seeing from CHA??? I am loving so much of it although without a doubt, that Bohemia line below is my all-time favorite. That line alone should keep me broke for a while. Luckily, I have a birthday coming up so that I have an excuse to treat myself. Has anyone heard how long until it is in stores???

I am hoping that all of this new inspiration has left my creative muse buzzing. We will see because I am off to my stamp room this afternoon to get creative!
smiles,
christi

MME Bohemia part 3

MME Bohemia part 2

MME Bohemia

This is just a taste of the 32 new paper groupings for this line and I want it all!!!

Contest layout...

Hey, Missy! No, I am not entering MMM. The ambiguities about the DT stuff was enough to keep me out. I will be entering HOF (Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame) again, but again simply because I think that it helps me grow as an artist and I like the challenge. Are you entering MMM (Memory Makers Masters)???

The contest that I was referring to is a scraplift contest on Cropper's Cottage. It is being sponsored by Scrapbook Answers and the prize is a ticket to their scrapbook getaway (aug 11-13th) which is valued at $495. If I won it, I would have no idea if I could even come up with the airfare and hotel costs to actually go, but it just happens to fall over my birthday so I think that I deserve to at least make an effort.

The contest is to take a layout from any of the Scrapbook Answers magazines and scraplift them. I did two different layouts although I am pretty sure that I can only enter one and then put it up to a family vote as to which one I would enter. This is the one that didn't win in the family vote (although it was my Dad's and DH's favorite.) It is a scraplift from the Feb/Mar 2006 issue. The original layout that I scraplifted is on page 61 and is an art journal entry by Liz Eaton. Here is my version:

I am still rolling around ideas in my head for the creative prompt...I want to get a little more artistic with that circle detail, but I haven't quite figured out how yet. That is my goal for this afternoon...

I hope that you all are having a creative day!
smiles,
christi

I am still here...

Sorry to have disappeared on you the last couple of days. I have gotten wrapped up in some projects and lost track of time. The good news is that I did 3 layouts yesterday...the bad news is that I can only share one of them with you right now as the other 2 are for a contest.

Here is one of the projects that I worked on yesterday. This is a layout that I did using the DT ad challenge from Create My Keepsake. I am not real happy with it, but I am not too sure what else to do to it. I love these Basic Grey papers, but whenever I use them, I tend to get stuck... The only other supplies used are Stamped in Ink diamond stamp, brads, and GinX rub-ons.

I still owe you the final Alfred Gockel creative prompt. Did you see what Norah did with one of the other ones?? Gorgeous layout in her fantastic altered book...I love her work and the fact that she is a Texas gal!

So here is the final Gockel piece for the time being... we will have to find some new inspiration for next week...

smiles,
christi

Whoohoo!!! It's official...

Sue Oren has asked me to join the Stamped in Ink Design Team!!! I am so excited about this! I have always been a huge fan of her stamps and now I have a good excuse to play with them even more. I had her make some custom stamps and the proofs that I have seen of them are incredible...it is going to be so much fun working for this company!!! Whoohooo!!!
smiles,
christi

Creative Sunday...

Yesterday was a fab day! I got some really fun news yesterday morning and I will share as soon as I am sure that I am allowed to.

Saturday was a Christmas crop over on Create My Keepsake, but I was gone most of the day so I played catch-up on a couple of the classes yesterday. This was the tag class. I changed the theme from Christmas to Creating because I just don't think that I am organized enough to keep track of Christmas decor for another 5 months. All of the stamps on here are Stamped in Ink. This was something purely for fun and now I have it hanging over my workspace in my stamp room.

Then last night I started playing with the latest art inspiration piece from Saturday. Here is my interpretation. One of the photos that I took at the Biltmore House while on vacation. The papers are Daisy D's (the green background) and Deja Views (all of the rest). I used Narratives by Karen Russell (the Amazing tag & B rub-on), Making Memories rub-ons (the title), Primas, gems, and Carolee's stamps. It was a fun layout to put together.


I will post the final Alfred Gockel inspiration piece later today!
smiles,
christi

Moving the furniture...

I combined the effer dare for this week and my creative prompt from Thursday to come up with this layout. The effer dare this week was to do a layout about a saying that you use all the time and that definitely can be associated with you. Mine is 'moving the furniture' and the journaling says: "As I grow OLDER, one thing has become apparent...my attic has become cluttered making it difficult to recall facts/info. Too much of the time, it requires moving the furniture in my brain to find a bit of info."

I don't know if you can see how I interpretted the art piece, but that is where the basic layout for this layout came from... Norah, does that make a bit more sense with how to use the creative prompt? Of course, there are not any rules on how to let them inspire you, but that is usually the way that I use them. :) Another example of how I have done this before is in my blog on May 11th (the original art piece) and May 19th (my interpretation of it done in a layout.)

So I promised you another and here it is...another Alfred Gockel piece...



I hope that everyone is having a good weekend! We went and saw Pirates of the Carribean last night so there are many "aargh, me maties!" heard throughout the house today.
smiles,
christi

Good morning!

How is everyone today?? In the mood for a creative prompt??? I spent the afternoon yesterday sitting outside enjoying a bit of time to myself writing and relaxing and am feeling more energized and rejuvinated and thought that a creative prompt might be in order.

This is another art piece by Alfred Gockel (his work is awesome for art inspiration pieces!) I had three of his pieces that I was debating between so maybe I will share them all over the next few days to see what you can do with them. I will work on this one today and hopefully post the results later! Please give me a link if you do something with it!

Other news, I heard from Natalie yesterday on upcoming TSBM assignments and am really enjoying planning those. I love it when I get an assignment that I can really sink my teeth into and enjoy it! I also feel the need to do a bit of altered art...maybe some ATC's. Clare, I believe, is the queen when it comes to these so I will probably scour her or Jane's galleries for a bit of inspiration. Go check out their galleries...they are both absolutely incredible altered artists/scrapbookers from the UK.

And while talking about the UK, there was a discussion on one of the UK boards about the differences in the perception of art between the UK/US/other countries as far as tastes go. I have always noticed this phenomena... that if I get lots of comments on a layout on a UK board, then the US board will think that it is absolute rubbish and vice versa. It's rather interesting really and I have no idea why it is that way, but just an interesting observation and I am glad to know that this doesn't just apply to me. :)

Hopefully, I will be back on later with some art to share!
smiles,
christi

Wow!

You guys are awesome!!! I really am fine, but thank you so much for all of your support and kind thoughts...it REALLY means a LOT!!! (((hugs))) all around!!!

As always, when I am in a funk, it helps to work through it with art. This is today's therapy! It is called Un Meilleur Je which is French for A Better Me. I did it for an online challenge. There are tags behind the photo which list a lot of goals and thoughts for the future. The photo isn't this grainy in real life, but it is altered a bit to give a harsher look than normal. All of the papers are Chatterbox.

I love you all! And hey, huge shout-out to Sandy and Aunt Marcia. It's true, you never really know who is reading this thing!
smiles,
christi

Re-focusing and re-organizing....

I am in the process of re-focusing my life and re-organizing it. I have become Miss Scarlet O'Hara of late and tomorrow needs to desperately become today. Yesterday that took the form of actually cleaning my house!?! I know, I feel your shock and horror! It is still no where close to clean, but I am feeling a bit more in control of my own space again. Today I plan to tackle my bedroom and scrap room. Scary!!!

But before I do that I have a few more projects to complete this morning for the Cottage DT. Today is my upload day and I am not 'quite' finished with it all yet.

Here is a bit of eye candy for you. Some more photos from vacation. I knew when I saw these flowers that they would be perfect for this gorgeous Chloe's Closet papers. Yum!


I hope that you are having a creative day!
smiles,
christi

14 Years of Happiness...

...another gaming layout for the LSS. These were definitely a stretch, but I love a good challenge. Now I am off to work on my DT work for the Cropper's Cottage...lots to do there!
smiles,
Christi

King of the Hill...

Well, this was a challenge! I went into the LSS yesterday and she wanted me to do something with these gaming papers. Well, not having any casino or vegas pictures, this was a bit of a stretch, but of course, I have all those vacation pics staring me in the face so I got inspired.

This photo is from Blowing Rock, NC and for those of you that have been there, you realize that this photo is a serious optical illusion. DS is, at the most, only about 10 feet up but it looks like he is on the edge of this sheer, really tall cliff. Don't worry mom...it is definitely an optical illusion...I am not to the point of risking DS's life for a good photo...yet! :D

Happy Friday! And there will be another gaming layout coming...playing with an idea for that one!
smiles,
christi

This is the Life...

These are some more photos from vacation. DH and I enjoying the life of leisure from the deck of our vacation rental catching up on some reading.

Supplies used: Daisy D's Monograms, Foofala tags, Stamped in Ink stamp (enjoy life), Purple Onion stamp(swirl), Making Memories paper, and K&Co. Ledger paper.

I hope that you are having a good holiday and taking a bit of leisure time for yourself.
smiles,
christi

Happy Independence Day!!