Some people view art; others live it.

“Some people view art; others live it.” - Cheri Wenger

For you creative types out there, you get this statement totally. Art is not just something we look at or create, our whole life is a continual process of appreciating beauty, collecting inspiration and translating that into everyday experiences and art. So it is with great joy and excitement that I can say that after a two year interruption (divorce and other life events just happen), I feel like I can return to the "art" of it all...my passion and my creative self. 

Life sometimes takes us on detours, some of which I have yet to even encounter, but I refuse to allow it to take from me the one thing that gives breath to my life. I create. I need to share it so others can enjoy it, too. Don't get me wrong, I never stopped creating, my enthusiasm and passion dim were merely dimmed. Through the process, I learned a very valuable fact — never let another person dim that light, and make you question your talents.

So here is my welcome back to blogging...I am beyond excited to 

...once again.

Art 

Portraiture

Most of you know that my creative roots started way back in kindergarten with my love for drawing and painting, which later evolved into a career in graphic design. After an introduction into digital photography and much encouragement from friends, my passion and interest for photography grew. So why not offer customers a more unique product combining the best of both worlds?

The image above was taken during a beach shoot, and the photo by itself is precious, but why not take it one step further to create a unique work of fine art portraiture? 

How did I do this?

This was created combining other photography images and textures on layers in photoshop with some design brushes to create an expanded background suitable for a large gallery wrap (canvas). 

My customer didn't have quite the wall space for this 16x20 version, so I reworked it in size to fit an 8x10 canvas board wrap which they chose instead. Below is a quick cell phone shot of the it.

Quick tip: Always work in a larger size than you think you might need cause you can always shrink but quality is effected when you try to enlarge.

The smaller finished canvas board wrap

Keep an eye on my blog for upcoming tips and even some tutorials on art portraiture and other DIY creations! I plan to share the chalk paint restored vanity that is now my new desk.

Using the Hottest Colors in your Card Creations

Yesterday I picked up an issue of In Style magazine and my eyes settled on a page featuring shades of watermelon pink as one of the latest, hot colors to wear. Maybe I am a bit psychic when it comes to picking in colors, LOL, but I just created two cards last week featuring that color. In the first card I have paired it up with a hot coral color and used the technique I shared in my last post for handcoloring your stamp with markers, only I did not spritz this one, I let the markers blend the colors on the stamp.

Another fun thing to try is stamping a verse and cropping it with a punch so it is still readable, yet it works with diecut frame. I used varying circle punches on this example with a diecut frame by Stampin’ Up!®. The result is a clean, simple, yet cheerful birthday card.

Mum’s Birthday

The textured watermelon cardstock used on this card, below, was embossed with a texture. I added interest to my punched scalloped circle by doing the repetitive stamping technique to create light and dark values of ink using this beautiful stem from the Watercolor Trio set from SU. The loopy border punch is from the Martha Stewart Collection. I used multiple embossing folders & punches on this card to create interest and texture, especially on the petals which were created using the 5 petal punch, embossing then cutting them in 2 or 3 petal sections to create leaves. The scalloped circle was raised up using dimensional foam, also allowing the sheer ribbon and petals to be placed underneath.

Strawberry Floral

So before you start your next card creation, take a peek online or in the fashion and home magazines to see what the latest, hottest colors are. It may just give you the creative spark you need to...

As You Graduate

Today is the last day of school and now our baby will be an official senior. I am holding on because I already know how fast this ride goes! Summer will fly by in a flurry, admissions essays, SAT & ACT exams will be taken and Kylie will start her college applications and school tours. Next it will be her final season of volleyball, senior night, powder puff, senior project, prom and the final yearbook signing...all leading up to graduation night. It took me a few minutes to summarize in words and I believe this year will fly by equally as quickly when looking back. So seniors...savor every moment! Soak in every great lesson there is to learn and focus on having no regrets when you graduate. Congratulations to Joe, John, Meagan, Kaitlyn, Adrian, Nick and all the other graduates of the Class of 2012!

For this year's grad cards, I found inspiration from a card that I cased on Pinterest, created by Beth Apalooza.

Making it My Own

I modified the design slightly and created these cap & gown cards in assorted colors:

These are perfect to use as cards, announcements or thank you notes!

Here are some close up pictures of the individual cards...

The West Shore Colors (Navy & Silver)

Viera High Colors (Green & Gold)

Standard Black & White with Gold

(this one is for my niece's 8th grade graduation)

The easiest way that I found to mass produce these cards was to cut out templates of the paper piecings.

Here are some of the dimensions that I used:

Large triangle: 4-1/4" tall x 3-5/8" wide

Smaller triangle: 2" tall x 1-1/2" wide

Cap: 2-1/4" square

Striping: Cut 1/4" x 3-1/2" strips to glue and overlap under cap; trim excess from top of card.

Now for the tassel making tips:

1. Cut your template. I used a scrap of card stock 1-7/8"w x 2"h (*Note: the width doesn’t matter).

2. Wrap colored floss (embroidery thread) approx. 8 full loops around the cardstock and cut end.

3. Thread a small piece of thread under the top strands and knot. 

4. Next cut the bottom strands to remove from template. 

5. Cut a small piece of floss long enough to blend the ends in with the tassle.

6. Make another small knot to create the top of the tassle and blend threads in with the rest of the tassle. 7. Punch hole or make a slit with a cutting blade and mat to thread top tie of tassle through the hole. 

8. Insert colored mini brad in hole, knot the floss and trim before gluing onto card. 

**For added dimension, you can use double sided adhesive foam on back side of the cap.

Other ideas:

• Add a personalized mini diploma created on your computer.

• Dress up girl cards with rhinestones, mini pearls or bling, as on the card I cased.

• Use white or metallic alphabet stickers to personalize or add messages.

• Stamp a verse in versamark ink, then heat emboss in white or gold on the front or inside of cards.

(I did this on inside as well as to dress up the outside of the envelope. I used a collage of Good Luck, Congratulations and Graduation stamps and used the writing tip of the Versamarker pen to write in the lucky grad's name before embossing with gold embossing powder.)

Making the Pieces Fit

Some days life is like a collage, which takes patience and planning to make things balance and work. This week has been a bit like that. Early in the week, I was excited to see the results of two projects that I had been working on recently. I designed a partial scrapbook using MyMemories™ scrapbooking software which I finished online using Shutterfly’s custom path tools. It was a birthday retrospect for my daughter's boyfriend of fun events over the past year. I was thrilled to see the 8 x 8 book, and James ended up loving it, too! (Pssst, check back soon for a giveaway and promotion involving My Memories scrapbooking software!)

But the day leading up to giving it to him, was eventful. My daughter had an allergic reaction to the lunch I packed. Unfortunately, I mixed up her gluten-free ravioli's with ours. The initial reaction wasn’t too terribly bad and was halted by some benadryl and claritin. She was a bit sleepy and had to chill out at home, which made it perfect for giving James his late birthday presents from us.

Here is James with his photo canvas collage of his high school soccer state championship highlights.

Most photo canvases are just one image stretched over the entire canvas, but Kai wanted to do a collage photos I had taken at the state championship game. Being short on time to execute this, she asked for my professional help. I worked on it in Photoshop to include as many of the important photos as possible along with the game’s scores, list of teammates and James’ name and number. Little did I know that the next day would involve some of the same challenges of trying to make things work out under stress...Kai had two recurring allergic reactions amounting in two separate ER trips in one day. That was a first and hopefully last time for that to happen. Returning home at 6 am the following day, we were less than thrilled with our second ER experience and the lack of care we received from our hospital. It seems more evident than ever that in today’s healthcare system, you are your best and sometimes only advocate for knowing what is best for your child. 

Our lesson learned: if you even think you need epinephrin, you better get over the fear of the needle and administer it yourself. ER personnel seemed to have an even bigger fear or resistance to giving it to you. Who would have thought that I would be forced into a career in nursing, against all creative resistance!

So this canvas represents for me what it often life’s daily challenge...making many things work, fit and balance at the same time while insuring the outcome is pleasing. We send out a huge thanks to Dali Decals for their awesome execution of this 20" x 24" poster-like canvas art and their speedy turn around. We know it is special to James since he is contemplating putting it in place of his Kelly Slater poster!

I hope that your next project allows you to pull all the pieces together and

  

Gift Inspiration for Valentine’s Day

Today, I discovered that one of my old craft creations was featured on tipjunkie.com as an example for a teacher’s gift idea. This made me realize that I should share some of my previous craft projects that are excellent inspiration for handmade Valentine Gifts. Although most of these can be found in my Picasa web galleries, I will save you the time in sorting through all the images...you can do that later by clicking the link above. I hope that these will be a springboard to your own creativity!

 Idea 1: Use items you have to dress up something ordinary!

Skill level: Beginner. 

I used paper flowers, buttons and ribbon to turn this dull storage box into a colorful, gift that my daughter can use to store her hair accessories or casual jewelry. All you need are some great adhesives. My suggestion: Glue Art’s extreme adhesive squares.

Skill level: Beginner.

For this second example, I purchased colorful buttons and used the same adhesive squares to dress up this ordinary lampshade. Note: Until I figured out the exact placement, I used smaller pieces of adhesive on the back of each button. I also layered some of the buttons beforehand for more color and interest.

 Idea 2: Turn an old container (candle jar with lid) into a matching gift set.

Skill level: Advanced; see suggestions for making it a beginner level project.

Using  coordinating papers, stamps and supplies, I created this gift, card & bag matching set by recycling and lidded glass candle jar, covering the sides and lid and trimming with a sweet stamped saying. If you are not good at cutting and stamping use pre-cut elements, stickers, colored chipboard embellishments, silk flowers, ribbons and rhinestones to turn this into a simpler, yet wonderful project.

Idea 3: Personalize a frame and turn it into a piece of art.

Skill level: Beginner-Intermediate

You can see some of the steps for this project in my Glue Arts Project gallery. This same project idea can be done at any skill level based upon the steps you choose to add. 

Skill level: Beginner:

You can start out by simply dressing up a purchased frame (great use for those 40% off coupons at the craft store!) along with some basic embellishments like sequins, adhesive pearls, rhinestones or gems, maybe some silk or paper flowers and some ribbon. You will also require some type of permanent adhesive that is strong enough to stay adhered, yet small enough to use on tiny items such as thin ribbon. For this I, once again, used extreme adhesive squares on the items that did not contain adhesive backing. Create a ribbon with some long tails and attach to one of the top corners and trail the tails around the frame using the small adhesive squares to create a flowy feel. Then dress up with various sizes of adhesive gems or pearls to complete your beginner level gift. The frame is now ready for a photo.

Skill level: Advanced

Now, step it up by creating artwork to go inside your frame or on top of the glass. For this example, I mounted a photo of my girls onto a piece of pink paper trimmed to fit the window of the frame. I used svg diecuts of my Lovey Dovey Brushes set of digital art to cut black vinyl to add to the top of the frame. I used adhesive alphabet letters to add the phrase Oh so tweet tot he glass and filled in the space by adding black sequins with white pearls on top. Now the top art is easy to display and clean.

Skill level: Intermediate

This takes a bit more time and skill, but I used some basic punches to create my own handmade, sugared flower from cardstock, glitter, a paint brush and crystal effects.  To shape the flower and folded the punched floral shape, bent and manipulated it. I used adhesive squares to attach the segments to one another to form the flower, then brushed the crystal effects onto the flower and sprinkled with dazzling diamonds glitter to give it the shimmery look. I paired with other diecut stems. You can achieve a similar look by adding pre-purchased sugared flowers from Prima. I also added a vinyl diecut heart layered onto pink cardstock on top of the ribbon. For this, you can substitute a sticker or chipboard element.

Idea 4: Transform a heart shaped craft box into a 3D display for the love of your life. 

Skill level: Advanced to Intermediate

This project started with the purchase of a kraft heart shaped box with a lid and evolved into a mini 3-D display featuring a foam core photo cut out, diecuts, trim and other embellishments. This makes a nice shelf display and also works well as an anniversary gift, especially for a special anniversary. The measuring, gluing and cutting make this a more advanced undertaking.

Idea 5: Create a relationship keepsake box. 

Skill level: Advanced

When I spotted this kraft box with a two-piece framed lid, I knew it would be fun to turn into a shadow box keepsake gift for my daughter to keep all the mementos of her high school relationship. Purchasing a themed scrapbook collection makes this project much easier due to all the great coordinating papers and embellishments that there are to use. The square lid insert became my main canvas. Tip: you may want to dray a light pencil line around the window opening of the outer lid on top of the square so you will know what are is visible once assembled. Decorate away with elements. You can even add in personal items such as ticket stubs, photo booth strips, etc. This idea can also be used as a birthday idea featuring the person's special interest i.e. a sport they play, activity i.e. theatre or dance, or a hobby they enjoy.

This sits on Kylie's shelf as room decor and a place to store notes, photos and other mementos.

Idea 6: Create a scrapbook page featuring the things or people that you love.

Skill level: Beginner-Intermediate

Beginner to Intermediate scrapbookers of all levels can create a page related to love: people they love, things they love or stories about being in love. These layouts can be framed in a 12 x 12 frame as a gift, mounted onto foam board to lean against something or given with a long piece of ribbon, some push pins and two spring-hinged clothes pins to hang on a ribbon banner on a wall.

Idea 7: Purchase a mini scrapbook album kit and 

personalize with photos, journaling & embellishements.

Skill level: Beginner-Intermediate

Even advanced crafters can make the best out of pre-made kits. As a beginner, you can simply assemble per the kit contents and instructions, or you can deviate by adding your creativity and own items to turn into a more advance project design. This was a small gift album I made for my mother, shown with photos of my sister and niece. Each page had some sweet photos that I knew she would enjoy. The finished album is pretty enough to leave out on a table top on display, and always close by to thumb through and experience a bit of family love.

Idea 8: Recycle packaging into a wonderful treat box.

Skill level: Beginner

I just love when I can recycle or repurpose things I have into wonderful gifts for friends and loved ones. This treat container was created for my niece from the empty packaging from my Glue Arts adhesive cartridges. I washed, dried then decorated it with stickers, gems and a tag. I used silk flower petals, trim and a button to make my own decorative flower. The epoxy sprinkles added a fun "sweet" element to this treat container which I filled with candies. This also makes a regiftable container for the recipient to pass along the love.

Idea 9: Cover simple boxes with stamped or diecut designs to make lovely gift boxes.

Skill level: Beginner-Advanced

As you can see, I love working with small boxes. We all have them and they come in so many fun shapes and sizes. Covering them with paint, papers, fabric, ribbons, trims and embellishments makes them that much more enjoyable to receive. Fill them with covered candies, add tissue and cookies, bath salts, packages of tea bags, cocoa, or use as an elegant way to give jewelry as a gift.

Idea 10: Dress up a store purchase.

Skill level: Beginner-Advanced

Embossing is a very elegant, yet simple crafting technique that always looks so impressive. It requires a stamp, either pigment or embossing ink pad, a heat tool and some scrap paper to recycle the unused embossing powder back into the container. For the candle wrappers, I used white embossing powder with a flourish and a heart stamp. You can take this simple candle wrapper idea to the next level and turn this into a romantic tabletop display by decorating a vase and creating a Valentine pick to put inside the vase. Ribbons, gems, floral picks, flowers, photos, etc. can be added to customize each item.

I hope that these ten Valentine Gift making ideas help you to 

Color Focus for 2012

Part of Living Life Creatively means that I like to try new things for inspiration and tackle new design challenges. This year I have decided to create a single color palette from which I will create all of my colored clip art designs...or at least I will attempt not to break my own rules! ;)

My focus this year is on color combinations. Part of this means that I will share favorite color combinations for you to try out in your design projects. Some of these may be outside of my own 2012 color palette, but nonetheless, nice combinations for color inspiration for crafting, fashion and home decor.

With Valentine's day around the corner, my first color group is titled the Romance color palette. Can't wait to see what you create with this color group. Email me at artz1@cfl.rr.com with your photos and I will share them here, or leave me a comment with a link to your blog post. Happy creating! 

Oh, and I have tweeked the design for my tag line. I will share a peek at that below.

I have lots of new plans in store as I am tackling working on two websites...

one for my overall design work and one for my photography.

Both are still in the baby stage of preliminary designs.

It will be so fulfilling to be able to tie together all of the ways that I

Project 365/Day 21 - Cardmaking with Ree

Sometimes you are lucky enough to find a friend in life who makes you feel totally appreciated, who shares a passion for the same things you do and inspires you to be a better person. This is what I have found in my friend, Ree. She is a wonderfully sweet person (who is soon to be seen on Extreme Home Makeover in February) since she volunteered to help out with a home being built in the Central Florida area. She has more energy and enthusiasm about life and stamping, and has helped build my self esteem in always crediting me as her creative mentor. Whenever we get together for a day of stamping, I always leave with a smile. We share new tips and techniques we picked up between our play dates and catch up on family and friends...isn’t that the very best of living life creatively?!!! Here is a mishmash of some of what I created. We did more talking & eating than creating, but walked away energized and inspired to try new products and techniques.

I was very anxious to try out the Springtime Vintage DSP collection and pear pizzazz seam binding ribbon that was part of the goodies she gave me for Christmas. I typically am not drawn to old fashion style papers, but wow, was I inspired the more I worked with this. And the softness of the seam binding ribbon is awesome. I insisted that she teach me how she made these incredible paper flowers on a recent project she posted. And in her truly generous spirit, she dropped what she was doing to teach me how she made them. I am a bit disappointed that after mine flattened out on the ride home, I haven't been able to restore it to quite how good it looked when I was at her house, but you get the idea. And...it was made using the 5 petal flower punch, an idea she cased on the web. Pretty easy to do, and they looks so beautiful. Not great for mailing, but excellent for hand delivered cards and gifts! Check it out...

I took some closer up photos too. It is assembled using a simple brad!

I hand cut some accent leaves from Wild Wasabi that was texturized with an embossing folder.

And here is Ree’s Beautiful Letterpress card that was my inspiration!

Here is the Vintage Love Ya Card I made at her house

using background paper from Springtime Vintage DSP from Stampin’ Up!®

and 3D stamped butterfly cut out from K&Co Que Sera Sera clear stamps.

This card features the pear pizzazz seam binding ribbon...can you say gorgeous!!!

Trust me you will love the feel of it and using it on your projects.

My daughter had to make a poster for a conference she was attending this weekend and we picked up some silver glittered adhesive foam for her to create the letters and graphics. She had some leftover scraps so I brought them along with me for Ree and I to play with. She ran some through the diecuts she had and I had fun using them on a couple cards. She really liked the color combination of red, black and white and silver. This could be used as a simple valentine, but I made it into a Thank You card.

I swear that this pink and black background with the canvas textured stamping strip has been in my scrap pile for several years now. I finally snagged some other scrap elements to make it into a cheery card. Don’t you just love that lil' owl. He is in one of the stamp sets (Punch Bunch) that are available for free during Sale-a-bration with a $50 purchase. So if you are needing any SU supplies, now is the time to order. I no longer am a demo, but Ree can take care of that. She has a website for doing online orders.

So, I encourage you today to surround yourself with friends who inspire you creatively and it will enhance your experience  and inspire you to live life creativley!

Project 365 Personal Challenge

During one of the segments of our whirlwind trip to Georgia that to truly live life creatively, I needed to do a little experiment. You see, I get such a thrill when I am using my mind creatively. It lifts my spirit, boosts my energy and makes me feel like I can tackle anything. So why not want feel like that all year long? This is why I created my Project 365 Personal Challenge to allow myself to experience a little piece of that in each day of the new year.

Are you maybe thinking of joining in on this challenge? I really hope so! Hang in there with me and let's give this a try. The project doesn't even have to be something big...it can even be a tag or a small element that will later be incorporated into a bigger project. So don't be intimidated!!!

So what exactly does this involve? For me, it will be doing something creative each day, i.e. making a card, gift, scrapbook page, designing a new set or elements of a set — anything other than a customer’s project or work assignment...something that fills my jar back up! Now I know your mind may already have thought of two or three reasons that this isn’t possible to do each and every day, but it is, if you get a little bit creative! You know most of us crafters are night owls, so if you stay up late and get on a roll, you can knock out two projects in one session! Say you’re sick and not feeling up to something big, doodle or write about how you are feeling, crumble up the paper and tack it up as a reminder of how much better you feel the next day. On a family vacation and don't have your computer, drawing or crafting supplies with you? This happened to me on our recent trip. I had all this creative energy and no where to put it...not a notepad or marker to be found in the dark abyss of my purse, so I grabbed one of the magazines I brought along and started doodling in ballpoint pen on the pages. I threw perfection out the window with each bump in the road and I will be turning these creations into a new set or two! Another idea while traveling is to take out your camera and shoot a picture from an interesting perspective or from a view that you don't even see what it is you're photographing, but the color and texture becomes art. You see, it is possible, so come join me as I will post the results of my Project 365 Personal Challenge here on my blog! Comment on my blog and leave me a link back to yours. I would love to see how you live life creatively!