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Monday 29 August 2016

there are always flowers for those who want to see them - henri matisse

I feel like I should have better prepared to for this once in a lifetime moment .. it's my 100th post! .. how does one celebrate a 100th blog post milestone?  I think I'll get a green tea frappuccino.  Mmm.  Now you know my weakness.  Use it wisely grasshopper.

And I will also celebrate my 100th blog post by entering my not so perfect photo layout in the mid-August picture this! challenge.


This was a really fun layout to put together and I had tremendous inspiration watching donna downey's design team create gorgeous art pieces with her new stencils.  

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I first chose the photo for this layout.  Yes, it is a photo of me around the age of 2 or 3 taking time to enjoy life and smell the flowers even though those flowers were not, um, authentic.  A few years ago I "borrowed" a bunch of my mom's photo albums as I readied myself for a milestone birthday (40) and came across this great shot.  Yes, it is blown out.  Yes, the flower makes me look like I have a horn on my nose (thank you monkey muse for pointing that out).  And yes, the quality of the photo is terrible.  But it is, and has been, one of my favourite photos of all time.  I cannot explain.  It just is.



And, as I mentioned, based on this photo I pulled out donna downey's flowers in vase #1, applied some modeling paste and added some delicious creamy colour with gelatos.  The flowers turned out great.  The vase, not as much.  Here's a tip.  If you want crackle paste to crackle do not add acrylic paint to it until it dries and crackles.  And then do not add acrylic paint to it after it has dried and crackled.  Use something else.  



The photo may not be perfect.  The memory may be blurry.  The sentiment is the same.  Enjoy every moment and take time in life to get messy.


Sunday 28 August 2016

12 tags of 2016 - august

Here is tim holtz's august 2016 tag:


And here is my version:


I finished the tag by the second week of August and I thought about pulling out the sewing machine.  Many times.  But it never happened.  And then I thought about doodling on the stitches and I came to the conclusion that if it was not the real deal it shouldn't happen.  I also was not 100% certain that I wanted to fill every spot on the tag.  I can see you all shaking your head.  Yes.  I showed some restraint.  It's progress.

Here are some close-up photos of the top bird, middle bird (oi.  I'm not giving you the middle bird.  It is all about posturing and by coincidence he turned out a bit blurry) and bottom bird.





I just came back from a fabulous gelli plate class and pulled 35 amazing prints.  The plan is to share the prints with you, my blogosphere friends, over the next few weeks and journey the adventure as they turn into journal pages for a trip we took to the Caribbean a little while ago.

Keep getting messy!

Sunday 7 August 2016

ever tried. ever failed. no matter. try again. fail again. fail better - samuel beckett

Blogosphere friends, you will have noticed that I wasn't the successful picture this! challenge blog design team member this time.  Don't fret.  It wasn't my time and I will keep trying.

This was the moodboard that inspired me to design a layout filled with aqua and pink bubbles.  As you know, I love bubbles and will add bubbles and circles to everything if it wasn't just plain odd.


I adore Audrey's elegance and style and have been using photos of her in some of my layouts and journal pages.  I have been waiting to find the right inspiration to use this photo and design this layout.


I love using bead paste and see it appearing more often in my work.  And I love creating embossed inked backgrounds.  You'll see this technique in quite a few of my other recent projects.



I am submitting this layout in the august 1st picture this! challenge: moodboard.