be gentle

i like to read blogs. one that i enjoy is eclectic paperie. i've been a subscriber for a while and have admired many a project - like their name indicates, they are eclectic: many different projects and styles..... i find myself moving more towards art journaling and many of the projects and tutorials are great inspiration. check them out. anyway, the whole point of sharing that is to preface this:

what does one have to do with the other you ask? it is for a challenge over at eP. now, i'm not really a challenge girl, but for some reason i thought "hmm....you have everything you need, that might be fun." so i did. 

things to note: this paper pad is BIG (to me) at 14x17. it's a long hoarded kept remnant of my college days a hundred years ago. it's a sketch pad and of late, i've been using it as a surface protector while i paint, glue, etc in my smaller (i.e. more manageable) books. when one page gets sufficiently grungy, i use it in pieces on smaller projects. looking at it after reading the latest eP challenge i thought, "why not intentionally make a background that can be cut up and used." so i did. 

the challenge is to use gel medium....however you want. so i did. i created the dark purple stenciled circles by mixing some gel medium with shavings from a woodless colored pencil i was using just to see what would happen. wasn't sure i was really going to be happy because once mixed it was kind of an anemic looking purple. it darkened quite a bit while drying and i do like it. the resist circles are simply GM used straight from the jar on the same stencil, then i used Dylusions spray, vibrant turquoise and crushed grape, over the top and let it dry. there were some areas that didn't quite get covered very well so i  got out some evergreen bough and shaded lilac distress stains and fooled around with those. then just to play a bit more, out came the broken china distress paint.

it's ok, nothing to write home about but i think it will serve valiantly in many projects!

project life, week 7

frankly, it could have been titled: i had this done last sunday (ok, wednesday because i was waiting for the cool becky higgins journaling cards) but am too lazy to take pictures and post. but, i thought that might be a tad too long. so anyhoo, here we go. week 7.

the full spread. pretty basic. oh except i made a small flipper. i liked the look of the cupcake pick with the journaling card, but wanted  packaging from stuff the girls got for heart day. we'll get to that later.

see that 4x6 week card? isn't it fabulous? i love graph paper (i added the week 7 and black date strip on the bottom) and couldn't resist it. there is one for every month. don't 't you want them all? then head over and visit ms. valerie brown at live. click. scrapbook.  ok, onward. monday (top right) is a thank you from my 5 year old birthday twin. the cupcakes were made for valentines day tuesday and for bowling monday night (the girls on our 2 teams brought cupcakes for everyone). you may remember that i got a cool container for my birthday that i wanted to make a terrarium with. well, there it is. with all the layers, it turned out to be much shallower than i expected (and frankly i bought a LOT of plants) so i had to do a lot more planting (life's rough huh ;) i had most of the containers, only bought one more, the cool apothecary jar in the small, middle pic. lastly, a pic that i hope is familiar to many of you since i don't want to be the only one with what seems to be a continuous mess in my kitchen.

flowers! from mr. fast-lane! for valentines! it's been a while since i've gotten flowers. pre-go-go-gadget-girls, aka when we had disposable income, i used to buy fresh flowers every week. didn't realize how much i miss them.  the pink background is the paper the flowers were wrapped in. the bird. i wish he were mine. he was the most delicate shade of dove grey. absolutely gorgeous. i saw him in passing while getting stuff at the pet store and was struck. didn't think  mr. fast-lane would go for another bird so simply mentioned im passing a day or two later. surprisingly, mr. fast-lane said that was fine with him. i'm sure you can figure out the rest of the story. so now i am on the hunt for another little birdy. oh, oh, do you see the cupcake pick? see the journaling card? isn't it fantastic? it's another freebie from valerie. you can get them here. i did get the re-do cards, but they are still smallish. even so, i love them. expect to see a lot of them!

and here's the 'flippy part' flipped. i had part of a disassembled page protector left (goodness, i keep everything) that i filled, closed and taped down with smashbook tape. the red paper is the other side of the pink paper the flowers were wrapped in. the 'stuff' in the pockets is the packaging from magic socks and face cloths the go-go-gadget-girls got for valentines day. they love all that magic grow stuff.  ooo, do you see it? another valerie journaling card! told ya i loved 'em. the cats. together. you may not realize what a minor miracle that is people. smudge (the cream cat) hates magda (black cat lest you have forgotten) because all magda wants to do is play, and smudge is oooooooold. 17 years old. her play is all gone. so anyway, minor miracle. also, please ignore the hideous carpeting. it is older than smudge. waaaaay older. probably around my age. it was here when we moved in and we haven't gotten around to replacing it. kinda has to do with that whole disposable income thing. not a whole lot of that with 3 growing go-go-gadget girls. lastly, a really bad picture of my pee wee friends. tiny little birds that are cute as dickens.

thanks for sticking with it. i said a lot this week. now i'm off to work on week 8! ttfn

winner, winner, chicken dinner!

yes, it is true. i. am. a. winner. ok, well at least to my friend, um, acquaintance, erm, woman whose blog i frequent, Tifani. and well, only because i entered a give-a-way. but hey, i won something! wanna see?

pretty neat huh? i'm so excited to break it all out and play. i'm most excited about the scissors, because not only are they cool looking, i, uh, can't seem to find my big green and orange fiskateer scissors. anyway, i'm sure i'll make something out of my loot here soon, but in the meantime, go over and visit Tifani at her blog Ink Blots, you'll be glad you did.

ttfn

happy wednesday

well it should be, but i have a sick child. go-go-gadget-girl 1 is complaining of a tummy ache. one thing you should know: i. hate. vomit. i have a very strict rule, nobody ever vomits alone in my presence. i just can't handle it. yuck. if you're here looking for project life, my apologies. i've got it all laid out in my head, but i am waiting for some lovely Becky Higgins goodness to hit my doorstep this afternoon to get my week from my head to my book. i got photopocket pages G and a couple of the journaling cards. i really want photopockets B but they may not be available until april (if then) so i'm really vacillating on getting the big variety pack 1. i'm not sure if i'd use all the different styles, but then again, maybe if i had them i would. i just don't know, and i already have so much 'stash' that i just hate to add to it. ack, i hate being so indecisive! enjoy your day, and i would love to see your project life in progress, so leave me a comment so i can check them out! ttfn.

project life, week 6

it was my birthday this week, and the girls got their progress reports,  ergo,  a few basic inserts

not really a full spread pic because of the inserts. that's a progess report. 

there i am. i'm blowing out the candles on my cupcakes at, wait for it, the bowling alley. yup, i'm in a league. myself and some friends from work decided to join on a lark. we'll never go pro, but we have a great time! anyway, we make a big to-do out of everyone's birthday and the whole alley joins in singing. good times. that's go-go-gadget girl 1 standing in the corner. mr. fast-lane's idea. she is currently 10 going on 17 and is starting to see how far she can push boundaries. i guess she pushed too far. some plants for a terrarium i am going to make once i get the container i bought for my birthday. the bottle caps are from an aMAZing mexican dinner we had on my birthday. little hole in the wall. totally authentic, even down to the spanish channel blaring on the tv in the corner. LOVED it!

2 inserts, this is the middle of them...another progress report, a touching birthday card, and a party hat one of the go-go-gadget girls made. still need to do some journaling there by the hat. pretty empty now.

the back of the insert, a portrait of moi that go-go-gadget girl 2a made. that's a pencil in my hair. yes, i usually have one stuck in there - although i don't wear a bun on the top of my head, it's a messy pony/bun in the back. 

and finally: art prep at work (a never ending job) go-go-gadget girl 1 reading with her best friends; pixel the pocket pal, and the go-go-gadget girls making dinner on sunday night.

gotta run, ttfn!

project life, week 5

this bodes....i am behind the times. good news? only in posting.....i've been too swamped (or lazy) to take pics of my project life these last couple weeks. so, if you're interested, here we go!

here's the full spread. the fun thing about this week, is that go-go-gadget girl 2a (that's her in the first pic on the left) took all the pictures this week! i think it's fun to see what someone else's perspective of life looks like, and what's better than an 8 year olds?

left side: 1st off, sorry for the crummy, out of focus photo. ok, again, there is go-go-gadget girl 2a, and those are her feet. no it's not warm enough for flip-flops here. first small pic is her twin, go-go-gadget girl 2b enjoying a chocolate-cherry blizzard; the first sign of spring, a primrose making it's way back; and edemame. last one is of go-go-gadget girl 2a & 2b's floor which is mostly clean.

and the right: some creative play by go-go-gadget girl 2a; the kitten discovered running water; the whole family went to a movie friday; mommy had a girls night out at the movies saturday; my card reader finally went belly up (it was OLD) and this was from the replacement; mr. fast-lanes arm (no idea why) and go-go-gadget girl 2a's pet "ocean"

love her pics. less than thrilled with some of my "embellishing" but that's the way the cookie crumbles. i got it done. love how she loves blue!

ttfn.

it's my birthday!

yup, big fat 46 today. love it. proud of my age, and have no problem saying it!