This and That Tuesday

Ok ladies.. alittle of This and That.

Lets get some convo going. I was talking with friend who came upon my blog and she sparked a very interesting convo. She mentioned to me that she only makes cards. No layouts, no altered items.. just cards. I'm curious how many of you only do cards as well.. if any? Is there a reason you don't do other things. For those who do scrap which would you say you do more of... cards, layouts, mini albums or altered items?

I think over the years I've changed allot in what I prefer to do. I used to make cards but recently .. well about 3 years ago got out of it as well.. I felt like the work put into them.. wasn't often appreciated and I'd end up spending just as much time on a single card as I would a layout.. trying to make it intricate and unique.

Then I transitioned to all layouts and here within the last year have become more about releasing my creativity and not production. I do layouts when I'm feeling them. Sometimes I just create mini albums or altered media just to be crafty and try new things... no recipient in mind or purpose for making it.. just creating and letting it take me where it does. I've become more about the process I guess then the purpose or destination.. if that makes sense.

What's your take on it all? What do you focus most on? Why do you think you do the most of it? looking forward to hearing your opinions.

So So Sorry

Ok, So, I am beyond sorry for the delay in posting the tutorial as well as the last few days being MIA. I'll give a bit of an explanation. LOL But first wanted to say.. this week I'll do double tutorials!!! YAY

Ok, so last week I get a call on Thursday morning. my daughter is in summer school as well i think it benefits her to be in there.. she doesn't persay need it but it can't hurt either.. lol So, i get a call maybe 10 minutes after she's gotten there. Asking me to come get her.. and that they were sending all the kids home from her class.. 13 kids. It seems 5 kids in the class had head lice! Now I've dealt with the notices form the school and teachers when they've outbreaks before of it.. and luckily my kiddos never had it.. so I just treated them in case and move on.. well this time almost half the class had it.. grrrrrr

Did I mention I RUN A DAYCARE from my home!!! Sooo, head lice or even the threat of it is not fun. I got my daughter home and checked her out and SHE HAD IT... ahhhhh. So, I call all of my parents and let them know. What happened at the school and that my daughter appeared to have some eggs in her head. Some... came to get their kids.. others could not leave work or choose not to. That's the world I love in... lol

So.. I began tearing through my house.. while having daycare kids in tow.. bagging and cleaning everything.. then did my kiddos hair.. but my son and I did not have anything.. just did them to be safe... then decided it was pointless to do soo much and then have a daycare kiddo have it.. so the kids I did have I called their parents and did their hair as well.

Now for a normal person.. head lice is a pain the rear but for me with the daycare it's like a war zone here making sure everything that should be done is.. and that is why I had an absence as I was going crazy ensuring everything was taken care of properly and over n over again.. lol.. I think my daughter got her hair washed times over the 3 days.. lol

thanks to everyone for understanding!!! Like i said this week I'll offer two tutorials!!!

Thursday Tutorial

There's a slight delay in tonight's tutorial... lol

I'm thinking I'm going to do a picture tutorial rather than a video tonight. So, I'll have it posted tomorrow.. a family emergency came up and i've been going nutso around here today dealing with it..

But look forward to it tomorrow ladies!

Thanks for understanding.

Layout Shares and Wandering Wednesday

In light of Wandering Wednesday I wanted to share an amazing site with you all. I know often when I can't come up with the right words for journaling I enjoy using quotes of all kinds. This site is amazing. not only are there just great easy to find and access quotes but it also allows you to do a word search. Sooo say your art journal has bricks on it... or a stone wall you can type in brick or wall and it will give you quotes that use those words! how stinky nifty is that! So, when you have a moment feel free to go check it out.

http://en.thinkexist.com/ 

Sharing a few layouts I did last night. I'm liking them. Both took no time at all and yet still have their own components that well.... make me smile.

If you love the hand made paper flower that is showcased on he first layout stay tuned as Thursday it will be my tutorial for the week. It's much like the circle flowers you've seen in the past with my own twist to it. You can't tell in the picture but the black on it is NOT ink... and its shiny! Hee hee whats better than something shinny... I'll even show you how to make flowers that look like leather using this technique.

Ok, I'm loving this.. too cute. This is a pic of my daughter.. in the dead of summer decked out in her winter clothes.. lol. Anywho, I did alot of inking on this layout. It had a few of the background accents on the actual paper, but then I added transparency bricks (I just painted on the back of it here and there to add colored bricks), rub-ons, paint, mists, alittle handstitiching and more

This is the flower that I will be showcasing for a tutorial tomorrow. You can't tell but that's not ink.. its actually quite shinny. And well I love it! Then a little blink and staples and some ink to distress the paper behind the picture.

Upclose of the details work. This is a glittered word sticker.. I just adored. Misted some chipboard arrows added a bit of metals.. and there you have it. I love the way the mist looks as it isn't absorbed by the white circles.

The spider webby lace there is something I've been wanting to play with but haven't found the right time. I like what it adds here.

Layout showcasing my daughter. This layout was super simple and only took about 20 minutes which I adore. I used a lot of grungeboard here as I was showing someone how to paint and ink it.

Alittle chicken wire here i picked up from a thrift store and painted white and love it. then a handmade sheer ribbon flower.

I added a little hand stitching on this layout. And a little bling as well. I did this on two of the D's on the page. As my daughters name is Desiree. Thought it was just a cute and simple way to add a flair.

Here I added some hidden journaling. It's a small notebook paper with a note to my daughter that someday she can unroll and read.

 

This and That Tuesday

Going to share a little something with all your crafters today. Do you ever buy a package of something and only use a bit of whats in it? Not sure what to do with the rest of it.. but you know someone could use it?

Well,I'm going to introduce you all to a group and a few new terms. It's a group called AAPSF. So, in this group gals exchange crafting and on occasion non crafting items. This is how it works. Say you have a homemade items, a partial package of flowers, or even a NIP (new in package) item that you no longer like or want. These are called PIF's (pay it forward.. or pass it forward).

Basically in short what everyone does in this group is they post an item they no longer want... and how many "credits" (not money) they want for the item. You list an item and then someone else may want it.. so they "snag" it they put their name on it. You now have a credit to take something else that is listed on the group.

I'm sharing this as it's a great way to do a number of things. Exchange products out for something you want, find things from all over the country that you may not have access to in your area. All you do is at the end of the month send out the items to those whom have taken items from you. Easy enough.

Anywho, I used to own one of these groups.. and now a good friend of mine runs one. So, I thought I would share it with all of you. There's more than just trading but also general discussion on scrappin subjects. All you have to do is sign up.. fill out the application... on it you can put that you saw the group on my blog..

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AAPSF/