Altered Art

So, in yesterday's post I mentioned that I was so inspired by the work presented in Cloth, Paper, Scissors (Link in yesterday's post). I looked through several books and magazines. This was the only altered art one, and the rest were scrapbooking. What do you think it means that the altered art one inspired me so much more?

One thought might be that they type of scrap layouts published in the mags weren't really my "type". I am very inspired by browsing through 2Peas, so I know I can be inspired by others' scrap creations. But I tend to like work that is kind of messy and haphazard looking and those mags had a lot of very "neat" looking layouts. I think that's the type they go for.

Another thought is that scrapbooking is not the only art form I like. I know some scrapbookers were always into cutting up paper, and other scrappy-related activities. I, however, was always into painting and drawing, since I was little. I only got into scrapbooking after my daughter was born and I had to do something with all those pics. A friend introduced me to scrapbooking, and when I found the 2Peas gallery, I realized that you could really make art with it, while at the same time doing something with all those photos. And after all, there's only so much wall space to hang all your paintings :) But scrap album space is limitless!

I did see others' scrap albums before that, but frankly, they were very underwhelming. Did that sound mean? I'm not sure they could totally be classified as scrap albums even, since it was mostly just plain photos glued down onto colored background with not much going on. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why someone would waste their time on that. That was before I had all those adorable photos of my daughter. That was also before I knew all the adorable scrap supplies I could shop for.

But in any case, the altered art was very inspiring. I have had many interests over the years, including dollhouses/miniatures, sculpting, collage, etc. So I've accumulated many supplies and ideas that I could apply to altered art projects and my scrap pages.

I guess the answer is, I get inspired by true art, no matter what physical form it takes. I love writing just as much as visual art, but I consider that art as well. I think of art as anything where you create something. And you know what, after struggling all these years to achieve something that pays well (my career, which I do actually love), I am finally comfortable enough to say that in addition to that, I am an Artist too. And that makes me happy :)

Just the two of us

Yep, it was that kind of day. We dropped the kids off at his parents' and had the whole day to ourselves. The only catch is that we had to stay in the area since it's too far to drive back home. (So no scrapping for me!) So we were out and about all day. We ate at our favorite Chinese Buffet. We shopped at an outlet mall. We spent a bunch of time at B&N hanging out and reading. I browsed through...you guessed it! - scrapping books and magazines. However, I have to say my fav magazine was Cloth, Paper, Scissors. It's an altered art mag and the projects are so gorgeous and inspiring. I got a lot of ideas, and some might even work on scrappy pages, so we'll see what I come up with!

We also saw Legion. Hmm....take a pass on that one! I then left my phone at the theater (my beautiful bright purple phone). But all is well that ends well and we were reunited.

Speaking of movies - can't wait to see Alice in Wonderland. I think I'll take DD with me. The only issue is that it's coming out on my DS's birthday. And then we're having his party that weekend and the following weekend I'm throwing a baby shower for my friend. So the movie night with DD might have to be postponed (I don't know how I'll bear the wait!).

Speaking of DS's BD party...the prospect of having it here, at my house, and inviting all our friends and family gives me major anxiety. I'm just not a "let's-have-parties-and-invite-everyone-to-out-house" kind of gal. KWIM?

"Fourtheenth" Mini Album

Ok, I'm going to cheat a little - I will be posting a challenge at Scrapbook Challenges on Sunday night. However, if you're reading this, you get an early peek! For my challenge, I'll be using this album. But you'll have to wait until Sunday night to find out what the challenge will be. I'm including a couple pages here. Again, you can see the rest in my GALLERY.

And the winners are....

By way of Random.org, just so I don't have to pick and choose :)

1. For my Embellie RAK: Alex

2. Eyelet Challenge: Ann Arbogast

3. Flower Challenge: Rose Ann Deighan

Congrats everyone! Email me your addresses at ileneemail@yahoo.com and I'll get your RAKs out ASAP! Thank you everyone for commenting on my blog and playing along with the challenges - it was a lot of fun and I'll have to do another random RAK sometime soon, so check in every now and then!

A couple more of DD as a baby

I can't help myself :)

Kiki Art Giveaway

Just wanted to share that Kiki Art is having a giveaway! The info is on Sarah's blog. Super cute stuff!!

I love mini's!

I love making mini albums. There's just something about them. And when I make a few 12x12's, I start itching to make a mini. Right now, all I have on my mind is the cutest wing-shape album I have by Maya Road. It's begging me to cutify it! (I just invented that word). So I thought I'd post some covers of mini's I made in the past to my 2Peas gallery. Here's one of the covers, but you can see more HERE.

Wednesday reminder

Just wanted to remind everyone that the deadline for the Use Your Stash! crop party challenges is today. Today is also the last day to comment on my blog to be entered to win the embellie RAK. I'll do the drawing tomorrow morning for all three.

100 Questions

I saw this on Claude's blog, so I thought I'd do it too.

1. How old will you be in five years? 36
2. Who did you spend at least two hours with today? DS
3. How tall are you? 5’5.5” Yes, I take that half inch seriously
4. What do you look forward to most in the next six months? Vacation to Dominican in April!
5. What's the last movie you saw? The Book of Eli
6. Who was the last person you called? My friend, to talk about the baby shower I'm throwing for her in March
7. Who was the last person to call you? My friend. And then I called her back :)
8. What was the last text message you received? Huh?? (lol)
9. Who was the last person to leave you a voice mail? My other friend...to talk about Her pregnancy
10. Do you prefer to call or text? What is all this texting talk? Speak English, people!
11. What were you doing at 12 am last night? Spending online quality time.
12. Are your parents married/separated/divorced? Still Married.
13. When is the last time you saw your mom? Saturday
14. What color are your eyes? Hazel
15. What time did you wake up today? 7ish
16. What are you wearing right now? Pants and a lovely, very purple GAP waffle long sleeve.
17. What is your favorite Christmas song? Walking in a Winter Wonderland
18. Where is your favorite place to be? My scraproom
19. Where is your least favorite place to be? hmm...somewhere messy that requires my cleaning
20. Where would you go if you could go anywhere? Asia
21. Where do you think you'll be in 10 years? Working, writing, scrapping!
22. Do you tan or burn? Burn, baby, like fireworks on the 4th of July
23. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? What did I not? I had an overactive imagination prone to the macabre, to say the least. Hey, it makes me, me!
24. What was the last thing that really made you laugh? Something DH said, I'm sure. He makes me laugh like no one else can.
25. How many TVs do you have in your house? 4
26. How big is your bed? King
27. Do you have a laptop or desktop computer? Both
28. Do you sleep with or without clothes on? Used to without, but have been sleeping fully dressed since DS was born since he's sharing the bed with me.
29. What color are your sheets? Not sure what they are right now, but my fav ones are pinkish with pretty roses
30. How many pillows do you sleep with? 1
31. What is your favorite season? winter
32. What do you like about fall? I really don't like fall...but my birthday is then and I do like the beautiful tree colors.
33. What do you like about winter? snow!!
34. What do you like about the summer? The sun
35. What do you like about spring? All the sprouting nature and the smells, and the warmer days
36. How many states/provinces have you lived in? I can't even count at this point
37. What cities/towns have you lived in? Totally lost track here too..
38. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet? bare feet!
39. Are you a social person? Nope...I really like my alone time
40. What was the last thing you ate? Some bread crackers...they're on the desk right now...yummy...love bread and pasta....Ok better stop now
41. What is your favorite restaurant? Chinese buffets
42. What is your favorite ice cream? mint chocolate chip!
43. What is your favorite dessert? I love flan
44. What is your favorite kind of soup? chinese seafood soup
45. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich? strawberry
46. Do you like Chinese food? Yes, yes, and yes
47. Do you like coffee? not much
48. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average? Not sure, but I do like to drink a lot and usually only water is available..so more than enough
49. What do you drink in the morning? water. I used to be addicted to Red Bull - it was my daily breakfast. I had to stop when I got pregnant with DS, and still can't drink it since I'm breastfeeding. As soon as I wean him though, I'm going right back to it. Still miss it!
51. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed? I switch, depending on how I want to feed DS at night.
52. Do you know how to play poker? no
53. Do you like to cuddle? a little
54. Have you ever been to Australia? No
55. Do you have an addictive personality? Very much so...internet, video games, etc. I try to keep myself away from anything that looks addicting to prevent problems.
56. Do you eat out or at home more often? we like to eat out a lot, but I guess I still eat at home more
58. Do you know anyone with the same birthday as you? no
59. Do you want kids? I've got my girl and my boy and now I'm done!
60. Do you speak any other languages? Russian
61. Have you ever gotten stitches? No
62. Have you ever ridden in an ambulance? No
63. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool? Pool - I hate sand sticking to all that sunblock..yucky. Although I do love oceans in the Caribbean, when they're warm like a bath. Dominican, here I come!
64. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat? I like a window seat for the privacy, but I also like aisle if I'm sitting with a stranger so I can get up without having to ask!
65. Do you know how to drive stick? nope
66. What is your favorite thing to spend money on? scrappy goodies...and clothes for my kids
67. Do you wear any jewelry 24/7? my wedding ring and another plain band ring I've had since I was a child
68. What is your favorite TV show? Rome, Sopranos, Dexter, Entourage, Oz, Californication, The Tudors, Nip Tuck, etc....oh, and (guilty pleasure alert!) - General Hospital (my soap)
69. Can you roll your tongue? Yes
70. Who is the funniest person you know? My DH
71. Do you sleep with stuffed animals? Gosh no, can't stand those little buggers
72. What is the main ring tone on your phone? Some sort of musical ring that struck my fancy when I was going through them
73. Do you still have clothes from when you were little? no
74. What red object is closest to you right now? The boxes of Canon photo paper
75. Do you turn off the water while you brush your teeth? Yes
76. Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? open
77. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees? bees
78. Do you flirt a lot? no
79. What do you dip a chicken nugget in? Honey mustard
80. What is your favorite food? bread and pasta
81. Can you change the oil on a car? no
82. Have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? yep
83. Have you ever run out of gas? no
84. What is your usual bedtime? whenever I can force myself
85. What was the last book you read? I'm in the middle of Dimestore Magic by Kelly Armstrong...kind of slow going right now.
86. Do you read the newspaper? no
87. Do you have any magazine subscriptions? no
89. Do you watch soap operas? General Hospital, my one true love!
90. Do you dance in the car? maybe...
91. What radio station did you last listen to? 104.5
92. Who is in the picture frame closest to you? DH and DD (I'm in DH's office right now)
93. What was the last note you scribbled on a piece of paper? The supplies from my latest scrapbook layout
94. What is your favorite candle scent? roses
95. What is your favorite board game? Monopoly
97. When was the last time you attended church? I don't
98. Who was your favorite teacher in high school? Dude, I don't even remember what happened to me yesterday
99. What is the longest you have ever camped out in a tent? a couple days?
100. Who was the last person to do something extra special for you? My parents and DH's parents helped us out today and Saturday. Does that count?

Oldie but goodie

DD when she was 11 mos old. I still can't get enough of that face!

Wonderful news!!

I will be a guest design team member (GDT) for Scraptacular in April! I actually contacted them because I discovered the store about a month ago and it had the greatest stuff with awesome deals, to boot. It had a lot of my fav manufacturers and I just loved it. The PO messed up with my package delivery and Beth was so patient and wonderful about resolving all the issues. So, I loved the store so much, I contacted them about being GDT and Beth offered me April! In March, I'll be getting their April kit (they offer the most adorable, delicious monthly kits) and getting to play with it. My LO's will go up in April, when the kit is revealed and I'll get to participate on their boards and write some entries for the blog. You really have to check this place out. I love shopping online for scrapping supplies and this place definitely stood out, with prices and what products they offer, and the amazing customer service. If you go to Scraptacular, and look up top at their tabs, you'll see that you can either purchase monthly kits, or just do regular shopping. I really can't wait to get started! I know Beth is at CHA right this moment, maybe she'll pick up some fun goodies for her kits ;)

Dear Santa, Define "Good"

Here it is, my take on Sketch 183 over at Scrapbook Challenges. Come join us if you're not a member yet! We have a new sketch every week. Also, every week, we have several new challenges, as well as monthly events, projects, tutorials, etc. Play along for a chance to win a prize pack from our monthly sponsor. You only participate as much or as little as you want - no pressure, just fun and inspiration to get you creating!

"Home" mini

This is a little mini I made, using a MR chipboard coaster album and Nikki Sivils papers. I used "Victoria's Street". These papers are too cute, as are all her lines.

I made this mini for my DT work at Scrapbook Challenges - my challenge is to create a mini/layout/altered project/anything using pictures taken at home and using some sort of quote that has the word "home" in it. Check out all the details of my challenge HERE.

I'll have the entire album up on 2Peas if you want to check out the rest.

My LO is in SNR now!

If you subscribe to Scrapbook News and Review, check out my LO there - it's in the section on scrapping your favorite color. Mine is purple (of course)!

Use Your Stash! Crop Party starts tonight!

In just a few hours, I will be posting my challenges and the prizes that go along with playing! For now, I am going to post the little RAK I put together for anyone who Follows me (link on right) and leaves a message on my blog between today and Wed. Good luck everyone!

I call this RAK "Embellies". It's got a ton of adorable buttons, a Maya Road sheer house keychain, vintage-looking stickers, a 7Gypsies journal handle, 4 Making Memories Vintage Findings stamps, MM vintage findings blossoms, a pack of making memories flower-head pins (8), and 2 Tim Holtz journaling tickets. Like I said - packed full of fun embellies for your scrapping pleasure and all you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment!



Here's my take on my eyelet challenge and my Prima Got Flowers? challenge. If you want to see the whole mini album, I have it HERE on 2Peas.