Alaska Album: Started (finally)

Have you been wondering what happened in Alaska? Well, you are in luck. Tonight, after sitting on my couch with the olympics on mute, watching "breaking bad" episodes on my computer, I sat up and thought...I'm going to start my Alaska album.  I don't know where the sudden motivation came from but I'm grateful for it.

I want the Alaska album to be different from scrapbooks I've done in the past.  I want my scrapbooks to start having a real scrapbook feel - vintage elements, collages and incorporating more memorabilia.  I've been studying collage and mixed media artists and it's been inspiring. 

I did the opening page of the album tonight. I used fabric that I bought at a quilt shop in Alaska for the background (i lost my pinking shears, so the ends of the fabric are a little frayed).  I brought a folder with me to Alaska and saved every scrap of paper in it.  I used some of the cut outs from those papers - a map and the sunrise/sunset times.  I also found this children's book in my parent's house, a children's dictionary and I cut out the bear picture from it.   I'm satisfied with this page. I think the album will get increasingly better as I get better at the collage elements. 

My scanner is working again! The background elements get a little blurry because the Alaska Vacation sticker is raised:

Olympic Collage

It's no secret - I love the Olympics. Like LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.  I took 2 days off from work this week just so I can sit on my couch and watch it ALL.DAY.LONG. True story.  I love the idea of the Olympics - the idea that all countries - rich, poor - war-torn - come together to play sports.  Sports is what brings us all together.  It's amazing, it really is. 


So knowing my extreme love of the Olympics, it shouldn't be surprising that I dedicated a smash book page to the event.  I used my skills learned from the collage class I recently took (gotta get my money's worth).  I want to incorporate more collages into the smash book.  That's why I need to start updating more frequently during the week so I collage with how I feel that day. 


Anyway, here is the page.  My scanner kept giving me an error message so I had to take a picture of it instead. I don't think the picture came out too bad. The images are all from last month's magazines, with just some letter stickers added in to say London 2012.

organizing all day keeps the anxiety away

For the off chance that a stranger is actually reading this blog, let me start this entry by saying..I'm kind of crazy.  Sometimes I get an idea in my head and I need to do it right that second. Like today at work, I decided that I needed to go to Michael's to buy paint brushes that let's be honest, I will probably not use until 6 months from now.  As soon as the clock struck 5, I was on the subway and at Michael's.  I not only ended up with paint brushes but all this too:

Yup, those are all stickers. I didn't buy each one individually though. Michael's sometimes has these grab bag things for $20 (a $50 value! I don't know if that's really true but that's what the bag tells me).  I get a thrill when I buy them. The same thrill you get when you play the lotto. You never know if what you get is going to be great or really shitty. One time the pack I got was made up of halloween decorations and USA stickers. Not my best day.  Today though the bag was pretty good...lots of lettering and rub ons. 

After I spread all the supplies out, I decided I had to, at that very second, reorganize all my stickers using binders. So at 9pm at night, I got out of my pajamas, ran up to Duane Reade and bought some giant binders.  I can't help myself.  I did feel better after all my stickers were organized though. My mind felt a little less anxious. 

Needless to say, after all this activity, I didn't have much time to actually do anything creative.  So tonight, I'm going to continue watching the olympics and reading my collage books from the library. 

Until next time readers. 

I powered through and did a page

I said I would be creative every day this week and I intend to do it. 


Last night I cleaned out my hall closet. In case you are wondering why that is at all related to this blog, it is because the hall closet is where I store all my craft supplies. It wasn't that messy but I bought some bins at the container store (best store ever) and now it looks so much better. So I feel a little more creative already.


Tonight, I almost didn't do anything. I had a terrible headache when I got home and for a while I was sitting in the dark in my apartment.  I took a lot of advil and had some juice. Caffeine would've been more efficient but the thought of walking to the bodega that's two doors down was too much for me. 


I finally started feeling better around 10pm and decided to just start printing pictures.  Just start is the best advice for any project you are working on.  Once I start printing the pictures I just keep going on with doing the pages. 


Tonight I did a double Smash page about Macaulay Culkin night.  We went out a few weeks ago to an event he hosted at a bar downtown. The theme was New Year's Eve in July - so much fun:

Smashbook Sunday - Nights out And Newsies

I realized I'm a little (very) behind on my smash book pages.  The original intent of the book was so that I would be more inclined to update regularly and I didn't feel like I was behind.  This week I'm going to make an effort to craft every day. I'm always so hopeful for the week on Sunday night.  Then the week starts and work drains all the life out of you and you come home and just want to collapse..but I'm really going to try. 


I did two smash pages tonight.  The first is a bunch of group shots from the past month. I'll probably do a few detailed pages on some of these events.  The other page is the playbill/ticket from "Newsies" and cut out from a postcard from the restaurant Chez Josephine.  The image is blurry but you can get the idea..

I can collage too!

Last night I took the Mixed Media and Collage class. It was so much fun!  Good timing too because the teacher is moving to Montreal so it was the last time they were going to run the class.   


I've always loved mixed media art but I never understood how people did it. My collages always turn out wrinkly and peeling.  This class taught us about photo transfers - super cool. Matte Media transfers - also super cool.  Dry media, wet media and basic collage. They taught us how to glue elements down without too many wrinkles and what type of paper won't curl too much.  Now I just need to figure out where to get all the supplies -although most of them are highly flammable so maybe my apartment is not the best area for it. 


I scanned in some of the images we made in class.  I didn't expect to bring home a fantastic collage after a 3 hour class, but I am satisfied with how silly and neat these are.  I hung them on my fridge because i wasn't sure what else to do with them. 


Collage 1: Matte Media Transfer

Collage 2: Paint, Collage, Photo Transfer, Pastels, Stamps

Collage 3: Paint, Collage, Photo Transfer, Stamps

I'm going to read some of my collage books I've been saving now that i know how to do some of the techniques...and maybe look up even more classes I can take.  

Two smash pages in a row whaaatt

Hello faithful reader(s).  I went to Staples this afternoon and picked up the correct printer ink and off I was onto another smash page.  I originally intended this page to look different, but I liked how all 4 photos looked together when I printed it out so I kept it.  Sometimes I get disappointed with my Smashbook pages and I really need to stop myself. The book is supposed to be fun and relaxing - no deep thought into it, just tracking my year in photos, cutouts and memorabilia.  It's also a great way to use old stickers I never thought I'd use. 


You have to give me credit here, this picture is not dark or blurry.  I think I've finally figured out how to take pictures on my cell phone. It only took me 3 years. Also discovered today I can edit photos on my phone whaaatt.