CHECK OUT THE GCD BLOG!!!

Hey check out the GCD blog when you get a chance, you never know who you might run into!!!

I love their papers and am looking forward to getting my hands on the Morning Glory and Sunny Days collections! They are beautiful!!!

This week they are going to be featuring layouts made with their wonderful Provence line of papers so check it out when you get a chance.

TGIF...where did the time go?

I am so glad that today is Friday. The week whirred by at the speed of light. It seems that time is going by so quickly these days. Perhaps a sign of age...nah! I am too young for that right!

I went by The Scrapbook Junkie today on my lunch hour and they had just put out the new BoBunny lines of paper. They are awesome. If you are in the neighborhood, you gotta see them. Kelli was also working on a huge shipment of GCD Designs, I can't wait to get some of those too.



This weekend, I am going to take my son shopping for school clothes. I can't beleive that he is going to start High School in just a couple weeks. He is already hard at work with Marching Band practice. We have been up at the crack of dawn every morning and they have been on the field to practice starting at 7:30AM. He has done great so far and is enjoying it..all except the getting up early, but he has been a real trooper. Of course there was the one day that I overslept and he made it on the field with only 2 minutes to spare. Whew! I need to take my camera and snap a few shots before school starts.

Football will be starting in a couple weeks for my youngest and he is completely stoked. Not to mention he will be celebrating his 12th Birthday next week. Before you know it the Indianapolis Colts will the nonstop topic of discussion around the house and Christmas will be knocking on our doors. Did I say Christmas? Eeek!

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year and I so ready for the heat to be over with. Of course the heat around here doesn't really subside unit November. Uhg. Fellow Houstonians will agree I am sure.

Well I better finish up a few things before the weekend starts.

Talk to you all again soon.

July Junkie Design Team Projects

Well I finally finished my Junkie Design Team Layouts. I had a great time doing them. Especially the Christmas in July! While it is much to early for me to be thinking about Christmas I just loved the new papers by Reminisce. They are glittery and sparkling which is exactly what Christmas should be like! I also got to play with some of the new Basic Grey Doilies. You have got to see these to believe them. They are intricately cut and unlike any die cut papers I have yet to see. I just love them. The Lemonade papers are bright and summery. If you look closely at the Faith layout you will see that I also used some of the Flair Designs Fantastic Plastics. They are so much fun. They are clear acetate with adhesive on the back, you just peel and stick. I wanted to add some extra pizazz so I dipped the sticky side in ultra fine glitter and I just loved how they took on a new life. I can't wait to get some more of these and play. The possibilities are endless!




In addition to the layouts we all got to play with some of the 7Gypsies Artist Trading Cards. Here is a sampling of the ones that I did. This is my first attempt at these mini layouts and they were tons of fun. They are perfect for using up your scraps and left over embellishments. Once completed they will go on an adorable spinner that would make a perfect gift. I can't wait to see what the rest of the Design Team did with their cards! I loved these little beauties. Stop by the store and see the completed spinner.

I know that I have been missing in action here lately and I will try to pick up the pace. But work has kept me pretty busy and I am trying to get ready for the upcoming school year. Marching Band has already started for Austin. This is his first year of High School and he is excited and apprehensive at the same time. I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone and how fast the boys have grown up. I am starting to feel old! LOL

Well I am off to bed. Mick went to bed without me because I was determined to get this post up. I am looking forward to a much needed day off tomorrow and the Junkie Social tomorrow evening. I hope I will see you there.

Hugs for now.

Heidi

Donna Downey Is In The House!!!

This weekend I had the privilege of taking one of Donna Downey's INCREDIBLE workshops at The Scrapbook Junkie. It was the Fabric Scrapbooking Workshop and I gotta tell you it was AWESOME!!! The class ran from 10AM to about 3:30PM and it filled with lots of cool art techniques. We got to play with delicious things like, acrylic paints, modeling paste, water color, wire, gel medium and the list goes on and on. I have never taken a workshop filled with as much wonderful techniques as this. I learned a ton and was so inspired. I just love the way Donna incorporates scrapping into traditional artist mediums. Just what I needed at this time in my artistic journey.

On top of being incredibly talented, Donna was also incredibly genuine, sweet and personable. She is an excellent teacher and demonstrates the techniques in a hands-on way. Without skipping a beat, she made everyone feel comfortable and totally capable of each and every challenge. If you ever have an opportunity to take one of her workshops I highly recommend it. This was one I will NEVER FORGET. Thanks Donna for and INCREDIBLE class and Thanks Beth for bringing her to the Junkie! I will be posting pictures of my finished canvas album soon so stay tuned!

Fresh Paint!

I worked all weekend on a new oil painting. Friday I had the day off and my BFF Theresa and I got together and painted. I had already started this painting and was anxious to make more progress. Theresa and I had a relaxing time painting together. We have to do this more often. We usually scrapbook together, but since she oil paints too we decided to change it up a little. Am I ever glad that we did! We painted most of the afternoon and after she left I continued to work until late Friday night.


Despite the poor lighting as I lost the natural light, I continued to work until bed time. When I woke up on Saturday morning I just couldn't help myself. I had to get out the brushes and paint again. Hey, I was on a roll, what can I say. I painted until around noon when I had to run some errands. When I got back home I cooked dinner and didn't get back at it until after dinner. By this time the light was poor and I didn't make too much progress. I mostly worked on fine tuning some of the details of the face. I just couldn't leave it alone!


Today, however I worked on my painting all day and I am so happy that I finished. This painting is a tribute to my late sister, Marlene. She died at the young age of 45 from late stage cervical cancer and I miss her very much. I really wanted this piece to reflect her beauty and my love for her. I am pleased with the results.

I hope that you enjoy my art work and welcome any comments or criticism, as this is only my second oil painting. I am still learning how to properly mix and apply color and this was quite a challenge. But it is done! Yeah!!!

George Washington & The Declaration of Independence

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Declaration of Independence Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776

As we set out to celebrate the Fourth of July this coming weekend I thought I would share with you a photo of my first oil painting. All three images are that of George Washington, but at different times in his life. At the Library of Congress website I found this writeup about Washington and his role in the Declaration of Independence and wanted to share it with you.

"Independence and the Presidency

You might have thought that George Washington was in Philadelphia with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and the other delegates of the Continental Congress as they wrote the Declaration of Independence, but he wasn't. In July 1776, Washington was in New York with his troops. On July 9, he received his copy of the Declaration with a note from John Hancock telling Washington to share the news with the troops. Can you imagine how the troops
reacted?

The soldiers were so excited and filled with patriotism after they heard the Declaration that they rushed over to the Bowling Green and tore down the statue of King George III. Shortly after this the British, as Washington expected, attacked the colonists and the American Revolution was under way. The colonists fought eight long, hard years (1775-1783) for their Independence from Britain.

After the war was over, Washington hoped he would be able to retire and return to Mount Vernon. Instead, in 1789, the electors unanimously voted George Washington the first president of the United States. Because it was such an honor, and he felt a great duty to his country, he accepted. He left Mount Vernon on April 16 and arrived in New York City on April 30 for his inauguration. As he took his oath standing on the balcony of Federal Hall, a crowd broke into cheers. The members of his first Cabinet included Thomas Jefferson as secretary of state, Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the treasury, Henry Knox as secretary of war, and Edmund Randolph as attorney general. "

We are so fortunate to live in this wonderful country and I pray that you will take the time to give thanks to God for our Freedom.

Something Dark This Way Cometh!!!

Check out these clouds that were looming above us about an hour ago. I have always had a fascination with clouds and when I saw these I ran upstairs and grabbed my camera. Aren't they awesome? The weird thing is that it was eerily calm outside. You would think that there would be wind swirling around us but there wasn't. Oh, and it didn't rain a drop. We sure could have used the rain but it missed us.

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Finally Finished...Junkie Design Team June Layout

I am finally finished with this month's Junkie Design Team assignment. It's been a rough couple weeks with vacation, the flu, a toothache, a root canal and work all rolled up in one. But I survived.

On this second project of two I got to do a 12 x 12 layout using some great papers from My Minds Eye Breaking Free collection and one of Heidi Swapp's Invisible Papers.

The Invisible Paper was spritzed generously with Glimmer Mist and speed dried with an embossing tool. The pom-pom trim and rick rack were natural colored to begin with, but were also spritzed with Glimmer Mist to match the color scheme. The flowers and surf boards were cut from the MME patterned papers. Diamond Glaze was painted onto the surf boards to give them a lacquered look and then sprinkled lightly with some ultra fine glitter for a little pizazz. Stickles were used to embellish the flowers and pop dots gave them a dimensional look.

I had a blast putting this layout together. I really love playing with the glimmer mist and getting my hands a little dirty. I thorougly enjoyed the challenges this month and am looking forward to the next assignment.

Junkie Design Team Canvas Album is Complete.

The Junkie Design Team Canvas Album has been completed . Tonight was the 4th of July Social at the Junkie and I turned in my part of the collaborative effort: the cover. Beth and I inserted the pages that the other Design Team Members completed and it is to die for!!! I love how it all came together. Each and every page reflects the personality and charm of each of the designers. I am so proud to be a part of this design team. The talent in this group is amazing and I love working with all my fellow design team members each and every month. Take a look at the amazing talent in this group!