The Best In Us
Sometimes when we look at ourselves and others around us it is easier to pick out the flaws and negatives rather than the good or good qualities that are not on the surface. Norman Rockwell is one of my all time favorite artists. I especially love this painting because while he’s looking in the mirror at an old man, his perception of himself is not him as an old man, but as a young spry fellow. “Rockwell’s work conveyed a belief in the goodness of humanity. One example is Triple Self-Portrait, where we see the artist (in his 60s at the time of painting) from the back, reflected in a mirror, and in the larger-than-life portrait on the easel. In the mirror we see a man with an aging face, a grizzled moustache, and thick glasses – but he is painting himself as a young, handsome man, ready to take on the world. The viewer gets the sense that this depiction isn’t a false one, but that the artist is looking in the mirror and seeing his own best self.” ~FBL You can read the whole story behind this billboard by visiting: The Foundation For A Better Life ** Your challenge for this TFT is to scrapbook or journal a private page about yourself.. Take a photo of yourself, at least 4×6 in size and use hidden journaling to include your thoughts on this page. Journal how you see you and the good that is in you that you may often overlook.You may share your art or keep it private.**
Color Challenge {001}
I was perusing wedding cakes a while back, no particular reason other than they are fun to look at, and I am addicted to Ace of Cakes… Anyway… I saw this cake and loooooved it. I would never in a zillion years put these colors together, but they sure look good on this cake!!! Here’s your first Color Challenge….. Create a card, layout, or other piece of art using these colors as your inspiration. I’d love to see them, so share away! Inky Smiles!Erin
Thoughts For Thursday: Take a Chance
“Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.” – Dale Carnegie “ I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you’ll be a person worthy of your own respects. ” – Neil Simon, (b. 1927) American playwright, screenwriter Over 14 years ago, I left Berlin, Germany & after shipping all of my personal belongings “slow boat”, took a chance and moved to Utah on a whim — having never been here before, knowing only one person (who was supposed to be my roommate but got married a week after I moved here), and not knowing what the future would hold for me… It worked out better than I could have dreamed. I found & married the love of my life 5 years after moving here. I’ve met a lot of fantastic people and have made some really good friends. I graduated college and have had some really great jobs. I learned who I was and adopted some super fun hobbies from the locals (scrapbooking, etc) and will now be taking a chance growing my business… is it scary? YOU BET! Do I think it will be worth it?? YOU BET!!! Taking a chance is taking that leap of Faith….What is something you’ve taken a chance on? What is something you would like to take a chance on? Have you journaled about it in a diary or a scrapbook??? Here’s your chance!1.) Tell us about it.2.) Scrap about it & email a pic of it to me and I will add it to this post.3.) On Monday, October 1st I will draw a random name from the submissions for a random something from my stash…
Buried In Bind It All Products
I am swamped in Bind It All Products from Zutter Innovative… YIKES!!!! (This little machine is the coolest thing!!! Look how tiny it is!!) I got my second shipment of product for the big sale I ‘ve been holding… We are completely sold out of chipboard covers already (and so is the manufacturer until 2nd week in Oct)…. They are also out of 3/8″ black wires until who knows when… So I’m trying to figure out substitutions for the assortments I put together. I’m frantically answering emails, filling orders and planning on another big order. This is CRAZY (yet so fun)!!! This is the cool little bag that you can stash your new little friend and assorted goodies in…. Stay tuned for more artwork….
K is for Kaylee
I made this pot o’ pencils (and pens) for my friend’s little girl who turned 11 today. She loves to write and draw (and so do her brothers), so I figured that they wouldn’t steal her cute flowery pens and pencils and it would make a great addition to her desk in her lavendar room. 🙂 This was very simple to do. I purchased a tin pot and two bunches of flowers (97 c each) and some white kidney or pinto beans (not sure what they are cuz I don’t eat beans, just wanted them to be white-lol!) from WalMart. The first thing I did was to start with the K which is a Basic Grey chipboard alpha. I actually traced the original K onto a piece of black BG chipboard and hand cut it with a craft knife, then inked the edges with Hydrangea Ink by CTMH. (I wanted to keep the original K with the original letters to use as templates.) After I’d inked up the edges, my fingers, and my workspace, I ran my 3/4″ ATG gun all over the face of the K and then adhered some Petal (CTMH) cardstock to the K and then inked it up with Hydrangea Ink and a fingertip sponge dauber. (The ink helps make the finished product have more of a rich color.) Once the ink was dry on the CS, I smeared a good even layer of Liquid Glass (CTMH) over the entire K followed by a hefty sprinkling of tiny glass micro beads from Michael’s. Warning: make sure you use a craft tray under whatever you’re sprinkling the beads over and make sure you sprinkle slowly because the darn little glass beads bounce all over the place and are difficult to clean up. I made sure the layer of Liquid Glass and micro beads was dry and then tapped off the excess beads into the craft tray and then covered the entire K with another thick layer of Liquid Glass and let it dry overnight. After I finished the K, I punched holes in my little tin with the Crop-a-Dile and wove two pieces of ribbon (grosgrain & organdy) through the holes and left plenty of ribbon on the end to tie to the K later. (The next morning I punched a hole with the large punch on my Crop-a-Dile from We R Memory Keepers, tied the K to the tin with a few extra pieces of ribbon and a silk string, and trimmed up the ribbons. I cut the flowers from their “bunch” with wire snips and then wrapped them to the pens and pencils with green floral tape. I poured the white beans in the tin and assembled my bouquet. This was super fun and super easy!!! Enjoy!!
Nice Legs, Good Kisser
Another Oldie But Goodie….. My parents ROCK! These are some pics from a visit a few years ago. We went up American Fork Canyon to see the fall colors and took some photos along the way. I wish I could remember what the paper is… I had scraps of it in a bin that I wanted to use up…. I know I picked it up at Pebbles In My Pocket a while back…. The ribbon is generic from WMart and the metals are from Making Memories.
Thoughts For Thursday: Kindness
” No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions,and the roots spring up and make new trees. ” – Amelia Earhart (b. 1897- missing 1937)author, spokesperson, and record-setting aviator I love this quote! Go out and spread some kindness this week! oh, and btw…. my random winner from the last TFT is: Cindy (From S Florida) “I think it means that happiness will come where you least expect it. I think that there we are sometimes put in situations where we actually expect to be unhappy, but then there comes a time when these situations end up bringing us this greatest joy.” September 13, 2007 7:17 PM You know the routine… email me your address! * 9×9 Layouts made with CTMH Products & Prima Flowers *
South Dakota Badlands
This is just a fun super quick layout that I did of a trip to South Dakota (I made the layout a while back.) I used my old Sizzix dies to cut the letters. I wanted to do some layouts without stamping. I probably should dress these up a bit…. I was trying to do the whole non matted photo layout… not sure I like photos without mats….. Extra pictures that I didn’t know what to do with….. so I just sorta grouped them all together and journaled down the edge. The words “Crazy Horse” are picture scraps that I ran through the Sizzix machine. Mount Rushmore… I still need to do the journaling. I scanned and stitched the pages… I need to get better at scanning and stitching so you can’t see the shadow lines…
The Family Routine …. Set to Pachelbel’s Canon in D
I promise I will post more art soon… 🙂 I am working on some projects, but in the meantime, this is a GREAT video! I was just talking to my stressed out sister (mom of 1.5 yr old twins)….. This should give you mom’s a good laugh. Click Here if You Can’t View It On The Blog Enjoy!!! Erin
Until We Meet Again….
Today was a difficult day. I attended the funeral of my sweet friend, Rebecca Rae (Christoffersen) Stinson. It was especially difficult because it was the first funeral of a “friend” close to my age. The doctors are not sure why she died yet. Hopefully we will find out soon. Her sister, Judy, wrote one of the best “Life Sketches” that I have ever heard. Judy’s sketch made me laugh and cry and remember the good times we all had with Becky. Thank you Judy! ( I will add it to this post when Judy feels up to emailing it to me.)Her husband did not want an obituary in the papers (not sure why), but I found the obituary that her family wrote for her on the website of the funeral home and thought I would share it here. There were friends of hers that the family was unable to contact & hopefully they will find this information… Rebecca Rae Stinson (January 6, 1968 – September 11, 2007) I am glad to have had the privilege of calling Becky my friend. I am thankful to know that life does not end at death & that I will see her again someday. Becky, you will be missed! May the Lord bless you and keep you encircled in his arms until we meet again…