Tuesday, July 15, 2014

I'm alive!

Hi!
Yeah, I am alive! I have even been scrapbooking and I'm here to show you some proof! First is a mixed media layout of my son and ot kitten. I loved to make this one and I already have a couple of 12x12 sheets prepared with gesso for my next mixed media projects! So much fun!
 
 
Next up is a multi photo madness from my daughter's dance recital in May. At the end of the show they had all the dancers on the stage and they danced to this super popular song "Busy doin' nothing" by Ace Wilder - you have to give it a listen, just follow the link :)
 
 
Next is a montage from out Easter egg painting! This page is way to busy for my own taste but now the photos are in the album so I'm pleased.
 
 
Last for today is our midsummer lunch. Midsummer Eve is the favorite annual celebration for many of us living in Sweden. It sure is my favorite holiday! It is an old pagan celebration of fertility and we celebrate it with food, drinking, music, dancing and flowers. Can't go wrong there, can you?
 
I really like the fuzzy cut flowers here! And the top and bottom border helps keep the layout from becoming too messy. Really pretty - and multiphoto!
 
 
Take care and enjoy summer!
//Åsa
 

My ACOT haul is here!!!

Hi there!
Happy vacation time! At least it is vacation for me! Four weeks away from work - time for rest, family and making memories! The best way to start the vacation is with a large FedEx parcel from A Cherry on Top to get the creativity started and set the colors for summer! Yay! Here is my haul!!

First I bought a bunch of stencils/masks for my new mixed media adventures! A couple of them were a bit smaller than I had expected but I'll make sure to use them anyway. I especially like the starburst/rays from Tim Holtz.
 
 
Three sets of gelatos! Can't wait to try them and see if I like them as much as I love the oil pastels that I've been playing with lately!


Three packs of ephemera/die cuts!They will make a lovely addition to my box!
 
 
Two sets of wood veneers! Love wood veneers! I want them all!

 
Vellum for stamping and embossing. That was so much fun and I have almost used up all the white ones that I made!


And then the papers! First two from Studi Calico. The yars looked better on screen than in reality but I'll cut them out and use them as embellishments. I'm crazy about jars! 
 

A couple of odds ones, love the cameras and the reels! Will cut them out and use them on all my layouts from now on!
 

I went crazy with the Bo Bunny summer collection Lemonade Stand. The B-sides are really beautiful so I'll be able to use them without moving to rainbow land.
 

 More rainbows, from American Crafts...
 
 
Kaiserkraft got me going with these two paperswith cameras! Love them! Will cut them out and spread the love all over my layouts!


 Then for Carta Bella. I still think their paper is too thick and too textured but the patterns are awesome so I needed to buy them. I know just the right photos for these game control patterns!
 
 
I couldn't resist this nautical collection, also from Carta Bella. Ahoy there is just up my alley and it will look wonderful with the summer photos from the coast!


Authentique makes papers that are fresh and inspiring! These three will really stand out on my layouts!
 

Simple Stories' summer collection Good Day Sunshine follows the trend with rainbows and has a nice addition of wood grain. I'm a bit scared these will be hard to use... some of them will be cut into pieces, that'll be fun! From this collection I also bought the sticker sheets (the photo didn't upload to the blog properly, so no picture). Don't ask me why I bought the sticker sheets, I really don't know, perhaps because they were dirt sheep compared to what I would have had to pay for them in Sweden! I'll challenge myself to use them well!
 

 Then Simple Stories' Sea to Shining Sea caught my fancy, of course, and I choose two easy to use papers.

 
The next two papers are printed on vellum and they are just gorgeous! I have no clue if I'll be able to use them since they are so different but I hope they will make an exciting contrast on my layouts!


From the same collection as the vellum sheets, Webster's Page's Strawbery Fields, I bought three totally beautiful papers which will be really hard to use but I will do my very best!
 

So, that's my haul! Now I'm waiting for the evening so I can unpack all of it and start playing!
Have a nice day!
//Åsa 

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Peerless watercolors

Good morning!
I feel happppy! I scrapbooked again last night! This time I took out my new water color paper that I bought last weekend. It is not 12''x12'', it is European standard A3 which is 297mm x 420mm (11 11/16'' x 16 9/16''). I marked on the paper so I got a 297mm square and then I started playing with my water brush and a couple of my Peerless Watercolors (I have the Joanne Palette).
 
Of, how fun! The difference between my regular white paper and the water color paper was ENORMOUS! Wow! I didn't understand how different it would be! Now I know! Love it!
 
 
I took a photo of me and my son and layered it on a couple of scraps and then I dived into my box of bits and pieces and came up with a bunch of fun stuff, both old and new. After a marathon of gluing I finished the whole thing with a title and some roller stamping [remember].
 
Since it was slightly smaller than 12''x12'' I mounted it on a black piece of cardstock and the black is really striking against those vibrantcolors! I'm pleased - with all of it really; the process, the products and the result!
 
 
Have a wonderul day!
//Åsa

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

New Stampin' Up Catalogue

Hello!
I've been flippin' through the Internet version of the new Stampin' Up catalogue and done some wishing and so.

I'm not really a card maker but I totally adore their ink pads and the way they treat their color series; the names, the in-colors, the reliability over time and everything.

The new in colors are a bit muted for my current style so I'm not overly impressed but there are many more of the ordinary colors that I'd like to own! I'll save the colors here for future reference :)


THESE are the Stampin' Up colors that I already own, and I'd like to have a lighter pink and perhaps a dark purple - and all the rest! I'm starting a collection!!!

I do think the designer papers they have at Stampin' Up are really pretty, especially the collections with lots of color, but I don't think I will ever buy any, since a whole collection is kind of expensive to buy and a bit boring all together... In this catalogue I do fancy the Maritime collection and the Sweet Taffy collection.

I'm also very interested in the Thinlits dies!

Oh, all the possibilities!! All the needs!
//Åsa






Yesterday's layout

 Good morning!
This is new new new! Put it together last night! The background is made with my Pentel 36-oil pastels and for the layering I used pieces from my file folder for "new" scraps and my box of smaller bits and paper embellishments. I'm very pleased with how it turned out!
 
 
These are the colors I got in my oil pastel set! Lots of fun in a box! Available for a few dollars at your local craft supply store.
 
 
Have a nice, colorful day!
//Åsa
 
 

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

The Beach

Hello again!
Today I'm sharing a beach layout again - this time I've decorated with small pieces of drift wood that I picked when the photos were taken.
 
 
This will be like the title page for this photo session we had at the beach in April. The title is the name of the beach and the journaluing explains why we ended up there. Later pages will tell it was horribly cold and we had to stay low on the sand while having our picnic not freezing to ice by the cold winds :)
 
I love the title made in craft paper, almost the same color as the sand. The triangular "table cloth" cards are from my favorite collection from last year "The Pier". I think the two photos beside eachother, sharing the horizon but not the angle, give a very interesting dept to the layout. What do you think?
 
//Åsa 

A little cat!

Hello!
Last Saturday we got a second cat! We had huge problems naming him, we didn't agree at all! I really wanted him to be called something with a little thought, something witty, but you know how it is... it needed to be a compromise. Meet:
 
Misster Felix Bigglesworth the Third Lord of Spandex
a.k.a.
Felix
 
 
Yes, he is for sure the cutest kitten in the world! And the wildest! Lots of photos and stories will follow! Stay tuned!
// Åsa