November Class Review (and a winner)

Graffiti Art Journal Cover (click to enlarge)

I took three classes during November. . . well, sort of.  I completed two and bailed on the third. It was partly my fault, but I think the class structure was also partly to blame.

1. Dina Wakley's Graffiti of My Life Art Journal Class, offered at Get it Scrapped. This class was fabulous!  I learned several new art techniques, especially working with stencils, gesso, spray inks and acrylic washes.  It also taught me a lot about how to build up layers on an art journal page.  Finally, I learned a new book binding technique.  Lots of techniques = lots of bang for the buck in my book.  In addition, I walked away with a completed art journal that I love, love, love. I love the size of it, and the feel of it in my hands.  I love paging through it, and I love the cover (pictured here).   The class did not focus on the written part of art journaling, but Dina has other classes for that, and I will take at least one of those in December. The class consisted of 8 lessons, spread over 4 weeks.  Each lesson included a thorough, illustrated PDF, and, even better, a video!  These were fun to watch and really helped me understand HOW to make the techniques work. There was also a class forum and gallery where you could ask questions and share your worker.  Priced at $45 - it was definitely worth it to me.  A winner!
Edited to add: I just found this link to the blog from a fellow classmate who put her journal to music.  If you like Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, it's awesome!  Even if you don't, it's worth clicking here.

2.  Shimelle's Blogging for Scrapbookers.  I loved this class.  It inspired me to create this blog.  It gave me the confidence to figure out the technology.  It introduced me to many of you.  It gave me the answers to questions from what to write about to how to format it.  The class materials were superb. They began with a introductory PDF explaining all the basics about how to set up a blog and ended with an amazing booklet, "A Year of Prompts."  In between were three weeks worth of week day lessons. Each lesson covered a different potential prompt that could be used for blogging and/or scrapbooking.  Each lesson had suggestions for posts if you had 2 minutes, 30 minutes or several hours to spend on your blog. Each lesson contained an illustrated PDF, written in Shimelle's clear, insightful language. Plus, there was an online forum to discuss issues, form friendships and get even more questions answered.  Truly an invaluable class for any scrapbooker or artist who has a blog or is considering starting a blog. The most amazing thing. . . the whole class only cost $15!  I have no idea how Shimelle manages to price her classes so reasonably, but she always does.

3. Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand. This class left me confused and a little frustrated. It was a seven day class, which, I think, should lead you to complete a series of prompt cards to help guide your holiday activities and an album in which to feature your holiday activities.  I say "I think" because the purpose of the class and what you were supposed to do each day was never really very well explained . . . at least to me. Sorry, I just didn't get it.  Now, part of it may be my problem because Jessica Sprague's site and classes are definitely geared to digital or hybrid scrappers, and I'm not either.  The class included a bunch of free downloads, which others really seemed to appreciate.  Also, to be fair, I could have given it more of a chance, but I bailed when I couldn't see the big picture.  The other thing I should mention is that it was free!  It was a good way to see if Jessica's style fits yours, and, I learned that, for me, it's not a good fit.

I'd love to hear what other people thought of classes they took in November.

OH, I almost forgot . . . the winner of the Christmas ATC's is Jacky!  Jacky, email me your address (to rinda1961 at yahoo dot com), and I'll drop your prize in the mail.  By the way, I made two of the ATC's.  I made the Angel and the Santa.  By the way, Jacky was the only one who got two entries in the drawing by correctly guessing the "A" was mine.  To all who guessed Reindeer and Madonna, those are very much in my style.  For those who want to know what an ATC is, check back later this week.  I'm planning a post about them!

Scrapbook Sunday: on shortcuts and pumpkins

Posting a little late today, but the incentive of "Scrapbook Sunday" pushed me to get some scrapbooking done yesterday.  I scrapped seven pages!  They're pretty simple, but I'm happy that they're done.  And they were very relaxing to make.  I did them while the whole family watched Forrest Gump on T.V.  Surprisingly, none of us had ever seen it before!

The pages were simple to complete because I used two tools offered by Club Scrap - Assembly Line Scrapbooking (ALSB) and their Deck of Cards. For ALSB, you actually complete blank layouts, then find photos later to fit.  I know it doesn't seem like it should work, but it does.  The first layout is evidence of that.  The Deck of Cards is a set of 52 sketches that include instructions for which paper to gather and how to cut it.  The second layout was built with that method.  The first layout was made with Club Scrap's Perfect Ten Collection and the second layout with Club Scrap's Natural Resources Collection.

I'll pick a winner in my weekend giveaway tonight and post it tomorrow, along with a review of November classes.  Tuesday features Twelve Tags of Christmas.  Enjoy the rest of  your weekend!

Tending your inner light with holiday art

There are so many potential art projects for the holidays.  In particular, there are many Christmas Journals designed for you to be able to chronicle your holidays through scrapbooking, journaling and art.  I have looked at a few of these and thought about doing Ali Edwards' December Daily or Jessica Sprague's Holiday in Hand, but I've decided not to.  I think that either of these would just make me feel pressured to have an "authentic" holiday season, when I'm just really not in the mood. I mean, either you're authentic or you're not, right? You just can't force the feeling!  LOL!

When I am in the mood, I love the idea of Christmas Journals, and I adored participating in Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas a few years back.  It remains one of my favorite art journals, and I'll be posting it here for you, as a slide show on Christmas Day.

What I do feel like doing is Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas.  I love these, and I am thrilled he's doing them again this year.  Check here on Dec. 1, and you'll see my tags from last year.  I may even put the 2009 tags in a mini-album with a few Christmas memories from this year - the authentic memories, that is!

How are you tending your inner light this holiday season?

Weekend Giveaway - Christmas ATC's

I was part of a very cool ATC swap.  Each person chose one letter in the word "Christmas" and made a Christmas-themed ATC incorporating that letter.  The beauty of this collaboration is that you can then put them all in an ATC holder, and they spell out Christmas!

If you're looking for a fun holiday project to do with your art friends, this could be it.  For this weekend's give-away, just leave a comment guessing which ATC in this collection I made.  If you guess correctly, I'll put your name in the give-away twice!

The winner will be picked Sunday evening at 9:00 p.m.  The winner will receive an assortment of Christmas-themed ATC's!

Gratitude with Attitude

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!  Today I am thankful for family, friends and quirky stamp designers like Daniel Torrente at Stampotique Originals.

Mining for Creativity

Here's a simple photo post.  This really cool sculpture was in the Louvre Museum, summer 2008.  I've used the photo on a variety of photo cards.  It's fun to come up with great captions for it.  I like to think of it as someone mining for creativity.  Speaking of creativity, I received my second blog award!

I received this from Lizzie.  I need to list seven things about myself:
1. I have taught in Dublin, Prague and Budapest.
2. I have walked on The Great Wall of China.
3. I have five brothers and sisters, and 51 first cousins.
4. The last book I read was The Help by Kathryn Stockett.
5. Two DVD sets on my Christmas list are The Tudors (season 3) and Life on Mars (the U.S. version).
6. I don't sew . . . ever.
7. I wish I had tried out for basketball in high school.


Now, to nominate seven other wonderfully creative bloggers who have inspired my creativity:
Connie at Connie's Dream
Nancy at Squirrelly Art
Carol at Life and Howe We Live It
Connie at Creating with Connie

If I nominated you, you are supposed to put this award on your blog, list seven things about yourself and ass the award on to seven other bloggers.  Thanks to each of you for being an inspiration!

Cards a la Jacky (click to enlarge)

Jacky, over at the ScrappyJacky blog is quite the card maker!  During our Creative Circle Blog Party, she posted this wonderful card.  Using it as inspiration, I made a bunch of cards over the weekend. I started with this card, featuring a JudiKins image, colored with twinkling H2O's, and patterned papers from Cosmo Cricket, Scenic Route, and Basic Grey.  I embellished with ribbon, flowers and buttons. Sentiment from Club Scrap.

After creating three of those, I still had a lot of paper left over, so I went about designing other cards with a similar feel.  The card on the left uses a Stamp Francisco image and the card on the right uses an image from Alpha Stamps.  Jacky's style is a little sweeter than mine, and she managed to get more layers and details on her cards than I did on mine.  But, I love these cards and really appreciate her inspiration!  It's so much fun to work in a different style while still incorporating your own.  Thanks Jacky!

P.S. The wonderful Lizzie sent me another blog award!  I love getting these, and I will be responding it to it tomorrow.  Thanks Lizzie!!!