As an artist for the last fifteen years, I believe that if my hands aren’t stained from paint then I wasn’t having fun enough! My twin sister, Rebecca, introduced me into scrapbooking and stamping eleven years ago. As a Craft-Media artist, I have a passion for color; reduce, reusing, and recycling items to make them new again; and ultimately having fun and making a mess doing it! I am right brained and love using untraditional items to create meaningful pieces of art, while also trying to balance myself occasionally with a surprisingly clean and organized layout.
My husband Dave and I met on a blind date seven years ago and it was like we had known each other our whole lives. I live quite a beautiful life right now with my four year old and husband. I share my life with a family that loves and laughs with me!
I have a sweet addiction to chocolate, my favorite being Britain’s Cadbury Crunchie. Since I am unable to get the chocolate covered honeycomb locally anymore, any chocolate is its substitute. I also enjoy a lovely cup of coffee, a warm blanket, and a good Jane Austen novel.
One problem I have always had in my mixed media work has been adhesive! I love to layer paper and supplies. As a mom to a preschooler, I usually only have a short time to work. When I used Helmar's adhesives for the first time, I could have made quite the scene. I think I remember hugging the tube of glue while yelling with extreme excitement!
The project tutorial I am sharing today is one of my journal pages. This journal page comes from Amy Tangerine's mini book for American Crafts.
To start, I work with a blank page. I have all my supplies out to get inspired!
I begin to find magazine photos that inspire me. I also love to use phone photos in black and white printed in wallet sizes. I am also using some cards of my own art work printed at Moo.com. I figure out how I want them to lay on the blank page.
I then use Helmar's dry adhesive to glue the pieces on. Make sure you get all the edges well, since these pages are going to be turned a lot and will not have page protectors. It works lovely for mini books or journals. Plus, it is small enough to fit in your purse or crop bag.
Look inside your stash for a bracket die cut. This one is from My Mind's Eye.
Cut the bracket off and put it under the photo.
Pick out some stickers from Amy Tangerine's line for American Crafts. I cut the numbers off this sticker to use elsewhere on the page.
Then place the sticker under the bracket. Use your Helmar's dry adhesive to glue the bracket down under the photo.
I then pulled out my border stamps from Pink Paislee's Daily Junque line. Any border stamp would work well.
Stamp the numbers across the bracket with Versafine black ink. I also stamped an arrow at the bottom of the page.
I also added some layered stickers from Amy Tangerine's line like these. It's ok to layer over your photos and magazine cut outs.
Cut off the top of an American Crafts tag and grab a ticket stub from your junk drawer. Paperclip them to the top of the page.
Cut out two stars or use die cuts like these from My Mind's Eye. Place a dollop on the back of the star and glue it in place carefully. Do not push down because this glue will help it to pop off the page. No cutting little foam squares to fit this tiny die! (Sigh! I love Scrap Dots!)
Also, use Zap Dots to put on the back of a circle punch or in this case a little die cut from My Mind's Eye.
Put it place along the bracket.
Now cut pattern paper from Amy Tangerine's American Craft line and use the dry adhesive to glue it together.
Add it to the edge of the page using the dry adhesive again. Try and slip it under the photo you have on the page as shown below. Let it hang off the page to look like a tab.
Now you are finished with your first journal page for your mini book!
Thanks for having me! I look forward to sharing more tips and projects with you this month!
