Tuesday's Tip

Color! It is so important in our art, be it scrapbooking, stamping, mixed media, ATC's, etc. If you are anything like me, you probably have a myriad of papers, card stocks, inks, paints etc in a variety of color. I have lists of ink pad colors, but I don't have information on all my paints and mists.  I have been thinking of organizing a color notebook for a long time (read 3-4 years!). I also tend to pull ads, magazine photos, etc for color combinations. Well, I have snuck some time away from class samples and Scramp Camp preparations and began a color notebook.

I glued the color inspiration that I have removed from magazines etc and glued them into a notebook. My next step is to catalog the paints, inks, chalks (everything but pens). I am hoping it will help me use what I have - and not buy duplicates! How do you organize your materials?

Time Flies

Wow, this month is just flying by! I have a lot going and not enough time. I would love to be able to share some of the projects I have been working on, but they are for our West Coast group's Scramp Camp retreat. They will be a surprise for the attendees...so...no posting! I will be photographing them and will post after the second weekend in September.

I did sneak in a bit of other playtime by doing mail art. I have a bit of a wacky sense of humor, and I tend to express it in  my art journals and mail art. This was one of my favorite juxtapositions:

I have a lot of scenic stamps (well, a lot of all stamps really) . I also tend to buy images in varying sizes. I mixed a couple of "normal" stamps in an unusual way, and came up with the above postcard. The saying is one that seems so appropriate these days! Next time you are playing (with no specific project in mind) try mixing and matching your images for a fun twist!

Pre-empted by Real Life

Wow - it has been quite awhile! Real life has pre-empted all else these days. However, both kids are back at college; class samples are in progress; Scramp Camp art retreat is well into the planning and purchasing stages; and car will be fixed up in September. I will be heading to Boston at the end of the month to move my daughter into her apartment (with her roommate and her family).  The car - well, I was rear-ended by a delivery truck on the freeway. Thankfully, it was not serious; although, I was sore for several days.

During this hiatus, I have been doing some planning. But, it is not the same as getting into the paints, stamps, inks, etc. When real life gets in the way, do you miss making art? I have a lot of projects lined up, so planning and sketching will help when I get to them.

I did get some mail art made and sent to friends (and completed the Summer PSL). A great starter for mail art (and can be used for greeting cards) is a purchased postcard. I stamped and cut out some images, and then added them to the post card.

This was sent to my friend Sherry in Indiana. I should be able to return to normal posting soon...

Mini Book a la Tim

As I have mentioned, I took a couple of classes over the weekend with Tim Holtz. The book above was made in the Sunday morning class. The covers and spine are chipboard, covered in Tim's paper and sticky back canvas (on the spine). I used Distress Ink and Stains to color the covers and spine. I used acrylic Paint Dabber to add a little gold to the metal frame and key.

The spine contains a bar and binder ring assembly. These are sold as a set and are pretty easy to attach to chip board. You can see a few of the pages - which have been distressed, painted, and/or stained.

Some of the pages were made into pocket pages using tissue tape. Quite and fun and easy little book. I plan to add more pages to it.

Tuesday's Tip

This past weekend, I took 2 Tim Holtz classes at the local scrapbook store. They were tons of fun (it had been awhile since I last saw Tim and Mario). They were project and technique classes. Although nothing was completely new, I did learn a couple neat tricks. Plus I was reminded of a few tips I had forgotten. 

In both classes, we used some Distress Stickles and Glossy Accents. The GA bottle I was to use was completely plugged - nothing was coming out. Thankfully, I had an awl to unclog it. We discussed how frustrating it can be to reach for glues, only to find that they are plugged. One tip Tim shared (and I read this a while ago): when you are done applying your glue, tap the bottom of the glue bottle down on the table when you set it down.  Do not slam it down on the table, just a firm tap and then re-cap the bottle. You have now helped the glue to settle back down into the bottle, clearing the tip. And, it should be clog free and ready to go for the next use!