DRUNKEN STAMPERS CHALLENGE #139 - It's a PLACE - a Campsite

It's time again to Play in the Drunken Stampers Lounge!  Remember, the series this half of the year is a Person, a Place or a Thing and this week the Challenge dial landed on Place - a Campsite or Woods.  Just create a card with a campsite theme or using wood grain print or wooden elements and blog about it, then link your blog to the Challenge post and you too may win the coveted "Life of the Party" blinky for your Blog!  Here is what I made using one of my new Handmade Harbour digital stamps:

How could I resist coloring this old-style trailer (or Caravan as they say in Britain).  I used my Copic markers to lay down color for the card, but then I went back in with my gel pens and added details and highlights...

The patterned paper is from a line by My Minds Eye which I have been saving FOREVER and I cut out those totally cute wee animals from some of my Harmonie stash - which is quickly disappearing!

and of course the sentiment is EXACTLY how I  know most of us feel!  So all in all it is a really cute little card isn't it!   

So thanks again for stopping by and if you have time why not stop by the Drunken Stampers Lounge take part in this challenge?  It's really is just TOOO FUN!

Cheers

Scrapbook Lynne Mizera

My First Handmade Harbour Challenge Post!

Welcome to my FIRST post for the Handmade Harbour Design Team and their second Weekly Challenge.  This week's category is "Anything Goes" but if you use one of the Handmade Harbour Digital Stamps on your project you will be eligible for the PRIZE... Yup, there's STUFF to be won for this one as well as a button for your Blog!  

Here is the card I created for this week's challenge using the New Home digital stamp and my copic markers and gel pens:

I picked this particular stamp because, well because I LOVE It, but also because my niece and her husband just purchased their first home and THIS is the card they will be receiving from Auntie Lynne and Uncle Dean... (she LOVES pink), pretty cute huh!

As soon as I saw this stamp I  knew I was going to cut out the frame and pop it, but I also cut out and popped the flowers to add a third dimension to the card.  

And although I used my markers to color the majority of the card, I went back in and added some extra little touches with my gel pens.  I especially like how the glittery swirls filled in that large expanse of front yard area... I will be doing this second layer of doodling again!

And of course, with everything I do these days... the card just wasn't complete until I added those accents of liquid glass and stickles!  So Please POP BY and take a look at what the rest of the team has created today and check out the new Challenge for this week - ANYTHING GOES!  So why not come play with us by linking YOUR project up to the Handmade Harbour site! 
Cheers!!
Scrapbook Lynne Mizera

Look Out World... HERE I COME!

Today I am being introduced to the UK through the Handmade Harbour blog... Do you think they KNOW what they're in for?! (grin)  Come check out this awesome interview to learn a bit about where I live and How I CREATE! 

 Lynne's Interview

A Peek into Lynne's Art Brain!

Good Morning Everyone!! Today for my Susan K. Weckesser design team post I want to share something a little bit different.  I want to share with you a page from my private art journal and give you a tiny peek into my art brain and to describe a little bit about how my creative process works.  But before I share my page with you I want to share the two guidelines I have made for myself that have made my Art Journaling so much easier and a wonderful journey at the same time!  First I am allowed to use only what is on the counter in front of me (otherwise I become paralyzed with too much choice!) and Second I have to DO whatever my first thought is... NO THINKING... Otherwise I over think.  I worry waaaay too much about what is "right" or what looks good or what the rules are.... so I made a rule for myself that in my Art Journal ... No Rules Apply and no thinking!  And this applies to what I write as well... I put my pen down and write whatever comes into my head... No Matter What.  Follwing these two rules have taken all the pressure off me when I sit down to "do art" and I love seeing the end result of what comes out of my heart and soul when I am not paying attention!

I started the bones of this page a while ago using a stencil and pushing some modeling paste through it and letting it harden - and there it sat until I was surrounded by scraps from the last layout I created for my Susan K. Weckesser post.  I also had in front of me - all my dylusion sprays including my new White Linen opaque spray and a cup full of gel pens from my doodling journal.  I sprayed the page with pink and blue dylusions inks and then added a few spritzes of water to soften the colors, letting it run where ever it would. Mostly it ran into the cracks of the stencil pattern which was just fine with me!

Next I glued down all the leftover bits from my last scrapbooking layout without thinking too much about where I wanted them... if it felt right I glued it down.  The word scraps "Beautiful Daydreams" and "Bouqet" are actually the title strips that I cut off the SKW patterned papers I used... Cool huh!  I drew in the word CREATE, and colored it in blue gel pen, but it was too bold for my taste so I faded it back by doodling patterns in white gel pen all over the letters... the end result looked so good I just had to accent it using my liquid glass.

At this point the top of the page started looking a little empty so I stamped some more words in pink ink but again these words seemed too bold for me so I sprayed the entire page with my new white linen dylusions ink and blotted off the excess - it worked like a charm - fading back the too bold words to just where I wanted them.

And finally I just HAD to use this house I had created from Susan's Le Mason stamp, stamping it on three different patterns of paper, cutting it out and reassembling it in colored paper - but if I glued down the house Where would I put my journaling? and then the AH-HA! moment occurred... I would make it a hidden journal box... behind my house...BRILLIANT! And I LOVED it... using some duct tape for strength covered over with some washi tape for decoration this "Journal Flap" will stand up to all the flipping I can give it!

 

And just when I thought I was done my brain said "Spatter!  You want some white Spatter!"  To get this wonderful solid white splatter I used some watered-down gesso... it really, really works.  And as aways (for me) the final touches with my stickles and a black pen finished off this soft and pretty page.

Well I hope you enjoyed this little trip into my "Art Brain"... and maybe you want to try adopting my little rules to help you take some pressure off yourself and allow you to follow your own artistic instincts and start your own Art Journal!  Just DO IT!

Cheers!

Scrapbook Lynne Mizera

On this project I used Susan K. Weckesser's Bouquet paper and Le Mason Unity Stamp

Now, just for all of you, my blog followers I will also share my private journaling... this is what came out of my pen as I wrote without stopping to think or analyze what I was writing...

It says: "I love how my art life is progressing and how much I am learning to trust my instincts.  I am constantly AMAZED at how much I know!  I am learning to embrace MY art and to not compare myself to anyone else and to JUST DO IT!"

August Challenges

Did you know there is a card challenge site called 10 Minute Craft Dash??  The idea is to create a card in 10 minutes or LESS using their theme... You are allowed to assemble your product before you turn on the timer but that's it!  I stumbled across this site while I was checking out my fellow Drunken Stamper Jessi's blog site and I just HAD to try it! 

Now my inspiration for this card came from Susan K. Weckesser's August "Create to Live" Challenge.  When I saw the photo for this month's challenge it made my mouth water and I really wanted to make something with this color pallet and theme.  So here it is... My 10 minute Card!  

I really didn't think it was possible for me to create a card in 10 minutes but I guess I really am a "Deadline Girl" because with that little timer ticking I just didn't have TIME to worry about "is there a better way?" I just HAD to DO it!  There are a few ink smudges because I was rushing but you know it's still a great card and I did it in exactly 10 minutes... I would have been done sooner but those itty bitty heart jewels flew all over the counter and I lost about a minute trying to find them all! Grin

So if you need an inspiration boost this month check out these two cool sites!  AND they BOTH offer Prizes!!

Cheers!

Scrapbook Lynne Mizera 

Drunken Stampers Challenge #137 - THING: Twine

Welcome Peeps - to the Drunken Stampers Challenge #137 - it's a THING this week and the thing is TWINE!  Create a card using Twine or string or hemp as an accent - THAT IT!  Then take a picture and post it to your blog and link up that post to OUR Drunken Stamper's Blog using the linky tool... YOU TO could be the winner of the coveted "Life of the Party" blinky!

Here is what I created for this challenge - and I am UBER excited about this card because I used a digital stamp from a little company I found on-line out of the UK, called HANDMADE HARBOUR.  I LOVE their stuff and thanks to the amazingness of world wide web and Paypal I can easily shop in the UK with my payment being converted to Canadian $'s immdiately and I receive an e-mail right away so that I can download my digis right to my computer and print and color them immediately - I can also change these digital stamps to any size I need - I just pull the image into a Word doc and make it do whatever I want (Oh the POWER! grin)  If you haven't used digital stamps before you should really check them out. Handmade Harbour has a few freebies if you want to try them out. (and NO I don't work for them ... Grin.. But I would LOVE TO!!!)

Normally my product of choice for coloring stamps are my Copic markers but for these beach houses I used my teeny palette of water color paints because it gave the wood such a wonderfully weathered and beachy look. 

To create my "beach" I tore strips from some sand-colored paper and inked the edges and layered them, popping few pieces to give it some depth... Cool Huh?  And I colored the clothes on the line using my gel pens so they were brighter and newer looking than the beach houses. 

I already had some water colored looking blue-sky paper so I just painted in the sun behind the houses and drew a horizon line and added some birds with a black marker.  

And YES I cut out everything and popped it off the card because that's just what I do - smile.  I think the rope border just finishes it off beautifully and I may just mount this card on a canvas because I LOVE IT so much! Bigger Smile

So thanks again for stopping by and if you have time why not take part in this Challenge?  It's just TOOO FUN!

Cheers

Scrapbook Lynne Mizera

Codicil:  Since I scheduled this post I have been invited to join the first ever design team for Handmade Harbour... So now I DO work with them - Grin!!!

INTRODUCING from the UK... Handmade Harbour Digital Stamps!

I am SO EXCITED to FINALLY be able to share with all of you some really exciting news for me... I have been invited to be a part of the first ever design team for a little company out of the UK called Handmade Harbour.  They specialize in digital stamps and I LOVE their stuff!!!  If you have never used digital stamps you are missing out.... I love them because not only can I size them to whatever project I am working on (cards, layouts, altered items) But they also take up NO ROOM in my scrap studio!!  Lately, whenever I need an image that I don't have a stamp for I just go to my computer and search for a digital stamp. So please pop by today and check out the new design team and maybe download a freebie and get your "digital-stamp" feet wet! grin

STAY TUNED, my first reveal will be this Saturday!

Celebrating the Simple Things

I have just returned my two grandsons to their parents after having them with me for three weeks - and it was an amazing, wonderful and joyful time.  I am not sure why grandchildren are so very special... I LOVED being a Mom... but being Grandma is something so entirely different, and so very, very precious that I have been trying to figure out what is DIFFERENT for nine years now! (Yup, Grandson #1 is NINE!)  I think it might be that none of my identity or value as a person is tied up in their behaviour like it was when I was the Mom... or maybe it's that I have learned that it really is the simple thing that you are doing Right NOW that make the sweetest, longest lasting memories.

Now when the grandboys are here I just enjoy the moment and try not to notice the little wet footprints all over the floor or the fingerprints all over my french doors - I can clean all that when they go home (grin).  Because NOTHING in this world can match the feeling I get when Grandson #2 comes down the stairs every morning saying "Good Morning Grandma! Did you have a good sleep?" Happy Sigh

I created this layout using Susan Weckesser's Living In Full Color paper line and several sentiments from her stamp sets to celebrate some of those precious, Right Now moments! 

Like a double scoop of ice cream or giant piece of homemade beef jerky eaten down by the river.  I also wanted to show you how you can scrapbook a "boy page" using flowers and butterflies and sparkle and it is STILL a boy page!  Susan's paper line makes it easy to impart a bright and cheerful feel to the page without it being too "girly", and I balanced sparkly stickles with some pearlescent stickles to give the page a little more down to earth feel. 

So while you are spending time with your family this Summer take a mental note of some of those simple things you do together so you too can make a memory page for their future.

Thanks for Stopping By and sharing with me and PLEASE Come Again! (grin)

As well as Susan's paper I used the following stamp sets on this layout:
Celebration of Simple
Create Your Day
The Happy Homestead

To see more of Susan Weckesser's products in use visit the My Sweet Earth Blog

 

Drunken Stampers Challenge #135 - An Athelete (or Sports)

Whooo HOOO! Welcome to my second term as a Drunken Stamper design team member!  I LOVE working with this group because there are NO limitations on my creativity and because they are just a great bunch of crafty women with the same irreverent sense of humour that I have.  I truly honoured and so excited to have been invited back.

This Term (from now until Jaunuary) the weekly card challenges will follow a "Person, Place or Thing" theme - with two options for each theme... for example this week's theme is a "PERSON" - An Athlete or a sports theme -

Just create a card using this theme and post a picture to your blog, then link your blog post to the Drunken Stamper's challenge site using our Linky Tool... That's it!  Every week the design team will vote on their top three favorites and the winner will receive the coveted "Life of the Party" blinky for their blog site.... ALSO... every month we choose one of our weekly winners to be a Guest Designer for the following month - How Cool would THAT be!  So without further ado... Here is MY take on this week's challenge:  PERSON - An Athelete...

I created this card using only Graphic 45 "A Vintage Gentleman" paper line, foam pop dots and liquid glass; it came together so quickly that I do believe I will be making more!  

Now go and see what all crafters on my new design team came up with for this theme and why not play along too?  I'd LOVE to see what you create....smile!

Cheers!

Scrapbook Lynne