I love my Prima flowers, and I'm always looking for fun new ways to use them. Towards that end, I wanted to share some techniques I used to create this layout: To create the background: STEP ONE: Take a handful of Prima flowers (any kind, any shape, any size) and spread them across a piece of white cardstock. I think it's important to go off the edge and not just keep them all in the center of the layout. STEP TWO: Spray with a light color of Adirondack Color Wash. The flowers are very light, so if you spray too... Read more →

That's from my art journal. A list of things to pack for the crop. On Saturday I went to an all-day crop with my local group, the Manhattan Scrapbookers. It was our annual holiday party. Here's a quick pic: As it turns out, I'm one of the tallest in the group, maybe even the tallest. Which is why I'm hiding in the back. I love the Manhattan Scrapbookers. It's a wonderfully diverse group and everyone's tastes and talents are all over the map! Scrapbooking at a crop is different from scrapbooking at home. I mean, duh. But I find that... Read more →

Day 12 is here at last. Here is the tag from Mr. Holtz: Wow! Love those grungepaper roses! I went to a crop today and made mine away from home, so I had to make do with what I had. Here you go: Problem #1: The flower punch I had access to only had 5 petals (not the 6 petals that these roses require), so my flowers are a little oddly square. Problem #2: I could not get the Glossy Accents to hold. So I ended up using gel medium instead. Problem #3: No matter what I did, the flower... Read more →

One of the great pleasures of living in midtown Manhattan is how much is quite literally a hop, skip, and a jump away from me. On Wednesday, I trundled the seven blocks to the Museum of Art & Design. I love museums that offer the opportunity to learn from some of the artists whose work they exhibit. Our instructors were from the Textile Arts Center. I have to apologize, but I've completely forgotten their names, so I did a little internet sleuthing (online stalking is surprisingly easy) and the woman on the left is Cynthia Alberto. You can see some... Read more →

Yes, it is the season for buying lots and lots of stuff. Hannukah starts tonight at sundown. But...um...I've kind of been buying stuff for myself lately! Ooops! Here's what I've purchased in the last few weeks: Remains of the Day - an online class with Mary Ann Moss. I have admired her travel journals for a hundred thousand years and now I get to take a class and learn how the heck she does it! I'm so excited! Punchinella, otherwise known as sequin waste. Found a great price for it here and lots of interesting shapes too! It's great for... Read more →

Tag #9 from Tim Holtz has landed (and I was sort of channeling him yesterday when I broke out the mini filmstrip). Here is Tim's tag: I suffered a bit from using a tag so much smaller than his. Things got crowded. Here's mine: I'm thinking that this would be a great topper for a birthday present - or maybe even instead of a card? Let's take a peek at the details: I had fun printing out those tiny photos and lining them up. Though, truth be told, I did print mine in a strip, not individual photos as Tim... Read more →

Here's the deal with me. I don't throw things away, but I do purge my stash three or four times a year. And I donate whatever I'm purging - either in the form of blog giveaways or to my local scrapping group or whatever. I have never regretted giving anything away. Until today. Tag #8 from Tim Holtz is here: And I used to have a key just like that. It came in a Label Tulip kit. I didn't use it. Figured I wouldn't use it. And I sent it out into the universe. Regret. Regret. Regret. But enough whining.... Read more →

This month's sketch is built for a single photo: And the Prima Flower Girls were challenged to create a layout based on this sketch, but using another designer's headshot! Eeek! Totally fun! It was all done anonymously, so it wasn't until the pages were revealed on the Prima blog yesterday that we knew who had who! I was given the amazing Tracie Hudson's headshot. I've not yet had the pleasure of meeting Tracie in real life. So, I spent some time reading her blog in order to get to know her. And here's my page about her: And here's a... Read more →

Tag #6 tag put a wrinkle in my forehead. Here's Tim's tag: And now the explanation of the wrinkle: I love "The 12 Tags of Christmas" for all the awesomely cool techniques. Ways to use product that I never thought of, you know? The problem with tag#6 is that it's the very clever use of the two stamps (tying the tree on the car - genius!) that is the star of this tag. And unfortunately, most of my stamps are journaling squares, pattern stamps, and the like. So I had to sit down for a bit of a think. Here's... Read more →

Hard to make today's tag about anything other than Christmas. We're making ornaments after all! Here's Tim's tag: And here's mine: Tim is using tags bigger than the ones I'm using. Usually it's fine. I just translate down. Today, it was a bit hard to fit everything. Over the past five days, I've discovered that where Tim reaches for the ink, I tend to want to reach for the paint. (I guess we all have our "go to" coloring medium, right?) And for the most part, I've avoided reaching for the paints and dutifully inked everything. Well, today I couldn't... Read more →