Hair Raising Challenge at Ning!

***If you're here for my SOG Project Life post, please scroll down or click HERE for it.***




My favorite Disney Princess is The Little Mermaid. I remember being enamoured by the movie when it first came out. And it was exciting because I had gone to see it with my then best friend and our parents let us sit in the theater by ourselves. I know pretty much all the words to the songs even to this day. And it really warms my heart because my tater tots love the movie now too. Their eyes get big and light up when I sing the songs...they are AMAZED that I know them by heart! hehe...

So when I signed up to do the Hair Raising Challenge at the Ning Community for Some Odd Girl, I thought I'd finally color up one of the mermaids from Under the Sea Mae.

The Ning Challenge is to make the HAIR stand out. Either color up an image with prominent hair (like SOG's Rapunzel or make it very unique. I chose the latter and wanted to do sort of an ombre effect. And I thought with the mermaid, it'd be perfect because the non-traditional colors would look so cool and very sea-like.

I also knew that I wanted to make a scene and was very much ecstatic that I still had some of Traci Bautista's painted papers! Before she became an author and made it big, Traci used to sell these art kits full of artful goodies she made herself. They even included some ephemera she found and painted or altered herself. Anyway, she painted this paper and that is the background you see. Isn't it beautiful and doesn't it look just like the ocean?



I think I like the card opened up to show depth and dimension of the scenic card. I regretted folding it and if you squint, you can see that line in the middle :).

The paper on the bottom is a dyed paper towel, also courtesy of Traci. I added lines of sequins because they remind me of fish scales!



But back to the task at hand, I wanted her hair to also show the light reflections under the water. I think she is super gorgeous! Hope you can join in on the challenge. It runs till the ninth!

And now back to singing...

Look at this stuff,
Isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think
My collection's complete?......

Oldie But Goodie

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Sadly, I only made it up to the second week of TGF's HeART Journaling project.

For that last week I completed (Week 2), I was inspired by a prior album I made in a class I took about 6 - 7 years ago. That class was taught by Traci Bautista, & to this date, I am still very much in love with this project.

I'm posting that album here now. My post is picture-heavy, and it was overcast so the pics aren't that great.

You're probably wondering why I'm blogging about it, since it was made such a long time ago. I've got several reasons:

1. I didn't have a blog back then.
2. I'd like to showcase it here in case I lose it or the kiddies tear it up.
3. I didn't have a card for today :).
4. I'm hoping to make another one like it someday and need your help.
5. It's nice to document what my style/ technique/ favorites for each year. (or era :)).



Here's the book with the cover down. I love that stitching down the side -- does anybody know what type of stitching that is? I'd like to google it / find it on you tube because I've forgotten how. I guess I could also ask Traci.



Here's the first page. The cover opens from the top up. The pages now open from the left side. I just loved how everything looked "free-style." We were taught to rip pages with unabandonment and sew without worrying about straight lines.



The second page has a pic of a Hawaiian orchid. This album holds pics of my friends' trip to Hawaii, back in 2002.


The third page has a pic from a lomography camera I used to have. I adored that thing. It gave me four different shots in succession on one print.



The fourth page is blank because I took the parts and pics out to add to my HeART Journal. But aren't the papers interesting? If you were a crafter/ scrapbooker back in the early to mid 2000s, did you remember how the popular papers look like this? Very tie-dyed like and fuzzy? :). And vellum was really common, too!



The fifth one has more lomography pics of the beach. Aren't those beads and string just breath-taking?



And this sixth one has my BFF on it. She was on that trip with me. Fun memories!


This seventh page featured one of the cool waterfalls of Hawaii. It was at a park, and there was a show with performers jumping from it.


The last page has pics from the Luau we attended at the Big Island. See the third pic of a wanna-be Hula dancer. Haha!

Thanks for visiting! As I clean out my craft room and organize my old projects, I'll be posting more of these oldies but goodies. Hope you don't mind!

Art Journaling

Years ago, I started taking Traci Bautista's classes at my LSS. We made displays for pictures, cards, books, our own decorative papers. I learned so much from her. In her classes, there were no rules and creativity flowed.

So when I read that The Greeting Farm would be hosting a new, different, artistic journaling class, I was intrigued. And a bit scared and apprehensive. Add on to my already full plate? Buy new supplies of paint/ brushes/ other mediums?

But, then, I remembered Traci's classes and how fun it was and how it motivated me to explore my other artistic abilities. Her style is so different from a lot of my mentors/ idols in the stamping/ scrapping world. Yet I feel that her vision and lessons allow you to think so much outside of the box. Maybe, TGF's new class is just what I need.

So, I dug into my boxes (yes, the craft room is still packed up) and found old supplies of paint, embossing powder, gel mediums. I'm happy that the medium is not dried up but the decoart paints are :(. I still haven't found my old watercolor papers, which I need to bind to make the baseline book.

But I did find this journal that I bought from Traci. I remember being in love with this book -- its textures and colors and stitching and papers. I've always wanted to make one of my own!

Here's the beautiful cover of Traci's creation:



Inside the first page:




I wrote down ideas, scrapbook lay-out sketches, even notes from a 2007 photography class here...



And here's the front and back. Gorgeous, isn't it?



At first, I thought I'd use it for the class. But the pages were too thin to hold paint. And if I was going to endeavor in the whole artistic process, then I should start with blank pages. So in the end, the book will be thoroughly about me and my journaling and creativity. :)

Anyway, as soon as I find some papers/ book, I'll be contacting Marie about joining in on the TGF fun! Won't you try it as well?

Love,




P.S. I visited Traci's blog and found out she is having her own art journaling e-course. There's even a chance to win a couple of spaces! BTW, the title of her blog? "Creativity Unleashed." Perfect, isn't it?? Makes me wanna change the title of my blog into something wittier :).

Love Art

I was soooo excited to find Kenny K rubber stamps!! It is a well known fact that I am helpless when it comes to digi stamps so I was excited when Download Diva came in the mail!

To me, Kenny K stamps are funky, all about hip-hop, sassiness galore! I knew that for my first card featuring this rockin' stamp, I couldn't just use any ordinary paper. I turned to my stack of Traci Bautista homemade papers.
The asterisk was made by cutting up some painted paper towels from her line.

I paired it with some old Love, Elsie PP from KI memories. I also found some metal brads and star/ heart embellishments. To top it off and make it look like a painting, I used some pearl ink to 'frame' the 'LOVE.' I certainly do not condone graffiti on buildings! :)

I have to say that I really love the way DD's face came out. I think I'm getting back to what I've learned in that Copics class (it took a while, especially after I was in hiatus for a few months!). A month ago, my sis made me up for our formal party at work. She showed me lots of highlighting and blending and covering tips with make-up. I sort of applied it here. It really is fun seeing what Copics can do when it comes to coloring a dimensional face!



Peace out!!

Tag Swap

Wow! Can you believe I actually have something to post today? :)

Thanks for hanging in there with me! I hope to be less busy after the next couple of weeks but right now, I just have to much in my plate -- my bro's wedding, one of my best friend's wedding, vacation to Hawaii, decorating for a friend's baby shower, getting our old condo renovated, and relatives staying at our place. Whew!

For this project, I did my first tag swap. It's not your typical tag -- there's no hole/ eyelet on top with yarn or ribbon. The only specifications were it had to include a flower and the color pink.

I glimmer misted a piece of cardstock, stuck some Hambly overlay, lace and ribbon. I made the flower using a piece of painted paper towel from a kol laj kit. Added some collage pauge, button, and metal flower embellishment.

Made it while watching last week's Project Runway episode. All of that designing and sewing always inspire me. I liked how my tag finally came together in the end ... it even looks like I did some sewing with that cinched ribbon :).

Speaking of, did you see last night's episode?? LOVED it! Poor Valerie though. And I am so proud of Mondo!!

P.S. Any advice on how to store Copics on a plane ride? I wanted to see if I could get some crafting done but am worried about how to deal with all the pressure?

Spotlight

We've started moving :). After Monday next week, I probably won't blog for about a week with all there is to do and the transferring of phones and computers, etc. I'll soon play catch-up with my fave blogs once we get settled.

Squeezed in this quickie card last night. I missed the premier of Project Runway because of SYTYCD. But I got to watch some info on the contestants on Comcast. Love this group!

Traci Bautista is offering a free downloadable journal making kit here. The cut-out flower is from there. The stamps are from TGF. Then I did some glitter magic! :)

Creativity Unleashed

Hi everyone! Good Sunday morning to you!

Like I said yesterday, I have another book to show you from a class I took about five years ago with Traci Bautista.

The thing I loved about Traci was that she allowed us to do whatever we wanted. I know that type of teaching technique doesn't work for everybody but it sure "unleashed" my creativity -- and that's what Traci wanted to teach us most of all.

For this class, she provided the basics to bind this intricate "star" book. I embellished the pages after. Because it was hard to open and I needed to re-glue the back and front pages, I only took pics of a couple of pages.



Aren't the textures and shimmering effects gorgeous? She had given us a clear sticker sheet and gave us paint flakes and glitter and paint to put on it (& go wild). I chose to make it an Asian theme and put Jolee's stickers.



This is the view of the star book from above. Please excuse my dirty table and the book covers had to be re-glued after this :(.





And some views of the inside. I needed to put my candle in the front to hold the pages open.

I'm such a procrastinator! Only posting pics up now....and I still haven't filled the pages! :)

Vintage Book

About 5 years ago, I was fortunate enough to take classes from Traci Bautista. This was before her books and national tours, and I learned so much.

I always thought Traci was ahead of her time. In her classes, we learned to transfer images, play with paints, and stamp on many different mediums.

I made this book for my parents during one class and I never posted it. The instructions were to bring in colored and black & white copies of older pictures. The album is much more vintage-like than my style but I thought it came out beautifully.

And the book? We learned to bind it ourselves! Speaking of...I wonder where I put her notes??













I have another book to post tomorrow so stay tuned!

Thanks for coming today!

Coffee anyone?

Happy Wednesday! So with all of the card-making I'm doing with Love Elsie and Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients, I have missed my kol laj papers. If you haven't seen them before, they are painted on papers or paper towels / fabrics and Traci Bautista is selling them as kits. I wish you could see it in person but the layers upon layers of color are just gorgeous!

I've used Coffee Kiki La Rue. She is so cute in her curlers and ruffled robe. Wish I looked that adorable upon waking!

And if you look closely, the cardstock & ribbon are from TE's March Key Ingredients kit. And the stickers are from Love Elsie :). Hey, I gotta use my scraps afterall!

Anyway, am really excited about the Glee cast being on Oprah today! Can't wait till 4 pm!!

Have a wonderful afternoon!

Edward & Bella

Today is a good day.

And i don't mean just good. I mean gooooooood good!

An unexpected day off from work. I feel slightly guilty but at least I got paid for almost half of it. :)

The sun is shining, the wind is breezy, and Target was not that crowded! Yes!! We even found some items for our big trip in the fall!

Anyway, I finally got to coloring Camille! I've been dying to make a Twilight-inspired card!

And since we're on the subject of Twilight, wanna hear something funny? I pre-ordered New Moon along with another DVD from Amazon. I selected free shipping and thought, "Wow! Such a good deal!" Well, while every one of my fellow Twilight-loving friends are gushing over watching the DVD, I'm stuck at home waiting for the mailman! Apparently, it won't ship till the other video comes out! BOO! Guess I just have to test my patience & keep waiting.

So back to the card...

This piece of jewelry is from a kol laj kit. It's so cool to be able to recycle broken bits of bracelets and earrings. For me, it adds such a charming touch to a card. You'll be seeing more of these types of 'charms' from me as I found a stash I've been hoarding *COUGH* ...ahem, I mean saving. He he!



I also used a lot of my stash of PP. The blue one with flowers is EK Success. The black one with white swirls is from 7 gypsies. The green one is from Basic Grey. The ribbon is from Heidi Grace Designs (Fiskars) and the brads/ stickers are from Dear Lizzy (American Crafts).

Peace out!