Another birthday coming up-a pinterest win!

Pinterest rocks!

I'm just bummed because I can't figure this out on my own.

It was quite easy to put together.

Cookie Monster.

Who doesn't love a good cookie.

Studio Calico, Recollections cardstock, Martha Stewart alpha punch

Watercolors - learning curve

Well this started out with flowers that were

pretty but just like out there.

I decided that the brick wall was required because my

drawing skills are meh and the seemed

to be floating in air and needed to be grounded.

Love the balloon stamp and writing, however

that one blob over to the left can be gone it just doesn't fit.

I'll work on that.

 This page started innocently enough with leaves.

However, I had a total wardrobe malfunction and

ended up covering it all up with white

enamel paint as there was no amount of fixing with watercolors.

Also added were the fairies.

You can see them better in the picture than real life
but I think they're a fun addition.

 I tried the leaves again and this time

it didn't turn out so bad.

The pine cone is iffy and I do love the lantern.
The pinecone??? come see come saw. lol

 Somewhere along the line I have ballerina stamps.

Who knew and looks fun on this page.

 And then I found my mushroom stencil that looks

a bit likea whacky impressionist painting because

after I painted over it I decided it needed more oommph
and it was a bit wet.

And then there's the sun 😐

 This one came about because I was tired of swirling

paint and decided that lines were needed.

The butterflies were an after thought

that probably should've been not thought of at all.

LOL.

A well it's a work in progress and huge learning curve.

Solomon's Castle with dramatic skies

I love dramatic skies and how cool is this castle

made from all recycled materials and pretty stained glass windows

complete with a turret and everything. 

Construction started in 1974 and has been ongoing.

They have tours, of course, but we decided not to go inside.

It was kind of pricey - we thought.

 Pretty flowers and strange metal birds.

 Pretty white flowers.

 This is the side door.
Very welcoming.

The front door is guarded by two armored knights.

 They also have a cafe complete with a musician.

 A dragon.

 A swamp skeeter

which is why the castle is closed August and September.

 It is a sight to behold.

 The boat in the moat is a restaurant which is

different from the cafe which is outside dining

right next to the gift shop.

 This is the multi-colored horse.

His hooves have different colors hence the name

because he looks white to me.

The owner is also a sculptor and his art 

hangs inside the castle.

A pretty pink flower.

It was neat to see and had a lot of benches to hang out.

The architect, owner and builder actually lived

in the castle for awhile - 

Birthday cards

Had some fun with them and won't the adults (ladies) love them.

I did the llama thing because that seems to be in now, 

and because it was cute.

I did use watercolors because I'm growing quite fond of them.

Hero Arts stamps and a really old birthday journal card

that I cut up because I wanted those candles.

And yes, they look similar, because it just flowed that way

and why not repeat the fun stuff.

Travelers Notebook - Top Nine

So of course I jumped on the Top Nine bandwagon

along with everyone else and really

like the combo that was chosen.

It did turn out to be more selfies than anything.

Ah well...

 So switching gears - I jumped over to Bo Bunny because

it had a frame I wanted and those tabs.

And I purchased this from a for-real scrapbook shop 

in North Carolina and just now got to use it.

Of course it isn't complete without some Tim Holtz

and some Heidi Swapp colorshine and Martha Stewart

alpha punch for the title.

Travelers Notebook - Our meet up at Chili's

Every so often and mostly when I'm in town

my pal Barb and I get together.

Since she lives north and I live south

we meet in the middle at Chili's and wine and

dine our bad selves in the midst of

yaking and yuking it up for several hours.

We even make friends with the servers because

we are there for awhile.

So I saved the bag the utensils come in and

don't it make a mighty fine place to put a tag

with some rather lengthy journaling on it.

 And there are more of those fussy cut flowers I've used

on previous pages - because waste not - want not

and the work so well on this page.

And this page wouldn't be complete without some

Tim Holtz snark going on.

Studio Calico - because I have a lot.

Tim Holtz - because I have a lot.

And it all works so well.

Watercolors- I got carried away....

 Well I fell in love with watercolors because you don't have to be an artist

when mucking it up in the paints.

Here I did some flowers - more or less, and decided

why NOT use STAMPS.

Gasp!

I also decided not to bore you by doing these pages one-at-a-time. Much better to see all the pages.
At one time. Wouldyoubelieve I have another batch coming up.

I got braver on this page and I decided that using a doily

and mooshing paint around would be fun.

Well...see that ugly blog behind the flower stamp?

It didn't go well. 

So there's the big cover up. 

LOL.

More stamps and a punched butterfly just to round things out.

You should've seen the doily used in the first Santa

page from yesterday's post.

It's a pretty melon color.

 Not to be deterred on the same night I decided that

why not make "scenes" in my watercolors.

So this page evolved with some Tim Holtz stamps

and stencil.

I believe this one is my favorite.

And then disaster struck.

I have no idea what happened here but it was ugly.

I stamped the jar and felt that it was toooo bold

with the ink and tried to settle it down some.

Well...

I scrubbed and mooshed and there ya have it.

I'm gonna keep because 

why not.

Learning curve.

Oh and that punch - made that adorable bow.

Scored that baby from Tuesday Morning for $4.99. 💜

I'm really liking this watercolor thing, however,

I don't know what else to do with the album right now.

Not sure if I'll add photos or words or what.

Suggestions from you wouldn't hurt my feeling.

Travelers Notebook - Christmas pages

These pages are fun and I love the Santa peeking out.

I love it so much I did two pages that

don't belong to a 2-pager but because I liked

how I placed the embellies I decided to do it twice.

 

So no sense in boring you with two separate posts.

I fussy cut those flowers out of an OLD Studio Calico paper pad.

They work really well for Christmas pages. 

If you look at the pretty melon colored doily - that

came from doing some watercolor pages that 

you will see in tomorrow's post.

Since I got carried away -with embellies and posts that

I need room for journaling, hence the 2nd page

with an envelop and card tucked inside.

 We had a lovely time at Tom's sister's for Christmas Eve

and that cutie patootie at the top was the star of the night.

 Love the sentiment on the card and there's

plenty of room on the back for journaling.

 Below I carried on with the adorable Santa because

I could and it looks really cute on this page

with those darling fussy cut flowers.

So my son sent me that Christmas ornament that

looks like him - what a neat gift.

So of course, there's a page.

More Really OLD Studio Calico and Tim Holtz.

Travelers Notebook - Moments like this

I put this page together prior to knowing the photos

that were going to be used.

I do love creating like that - and then going

on the hunt for the perfect pix.

I also used papers that had been previously punched,

 using the negative space

which I thought looked neat.

Of course paper tearing adds to the texture

and a bit of fussy cutting on the flowers

from really old Studio Calico 6x6 paper pads.

And of course the paper pads are all smooshed

around in my drawer so I'm unable to shed a light

on which 6x6 pad was used because

you can totally mix and match those papers.

 And those clipboards.
Sigh.

Love them!

So I printed 1x1 photos to fit the clipboards

and I love how they turned out.
Can't go wrong with photographing critters and I do love
to catch them on my SD card,
however, they can be persnickity in their posing.
Just sayin....

And, of course, the adorable "monster."

Old Studio Calico papers and some Tim Holtz.

Life is Sweet album - Death Valley

 

Keeping it simple and leaving the page basically kraft except

for the few gesso splotches which does adds something, right?

Maybe. 

LOL.

Anyhoo, Death Valley is gorgeous believe-it-or-not

and needs to be on your bucket list also.

I chose these photos because the mountains are

beautiful, and then in the mix of salt flats there is a

beautiful flower amongst the rubble.Using some

very old Studio Calico papers from 6x6 paper pads

pulling out the purple from the photos love

the ripped texture and perfect embellies from Tim Holtz

and my favorite butterfly punch.

And my favorite Martha Stewart alpha punch - love

the size and shape of the letters and it's just

so easy to punch the perfect colors for the titles and

you never run out of letters.

So you'll  be seeing them a lot - among other

things that you'll see a lot.

Studio Calico - Tim Holtz

Life is Sweet booklet - Yosemeti

I decided to go back over some of the places

we visited and pick my favorite

photos and make a collage of sorts.
Actually not so much a collage as getting all 6
photos on one 4x6 photo paper to save paper
which came out to 1.9x2.
Photos is quite annoying and not as simple
as Aperture. Sigh. I miss that program.

Did a bit of mixed media
and stamping for this page.

Put Yosemeti on your bucket list peeps.

Studio Calico, Tim Holtz, Martha Stewart alpha punch.

Watercolor - Inspired

I happened to be checking out u-tube and happened upon

Irit Landgraf who rocks the scrapbook page

but also has been doing watercolor sunflowers.

Well.

I happen to have a watercolor book I didn't know what

to do with and did this page.

It was fun, and I'll be doing it again.

Using plain ole Michael's $5 watercolors.

Tim Holtz and Studio Calico & misc. stamps.

Smile - Best day ever

Love how this turned out. 

Using a different book  - I have 3 going on at the moment.

Each for different stuff.

 This book "Life is Sweet" was given to me 

by my pal Holli and I put

whatever  I want in this book and its working

out lovely.

 

 I have done mixed media in this book but

I'm finding I fancy the kraft look.

 

 Using a bunch of really old Studio Calico

6x6 papers and fussy cutting the flowers and the birds

and basically going crazy with all the items.

I love how it shows off my beautiful granddaughter,

her new 'do and the granddog August.

This is the book and the pages lay flat when it's open.

Bonus!