Lasting Memories-2013 Resolutions

Oh the irony of it all! This week the Lasting Memories  Challenge is to do a layout about our 2013 resolutions. And mine is to organize my crafting. And I have been doing well up until the last couple of weeks. And then chaos broke loose and I am still playing catch-up. And then the Behcet.s kicked in and I got confused as to what week it was in February. So I did next week's challenge instead of this week's challenge. The good news is I have next week's ready, I am just waiting for the weather to co-operate for photos:)

So I apologize for this being late. And how ironic that my goal is to "organize " my craft time. And honestly up until two weeks ago it was working. I just need to get back into the swing of things. So it's a new week....let's see what can happen.

supplies:
Paper and Cardstock: Tim Holtz Kraft Resist, Tim Hotz Paper Stash
Ink and Markers: Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Software: My Memories
Website: wwwpicmonkey.com
Flower: Daisy D's (out of business)
Embellishments: Flower Soft and Tim Holtz
Doily: Stash
Alphabet: Stash ( a great way to use up leftover letters)
Stamp: Lawn Fawn Quinn's Numbers
Adhesives: Ek Success Foam, Tombow Clear Tabs, ATG Pink

Tip: The flower's center was made by putting down a glob of Glossy accents. I then mixed Flower Soft Earth (2/3) and Strawberry (1/3)

This layout is waaaay out of my comfort zone. First I used My Memories to make the journaling box into an aged photo:

My 2013 Resolution is to organize my crafting time. I found myself in a panic last November because I didn't have Christmas presents done. So my hope is that by following this schedule I can have a more relaxed holiday this year:)

So here's the schedule that I am following:

Sunday: Clean and organize the Scrapbook Room and supplies. This layout is the result of that. I found all of this leftover Tim Holtz stuff I had bought for Chemistry 101.  In general I found myself using the stuff for masculine cards-but never thought about using it for scrapbooking.

Monday: Layouts and Lasting Memories Challenges

Tuesday: Learn a new digital skill, Digital Layouts, and Digitally Sweet Challenges. Putting a day aside just for digital has already increased my comfort level and this layout is a result of learning some photo editing skills.

Wednesday: Papercraft Gifts -I already have one gift done:)

Thursday: Cards

Friday: Catch up on classes that I have not finished. Oh is that list long!!!!

Saturday: Layouts and Blogland

The end of the year will tell the final story. But I am hopeful:)


Challenges:

ScrapMuch? Sketch  I rotated the sketch

Have a wonderful week! And once again I apologize for this being late:(

Lasting Memories2nd Blogaversary Blog Hop-Ripley's Aquarium Layout

We have a celebration going on this week!! It's Lasting Memories 2nd Blogaversary!!! To celebrate, some of us are showcasing our layouts with a mini blog hop. Along the way there could be candy, so be sure to read each post! You may be asked to leave a comment, you may be asked to do something a little different, you just never know! Our challenge is an easy one .. an inspirational photo/color challenge (isn't this gorgeous?) 

So lets get this party started!! If you're arrived here from Michele you're on the right track! If you're just popping by, be sure to start at Karen's Blog so you don't miss a thing!!! Here's my layout for this weeks challenge: The boys and I went to Gatlinburg, TN for our vacation this year. One of our favorite attractions was Ripley's Aquarium-worth the trip all by itself!  And since Scott is studying to be an underwater welder we just had to have a picture of him in Scuba gear!

And a closeup of the ocean scene:

It's hard to see in the picture but the mulberry "sand" is sprayed with adhesive and covered with Flower Soft Hint of Green Glitter.
   Supplies:

Cardstock: Core'dinations Brilliant Blue All in the Family, Scraps

InLinkz.com

And of course I have blog candy!  To win a $10 gift certificate to A2Z Scrapbooking leave a comment please:) I'll use random organizer to choose a winner on Tuesday:)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/a2zscrapbooking

 
 Once you've finished hopping to all the DT blogs, you will end at Lasting Memories where Karen has decided to give one lucky entry a $25 gift certificate for Close To My Heart!!! 

"This is open to everyone, including my DT and winner will be chosen by random.org. Help celebrate this milestone with us!!"
Here's an awesome sketch from Tanya Leigh Designs if you need a little help!!

And now it's off to your next stop, the very talented and funny Tina! Have fun and be sure to enter your LO this week for a chance to win!

Master List In Case You Get Lost

KAREN

MICHELE

ELIZABETH

TINA

KIMBERLY

DENISE

SUZANNE

HAVEN

LASTING MEMORIES

Challenges:
CropStop-  Use a banner
Bitten By the Bug 2 - Water Theme

Looking forward to seeing your color creations! Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered for the blog candy:)

Birthday Tag- Rusted Enamel Technique from Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101

I learned a new technique from Creative Chemistry 101-Rusted Enamel Technique. With Scott becoming a welder, rusted anything is perfect for his cards and scrapbook layouts. And it was so easy, but looks so cool. It even feels awesome-which will really please Scott. You should have seen him yesterday peering over my shoulders to watch the video. And Scott asked if he got his homework down if he could make one! Yea! A new motivator!!!!

Shh!!! Don't tell Scott but I got him a welding bag for his birthday on April 1st.  So I thought wouldn't it be cool if  I made his birthday tag look like a piece of rusty metal. So here's what I came up with:

Supplies:
Hero Arts Stamps: Watch Gear, Wish Big
Tim Holtz Distressed Inks: Spiced Marmalade, Walnut Stain
Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
Ribbon: Stash 
Ranger Inkssentials Manila Tags #8
Hero Arts Clear Embossing Powder 


Tip: I intentionally distressed the wording by using a baby wipe and wiping away some of the ink before I stamped. 


If you want to learn how to do this technique you can sign up for Creative Chemistry 101 here.


Have a wonderful day:) I have more tags to create:)

Bloom Where You Are Planted Tag-Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101

The  2nd day of class was spent on learning about water-based dyes. One of the techniques we learned was Brushless Watercolor Technique. Here's my sample tag using the technique with supplies I had on hand:

 Journal: Bloom Where You are Planted (Handwritten)

Supplies:

Hero Arts Stamp: Wildflower Garden

Ranger Kraft Tag

Hero Arts Watercolor Paper

Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Peeled Paint, Dusty Concord, Mustard Seed, Tumbled Glass

Ranger Mini Mister filled with water

Ranger Blending Tool (For edges of tag)

Tim provides an instruction tag for the back of the sample tag-which makes for easy direction finding in the future. Great for those of us who have long and short term memory issues:)

If you are interested in learning more about Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry Class click here

Have a day filled with opportunities to "Bloom where you are planted."

Birthday Tag-Tim Holtz Online Classes

One of the things I have learned from having Behcet's is the importance of making sure my brain continues to learn. One of  the most frustrating consequences of being ill has been the loss of cognitive function and the loss of language skills. Before I became ill there wasn't much I couldn't achieve. Writing was a true gift and I enjoyed writing. I started blogging in the hope of trying to stop the disease from progressing and hopefully maybe someone would read what I had written and benefit from my experiences.

I am now doing Remicaid infusions every four weeks. It is usually every 8 weeks. We are hoping that the chemo will kill off my over functioning immune system. In the back of my mind I am terrified of what it is doing to my heart. Yet it is because of the damage the Behcet's is doing to my heart that we are doing this. And in some ways it is helping. For the first three weeks it is glorious. My joints work with slight pain, I can think clearly, the mouth and genital ulcers disappear. Even better the fatigue disappears. I have HOPE!!! And I start to remember what it was like before I got sick.

But then the 4th week hits. And it is like a ton of bricks have been piled on me. I literally can feel it start in my feet and work itself up over a period of three hours. My body becomes filled with lead. I have angina. I can barely put one foot in front of another. I get several mouth, throat and genital ulcers all at once. The pain is unbearable. All of my joints and bones are filled with pain so bad I can not move. Sometimes I lose my language skills. I sound as if I have had a stroke. I can understand others, but what I think comes out in gibberish. Sometimes my written language is gibberish- but other times it is filled with grammatical and spelling errors. As a former educator and public speaker I am horrified.

So I have been on a mission to make my brain build new neurons. In order to do that it has to go outside of it's comfort zone and learn new things. Enter Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry 101. This really appealed to me. I used Science to teach my elementary special education kids how to read. We did experiments and worked on saving the local river. The kids won national and international awards as a result. Tim's class was an opportunity for me to use some old skills and develop new ones.

Tim's class is taking me out of my comfort zone. Tim's style as I am sure you are aware if you have been following my blog for any amount of time, is vastly different than mine.

The class has been worth every penny. The things I have learned about the chemistry of stamping!!! I especially appreciate that we make a tag with directions on the back of the technique we learned that day. So important for someone who is struggling with a brain that can have an inflamed blood vessel at any moment with no warning and not remember anything.

 Scott's girlfriend is having a birthday this weekend. I made her a tag using blending and distressed ink. I then used a solvent ink on top. I had never mixed types of inks before!

So here is the tag (with more to come later-I am waiting on some supplies. Yes, Tim managed to enable me! LOL)

Supplies:
Inks:Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Mustard Yellow, Tumbled Glass, Preserves, Spun Sugar, Peeled Paint, Walnut Stain
Ranger  Black Archival Ink
Tools: Ranger Blending Tool
Stamp: Hero Arts Wish Big
Ribbon: Stash
Tag: Ranger Manilla #8
Embellishments: Creative Charms Butterfly

Have a day filled with new learning moments:)