WOYWW

Hello!  Glad to see all my WOYWW friends and others on this bright sunshiny Wednesday.  Just woke up...lazy me.  I didn't crawl into bed till around 6 am so getting out of bed at 2 really isn't a lay in just 8 hours of sleep!  My doctor upped my medication for pain control and I guess it is working cause I seem to be sleeping better!  I got up once to let my cats into the bedroom...DH doesn't like cats in the bed so he shuts the door...and within minutes I was back into deep sleep!  That's my reason for being late to the party again!  What party you say?  Well every Wednesday a group of us get together to share pictures of our desk so others can enjoy snooping around seeing what we have or don't have.  We share pictures of our works or projects so everyone can see what we are up to during the week.  Occasionally we share bits and pieces of our home lives.  What is this social group called?  Whats On Your Workspace Wednesday...WOYWW!  If you are interested in joining or just hoping around the blogs check out Julia's blog Stamping Ground.  So on to my desk.

I got so many positives about showing more of my desk I took even a broader picture of the mess for you today...take care piles of goodness have more stacked under it so careful and don't knock anything more to the floor because it is already loaded up too!

I really love having everything close at hand but I think it is getting out of hand because I don't have enough space to work.  The area I am working in is about 12"x15" maybe a little more.  Enjoy looking around!

I have been fascinated by the Gelli Plate craze but not willing to put out the money to buy one.  OMG!  I couldn't believe the price of these little beauties!  I did a web search and an 8"x10" is about $30 and that is without paying for shipping.  I looked around online for recipes to create my own and kept coming up with the same stuff about how it wasn't shelf stable and how it would mold and rot.  I found one recipe at Shaz in Oz blog that sounded promising but I was still concerned with mold and mildew on the plate.  Sooooo....I researched a little more and came up with my own recipe.  Alcohol, glycerin, and sugar are all microbial growth retardants so I figured I would use them all and It seems to have worked for me!  Try making one and let me know what you think!

Vickie's Plate
4 oz Gelatin
1 c alcohol
1 c glycerin
1/4 c sugar
1 c hot water
1 c cold water

Mix gelatin in 1 c cold water till mostly dissolved.  Add 1 c hot water and sugar and stir well till totally dissolved.  Add alcohol and glycerin.  Do not put your face over your mixing bowl cause the vapors can cause some respiratory issues if you have asthma.  The alcohol evaporates out a lot.    Pour the mixture into the container you want it to set up in.  I used a 9"x13" plastic container with a lid.  Refrigerate or just set out in a cold spot and wait a day or two for it to set up.
Here is what mine looks like now.  It is 6 weeks since I made the plate and it hasn't molded or deteriorated at all. The yellow color comes from the gelatin I used!

 I broke it yesterday washing it off in a little warmer then usual water and it cracked and broke in half!

So today I melted it down and refrigerated it and here is what it looks like now.   If you need to melt it down run it in the microwave till melted...about 1 1/2 minutes.   Let it set in a cool place till reset!  I think I will use wet wipes to clean it up from now on!



Here is a picture of a couple of my prints:

I think my homemade plate does as good of mono prints as the more expensive plates.

I was in a tag swap this past month with an online Yahoo! group called the Outlaw Women Scrapbook Emporium.  The group is very informative and a lot of fun.  There is also a retail store associated with the group that carries items for sale to members only for a very reduced price. 

It is a 1:1 swap where you are paired up with another member and you send one tag and get one from another member.  Here is the tag I received from Cindy a couple days ago.  The theme this month was cats!

 Here is the tag I sent to Robyn my swap person! 

I have probably gone over Julia's short post rule but a lot of words and a few pictures so I guess I had better sign off for now and go check out some of the blogs tonight.  If you visit me and leave a comment I will definitely visit your blog.  I am going to surf the blogs so hope to hear back from you!

WOYWW and Week 2 of Life Book 2014

I remembered that it was Wednesday at 0300 this morning and decided to go ahead and post on WOYWW and show everyone my messy desk.  I have been working hard on lessons in the Life Book course and paints etc are everywhere.  If you want to know why I am talking about desks go check out Stamping Ground and Julia will fill you in on the deets.

 A little wider view of my desk and work area this week.  Definitely a mess but I am busy with a Life Book project and trying to catch up with the lessons I am behind on.  I am going to have to quit talking about moving to a bigger space and get going do it because I am so crowded and I am having problems finding everything.  The little white kitty is Ghost...she is a foundling that we adopted last August and at the time the vet thought she was about 6 months old.  I don't think she was that old because she is still super tiny and so very active!

I am really enjoying the Life Book 2014 lessons so far.  If you would like to see what I did for my first weeks projects go here.  I am really enjoying the classes and the challenges they are putting in front of us.  Pretty intense in some spots.  The inner artist guardian angel was only the third face drawing I have done but I was pleased with the way it came out.  My affirmation word I am working with this year is acceptance.  Acceptance of my art, my life etc.   This week I used to the word again in my project to show what I want more of in 2014.  These colors are not my usual grungy colors but I had lots of fun with them none the less!
I did better last week getting around to people.   I will try and visit more people this week and promise to visit everyone who visits me.  Have a creative week!

Life Book 2014

Just finished week one's lessons on Life Book 2014.  Click the link on the right if you would like more information on Life Book and what it is all about! It was a long and pretty intensive weeks worth of learning...guess that's why I am 2 weeks behind...nah I am behind cause I am a lazy butt and haven't been applying myself to the lessons.

In the first week Tam Laporte had an introduction video, 2 warm up videos, 2 lesson videos, a meditation video and some PDF's and I am NOT complaining here just saying that you get your monies worth when you take any classes from her!  I loved the meditation video and have listened to it several times just getting prepared to do the lessons.  The warm up lesson had a lot of stuff about multimedia work and color theory...LOVED it!  I needed it to get me started...the main lesson had to do with developing an artist guardian angel.  I think I showed my warm up piece last week but I am showing it again here so I can keep week one all in one spot.

The warm up piece was done by starting out by writing a lot of nonsense words or concerns on the blank canvas then going back and covering them up.  Sort of gets you out of the mind state of not wanting to mess up an already perfect canvas.  I love the colors of purples and turquoises so that's what I used here along with some stencils, some collage papers, bubble wrap and a lot of fun went into making this page.

 I am really concerned about this curling on my warm up piece but one of the girls on Life Book 2014 gave me some advice on how to minimize that so I will try it after they pieces dry a little longer.

This is the main lesson of week one.  This is my "inner artist guardian angel" that will help protect me from the bitchy side of me that is my worse critic and will help keep me inspired creatively!!!  The "inner artist guardian angel" also helped us pick a 'word of the year' and connected me to my color purple!  Everyone knows I love purple so that can't come as a surprise!  My word that came to me was acceptance...acceptance of who I am, what my art is, how I express my self, and how others see me.  If I like my work then it doesn't matter what others think about it.  It does but it won't be the drive behind what I do.

I am journeying on to week two today and I will be posting the finished project here later this week.  I love the Life Book classes and always learn a lot from them.  I just finished week one and week four posted but from what I am hearing everyone is taking their own sweet time and playing with it and not stressing to keep up week by week.  If you care to join up click on the link like I said and come play!
 

WOYWW and warm up project for Life Book 2014

Welcome to Wednesday!  I am just not going to say I almost missed it again cause I am here on Wednesday this week!   WOYWW is a fun time to be had by all and if you are wondering why a bunch of men and women are showing off their crafting/art desk click on the link and you will know! Julia at Stamping Ground is the brain behind all the fun and puts it together each week!

Okay what we are all here for today...a view of my horrible messed up desk!  I joined the online class Life Book 2014 and the project you see on my desk is what was due for the first week...tsk, tsk, tsk...not to say that it is already the 3rd week and I am behind already.  There was a lot of videos and reading to be done in the first week and since I didn't start that till last week...well you see where I am going! 

A tour around my desk...the white 3 drawer box in the left corner holds top drawer a bunch of ribbons, bling etc still on cards or in packaging.  Drawer 2 is all Tim Holtz style ephemera ie muse tokens, tags, keys, pen nibs, etc.  Drawer 3 is Stickles glues and ink refills for the Distress Ink pads.   In front of it is my water color crayons, a jar that did hold my brushes until I tipped it upside down...On top is a spice rack that holds adhesives, jars of buttons etc....this could go on forever so just have a look see and if you have a question leave a comment!

Here is a better picture of the finished  warm up piece for the class.  Thank God Tam isn't grading on how fast we are getting lessons in as is just taking it on faith we are doing as we should!

fun play with Textures and Colors!

 I just want to remind folks of two classes this week...

The first is tomorrow and is a requested repeat of the class that was last Thursday for those who couldn't be there.  It is Graphic 45 Place in Time all occasion cards for the month of January.   There are 3 cards to be made and class will be from 6-8pm at Scrap That.

The second class is Saturday 10am-2pm where we will be making an oldie but goodie squash book.

 

Have a great week and I will try to make it around to every one's blog...giggle probably won't happen knowing my memory but if you leave me a comment I will guarantee I will come to visit you unless something horrible happens!  Have fun crafting this week!

Heather's Birthday, My Desk, and WOYWW!

WOW!  Last year I never missed a week on WOYWW without feeling like something was wrong and I can't remember Wednesdays at all!  What's up with this?  I think I got out of the habit of blogging last fall when I took all the trips I did and I just haven't gotten back into the blogging regularly habit!  What is WOYWW?  Why am I showing you a (bad) picture of my nasty desk?  Go visit Julia at Stamping Ground and she will fill you in.  Look for the WOYWW link on the upper left!

I have actually outgrown this desk!  I am one of those people that has to have things at my finger tips to use but...Too much stuff and not enough space.  I will be expanding soon!

 My daughter's birthday was yesterday!  My baby turned 35...Now if that doesn't scare you nothing will!  I am still thinking I am 35 how can my baby be that old!!!   Anyhow we went out to dinner with Heather and Michael to a new place (for us anyway) called The Melting Pot in Bricktown, OKC, OK.  It is a fondue place and I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed to experience because I really wasn't taken with fondue back in the 70's but this put an elegant dining twist to it and it turned out to be a lot of fun.  Didn't take any pictures...unfortunately but I will always have the memory!  Back in my old scrap booking days I would never have missed a Kodak moment but as I have moved on to mixed media...yes I still scrapbook some...photography to scrapbook the moment isn't a priority.  The Melting Pot has a fantastic menu and a gluten free option too.  One of the few places I have gone where they actually know what gluten free is.

I made my daughter a different style of card for her birthday this year.  It is a gift box card that looks like a book.  The drawers are matchbox's cut with a Sizzix match box die that I think has been retired. 

Front of the card!

Inside of the card

view of the spine of the card book!

card with drawers open!  I put a necklace in one, earrings in the other, and the third contained a handmade brooch!

A little bit of crafty goodness!























The card is made using Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante designer papers, Stampin Up! colored card stock, Stampin Up! ribbon,  Brads, charms etc. are from various companies. 

Well I guess I better post this and link it to WOYWW so you guys can go see some awesome work spaces.  Happy Wednesday!  I will try to remember earlier next week!

Happy New Year...a day or two late!!

I remember my Mom and Grandma making remarks about how fast time flies as you get older but holy hell I would like for it to slow down to a Mach 1 at least.  Seems like just yesterday that we were welcoming 2013 in and now I am behind in wishing everyone a Happy 2014 New Year!

I have several classes coming up this month and I don't have the tags made up yet but thought I would share these with you and add the tags later...

First class is on January 9 it is all occasion cards made from the Graphic 45 Place in Time collection of papers.  I used the January cut apart sheet and a sheet of navy, white, and red card stock to complete all three cards and had some left over I could have made a couple more!

Here are what the inside of each card looks like...

The blue card should be labeled "oh baby it is cold out side!"   The red card has the postcard and snowy fun stamps!  The white card has a pocket that will store 3 cards that you can write whatever you want on to send to the recipient! 

Second class is on January 18 at 10 am and is a squash book I made using the Graphic 45 Secret Garden paper.  It was just sitting on the shelf at the store and I thought to myself hmmm...wonder why I haven't made something with this yet!  So here it is...  I think squash books are a lot of fun for carrying around in your purse and putting little pictures in. 

I love the paper flowers on this book and all the pretty colors!

Like the feet in this picture?  I couldn't crop them out without distorting and I don't have the book to retake it!

Third class is a tag class making Tim Holtz style tags for Valentines day...  No samples made yet but I will get them cranked out soon.

That's all for today!  If you are in the area and want to take the class call Terri at Scrap That 310-3400 to sign up for the class you want to take!