Archive for » July, 2012 «

Scrappy Sunday – Friends Layouts – Part Deux

29
Jul 2012

These layouts are a continuation of my last Friends Layout post I did.  I started a scrapbook of my friend’s bachlorette and I was trying to get it done for the rehearsal dinner.  However, it is not looking good, haha.  I still have other wedding paper goodies to prepare so I likely won’t have time.

The first friends layout is for the Maid of Honour, it is a picture of them when they were in University, super cute and young.

I tried to keep the embelishments simple as I wanted the focus to more be on the picture and words.  I did make sure each page had some bling.  I am loving this orange trim from Webster’s Pages.

My next and last layout for today was mine.  I love adding red to black and white, it just pops.

A little shine and check out the awesome red trim.  The material is velvety and reminds me of a 70′s jumpsuit, so cool.

A good way to add visual balance is to have three points (in a triangular form) of visual interest or colour.  So, I added an embroidered little red bird to finish off the page.

Oh, oh, before I forget, I got my order from Dick Blick the other day.  Odd name, I know, hehe.  They have the most amazing variety of art supplies.  Felt like it was Christmas when I got it.  I am going to do a little video in the next couple of days to show you my stash.  You are going to be jealous, I am sure.

Category: Scrapbook Layouts  Tags: ,  Leave a Comment

Bridal Shower Canvas

28
Jul 2012

So, last weekend I was asked to teach and prepare a Bridal Shower canvas by a maid of honour.  Since I just happened to also be a bridesmaid in this wedding, I was more than happy to do it.  It also meant I was close to the bride and knew she was a fan of blues and greens.  Which, when you are planning an art piece that is hopefully going to hang in her love nest, is quite helpful.  Since their original wedding theme was going to be love birds, I thought that would be a good place to start.

Here is the background I prepared for everyone.  I drew in pencil a basic outline for everyone to follow.

I then pulled out papers, paints and embroidery floss.

I think it helped the nervous ones that cosmos were being served.

Each person got a piece of the canvas to do with what they pleased (or almost what they pleased, haha).  It was funny cause the bride ended up adding an extra bird to her piece as she somehow missed some of the instructions.  As I always say, there are no mistakes, only happy accidents.  In this case, it was entirely appropriate as the bride has a son who is a huge part of their lives.

So off they went.  They all worked hard and lovingly on their individual pieces.

Here I am with the bride.

Here is the piece once the guests were done with it.

I then took it home and added some finishing touches to it to make it a little more cohesive.

I added the word “LOVE” to it since that is what weddings are all about it, isn’t it?

Finally, the two love birds.

What a great way to spend an afternoon!!!

Category: Classes, Mixed Media  Tags: , , ,  5 Comments

Rooster Art Show and Winner

25
Jul 2012

So last night was the Vernissage for my Rooster Art Show.  I had a blast.  I had postcards done up for us to keep at the restuarant in case anyone wanted our info.

My friend Brittany also had a collection there.

Check her out with all her adoring fans, haha.

One of her beautiful pieces…

Chris in front of our wall of art.

It was nice to have some of my peeps there.  Cheers Angie!!!

Collage of my work.

Such a great night and our art is there for a month!!!!

ps.  The winner of my vintage doily give away is…

“Stephanie July 18, 2012 at 2:01 pm Très joli!! I will try my best to go.”

I will get that off to you soon.

 

Category: Art/Craft Fairs  One Comment

Just a reminder to make every moment count

19
Jul 2012

I just wanted to share this awesome video by Paper Fortress.  Just a little reminder to everyone that you should make every moment count.  Kind of how I feel about life.  The trick is to carry that feeling with you on a day to day basis.  Especially in today’s busy world.

Paper Fortress: 2009 – 2011 Reflection from Paper Fortress on Vimeo.

 

Category: Inspiration  Leave a Comment

Art Show, Vernissage & Give Away!!

17
Jul 2012

Just dropped my “Not Your Gramma’s Doily Collection” paintings off at the Rooster, 303 Bank Street, Ottawa.  The owner is big on supporting local artists so my friend Brittany and I are having an Art Show there for a month, along with a couple other artists.  We will be having a vernissage next Tuesday night, July 24, 2012 from 7pm to 10pm.

For all of the paintings I used vintage doilies as stencils.  I have been collecting them from e-bay.  They are hard to find and have sold from my Etsy shop almost faster then I can post them.  I have kept a few for myself and have decided to share the wealth and do a giveaway in honour of my first show.  I will choose a random person from all comments left on this post between now and the showing next Tuesday.

Here is a sample of one of the pieces that will be there.  It is called “C’est Joli”.

All of the background papers are Paris related and the dress has a beautiful vintage rhinestone button at the waist.  Something I could see myself wearing strolling around the streets of Paris.  This girl is voluptuous, just like me, haha.

Come join us for a drink, there is nothing better than a bar full of friends.

Category: Art/Craft Fairs  4 Comments

Bay of Fundy

13
Jul 2012

I am currently on vacation on the East coast and having a blast.  We spent a bit of time in the picturesque Quebec city on our way through.  I will share photos of that later as there are way too many to sort through on the road.  Then we headed to the Bay of Fundy, home of the highest tides in the world.  The views were breathtaking (more on those later as well).

Of course we are useless without our coffee so we claimed this artisan café in the town of Alma as ours for the time we were there…

There was such character in this place, they had a sign that read “please loiter”.  There were great nooks and crannies to sit and enjoy your goodies and a back deck.

They also had a jamming area set up for local bands.

The owners were glass blowers so they were selling the coolest things.  They reproduced the old glass buoys fishermen used many years ago.

I wanted to pick one up but was hoping to find an authentic one in our travels.   Lucky for me Chris spotted the exterior netting part on a beach we were driving by so stopped to pick it up.  Such a score.  I did end up getting the inner glass ball part at the store.  So, I now have a semi-authentic one which is good enough for me as the original glass balls are almost impossible to find.

On our drives through the country, we found the glass blower’s studio and house.

They even had alpacas and looked like they grew a lot of their ingredients they used for the café.

On our drives we came across a one room school house…

It even had an outhouse towards the back of the lot.

An old community centre…

This adorable old house…

The lighthouses were pretty cool…

There were so many cute little studios tucked into country roads all over the place.  One of which was this Studio on the Marsh.  I was pretty jealous of most of the artists having studios in such a beautiful area of the country and so close to the ocean.

I was especially so for this space as the view behind was amazing.  Maybe one day.

Well, just wanted to share a little of our amazing week.  I am feeling so refreshed and inspired that I wish I had brought a little art kit with me so I could create on the road.  Although I am enjoying taking all of these pictures, which is also a creative outlet.  I think it is important to do something creative every day.  It nourishes the soul.  The rest of this week has been spent with family and showing the kids some of my favourite places growing up.  Unfortunately, it is all over tomorrow.  Hope you are all having a great week!!

Category: Interesting Places  5 Comments

Collage Challenge – Mermaid Mixed Media

05
Jul 2012

“Mermaids” is the challenge this week over on the Collage Obsession blog. Of course, I had to do a mermaid mixed media piece, cause that is my thing but, I was having a difficult time with this one.  One it comes to my paintings, I am not into nautical themes usually, more into trees, birds and the sort.  Probably been away from the ocean too long, haha.  Which I am rectifying soon as I am heading to New Brunswick this week-end for a much needed family vacation, WOOO!

I digress, back to the sirens of the sea.  So, to start the creative juices flowing I started doing a bit of snooping on the Internet and found some pretty cool digital collage sheets over on Artchix Studio (which is an awesome Canadian Company out in BC).  I purchased one and received it (along with a free bonus sheet) almost immediately in my inbox.  Got to love technology.  I printed the sheet off, but in black and white because I wanted to add my own colouring to the girls.  Which I did with my Faber Castell PITT pens.  They are so fluid and I love that they are transparent.  I just do a bit of colouring then rub them around with my finger as they stay wet for a bit before they set.

I added my own wings to this girl and a rub-on to spice her up a little.

I also added vintage book pages to all of them and of course more rub-ons.  Check out that amazing Gossamer Lace stamp from Stampin Up!.  Love it!!

I even gave one of them a stylish version of a trident.  Equal rights and all, but she seems more likely to be sitting down to an elegant dinner rather than heading out to hunt down a fish to spear :)  That was fun, I may have to do a few more mermaid mixed media pieces.

Category: Mixed Media  Tags:  3 Comments

Scrappy Sunday on Monday – Friend Layouts

02
Jul 2012

Hope everyone had a great Canada Day!!  I was lucky enough to be out at a cottage for a bachlorette for one of my bestest friends.  The weather was amazing.  My plan was to put together a scrapbook of the weekend so the bride could have a permanent keepsake with a ton of friend layouts.  First I must share a pick of the view from the deck of the cottage which was on Lac Sinclair.  Beautiful!!!

My idea for the book was that all the guests would write a little something for the bride, ie. favourite memory, qualities or words of advice and next to it I would put a picture of them from over the weekend. The first thing I did with the book was make a friend oriented title page (since this is what the whole theme of the weekend basically was).

I took all of the background pages from the same collection called “all dressed up” which was from DCVW.  The first layout was for the bride, but I still have yet to decide which picture to use as I got a few good ones.

The right side of the layout was for the venue, I inserted a picture of the cottage that the owner sent to us ahead of time.

The cool summer themed stickers are from Penny Black.  They are appropriately called “vintage friends”.  I totally love them and had been saving them for the perfect friend layouts.

Here is the ‘bride to be’ (looking adorable in the veil we made her wear) reading the Maid of Honour’s contribution to the book (with the MOH).

Now that the weekend is sadly over I have to sort through all of the awesome pictures and finish it.  Hopefully it will illicit more of such amazing emotions.  I shall keep you posted on my progress.

 

 

Category: Scrapbook Layouts  Tags:  2 Comments