Direction 2

Since there is no Art Journal prompt every week, I decided to do another page with the prompt "direction".
I used the magazine cut out of the Amazon river that I actually wanted to use in the first "direction page" and combined it with 2 elephant photo's I made at the Stuttgart Zoo (be sure to click on the link and adore the cute little bear on the first page- it is a slideshow so take your time). The elephant walks from one place to the other...just goes there where the water is, living with the seasons.

The stamped text is actually part of the lyrics of a classic Dutch funeral song that used to be in the top 5 of funeral music for ages. I am happy to see that is doesn't show up anymore in this latest top 50.
Anyway... my point in using these lyrics (which say more or less: "Where to, and Why") in combination with the image of the elephant was to show that this animal knows exactly where it is going and why, and we, human beings, are always making it soooooo hard on ourselves... :-).
Isn't that just DEEP? hahaha

I love shopping here

I LOOOVE stamps and although I don't really use them a lot...I have quite a lot! Actually... I have more stamps than is good for me....

After some looking and shopping around on the web, I am now a regular customer at
Art Journey. Quick and kind service, great collection of stamps and related articles; it is not easy leaving this webshop without ordering anything. There can also be found some cool techniques on this site and there are a lot of great examples with the stamps and other products.

Just last week I received my latest order and to my suprise I found a nice gift in it. Now that is what I call taking good care of your customers :-).

I suggest you go take a look yourself and have fun shopping!

Everything will turn out fine

That is the message that I would like to say to Bincke's only nephew; Manu.
Right after he was born they discovered he had a hearing problem and since then (he is 2 years old now) it has slightly deteriorated. So for the specialists there is no knowing in what the future may bring for him and his hearing, but of course it is not a good sign that at such a young age it has already gone worse.
Luckily, a few months ago he got some hearing devices, so now he can start developing his speech better.

The journaling along the stems of the "waterplants" is about that luckily he has no clue (not yet) what so ever about the impact a hearing problem can have on someone's life.

Anatomy of a Page

Recently, Ali Edwards had an item on her blog called Anatomy of an Album. This inspired me to do a blogpost called "Anatomy of a page".

For me, making a layout is about layering.
Layering is about patience....
Patience is about reflection, not acting straight away.

So... when I am making a layout I am not glueing down anything (like I used to do when I just started scrapping). I wait until I have like 3 or 4 layers that I like and only then I attach these layers to eachother. Most of the time the layering continues but only in details.
I remember that when I started srapbooking, I was looking with open mouth to multi layered layouts in the 2peas gallery, having no clue how they had made it. I wish every scrapper would show a step by step guide of their own work now and then, to share their way of creating with others.

What follows is a step by step photo guide to a finished layout with several layers. Enjoy!

1) I chose this picture because I wanted to make a layout for my daughters album that showed how unflattering these last weeks of the pregnancy were. This picture of me is typical for all pregnant woman at the end of the pregnancy; you cannot sit normally (read: with your legs closed) anymore, nor walk for 10 minutes without panting and wanting to sit down.... oh.. and your shoes don't fit you anymore so you have to wear your rubber boots.... :-(. And to top it off... although it is end of November... there are no coats / sweaters in the world big enough to cover your ever expanding belly.




2) This Rouge de Garance patterned paper is perfect for the background because of the coordinating colours of the graffiti on the picture and my top.




3) I layered a piece of wallpaper on top of it... beautiful colours!



4) To make it visually exciting I added a Hambly transparency to cover the complete page.

I love the see-through effect of all the different colours and the patterns.




5) To create a frame I cut the transparency slightly smaller than the page and added the picture to a place on the layout where it wouldn't cover up the wallpaper or the flowers from the patterned paper.




6) Once the layers and the pictures are positioned on the layout, I started adding details like these Stazon stamped stars from Purple Onion Designs. I also used masking tape to attach the photo to the background.

7) Another transparent layer added!

On my desk I found a leftover from the transparency I printed to create this layout .

8) Time to add the title! In this case I chose self adhesive letters in horrible colours.

9) Horrible colours? No problemo! I recently forced myself to use the products that I once bought but never use because they are just not right.... Now I just alter them to my liking so I can still use them. This way I can get rid of stash that is just lying there... I also do this with patterned paper nowadays... i just paint or stamp on it..whatever.. at least now I try to make something with it. To change the looks of these letters I used alcohol ink.

10) I decide the stamps are too vague so I outline them with a black Posca Pen and add some colour to them. And I pull of the masking tape of the picture and outline it too.

11) Now it is time to add some journaling...a part that I hate. You might have already noticed that.. I hardly have any journaling on my pages. Here you can see I had to "repair" my page with black paint, because of a failed attempt to add some funny text. For the balance I add a strip of paint under the photo as well.

12) Now that I have my paint in front of me..... I go wild and start adding some red and white paint as well. During that process I think of the good old Dymo label maker for my journaling.

13) Finishing touch!

14) Detailed photo of the paint structure.

AND A FINISHED LAYOUT

Art Journal so far

1. week 1 - commit, 2. week 2 detail -, 3. week 2 - feel, 4. week 3 - connect, 5. week 4 - own word - jealous, 6. week 5 - balance, 7. week 6 - emotion, 8. week 8 - magic, 9. week 7 - Fly, 10. week 8 - magic detail, 11. week 9 - future, 12. Week 10 - Soul, 13. week 11 - begin, 14. week 12 - truth, 15. week 13 -life, 16. Direction

Good Advice #1

You might have noticed that I hardly ever use one of the Studio DaphNat techniques on my layouts. I just try them once together with Nat, enjoy doing them and never look back! How stupid! Because some of them are so easy to do and you have such a cool effect on your layout. So..I decided to use these techniques more often.

For this layout, on which I journaled some good advice for Mini-Me about learning to hold on to the right things and recognizing the moment when it is time to let go, I used the layered masking tape technique.
Like the first time...I just LOVE the result!

Alive!

This was the art journal prompt that came before "Direction" but I didn't know what to do with it until now. I don't really like how it turned out colourwise, but I do like my version of "death or alive" :-).

3 years Mrs

3 years already since M. put a ring around my finger and I stumbled "yes" before the question was even asked.... was I nervous?..Noooo....
To be honest...this really WAS one of the most beautiful days of my life. I hate to admit it...afraid as I am of being corny LOL.
We had a great party in this restaurant and it was also the day we started practicing officially for a mini-me :-).
Practicing rules...that why it took so long ;-P!

I created a simple layout; just rubbed some distress ink on the cardstock (with a make up sponge) to create the background and altered white Thickers with watersoluble crayons and a gelpen. I adhered some self adhesive magic mesh to the right.. thanks Nat!..this stuff rules :-)

MUST HAVE book

Since I started scrapping, I started ordering craft books of all sorts.
By now great part of my bookshelfs are filled with craft books, one better than the other. Of course it still isn't enough... my online wishlist is so big, that I allow myself to order one book every month, or 2 if I haven't got one the month before. (this rule goes only for craft books and doesn't apply to novels or any non-fiction book I would like to buy :-)..hehe.

This month I ordered 2 books, one of them being the one shown above.
What can I see about this book: I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!
Every page contains the most gorgeous eye candy..but that is definitely not the best part for me. What makes this book so GREAT is that it is a technique book! YEEEE...
You aren't just looking at someone else's projects, which can be inspirational, but you actually can pick up this book time and time again when you are in need of a fantastic technique to spice up your layout, atc, canvas or whatever you are making.

I actually regret not having ordered it before... because in the meanwhile I have also ordered some books that were not really to my liking (being subtle here...).

My advice?
ORDER THIS BOOK NOW (If you don't already have it).
THE SOONER THE BETTER!!!

And are you curious about the other book I ordered? Well..me too... I didn't even took the time yet to look into it...as absorbed as I was by this one.
More books later

B is for Breast

Direction...

Emily's latest art journal prompt is DIRECTION.
When I read this prompt I immediately had in mind a picture from a magazine that I tore out a while ago, showing part of the Amazon river from the sky... flowing to all kinds of directions... So I positioned the picture on my art journal page and started thinking what to do with the background when I heard my mini-me crying..which means I have to leave my desk and feed or cuddle her. I am 100% sure she has this 6th sense: she KNOWS that I am upstairs and it seems like she always starts crying when I have just opened a tube of paint!

Anyway, being called away has its advantages.... you sometimes get better ideas when you stop working on something and take the time to think it over.
So this morning, when Mini-Me was taking her 2nd nap of the day I rushed up stairs, opened 3 tubes of paint, started mixing and applied the purplish background colour to my pages with an old creditcard (just to speed up the process, brushing would take too long). Dropped some red paint on the page, closed the book to create a rorschach-effect. The picture with the exuberant colours came from a coffee advertisement and I loved it! The picture on the left page came from a newspaper and represents a Mormon woman. I made a clear adhesive paper transfer from this photo, the cool thing of this type of transfer is that it sticks to the page without having to apply glue or anything.
Well.. to make a long story short: I used the 2 images to support my journaling about finding the right direction; finding balance between a decadent lifestyle and a sober one. That's what I want my daughter to learn.. use elements of both these "worlds" to have a complete life :-).