Just popping in on this lovely Father's Day with a few more zentangle projects to share. Here are a few of the bigger pieces I've done over the last month or so. I got a little crazier than planned with the color on that last one, but aside from the spot where my Copic burped a bit, I really like it. And today for the first time, I got to take part of a tradition in my ward. Right after church on Father's Day, the ladies bring in pies. They set up everything in the gym and the men come... Continue reading

Holy cow... it's JUNE! How did that happen? The flying of time notwithstanding, I did fit in keeping my Project Life book up to date. January - April filled a book, so I started a new one - another 6x8, but a Studio Calico Handbook this time. Here are the spreads for last month: Highlights: too many cupcakes (but delicious!), Skyping my mom's birthday party, some really good burgers, fun crafty classes including gelli printing and getting into Zentangle, Angela, Steve and the kids coming up from NYC to play (the PEZ factory!), changes at work (ongoing...), and some good... Continue reading

I thought that since I'm having so much fun with Zentangle lately, that I'd try my hand at a weekly challenge - the Diva Challenge. I've seen lots of work floating around the web from these challenges and they're super inspiring! This week's challenge was just to use the pattern Bales and its variations. So I went back to my trusty circles and filled each one with a different variation, starting with the original pattern up front. It was fun to try and come up with different varieties - especially for a beginner! I think I might start taking on... Continue reading

I've been a little absent lately... getting totally "tangled" up in a new obsession... Zentangle! It's something I'd seen and tried about 2 years ago and never really got too far. But then I saw that they were offering a beginner class at my local scrapbook store with a CZT (certified Zentangle teacher) so, since I've been trying to get out of the house more, I signed up. What a difference a class makes! I learned why I wasn't successful my first time around... my impatience was making it so that I didn't take the time to approach the patterns... Continue reading

Just popping in to post another layout I did recently that I never got around to sharing. Another photo from Easter with all of the kids. I was doing a challenge to use numbers on a page and decided to try one of those pie charts. I see them everywhere but, as usual, I'm late to the trend party! I miss my kiddos... need to make plans to get back home for another visit. Continue reading

Just popping in with another layout. This was for another Studio Calico NSD challenge - this time to use stamps to create your own background paper. I really like how this one turned out, but the weather here has been kind of dank lately, so I didn't get good lighting on the photos (what's new?) The pictures aren't that dark and grainy in real life. These are from Easter... and my favorite thing? Facial expressions are priceless. Especially the top one with Eraleigh and Aubrey looking askance at William while he fussed. You can really see their personalities here. Such... Continue reading

Not only two posts in a week, two posts with layouts. I'm still doing some of the challenges from NSD at Studio Calico and last night I did one to use stencils without mists. So, I pulled out my recently acquired mono / Gelli printing skills (I use the term "skills" very loosely. lol.) and used the Studio Calico Sundrifter stencil with acrylic plates to make some cool background paper. And to go with that paper, I could only use photos from the Muse show last month. The monoprint is the one with the blue and gold. I added some... Continue reading

I've been using National Scrapbook Day to do a little scrapping. April's project life is done! And I even started May! So without further ado, here are the pages for last month... plus one that I decided to add to the end of March. Not really that many, but it all evens out. (I didn't realize that the "O" had fallen off before the photo until I was editing these. I found it and stuck it back in after I took pictures, but I'm too lazy to re-do it. But it's there!) I also did a layout for 2 of... Continue reading

Finished another month! I'm on a roll. Although I have a lot of photos for April, so I'll probably get a bit behind again over the next few weeks, but this is the most caught up I've been in a long time! (Ignoring the fact that I haven't finished my book with August-November of 2012 yet. Take the wins where you can get them!) So with that, here are the Project Life pages for March: I really love doing this format (6x8). I love that I can be creative where I want or just use photos and journaling cards. I... Continue reading

I know. Not only two posts in a month, two posts in a week. Getting crazy here. (And probably won't post again until mid-May. lol.) Discovered that my cold came with a double dose of pink eye... been house-bound since Saturday, with the exception of a trip to the doctor. But I'm contagion free as of today and should be back in the office tomorrow. Good thing! I hate working on my laptop without my mouse (#firstworldproblems) and tomorrow's the Muse concert, so it's a good thing my body's cooperating on timing! But let's face it. I would have risked... Continue reading

It's time for my monthly blog post! lol. I've had a terrible time keeping up - I've been busy or traveling or sick or whatever, so I've decided to not worry about it and just pop in to update when I can. Last week I was able to fly down to Virginia for the weekend to visit the family for Easter. It was a quick trip, but I was so glad to go - I haven't been home for Easter for 7-8 years, and I haven't ever been able to spend it with the kids, so this was really fun.... Continue reading

It seems like things have just been non-stop crazy lately. I've been super busy at work with no energy when I get home to do much of anything... and just no real desire to head into the craft room. But today after church I suddenly felt the desire to come in and do something, so I did it while I was still feeling it. I decided to go ahead and finish my 28 Days of Love album. I figured, so what that it's St. Patrick's Day and I haven't touched it for weeks? Let's get 'er done. Here are the... Continue reading

So I'm trying not to get a full 14 days behind this time... lol. So I did a few more pages in my album. I also realized that I skipped a layout last week. There weren't any Bright Ideas class challenges on these pages, so just 28 Days challenges. Left was someone I didn't know 10 years ago (photo and journaling on a tag that pulls out of the pocket) and on the right was something I do every day (I picked "go to work" which I'm sure seems weird, but it's totally true!) Now for the 4 catch-up pages... Continue reading