candice mclean

punky sprouts and tada sneak peek

excited.about.a.new.project.

new project. i ordered project life designed by becky higgins and my box arrived. becky offers two editions. amber edition and turquoise edition. i ordered the turquoise edition. 

i'm in love with this project and anxious to get started. the kit contains everything you need for one year of documenting your life. within the kit (go see the link above... it's better detailed) you receive a 12x12 album, 12x12 divided clear page protectors, 12x12 paper, boxes of wonderful journaling cards (I LOVE THESE!), stickers, date stamp, clear acrylic twelve month dividers. you can use project life to document each day (365) or each week (52).

my goal. i plan to record important events from each week. i know me. i'm too busy to document every day. with four kiddos to document, i'd start to feel overwhelmed. i want this to be fun and not overwhelming. i'm keeping it simple and more importantly, i want to finish the album. so excited. one entire year of our sweet life documented in okinawa.

ideally i'd start in january, but i recently discovered this project (on ali's blog). luckily i take lots of photos so i'm good there. i need to sit down one day and record the facts to accompany the photos... think back and remember. i'll use facebook and my blog to help me document those memories. thankfully i journal here and there so it should not be too hard. for now... i'm starting with today and keeping current. that's my goal!

for wonderful inspiration... see ali's project life. she amazes me. i love her organization. her art. and she posts regularly each week. she shows images. gives details. and takes questions.

getting started. i laid out my contents. organized them so it made sense to me. my brain works that way. i opted to use an american crafts 12x12 album. i want to embellish the cover with my own funky designs. using the twelve month acrylic dividers, i decided on how many page protectors to place in each monthly section. i also ordered AC 10x12 divided clear page protectors and placed one in each monthly section. the album itself came with ten 12x12 clear page protectors. i had some extra of these to add to the album so again i added one to each monthly section. i may add more. we'll see. i don't want it to be too overstuffed. so my pages are organized and now i'm starting to fill in my first week.

have a great weekend!

all in stitches

a few more pages from the lucky 13 project. so as you can see... i'm all caught up in stitching on the canvas pages. i've enjoyed piecing together various paper products, fabrics, trims and pretty much whatever i find sitting on my studio desk. it's like a puzzle. i start with a blank canvas page then start layering the pieces together until (a) i'm happy and (b) the page is covered. here are two sneaks from two different pages.

 

1. above is for melanie.

 

2. and this one is for nan.

now off to prep for a photo shoot. i'm so excited to photograph jacob again. it's been two years. will post some favs later.

~ciao!
  

lucKy13 MiXEd MEdiA *for michelle*

mixed media canvas page for the lovely michelle van etten. loved working on this page for michelle. she has the brightest and most beautiful smile. she and her hubby are so cute together too!!!

   

lucKy13 MiXEd MEdiA *for cheryl*

i'm wrapping up the sneak peeks for the lucky 13 over the next few days. this project has been so much fun! i loved working with the different photos from each of the girls. thanks again elena for inviting me to join your little group of amazing artists! everyone is so inspiring. ((hugs)) to all you lucky girls. xoxoxo

if you are just checking in here for the first time or have no idea what the lucky 13 is... elena etcheverry of scrapbook royalty invited 12 artists to join her in a one year project. each month i received a photo(s) from a new gal and i would then create a page using that photo(s). i also sent a photo to a new gal each month. we started in jan 2009 and finished the project in jan 2010. i just received my pages from all the girls and now i'm compiling each of the pages into a bound book. so i'm just sharing sneak peeks of the pages that i created. and then i'll share sneak peeks of the pages created for me and of the cover i created to bind the pages into. exciting! and... cheryl waters (fiskateer and artist extraordinaire) contacted a publishing group (ssh!!!! still a secret) and some of the pages from each gal will be published. thanks cheryl for all of your hard work. you seriously rawk sista! xo

sneak peeks of cheryl's page that i created for her.

 

 

 

the canvas pages are by C&T publishing. to create cheryl's page, i used acrylic paint, patterned paper, metal findings, tattered angels chipboard frame, tattered angels mists, textured stamps, ink, floss and my sewing machine.

the bible verse above is my favorite. i found it posted recently on a friend's fb page - elizabeth vaughn.

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for evil. To give you a future and a hope. ~Jeremiah 29:11

lucKy13 MiXEd MEdiA

here are sneak peeks of a page a created for donna salazar. this experiment and process was to much fun. for the very first time, i used beeswax. very cool medium. i had no idea what i was doing and that was the most fun. i heated the beeswax in a small crockpot (like a mini one used for dips). as the wax melted, it started to fill my studio room with a sweet almost clover honey aroma. right there... i was sold. how yummy is that? a few tips... use an older brush because it will never be the same again. i found that if i overworked the wax (brushing around too much) it caked up a bit. no worries. take a heat gun and heat it up. after it has melted, you can use the brush to move it around. after it dries, you can dig it out (see heart below), ink it, engrave it. while it's still a bit moveable, you can stamp into it. very cool! so much fun. can't wait to try this process again.

1. a canvas page from c&t publishing and the photos that donna sent me

2. modge podge paper to canvas. apply thin layers of paint

 

3. generously apply tim holtz distress crackle paint

4. tim holtz alcohol inks.

5. alcohol inks applied. *lovley*

6. layered photos and mm chipboard alphas then applied beeswax

7. dug out some of the wax and used more alcohol inks

8. last little peek

have a great friday. be inspired. be creative. be you.

*lUCkY13* a page for miss stephanie!

stephanie sent me the cutest photos of her boys wearing some fun star shaped sunglasses. well... i went with the star theme and had a blast. i painted the background with a brilliant yellow and then sewed (oh my favorite thing to do right now *wink*) some green lacey trim over it to create a textured background. the star ribbon - i think it's prima. i've had it for a while in a stash of ribbons and when i saw it... i knew it was perfect. the paper is by bobunny. the chipboard letters... found them a while ago in the $1 spot at le target. love that darn $1 spot.

 

 

happy friday friends! more pages (sneak peeks) are to come, so keep checking back. also, i've been toying with an idea of featuring something each day - sort of a category to keep me better @ blogging and to keep you coming back. i love sharing and love inspiring. so, what would you like to see? i have a HUGE list of ideas, but i'd love to know what's on your mind. feel free to leave a comment or love *wink*.

lots of love and joy to all. xo

*lUCkY13* a page for jolee jane

jolee jane is an amazing artist who i have never met but was introduced to through elena. basically, we've met in cyber space but never in person. she has a wonderful charity called art takes a village. here's her mission statement (found on her website)...

Art Takes a Village is a public charity organization focusing on providing therapeutic art programs in a variety of settings. Our mission is to provide an art therapy program in areas lacking the ability and or funding. Our program reaches out to at-risk youth and adults by providing them with instructor-led art projects, which allow them to look within themselves in a positive way, as well as gain confidence through learning a creative outlet.

jane sent me a photo of herself with some friends from a christmas home tour. the girls are outside of a home - looks like a garden. her group reminds me so much of my friendships. i love gatherings with just the girls. it's my time to reconnect, to laugh, to escape day-to-day responsibilities and so forth. anyhow, i was inspired by jane's friendships when i created her page.

lately, i've been drawn to fabric and after working on gloria's page, i was not able to put the fabric away. i wanted more time with my sewing machine too. i'm not much with a sewing machine... i'm teaching myself, but with each project and each experiment, i'm learning more and more. and having lots of fun.

so here's a sneak peek of jane's page.

 

and one more peek.

*lUCkY13* a page for gloria

i had so much fun working on gloria's page. she sent me a couple of photos taken with her iphone. they are grainy and textured and the lighting was off (she's in a dressing room), but it all worked together. i added more texture and played with the contrast and colors in PS to further distress the images. anyhow... love the photos - love all the texture and lighting.

creating. the beginning. the process.

so most of us create or begin our process with strategy. right? and i'm often asked... how do you begin? honestly, i start each project differently. there are days where i want to try a new texture, medium or play with fabric so i start with that. well, i began with gloria's photos this time to draw my inspiration. after i printed my images (i use a HP photosmart 8750 and costco brand photo paper - it's slightly glossy not my fav but it's affordable and it works), i ran to joann's for fabric. once you see the images you'll know why. she was at one of my favorite stores - anthropologie - and she was dress shopping... a little retail therapy. well, the store alone is inspiring but the dress and the image quality had me thinking fabric and zippers and flowers.

here's how i began gloria's page. i pooled my *things* together.

 

my things...

a blank canvas page (c&t publishing), fabric, trims, a zipper and gloria's images. i can't show the entire page for i'm trying to get this one published so for now here's a sneak peek at the finished page.

 

the big transparent letters are by heidi swapp and the tiny alpha stickers are by mm. i used tim holtz's alcohol inks to distress the ghost letters (love his alcohol inks!). the trims i found at joann's.

ciao! have a great wednesday.
 

 

*lucky13* canvas page for elena

here's a sneak peek at one of the pages i created for elena with scrapbook royalty. elena is the founder of the lucky13 project. a year ago, 13 designers came together and committed to one year of swapping and creating pages for one another.

elena sent me a stunning photograph of herself taken in the early morning sans makeup and hair. the lighting and the blur that was captured is best described as a quiet calm. elena says that the photo is one of her favorites from 2009 for it reminded her of a happy moment. she was sitting in her own studio creating when she snapped the photograph.

go see more pages by visiting the LUCKY13 BLOG.