Outside the Box

Last night's Outside the Box was so much fun!  I stayed way to long & so ended up staying up way too late (yes, I'm tired today).  For now, I will leave you with this picture of the necklace I pieced together for my version of the make & take.  It's simple but I like it :) 

We are using the Fall 2010 edition of Somerset Memories for our book of the quarter (well, whatever it is now that we are using a book for 4 months of the year...a third sounds odd).  It's really lovely and even  includes our lovely leader, Elena Etcheverry, who initiated & was part of the Lucky 13: A Year to Remember Circle Journal.  This edition of Somerset Memories magazine/idea book is very inspiring. 

Chipboard bird collages

before

after

I made these for a "bird swap" last month with my Scrapbook Club (now called Outside the Box).  They were lots of fun to make.  I started out with plain chipboard birds (from StudioCee on Etsy).  I basically collaged them using what I learned in the Collage 101 workshop I took at CREATE.  I added "Smooch Spritz" for the color & pearly sparkle, applied paint to the edge, adhered random inked words, added Diamond Dust to the wings & added some bling for the eyes. You can check out Kat's blog post for a much better look at these birdies: http://katstinkerings.blogspot.com/2010/09/out-of-box-at-urban-barn.html

As usual, since time flies, we have another meeting tonight where we will chat, show off what we've made in the past month & more.  I'm looking forward to it, though I'm not sure what I will bring for "show & tell."  Maybe the blue cowl that I knitted last week or maybe (doubtful, though) I will bring something from CREATE that I've finished.

Double rainbow and amazing sky!

 last night

 the sky in front of my house last night

You can see more pictures on my Flickr photostream:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/randomcreativemoments/

CREATE and Kindergarten

Things have been fantastic!  Busy yes, but fantastic. I closed both Etsy shops for about 2 weeks toward the end of August.  I went to the Cloth, Paper, Scissors CREATE retreat in Chicago, IL.  While I did my utmost to be ready with supplies in hand at the retreat, it seemed as though there were still a few more to buy when I arrived in Chicago and still a few I wished I had while in several workshops.  It was five really full days.  I really enjoyed having the opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and simply play.  The instructors were full of techniques and ideas.  While I would end each day utterly exhausted, I still found myself wanting to work on more of whatever I had done that day.  My projects remain unfinished but at some point I will post pictures, finished or not, along with bits of info from the workshops I took, as well as some more about CREATE. 

My little one started all-day Kindergarten yesterday, so we've been figuring out all of the details (like how to get her to school by 7:35 am...okay, before the tardy bell rings at 7:40 am...we're working on becoming early birds, what to bring for lunch and snack, remembering to prep as much as possible in advance since it really does...).  We did what seems to be the requisite running around to pick up some back-to-school clothing, shoes, a lunch box and whatnot over the weekend.  It wasn't crazy but it was things to get done.  Since she's in school all week now, things are changing with my schedule.  I'm not sure how things will look in a month but for now, it seems like I have a bit more time on my hands.  The school is on a year-round plan so I will have a month here and there where being "mom" will be my main focus.

That's all for now :)
Pam

Art Journal Week at Balzer Designs

One of the blogs I really look forward reading almost daily is Balzer Designs. I love her anything goes style & how she applies it to art journaling, other mixed media & even scrapbooking!  This week is Art Journal Week at Balzer Designs!  Julie Fei-Fan Balzer is focusing on art journaling basics this week.  If you've been curious or tempted, it looks like a great way to get your feet wet (or jump right in...). 

fairy bottles, The Art Bar & more!

I went to The Art Bar in Santa Ana on Saturday for a lesson from Miss Vicky on soldering & making fairy bottles with some gals from the Scrapbook Club (plus a few others).  What fun!  You just cannot go wrong with Miss Vicky.  She's a hoot...and then some!  The Art Bar is fantastic, too.  For such a small space, they sure have a bit of everything for mixed media & more.  The cool part, well, too me anyway, is that they have a "bar" where you can buys "shots" of paint & whatnot.  How cool is that?

After The Art Bar, we went for lunch at The Filling Station in Orange.  I got so lost on the way & have no clue how I ended up finding this place.  No GPS, no map of the area, didn't call or get directions.  I do have a pretty good sense of direction but know very little about getting around Orange County.  I'll just call it my internal GPS :-) 

After lunch, we wandered through wonderful little & big antique shops.  So many fantastic things to see.  So many temptations that I passed up.  I gave in to the Red Velvet cupcake at The Perfect Circle Cupcakery.  It was well worth giving in.

New at The Whimiscal Muse!

1. A set of "funky buttons."
2. A set of "fancy buttons."
3. Walnut ink dyed crinkled seam binding (I have some white crinkled seam binding that will be listed later in the week).
4. Travel sized dominoes (dominos) approximately 1/2" wide by 1 1/4" high. Great for making domino pendants with ink, alcohol ink or even using the number sides in front! These are the exact kind I use for my mini sized alcohol ink domino pendants over at http://etsy.com/shop/HandmadebyPam