Whimsical Art online course

ever wanted to develop a whimsical art style? i know i have! in fact, it's something i'm VERY interested lately! and, as the Muses would have it, i noticed a link on my own sidebar just a few minutes ago, one that i had not remembered, and clicked on it.
and here's what i found:

http://www.arttradermag.com/node/7

check it out! awesome!!

i think i'm going to sign up... post a comment if you're interested, too! :)

a fun little evening that inspires....

so, tonight i spent some time with some of my girlfriends, scrapping and chatting, chatting and scrapping... well, one of us was scrapping. one was working on a card swap. one was making her own rubber stamps. and me? well, i was making ATCs! :)

i don't have my camera handy, so you'll have to trust me on this when i say that they're LOVELY! :) the first one, which i'm hoping will turn out in the end, was based on the theme "ghost" from the challenge blog Inspire Me Thursday. the other one was much more romantic, featuring a vintage couple. it was inspired by the Stripes challenge on, um.... another challenge blog (can't remember which one off the top of my head!)

the ghost card was done with versamark ink on glossy cardstock. over that, i sponged fuschia ink, which then smeared over the versamark image, leaving a ghostly image. i mounted it diagonally on grey cardstock, with the word "believe" stamped with black stayz on in the corner. once all that was done, i covered the image and word with a crackle medium... i'm waiting for it to dry, and then i'll post (if it isn't damaged, that is).

the second card was pretty basic. some paper (BG eva), and cardstock, mounted off-center of each other, with a pink frame stamped behind the couple. a metal "love" charm attached, and voila! ATC number 2! :)

like i said, when i have my camera, i'll post some pics. until then, you'll just have to trust me on this. they're lovely! :)

k, off to play euchre for a bit! ttyl!

anyone else wanna give this a whirl?

so, i was checking out challenge blogs tonight (surprise, surprise), and i found this on Inspire Me Thursday. the link is on the right sidebar, if you're interested. i wanna try this out, but i don't think i want to do it tonight (although i happen to have a cereal box in my possession right now). so, anyone else wanna try this? i included the instructions on the left sidebar, so check that out. then let me know. maybe we could get together and all do one? i don't know. anyway, let me know. it makes a cute sketchbook, journal or notebook, and it's uniquely yours. or give it away as a gift.

anyway, yeah, i'm going to try it out. not tonight, but likely this week sometime. i'll post when i do it. i can't wait! :)

Joe. gimme.

the challenge this week on Think Monday - Think ATC is coffee. almost too easy.

i say almost because, as some of you may know, i have an awesome coffee stamp (i used it on a 4x4 a while back, and i love it!). now, if you recall my post from the other day, my scrappin space is, well, messy. i can see desk, and the highest pile consists of a pen, some cards, a package of eyelets and a basket (listed from bottom to top). anyway, i searched high and low for that coffee stamp, but alas, it is nowhere to be found. and i just saw it the other day! arg!

so, if you noted my FB status tonight, it said "heather is going to make an atc tonight." then it changed to "heather is going to read tonight." then it changed back to "heather made an ATC after all tonight." and here it is!

not the stamp, mind you. no, that's gone. i'll find it... eventually. but while i was flipping around between blogs and listening to music, i was inspired to do the ATC anyway, and completely differently than i had originally intended. here's the final product. i like it. a lot.

the TMTA theme this week is coffee. and i was inspired. so here is my creation.

and while you're looking, please don't notice the fact that the mug is, in fact, paper-pieced. i stand by my post from the other night. i almost lost the handle at one point. and inking the edges is ridiculous. yes, i stand by my "i don't do paper-piecing" rant. but at least i've given it a whirl. i like the whimsy the mug lends to this ATC, but still, this will be the last paper piecing you see from this girl for a long time... like, forever.

but you noticed that the mug is BG infuse, didn't you? i know you did. i'll get you all hooked on BG, just gimme time (if you're not already addicted, that is, because really, how could you not be?). ;)

Faithbooking 2: Sacredness

this week's faithbooking class is about Sacredness, or Faith Defined. what is faith to me? what does it give me, when do i need it, where do i find it? i included a poem on the first page, though what you put there is up to you. perhaps a picture of your meditation space, church, holy book, yourself in prayer, maybe even a prayer that you've written out. the journaling on page 2 is how you define faith, whatever it means for you.

i realize that this is a very personal topic that we're scrapping here. i'm not saying you need to come to the class with your journaling already written or even planned. i'm just giving you the medium on which to preserve what you believe at this point in your journey. there is no right or wrong answer for this, and no one (least of all me!) is going to judge your beliefs.

i also realize that this layout may be somewhat challenging for some people, not only because of the subject, but the layout itself is challenging. all that space! (pam made me add the picture in the bottom right corner on page 2 - the original version has more space there.) for me, the whole layout is a definition of my faith and sacredness. i find my faith in the space between. between you and me, me and Him, moment to moment. my faith restores my personal space, balances my space, helps me find peace in my space, generally makes my space more live-able. faith is the white-space in my life that draws my focus to what really matters, puts everything back into perspective, and lets me breathe again. that's why there's so much space on this layout.

i urge you to give this layout a try. i really enjoyed making it. it's simple, with some fun techniques (painting, tearing, doodling, stamping), but i think the impact of the design is striking. it's simplicity is what makes it work.

i hope you enjoy this layout as much as i enjoyed creating it. hope to see you wednesday night! :)

ps - i'll post better pictures when i get them. we forgot to scan the layout before hanging it in the store. :(

on the first page is the poem Zero Circle, by Rumi.

my journaling on the second page reads:
faith is what you find at the end of your rope, when you're lost, confused and weak. it picks you up and carries you when you just can't do it on your own.
sometimes i'm too stubborn to admit that, and then i'm screwed. i need help sometimes, i admit. faith is a helping hand.
when i'm quiet and still, even - especially - in the chaos of my life... that is when i find my faith.
and my strength.

Faithbooking layout - Guideposts.

ok, i've finally gotten around to posting the layout for the first Faithbooking class at Cut N Paste. the first class was about scrapbooking those texts/verses/quotations that speak to your soul and help you along your journey.

the kit and instructions are available at Cut N Paste for $15. i'll post the next class's layout as soon as possible. thanks! :)

ps - the fun little technique on this layout, which you'll find in the corners. here's how to do it:

1. doodle lightly in pencil.
2. randomly punch holes along the doodles, using a variety of sizes of hand-held punches (Silent Setters also work nicely, especially if you want to go more than a couple inches from the edges).
3. erase the lines.
4. adhere a co-ordinating paper to the back of the layout. this will show through and give a nice contrast.
5. enjoy listening to all your friends asking "how'd you do that?" and making it seem infinitely more complicated than it really is. ;)

and here it is...

the piece i was working toward this afternoon. that's right, folks, it's painted! i'm really digging this piece. oh, i could really get hooked on 4x4!! and paint! especially if i'm painting 4x4s! this, my friends, is happiness. painted minis. love 'em! :) expect to see more of these in the future.

playing this afternoon

it's Mufu's birthday today, so blithe wanted to go to the art gallery in town. there is an exhibit there right now, on till october 26 by Aidan Urqhart (sp?). there are giant boot pieces, which are cool, but my favourite pieces were the minis. little 3x3 delights, mixed media, lotsa fun! well, i was inspired.

i'm going to start incorporating brighter colours into my work now, i think. and get a little quirkier sometimes, too. i love this little bird, i think she's adorable. (for those who have heard the rumours... this is the stamp i licked to make sure i got it. stop laughing. if you know me, you shouldn't be surprised. lol)

this little 4x4, which is really just a first attempt at something cooler (i wanted to make sure i liked the idea before i put in all that work into it (it involves paint and some other mixed media lovelies). so, here's the first attempt. i think i like it.

yeah, i'm really digging this piece. i'm especially pleased by the visual triangles: check out the coral, the turquoise, and the flowers. and you know, i didn't even notice any of them until it was all done. how fun is that?! :)

i'm really inspired by 4x4 right now. it's so much fun! give it a whirl, you'll fall in love! and if you need any inspiration, pop over to the St Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre and check out Aidan Urqhart's work. here's the link to STEPAC: http://www.stepac.ca/ (i'll put it on the sidebar, too, so it won't get lost in post-land).

look! a layout!

and i didn't use a sketch! and i doodled! and i put a ton of journaling on there! could this be the start of a new era in my scrappin'? i just told a story and used a minimum of "stuff" on the page (other than chipboard and funky flowers, of course!). such a simple page, but i think it's my favourite one. a new me, a new style, a new reason to scrap. to tell my story.

i'm trying something new... Zentangle! :)

... so please don't judge me too harshly.

ok, so a couple months ago, a challenge blog (was it TMTA?) presented a challenge that i was reluctant to try at the time, but i have been sort of obsessing over it, wanting to try it, but afraid. that's right, folks, i was afraid to try something. anyway... the challenge was something called "Zentangle" - basically, funky doodling. not the pretty, swirly, girly, free kind of doodling. that, i cannot do. but this, i can do. have been doing for years, in fact, in corners of pages in my notebooks. i think i've even done it on the inside cover of one of my Bibles.

anyway, i decided, in a (somewhat successful) attempt to distract myself from all my anxiety, to listen to cheesy mid-90s christian rock (echelon, anyone? if you weren't there, you won't laugh, but i was quite enjoying the trip down memory lane) and try my hand at something new. and here's the result.

i don't think i like the theme with the Zentangle, but i learned from this, and i will try it again. much fun to be had with this Zentangle stuff. and so i challenge you, gentle paper-crafty reader/friend, try it! and please share with us all: include a link to your blog in the comments section here. i'd love to see what you come up with. and i'll be playing more with this stuff in the days to come, and hopefully i'll get better! :) have fun! :)

UPDATE (5/26/08): ok, the more i look at this, the more i don't like the result. but the technique is fun, so i might give it another whirl this week. i need a distraction from the current crap in my life, and i think this just might do the trick. i'll post the result. meanwhile, please don't look at this ATC. it's crap. thank-you. h