My, it's been some time. Though I'd pop in to let people who might stumble onto this blog know that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I'm still very much alive and well. I've been devoting all my creative time to painting and customizing Blythe dolls (carving them, repainting, etc.). You can come find me all over social media and I'm always happy to catch up with people and chat. By the way, Morgan is now 14 and Dexter is about to turn 10. I can't believe I started scrapbooking almost 15 years ago. I still make simple cards for birthdays. And use my scrapooking supplies for my new endeavors.
Hey guys, so I wanted to share that I have a new website (yay!) ElaTell.com - please check it out and let me know what you think! Either in the comments below, or as a bonus, send me a message through the website contact form :)
Also, I have a new BLOG attached to the website, so I will be using that blog to talk about painting, art, etc. This blog here I will keep open for scrapbooking-related posts.
Also, here's a little watercolor painting I haven't shared yet:
Hey guys, sorry I've been gone a while. I have a lot of scrapbook layouts and cards to post, so I'll try to get to them in the near future. In the meantime, I wanted to share that I have been doing a lot of painting and I have an Etsy store (HERE). I also finally added 5x7 prints of my paintings, so to celebrate, I'm having a 20% off sale this week. Just use coupon code 20OFFLAVISHSTUDIO at checkout, it's good toward anything in the store. Here are some recent paintings from January and February so far:
"Alice's Abyss" Acrylic painting on 12x16 canvas.
Alice falling through the abyss of time.
"The Waiting Room" Acrylic painting on 12x12 canvas. A girl cradles a flaming heart, waiting in the green and red room. The colors clash, creating an oppressive atmosphere, but the window offers a glimpse to the peace of nature outside, isolated from humanity and free from all constraints.
"The Cleansing" Acrylic painting on 9x12 canvas.
A girl in the shower, waiting for the water to wash it all away.
"My Little Narhwal" Acrylic painting on 12x12 canvas. A black-haired girl holds her pet Narhwal. Locked in the room, they both dream of the sea.
"Malvina" "Acrylic painting on 5x7 canvas. A purple-haired clown girl looking somber despite the bright happy colors."
"Mirabelle" Acrylics on 5x7 canvas. A sweet girl cradles her best friend, but even those closest to us can sometimes draw blood.
"My Secret Jungle" 11x14 Acrylic on canvas A girl peeking out from her very own jungle, a secret place where she can be alone with herself and nature. "Winter's Queen" Acrylic painting on 8x10 canvas. A snowy night scene in blues and purples welcomes the Queen of Winter, as she prepares to blanket the world in snow and make it sparkle with crystals of ice. Thanks for dropping by!
Here's the second page from the art journal I shared yesterday, and again I'm using a Gorjuss girl stamp colored in with Holbein watercolors, against a water colored background. The clock is Creative Embellishments chipboard colored with gold paint.
I've started a new art journal, using Strathmore watercolor visual journal - I believe the size is about 5"x8". I've been missing using all my adorable girl stamps, so I decided I would do a whole journal of stamped girls, paired with quotes, against water colored backgrounds, and using watercolors to color the stamped images as well. The stamp is by Gorjuss and the branch is Creative Embellishments chipboard, and I drew "bark" on it with marker. I am using Holbein watercolors.
SHaring a fun, summery layout today, featuring BoBunny "Lemonade" collection and fabulous Creative Embellishment chipboard. Here I used the chipboard cherries and ice cream cones, which I painted and covered with glossy accents. I also used the word "Fun" and embellished it with BoBunny pearlescents. All of the CE chipboard is available for purchase on their website.
Dexter has been saying for years that he wants to be a "Robot maker" when he grows up, so this vintage collection by Cosmo Cricket was perfect for him - robots and gears, oh my! I used the Creative Embellishments chipboard gears of various sizes and industrial hanging light bulb, and decorated them with BoBunny pearlescents and metallic paint. Gears don't always have to be steampunk and grungy, they can be fun and whimsical too! All of the CE supplies can be purchased on their website.
Today, I'm sharing a layout of Morgan at the concert this past school year - she has the violin. I used Kaisercraft paper and Creative Embellishments chipboard music note frame, music note border, and hanging birdcage (all CE supplies can be purchased on their website). They were all embellished with BoBunny Pearlescents.
The August challenge is up on the blog HERE, so be sure to check it out and enter for a chance to win a fabulous CE prize! Here's my layout, using BoBunny paper and a pic of the four of us at 6 Flags on Mother's Day:
All of the Creative Embellishments I used can be purchased through their website HERE. I used the roller coaster, which I cut in half and colored with BoBunny Pearlescents. Also the wood stars, and the "together" border title.
I bought a Midori! We have a trip coming up next month and I wanted to bring a journal with me, so after much thorough research (as in, watching tons of YouTube videos :) I went for the Midori - it just seemed aesthetically beautiful, and so useful to fit in everything you might need. Then I ran into the issue of wanting to have my watercolors with me. One option was to make a little tin to hold them, but that meant I would always have to bring it, and that wasn't good enough - I wanted something that came with the Midori automatically, without having to pack it. The next option was to purchase the Peerless watercolors - they come in paper swatches that you can make your own little booklet out of, and insert into the notebook. I searched for a good deal, but didn't manage to find one. Also, I felt like I would be spending a lot on them, and might have second thoughts about using "too much" or "wasting".
So that brought me to thinking I needed to come up with my own idea... and that's when I realized I could use flat discarded packaging and the Tim Holtz gears packaging was perfect. You use the inner insert that holds the gears in place - it is virtually flat, but has just enough depth that it can hold a Lot of watercolor. The circles are large enough that I ended up pouring a lot of paint in them, so it should last a while. Best thing is it's totally refillable. I have the 18-pack of Holbein professional watercolors, and I picked my favorite 12. So I have professional-grade watercolors that will permanently come with my notebook. I insert it into one half of the Midori kraft folder.
I used a piece of watercolor paper for the cover and did swatches of the paint on it. I then did an inner insert of plastic to protect the pain, and when I open it, it lies flat and that side becomes the side I mix the paint on. I used my old 7Gypsies gaffer tape to hold it all together - it's very strong, has a nice texture since it's made of cloth, and is very pretty. All I need is my water brush (I love those!) and I'm ready to paint on the go, any time, anywhere. And rather than spending money, I'm making good use of what I already have in the house!
If anyone wants an actual video tutorial, let me know, and I will make on for my YouTube channel, and take you though the process of cutting the materials, properly filling the "wells", etc.
And here' a YouTube video to give you a better idea of how it looks:
I'm so happy to join the design team for Creative Embellishments (CE)! They have the most adorable chipboard and wood veneer embellishments, and also rubber stamps and stencils. There's a new challenge on the first of every month, and of course a prize to go along with it. Check out the July 1 challenge HERE. Here's my LO to go with it (my first LO in 6 months!). I used lots of wonderful CE goodies - the constellations "Out of this World" stencil, wood veneer stars, chipboard cherries, bird, and of course, the gorgeous stars chipboard frame. The paper is BoBunny :)
In September, we went camping and I got some really great pics. One of them, I printed twice by accident, and ended up scrapping... twice... without even realizing it. I used BoBunny "Calendar Girl" collection for both layouts, plus extras like BoBunny foil rub ons, double dot cardstock, embellishments, etc.
I guess when you really like a picture, scrapping it twice isn't the worst thing that could happen :)
And here's the latest layout I made, again using "Calendar Girl" with double dot cardstock as background:
I recently made good use of the "Whiteout collection" by BoBunny. The paper is already glittered, so it makes holiday cards really quick and easy to do. First, my daughter had a birthday party to go to, and the party was at a skating rink. This paper had the perfect images to make a cute giftbag and card set:
This collection also came in handy when I had to make 10 holiday cards (8 for my daughter's teachers, and two for each other kids' bus drivers). Because the paper was already glittered and pretty enough to use as is, it really didn't take long. I simply made up the cards and then added jewels in the middle of the snowflakes for a little extra embellishment.
