12x12 Life

What can I say...I'm a 12x12 kinda gal. 

When things are not going right or I'm feeling like I need some crafty time...I reach for 12x12. 

I think we all have our own comfort zones and that is mine. 

So imagine how ecstatic I was when Kim started carrying different 12x12 papers in the store! We have Authentique and Fancypants and 7Dots and Tim Hotlz...

and I really could go on but you want to see some GORGEOUS crafty goodies don't you;)

If you have seen my work you know that I am over the top...lots of mixed media...more flowers than a gal can handle. But when I saw the Fancypants Nautical line, I was so inspired to do something clean and simple. I purchased some 12x12 in a couple of the patterns and went to town!! They were so much fun to create with!

I also used my new Tim Holtz Honeycomb die to create some layers behind the photo grouping. The tag is from the clearance section and is Fancypants as well but from a different line. I just adore the Junkyard Findings Street Signs and this one was perfect...because he is my 1st born!! Get it? 

*slaps her knee*

I liked the orange with the navy blue and teal (yes that is blue not black) so I grabbed a piece of orange paper from my stash to make my accents. 

I decided to stamp a tiny date stamp to document the time that this photo was taken. We don't have many every day type photos and this was just a spur of the moment "kids...get in the car...mamma wants pics" kinda deal. 

So needless to say my teenager was glad I was inspired to NOT use flowers this time.  

This LO was the inspiration for the one above:

Hard to believe this is the same child isn't it? Thus the title for the previous LO of "All Growed Up"

This was using the Authentique elegant line. Little bit of chip board photo frames

and some Prima masking...a little bling...some stamping...this was seriously a fun layout to create.

Here is a close up of the tissue tape and stamping.

And of course the BLING!!!! Oh so yummy!! And just adorable with the Prima Metal Door Sign. 

Don't forget our ePlay challenge is still going on this month with STENCILS!!!

You can check out all the details for these tags on my blog at www.scrappygoddess.blogspot.com.

Don't forget to enter for your chance to win.

{{hugs}}

Andiepants

Mojo Takes a Hike

Everyone has a creative slump sometimes, that's just part of life. 

Being part of a design team doesn't change that fact, and little miss pants here has been in quite the slump lately. I don't even want to enter into contests to win scrappy stuff right now because...I just don't care.

*GASP*

I'll give you a moment to regroup...

This is completely normal. Sometimes you can walk away and come back when you are ready. The last time I did that I didn't step foot in my room for 5 months. Obviously this tactic is not going to work when you have scrappy commitments and obligations. (birthday cards for family members, DT obligations, Christmas gifts planned, etc.) You have to be gentle with your mojo and coax it back into existence. 

Here are some tips to try to get your mojo flowing:

1.  Keep a decorative bowl or jar in your room with some creative prompts
2.  Is there a particular music that seems to get your mojo flowing? Queue that up and just enjoy being surrounded by your space and your tunes.
3. Is your space a mess and just overwhelming? Clean it up one spot at a time. Do this slowly and walk away frequently. Maybe pick up your space over the course of a week doing just a little each day. The important thing is to make sure you don't overwhelm yourself because that will just make your mojo run away even more.
4. Put together page kits. Either with photos or without. Once you have a manageable kit in front of you, you may find yourself inspired. 
5. Peruse Pinterest for ideas. Don't just search "scrapbooking" but go beyond. Look into color palettes or beautiful photos that inspire you. Do you like the color of a particular door in an artistic photo? Or a beautiful mandala? Did someone pin some refinished furniture that you just love the distressed look of? Could you maybe try to recreate that finish on some chippy pieces or wood pieces?
6. Keep an art journal and just make a mess. Grab your art journal and just start throwing paint and stamps and what-not at a page without thinking.
7. Fussy cut some images. Trust me....sounds strange...just go with it
8. Watch an inspirational movie. I love the imagery in Memoirs of a Geisha...just visually stunning as a movie. I adore the art studio and house in The Time Traveler's wife. These are things I pull from, movies that just speak to me. 

For the last month my mojo has been on a serious hiatus. I just have no interest in anything scrappy related. I sat at my desk petting all my semi-recently purchased pretties for an hour...and got nothing. Granted, I didn't have time to clean my room and that was probably not helping but still...what was I going to inspire all my eP gals with?!

I started by perusing Pinterest (which I've already done numerous times) and found myself focusing on color palettes. I decided I wanted to do something with yellow (but I kept clicking on green stuff...don't ask just go with it).

Deciding on yellow I then turned to my pictures in iphoto. There was already a group of photos up from a 2011 vacation so I decided not to overcomplicate things and just pick one. I waited for one to speak to me and then dropped it into Elements and antiqued it to make it more neutral (easier to work with considering the lacking mojo). 

While my photo printing I turned my attention to my desk. 

EGADS!!!!!

I started by moving some stuff to another table. I would only focus on one item at a time and slowly I began to see the top of my desk. When I got to my eP goodies I chose a piece of paper, some scraps of leftovers and put the rest away. I chose a mask and took some bits and pieces of leftover embellies and created a pile. I didn't even have to go to my stash...there was plenty there. I grabbed a couple of mists to coordinate and boom:

I now had a manageable coordinating pile of stuff to work with. Still no mojo...but I didn't have to "wait" on inspiration now to give me direction.

The best thing to do at this point is just not think. I know I wanted the smaller papers and border strips layered under the photo and I wanted to use a lot of my mists and masks so I know those have to be first. Therefore I laid down my photo and the pieces of paper in a generic order. Considering the lack of mojo...it didn't have to be fancy. At every step I just "went with it".

I decided with those little scraps of border I wanted to cut ribbon ends.

Once I had a general idea I traced where my cluster was so my mixed media would pop out around

I used 7DOTS Domestic Goddess for the background sheet, and Authentique-Natural for the mustard yellow background sheet. Remember I said I wanted to do yellow;)

I then added my mixed media starting with a chicken wire stamp, then a holly hock stamp, and finally my Tim Holtz splatters mask. I used Vintage photo and Forest Moss for my stamping. (remember I said I kept clicking on green palettes?) 

Next I added my Wendy Vecchi embossing paste in black through my new Prima stencil for the splatters and the title. I added some Prima wood pieces from the Stationer's Desk collection and flowers from the Petaloo Color me Crazy collection. Some of the Prima flowers are from the new Something Blue collection as well. I finished off the final page with some random dots in Vintage Photo Distress Stickles.

And here is my final page...Completely mojo-less. I actually don't think it's too bad.

So when your mojo takes a hike take heart, you can still create, it will return. Try some tactics but most of all...just let go. 

{{hugs}}

Andiepants

Prima in the store!

I'm so excited I could almost pee!!!!

But I won't.

We have Prima in the store!!!!

Gorgeous...

Lovely...

Wonderful...

Prima!!!

So what have I created with all these shabby goodies?! Why a scrapbook page of course silly.

But wait...there's more! 

(sounds like an infomercial right?)

I used Petaloo

and Anthology 

I started with the 7Dots Dreamer paper-Sweet Dreams. I loved the new Prima Maps mask and used the Art Anthology red velvet dimensional paint in the mask. I used lots of my old stamps over the entire background with Distress ink in Walnut Stain and Gathered Twigs. Of course my Silks glaze in Guatemalan Green and Dylusions sprays in Lemon Zest and Black Marble. My title was done with the Idea-ology label letters. Honestly I used to be such a sticker snob but now....I love letter stickers!

Here's some closeups of my lower cluster. 

Jump in the store and grab some Prima. Give it a try! They are some of my mostest favoritest products ever.

Til next time...

{{hugs}}

Andiepants

Cards with Authentique Natural

Hello Ep-er's!!! I am here to share one of my FAVE paper lines... Authentique's Natural

I love the distressed look of these papers and the gorgeous color combo. These papers are super fantastic and so versatile. You can use them for masculine or feminine projects. 

I'm not usually into 6x6 but I HAD to have these. And what might you do with 6x6 papers....make cards of course. 

Since it was my Step father's birthday I wanted to make him a hand made card. Although I'm not a big card maker, there is something to be said about the time and thoughtfulness that goes into a hand made card. Sooo...I really try hard to make hand made cards for all my family.

I loved the ruggedness of this stamp that I picked up from the Heirloom stamp show. The best part about using a stamp is that you can make the image coordinate to whatever paper that you want!!!

I colored the stamp using various colors of Timmy Distress Ink and a water pen. You can see a complete list of the colors below.

I used the idea-ology mini fasteners to add just a touch of bling. The title is cut from some of the back of the scrap paper using my Silhouette Cameo.

This next card was made for my girlfriend at work and her family who suffered a very big loss this year.

The notebook paper was perfect and I love the way it coordinated with the mustard color paper which I used for my die cuts. The twine is a gorgeous honeydew green and the writing is a Tim Holtz Distress marker in Chipped Sapphire. 

***Crafty Andie's hot tip***

Store the markers on their sides. It helps to prevent them from drying out.

I hope you decide to indulge in this paper line as it is FABULOUS!!!!! 

Until next time....

{{hugs}}

Andiepants