Stacked Stones Studio!

Well...I am making progress on the studio...and decided to take another little break to share one of my all time favorite techniques...STIPPLE DISTRESS. Check it out:

Here is the tutorial I promised. I just needed a bit of a break from my self-imposed "creative lockdown" until I get the studio cleaned out and reorganized...so I thought I would take a moment and do something fun to share with you. This is a very fun and easy technique that I think you will enjoy it too. Remember the giveaway I will be doing over the weekend. To be eligible go see my blog post here ...and leave a comment telling me what you do to keep motivated when you have to get something done that is less than fun! I need some new ideas to keep me moving on this overwhelming project of cleaning, sorting, purging and reorganizing my studio! Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!

The two main reasons that I got into scrapbooking were my love of photography and my love for storytelling. Scrapbooking was the perfect marriage between the two. Some pictures tell the whole story...and some stories don't need anything added other than the listener's imagination. But most of the time - you don't get the PERFECT picture and there are details of a story that need the help of the picture for the whole story to be told. So what do you do when your picture is less than perfect? Here are a few ideas. 1. Crop out unnecessary parts of the picture...if there are things that are distracting from the focal image - just cut them out. 2. Get in close...this is a suggestion that I actually believe helps you GET the perfect picture. We tend to stand back from our subject and take the picture from a distance. I find that I love my pictures more - even if they are a bit too over/under exposed or fuzzy if I have zoomed in close and just captured the emotion. This pictur...

Can you believe I actually said that?!?!?! LOL If you have followed my blog or watched my YouTube videos , you know that this page is unlike most of my designs. Where's the patterned paper? Where's the paint splatter? Where are the dimensional embellishments? Nowhere to be seen...and yet, this is still one of my FAVORITES. I actually think the simplicity is what makes it work. The picture of Weston checking his phone for messages was the entire inspiration for the page. The simplicity of the Pepsi logo is what inspired the gentle flourishes that I hand stitched. And because the title needed to be simple too, I just used a very clean font in two sizes (American Craft rubons) to follow the stitched lines. The little bit of journaling that I did do - I simply handwrote it and followed the stitch lines once again. When I decided to share this page with you, I was reminded that it is a REALLY good thing to sometimes to get outside our creative comfort zones, and try scrapping or ...

Don't you? I remember a saying that my grandmother (I talk about her a LOT - I called her Jammy Jane and she is still who I want to be when I grow up) used to say..."That was as clear as mud!" When I was little, I never failed to say, "Jammy Jane...mud isn't clear!" And she would always laugh and say "I KNOW!" So much about life is "clear as mud" - perhaps that is why I love clarity. I love when I can see my way clear in a decision. I love when the answer is clear, the sky is clear, my mind is clear and my conscience is clear! I LOVE CLARITY! So it probably comes as no surprise that I also love a little clarity in my scrapbooking! A few years ago acrylic elements were REALLY big....and I acquired quite a stash. This is a layout I created with some pictures of my dear friend's twin sons. It was one of those unbelievably good "photo moments!" I was standing on a chair and one of them just squatted down to grab an apple a...

So I told you yesterday that I am on "creative lockdown" until I get my studio cleaned, sorted and purged! But that doesn't mean that I can't share some creative ideas...right? So for the next few days, I am going to pull some of my favorite layouts - either for the story they tell, the technique I used, or just because! *smile* This one I called Heaven's Canvas....and I still love it! Let me point out a couple of things about it. First, the picture at the top - that looks like a "canvas" was actually a picture that I printed onto a transparency and then transfered to the cloth with gel medium. It is a great distressing technique because the full image rarely transfers completely. This layout was created after Royce and I took a trip to New Mexico. It was my first trip there and I was absolutely overwhelmed with the beauty I saw. I loved all the rich warm colors....and took TONS of pictures. I did eventually create a mini to hold them all - but I ...

Well...this card is the last project I will complete until I have sorted, purged, cleaned and organized my studio! It was the birthday card I made for Weston's 21st birthday...seriously -- how can I have a son that is 21?!?!?!?! The large compass was made by using a Tattered Angels Glimmer Screen , Distress Ink and a stipple brush. I added some dimension to it with Copic Markers and my white Signo pen. I promise I will work on a tutorial once I get the studio straightened up. By the way - BlueMoon Scrapbooking has a sale going on a set of 12 Copic Sketch Markers...it is a really good way to get started with them, if you haven't already. Just click the link above and it will take you to the sale page. Over the course of creating projects for What You Make It, I have accumulated duplicates of many things and have lots of partial paper packs and embellishments...and while I LOVE all the products, I need to get ready for all the projects I will be doing this fall. So, I am se...

Happy Thursday! How is everyone doing? Hope all is well, wherever you may be...we are surviving the heat wave here in Nashville, Tennessee! I have given up working on "outside" projects...and that has given me a bit more time in the studio -- no complaints there! *smile* Wanted to share a new technique with you that I used to create this Cheeky Nurse card. As most of you know, Dad has been in the hospital since the end of February battling Leukemia. He is finished with Chemo and doing well...in fact, he is now at a Rehab Center working on regaining his strength. We are so blessed that he was not only able to withstand the chemo - but is doing so well. He had great care from all the nursing staff...and many of them have become like family in the process....so before he left the hospital to go to rehab, I wanted to send them a Thank You for all the care they had given him....and this Cheeky Nurse seemed to be just perfect. I wanted the nurse to be the focal point of the ...

Hi friends....hope you are surviving the heat wave! I am trying to move as quickly as possible from my car to whatever building I am going into...since being "a woman of a certain age" means that I have my own personal summer going on - and the heat wave is NOT helping! I so would not have made a good "prairie woman!"LOL I am blessed to have plenty of cool air (and extra fans going) in my house - so it is a joy to get to spend some time in my studio! Life has been so crazy of late - that time in my studio is even more precious! I actually created this card (and taped the process) quite a few weeks ago for my sister's birthday...but I have just gotten the editing done....trust me - you didn't want to watch the un-edited version! Working with Copics is a lot of fun for me...but the blending process is a bit time consuming....so I edited it down to the major steps...and sped up the coloring process so you could see it - without being bored with the "re...