Dress Form Anyone?...

This is my dress form design for a swap at Life on the {Scrap}Beach. I used chipboard as the base which was cut out with the Tim Holtz Sewing Room die. I painted that with silver acrylic paint. I then made another dress form cut out of self-adhesive metal, this time cutting off the foot and head of the dress form and embossing it with a Sizzix embossing folder and then painting it with blue acrylic paint. The bottom of the dress is made out of metal that was cut using an on-the-edge die. I embellished the dress form with chains, a metal snowflake and a metal bottle cap filled with glitter and metal beads which was topped off with glossy accents. I also added some tulle for a little "femininity." I hope my swap partners enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it.

Once Upon a Springtime...

Hi everyone! With the onset of Spring, my "stay-at-home mom" duties multiply ten-fold. My chauffeuring schedule ramps up to an all-time frenzy shuffling my four kids to and from each class, party and/or sporting event. Unlike the airlines, when I'm overbooked, I can't just offer a free ticket or hotel room to get out of my obligation. I must figure out a way to get multiple kids to multiple activities all at the same time. I have yet to master the "carpooling" thing. I usually end up driving more than the other guy...so...I tend to not sign up for that and try to muddle through on my own. In between my crazy driving schedule and my "house-ly duties" of cleaning, washing clothes and cooking meals, I must find a little time for myself to get out and exercise and to play in my studio.

I have two pending swaps for Life on the {Scrap}beach. The one pictured here is almost ready to ship. It is hosted by Krystal and is 6x6 album page swap using the Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime collection. The other swap is a Tim Holtz Dress Form swap which, I confess, I have yet to begin. There may be a late night in my future in order to get these swaps done and out on time...(sigh)

Glitz and Glamour Jazz...

This is my creation for the Glitz and Glamour Jazz mini page swap for the Scrap{beach}. The swap is hosted by Elisa. The parameters for the swap were to use Tim Holtz's Baroque die as the base of the page, Graphic 45 Curtain Call papers, lace, pearls and bling and whatever else can be used to "junkque it up".

I really had fun with this one! I can't wait to see what others have done. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

A Time to Play...

Every artist needs a little time to play to keep their ideas fresh. That is precisely what I was doing this week. I just got some fabulous new stamps from Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi and just had to play. What fun it is to have no plan, no expectations, no deadlines and no rules to abide by. It frees up your mind to discover new techniques. Give yourself a little time to play and see what you come up with. You'll find that once you are in the "groove", it can be quite cathartic.

Tag Swap...

Ready to ship yet another tag swap. This one is hosted by Stephanie Miller With A Grin.

Every participant must stamp 20 tags total of two different designs. They are stamped with an archival ink so that the recepient can personalize them with ink, sprays, markers, etc. and they won't bleed.

I've been hoping to get into one of Stephanie's tag swaps since I found out about them but never was able to sign up quick enough. My good friend Chris A Little of This was right on top of it and let me know right when the swap was open. It filled up quickly but we both got in. Hope my tags are well received by everyone. As with every swap, I'm excited to see what I get in return.

Wet Paint...

We have a wonderful art supply store in our area which I have come to love. It is located on the hip and trendy Grand Avenue called "Wet Paint." Incredibly, at the exact same time as my son's choir practice when I have time to kill, this fine store has classes and demos to delight and enthuse artists of all ages. A very good marketing plan on their part. I usually can't walk out of there without purchasing some portion of the night's "intrigue."

Last night was no exception. I had two hours and Wet Paint had a demo of a new product. The fine people that work their demonstrated a new watercolor ground. It is a product that transforms any surface (ie. rocks, glass, metal, cardboard, etc) into essentially watercolor paper. A surface that can't usually be painted on with watercolors, now becomes a porous surface that excepts the medium.

I didn't see an immediate need for that particular item, but when they let me play with the watercolors they had out, I fell in love with some of the pigments. They had a "buy three-get one free" deal. The color that you got free was a gorgeous gold color, Quinacridone Gold.

My "color" wish list.

I was obviously thinking ahead to my plans for visiting the Dominican Republic this summer. I have a lot of much-needed downtime while on vacation that I could use on something creative. The only problem is that there is limited suitcase space for anything other than the essentials. I found that watercolor is a very portable medium. The paper and the tubes of paint and paint brushes take up very little room (and weight) in my suitcase. It allows me to have some type of creative endeavor while I'm away from my studio space.

Mind you, I realize that I have a very little grasp on how to use watercolors! I'm new to the media. Yet, it is still very cathartic to sit out in a warm sun under a palm tree painting the local fauna especially when the colors there are so much more vivid than where I usually reside. With that in mind, I picked very tropical colors. I can't wait to have the opportunity to use them. Hopefully my paintings will improve with practice.

Local fauna in the D.R.

Oh, where...oh, where have I been?

Wow, let's see..between volunteering, a root canal, play performances, my daughter's first boy friend and planning a major school event, as well as all of my usual commitments on a daily basis driving kids here and there,  I have been able to sneak in a bit of paper crafting for a swap on the {Scrap}beach. It is going "postal" today but I just wanted to share the result.

This was a mini 4x4 page swap using the Cottage Garden paper collection. Each one of us creates a 4x4 page and swaps with 5 other crafters to get a completed mini album that we can add our own photos to. I can't wait to see what the others have done. They are such a talented group of women. I hope they are as pleased with mine as I know I am going to be of theirs.

Back and Front of Swap Page

Used Tattered Angels Candlelight and Embossed Butterfly

Acetate Frame to Personalize with a Photo

"I Am" Roses and Prima Flowers and Stick Pin from Yellow Bicycle

Before Packaging

Packaging with Card Enclosed

Tag swap

I finished my tags for my first tag swap on the "Beach"... Life on the {Scrap}beach, as it were. The theme is women and their lives. It was fun coming up with images for that. I can't wait to see what others have come up with! Thanks for hosting it Timi!

Thoughts of Spring...

Spring!!! I'm getting things that remind me of Spring gathered together on my desk. After this dull, cold, grey snowy winter, I'm ready for Spring. I'm inspired by the pastel colors of the ribbons I just picked up at my local Archivers. The colors remind me of the frozen gelato I have had on my vacations to the Dominican Republic where it is always searing hot and something "frozen" is a welcomed sensation. I can't wait to "dig in" and create a little piece of spring. Hopefully some of those warm memories will take the chill out of the days to come.

A trip to the candy store...

I don't have a lot of down time, but when I do, I spend it on the internet. Looking at blogs, websites, and YouTube videos. I especially enjoying watching YouTube videos of other crafters presenting their recent projects, or original crafting techniques. Usually tucked in amongst those videos is a 'look' into the artist's studio space. I've often been amazed at the incredible studios that some crafters have. Especially the personal craft spaces that scrapbookers and paper crafters inhabit. Each one is unique in layout and sensibilities but they all have one thing in common...a LOT of STUFF!

I always thought I had a LOT of STUFF, but compared to many, I obviously don't. I don't have room for what I do have, let alone more.

We have a decent size house, but, we also have six people living in it. My husband and I share an "office" space. It is HIS "office" first and foremost because that is how we make a living. My husband has a very disciplined work ethic which enables him to work out of our home maintaining a job for a company across the country. Ahhhhh....the internet!

The only problem is that I share the same room he works from as my "studio" space. It doesn't really lend itself to being creative. I would like to play music while crafting, he needs complete silence to work. I like to spread out and make a mess while I'm crafting, he needs it to be picked up and controlled so he can 'think'. He also has many phone and video conferences which means that I can't craft in my jammies, sigh. The space is completely divided in the middle, I get half.  He gets half. However, more often than not, many of my supplies and tools creep over to his side and he has to constantly reestablish the boundary line. It's not ideal.

But, I do feel privileged to have the space I have. I call it my "CANDY STORE". Why? Because I've organized my tools and embellishments in a way that looks like you've just walked into an old fashioned candy store...jars are lined up on shelves, filled with accouterments of every color and organized by color. It reminds of the candy store that was a few blocks down the street from my house where I grew up. It was so exciting to get on my bike and meet my friends at the corner candy store. I remember standing in front of all of those jars of candy...the store owner patiently waiting, while I made my choices. It took me forever to decide, but that was the fun of it. I feel like that now when I look at my jars on the shelves filled with colorful ribbons, chipboard, flowers and embellishments. The joy of seeing all that I have, makes me want to dig in and CREATE!

Bye Bye Birdie...

My oldest is appearing on stage in Bye Bye Birdie opening this week. I'm so proud of her.

Vintage Valentine Paper Bag Album...

Well, I finally finished my Valentine paper bag album. I haven't had much time to myself lately so it took me a little longer to finish than I had anticipated. By the time I'm done driving my kids to their various activities every night, it's time to go to bed and start the 'same' all over again. I long for those lazy summer days. Especially since it hit -20° here this weekend. Spring and Summer couldn't come fast enough for me.

Here is just a 'hint' of what the album looks like. I tend to make my albums chunky, and this is as chunky as they get! It was a lot of fun to make. I've included lots of vintage photos and many tags and pockets. You can see the full album by visiting my eBay auction. http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Valentine-Love-Mini-Paper-Bag-Album-dDesigns-/330522838528?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf4b24600#ht_45417wt_1141

Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for looking.

My next album

A preview of the next album I'm auctioning off on ebay.

Hello!

Well, I finally did it! I entered the world of blogging...

I am first and foremost a mother of four wonderful children. They are my full-time job.

My husband had no idea when he married me that our life would be this way. He thought our life would be defined as two well-educated, career-minded people who would build their careers and earn enough money to have a fairly easy life...maybe have a couple of kids at most.

Well...life took us in another direction and we are happy that it did.

When we began our family, we felt so blessed that it grew to be more than we could even imagine. I gave up my career in advertising to stay home and raise our children after our first child was born. My husband Alberto has such a great work ethic that he has always been able to provide us with all we need to not only survive but to give our children many opportunities. Our children are growing up to be wonderful people and we are so proud of them. I should mention that my husband works remotely from home so he is able to be present in the kids' lives which is a definite 'plus'!

I am also grateful that I have been able to indulge in my love for art and creativity. Scrapbooking and the paper arts, has given me a creative outlet in which I renew myself. I love playing with different art mediums and I adore all things "paper"! The colors, the patterns, the texture, and the ability to take a 2-demensional object and make it 3-demensional. Rubber stamping and embellishments are my other indulgences. This industry feeds my passion.

I hope you'll follow me and enjoy the adventure into creativity.
-Diana

Vintage "Santa" Mini Album