Whispering School Girls

First I love this picture... from a children's rhyme book, but second, things never change!

 Girls still whisper at school and there is always one girl who is working! 

(That was me in grade school.... not so much in high school... I was more like the whisperer!)

Back to School!

I will be back to school next week as a Reading Interventionist!

I'm not always thrilled when school starts... (it means my own children are a year older!), but I am always ready for a regular schedule again! I get more done! :)

G45 Couture "Style"

Using Graphic 45's Couture line, I made a little "Style" book. 

My plan was a beautiful book my "Fashionista" daughter to keep notes and pictures.

The little ribbon has a bauble, heart charm, flower and typewriter charm. I painted a Tim Holtz ornate metal frame around the word that was already on the paper.

I added envelopes already included with the line's embellishments but I also made a few. 

Basically I made every left side a collage of beautiful G45 paper and embellishments, and the right side is a pocket with envelopes and journaling cards.

This section is my favorite. The left side folds out. 

There is a set of 4 beautiful ladies that look like pictures or sort of a trading card. So I used these 4 to decorate these 2 pages and the 2 inside that fold out. (see next picture)

This is the back. I just had to add one more embellishment!

Water and Paint Stamping

Here are two tags I tried water stamping. 

I sprayed with Dylusions spray first- Funky Fushia and Purple. I put embossing ink on my stamp, spritzed it with water and stamped. I think I pushed a little too hard-- it looks squishy!

This tag I used Peeled Paint Distress Ink first. Then I put Picket Fence Paint on my stamp and stamped two times on both corners. I like how the paint stamp looks better than the water. But I'll keep practicing!

Last Lazy Day of Summer!

Back to School Tomorrow!

A Flower Zentangle

Another "experiment".....

I hand drew the flower and leaves. I used only Tim Holtz's Distress marker in Fired Brick to do the petals. I used 2 shades of green for the leaves, but the bottom leaf appears brown! (It's not!)

 I used Peeled Paint and Forest Moss for the leaves. 

Then I used a black pencil and added background "lines" and shaded around the flower. 

This is probably the fastest Zentangle I've made! I stuck with simple tangles on the petals. Fun though!

Birthday Book

Using the Crate Paper Birthday Line, I made this Birthday book for The Scrapbooking Studio.

It is an album that could be used for the first 12 years of your child's life, or the first 12 months!

I made the binding and main pages out of kraft paper. Then I made pockets on every page using the Scrabble birthday paper for the pocket. I added numbers cut from the paper line. I added tags and journaling cards from the line. Every page has a different paper from the line. 

This last page I attached the Happy Birthday Vellum envelope for sticking any additional pictures or cards. 

Crate Paper Birthday "Party People"

This paper was so much fun to work with!! I designed this for The Scrapbooking Studio.

I had a blast with this page. The paper is so awesome-- using it is like an embellishment itself! So the "tags" are all from the paper line. It is washi "paper" on the left edge. The letters are Thickers and all the other embellishments--banner, pinwheels, balloon, "scrabble" letters, hat and buttons are all embellishments that coordinate with the line. 

I was writing about my 2 girls and 2 boys so the scrabble letters worked out perfectly!

I also made these cards. This tag is part of the paper I cut out.

Washi "paper" with embellishments added. 

Come down to the store to see them up close!

Graduation Ideas

This is my May Design Team for The Scrapbooking Studio. Yes.... this is a little late! May got crazy! I just figured out I never posted this!!

Anyway ... with Graduation paper from the studio, I created this layout of my first two children's graduations.

I added Tim Holtz rub-ons on the numbers I cut out. I made the one above my daughter with rub-ons representing her and the other one representing my son. 

Here are two cards. 

... and a frame with decorations on it. I made the tassel with a bunch of string wound around.

I thought this would look good as a frame for a grad or a write-on/wipe-off board at a grad party. This frame stands up or you could lay it down with a marker on top and a note.....

"Leave a Message for the Grad"

A few plants in my garden

This is my Annabelle Hydrangea. Look how huge 1 flower is! I love it! These dry really well and I have them in my house all winter!

This is a new corner I created in my smallest garden. It was "weird" and random looking. But I added the pot and moved my kid statue from another spot in my yard and ... voila! Love it!

Purple Passion Zentangle

I was playing with this Tim Holtz Flourish stamp -- using Tim Holtz Distress markers in three shades of purple and coloring it in. I decided to just put a Zentangle in the middle in the same colors. I used a Zentangle book and tried new Zentangles I haven't tried before. 

I really like the look of the hearts with lines behind them, the spiral made out of  circles, and the "leaves" in the bottom right corner. The random boxes with dots was so simple, but has a nice look.

I got all my markers from The Scrapbooking Studio.

Top Pot

Some of my flower pots turned out beautifully this year! This is my new favorite!

It is a "permanent" pot. I have small sized Hostas and a fern in a huge pot so it stays all year.

This is my Coleus pot. I have 6 different Coleus in this pot. It's by the front door.

Geraniums, sweet potato vine (dark and light green), spike, impatiens and vinca vine.

Begonias....

Coleus and New Guinea Impatiens...

Frog Angel

This is my mix of Dyan Reavley stamps, and a greenish sort of Zentangle behind. (The red was a bleed from the next page.)

I sprayed Dyan's Green on the page first.

I made the angel on manila with Dyan's stamps. Frog head, hat, hearts, body and legs. Then I  colored with Distress Markers, cut out and glued on. 

Then I used my darkest Distress Marker (Forest Moss) and added some lines. 

Isn't he cute? (or is it a she?... Not sure)

Green Green Green Zentangle

Green being my favorite color........I decided to do a Zentangle only in my 3 green Distress Markers. I have Peeled Paint, Forest Moss and Sage. I made a border out of tissue tape and then drew within that box. Not my favorite Zentangle, but I consider this a learning one. I really like how the swirly circles and  "flower" shape inside the squares turned out. 

Pick a favorite color and try one yourself! It's never "right or wrong" it's You!

The finished Zentangle....

Well I finished it.

The other day I posted a partially done Zentangle. 

Partially done Zentangle

This is it- finished.

 Colored it and shaded just the outside of the box. I used a white pen on the "blue box" and 

markers for coloring. I just use a colored pencil I can smudge with my finger for shading.

I must say.... this has been very relaxing!

Hummingbird

I saw this picture and it made me think of the little hummingbird I saw in my garden the other day! It was amazing, beautiful, tiny and very close to me! First hummingbird I've seen at my house in 15 years!

I wish it would have sat on my finger for a minute!

A partially done Zentangle

I decided to be brave and show you a Zentangle that I've started but haven't finished. I'll do the last three boxes and then color and shade. I'll show you the finished product..... when I have time to finish it. 

Isn't she Gorgeous! I want to know who she is!

Looking at old pictures actually drives me crazy. I always wonder who the person is. Who 

is she related to? Where are her relatives? Do they know her picture is on the internet???

......then I wonder if I any of  my relatives are floating around in some antique store anywhere..... 

or the internet??

A Zentangle Heart

I've been playing Zentangle lately again. It's what I've been doing in my art journal recently. I started with the 3 heart shapes. I added the border to the bottom heart. Then I drew patterns and wavy lines inside each heart. I doodled/tangled in those divisions. Then I got out my Distress Markers (from The Scrapbooking Studio) and started coloring and shading. I used a Tim Holtz water brush to create the shading. I added the leaves last and tried to keep the same pattern on those. Then I took a bluish-gray colored pencil and created shading under the big heart  the purple heart and the leaves. I really like how it turned out. I don't always like it when I'm done... but I keep trying and learning!

Don't you wish we could still wear hats?

 I wish we could still wear clothes like this!
and hats!

All About Me

I had won this beautiful scrapbook from The Scrapbooking Studio so I decided to use some beautiful Authentique paper that was all green, black and white (since that is my favorite color combination),

I made an opening page.......

Then I made pages for different things I love.......

English Things

Green of course.....

Christmas......

School things (by day I'm a teacher!)

Bird things.....I don't really like birds, but I love birds, nests, eggs, birdcages on PAPER.....

Hearts......

and that's it.... each page was actually two pages. It was really fun to make something for me!