February Freebie

Last week was quite busy, and I wasn't able to properly wish all you lovelies a Happy Valentine's Day! To celebrate, I've created this little birdie based on one of my sketches to download and use in your scrap-booking projects, Project Life, your Smash* books, your desktop and just to have and enjoy, print and share. To save her to your computer, Right Click on the image, and then click "Open in New Window". This will open the high-resolution copy of this bird. Then you can Right click, again, and click on "Save Image As...". For mac users, this might be a little different.

Just some fine print, you may use it to your hearts content in personal work, but it is not to be distributed for sale, or used in items distributed for sale. You may share this link to share it with others - Share some Love :)

Project Life Update

I have finally taken some photos this year to 'work' with in my Project Life. I've also splurge, and purchased one of the digital kits, so that I can add text to my pictures, and print out some horizontal journalling cards for all those horizontal slots that I have going on.

We watched "The Lorax", and loved the 'unless' quote, so I thought that I would incorporate it:

Also, got a great St. Patrick's Day page:

My favourite photos from the entire night would have to be the "Happy Faces and Angry Faces" that we did. The angry faces just look so goofy all the time, especially in our green apparel.

See more project life, here.

Project Life Update

Not much has been happening yet in 2012. Since I had decided to only put into Project Life more significant events (not a page layout / week like most), I didn't have much to work on.

Luckily, this past weekend was a 'Beach Party' at the local legion. It's an annual event, and always a great time.

  I also wasn't so much a fan of the photo collages that I did for the 6x6" slots in Photo Pocket Pages Design E, so I've tried a different approach.

This will work very well also to all those who are trying to put in their 4x4" 'instagrams' into their Project Life layouts. It also uses up that wonderful paper that came with the kit (if you bought everything as one large kit like I did).

I used some "non-Project Life" items for these layouts:

• Generic Date Stamp - can find at any office supplies store
• Some random patterned paper that I had - no idea who the company is, but it worked well with the orange
• "Smash Captions"

You can see more Project Life, here.

Looking Back: How I Got Here.

February 11th marked my "Etsyversary" - a quite important and significant day in my art career - 6 years selling...well, about a year struggling and then "selling" lol. Put simply, if my friend did not tell me about Etsy, and had I not signed up, I may not be anywhere close to where I am today. I signed up at first, thinking that I might be able to sell an odd item here or there and be able to buy more art supplies (I was a student at the time, so I wasn't able to 'indulge' as much in my art supplies).

Etsy in 2006. Saying things have changed is the understatement
of the millennia  

 I deal solely through the internet - the only items I have in stores are those through wholesale contracts, and other image use contracts. This works for me best: in the beginning I was in school and didn't have the time to do art shows and such; and now I'm working all the time and have no time to do art shows and such. I'm also pretty shy, so I enjoy and feel more confident with the arrangement that I have set up for myself.

My shop in 2007 - I wasn't able to find a 2006 screen shot.
I am so thankful we can hide / expand announcements now
 - look at all that writing!!

I am very thankful that Etsy was created, and that I have been able to sell through it over the years. It was slow starting, but it finally picked up. I worked hard to get myself out there, and although the results were delayed, they most definitely paid off in the long haul. I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, but quickly resolved them, and was very lucky to have such understanding buyers. It is hard starting out fresh, with no one to tell you what will and won't work.

The first painting I sold, after almost 6 months of being signed up.
To the newbies: persistence pays off, nothing good is ever easy :)

I know you will have a hard time believing me - but I sent out my first few prints in page protectors! Yes, that's right. I didn't know better, didn't know it looked totally unprofessional - and didn't have a clue where to find real cello sleeves. It's embarrassing looking back, truly I laugh a lot at myself. I would spend hours cutting up cardboard boxes for backing - until I realized that it's super easy to just order backing - and my sore hands were ever so thankful.

My first tree painting, "Polka Dot Tree"

My first tree painting is above. It was titled just that: "Polka-Dot Tree"...really original, isn't it? It was of a tree in front of the student housing that I was renting at the time. One day I was doodling on my porch, and I didn't want to draw all the leaves, so I did circles instead to 'get the point of leaves across' in the sketch. I thought it was pretty cool, so I painted it. Once this one sold, I thought I might have something, so I did others. There is no prints of "Polka-Dot Tree" I'm sad to say, and no high-res file. As I mentioned earlier - I wasn't smart about some things early on, and not keeping a good file of this was one of them. To the buyer of this lovely painting - you have the only copy of it, ever :) I hope you are still enjoying it!

THEN: "The Turning" 2006

NOW: "Show Your Feathers" 2012

"The Turning" was the first of my tree series, and it is still doing well today. You can tell that slowly my techniques have changed. What used to be loose, irregular circles are now tighter and more uniform. This is probably the result of painting circles for six years - lets me honest, if you repeat something enough, it's going to fix itself whether you want it to or not. I have been asked if I have a special tool for making circles, I do not. Simply: a normal brush and paint, and I let the paint fall as it may.

I do like seeing how I have incidentally evolved as an artist. I often find myself looking at the first sold items of artists I admire on Etsy to see how they evolved as well. You should try it sometime, look up one of your favourite artists - find one of their earlier works and one of their later works.

Project Life Update

I've been working steady away at my Project Life now for a couple weeks. As you might recall, I am going back to 2007 and trying to fit a couple years of memorable moments in one binder. 

I'm glad to say, that Cricut cutter has finally been put to beyond good use.

 It's a slow process, of going through old pictures that are stored on an external hard drive, and going through pictures that other people have posted online on facebook.

I also ran into a snag a while ago as to what to do with the 6x6" slots of Design E. I'm not much of a scrapbooker - ugh, I am not a scrapbooker, this is my introduction into that world - and so I have zero extra supplies.

My first attempt at a photo collage for PL

So I did what I do know how to do - I made a photo collage in photoshop, and then added some areas that I could write on after it printed out. It's a good way of using up random photos that either didn't belong anywhere, or just didn't fit anywhere. 

I'm hoping to create this side of Design E all photo collages, and then maybe once I have had a bit more time to think about it, make a more stylized layout for the otherside to insert pictures into .  I just have this one little corner done - it does take a long time going through pictures and trying to decide what you want where. 

Project Life First Pages

I have started working on my Project Life binder. I decided to start with the earliest pictures that I have from after leaving home (since I already have an album made up from when I was home). So it's starting at my tine in University in 2004. I didn't have many photos from then, so it won't take up much room.

From my first and second years in university 

I never thought I would do much journalling - since that's just not me, but I am finding that I am writing more than I thought I would.

Lucky, I had some memorabilia saved to include

All my materials all laid out - yes, I'm a messy worker.

 I've also pulled the Styrofoam out of the Core Kit box, and placed all the cards back inside loosely. It's easier for me to flip through them and firgure out what I want to use for each spread. Some people have laid everything all out from the start and then add their pictures - but this approach of choosing as I need them suits me better.

SO many paper elements!

Materials Used 

Clementine Core Kit

Pocket Pages Design A

Pocket Pages Design C

Pocket Pages Design F

Sharpie Pen

Birds Blue Washi Tape

Project Life Free Download

Having been working with my Project Life materials for a little while now, I have noticed that there are no journalling cards that are intended for the landscape locations. There's one design that has a grid that you can use - but that's only one - I don't want to be too repetitive.

Vintage Polka Dot Filler Card

Vintage Polka Dot Journal Card

So I've created a landscape journal card, and a landscape filler card to match. I am using the Clementine edition - but I think these will work with any. I printed these directly onto the extra journalling cards - please see Paislee Press's post, here, to see how to print onto journal cards. It also shows you how to set up to print my designs onto the journal cards perfectly.

• Vintage Polka Dot filler card
• Vintage Polka Dot journal card

I have the card placement already set up in the PDF files below to print as directed through the instructions from Paislee Press. If you would like to print another way, you can open the file and edit to your hearts content in photoshop, or a similar program. Please note, when printing do not choose shrink to fit, or any other sort of sizing changes. Make sure your page scaling is set to "none" to get proper printed dimensions. 

If you do end up using my designs in any of your work, please send me a link - I would love to see :) Also, if you have any questions, just put them in the comments, and I will answer as soon as I can.

Hello Project Life!

So, what should happen to come into my hands this month but Project Life. This is a wonderful project and kit that provides those who may not have time to commit to full-out scrapbooking, or those - like me - who are new to it, the ability to create a lovely looking scrapbook without the fuss.

The packaging is so beauitful - nice, thick boxes

 Most people are doing this project with a picture a day, and documenting a year per binder. Since I'm new to it, I'm just going to document important events / photos. It will make the project last a little longer, and it won't be as intimidating. I'm am going to document 2007 to whenever to in it - but I hope to have enough room to fill to the end of 2012. I have a few events that I had waiting for this kit, and so I'll be putting those together and sharing them with you!

The core kit - all my papers to make magic happen

Now to the best part: what is inside this lovely kit that I've received? Lots of goodies. The basic stuff I ordered - in order to complete the project - was a 'kit' that came with the following:

All the journalling cards are in those little boxes.

• A core kit (Clementine edition)
• 380 decorative journalling cards
• 60 blank grid journalling cards
• 32 bi-fold journalling cards
• 8 first page, and 8 last page cards
• 60 4x6 title cards
• 60 3x4 filler cards
• 6 sheets of arrow stickers
• 6 sheets of colored day stickers
• 6 sheets of clear day stickers
• 6 sheets of coloured number stickers
• 6 sheets of clear number stickers
• A 12x12" binder (Clementine edition)
• Dividers (package of 15 + sticker labels)
• Big variety pack 1 of photo pocket pages 
• 12x12 cardstock - 24 sheets (Clementine edition)

See - so much!! I also ordered some extras: some large envelopes and extra journalling cards - just in case I need them.

A sample of the assortment of filler cards.

I'm able to print all my photos at home, so I'll be able to move at a nice leisurely pace without having to worry about getting this or that picture developed and shipped to me. It will also allow me to make some custom-sized photo for my more creative moments.

The photo pockets and my box of extra journalling cards.

I'm sorry that I didn't take more pictures about the unpacking process - it was sort of a "kid-at-Christmas" sort of thing, and before I knew it, everything was out of it's boxes.

Is there anyone else working on Project Life? Either doing the photo a day or just trekking along at your own pace like myself?