Monday, May 24, 2010

Reunited with the pages

Artful Tourist blog posts may be viewed chronologically and in their entirely by visiting www.artfultourist.blogspot.com .

Legacy Art is such a treat. Not only do I get to enjoy the creative process, but I get to relish all the great moments again. With over 400 photos from our wedding I could be relishing for a long time to come.


Between working on the studio and having fun with photos of our precious grandson—I hadn’t worked with the wedding photos since 2009 and by the time May arrived I hadn’t done any Legacy Art in months.


I started working my way back in with a set of more current photos from Thanksgiving 2009. I was helped along by using a sketch I found online and some double sided papers that make it super easy to coordinate prints. Because I had recently sorted all my embellishments and collage images it was easy and fun to pull out things like the tomato labels which are those wall paper cut outs called Wallies™.

I haven’t posted this layout on my web site yet, but I’m sure I’ll fit it in eventually. They are done with same papers and colors, the difference you see is purely scanner malfunction, or more accurately scanner operator malfunction.

What I have put up on the web site is an album of all the wedding layouts. I am so happy I could get on a roll with these and enjoy the process. The last page I added is shown here. Check the web site gallery page for more information on how to make this easy folded frame from double sided papers and see all the other pages.



Over the years, I’ve developed certain tricks and techniques that work well for me.
1. No matter what kind of photos I’m working with—I try to create at least a couple pieces from more current photos. It gets me back in the swing of things and keeps my current event books up to date.

2. My other posts talk about how I enjoy using sketches—this is particularly true if I haven’t done photo work in a while.

3. Having a color scheme and repetitive design elements really helps when using lots of photos.

4. When it stops being fun, it’s time for me to stop doing it.

Regular Features

Surf stops—web sites I’ve visited recently:


http://www.globaleyeglasses.com/---- is a great place to find discount glasses. You pick your frames, fax or type in your RX and your glasses are mailed to you in nice little case. The anti-glare coating has started to scrape off my favorite pair of spectacles so I hope to be replacing them soon.

Amazon in general has become a mecca retailer for loads of stuff. My most recent purchase was a copy of “Vein of Gold” by my printed mentor, Julia Cameron. How does she know what I need? I’m doing a book study group online with this book right now and, as always, Julia speaks to my creative soul. See Vein of Gold at this link.



Touch of color—what color(s) influenced me— Purple, pink, and gold with orange accents. I made a set of tags and then cards this week with this combination which surprised me. They aren’t colors I’d normally select but I liked them.



Surrounding Sounds- The theme song to the show “Justified” on FX. The delightful noise of children at play on the rented water slide that came for her birthday.

Good Read: Just finished the Faraday Sisters by Laura McIneriny


Studio progress: Oh, now it’s almost embarrassing that I haven’t posted the new pictures and videos. I have such a joyful creative place in my home. I am taking an hour or two each week to finish up with labels, ribbon zone, and decor. Everything is set so I can use it easily and freely.

 
In the kitchenSmithfield Ham at Winn Dixie last week was regularly $48.00 on sale for $17.90. We ate it for family night last week and froze the rest for quiche. sandwiches, and soup. Delicious and frugal—that’s my kind of eating.



Austerity Plan progress ($15.00 per month for art supplies and tools): Haven’t spent since my last post and have had multiple creative sessions. Feels good.

My opinion and where it may lead: Remember the adage, “learn something new every day?” As I age, this could actually get easier if you count relearning something new every day…Thank goodness for my list book—I call it my portable memory.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Enclosure Cards

Artful Tourist blog posts may be viewed chronologically and in their entirely by visiting www.artfultourist.blogspot.com .

There’s been a whirlwind of activity in the Artful Tourist Studio. The last couple weeks have produced a set of cards and article on the web site, fourteen new scrapbook pages (hopefully to be published next week) and the two new enclosure cards featured here.

I spent a few hours Monday working on two very special Mother’s Day cards. They are both in the same format of a layered pocket card, but sized and styled differently.

The basic concept on both cards was to cut a long piece of cardstock, create a fold line to size the card, cut the folded edge on the diagonal, and glue the piece you cut off inside as a second pocket. There are probably several ways to get this look—just get creative. This folding,cutting, and sturdy adhesive creates a card base of the desired size with two pockets.

There are lots of possibilities to use for inserts on pocket cards. Both of these have a chai tea bag wrapped in a small envelope made with my new (this year) Enveloper™ tool. The pink card also includes a ribbon book mark, die cut bird, tiny message and coordinating tag. The gold and green rectangle card includes one of those instant teas you pour into a water bottle along with the tradional tea bag because it’s designed for a busy mom who might want energy on the go and a clam tranquil moment with a hot cup.


Tea bags are a great “tuck in” for any card you design. Check out this previous blog post for more tea bag ideas. http://artfultourist.blogspot.com/search/label/tea%20bags


Surf stops—web sites I’ve visited recently:
New Artful Tourist Gallery---I stopped work in the studio in March while my parents were visiting. I left a clear spot on the work table and used my new storage systems to create a set of “stock pile” cards. Check them out with tips and techniques at http://www.nachattin.com/galleryquickcards.html

Pencil Lines---Great resource for fresh scrapbook sketches and samples. http://www.pencillines.com

Vein of Gold Book Study Group--One of my favorite online artists, Asiling,  is hosting a book study on Julia Cameron's marvelous book. It's not to late to join us! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aj-vein_of_gold/

Touch of color—what color(s) influenced me—
I’ve been bouncing between combinations on some wedding scrapbook pages:

Maroon, purple, bronze, with a dash of deep gray

Fuschia, citrus orange, sunny yellow with a dash of lime

Pleasing sounds-
The Beach Boys are calling me.

Studio progress:
Oh joy, things are going delightfully well. I’ve organized all the zones except ribbon and fiber which is in progress. After finishing the zones I want to label it all as well as finish the décor. I’m already creating projects in there with a renewed vigor.

In the kitchen—
I’ve fallen in love with Paula Deen’s Oooey Gooey Butter Cake. I made one for us and then assisted the neighbor girls in making one for their Mom’s Mothers Day. http://www.pauladeen.com/index.php/recipes/view/gooey_butter_cake/

I have also been experimenting with any recipe that uses vanilla flavoring since I got a new bottle of REAL Vanilla from Watkins.

Austerity Plan progress ($15.00 per month for art supplies and tools):
In honor of finishing my studio and having a record-breaking low credit card balance, I paid cash to attend a weekend scrapbook event in Vero Beach May 1. It was marvelous! It also blew my budget, but I don’t feel guilty after paying cash.
I got several new items all of which came home to their own little pre-planned space in the new studio. Here’s a list:

-set of 4 Tim Holtz collage stamps
-journaling stamp
-Stampin’ Up bird set and coordinating punch
-papers and coordinating chipboard album
-Cool 8.5” album (I won as a prize)
-Tim Holtz die (the heart with wings)
-some double sided papers in grey and maroon for wedding photos
-3 wood mounted rubber stamps in collage style
-Tombow refills
-cutter blades

(some items actually purchased on sale at Michaels before I left and 90% of them have been used already which is a big emphasis in the austerity plan--don't buy what you won't use right away)

Points of Interest: (random things I’ve paid attention to lately)
  • Honey—local, raw honey for my tea and my throat
  • The scales—according to my recent annual visit to one of my doctors I’ve lost 16 pounds over the last year---yesssssss

 My opinion and where it may lead: 
I married an incredible man. We have a totally rocking new screened, tiled patio.



Admiration and Acceptance 
Consistency eludes me in the world of blogging. I tip my many shiny sequined hats to the blog writers who can post so frequently, maintain lots of followers, and write really incredible entries.

  
Amateur status is my commitment this year. While I envy the proliferation of exceptional blog posts out there—I’m fine with getting to it when I can and enjoying the process. I love working in my newly improved home studio, creating projects just for me and my loved ones, and posting to the blog or web site whenever it feels right.

  
So, while I’m not consistent, you can be sure I’m sincere, I’m happy, and I’m proudly doing this purely for the creative joy of it all.