lucky13

It’s Hello Thursday Release Party Saturday style… « Mixology Crafts

2011-04-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

It’s Hello Thursday Release Party Saturday style… « Mixology Crafts

Translating from Canvas to 12x12

2010-10-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

I had a blast working with canvas during our Lucky 13 Journey and created some pages that really challenged me creatively. Some of us made copies of our canvas pages to keep a second book for ourselves. Why not translate the canvas pages into 12x12 pages?

One of my favorite pages is the one I created for Elena Etcheverrry--the rich, bright blue with the white and brown accents really pops of the page for an intense effect. I took this page that I created for Elena:

And simply did the same exact thing on a 12x12 piece of cardstock that was the same blue.

The blue on Elena's page is actually painted. I taught this "copy" in my Project 12x12 Class on Going Green--we used some Martha Stewart Felt Doilies in a new way! They came 3 to a pack and who needs 3 in their house--use one for decor and the other 2 for craft projects, why not?

Just because art is on canvas or presented in a different way than our familiar scrappy 12x12 scrapbook pages doesn't mean we can't translate that to our own work! Next time you're feeling a little stumped about where to go with your page, look outside of scrapbooking for inspiration--translate a piece of art into your own scrapbook page.

Happy Creating!!

Lucky 13 Publishing Update

2010-08-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share with you an update on the Lucky 13 project. Recently I received a sneak peek and some information about when and where the Lucky 13 project was going to be published. Now, if you're not familar with the Lucky 13 . . . no worries . . . check out the blog and I think you'll find it a lot of fun. It was 13 artists that Elena Etcheverry brought together from all over the world to share in one anothers lives. We crafted each others special moments of life each month. It was a very special journey that brought new friendship and strengthened others not to mention the inspiration that took place. All kinds of media was used and our main ingredient . . . it was done on canvas.

So the project will be published in Somerset Memories in their Autumn issue which is due out on October 1st. Because there were so many images . . . there will be a sampling in the article and then more images will be available on line.

I wanted to personally thank Jana . . . the fantastic editor of Somerset Memories for all her hard work on this issue and project. She's fantastic! I wanted to thank everyone who came along this journey with us! It's been a very special one!

Last of the Last and Wrapping It Up

2010-05-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

I realized I didn't post the last page I created which was for Gloria. I created the following page for Gloria. I enjoyed using paint (fabric and 3-D) as well as paper and ink. Just a mix of different things. But I wanted to share it with you and also give you a little update.

I'm completing an article and compiling all the finished Lucky 13 projects in preparation for publication in Somerset Memories. I'll keep you updated as to when the publication is available.

Everyone has their pages in hand from each artist and have bound them together some way, some how. It's been fun to see each of them. Donna and I found a fun basket in which I'll store the books in while they are at Stampington's headquarters.

There's a part of me that has enjoyed having a completed project in hand that represents our lives and our art. There's also a part that's kind of sad to see this journey come to a close. But I know the relationships made through this project will be long lasting!

Some Pages from Melissa

2010-03-21T00:15:00.000-07:00

Being on the other side of the world and hearing how these girls are catching up with one another at crops and things around the country at times made me feel a little removed from the group but it was a great year getting to know them all through the blog, email and then of course there is CHA where twice a year we actually do get a chance to meet face to face. All these girls have a wonderful way of making you feel welcome. All so friendly and warm and extremely talented. It was an honour to be asked to take part and also lots of fun. Scrapping on canvas was a whole new experience for me and i slowly got more confidence to try new things as the year went on. Here are a few of my pages that I did for the girls.

Page for Gloria.
I love happy snaps especially with chidren and i know how much Gloria's children make her happy. I had a little fun playing with one of our new ranges on this page. Even the stamps worked on canvas which was something i hadn't done before.

Page for Cheryl
Glimmer misting seems to be all the current rage at the moment so when i got to Cheryls page as she is sooooo creative i thought i too would try something a little different and outside of my usual comfort zone. I got one of my grandma old doilies (don't worry it wasn't an antique one) and layed it over my canvas and used it as a mask when spraying.

Page for Elena
We all know how special Elena is and well this girl inspires me, how she is always doing something for someone. Even with out the makeup, without the trademake princess crown truly is NATURALLY beautiful inside and out. As her favourite colour is purple that is the colour i based this layout around. I loved doing this page for her.

Page for Jane This is another layout that i had a lot of fun with and overdosed a little with the glimmer mist.
Its hard to see from the sneak peak but i was inspired by the photograph of the gorgeous wreath of leaves so out came the leaf punches, a couple of visits to LSS's to find more and to create a wreath of my own to showcase the photos in.

stay tuned for more later on - but i think the kids and hubby need a feed first.

Cheryl's Page by Angela

2010-03-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

Well, really this is Cheryl's beautiful daughter Abby's page. Cheryl treated Abby and her friends to a day at Knott's Berry Farm for Abby's birthday and I got to try my hand at being challenged by the concept of a birthday once again. But again, because I love Cheryl, it was easy PLUS I'm always raving about Cheryl's wonderful work and all the fun little details she adds, so I immediately knew I wanted to make sure I went a little crazy with this page.

First, I am a huge candy fan. Everyone jokes that I should do crafts with candy but this is the furthest I've ever taken the challenge. I painted the whole canvas page with Liquitex Texture Gel with glass beads and then sprinkled real cake sprinkles on top. I was going for a frosted cake look and it worked! The only thing I'd change next time is adding some paint colors to the clear texture gel so you really see the texture of the "frosting." And for all of you who were taught to scrap in the days of "acid free" warnings, I give you permission to branch out. This layout will not last forever and the cake toppings will probably not fair to well in the long haul (I could spray them with a sealant, though) but the most important thing is, I had fun making it. Plus, I have photos of the layout that will last forever.

Donna's page by Angela

2010-03-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

This whole Lucky 13 exercise has been so interesting. How do you take photos that you aren't really invested in and create a page around them? That's a challenge. However, it becomes less of a challenge if you know the person in the photo well. Take Donna, for example, I've known her for years now. We worked together on the Scrapbook LifeStyle show but we also had time to know each other outside of work. Turns out we both love thrift stores and divey food places. I also know that Donna has a special affection for all things denim . It wasn't too much of a stretch to think about how to scrap for Donna. I just grabbed a ripped and outgrown pair of my son's jeans and went to town.

The best thing about these Blank Canvas Board books by C & T Publishing (plug!) is that they really inspire me to get out the sewing machine. I revived an old piece of silk embroidery ribbon I had to add some detail to these plastic Heidi Grace flowers I used as well. I also used a home decorating tip on this layout: when in doubt, add a small splash of red here and there. It helps brighten up monochromatic color schemes.

Michelle's May page by Angela

2010-03-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

I have an affliction I refer to as FReDs: Facial Recognition Disorder. This means that I have a hard time recognizing people if they change ever so slightly from one meeting to the next or even if they've changed their hair (ponytail v. hair down will render people completely unrecognizable to me) or, even worse, if they're in a new venue. Even if you're my dentist of 10 years, I won't know who you are if you approach me at a soccer game. I'm totally self-diagnosed, of course but this all leads me to this layout I made for Michelle. It looks like she's with Kelly Gorey from BasicGrey. I mean, I THINK it's Kelly...

At any rate, this is a very ME layout- no influencing by the other Luckies. I like bold colors and I really love plastic. I know that's not chic or today but I do. I am using up my last bit of cherished grapefruit bag netting for this layout. I can only hope Costco sells those again because I love the material. I also have a fondness for polyester but I suppose that's beside the point...

Another Easter Page- for Melissa by Angela

2010-03-12T14:54:00.001-08:00

Holidays are tough for me to scrap. I look at the photos and all I can think is, "Yep, another cake." or in the case of Easter at our house- it's usually just uninspiring shots of my family, with bedhead and some not so great shots of our kids stumbling around in the backyard on a sugar high. I'm just not inspired by them. I prefer to scrap moments than events. However, I have been SO inspired by the gorgeous pages my fellow Lucky 13ies have made (the cute Easter page Nan made for ME below, for example), I have been determined to continue to scrap outside the parameters of my usual clean graphic look. So when Melissa sent me photos of her girls at Easter, I immediately thought of my favorite part of Easter- the sugared eggs that you can peek through and see a little scene inside. I think they're simply magical so why not make a scrapped version?

This idea took 2 canvas pages instead of the usual 1. It also meant I had to brave the semi-treacherous world of German glitter glass (I'm always afraid I'll forget I have it all over the place and rub my eyes!) but you know, I think I actually pulled off the idea I was going for. I even found a good reason to add one of my favorite embellishments- tulle and even did a bit of sewing. I wish I could show more than a peek because I think it's pretty darned cute but you get the idea. And just in time for THIS Easter! Cheers, Melissa!

A Page for Donna from Melanie

2010-03-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

Donna's smile always makes me happy... she's so cheerful all the time! She taught a class at Scrapbook Royalty's Royal Slumber Crop last March, and I still had a flower in my stash from her class! Hey, recycling is in now right? ;) I got inspired and put some small canvas frames on her page... I put the photos she sent me on those canvases!

A Page for Angela by Nan

2010-03-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed making this Easter-themed page for Angela. It was raining cats and dogs here in California, and it made me long for the warmth and color of springtime Easter! Isn't this picture of the egg so cute and green (my fave color!) For this page, I used lots of bright color - it is Easter after all. I sponged paint onto the acrylic alpha, and sprayed the canvas with various inks. I had this paper duckie from Prima for ages - and it got good use here. Nothing compares to Angela's two adorable little angels in the picture - no doubt loving their Easter morning goodies.

Hope you like, Angela!

A Page for Gloria from Melanie

2010-02-25T23:04:00.000-08:00

Gloria sent me a photo of her and her beautiful family from a wedding they all went to in the summer... I tried to keep it simple and classic to stay with the theme of the photo. Gloria nicknamed me the "elegant" scrapper... hope I lived up to her expectations! ;)

A Page for Stephanie by Melanie

2010-02-18T22:56:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love to ring in the new year... Stephanie sent me these great photos from her celebrations! Party hats, noise makers and all... I had this small December calendar that was just waiting for the right layout, and this was it!

a Page for Donna by Jennifer

2010-02-13T00:01:00.000-08:00

This page was in my head for a few months until I could sit down and figure out how to execute it--Donna sent me these awesome underwater photos of her daughter in a swimming pool and I just kept thinking "mermaid" every time I looked at them!

Donna is really an "artist" and I knew I wanted to do something really cool for her page -- there is NO paper on this page at all and I am a "scrapbooker at heart" I like to say. This whole Lucky 13 process has really challenged me to get out of my box, try new things, and push my own creative envelope.

When you're a ribbon collector like me sometimes it is hard to part with your stash (even if you have an obscene amount of ribbon like me!) but this page was all about ribbon. Last year I did a class using Glimmer Mist where I created a beach page featuring ribbons I twisted to look like kelp and I knew that look would be perfect for these photos. Easy to do on paper, not easy to attach to canvas. Glue dots (my best friend) and canvas really aren't friends so I had to sew the ribbon to the page.

After the "kelp" was on I added Prima e-Line Pearls that I colored with Copic Markers to look like bubbles in the water. The Thickers and My Little Shoebox letters are attached with Aleene's No Sew Fabric Glue - again, with canvas some things just don't want to stick as well as I would like ;) The beaded leaves are a little secret from my stash...

When I showed Donna her page she gasped and I knew she loved it ;) That is such an awesome feeling--putting a lot of thought and love into a design and having the person who receives it be just so delighted to see it. I'm still smiling from showing her her page ;)

-----Jennifer

A Page for Cheryl From Melanie

2010-02-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

Wherever Cheryl goes, she is always ready for a hug or two... She is the Mama Bear of the group! She sent me some great pics from when she and the other lead Fiskateers went to the Brains On Fire headquarters. The turquoise flower is made of baking clay - I usually make rings out of this stuff, but thought I could make a small one to fit on Cheryl's page!

A Page for Jennifer from Melanie

2010-02-06T22:37:00.000-08:00

Jennifer and I have had a chance to share pages... and when we did, we realized we both used the same paper line on each other's layouts!! Great minds. ;) Jennifer sent me some great photos with some vintage cars and her cute kids, so the colourful pages were perfect!

a Page for Cheryl by Jennifer

2010-02-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Cheryl rocks. I mean, is there another way to describe her? Sweet, vibrant, reliable, crafty, talented, faithful ... one of the cool things about doing this Lucky 13 Circle Journal is getting to know each other better and becoming friends. Or getting to know your friends better.

ANYWAYS, when I got Cheryl's photo from her trip up to Dutch Flat to one of Miss Vicky's FAB-U-LOUS retreats, this photo of she and Elena dressing up and posing just caught my eye. Look at that crazy deep teal color on the back wall of the room they are in! I painted my canvas that color and then just started pulling colors from the pic to pull items from my stash...orange from Elena's shirt, red from the flower on Cheryl's hat in the pic, black from an umbrella that Cheryl is holding...

The way I have organized my scrap room has really changed how I scrap--everything is by color. For this page I just opened up the drawers for the colors in the photo and pulled out whatever seemed to fit the feel of the photo. The buttons were already on my scrap table from a kit club kit I was designing some samples for; it was a happy accident that the feathers got pushed under the buttons when I laid my goodies out and I though "ooh, that might be interesting...". Sometimes having a cluttered table is a good thing ;) The glitter "feathers" are from Michael's in the Christmas picks section--I always find the coolest stuff in there!

I splattered black paint all over the page too--even if you're not an artist this is a really easy technique to do. Go somewhere you can get messy, like outside, and water down some black paint. I like to do this when my paint bottles get close to being empty becuase it is really hard to get that last bit of paint out so I fill the bottle with water, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 of the way full, then put the cap on and shake it. Then I squirt a little of the watered down paint on a foam paint brush (again, doesn't have to be a fancy brush). To get the splatters I knock the brush downward toward the page but hit the handle of it against my other arm or my hand so when the brush gets "knocked" the splatters head downward toward the photo. If you want the splatters to look old, blot them with a paper towel before they dry, soaking up excess paint and water, like I did on this page (you can really see it on the orange paper diecut on the page).

Cheryl has her page now and I hope she loves it ;) I had a really fun time creating it!!

------Jennifer

A Page For Jane by Melanie

2010-01-30T22:22:00.000-08:00

I got a picture from Jane from when she reunited with her cousin... Both with beautiful smiles.
I had fun putting some different elements on this page, some of them quite heavy! So much so that I had to reinforce the back of the canvas! ;)

a page for jolee jane by candice

2010-01-28T15:24:00.000-08:00

two small sneak peeks of jane's page.

you can read about the inspiration by visiting my blog.

Page for Melissa by Nan

2010-01-25T05:31:00.000-08:00

LOVE the photos Melissa sent for her layout! They are all photos of HER taking pictures! Isn't that cool? I also totally dug using the patterned burlap fabric from Prima as accents and as background. This was a fun layout to do, because the photos "say it all" which are the best kinds of photos, I think. And, the texture of the burlap with the canvas...is just yummmmm. :)

a page for elena by candice

2010-01-22T10:32:00.000-08:00

here's a page for elena. just sneak peeks for now. xo!

Page for Nan by Jennifer

2010-01-22T09:43:00.000-08:00

When I think of Nan, I think of happy, smiling, cool under pressure, someone who brings light to the world and everything she does. I feel really blessed to be able to work with her through Zutter, here with the Lucky 13, and just as a great friend.

When Nan sent me photos of she and her daughters, the bright colors in the pics made me instantly think of the Maya Angelou quote:

Precious Jewel,
You Glow
You Shine,
Reflecting all the good things in the world.
-Maya Angelou

I wanted to use the bright colors from the photos, magenta and sunny yellow so I painted a background of yellow polka dots directly onto the canvas. What's more happy thank polka dots?!

To get the paint to flow more smoothly onto the rough canvas I watered it down to almost watercolor consistency. After the paint dried, I used a sewing machine to add a zigzag stitch around the edge and add swirls across the polka dots.

I then raided my button stash for my most favorite yellow buttons--I had been saving them for something special and once I laid them out on the page I knew I had to use them ALL. Okay, I kept one button for myself ;) I hand-stitched the buttons to the centers of the polka dots. I wanted Nan's pics to have a fun feel so I matted them on white cardstock to look like Polaroids. Then I added the quote, using the fonts Rockwell and Clementine -- you download them both for free at dafont.com.

I can only show you sneaks but this is one of my favorite Lucky 13 pages so far--so bright and cheery and simple. I hope Nan likes it ;)

page for Candice by Elena

2010-01-20T13:08:00.000-08:00

Candice and I got to spend time together at CHA last Summer in the boiling sweaty heat of Orlando Florida. She helped with the Scrapbook Royalty chores and walked the floor with me a a bunch of volunteers and then slaved away with the rest of us at the charity crop. I have to say, she was amazing. And truly a Rock Star!

I used all the colors of the Rock Star can as my inspiration. Paint, glimmer mist, stuff and more stuff. It was a very fun page to do!

A Page for Elena by Nan

2010-01-19T05:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, I rarely say how much I like one of my own layouts...but in this case, I am really liking this layout for Elena. And, I didn't think I'd be saying that. Why? Because she sent me some great photos, but the one SHE wanted me to use was the darkest, grainiest of the bunch. I didn't know what I was going to do with it or how to scrap it to reflect what she was probably feeling in the photo, and the feeling one gets when looking at it. Think...think....think...take a shower, go for a run, eat some chocolate....think....think....think. AHA!
Granted, it is difficult to see in these sneak photos, but I ended up making an 8.5X11 iron-on transfer of the photo and transferring that to the canvas as a background. Then I added one of the other photos from her set to the layout to make everything POP. This layout is all about getting away and renewing oneself.....like our Elena did in December. The butterfly is immensely cool. I received a set of these at Christmas from one of the Zutter DT in Singapore and I love how it looks here.

Hope you like, E!

A Page for Stephanie by Cheryl ~ Titled Loved

2010-01-17T20:05:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed scrapping this photo for Stephanie. It's of her and her hubby who she calls 'Valentine'. Although this photo wasn't for Valentine's day I saw two 'love birds' enjoying an every day moment together. So I included some birdies sitting on the branches of flowers. Such a lovely sight to see these love birds. Stephanie, I'm wishing you a 2010 full of warm memories and much love.

Trick or Treat Page for Stephanie by Nan

2010-01-16T22:30:00.000-08:00

There is absolutely nothing scary about Stephanie. And her Halloween photos are just like she is...joyful, fun, lively and....so not spooky. So this is a Halloween page that tries to be Halloweeny in a downhome, Homegrown Hospitality way....not that I can duplicate her style...but I wanted to make this "her". Ya'know, "Stephanie-y" like. Whatever, can't 'splain.

Anyhoo, this layout has some burlap trim, some torn cardboard, some scrunched ribbon with spooky brads attached, a witchy-poo charm, autumn leaves, and some black criss-cross stitching. And a big ole wooden TRICK OR TREAT accent that I discovered in a long forgotten embellishment stash (them old Lil Davis embellies are just cool!). That got inked and Stickled to jazz it up.

Steph, hope you enjoy your spooky page :)

Happy Page for Michelle by Nan

2010-01-14T22:23:00.000-08:00

What's more fun than spinning on the Mad Hatter's Tea Cups at the Happiest Place on Earth? Not much!! Such a great expression on Michelle's son's face as he spinnnnnnnnssss! I really kept this page simple with this joy of this picture. But I wanted to convey a happy mood and space for more pictures and journaling. So this page has a little Bind-it-All flip page made with chipboard mouse ears (a couple more pictures are inside), with a manilla tag tucked behind for journaling. A BIG flower completes the happy mood....thanks for sharing these photos with me Michelle. What fun!

A Page for Donna By Cheryl

2010-01-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

I loved these fun photos that Donna sent me to scrap. It was at a crop and they sure look like they were having fun. Three beautiful gals! I tried to incorporate some fun colors to portray Donna's fun loving personality and the fun times that were had. I also enjoyed making some of my own embellishments. Thanks Donna for allowing me to scrap these fun photos.

Friends Page for Candice by Nan

2010-01-11T22:17:00.000-08:00

I really loved the flowers in these pictures of Candice and her friends enjoying an annual summer party. Typical paper flowers didn't feel right with this, so I kept the texture of the canvas by die-cutting some flowers from some extra fabric and misting them with Glimmermist in colors that go with the colors in the photos. I die-cut a canvas sun and misted it a sunny-golden yellow too - the color is called Sunflower - rather appropriate, I think. I really like the way it all turned out...nice and warm, just like Candice and her flowery friends :)

Page for Cheryl by Michelle Van Etten

2010-01-11T21:47:00.000-08:00

Cheryl sent me this great picture of her daughter at Disney it spoke to me. I found all sorts of fun Disney items I had and started playing. The background i painted white and pink than embossed a tree die cut on the side. Once dry I used a flourish glimmer screen to add a darker pink. The tree I painted with lumineres. I than had a castle and needed fireworks. I added all the different stickles to create the fireworks.

I hope you have a Scrappy day

Michelle

www.trendyscrapper.typepad.com

Made with Love from Cheryl For Elena

2010-01-11T00:34:00.000-08:00

This page is for my dear friend Elena who brought all of us Lucky 13 together. Elena has gone through some tough changes this year. She sent me a beautiful photo that expresses her tough choices. Because this is a sneak peek (but be watching here for future news about viewing the whole journey and complete pages) you can't see the photo.

Change can be difficult but it can also bring about experiences we can learn and grow from. Look at the butterfly. Choices, experiences, victories and mistakes help make us who we are in life. So I want to encourage Elena while it's an end . . . it's a beginning and to 'Be Brave'.

I also made a duplicate page for my daughter Abigail who is going through so many changes encouraging her as well. Changes can be difficult but she has her faith and those around her that love her to help see her through those changes. I encouraged her to embrace those changes and realize that through those changes she is becoming even more of a beautiful young lady and to 'soar'.

Page for Stephanie by Michelle Van Etten

2010-01-10T22:48:00.000-08:00

These new years eve pictures just scream fun so I wanted to use products that all screamed fun. I painted the canvas to match one of the boys shirts and than just went from there. Stephanie spends each new year at home with her family.

A Page for Melanie by Nan

2010-01-09T13:35:00.001-08:00

When Melanie sent me this picture, I just had to laugh. It sort of sums up all the YUM of Thanksgiving. I just want to dig in to that tantalizing bird, and I love the grins of anticipation.
Although only giving you a sneak, here's a snapshot of what I did for Mel's layout. It's titled time 4 turkey, using an alcohol-inked acetate clock from Heidi Swap and a gear thingie from Tim Holtz and a cute heart shaped brad....the photo is the focal point, with some background stitching from my toy (I do mean TOY) sewing machine. There is some ribbon and denim, and some flowers I tricked out...but you get to see that later. What a turkey, huh?

A Page for Candice by Michelle Van Etten

2010-01-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

Candice sent me pictures of her new hair color. She is normally a blonde but she decided to go red and she looks hot. The flower on the page has a time piece for the center to signify change. I created the flower using burlap that I sealed first than cut with accucut flower die. I sprayed the flower pieces with glimmer mist and let dry. The center piece is a bottle cap with beads added around it. I used grunge board sheets and Wendi Vechi stamps to create the out layers of the petals. The whole canvas page was inked and sprayed with glimmer mist.
I hope you have a scrappy day
Michelle

A Page For Michelle From Cheryl

2010-01-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed putting these photos to canvas. Recently Michelle attended a wedding of some dear friends. I love weddings . . . they are such a celebration of love! They are priceless events and "Treasured Times". I included a little mini book that holds the two photos Michelle sent me and some room for journaling. I including some vintage lace and handmade fabric and ribbon flowers. Thanks Michelle for allowing me to put your celebration of friendship and love to canvas.

Speaking of friendship, 2009 represents for me new and cherished friendships among the Lucky 13 ladies. I'm so thankful for all the relationships represented.

On behalf of the Luckies I want to wish you a very Happy and Inspiring 2010!

A layout for Melanie by Angela

2009-12-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

Most crafters I know get into jags or phases. A few weeks ago, I decided that the newsprint paper tablets I had given my 5 year-old to doodle in (from the $1 store, by the way) were fabulous for myFiskars gel pens. Let's face it, no brand of gel pens are always working at 100%. They skip on paper that's too slick and sometimes bleed on paper that's too porous. But cheap newsprint-y paper? Score! This little glimpse of my layout shows my new jag- teensy-tiny little titles with the letters colored in with color coordinating gel pens. All the other trim is just a bonus =)

A Page by Cheryl for Melissa

2009-12-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

What fun photos of Melissa. These photos really show her personality! She is such a fun gal and I was thrilled to get to scrap these photos that a friend took of her. So the title of the layout . . . 'Sew' Much Fun. I used different sewing embellishments and even had fun doing some embroidery. The back of the layouts have a pocket made with a vintage hankie that stores extra photos.

Thanks Melissa for allowing me to scrap these fun photos and keep being you! You're a lovely and lively gal! I appreciate you.

I did make a duplicate of the layout I created for Melissa for some 'fun photos' of friends at Reflections 2009.

'Sew' . . . in a world where you can be anything . . . Be Yourself!

So Happy Together

2009-11-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

Layout made for Donna by Jolee Jane So fun capturing the feeling of " togetherness"

in Donna's pictures of her recent get away with her Hubby

Fun with felt , silver coil, and a vintage Christmas bead

A time for reflection and rest:::

Page by Cheryl For Nan

2009-11-26T00:08:00.000-08:00

I love these photos of Nan and her daughter Franny. I've had the blessing of meeting this sweet cute gal and she is full of life. I love that Nan wanted to scrap these special memories of a mom and daughter at camp. Such a cute photo of Fran so I cut it out to make it a little more realistic looking.

I wanted a more rustic look since 'Camp' was the theme so I added beads for rocks, drew a tree, added some flowers, a vintage handpainted bluebird bead, a dragonfly and more. I used a special technique to get the color for the sky and the tree. I'll share more later as I'm working on the possibility of getting our journey published. I left a little journaling spot for Nan to record some special memories . . . the tag is enclosed in a semi-hidden pocket and states 'Slide Out'. What cherished memories for a mom and daughter to share. Nan is a wonderful mother and is building a legacy of warm memories for Franny.

I duplicated a similar page for myself and scrapped some photos of a Farmer's Market my aunt and I attended in Temecula.

So since it's Thanksgiving . . . I'd like to say that I'm thankful for children, for my Lucky 13 friends here, for my crafting friends and for the blessing of calling Nan a friend! I'm wishing you all a blessed Thanksgiving with loved ones. May you build many warm memories together this holiday season.

Warmest Thanksgiving blessings.

~ Cheryl

Elena's August Photos by Angela

2009-11-21T17:16:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah. I know, it's NOVEMBER and I'm scrapping a nice, summery photos from August. That's what I love about scrapping- it's snowing at my house this weekend but I can have little creative escape through photos. That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

Elena's photos were fun to scrap because I didn't feel like I was held to any theme. These aren't birthday or vacation photos, they are just plain old fun and playing around photos and I like to think of Elena just goofing around after the challenging year she's had. As for tips and techniques, there's really nothing ground-breaking happening on this page but while I was creating it, I did realize that I have been so busy as a Lead Fiskateer for the past year and a half, I can't remember the last time I took time out to shop for delicious embellishments just for my very own fun. I'm dangerously low on supplies (*shout out to all scrapbook companies!*) so I improvised and hand lettered my title and cut out the butterfly from scratch with nothing but my handy-dandy Fiskars scissors. I even got brave and hand-drew a frame right onto the canvas. Sometimes it's nice to get back to basics.

Down by the sea

2009-11-11T07:22:00.001-08:00

Page created for Melanie by Jane Pollock So fun working with canvas, I am constantly inspired by all the artists in lucky 13 and feel so very blessed to be part of such an amazing group;)

sewing layering and distressing myself into a frenzy

cant stop fraying the ends of the canvas sheet::::::

Melanie with her bright blue eyes and her pretty red dress, love this color combo with aged paper and canvas

Happy, Happy Disney Days - A Page by Cheryl Waters for Jennifer Priest

2009-10-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled when I recieved Jennifer's photos of her and her family during their recent trip to Disneyland. Disneyland is known as the 'happiest' place on Earth' and by the expressions on these darling faces you can sure tell. What a wild ride - the Mad Hatter teacups. One of my daughter's favorite at Disneyland and surely a favorite of Jennifer's kids. I love the priceless expressions she caught on film.

I included two photos on the layout and the remaining photos are tucked away behind the canvas page in a pocket. But I can't share the whole page with you as of yet. I chose some fun colors to accent the colors in the photo and wanted a really 'carefree' feel to the layout. I used gesso, fabric paint, acrylic paint, Tattered Angels glimmer mist and even fabric crayons to give the canvas texture.

Having had the opportunity to spend some time with Jennifer I know she enjoys unique embellishments so I incorporated some cute little Japanese stickers (do you see the little girl with the camera?) I also made some of my own embellishments with foil glue and some unique trinkets I found at a craft store.

Thank you Jennifer for allowing me the opportunity to scrap these fun and 'happy' memories from your 'Disney Days'. When you wish upon a star . . . I hope all your dreams come true!

Candice's Rose Bowl fun - by Donna Salazar

2009-10-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

A few of the girls from the Lucky 13 decided to go on an outing to the Rose Bowl swap meet before Candice McClean moved away from us. I didn't get to go because I was swamped with work at the time :( sniff. The photos that Candice sent me made me wish I had blown off work and gone with them. They looked like they had a blast!

The pictures were fun-girly-vintagey-goodness and I had the BEST product for the job. My sweet friend, Mel, from Kaiser Craft had sent me a ton of goodies from their new lines and I used the embroidered badges, die cut images and paper from the Pennyroyale line.

I also used some of the die cut images from my Winter Wishes line as well as some of my YUMMY die cut cardboard (available at www.pineconepressdesign.com) I loved how this layout turned out and I can't wait to give it to Candice next year!

Thanks for checking it out! Hugs ~D~

http://donnasalazar.typepad.com

www.donnasalazar.com

For Jolee Jane by Donna Salazar

2009-09-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

Jolee Jane's daughter is engaged to a man who OWNS his own vineyard! How cool is that?!? She sent me photos of their visit to the winery and they have the BEST rich, deep, "vintagy" colors. I used some of the cool embroidered and epoxy embellies from the Kaisercraft "Duchess" line plus some die cuts and embellies from my new lines.

Thanks for checking it out!
Hugs ~D~

http://donnasalazar.typepad.com

www.donnasalazar.com

http://thegirlfriendsclub.typepad.com

Elena the Muse

2009-09-18T17:08:00.001-07:00

Layout created for Elena by Jolee Jane Anyone who knows Elena knows how much the lady loves her clothes;)

She has great style with a theatrical edge:::: super cute

So naturally I was inspired to layer fabrics and trims- all very vintage
I have been so into staining with coffee- it creates this rich worn look- and your project smells great
Cant wait to see what she journals about, oh the places this lady goes!

It's a page fit for a Princess

Scrappers as Papparazzi - Nan's Page for Jennifer

2009-09-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

Any child of an avid photographer/scrapper knows the feeling of being endlessly photographed....much like the celebrities that get covered in the tabloids. That's the twist I took with the cute pictures of Jennifer's son Matthew. I have two daughters, so never get to make boy pages....this was fun! I can't show much more of this layout without giving all the fun away....so you only get this sneak!

Have a great week!

Angela's Page

2009-09-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on my posts but I've finally had some time to get caught up. Here are a couple sneak peeks at the page I made for Angela Daniels. I used some really cool product from Kaiser Craft's new Pina Colada line and some ribbons from Making Memories.

Hugs ~D~

Donna Salazar

Mothers & Daughters

2009-08-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

Hello - happy almost end-of-summer! My girls don't start back to school until after Labor Day...it's been a quick summer (again!) It seems like only yesterday - but it was June - that I went to my DD Marli's 8th grade graduation - much like Gloria attended her daughter's graduation too! That's one of the reasons I so enjoyed creating this page - I had the same experience at around the same time!When I see pictures that are so beautiful like this, I typically don't feel like I need to overdo a layout. But I really wanted to make it pretty. The canvas is easy to work with. I have painted it, sewn it, and now Glimmer-Misted it, and I love all the effects. This is two of the newest colors of G-Mist - Peppermint Stick and Pashmina. I offset the pinks and purples with bright yellow and blue...just because. ;) And while I typically add flowers as the go-to, this time I took some organdy ribbon and scrunched it into little ruffles, which sort of reminded me of a party (or graduation) dress! It's just so girly....
Little girls grow up so fast...this was fun to do. By the way, I am working next on a page for Jennifer Priest and I have a lot of pictures of her son. Hmmmmm little boys next!?!?!?!

Keep This... By Elena for Cheryl

2009-08-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

I got some pictures from Cheryl in May and I have been working on them ever since. For a while it was planning in my head, then I got to putting it on the canvas and boy did it just keep evolving! I really love the finished project.
There is tons and tons of texture. I painted the back ground green, then covered it with tons of crystal lacquer while it was wet and added diamond dust. Then when it dried, I used a spatula and smoothed some orange paint mixed with copper over it. I love the way it made it look like sand paper kind of. I learned the spatula trick from Nina at an art gathering. I am soooo not a painter and it made so much sense. keeps the paint just on the peaks!

I had some raffle tickets on my table from the Scrapbook Royalty Black White and Craft All Over event. They all said KEEP THIS TICKET and were all different colors! Perfect! KEEP THIS is exactly what I wanted to say about Cheryl's Daughter Abby. I just love her.

I wanted even more 3-d element because I can never get enough... so I made this butterfly/dragonfly whatever it is with raffia and some vintage buttons. I can't wait to show the whole page. At the end of this journey!!

Aim for the target

2009-08-12T15:16:00.000-07:00

Layout Created By Jane for Stephanie Ackerman When Stephanie sent this photo to me of her hubby Kenzie, I knew I had to match the layout with all the great personality in his expression- as it popped out at me;)

after masking and painting the yellow started to look like a paint ball splat:::

so I added some solder splats that I am always accidentally making when soldering charms::

trying to pull it all together I than added some homemade soldered links on the far left,

had fun working with this photo, creating a "chain reaction"(tee hee)

The Lucky 3 at the Provocraft Gypsy Gala

2009-08-05T12:50:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to spend time with Elena and Candice at the Gypsy gala. I of course decided we needed a video of the event. i should have asked someone with a steadier hand to take the camera from me. I am so happy we were able to hangout. Oh did I mention that Provocraft gave us each a gypsy and a new cartridge too cool. This thing is the bomb I can not wait to get mine and start playing. Have a great day.
Michelle

Donna's Denim Pocket By Nanny Goat

2009-07-17T10:29:00.001-07:00

On my post last weekend, I told you about finding all the little treasures as a result of my packing and unpacking during my move. Here is another layout I created that – I think – benefitted from my finds!

This layout is for my friend Donna-Goat. That is, Donna Salazar. You see, my close friends know that my family calls me Nanny Goat, so I usually reciprocate by calling them “their name” - Goat right back. Donna is Donna Goat. LOL!

Donna sent me a whole bunch of fun photos of her from CHA Winter in Anaheim in January. Donna likes to do the whole self-portrait sorta thing, with the camera outstretched and the faces tight in the frame. It’s like her own personal photo booth. Great fun. So I had six photos to arrange on one – what felt like suddenly – very small piece of 8 ½” X 11” canvas. What to do?

I put them in a pocket. A denim pocket. And anyone who knows Donna knows that she love love LOVES denim. It’s Donna’s Denim Pocket of Friends. But that’s all I am going to tell you. These sneaks will have to do for now! Ha!

Hope you all are having a great summer! xoxoxox
Nan

Donna Goat and Jennifer Goat!

Donna Goat and Elena Goat!

Donna Goat and Nanny Goat :)

Jane's Laughter Layout by Nan

2009-07-12T20:44:00.000-07:00

Isn't this such a joyful photo of a mother and daughter? This is Jane and her daughter, Candace. I have not had the pleasure of meeting Jane in person yet, but when I saw this photo I just had to smile. I want to laugh with her!! What fun!

I love their expressions, I love the frothy blue of the clothes and the texture of the sand. Oh, I so wanted to make a glorious layout from this photo! But alas, I was tied up in moving this past month and I couldn't get my creative mojo going. But now just 12 days in the new house, I am unpacked and realize the advantage of unpacking and discovering all the long lost delights of scrap supplies long forgotten. I completed two Lucky 13 layouts this weekend, and both benefitted from the "oh, look what I have" revelations of my scrap unpacking! LOL!

First I found this jelly tag that reads "a laugh is a smile that bursts".....perfect for this photo! Then I found some buttons, brads and crystal beads that I loved the look of. A little stitching and a great orange color to offset the blue, and I was so loving this layout!

I hope Jane and Candace love it too.....

And, by the way, I so want to know what you two are laughing about in this photo.

Nan :)

Blue, White, & Blue

2009-07-02T00:42:00.000-07:00

I created a Lucky 13 page today for Elena with photos of the Mother's Day celebrations in her family. For the page, I chose a photo of her and her mother as the focal point. Elena's mom is wearing a pretty blue shirt which I used as a starting point for my *mostly* monochromatic design. To start, I painted the entire canvas page blue. I used a nice pretty star spangled banner-like blue since 4th of July is in just a couple days, time to get in the spirit and all. Then I started the decorating!

A few weeks ago I got a great deal on some felt doilies by Martha Stewart. I cut one of the doilies in half and stitched it to the canvas page. Then I added some Prima felt Voila, lots of flowers, and some grungeboard elements that I Glimmer Misted. After everything was assembled, I Glimmer Misted the page with Irridescent Gold Glimmer Mist.

One of the big challenges in working with paper and canvas is finding a good adhesive. I've been trying different things with varied success but today I tried Glossy Accents. It worked pretty well - I was surprised! If you have any ideas about good adhesives for this kind of project, please share!

Off-Road with Melanie - A Page by Jennifer

2009-06-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

One of the cool things I've learned about Melanie through this Circle Journal process is that she and her hubby have a close, fun relationship. They have some really awesome adventures together! Melanie sent me some photos of an off-road trip she and her hubby took across the Mojave Desert in So Cal - I chose one of she and her hubby to use as the focal point on the page.

Their closeness in the photos inspired me to choose warm, comfy colors like the papers from the "Early Bird" line from Cosmo Cricket. Melanie is also fond of "vintage" so I added some baker's twine and other well-loved looking items. And of course stitching always adds that home-made touch!

Melanie also sent me some awesome photos of a cave and other things they saw during their trip. I created a pocket from a 7Gypsies Photo Carousel folder and inserted extra photos and some journaling spots for her to fill in if she chooses.

I love the 7Gypsies Photo Carousel and ATC carousel refills--the shape of the cards and envelopes is fun and doesn'nt have to be used on the Carousel. I don't even own a Carousel ;) but I still have tons of the refills on hand to use.

Thanks for checking out my sneak peeks of Melanie's page!

Inspired by her green(beautiful) eyes

2009-06-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Layout created for Michelle by Jolee Jane

I was so inspired by how striking Michelle's eyes are in contrast to her black blouse, I immediately choose green as one of my colors in creating.

Next I swung over to Rebbecca Sowers flicker - as I am always instantly encouraged by her amazing pieces! It was fun to mix metal, jute cloth, vintage wool and embroider it all together.

This vintage piece lent well, as it had the same romantic charm as Michelle's necklace.

I splattered ink all over the canvas cloth and then realized it didn't really absorb, so I started to heat the inked(alcohol ink) areas and ended up with this burned look- oops, kind of like the look though.

Lastly made a journal space, that tucks behind the picture, Michelle had just turned 35 when this picture was taken- 35 and Fabulous!

Nan's Layout for Cheryl

2009-06-20T23:12:00.000-07:00

I am still pinching myself that I get to be part of this group of talented artists.....I'm feeling lucky indeed. Anyway, this is my first time as part of a circle journal and also my first time scrapping on canvas fabric. Admittedly, I stared at the material for a good week before I did anything. You know how it is when you get something new to scrap? I thought about it during the day at work, when I fell asleep at night.....pretty silly, huh? What to do...what to do?

But I am glad to say I got over my initial trepidation and have completed my first layout, for my friend Cheryl! Here's a sneak of her March layout, using photos from the Scrapbook Royalty Slumber Crop. I also attended the event, so it was extra special to be able to scrap the memory for Cheryl! You can see Abigail, Cheryl's sweet daughter, as well as Lucky 13 gals Jennifer and Elena in the photos. Aren't they all lovely?

Enjoy the sneak....and I will be getting caught up with more projects real soon!

Layout For Our Newest Lady!

2009-06-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hi there! It's Melanie here... I've been out of the scene lately, but have vowed to catch up by the end of the month!!
The newest member of our group, Nan, recently sent me some pictures, and I had the pleasure of scrapping them and her beautiful smile.

Here is my sneak peek!
I love to find things in my stash to use in a way they weren't intended... this brown flower I sewed using some fabric from a pillow; the latest addition to our family, puppy Foxy, thought the pillow would be a fun chew toy. The stuffing is a goner, but the fabric however, I just couldn't toss!!

The white fabric I used in the background was the wrapping in a gift I recently received.
Hope you like it Nan, can't wait to reveal the final picture!!

treasure hunting at the rose bowl!

2009-06-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

some friends and i met at the rose bowl in pasadena yesterday for their very cool flea market. one of my very favorite things to do is treasure hunting at flea markets, thrift stores, estate sales, tag sales. nothing better than recycling found treasures. so i went with a mission to find and buy some vintage paper products. i really wanted some sheet music and was more than happy when i purchased a thick book of it for only $2. yes - 2 bucks! also found some other very cool things like a wooden tool box already painted in turquoise for $10. nothing like a great bargain to melt my heart. *wink*

go here to learn more about the flea markets at the rose bowl.

a few of the cutest pics from the day.

A Page for Jennifer by Angela

2009-06-12T15:25:00.000-07:00

Once again, I have to check in as the clean and simple scrapper right after one of the other Luckies (in this case, Cheryl again) has posted something piled high with deliciously cute embellishments. To make up for my own lack of embellishment skills, I decided to go with technique for Jennifer's page.
So here goes:
Jennifer sent me 5 pictures to choose from that represented March '09 to her. Great. The more options the better, right? Wrong. I wanted to scrap them ALL and I wanted them to all be full size. Each photo seemed too important to prioritize one over the other or make one smaller or bigger. A tough dilemma when we're working with an 8 x 8 space.

Since I'm an "on-the-table" scrapper, I looked around to what was already available and out on my scrapbook table and lo and behold, I had a box of brads someone had sent me recently- perfect for adding ALL the photos Jennifer had sent me. I simply sorted the photos by orientation (one horizontal, one vertical, one horizontal and so on) and used a brad to affix all the horizontal photos to the canvas at the bottom right corner of each photo and then I used another brad to affix the vertical photos at their bottom left and staggered the photos so that the horizontal photos would fan up and to the left for viewing and the the verticals would fan up and to the right for viewing. I also added Prima paper (cut to match the size of the photos) between some of the photos so that Jennifer can add journaling in between the set of photos when she receives her book.

Throwing in a few other goodies from my desk including the use of my ever-present Fiskars corner rounder and some cute Heidi Grace "Sweetest Bug" goodies and even the thumbnail photos from Jennifer photos (I'm telling you, I just can't have printed photos and not use every single one!) and I was done. A super clean, simple and fast way to add lots of photos to one page to save space!

A Page for Candice by Cheryl

2009-06-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

I loved scrapping these lovely photos that Candice took of her beautiful children. The photos were so colorful and so crisp. Perfect for Spring.

So I wanted to share a few sneak peeks. Please read Elena's post regarding 'the sneak peeks'. We aren't revealing complete pages until a later time.

I've had a crush on Shrinky Dinks since I was a kid. I could spend enough time with Shrinky Dinks and they were so my friend. Here I made some Angel/Fairy Shrinky Dink embellishments. To make your own Shrinky Dinks . . . stamp you favorite stamp onto Shrinky Dink paper at your local craft store. Make sure you stamp with Staz On (a permanent ink), color in with pencils or markers as desired and Shrink in oven. They make great embellishments or charms.

As well, I made little felt balls out of roving felt. I then cut them and placed them as centers of flowers. Try rubons on plastic and other elements of the layout.

For the letters I simply painted them, covered them with Diamond Glaze and while still wet I sprinkled chunky glitter. I love Prima's pebbles and used one here as an element.

Thanks for stopping by and thank you Candice for allowing me to scrap your darlings. They are precious! Stay tuned for more inspiration!

Warmest wishes! ~ Cheryl Waters

We are here! sorry for the delay!

2009-06-07T19:50:00.000-07:00

Hello Lucky 13 watchers!

This is Elena and I wanted to let you know WE ARE HERE! We had a little glich because we had a "player" change and as you can see from the last post, Nan Paturzo is joining us! We are going to start getting very active on this blog now that we got a few things settled. In fact, we have decided we are going to try to get the lucky 13 pages published! So from now on, we will be posting snippets of our pages instead of the whole page, and we will post a "idea/technique/tip" with the snippet.

So I'll go first. (There is an extra sneek peek photo on my personal blog)

This is a page I did for Gloria. She has 3 lovely kids that I adore. Like most kids, they are colorful and make me smile. So I created a rainbow for them to play on. The rainbow is painted and then I added all sorts of different colored embellishements to the different colored arches to give texure, interest and fun! The title is "Happiness is over the rainbow" I can't wait for you all to see the whole page!

Keep an eye out for more pages! We will be posting regularly from now on!

Hi, I'm Nan

2009-05-28T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hi! I’m Nan Paturzo .... the STBNL. That’s .... Scrapper to Be Named Later.

If this were baseball, it would mean that a team was postponing a trade or that they weren’t certain what position they wanted a player for, or .... that a lucky scrapper had an opportunity to join a very talented and fun group of artists. That would be me. I already know many of the Lucky 13 and look forward to sharing my creations with them and with you all too.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am a 14+ year scrapper, living in Southern California. While I work full time in advertising, I also get to work on-the-side for Zutter Innovative Products, makers of the Bind-it-All, as their marketing and design team director. With teaching classes and making time to crop, not to mention spending time with my two daughters and husband (who has me playing poker regularly), I am a happy, busy girl.

I blog here and on the Bind-it-All blog, where you can see somewhat frequent tutorials on using the tools.

Being part of the Lucky 13 is quite a creative honor for me; I hope to learn and be inspired by all of them. Thank you, Lucky 13, for naming me the STBNL. I’m just glad to be here.

Angela's ATC cards

2009-04-26T15:37:00.001-07:00

Ugh. At least that's what I was thinking as the deadline to send my ATCs to the Lucky 13 meeting (see post below) drew near. I had to call Cheryl to have her remind me what the requirements were. As it happens, I was sitting on the floor of my craft room when I called her and I had Earth Day on my mind (my family started a new tradition of eating in the park and using no electricity for the evening) so as I chatted with Cheryl, I started working on my ATC cards using some of the "I can't bear to throw it away even though I can't think of what to do with it" materials I had lying within reach. The results are these crazy bubble wrap ATC cards that I decorated with the gorgeous orange mesh our oranges and grapefruits come in. I think they're fun, my husband declared them ugly. It seems so wasteful to package fruit this way but I am fascinated by the color and texture of the mesh. No one loves man-made materials like I do. In high school, I promised my friends that if I ever had twin girls, I would absolutely name them Polly and Esther in honor of the fabulous man made fabric... Then I found out that the mother of Dear Abby and her equally famous, advice-giving twin, Ann Landers, had beaten me to the idea. But I digress. Happy Earth Day!

april 25th

2009-04-26T10:23:00.001-07:00

a few of us were able to meet up for a day - yesterday. here's a group shot of cheryl, jennifer, elena, melanie and candice.

per tradition... here's smooshy face with mel, cheryl and elena.

we had a ton of fun. ate some yummy food. blazing buffalo chicken dip, velvet cupcakes, veggies, homemade mac and cheese - yum. we cropped. we gabbed. we laughed. we swapped. atc swap that is. here are some pics of those atcs.

A page for Cheryl....

2009-04-24T00:15:00.000-07:00

I want to say thank you to all the ladies in this awesome group who were patient with me. I was really kinda bewildered by how to best do this. I just wanted to do a good job. I love the pictures Cheryl sent me off CHA. They made me smile and had all these wonderful smiles in them . I am happy with what came out. I only used fabric and no paper. I included the words CHA in cool plastic letters
I made a little packet in the back so that she could hold any memorabilia from CHA 2009. I had fun and now I am off to play catch up....Gloria King

True Beauties by Jolee Jane

2009-04-22T16:27:00.000-07:00

Layout by Jolee Jane for Melissa Kennedy

The moment I saw this picture of Melissa's beautiful daughter' with their contagious smiles

I knew I had to create a little whimsy

After painting the canvas I drew on the scalloped top border with a black oil pastel crayon and then re- emphasized the scallops with more white paint

I decided to hand sew some felt triangles and while making them realized they would make roofs(very random thought;) , the house bodies are card stock covered in Mica.

Lastly I made a journal tag that tucks in just behind the photo.

always so very fun to create with such beauty for inspiration!

For Jane by Angela Daniels

2009-04-20T13:33:00.000-07:00

When Jane sent me this fabulous photo of the Hotel Monaco in Portland, Oregon and the gorgeous photos of her with her daughter, they all looked so... I don't know... so fashion forward. The circumstance of their trip tells a very different story but I just couldn't stop thinking about a fashion inspired page (Project Runway addict that I am) and the story boards that designers use. To tell the fashion story on the front side of the canvas, I dipped into my jar of black and white ribbons and used some of my favorites to create a fabric-like border for the photos and another black ribbon with an interesting border to highlight the middle photo of Jane and her daughter at the bottom of the layout. In keeping with that design board idea (and again trying so hard to get that fabulous textural look so many of my fellow "Luckies" excel at), I used pins and tulle for an accent.

Because I was thinking about fabric swatches (these little canvas books really do make me think more about sewing on layouts than I usually do) and because I was still concerned that Jane's story about her trip be told, I decided to use some of my favorite fabric swatches to make a very rustic pocket on the back of the layout. Jane can use this pocket to add memorabilia and journaling notes later and the pocket will still fit in with the designer board idea I began with on the front of the layout. One thing I love about scrapping is that a completely inept seamstress like me can pretend to be a bit of a fashion designer with a few scraps and fabric- a pocket of mine wouldn't hold up well to wear but for a little canvas book? I think it will do just fine.

Cover Page by Cheryl Waters

2009-04-19T23:37:00.000-07:00

I am just so thrilled to be here . . . in this circle journal group . . . amongst new and old friends. In the last few months I've been touched by continuing to cultivate established friendships and thrilled to begin new relationships with these wonderful and talented women. I'm just so excited about what each of our circle journals will look like when they are completed in January of 2010. Each one will be so unique and represent 12 (there are 13 of us) unique and special artists and ladies.
I am so excited about the pages these artists are creating that I went ahead and created a cover page the other night for my journal. Behind this page I've created will house a representation of friendship, art, investment (into one another's lives), beauty and so much more.
This journey is such a gift! A gift of friendship, art, life, and sharing. I'm thankful you all are here and sharing it with us!
So I just thought I'd share my cover page.

I'm not one that uses red that often but it was fun to do a red and black combination in honor of the theme we've picked . . . the Lucky Thirteen. The #2 card represents my Fiskateer number #002. I see this cover page as a home awaiting some beautifully created pieces of art. I can't wait.

Pages by Melissa Kennedy

2009-04-19T04:23:00.000-07:00

Gi’day lovely ladies. i think it would be fair for you to think that the chick from downunder had gone MIA. For those of you who work fulltime you will understand never ending work commitments – make that work in the scrapping industry, and sometimes the last thing you feel like doing when you get home is just that. i then had an appointment with a tent for a week which i must say was soooooo much fun – followed by a massive overdose on chocolate. Anyway the long awaited start to this project finally happened and i must say i have had so most fun over this weekend. Thank you thank you thank you for asking me to be a part of this. Ok my pages are a little simpler than some of the awesome work i see showing up here but this canvas thing is all sooooo new to me – so i am learning as i go and hope you like.

What to do – what to do….Well with the canvases, i tackled this weekend, i first cut them to size ( 8 x 9”), frayed the edges and gave the backs of them a quick coat of fabric stiffener – did we have to do that?????? not sure but i did anyway – it all kinda made me look as it i new what i was doing. LOL. Didn’t have the colored paint i wanted on hand so i thought i would try out some techniques with ink and masks. This was fun. Flourishes, spots and dots being rubbed onto the canvas – i had ink all over me and trust me when i say more than one photo had to be reprinted due to dirty fingers…. hmmmmm.
Add to that some stitching and rubons........ Can you believe that???? the rubons worked like a treat on the canvas. i weren’t sure at first whether to try them or not but glad i did and loved how they turned out.

February Layout – Michelle Van Etten’s photos
Michelle sent me these of her and a friend partying – she said the two of them are known as fire and ice so with fire in my mind i went for the oranges and reds. Had a little play in photoshop to color up the hat to match and had lots of fun creating this layout.

March Layout – Stephanie Ackerman’s photos
Stephanie sent photos of a trip on Valentines day to Grandpa and grandma’s house
Being valentines day it gave me an excuse to use up some of the “hearts” i have stashed away. You've got some gorgeous “boys” there Stephanie

April Layout - Melanie Christie’s photos

Melanie sent me in some photos of some of her birthday celebrations.
Had a bit of fun with this layout too with the little party hat and cake.
Sounds like the cooking class was a fantastic surprise.

Lucky Green for Melissa

2009-04-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Designed by Jennifer Priest
Photographs by Melissa Kennedy

I'm catching up on my L ucky 13 pages--woohoo! I created this page for Melissa. She sent me photos from the dinner we had at CHA Winter 2009--we all met up at the Paradise Pier hotel by Disneyland to have dinner & chat in person. Our next date is January 2010! WOW it seems far away but then again, I cannot believe it is April already--January will be here before we know it!

Melissa's favorite color is green (and I love it too) so it was fun to create this page on the "lucky" theme with all sorts of green and lucky embellies. This page also helped me a tad bit with my green flower dilemma--trying to figure out what to do with all the green flowers that come in multi-packs of paper flowers. Use them as flowers! Duh?! he...he...he....

I'm not an art expert but I have found that I love mixing colors that are next to each other in the rainbow (or color wheel if you prefer). Yellow pages look awesome with a little bit of orange. Orange makes a red page POP! A little purple makes a moodier blue page, and a little bit of blue, makes a green page prettier. So on this page I worked in a little bit of blue.

Since we are using canvas for this project I figured I'd do a little sewing. Just like doodling, if you draw/stitch more than one line, any boo-boos or waves will be disguised--it will look like you planned it that way. I stitched around the edge of the canvas using turquoise thread, about 6 times all the way around. For more details about how I made this page, please check out my blog.

Thanks for looking and happy creating!

A Page by Cheryl Waters

2009-04-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

Designed by Cheryl Waters
Photographs by Jolee Jane Pollock

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Jolee Jane's photos . . . she attended the Art Nest and shared with me she thoroughly enjoyed the creative journey. She shared that she learned new techniques and expanded her artistic horizons. I loved her painting she created . . . oh so beautiful. I made a little mini book on the canvas page to include her photos and a couple pages to record her creative journey. I used a smaller scale photo for the book but got a 4x6 printed and cut it up and used bits and pieces of it to embellish the page. I also used gesso, paint, and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (on the page itself and to antique the white girls gloves). I found this bird cage pendant that I thought was perfect to go with the theme. Jolee Jane, thanks for sharing what you learned with us 'Lucky 13' and for allowing me to scrap your fun photos. I'll leave you with a stamp I found that I thought was so appropriate . . . "Of course you can fly, for dreams have wings." ~ Anon.

A Page By Angela Daniels

2009-04-16T20:14:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. This layout has been a long time coming. Let me just assure you, my being tardy in this particular instance isn't due strictly to a predilection for procrastination. I mean, it's not as if I was sucked into a 2 month-long "Real Housewives" special or something (I wish). The stark fact is, I am intimidated to be part of the Lucky 13. Just a bit. I mean just look at the 2 lovely layouts already posted for February. They're so, I don't know, 3D and with so many pretty goodies to look at. As much as I love shopping for scrapbook embellishment (and who doesn't?), I just can't make them work for me. I'm a simple scrapper through and through although I'm hoping to learn from these "Luckies" each month and maybe, just maybe, get brave and try new techniques. I also reserve the right to continue to tweak any layouts I post (we don't exchange them with each other until next year, after all). Who knows? Maybe by the time I hand this to Candice in person, it will be so deliciously piled high with colorful goodness, she won't even be able to squeeze her album shut. It could happen...

P.S. You see I couldn't resist a detail shot anyway, though. Still, I DID use dimensional glue dots to pop up an enlargement of Candice and her friend Nicole. I just felt like they really needed to look like they were jumping off the page- I love that these grown women are jumping on the trampoline- definitely people after my own heart. And then I panicked when I saw Cheryl's lovely layout of my photos with all the dimension so I added on this little K&Co brad. It's a start.

My Lucky ATCs

2009-04-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

We have a crop coming up and the Lucky 13 designers are doing an ATC swap. Here are mine. I used a slide mount and wrapped it with chenille stems, then used a mini cupcake wrapper to make a little flower, added the black silk flower and a big flatback pearl. I covered chipboard swirls and crowns with black paint and glitter flakes. All stacked on a playing card with the word "lucky" I do feel lucky to be a part of this group! I made an extra so leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner on Monday and send you one!

Miami Nitelife...

2009-04-08T17:02:00.001-07:00

(Page by Jennifer Priest for Michelle Van Etten)

I had a blast working with Michelle's photos of her Miami visit with friends. She gave me such sassy pictures that match her sassy personality and with the Miami high roller theme, I had to get some bling onto the page.

I treated the entire canvas with Glimmer Mist and then a little paint (step by step is on my blog). I recently diecut a palm leaf from some patterned paper so Iused the negative space as a stencil and inked several palm leaves onto one side of the page. I used Krylon 18kt Gold Leaf pen to write "Miami" and to draw some highlights on the palm leaves. The gold pulls from the colors in Michelle's pics.

Some of the more intricate Prima flowers can be ripped apart in the middle, creating one large flower and one smaller flower. I did that to a Prima Flower and adhered it the page. Then I cut about 2 yards of crepe paper in half lengthwise with pinking sheers. I gathered the crepe paper into a rosette with a running stitch down one side - I'll share this technique another day:). I layered the rosette on top of the larger Prima flower.

Everyone has been covering buttons with fabric, crepe paper, and all kinds of fun things so I thought I would try it. I covered a button with ribbon and then stitched it into the center of that large flower.

I Glimmer Misted some Tim Holtz Grungeboard Letters for the "NiteLife" title. GM works great on "naked" chipboard!

A couple more pieces of yellow rhinestones from my stash and finished!

About those covered buttons...

You can get them at any crafts store and sometimes even at garage sales and thrift stors. They come in a little kit for under $3 and in all different sizes. They don't look like much in the package but you can cover them with anything to make them spectacular -- if you can bend it, you can cover the button with it. Think fabric, felt, paper, crepe paper, tulle, canvas...

To get started you'll need the button kit, scissors, and some material to cover the button with. Here I am using yellow crepe paper and some pink tulle.

Set up the button tool (pretty simple, just put it on the table).

The layer you want on top you'll need to lay down first. I wanted the tulle on top so I put that down first:

Then put down the next layer (if any). If you're using just fabric, then you can skip this step. Since crepe paper is thin, I used four layers of it.

After you have you fabric laid out, press the button into the tool.

This is what it should look like after you have pressed the button into the tool:

You can trim the excess fabric away with some scissors but leave enough to be tucked into the back of the button, about 1/4" all the way around.

Stuff all the excess fabric that is hanging over the edges into the back of the button - make sure you catch all the edges otherwise they will poke out on the front:

Press the button back into the button tool , using the blue part of the tool to press it in all the way.

To get the button out, press on the bottom of the tool until the button pops out (ignore my inky, glimmer misted fingers - hehe).

Here's what the finished product looks like:

Until next time, Happy Creating!

April page for Elena created by Michell VanEtten

2009-04-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

I am such a huge fan of what Elena and Scrapbook Royalty do for their charity. This royal slumber brought 150 scrapbookers together and raised 26,000. I think se has the title the ueen of the crop so every queen deserves a crown. I always like to puch the envelope when i can so i decided to change the shape. I traced the crown with a permanant marker than cut it out. I started with white paint wash, after that dried I covered the page in mod podge. I than covered the whole page in glitter. I also had an idea to make a too too at the bottom. I do not sew but I gave it a whirl. I used the wand to keep my words balanced and add a bit of whismsy along with the feathers. thank you for viewing our blog we our glad you are here.

Have a scrappy day

Michelle Van Etten

"Look Ma"- I can sew!

2009-04-05T16:34:00.001-07:00

(layout designed by Jolee Jane for Jennifer Priest)

This was so much fun to put together, I really loved the bright happy colors both Katie and Mathew were wearing, Jennifer has such great looking kids;)

I used a program called color select

It's super easy to use and allowed me to open the pictures in black and white and select the area to be "colorized"

I then tried my "first" hand at sewing on a machine- I literally hadn't sewn in 32 years!

I tittled the journal tag "on a mission" and doodled my way around with my favorite new

3D souffle pens- flowers are made from scraps of corduroy and felt.

Donna's big 4-0!

2009-03-29T17:23:00.000-07:00

March Pages by Elena Lai Etcheverry for Donna Salazar

Happy Birthday Lovely Donna! Here are my pages. I hope I am not the only one screwing up the size a bit. Mine are all coming out 9" layouts. So sorry you guys! I guess you will just have a page sticking out of your book :) Thank goodness I assembled a group of girls who can go with the flow!

For Donna's page, I did peek-a-book scalloped pockets. The pictures of her with her kids were similar and they looked so cute just peeking over the edge.

You can pull the scallop flap down to see the whole picture though.

I wanted to use this Martha Stewart bird punch so stamped a branch and it looked lame and so I tried to make a tree and while I was doing that, I dropped my stamp on to the canvas and of course was using stazon so big boo boo! No mistakes in scrapbooking though, I cut another piece of canvas and stitched 40 years to cover it up then went out back and picked up a twig and voila! my birdie had a tree after all!

To Celine from Elena :)

2009-03-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

February Pages by Elena Lai Etcheverry for Celine Navarro:

After an amazing $26,000 raised at the Royal Slumber Crop on march 14th, I can say that I am almost all caught up! I did get my pages done though! I decided to do pockets. I dont know if I will do this on all of them. I hand stitched with embroidery floss and then poked holes in the top layer of the pocket to weave the chenille stem. I made an orange crepe rosette with a technique Jennifer P showed me. When I was all done I sprayed it with scarlet glimmer mist and that was not such a good idea. It is really really red! and would not come off the photos with water! So I ended up re-printing the photos and then some of them I cut out and popped up and some of them I just re-mounted.

I wanted to use all the photos Celine sent me so even if she wants to take them out of the pocket and use them for something else, they are all embellished and ready to go!

FEBRUARY LO

2009-03-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

photographs of jennifer and her family by jennifer priest
layout by candice mclean

working with the canvas is totally inspiring me to try new techniques. here i used a lot of modge podge, scraps of some old basic grey paper, acrylic paint, texture stamps, charcoal pencil, basic grey rub-on, chipboard (backed some of the papers to give more dimension), a daisy d's file holder and ink. lots of layering here. love how it turned out. hope you do too jennifer.

My February Assignment

2009-03-21T23:34:00.000-07:00

This is the layout that I made with Gloria's photos of the very 1st Lucky 13 dinner... minus a few of us. :) These are Gloria's January photos (my February Assignment... running a little late) I used Prima Paintables with watercolor pencils, my signature dictionary paper flowers, and some cardboard and denim (of course). I'm loving the canvas books!

Thanks for stopping by! ~D~

Another Page

2009-03-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

designed by ~ Donna Salazar - Cheryl Waters photos

Cheryl sent me a bunch of beach pictures from February... it just makes me realize how blessed we are to live in So Cal when other states are buried in snow. Though this is MY March page this is really my February assignment to be done in March.

I used Prima flowers, packaging, denim and crystal swirls for this page. Now I'm ready for my March assignment that I'll do in April... :)

Thanks for taking this journey with us!

~D~

It starts with a smile!

2009-03-17T18:05:00.000-07:00

(designed by joleejane for Candice Mclean)

I was beyond inspired when I received Candice's photo's- what a beautiful lady with a captivating smile;) I knew also that I had to use some of the painting techniques I learned from Kelly Rae when attending artnest
It was so fun to design this layout, as she had supplied me with a great tittle "37 things to do before I turn 38" (most of which I want to add to my list of" to do's" )
my only dilemma was how would I get so much journaling on a 8x8 and still have room for all the other "stuff"
making a layout on canvas also brought about a little voice that kept reminding me- use fabric!
or something from your sewing kit, and that's when I realized I could list all her to do's on a spool!

Here's a picture of the spool unraveled , when we all meet to bind this fabulous book I am hoping we can attatch this to the binding or pin to the canvas.
I feel so very blessed to be aprt of this amazing, creative group, cant wait to see what shows up next.

march pages

2009-03-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

r u ready? here we go...

MARCH PAGES

designed by candice mclean
melissa kennedy and her best friend al

february pages

2009-03-08T16:08:00.000-07:00

We're alive!!! just in case you were wondering... we've been waiting for the albums to arrive. we've already been blessed with a generous donation from a sponsor. angela daniels with fiskars spoke with c&t publishing, and they donated these amazing canvas albums. thank you c&t publishing! thank you angela! to keep our project uniform in size, we're trimming our album pages to 9x8 (leaving a 1" seam to allow for binding later down the road).

okay, so each designer will be adding her creation here so keep checking back as they will be posting over the next few days. we look forward to hearing from you all so leave us a comment.

FEBRUARY PAGES

designed by cheryl waters
angela daniels with family & friends

I thoroughly enjoyed scrapping Angela's fun New Year's photos. I wish I could include them all. I reduced the photos in size so I could get several on the canvas page. On three of the photos, I printed doubles and cut out the images of one photo and placed it on top of the other to give it a 3-D look. I love my Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists . . . instant color on the canvas. I love that Angela started off her "A Year in the Life of 'Me'" canvas book with New Year's photos. What fun!

designed by Melanie Christie
Elena Etcheverry's photos

Holy cow! I finally got my February layout done!! I had fun making a project with Elena's picture - and I'm in it! Tee hee!

Let me preface all of this by saying that this project is a little intimidating - not only because I have never worked in a canvas book like this before, but also because I am in a group with all these fabulous famous scrapping women, and then there is little ol' me. ;) I am honored to be a part of this project though, and I can't WAIT to see all the end results!!

Anyhow, Cheryl, Elena and I have a silly custom that has now become tradition every time we see each other, we take a "squishy face" picture! This is our most recent one from CHA in Anaheim... I painted the canvas with Kaiser paints, and then added some embellies! I think my favorite part of the page is the Hambly transparency under the flower button that I shrunk with my heat gun. And the new Prima flowers... I'm loving those too!

prepping the canvas pages

2009-03-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

the canvas pages are by c&t publishing and measure 8.5x11. c&t publishing generously donated the canvas books to our little lucky group of 13. thank you c&t.

we decided to trim our pages to a 9x8 format leaving an inch for binding at the end of the year. the design area measures 8x8. something to keep in mind when designing your pages - anything in the 1" border could possibly be covered once bound.

february layouts soon to post.

Some of the Lucky 13 being just plain silly....

2009-02-18T00:39:00.000-08:00

The Lucky 13 meet in Anaheim

2009-02-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to be doing this with 13 amazing designers. Here are a couple of photos of our little get togehter at Anaheim CHA 2009! Can't wait to meet up in 2010 to trade pages!

welcome to the lucky 13

2009-02-04T12:58:00.001-08:00

welcome to the lucky 13 blog! we are excited that you are here, and we invite you to follow us throughout the year.

elena etcheverry is the founder and creator of this fabulous idea. she asked 12 very different and talented artists for a year long journey to join her for a circle journal. but not an ordinary circle journal... one with a zainy little twist. we will scrap one of the other 12 artists every month for a year - never scrapping ourself. at the end of the year, we will meet at CHA 2010 in anaheim and exchange our layouts. each artist will leave with 12 very different layouts of herself designed by her fellow artisans.

in addition, we'll feature innovative products, techniques and upcoming events.

how cool? very cool! and we hope you think so too. so check back each month to see what we all have been up to.