A sampler of photos

The new challenge for Candy Shoppe Designs will be up tomorrow and it is to show us your unloved or funky or bad photos - use them in a layout. I used some proofs from some photos taken when I worked at a CPA firm - they were doing a brochure and wanted to show some of the employees - they gave me these little proofs and selected a different photo for the brochure. These photos make me laugh - I look like a dedicated little accountant. ROFL!!!!!!  We would love to see your layouts so come on by and show us your stuff!!!!
I did this layout with some of my new favorite products - I just love that Dear Lizzy paper and those Maya Road calendar and journal cards.  I added some alphas and lace from my collection, and a crocheted bookmark and ribbon from a box of candy.
ttfn

Chris

What is your favorite tv show?

Join us at http://whatisyourfavething.blogspot.com/ for our newest challenge - what is your favorite tv show? I admit that I don't watch much tv - we used to watch a fair amount of it when we were younger but we were without a tv for most of the time that we lived on the boat (no signal anyway in the Bahamas or elsewhere) and we got very used to not watching it. I always loved Masterpiece Theater on PBS and still do - so many great classics, so many wonderful mysteries, so many gorgeous men! So here's my layout - we watched Sharpe on Sunday night and there will be another episode of Sharpe next Sunday night. My DH has read all of the Sharpe books - Dan really enjoys books about the Napoleonic wars, more naval than land, but he reads them all. Needless to say, he has read all of the O'Brian books several times and loves Master and Commander.
The layout is done on some Scrap in Style paper by Kerry Lynn (no longer available) called Pemberley (is that not the perfect paper for this layout?). I also used a Hambly transparency (what will happen when I finally use all of them ? I am using them on everything.), some Glimmerchip  frames and crowns that I misted and inked, a Webster's Pages cameo, and some vintage flowers.
Yesterday I started a new class called Drawing with Mixed Media, and I was so excited to learn new techniques. However, we spent 2 1/2 hours yesterday morning coloring in a color chart with colored pencils - I was bored to tears so I asked the teacher exactly what we would be doing in the class as it was advertised that we would be working with new and experimental techniques and materials - he said that we would be using pencils for several weeks, then a bit of pen and ink, and finally some acrylic washes. I was not happy (to put it mildly) so I went straight to the office, withdrew from the class, and got my money back. It is too late now to get in another class but I will definitely take another watercolor class in the fall.
I have a post up today on the http://thegalblog.blogspot.com/ with some cards that I made.
Tomorrow we are going to Epcot for the day - I have my camera battery all charged and I am ready to take lots of photos. The weather is supposed to be beautiful!
Hope you have a great day!
ttfn
Chris

Some sneak peeks and signs of Spring

The azalea bushes in my yard are blooming like crazy - absolutely brilliant splashes of fuschia.
I apologize for not blogging all week but this has been a crazy and busy one that got totally out of control. Here are a couple of sneak peeks from projects I finished that I will be able to show you in a couple of days. The first one is made from some of my newest favorite products and is for Candy Shoppe Designs.

and this one is for TAAFOMFT - wait until you see the challenge and the fabulous layouts by the other DT  members. They are all so talented and I love working with all of them, and of course, Julie is the absolute bestest boss anyone could ever have!

I have a blog post this Tuesday on the Galblog - please come by and check it out, and I will definitely be back to show the big pictures of the above sneaks.

Have a super Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!
ttfn
Chris

Layouts from the Scrapgal Crop

The Scrapgal crop last night was awesome - we probably broke a record for numbers on the chat board - what a super group!!!!!! and you can still join in the fun and submit layouts for the challenges, etc. Just go over to http://www.scrapgal.com/ , create a log in, and go to the Gal talk, and scroll down to the Crop forum - challenges are open until Sunday night. 

I did the above layout for the sketch challenge (no 2) - I used that beautiful Webster's pages paper (sigh), a Hambly transparency, some laces, some Prima flowers, metal birds from the jewelry section at Michael's, and I made the dress from felt, lace, and buttons and the hanger is made from wire (I posted a photo of the dress a while back when I made it)

This layout was for the menu challenge - I had to use neutral colors (love that kraft paper), a love theme, title of Blessed (I used Blessings), and stitching (I used Hambly rub ons). The other rub ons are LilyBee and the word stickers are 7gypsies. I am obsessed with buttons right now and they are appearing on everything I create. I may need to attend BA (buttons anonymous). LOL! I love the new Jenni Bowlin buttons!

Hope you are having a great Saturday - the sun is shining and the temp is supposed to be in the middle 70s. Yay!  To tell you how cold it has been in Florida, this was the first February since they started recording temps that it did not reach 80 degrees, and from the 10 day forecast, we will not reach 80 in March - I just can't tell you how strange this is for us - we have lived in Florida (and the Tropics) since 1987, and this year is just plain weird!

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow,

ttfn

Chris

Just charming or you may be my lucky charm or....

We have a new challenge up at the Sampler (scrapbookingsuppliesrus) to do a layout with your lucky charm. I used this fantastic piece of Dove of the East paper (it is almost too beautiful  to scrap) from the March Sampler to showcase a photo of my son when he was in Italy. The round embossed metal piece is a Chinese good luck charm, and most of the embellishments came from the March Sampler (so much goodness!) - Jenni Bowlin buttons, Hambly transparency, Maya Road journaling card, and packaging from the Tim Holtz mask. I also used a few buttons from my personal collection - the funky tan and cream buttons came from Trinidad. Please join us in the challenge and show us your lucky charm, and check out the March Sampler.

Our azaleas are in full bloom right now and I will post some photos this weekend. It is sunny here but still not very warm - way below normals - but with all the rain we had last week, everything is popping. So many tiny fluorescent green buds and leaves, and lots of tiny lizards etc. Yesterday afternoon we had a flock of ibis eating in our yard, and it was so entertaining to watch the squirrels and ibis eating so close - the ibis are so tall that they ignore the squirrels, but the squirrels will start barking at the ibis if they get too close - so funny!

Hope you have a great day and a super weekend, and thanks for reading.

I am trying to finish up several projects before the end of the month and don't forget the Mini Crop tonight 7-12 EDT at Scrapgal.

ttfn,

Chris

March Prima Picks

I love Prima, and here are the March Prima picks - so so beautiful!

Be sure to join us tomorrow night for the Scrapgal mini-crop!

Green Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Check out the new going green challenge at http://candyshoppedesigns.blogspot.com/ - this time we want to see a monochromatic green layout - mine isn't quite as green as I had hoped - I glimmer misted the background (a shopping bag) but it isn't as dark as I had wanted it to be - otherwise I used green fabrics, papers, ribbons, painted alphas, whatever. Be sure to check out the challenge as we have a lovely prize from Wild Olive Kids.
Just a note to say that even though Harlee-Quinnz Designs is no more, they have formed a new company that will be offering papers and ephemera digitally and stamps online.
GECKO GALS
and what is more appropriate than for me living in Florida to be a gecko gal! LOL!
(and by the way, my car insurance is with Geico. LOL!!!)
so you will be seeing some new layouts done with the new Gecko gals papers, etc.

Hope you had a nice day - I worked on 2 layouts, a new project for Scrapgal that is fairly complicated, and quilted on the watercolor quilt for our bed. I also won a set of copic markers on ebay (yay!) and signed up for a drawing with mixed media class at our art museum. I am so excited - I know this will improve my drawing and painting skills very much - we will be working with pen and ink, pastels, acrylics, and other innovative techniques.

Don't forget to join us at http://www.scrapgal.com/ on Friday evening for our crop and chat - we have lots of prizes and it will be lots of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ttfn,

Chris

What's your favorite beverage?

I love both coffee and tea high octane caffeine! I admit that I am not even awake in the morning until the coffee starts to kick in, and I drink tea pretty much throughout the day - hot in the winter and iced in the summer. This layout is done on Carolyn Gavin K&co paper with embellishments from that line and a paper that was on a frame from the dollar section of Target. 

I had a fun weekend - working at the art show and then company. It is fairly warm and sunny but quite windy - but I am so happy that it is warming up. I am doing laundry this morning and I added all of my summer tops and capris to the loads - I have to go into work for a while, run some errands, and then home to iron everything (cottons). Yesterday I went out to Target with my SIL and we both bought some of the new Liberty of London items - love them!!!!!

We are having an online crop at Scrapgal this coming Friday evening (3/19) so be sure to check it out!!!!! Prizes! and be sure to join us on the 40days leading up to Heather's birthday - we were given tons of stuff from American Crafts and we want you to win some!!!!!!!!!!!!

ttfn,

Chris

Playing catch up or catch me if you can or something like that

First of all, I want to show you my layout for the Candy Shoppe Designs March 1 challenge (you still have plenty of time to enter) - it is to go green and recycle something - I recycled the green mesh vegetable bag. The prize is a really good one - from the etsy store WILD OLIVE KIDS - definitely check it out!

I did this layout for the March 10 Crop Spot at Scrapbookingsuppliesrus using the March Sampler - don't you just love that Dear Lizzy Spring paper (sigh), the cool Prima stars, the Hambly overlay (I cut the borders off of a frame), and the Maya Road journaling card. The kit actually has Dear Lizzy alphas in it but unfortunately American Crafts didn't ship them quick enough for our DT kits so I used some old Jenni Bowlin alphas.

And for Scrapgal, we are celebrating the 40 days up till Heather's 40th birthday and the challenge for this week is to scrap your teen years or the 80s - I picked the 80s - this will be another page for my mini constructed of Prima packaging. Be sure to come over and check out our contests and challenges - we have some fantastic prizes this month - Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts- really awesome!!!!!

This layout is for our year-long on-going challenge to scrap top 10s - March is 10 things to do before you die so I picked 10 places that I would like to visit before I die - I read travel books and cookbooks about places that I would like to visit so I piled some up and took a pic. The expatriates page is one I scanned from an original Banana Republic catalog that I have - back from the days when BR was pretty much all mail order - I loved their clothes - and then they started doing stores and they were so cool - they looked like stores in exotic places - sigh - can you believe that I still own and wear a long sleeved top and a silk chiffon scarf that I bought way back then! Ah, memories........Back to the layout, you can see that I am obsessed with those Hambly frame transparencies. LOL!

thanks for reading and hope you find some time to join us in the challenges. Have a great weekend!

ttfn

Chris

My Etsy Store is open for business

I have finally opened my etsy shop - loaded some aprons this morning - and will be adding watercolor paintings this afternoon. Hope you stop by and take a look!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/mcatelier

I named my shop with my initials M C A and I love the word atelier so it just seemed to fit.

Chris

Down the rabbit hole

I went to see Alice in Wonderland on Sunday - although there were a few parts that were a little tedious, overall I loved it. I have the original Disney cartoon version on DVD so I had watched that again this past week to get in the spirit. I found it interesting how Tim Burton integrated other things (like the Jabberwocky) into the story - I will admit I was totally mesmerized when Johnny Depp started reciting the Jabberwocky - I had a college professor (my degrees are in English Literature) who could do it brilliantly, and Depp was certainly as good. I can picture Depp doing Shakespeare  - remember Michael Keaton in Much Ado About Nothing!

I began by tearing out the rabbit hole from a piece of watercolor paper. Then I applied a thick coat of gesso with a palette knife and sculpted it to create the tree. While it was still wet (it actually took overnight to dry), I sprayed it with glimmer mist - suede, coffee shop, chocolate cherry, and black gold. I sprayed the rest of the background with green, blue and  peach; and then used some lime paint dabber to add more contrast.

I tore papers and created the hole (edges are inked and/or sprayed to create more depth). I cut the little Alice from a black and white drawing and colored her with pencils (wait until I get my copics!!!).

I then created my garden with a Prima spray and some vintage flowers and leaves. I added the dragonfly (didn't you love the dragonflies in the movie - I had always loved the little horse flies in the cartoon.)

I had 10 things to do last night and instead of doing them, I created this. Oh well.......

I am off to work today at the book store and then run some errands. I should have some items listed on etsy by Thursday - we are going to have company this weekend so I have to put away my craft stuff for a few days as they will be sleeping in my studio so I have to get a lot done in the next couple of days. 

I have a post on the http://thegalblog.blogspot.com/ today - please check it out.

thanks for reading and ttfn,

Chris

Spring has sprung

Tulips always mean spring to me - we cannot grow them in Florida so I always make a point to buy a bunch at the grocery store every year. I love their bright, happy colors!

I saw a wonderful nest pendant necklace on a blog (I am so sorry I cannot remember which blog and I could not find it again so thank you for the inspiration whoever you are) and decided to make my own. The one I saw had pale blue beads for eggs but I decided to use some funky beads for eggs.

I then found some nest pendants on etsy but most were circled wire with tie offs - I wanted mine to be very random-looking like a real bird's nest.

Today the weather is beautiful and it is WARM!!!! I went to see Alice in Wonderland and it is truly "wonderful". As always, Johnny Depp is brilliant!

I have finished several aprons and will be listing them this week on etsy. I will add a link here. I have also finished quite a few layouts for projects and will be posting them this week here and Tues on the Gal Blog and Wed on The Sampler. 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for reading and ttfn,

Chris

March Sampler reveal

The March Sampler at http://www.scrapbookingsuppliesrus.com/ is out and will ship prox March 15. It is filled with some super new stuff - Dear Lizzy, Dove of the East (wait until you see this paper!), the cool stitched paper I used in the above layout, Maya Road tags and calendars(used above), ribbons and Prima lace, American Crafts paper, Tim Holtz sprockets, mask, and distressed ink(also used above), Basic Grey Origins(used above), and Precious Metal alphas(used above). We will be having a challenge this month and we will be doing some RAKS on the DT members' blogs so be sure to check back here later in the month.

The last few days and nights have been quite cool but it's supposed to warm up nicely this coming week; and just in time as we have two sets of company coming to visit (that's Florida during spring breaks). I have been super busy working, sewing, painting, and scrapping - life is good!

Hope you have a great Saturday - I have lots to do but I hope to post again tomorrow.

ttfn

Chris