Brrr!

Hi there, loyal fans & readers! Although I haven't had time to do much creative fun stuff, I don't want you to think I've forgotten about you. Today's post is just to say "hello" and to let you know what's going on in my corner of the world.

I just got home from work. Nothing unusual about that, except for one thing. Normally, when I get home from work in the month of May, I don't turn on the heater. Today is an exception. The house felt cold when I came in, so I checked the thermostat. It was 65 degrees! That might sound just right to you, but it's a little too chilly for me. Now don't get me wrong. I am grateful to have a good heating system. I don't have to go out and chop wood and start a fire to get warm. However, to someone raised in the southern half of the U.S., it doesn't seem right that on May 29, we still may need our heater. Sigh.

Hope to get back to fun stuff next week.
Immi

Paperweight

I've been spending most of my creative energy on catching up with the school scrapbook, so I haven't had much time for personal creative endeavors. However, I did promise recently to post a picture of another paperweight I made. This was made at the same time I made paperweights for my co-workers at Christmas a couple of years ago, so it's the same style.

I knew I wanted something with an old-world feel. I have lots of reproductions of wonderful old paintings (rescued from the library weeding), so I pulled out an assortment that I thought my intended recipients would like. I took them to a copy place, and made reduced size color copies of each one. I did a little cutting and pasting to get them all on a couple of sheets, and then made color transparencies out of them. This enabled me to create a layered effect with text or a map behind the transparency of the painting.

Once I had the color copies made, it was simply a matter of trimming everything to the size of the backing and putting it all together.

Thanks for looking!

Immi

Tribute to a Friend

One of the couples from church is moving away soon. We're really going to miss the whole family. They've been such a great asset, and fun to boot!

I wanted to make something to give her before she leaves, and I thought about some blank paperweights I've got. These are so easy to make it's almost ridiculous! I made several for my co-workers a couple of years ago for Christmas, and they were well received. I made one for myself then, so I'll post a picture of that one another day.

This one is a patterned scrapbook paper, a sticker, a paper flower, and a button. I wasn't kidding when I said they're easy - practically foolproof. The hardest part was choosing which paper and which flower. Once I had that done, the rest took maybe 5 minutes. The blank paperweights can be ordered online, and come with the glass, a pre-cut form with adhesive on one side for your decorative elements, and a "velvet" paper backing, also with adhesive on one side.

Keep creating,
Immi

Cool Shades

Like most toddlers, A enjoys trying on sunglasses. He's got his own, but it's fun wearing Immi's, too. I thought the shirt really added to the cute factor of these pictures (although contrary to the shirt's phrase, he doesn't get up to much mischief!). Mom and Dad are really thoughtful about having him wear something I've bought when we see them. Abba & Immi had a great time hanging out with A in the backyard. It's great to be grandparents!

Aunt Sooks' Sunglasses

Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed by my pack-rat tendencies; other times I'm smugly virtuous when I have an opportunity to use up something I've had around for a while. (Surely you've guessed by now that I'm currently feeling smugly virtuous!)

I first started a scrapbook when my beautiful daugher (Sooks Malooks) was a senior in high school. I conceived the insane notion of chronicling all her school years in scrapbook form to be displayed at her graduation open house. I stocked up on variety packs of cardstock (almost everything back in those olden days was 8.5 x 11), page protectors, and stickers. This was the heyday of decorative scissors & stickers - everything looks much more sophisticated and artsy now.

Thanks to dumb luck, I had saved samples of school work from kindergarten in separate folders. I say dumb luck, because when I went to conferences, the teachers would present me with a "folder" made of construction paper that my child had decorated for the occasion. Without that, I would have had a mess with no idea what belonged to each year. (My advice is to do this yourself, if your child's teacher doesn't do it for you - you won't be sorry!)

All this is leading up to today's post. The stickers on this page are leftovers from doing first my daughter's and then my son's school scrapbooks. I saw a similar idea in a magazine the other day, and knew at once that this was how I could make use of those stickers. (The photos are of A, wearing Sooks' sunglasses.) I honestly don't come up with many original layouts, but I don't mind using someone else's ideas - that's why those magazines are there!

Happy creating!
Immi

Birthday Boy

I promised in the post with last year's birthday pictures that I wouldn't wait a whole year before scrapbooking birthday #2. Here are some photos from A's birthday party last weekend. Although A is not quite two, his parents thought that since family from far distances would be in town for graduation, it made sense to have all the fun in one big party. He's still young enough that he doesn't quite "get" the whole party idea, but he didn't seem as startled as he did last year when everyone suddenly started singing to him! Since the cake wasn't quite cool enough, we started off with birthday cookies (plenty big enough for 2 candles!).

It was a lot of fun to watch his reactions to his presents. Some things merited only a quick glance; others received very close attention. It's hard to appreciate so much new stuff all at once; he would have liked to sit and play for a while before moving on to the next thing. The foam blocks needed to be tasted (much to mom & dad's disapproval); the plastic dome-shaped lid to a bucket of sand toys made a great hat. He seemed very intrigued with some He-man figures (chip off the old block), and looked them over very carefully. I also thought he did a pretty good job of sharing with his cousin. What a great kid!

Have a great week, and do something creative.
Immi

Birthday Boy

After returning from a weekend celebration of my grandson's 2nd birthday, I felt it was high time to scrapbook photos of his first birthday!! I got some fun photos while we were there, but I need to edit them a little bit before printing them out. I promise, I won't wait a whole year to scrapbook birthday #2. (Now that I've put it in black & white, I can't go back!)



As you can see, from the top photo, he was a little overwhelmed with all the hoopla. There he was, minding his own business, when everyone starts singing and clapping. I can understand how that would be startling when you've never experienced a birthday before. He got some fun presents that he's still playing with, and his own little birthday cupcake (dad had to help a little with blowing out the candle).



Why not pull out some pictures and do a scrapbook page today?

Immi

Confessions of a Lazy Scrapbooker

I have a confession to make: I'm a lazy scrapbooker. Yes, I know it's shocking beyond belief, but it's true! I admit to you all, that I don't put a lot of time into the majority of my layouts. I look at the wonderful magazines and imagine myself doing work worthy of gracing the cover. The colors are carefully chosen, and each piece of the layout is placed just so. They're so appealing! Then I sit down with my pictures, and I can't summon the energy to make mine that cool. Sometimes I think I'll "scraplift" a layout, but it never quite turns out that way.

Anyway, here's a layout (long overdue) of the A-man last summer, "drinking" coffee from Abba's cup. Don't worry, mom, he didn't get even a taste! It sure looks like he's into it, doesn't it!

My printer won't handle 12x12 paper, so I used a trick I learned in one of those beautiful glossy magazines. I created a text box in Word, and sized it so that it would line pretty much half way on a 12" piece of paper (keeping in mind that Word assumed I was using 11"). I cut off a strip from the big piece of paper and adhered it with a temporary adhesive to an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. I ran it through the printer, and removed my cardstock strip from the paper. I taped the cut strip to the rest of the page on the back. To help cover up the seam, I used a black piece of rick rack. Guess it pays off to read those magazines after all!

Pull out some pictures, and do a simple layout; as long as you like it, that's what counts!
Immi

Chicken Collage

Here's a chicken collage that was fun to make. Instead of painting a used book cover for the base, I covered this one with paper. I pulled out odds and end of "stuff" to put this together. The tag is a shipping tag, stamped with a crackle stamp. The chicken image is from a calendar, with a scrap of paper behind it. It's mounted on a piece of cardboard, with the top layer removed so you can see the ridges. A label from something is at the top. Behind the tag is a small piece of cheesecloth. This is a great material to use to add texture - works for collages, cards, scrapbooks, etc.

The three pieces of ephemera at the top of the collage are from a collection I've got. I had the great opportunity several years ago to work at a high school library that underwent a massive weeding of a very out-of-date collection. I received permission to take anything not earmarked for teacher use in the classroom. I spent hours ripping apart books to save images that interested me. I didn't spend a lot of time analyzing what I took; whatever caught my eye was fair game. I ended up with files full of great stuff for collages, as well as a large supply of book covers.
I don't remember where the irregularly shaped gold piece came from. I think it's hot glue with embossing powder over it, but I don't remember for sure. The red "t" is something I picked up somewhere and added to my "junk". I love to look through this junk (some of it received in trades) when I'm doing a collage. Sometimes I'll find just the right thing to finish a project.

Finally, some multicolored thread is strung along the right edge. There are some beautiful variegated threads in the fabric store; you should check them out.

Keep experimenting!

Immi

Collage

Here's a sample of a collage I did using an old book cover as the base. I like to keep these handy at my painting station. (See http://experimentsincreativity.blogspot.com/2008/04/finished-metal-tray.html) I usually glue used gift tissue paper down first (although I didn't do that first on this one). I like the wrinkles. I wrap the paper around to the back, but I don't worry about how the back looks. Later, I'll choose paper to cover it up.


For this collage, I'd already done some painting with craft store acrylic paints. I used a variety of stamps on some tissue paper, then glued that over the painted surface. The paint color can still be seen, but is toned down considerably. I began playing around with placement of images. Once I know where I want them, they're glued down. Sometimes the glue I use is craft glue; other times I'll use acrylic medium. After the gluing is done and dried, I do coat the piece with acrylic medium to protect it. Then I pulled out some pearl beads, a butterfly charm, and a piece broken off a decorative bobby pin. When I had them where I wanted them, they were adhered with Diamond Glaze. I use inexpensive stands from he craft store to display these.



Have fun creating!



Immi

Chair Re-do

Sooks Malooks sent me these photos of a chair she re-upholstered. You can see how booooring the chair cover was before. It's amazing what a change of fabric can do! I think the fabric she chose it such an improvement. For very little cash outlay, she's got a great chair. Nice job, Sooks!





Find a way to create today.


Immi

Free Download

Lisa Volrath is providing free images related to mother's day for download. The only caveat is to post a link to her site before downloading. Here is the link: http://countdown.tentwostudios.com

Enjoy!
Immi