Lori's Artsy Obsession

Saturday, November 15, 2014

There's Something Something Magical About The Sky

Hello,

There's something magical about the sky. I see myself looking up quite often and never seem to get tired of it.

The day shots are taken from a plane so I am actually looking down on the clouds. They remind me of calving glaciers.

The night shots had so many colors coming through it was amazing. I did not capture the true colors in these pictures.

I used sand color cardstock because both pictures had some of that color in them. Then I stamped the words, quotes and added the clouds with cream metallic chalks (just for the record, I am not a fan of the cream chalks and will not purchase again). Then to finish it off I sprayed some perfect pearls for the shimmer. I did place a piece of paper over the pictures while I stamped, stenciled, and sprayed.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Friday, November 14, 2014

Testing

This blog post is just a test to see if the scheduling a post works. I created this post on November 13 @ 6:15am and have it scheduled to post at 5:00am on November 14.

To make it interesting....I'm sharing this picture. A total blooper from the bread bag.

And it worked... I checked on November 14 at 5:29am and the post was posted. For once I figured something out on the first try.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Sticker Art ATC Swap

Happy Sunday,

I completed my ATCs for the Sticker Art ATC Swap over at ATCsForAll.com. Here's how they came out.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Glue Dot Holder

I just wanted to share a tip on how I am going to store my glue dots for easy access. I purchased a toilet paper holder and put the glue dots in order by size. Now I have easy access.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

A Year In The Making

Greetings,

Today I would like to share a project that has been in the making since November 2013. I came across this layout on Pinterest a while back and loved the idea so I gave it a try.

My granddaughter Brooklyn was born on November 17th. Each of the pictures are taken closest to the 17th of each month that I was able to get.

I started with 12 (just shy of 3x4) mats that I stamped November through October on. Then each month I would decorate the mat and add it to the 12x12 cardstock background.

I'm very happy with the way this came out that I may want to continue doing this till she graduates high school. It shouldn't be that hard to continue to get a picture each month with all this technology we have these days.

The first mat being newborn so the next sheet would start her 1 year photos and so on.

Let me know what your thoughts are on continuing this project. Is it a good idea or a bad one?

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Playing at Mima's House

Good Morning,

Here's a layout I did using the Scrapbook Factory Quick Layout. All I had to do was add my pictures, words and a few extra embellishments.

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Catching up on Some Projects

Happy Saturday,

Today I am catching upon some layouts and ATCs.

My first layout was of a Sunday afternoon wine tasting. I loved all the fall decorations and had to take some pictures. I did end up buying two bottles of wine to bring home. I really like the way the background came out on this layout. I used a patterned paper that had a very faint pattern and then stamped the pumpkin with orange ink, stamped the wine bottles with brown ink, glasses with a rose ink and grapes in a violet ink you can barely see them. After all was said and done I should have stamped with the papers together so partial image would be on both pages. Oh well, I'll know for next time.

My second layout was our first trip to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. My plan was to make a mini album of all the countries, their food and what we were tasting. That didn't happen. I only took a few photos, but I did mark down each of the foods we tried and from what country it came from. When I got home I went to the website and copied the pictures of the food we tried from their country's food menu. Believe it or not the pictures are pretty much what the food actually looked like. I was a bit disappointed that we were not able to try something from each of the countries but even sharing the foods (you get one to two bites) you get pretty full fast. Plus we drank a lot of water cause it was pretty hot. We were there for about six hours stopping between the countries and watching people walk by.

My two favorite foods were from...

Poland - Kielbasa and potato pierogi with caramelized onions and sour cream (pic under the 3rd and 4th pic in 1st row)
Brazil - Crispy pork belly with black beans, tomato, and cilantro (largest pic in center)

My two favorite drinks were from...

Canada - La Face Neige Apple Ice Wine (1st pic top row)
Belgium - Chilled Coffee featuring Godiva Chocolate Liqueur (bottom row 3rd pic)

These are the ATC JAMs I worked on. For those that do not know what an ATC is, it is an Artist Trading Card that measures 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. A JAM (just add more) is a set of 3 like ATCs that is worked on by three people. The first person makes the bases, the second person starts the theme and the third person finishes them off and mails one back to the first person and one to the second person and keeps one for themselves. You can add what ever you want to the ATCs. If you like to doodle you doodle, if you like mixed media you do that there are really no rules once they are in your hands, however, sometimes you may find a note not to use fibers or no international etc. We don't want someone to have an allergic reaction if they are allergic to a particular medium or can't get the card back home cause they can't ship internationally. The group I'm in has a list of names and address with their limitations so it seems to work out great.

On this ATC JAM I was the third person and added the broom.

On this ATC JAM I was also the third person and I added the penguin brad, blue crystal snowflake and the 3 blue dew drops.

I will be sending these home in Mondays mail.

Anyone here interested in doing a ATC JAM or just an ATC swap. Let me know. I'll be more than happy to organize.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Plans Always Change

Happy Monday,

This weekend I had planned to catch up on all my scrapbooking pages, ATC swaps, JAMs and make a birthday card. Saturday I had some cleaning to do before I was able to start on my mission and actually got two 2 page layouts completed (previously posted). Sunday I thought would be my power day. My husband and Son-in-law went to sell at a local Swap Meet. Hubby left the house at 3:00am and would be gone all day. House was cleaned and I was ready to go. I get down stairs and start pulling out my supplies to get and my Mother-in-law calls and asked if I was going to be home. I told her yes so she stopped over for a coffee before she made her way to Bingo. After she left I headed back downstairs to continue on with my mission of catching up on all my projects I need to get done. I started putting my layout of Brooklyn together and got a phone call from my son asking if I could babysit. I went into fast speed and finished this layout so I could spend the rest of the afternoon with my little B-Nut.

Plans Always Change. Now I have new pictures that will have to be scrapped.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

2nd Annual Lobster Bake

Hello,

I have two layouts to share today.

"Girl Time" was a girls get-a-way at Pine Acres Family Camping Resort in Oakham, MA. We rented a trailer located on the water. It had two bedrooms and plenty of space for us to scrapbook. Kim actually did scrapbooking, I was on a mission making ATCs. Originally we had rented a cabin but it was not waterfront. When we were talking to the lady at the desk checking us in she mentioned they have three new water front trailers that we might like. We decided to change to the trailer. She told us if we didn't like the trailer we could move to the cabin. This was off season and the camp was pretty much empty. We did a Tuesday to Thursday trip.

"2nd Annual Lobster Bake" was a layout I did basically to show off my new lobster pot. We borrowed pots from the French Model Council Club last year. We had to steam the lobsters in the pots over my fire pit because the pots are so large. The bottoms of the pots turned black from the fire and it took us forever to clean them. This year I purchased my own pot. I figure if it turns black on the bottom I will wash it best I can and call it good. It's not like I'm going use this pot on my kitchen stove, it would never fit. I also bought the propane burner for the pot. It worked out very well.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Amazing View

Just wanted to share these photos. I took them while in flight to Orlando. I thought they were just breathtaking.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Hello My Crafty Friends,

As it goes, I have another set of ATCs for a swap at ATCsForAll.com.

This swap had a catchy title that caught my eye as I was scrolling to see what might peek my interest. "Emboss It - This Ain't Your Mamas ATC". Naturally I had to embossed it. I used a new set of stamps from FLONZ clear stamps unmounted UM acrylic 12// Japan Girls in Kimono.

Sorry I pulled the picture from Ebay where I purchased the stamps and they are very hard to see. Hope fully you can get a better idea with my ATCs.

I used a black embossing powder and heat set it with my heat gun. Used some Spectra Noir Color Pencils and Gamsol to color the background and the girls. Around the edges I used the floral stamp that came with the set and stamped half on and half off the cards. Little touches of green and pink Stickles finished them off.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Available for Trade

Happy Saturday,

After the daunting chore of window washing, I snuck away to create. I was in the mood for a little coloring and decided to make an ATC. I love this time of the year and all the wonderful colors that will start popping up all over. This card is listed up for trade at ATCsForAll.Com. I'm hoping someone will want to trade for it.

I colored the image with Koh-I-Noor Tritone Color Pencils, inked the edges, added the ladybug sticker, puff butterflies, picket fence border, rub-on zig zag, plastic hedgehog, glitter centers and quote.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

House Shaped Halloween Houses

Happy Sunday,

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend. I spent my day today working on some ATC cards for a swap over at ATCsForAll. The theme was "House shaped Halloween Houses". Only rule is no digital and no stickers. I used Halloween papers and fussy cut, used some paper punches, plastic embellishments and brads. I think they came out pretty cute. I don't usually do Halloween themed crafts. I'd rather focus on the Autumn season itself, but I figure I'd give these a try.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Mary Knapp, Consultant for Close to My Heart

Greetings,

Who loves Close to My Heart supplies???

Ever wonder where to find a consultant???

No need to wonder any longer!

Just click on the below link and shop away!

Close to My Heart

I also added a quick link in the left hand sidebar for easy access.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Happy Sunday,

I just wanted to share a simple birthday card I made today.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Greetings,

It's been quite a while since I have posted any of my projects mainly because all I have been doing is working on ATC cards for a JAM group I participate in. That group is made up of a bunch of fun and friendly artists and boy do they keep me busy. I did pull my name off the swap list for two weeks, got caught up on all the JAMs I had to complete, got them in the mail and decided to work on a few projects of my own.

So the first layout I did was about relaxing one evening out in the back yard with the hubby, a glass of wine and a bonfire. As you can see I wasn't the only one enjoying the evening. Just in case anyone was wondering...no he did not fall a sleep and spill his wine but I was actually waiting for that to happen.

The second layout was a night out at the local paint bar. This was a gift to my hubby from my daughter for father's day. We had a great time and my husband actually picked the painting we all did. You guessed it Wine theme. I has a slight mishap with mine hence the spilling wine splash my painting has.

My third project is a fall greeting card. I make one every year for one of the girls at our corp office. I'm the crafter and send her crafty things and her hobby is making peanut brittle that she sends me. I think I have the better end of the deal but we won't tell her that.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

ATCs for Swap

Happy Sunday Evening,

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I spent my weekend cleaning up my craft room and catching up on the swaps I committed myself to. I have not been doing any scrapbook pages because I'm waiting for the scrapbook retreat to do those. I also plan on doing a baby mini album and a doggie mini album while I'm there. I'm sure I can accomplish a lot in 5 days of nothing but crafting. I'm going to have a blast. Hubby will be home painting. I guess that will be a vacation for him cause he can get some work done without me being around telling him how to do everything and getting in his way.

So on to my ATCs...

I stamped all the flowers with Versamark, used black embossing powder and colored them with Faber Castell Big Pens.

Top Left: The background was done with Gelatos, Shimerz Paint and a Punchanella.I used a button and some string for the center of the flower and perfect pearls to make the stem and leaf.
Top Right: This background was done with some Gelatos, Acrylic Paint, Watercolor Crayons and Tissue Paper sprayed with Perfect Pearls Ink Spray. I used the Perfect Pearls Tube to add the dots in the corner.
Bottom Left: This one I colored the background with 3 shades of Gelatos and then stamped with a script stamp. I did the same for the section of green for the sentiment. I used blue StazOn Ink. The center of this flower has some Glossy Accents.
Bottom Right: I used some left over paper that I made using the Gelli Plate and Acrylic Paints. I stamped some flowers with Tim Holtz orange Distress Ink and added the ribbon. Put a button with some string in the center of the flower and called it done.

I came across this Blog giving a free E-Class thought what a great project this would be. Although they are at the end of the class I can start at the beginning and do it on my own ... unless there is someone else who would like to work along with me. The class is "52 Weeks of Being Me". It's basically 52 weeks of soul searching and loving yourself. Thanks to Scrapwordsmom for posting this. Here's the link to her website.

http://wordsofmeproject.blogspot.com/p/welcome-to-my-year-long-and-free-e-class.html

Hope everyone has a great week.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Saturday, February 8, 2014

1000 Subscribers Giveaway!

Einat Kessler's 1000 Subscribers Giveaway

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPdD0ifkS1vKYPs3zgDx3YQ

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Mountain Meadows Lodge, VT

Happy Sunday,

It's been a while since I posted any projects and that's cause I haven't really done any lately. I'm saving all my projects for a scrapbook retreat at Mountain Meadows Lodge, VT I'm going on in March. Five days four nights of crafting. Doesn't get much better than that. I'm hoping we have some nice weather so we can walk around the grounds. It's so beautiful. They have a pot belly pig named Alice that roams around the grounds. There are some goats and sheep and a miniature pony that I hope to get some good photos of.

http://mountainmeadowslodge.com/

It's such a warm and welcoming place. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the gals from last years retreat and hope to meet some new friends this year. If you think you might be interested in joining us just contact the lodge and let them know you are inquiring about Jane's Group March 19 - March 23.

I will be working on one ATC for a swap at the Art Colony http://community.art-is-fun.com/ It's called Late and Your Style Valentine Swap and can be done in any medium. Late because the mail date deadline is Feb 26th. This is such a fun group. The last swap I did with this group was the Endangered Cats. That was a few posts back. Once I complete the ATC I will upload a copy to post. Hopefully in the next few days. I want to have it done so as soon as the swap partner list is posted I can get it in the mail early just in case I get an overseas partner. I don't like having my swaps show up late.

I completed my ATC tonight. I made the base paper using my Gelli Plate pale pink and gold acrylic paints and a swirl stencil. I then stamped using a script stamp and pink distress ink. Then I used red StazOn and stamped the hearts. Added some texture using Shimmerz Paints and a flower stencil around the edges and finished it off with the heart jewels.

Well until next time, hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Friday, December 13, 2013

Sleepy Girl & Popper's Precious Girl Layouts

Hey There,

It's Friday night, hubby went to bed, tv is turned off, dog is with hubby and I have a nice hot cup of tea near me and I'm wide awake. What better time to post two more layouts that I completed. I'm trying very hard to stay on top of them so I don't fall behind. I have another 4 piles of pictures printed ready to go and if I get to have the Bnut ( my nickname for my granddaughter) this weekend, I'm sure I will end up with another large pile after I get those printed. Well anyway...on to my layouts.

Lets Scrap inspiration sketch 5-23-12

Here's what I came up with

Now this layout was entered in the Let's Scrap Our Stash challenge #33.
I needed to use the following...

2 patterned papers (black/gray printed paper & raspberry color print paper)
2 card stock (bee & flowers for the butterfly trail)
2 die cuts (bee & flowers for the butterfly trail)
2 flowers ( purple flower & flowers for the butterfly trail)
2 blings (butterfly & jewels on the flowers on the butterfly trail)

I has a 2fer and a 3fer on this layout... hehehehe... the bee counted twice, the flowers for the butterfly trail counted 3 times.
In the pictures are Jason, my son-in-law, Tammy my daughter and Brooklyn my granddaughter. Tammy and Jason are Aunt and Uncle to Brooklyn not the parents. Tammy had this hat made in Seattle WA at a craft booth at Pikes Place Market while we were there on vacation. We didn't think the crafter would be done by the time our tour bus was ready to leave but she did it and I think that hat is so stinkin cute with the flower and the bee.

Now, on to the second layout...

Let's Scrap inspiration sketch 4-27-11

My take on the sketch...

I love these pictures, my hubby actually is holding Brooklyn while she is awake. Poor guy everytime he held her before she was always sleeping. Now she is wide awake. Look at her little fingers holding his... it just swells my heart. He is going to be called Popper. The journaling reads "I thought I had forgotten how to hold a baby but my arms remember". I thought that fit perfect with the pictures.

Well my tea is just about gone, I'm going to check the weather one last time and hit the hay. We are in for a big snowstorm tomorrow so I'll be home bound for the weekend...and that's fine by me.

Hope everyone has a great night!

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Thursday, December 12, 2013

I Believe In Santa

Greetings,

Today I have another layout to share. This layout is for a challenge#34 Shades of Blue in the group Let's Scrap Our Stash at Let's Scrap.

Inspiration Sketch 09-09-09

My take on the sketch

Now to explain a little about this layout. My picture was taken with Santa today at work (notice my shirt is blue). We had a Meeting/Christmas Party where Santa showed up. I had to have my picture taken in front of our beautiful tree (notice the wall behind the tree is blue). I took two pictures of the tree, one with the lights on and one with them off. Cut the two in half and swapped a side to get that look. I used a tag I made from a tag swap last year that was left over (I always make extras when I do swaps). I think I met all requirements for this challenge (Shades of Blue).

Now on to make challenge #35. Stay tuned to see what I came up with.

These are a lot of fun. Why not visit http://letsscrap.ning.com/ and give one of the challenges a try. At the very least you will be inspired to get some of your own pages made.

Monday, December 9, 2013

2 More Layouts

Happy Monday,

Why does the weekend go by so fast? I could use another day off, what about you?

Yesterday I worked on two layouts. I used inspiration sketches from Let's Scrap. To visit their site you can click here... http://letsscrap.ning.com/

The first layout was from sketch 12-29-10

Here's my take on the layout...

The second layout was from sketch ...

and here's my take on the layout...

I need some practice on sewing on paper. I was worried that the paper would rip so I let the machine pull it where it wanted so the border ended up very crooked and uneven. I wonder if I would have used a zigzag stitch it would not tend to move around so much. I will give that a try the next time.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Mima's Girl

Hi There,

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Tonight I did a 2 page layout of the adorable little Brooklyn and her Mima (Moi). I used sketch tagged 11-7-12 from Let's Scrap.

Here's the inspiration sketch...

Here's my take on the sketch...

I wanted to spritz some perfect pearls but the sprayer was clogged. I tried to wash it but it still didn't work so I ended up just doing some drops around the page.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Brooklyn's Baby Album

Good Morning,

I wanted to start a baby album for Brooklyn's first year. I still have to do the layout of the ultra sound photos but I haven't quite figured out how I want to do them yet. It will be a one page layout as it's the first page in the album when I figure it out.

For the day that Brooklyn arrives, I chose to use a sketch from " Lets Scrap" You can click the link here to visit http://letsscrap.ning.com/?xg_source=badge

This sketch is tagged 5-5-12.
INSM12#6, 5-5-12 Scrap Yourself Scrapping!

INSM12#6, 5-5-12 Scrap Yourself Scrapping!

Here's my take on the sketch...

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Ornaments for Festival of Trees

Good Morning,

I'm just doing this quick post to share the two ornaments I made for the Festival of Trees. The first one I did was the Christmas Tree. I used Acrylic paints, glitter, glossy accents, perfect pearls, and fibers. The picture doesn't show the fibers all that well. The second one I did was the Peacock Feather. On this one I coated the base with gesso and went over it with golden shimmer acrylic paint. I then used a peacock feather stencil with some modeling paste. Once that was dry I used liquid pearls to follow the pattern of the feather and added the ribbon.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Welcome Our Little Brooklyn

Happy Sunday!!!

Well it is a happy Sunday for our family. Today at 6:59pm our little grand-baby Brooklyn made her appearance. Mom, dad and baby Brooklyn all doing fine. I'm sure you'll be seeing lots of layouts being posted over the next few months... but for now here's a little peak of our little beauty.

Day 1

Day 2

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Endangered Cats ATC Swap

Happy Saturday,

Over at the Art Colony the Swap Art Group was having an Endangered Cat ATC swap. I picked the Arabian Sand Cat and the White Lion for my choice of cats. Here's what I came up with. I will be sending to my swap partners on Monday.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Tree Tops

Happy Saturday,

Today I made a layout inspired by sketch 4-25-12 over at Lets Scrap. Here's the inspiration layout.

Here's my take on the inspiration layout.

The first four pictures were taken on Friday 11/1 in the evening around 5:00pm. The second three pictures were taken this morning 11/2 around 8:30am. I was sitting in the same chair in the same spot when I took these pictures through my family room window. It's pretty amazing how different the tree tops look with about the same amount of light outside but being different times of the day.

Thanks for visiting my Blog. Please feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear what you have to say about my post. If you dont have the time to leave a comment please check one of the reaction boxes. I appreciate all feedback. Hope you can stop back soon. ((Hugs)) Lori