Taking your scrapbook skills off the page and onto the floor!

Hi there---

There was a time this summer when I wasn't blogging at all.  There actually is a good reason why---I promise!  I was completing a BIG project.

 

I'm in charge of staining the deck every year, and this year, I decided I wanted to paint a faux rug on my deck.  Here's how it turned out. 

 

 

 

I originally got the idea from Pinterest.

And THIS, my friends, is where my scrapbooking skills----all that painting and inking and splattering on my scrapbook pages--- came in handy. 

 

Step #1:  Wash the deck and let it dry for a couple of days.  I just use a power washer, no chemicals.

Step #2.  Decide what pattern you want.  I bought a giant chevron stencil here. 

Step #3:  Tape off the area you want as a rug. 

Step #4, also known as what I learned:  I thought I could just lay the stencil down in the taped area and paint directly on it.  I was wrong!  This stencil is just too big and unwieldy.  Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it's not that kind of stencil.  So I had to trace my design in the taped area with pencil.

Step #5:  I saved a ton of money by mixing together paints I had to achieve the color I wanted.  I didn't pay close attention to finishes or interior/exterior.

Step #6:  Paint!

Step #7:  I used a little bit of brown stain on a rag to "distress" or age it a bit.  It was just too white and perfect at first!

Step #8:  Put three coats of polyurethane over the "rug" area.  Then, when it is all dry (wait a couple of days), tape the rug area again within the boundaries of the rug, and stain the rest of your deck.

 

It was a big job.  I was really hot.  But I love the result.  And it was cheap---because I used paint I already had, I think it was about $40 for the stencil.  Not bad at all!  Next summer, I will let you know how it weathered!

 

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Lesley's Versatile Style!

Hey all, it's Pam here! Today I am sharing some pages by our contributing artist, Lesley. You will see from these pages that first of all she does some amazing pages. Second of all, she has a very versatile style! Let's take a look at what I mean! She often uses mixed media and techniques such as that, and the product is always so neat to look at ;) .


Lesley's first page is filled with stamping and paper layering. Do you see those amazing birds coming off the page as well and the arrows? This gives her page lots of motion and makes for a fun page!

Her next page shares with us a slightly different style. While it shares a bunch of the whimsical feel, she chose a large embellishment to show off her photo. This again, works well with the photo!

Next, look at the a cool addition of techniques such as masking. Isn't it neat how she used real gears along with masked ones? Lesley had a great knack for capturing the feel over her photos on her actual layout.

This beautiful page shares with some mixed media techniques. Those white flowers are a great example of that. You know what I really like about this?? The combination of both cut out flowers and mixed media ones!

Again, we see a different style of layout. She does use mixed media but the main focus of this page seems the be the layering and tearing of papers along with the the use of cool embellishments! The purple is so pretty here!

I adore this last page by Lesley. She uses some graphic influences with the sunburst yet still keeps her style on it. You can see some stamping and an ornamental frame on her page. So fun!!!!

I hope you have a great day and have enjoyed seeing Lesley's style!

VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan
 

Finding Inspiration Everywhere!

Good Morning everyone!  Sharon here.

Today I would like to share a layout that I made for my twin sister's and my birthday last year.  We celebrated our birthdays at Penn State when we went to visit my oldest daughter for the first time after she went to college as a freshman.  It was a very special weekend for many reasons, so I wanted to preserve the memories on a scrapbook page.

I always try to look around and find inspiration from different sources.  This time, I was paging through an "Artist's Cafe" magazine and saw a piece of art by Shelley Lane Kommers.  It touched me, not only because it was beautiful, but also because the accompanying article that she wrote about a childhood memory was very moving.

Here is her beautiful artwork that inspired my layout, entitled "Strawberry Park:"

If you want to see the article, check out page 144 of Volume 5 of  "Artists' Cafe" magazine.

Here is the photo that I wanted to use.  It was taken on my sister's camera by her husband.  I just love this picture of Karen and me!

I started with Kraft background:

 and knew that I wanted to used these Jenni Bowlin products that I had in my stash:

Next, I thought about it, and decided to change the butterflies to balloons because it was a birthday themed page.  I found a balloon on the internet that I used as a guide to make the rest of my balloons:

My balloon:

I m made a "bunch" of balloons using the Jenni Bowlin papers as seen above.  After adhering all of them to my page, I stitched the strings with  my sewing machine:

 I also spritzed the background with some moon shadow mist:

and here is my completed page:

and another close-up:

As you can see, it's really easy and fun to make a scrapbook page from inspiration found everywhere!!!!

Thank you for stopping by and visiting the blog today!

VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan

Sheila's CHA Picks

Hi there----every year, I swear I am not even gonna LOOK at new stuff, since I have so much old to use up, and then, every year, I fold like a cheap suit :)!!!!!

SO these are the things I absolutely don't need but absolutely must have:

Simple Stories Snap Sets:

I have long loved this concept, but didn't love their previous colors.  Now I love both:

I am just sort of getting into project life stuff, but I find I use this kind of stuff on my layouts too.  Aren't all these bright colors pretty?

I also love Pebbles' new line, From Me to You.

I think the color palate is so soothing, and I love the little polaroids in the top row. 

And embellishments?  Pebbles "gots" 'em.  I'm sorry it's such a teeny picture below, but I can promise you, you are gonna need every part of it :)

And last, but it no way least, is Elle's Studio.   I recently blogged about "discovering" these great products, and I have been using them ever since.

Love this line---Penelope---

Elle's designs are fabulous and there are always sketches to play along with on her blog.

Well, there you have it.  I have many more picks, of course, but these are first on the list!  Thanks for stopping by today :)

VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S BLOGS/GALLERIES
Cathy Dippolito
Dolores Schaeffer
Cindy deRosier
Marlene Murphy
Lesley Walker
Gael Spence
Sarah Routledge
Sharon Fritchman
Tanya Ham
Sheila Burns
Pam Callaghan

Storing Washi Tape

Cindy here!  Are you into washi tape?  I absolutely love it.  My first six rolls of washi tape hung on one of the two pegboards in my scraproom (which you can see here).  It was really convenient... until my collection of washi tape grew.  Soon I had washi tape cluttering up my desktop, balanced on paper trays, and on the floor under the desk.  Totally unacceptable.  

I've seen dozens of different ways to store washi tape, including vertically on a paper towel holder, lined up in drawers, thrown into baskets, organized in pencil boxes, and even displayed on a window shutter.  I wanted my washi tape to be out in the open but off the flat surfaces.  I wanted a storage system that was flexible in size and easily accessible.  

I happened to have a length of dowel that was just long enough to hold all my washi tape rolls. I bought some 3M wall hooks and stuck them above my bulletin board.

 

I organized my washi tape by color and threaded it on the dowel.  I balanced the dowel on the hook and that's all there was to it!

Here's a closer look:

 

I absolutely love it!  The best part is that I can leave the tapes in place and tear off whatever I need.  As I collect more rolls, I can either replace the dowel with a longer one and move the sticky-back hangers outward or I can put a second washi tape hanger just like this one directly above it.

How do you store your washi tape?