The Five Book

i have an odd obsession over Compendium books. recently i have started to collect several. as i buy one as a gift, i find i NEED the book myself. i think this newest edition: The Five Book, will be a gift for many on my list this upcoming holiday season. it is just so rich and compelling. not only is the format and font very attractive to me, but the text is challenging and succint.
if you have never visited their site, i encourage you to take some time today to do so.

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just a little sneak

a little peek at what i have been working on around here. to be revealed later in the week.

PLUS...a little fun surprise for later this week...(hee hee...don't ya hate it when people do that?)

but for now::

starting a new week.

21 day challenge is ending this week. i will miss that. it has been a great success in many ways.

finishing up avery's colonial smock. really coming along nicely.

have a couple of little indian girls running around here eager to show their new dresses off too.

enjoying beautiful fall weather. warm days. cool nights.

finished decorating the house for the season.

and today my oldest daughter and i were scoping out some yummy fall recipes. will be starting a new collection i think. i love it that she loves the kitchen as much as i.

how is your week shaping up?

have a beautiful day!

this week

sewing again. something about the cool weather of fall causes me to want to sew. that and having promised my oldest daughter that i would make her this::

she is on a colonial kick right now. her and a few friends took an enrichment class last year based on the American Girl book Felicity. that translated into us taking her to williamsburg for her 10th birthday...and the love affair continues as now she needs this colonial dress.

and i love the challenge of this creative activity. so it's a joy for both of us.

as far as the rest of this week goes...it started like this::

beautiful almost-fall weather. time at the park with these girlies.

today fall came in like a lion::snow and wind and cold temps all day in the 30's...yikes...

i think i'll go sew some more and try and forget the cold.

happy fall you all!!!

working on october

here's my gallery submissions for WIP for the month of september. i usually get them posted a bit earlier than this to my blog, but the beginning of the month was crazy! so here they are. am working on october's projects as i write. will sneak that a bit later this week...so be sure to come back and visit.

i posted 'wonder' earlier here on the blog. i still love it.

this was simply fun to create. and i know i am going to love looking back at a busy week some day when the little one's are gone and life is not centering around them. have you ever done a layout about your schedule?




ah! again...my mini-me. so like her mama in so many ways. isn't it amazing with your children how you love them all equal, but differently? does that resonate with anyone? they all speak to my heart in their own individual way.





just pure fun here! gotta watch that movie again.

this reminds me...lisa...did you ever get your apple mini done? i have this one still hanging in my studio...i must exercise the creativity of dreaming daily.

have a wonderful first day of fall kind of day!

it's important...

to know what one can handle, and what one needs to lay aside for a season. even though the deciding can be very difficult, nonetheless an effort needs to be made to know when to say 'when'.

even with a simple, yet wonderful, challenge like LEO (layout every other day) that is being hosted over at WillowTraders. i love doing these challenges so much. for many reasons. the cyber-gabbing that takes place among the participants is so much fun. i love that comraderie very much.

i also enjoy the spontaneity needed to get a layout created in a few days time within the set parameters. it's a wonderful creativity exercise.

and of course i love the comments, as well as the time spent in the gallery looking at what other peoples take on the same challenge looks like. the diversity is always inspiring.

but for right now, it's a luxury i need to step away from. and it's ok. it's ok that i know when to say "not right now". it's ok to know when other projects get set on my table that need to be a priority at the moment. it's ok to scale back a little and allow some time to 'be'.

so, this goes out to my LEO friends. and some of you are becoming dearer to me daily, and you need to know how thankful i am for that! today's post is simply an ode to this months LEO that i stepped away from, and a salute to all you lovely ladies who are rockin' those projects and getting that creativity out there to share with us all.

LEO1::july LEO lift
LEO2::color pallette challenge
LEO3::all about recycling

LEO4::older photos

LEO5::gettin' sketchy with it

LEO6::let's get edgyLEO7::stash plus

have a most wonderful week, ladies!!!

{21} days continue

continuing with the {21} day challenge. i have fallen off, but i have gotten back up. continuing to learn about myself, and what keeps me moving forward. this has been a good exercise in creativity, all the while challenging me emotionally and spiritually.

thanks for stopping by this weekend!

today i am ....

here!

with a little post on using quotes on your projects.

as promised

day five::

day six::

i will be back tomorrow with day seven. i am a day behind in posting these. but that's ok. simply enjoying the journey. the art. the inspiration.

october sneak peek

look at all that color for october's work in progress kit. oh!!! and can you see the green wood print paper!!!! i'm loving that for sure....

special report...

i drop that line today as i usually do not blog on sundays. just a thing i do to focus on other activities in my day.
however, i just wanted to drop in and leave the {21} day challenge day 6 art work from rhonna's site. and to say that if you are wanting to be apart of this challenge (and you know who you are)...that you can jump in any time. it is an amazing little journey i am on traveling through these quotes and then working through an art journal. the focus i am giving to these challenges has clearly enabled me clarity and a better vision for who i am to be. the word amazing continues to resonate in my mind, but that's just what it is right now.
so fortunate to have 'stumbled' on this creative therapy at this point in time.

i plan to post days 5&6 from my journal tomorrow.
thank you all for your kind comments and encouragements. this is such a great community.

{21} day challenge

as posted yesterday, i have jumped into rhonna farrer's 21 day challenge she is hosting over at her blog. she daily posts an inspirational quote and a word. she uses her incredible talent to artfully create both the word and quote into a downloadable element. using those digital elements, i am working creatively on an art journal, so to speak, while focusing on the spirit of the quote to help me change a habit.

on the one hand i am very excited about this challenge.

there is a habit of a certain mood i allow myself to fall into fairly often.

and i am tired of what it is doing to me and those around me that i love.

the effects can be far reaching.

i want to dispose of it.

and this is the journey i am going to take to do just that.

on the other hand...i am nervous about posting a "suppose to be" art journal here. i am not good at this. i am too safe and don't take alot of chances. but it is a beginning. and that's not to say i am not enjoying it. i do enjoy this process. but i am being very safe...

this blank book was given to me for a christmas present. saved for a special occassion. this art journey is just that occasion.

day one::power. the graphic art work is rhonna farrer's. i used a katie pertiet digital patterned paper as the backdrop for another quote from rhonna's quote from day one.



day two:: journey. again her wordart, which i stamped around with a label stamp. i also printed on the kp paper. the right side is a die cut heart, and punched butterfly. the page is stamped with a bottle lid. and then i hand penned the quote up against the heart.



day three::effective. this page is my favorite so far. her 'effective' word art is beautiful. i have been adding color with watercolor pencils to her art work. the vellum butterfly is die cut and stamped with french script. again, i hand penned the quote and added some color shading. and asked myself the question "are you?"





day four::inspiration. again, her word art is gorgeous. the right side is also her work, the image in the middle. i have always wanted to play with squiggly journaling, and so did just that on the right side as well. added more color shading too.


see how safe it is?
but it's mine.
and every morning i look forward to reading the quote and word of the day.
and applying that to my day.
and getting creative with it as well.

have a wonderful evening and weekend!

oh my!

is it really thursday? with labor day being a few days ago, and having been out of town over the weekend, this week is flying by with so much busyness attached to it....





however...





i am so glad to have 'stumbled' upon this over at rhonna's blog.

and i am on board...seems to be just what i am needing right now to get a grip on a habit i need to change up a bit.

and it's not too late if you have never done her 21 day challenge...you can jump in any time.

plus, it's an opportunity for me to fiddle around with an art journal of sorts while i journey through the daily quotes and inspirations.

i love that.

this is good.

and timely.

let me know if you are going to jump in too!

have an effective day!

this just in...

good saturday everyone!!!!

today i wanted to share a few of the smaller projects from the WIP gallery.

this sweet card is from michelle. i love the little details she added to make this such a wonderful greeting. i'm always a big fan of staples, so those are great. that sweet little scallop border at the bottom is a great use of layering. not to even begin to mention how i love the bird print and that polka dot paper...sweet!! can i say sweet enough times? wouldn't you love that in your mail box?

this card is from the ever amazing card maker janelle. again, great use of those different patterns. love how she added the 'merci' journal spot and layered 'friend' to the scalloped die cut. great use of all those pieces. i want that one in my mail box also....yea...just a little greedy.

there weren't alot of details written on this, but it would appear to be a teacher's gift, that tina put together, with micro popcorn package slipped behind her lovely creative work. sweet idea for a gift, don't you think?

and this is just a simple o' card i put together. i am a sucker for graph paper, and with those little dotted circles all over it, i did not really want anything else added to it. i punched the opposite side of the scenic route paper into the striped flowers, and added a bit of bling. very simple. and yes...i would like to receive that from me too....

have a most wonderful saturday!!!

oh...and p.s...i am also posted over at wip today...come visit me!!!

LEO hopping...

Here we are again...


over at WT we are in the middle of another LEO challenge. A whole lot of excitment going on over there on the message board. You must go read what that Roxy is up too!!!

And another weekend brings us another round of blog hopping...

now while I am on my way out the door to a fabulous weekend away in the moutains, I could not fail to blog hop. Come back tomorrow for a little more too! O.K? Promise?
Today I am just going to post my LEO challenges from this week. #1 and #2. I know a few of you have seen them already, so you'll just have to come back tomorrow to see something different.

back in the day was for the "scrap lift from the gallery" challenge. it was also based on one of trish's layouts she did for the WIP September kit. as i looked through the icons, different memories from high school and the 80's came flooding over me. stories i realized i may not have even shared with my kids. even as i was finishing the layout, my 14 year old came in and we started chatting about the images. i was aghast to realize he did not even know what a karmen ghia was...it was fun talking to him about what these squares represent to me.

i sewed the grid with red thread. made the journal spots by just adding lines to the squares, and basically free wrote the little stories. i am thinking each of these squares could easily represent their own layout.

oh! chipboard elements and b/g alpha came from the WIP Sept kit.

LEO2 was based on a color pallette that Candace chose...which happened to go perfectly with that afore mentioned WIP kit. i added a bit of red stitching to the right hand side to pop with the red pink paislee letter stickers.

this is the second time i have scrapped this photo. this day was just a real highlight to a me. just another day in the summer time...i have one more page to do for that day...it might pop up in another LEO challenge...we'll see.

happy friday you all!!!

September Work In Progress

the wip september gallery is up and running over here. hope you get some time to check it out.
i wanted to share a few of my favorites, although by no means is this gathering from the gallery the only projects i liked. there is alot to love. to see them all a bit more up close and personal, go to the wip flickr site and check them out. and leave some love too, while your at it.


trish

this photo in trish's 'stubborn' layout really sucked me in. isn't it just adorable. i like too the little bordering on each side of the photo, as well as her use of more than one journal spot.

tina what a great comparison layout tina put together for this layout. very sweet. not to mention the black and white photo is gorgeous. her use of that little imaginisce stamp fits in so well. very nice.

shelly shelly's layout uses alot of pattern and fun colors. it really adds to the title 'fun' and causes me to feel the fun of this pool time activity.

michelle o.k. for one, i saw these dresses on michelle's blog and they are absolutely adorable. and then she goes and uses these clothing elements to showcase her work. alot to love here.

lainai am sensing a trend here with what i enjoy about alot of these layouts, and here again the photo really grabbed me. and then she used that beautiful floral and bird patterned paper that really adds to the whole feel of her story.

janelle janelle always has a great way with the patterned papers and working them in with her focal photo. plus she made multiple use of the journal spots and labels. alot to like here.

emily

oh! and look how emily used all those label elements...in such a perfect and fun way. a real open and clean layout, that says a whole lot.

jamie

this is one of mine that did not make the cut to the gallery, but it happens to be one of my current favorites. it is still up in sight in my studio. i loved that polka dot paper and the check zig zag border was so fun for me. but i wanted to keep the layout simple so that the expression of wonder and this sweet 8 year old would stand center stage.

tomorrow i hope to post some of the projects made from this kit. but you can go see them now if you wanna.

have a great day.