All Play and No Work

...makes me an impoverished scrapper.

Last week's challenge was all about playing. The Scrappinmoms encouraged us to play with our photos, title, paper and embellishments. I took the directive seriously and I think I kinda overdid it.

I found it hard at first because I'm not your average technique kind of girl. But then I took it as a sign to break out all the alcohol inks, shimmering mists, embossing powders, distress inks, etc., that I have been hoarding. In the end, I think I had way too much fun. So here it is:

Journaling:
Lucky you! Papa is an avid toy collector. He bought these Star Wars toys before you were even born. The night we first met, he was showing off his Millenium Falcon. (Hehehe. Really!) But unlike other toy collectors, he doesn't care about "mint in box." He lets you play with his toys because toys are for playing. And really, your Papa is just a kid at heart.


My title is a pun of Darth Vader's famous line to his son "Luke, I am your father!!! "I chose photos showing my husband and kids playing. I especially love the expression on my husband's face as he played (with zooming noises - too bad it can't be captured on paper) with the Tie Fighters. I also painted the edges of my photos with white acrylic paint for definition.


One paper was originally orange, I poured random drops of blue, green, yellow, violet and sand Shimmering Mists on top of the paper, covered it with bond paper, and then using a brayer, I smoothed over the surface, helping the liquid underneath spread. This changed the color of the paper to different shiny shades. I used the altered paper as a mat for my photos. The other paper, I simply added Crystal Stickles to the stars to make glittered paper.

Side Note on the BG paper: When I showed it to DH he said I wasted the paper. In other words, it was ugly. I shouldn't have mixed too many colors on an orange pallette as it made everything look muddy. I had a half-mind to start all over but I decided not to waste the paper. And hey, it kinda look like one of those BG paper from the Motifica line, don't you agree? :-)


I wanted different font sizes to imitate the opening credits of Star Wars. Since I used alphas from different manufacturers, I painted them all blue for unity and covered them with UTEE for an epoxy look. I dabbed different colors of alcohol inks and pearl metallics on the stars for a shiny marbled finish. The frame was initially a boring white so I colored it using Spicy Marmalade Distress Stamp, covered it with bronze Perfect Pearls for shine, and using the tip of a round paint brush, dabbed white acrylic paint on the surface. Originally gold, I painted the brads yellow, dipped them in Clear Polysparkle embossing powder,and set them with a heat gun. They're now like shiny yellow stars.

I'm sure the judges had a hard time judging this round as everything in the gallery is simply amazing. I think I may have managed to squeeze through to the next round by the tip of my acrylic-stained fingernails.

The next round is all about making a mini-album that's inspired by a book. Quite apt as I struggle to write one book review and one oral report (due Tuesday) and two annotated bibliographies (due Wednesday). I hope I meet all my deadlines next week.

Such a Cutie!

Eight photos in a layout yet keeping in mind white space? Arggghhhh... It's enough to drive a scrapper like me crazy. I am not into multi-photos and I think white space hates me.

But as they say challenges are here to make your life miserable err...stronger. So here's my take on the Scrappinmoms Idol Round 3 - Space It Out!


This is my first Jasper layout. We love this Maltese to bits and pieces. He's such a cutie, isn't he? Sometimes we call him Jasperoni, Jasperoo-roo, Jazz, Jassy, Jasper Poo-Poo, Jasper Poopie. My yaya's little girl can't pronounce Jasper so he's Popo to her.

Such a cutie. The SEI papers and embellishments I used are way cute, too, And certainly made mixing and matching very easy.

See the rest of the gallery here. Everyone did a fine job on this one.

I made it to the next round, and it's all about altering. Wish me luck.

Bear Hugs

Round 2 Challenge at Scrappinmoms Idol was all about reducing (one CS and 1 PPS), re-using (use at least one item twice, each time, in a different way), and recycle (repurpose a scrapbooking material).

REDUCE
I used 1 PPS (K & Co.) as my background and 1 CS (Pioneer) for my title, journaling and swirls. I simply recolored the white cardstock using various distress inks.


RE-USE:
The item I chose to use and -re-use is a white lace. Inspired by the lace pattern of my paper, I used my lace as a mask. I then used the lace, which has been colored by my walnut ink as a ribbon. I attached it to my recycled frame (see below). It's not easy working with walnut ink because it could get blotchy and dries up quickly. So with bated breath and a quick prayer, I sprayed on my lace and am happy it turned up well. I accidentally discovered this effect some time ago when I was tinting my other laces a vintagey color.



RECYCLE:
The excess from my Making Memories dingbat foam stamps was the perfect size (5x7) to make a frame for my photo. First, I painted it with gesso, then used crackle paint to simulate wood grain. It frames my photo perfectly.

Other Materials Used:
Flowers - Prima; Brads, Oriental Trading; Paint - Making Memories; Chipboards - Basic Grey; Pen - Sakura; Adhesives- Saunders, Plaid; Tools - Cuttlebug, Quickutz; Inks - Ranger, sukineko; Chalks - Craf-T.

Journaling:
Loa Tita has taken care of your Papa ever since he was a baby. Now she's taking care of you, too. She indulges your every whim. She cooks your favorite foods and makes your clothes. She even made dresses for Penny, your teddy bear. Such caring is lovingly rewarded with lots of hugs and kisses.

My co-participants went all out being innovative and creative. I invite you to view their artworks here.

TFL!

Alphabet Soup

I just uploaded my Kaya entry. Thanks to Roxannee for the challenge. I think this is the first time I used mixed alphabets in my layout. While I have tried mixed fonts in my title, this is the first that I tried the same technique per word. I did color the word "blue" with different shades of blue for some kind of unity.

Here's the full layout. I was inspired by a sketch by Becky Fleck, but used two instead of just one photo.


A close up of my two of my THREE journaling spots which read:

DH bought me this bike so we can share a hobby. I'm glad that after 12 years of marriage, he still wants us to do things together. I'm not a confident biker and I try his patience but we still have fun and keep fit together. (5/1/2009)

I used to have a red bike in the 1980s. I rode it at the athletic field in front of our house. I loved the speed and the wind in my hair. Now, on my blue bike, I feel like a kid again.

Blue bike = P3,075.00
Dinner at Shopping Center = P250.00
Biking in U.P. = free and priceless!


I had a lot to say, so at the back of my layout, I added more journaling. That's two more pages of a small notebook, back to back. I'm putting more premium on journaling these days. I was specially inspired by this man. I am not sure I will be doing another layout about my bikes anytime soon. And doing this layout unleashed a deluge of memories that I just had to write them down before I forget them.


Notice that stamp on the upper right-hand corner? All my layouts have this - it provides info on the date of the photo, place it was taken, who are on the photo and their ages (while I may have the date as part of the layout, I don't want to be counting years and asking, "how old were they here?"), and the date I finished the layout. The date of my journaling is usually at the end of the journal.

Really, the back of your layouts (even if they have "holes" like mine) is precious real estate, for things you want to add but can't accommodate in the overall design. You can also put a pouch for extra photos, ephemera, souvenir items, CDs, here. Cool, isn't it?

Gone to Pieces

Week 1 Challenge at ScrappinMoms Idol Season 3 - Paper Piecing. There was a bit of confusion about that at first because some people thought it was Paper PIERCING. I was so "huh?" when my friend, Candy, told me she hates it because her hands were sore for days after doing a project. I wondered what she had been piecing to make them so. There were also some who thought it to be the same as cutting out patterns from paper and layering them to form a new embellishment. An honest mistake especially now that making sceneries in layouts is so popular.

So anyway, I knew right away that I would do a layout about my KiDS' obsession with Pokemon. I searched in the internet for patterns but didn't find any. I decided my best option was to xerox a Pokemon coloring book to use as templates. So when we went to the mall on Saturday afternoon, I xeroxed several copies of the word Pokemon, Butterfree (my concession to having a butterfly in my layout) and of course, that yellow electrifying cutie - Pikachu. I also bought a pack of Pokemon trading cards for the silver and gold coins that I thought would look great on my LO. (I didn't use them in the end, but I did use the box they came in and the Mewtwo Pokemon card which neither of my KiDS had in their collection. I thought it's fairer for all of them if I just added it in my layout. That decision may have averted a full-scale Pokemon war at home. LOL.)



Sunday evening, I started doing my title, which had 3 layers of colors, dark blue, violet and yellow. I only finished the bottom layer. Monday was busy so I only got to work on the letters P,O, and K. I had classes on Tuesday (wrote the journaling while my professor droned on and on about the bourgeiosie). I spent Wednesday studying and writing an annotated bibliography. Just trying to make sense of what I was reading took all my brain power, such that before I headed off to class at 5 pm, I had a pounding headache. It was so bad I had to take an Advil.



Got home at around 9 pm, had a late dinner and fell fast asleep. I woke up at 1:30 am and started working on my layout. Cutting was really quite a mindless task that I actually felt relaxed. Before I knew it, I was assembling my paper pieces. I have to thank Kokoyu Dot and Roller for making adhering so easy. I also chose just one patterned paper so I wouldn't get stressed trying to layer. By the time I was finished, it was time to wake up my KiDS. Surprisingly, I wasn't feeling sleepy or tired at all. At 6:30, I happily sent off my KiDS to school and my entry to the Scrappin Moms.

The gallery has many other amazing entries, but I want to highlight this one:



Candy took paper piecing to the next level and made this mosaic. No wonder her hands hurt! That girl is crazy to the max. And I mean that in a very nice way.

BTW, I made it to the next round and now I have to "Reduce, Re-Use and Recycle" in between tons of reading, another annotated bibliography and working on a website consultancy project. If I could just Refuse....

I-Translate Mo

You know why I'm online so early... Well, I'm not really waiting to find out who gets eliminated today at the Scrappin Moms Idol contest. Nah...I'm doing online research. It's just accident that my fingers keep on refreshing a particular site.

And while I was "researching", I chanced upon Tim Holtz's schedule for CKU-Japan. That's the closest CKU comes to Manila, so mentally going through my list of friends in Japan, I started dreaming. But then I couldn't read the announcement. So I tried Google Translator and it gave me this:

2009 Workshop Iskedyul:

JULY 2009 Hulyo 2009
Carson Stamp Convention Carson stamp Convention
DEMO & MAKE/TAKE
DEMO & GUMAGAWA / TAKE
July 11th-12th , 2009 11-12 Hulyo, 2009
Casron, CA. Casron, CA.
{click here for more info.} (i-click dito para sa karagdagang impormasyon.)

The Queen's Ink
Ang Reyna ng tinta
August 15th-16th, 2009 Agosto 15-16, 2009
Savage, MD. Savage, MD.
{click here for more info.} (i-click dito para sa karagdagang impormasyon.)

Creative Escape
Creative makatakas
August 27th-29th, 2009 August 27th-29th, 2009
Chandler, AZ. Chandler, AZ.
{click here for more info.} (i-click dito para sa karagdagang impormasyon.)

SEPTEMBER 2009 Septiyembre 2009
Ink About It
Tungkol sa tinta Ito
August 11th-12th, 2009 August 11th-12th, 2009
Westford, MA. Westford, MA.
{click here for more info.} (i-click dito para sa karagdagang impormasyon.)

OCTOBER 2009 Oktubre 2009
Artful Voyage in Mexico
Higad maglayas sa Mexico
October 11th-18th , 2009 Oktubre 11th-18th, 2009
Mexico Mehiko
{click here for more info.} (i-click dito para sa karagdagang impormasyon.)

I'm especially interested in the caterpillar in Mexico workshop. Wonder if Tim Holtz used alcohol or distress inks. Maybe he hammered the poor bug to death using his textured hammer. Boink boink!

Somebody post the results already, please.

NOTE: In Tagalog, higad has nothing to do with art. LOL.