Behind the Art with Guest Heather Adams

Hi everyone,

I loved all of the diecuts that are included in this month's "I Am" kit, and I decided to make a page focused on those cute shapes and icons. One of the little banner diecuts says "Enjoying the Ride" and I thought that would be a perfect title for my page. The phrase "enjoying the ride" fits my life so well right now.

 

I definitely used some of the ephemera shapes that meant something to me. I used a feather to symbolize light-heartedness, and I used a butterfly for freedom and happiness. One of my favorite parts about this layout is the chevron arrow that I cut from the "Tribal" paper from Crate Paper's Journey collection. I also love the "oh the places you'll go" tag because it fits so well with the photo of my shoes! Yes, I'm on a journey.

 

The journaling on this page is just a short summary of how I feel about life right now and how I have learned to just enjoy each moment of my life. This page made me so happy to create because I felt like the embellishments spoke what my heart is feeling! Everything just falls into place so easily!

Thank you for joining us this month Heather! If you would like to keep up on all that Heather is doing, make sure you follow her!

Blog: http://craftyscrapbooker.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004174548395
Instagram: http://instagram.com/heatherphotochic 
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/heathera17/

Behind the Art With Felecia

Am I the only one here who suffers from the anxiety of inadequacy?  It feels like the pressure of life grows "out there" in the world.

I suffer from perfectionism - as in I want everything to be...Usually I'm quite aware...sometimes it creeps in on me. In fact, there was a huge temptation to talk about all I am NOT while tackling the theme this month...

But where is the fun in that???

But, as they say, knowing is half the battle...

I have to remind myself often - I am enough.

I am enough in so many things....

I kept running the words over in my head as I was writing...Note to self...I am enough...Note to self...I am enough...

So...the idea of a cork board hung with sticky notes that tell me all the ways I am enough popped into my brain...but I'm in LOVE with the yellow that Simple Stories puts into their collections...its a perfect yellow...I didn't want to cover it all the way up with cork!  

So...cork stripes it is...

I love being able to modify the supplies in the kits to fit my needs...In this case, I used some spray ink and dyed the letters cherry red. Add in a few sequins - they sort of look like thumb tacks...

I think I've said before that I don't really do the whole project life thing...too much pressure (see above about perfectionism!) but I ADORE the journal cards...they are the most versatile supply in paper crafting.  Not only do they provide places to journal (of course!) and are perfect to use to frame photos, but they come with beautiful designs that you can fussy cut into smaller embellies...Like the flowers below my photo and the flags in the upper corner...

Of all the things I think I need to remember that I Am Enough is probably the most important...I'm enough...for this moment and this place. I will grow and I will change and I will learn...and will then be enough for THOSE moments....

Peace, ya'll!

Behind the Art with Melissa

Hi everyone,

Today I am here to share the fourth and final page using the June kit I Am.  I have loved this kit so much. It's been liberating to use the topic of I Am to declare certain areas of who... well, I am!

This final one... I decided I wanted to create a layout that took on the characteristics of a manifesto. Inspired by the "I Am" stickers, I pictured in my head, listing out different descriptive words that would declare who I think I am. I wanted to own them and then, live them out.

So here it is... My Manifesto...

One of the many reasons I love our kits is that I can create pages for my private album and I can also create pages, like this one, that I'll hang on my bedroom wall. It will be up where I can see it everyday and remember all the things I am.

Thank you for joining me this month! July is right around the corner and I'm looking forward to sharing more with you then! 

Behind the Art with Guest Heather Adams

Hi everyone,

For this page, I used the lyrics of a song in our hymnal at church for the journaling. The song is about how I am a child of God and how he cares for me and my life. I used the Cracked Pistachio distress marker to write out the words on the right half of the page. Being a child of God is something that defines me, and I thought it would be a perfect subject for the "I Am" kit. The phrase "I Am" is definitive in itself, so I thought it would be appropriate to document what defines me. What defines you? Is it your job? Your family? Your faith? It's something to think about. :) 

 

I used a photo of myself at the beach because where can you feel so small while God feels so BIG? I love the beach. And I love how God cares for little ol' me. I used a little gold anchor sticker to symbolize that God is my rock and steadfastness and also it fits because the photo is of the beach. I used a few hearts on this page, symbolizing God's love for me.

Behind the Art with Felecia

Its absolutely amazing when the products in a kit do all the heavy lifting for you. That is certainly the case with the Simple Stories Thankful paper.

Don't get me wrong, I love to journal and I love to create.

But finding a product that has precisely what I need is kind of like finding my name on one of those tourist shop key chains...it makes me excessively joyful! (You've seen my name! they don't make keychains with that name!)

Most of the words I could possibly imagine for this topic are there.

And so, instead of journaling myself, I let this awesome paper do the journaling for me.

I kind of tried this out using the whole sheet, but found that I liked the cut out better.

I really LOVED the bird on this journaling card ...and his matching little phrase.

I really LOVED the bird on this journaling card ...and his matching little phrase..and the beautiful gold letters.

Then I added some pearls, sequins and ink spatters to make it feel effervescent. 

The paper is so versatile...you could use it all as one sheet and highlight certain phrases. You could paint over the things you didn't want and only left the phrases you do want exposed. You could slice it into separate lines and just use those. You could cut it apart in various shapes, kind of like I did - or in a circle, or a square...

Have fun exploring I Am!!

Peace, ya'll!

Behind the Art with Melissa

Hello everyone and happy Tuesday!

Since the beginning of March I've been on a bit of a health revolution. Basically, I got tired of feeling like crap. I got tired of being fat and feeling like a glutton. I felt lazy and like time was just passing me by. I do not want to live life that way!

So, on March 1 I, along with a few friends, did the Whole30. I began to exercise more, walk with purpose, lift weights and worked on strengthening my core. I learned more about food and how my body reacts to certain foods. I learned that feeling healthy and amazing is more important than losing inches.

The photo on this page is from my very first 5K. While it's not a huge distance to some, it was a big deal for me. Where I live, we've got lots of hills and rough neighborhood roads.

I did it, though. And I felt so good when I finished. I still remember the emotion that came over me when I saw the "Finish Line" sign. Holy cow.

Since that time, I've continued eating the same way and my body loves  me for it. I've watched inches disappear and so many other good things happen. The latest was jean shopping and buying TWO sizes smaller than the size I was wearing. WHA???

I used the diction and word stickers to do my journaling. I love the look and I love how they exude exactly what I want to say.  I grabbed a doily from my stash to back the journaling. 

I am on a journey to health and loving every minute of it!

Behind the Art with Guest Heather Adams

Hi everyone,

The moment I saw the "Thankful" paper in this month's kit, I knew that I needed to make project using all those little "I Am" phrases. They are just the perfect phrases. Some of the phrases describe me and then some of them I'm working on. I think I just need to keep this art journal page out to look at every day. It would make me feel so much more confident and happy!

 

I used little pink flower stickers to symbolize that I am growing. Like I said, some of the phrases are things that I'm working on. For example, "I am courageous…" I don't know if I would describe myself that way, but it makes me purpose in my heart to be more courageous so I can say, "Yes, I am courageous." I also used the little pearls to symbolize worth. I am worth something. To my family, to my friends, to God. I am somebody.

Blog: http://craftyscrapbooker.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004174548395
Instagram: http://instagram.com/heatherphotochic 
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/heathera17/

Behind the Art with Melissa

Happy Tuesday!

Melissa here with a page using the June kit I AM.

Lately, I've been writing a lot about identity. I have the honor of teaching women at my church and it's a joy to walk with them as they embrace who they are and who they were created to be.

This has had me recalling moments in my life where I struggled with who I was. Because I was having a hard time, I experimented with all sorts of labels and even embraced labelling myself based on some bad things that happened to me. The past several years have been a time of much growth and healing. I'm happy to say that those things in my past, do not define me. They don't make me who I am. Because of my faith, I've got something bigger and more amazing to cling to.

I had to incorporate hearts (self-care) and the butterfly (could there BE any better symbolism?)

I wanted the letters on top to be large and bold as a way to declare how I interpret my identity.
The bottom has lots of flowy movement... almost to mimic the pattern in the paper on the right side.

I love all the little details in this kit that helped me complete my page. From the glittery arrows to the hearts and pearls... I loved using the icons that did such an amazing job symbolizing me and recording my heart. 

I always feel like I took myself through a wonderful therapy session when creating my pages. There is something symbolic when it comes to taking out what is in my head and putting it out there on paper. With ink. Glued. To stand the test of time.

Grab your own kit by visiting us at Inside Out!

Welcome Guest Designer: Heather Adams

Hi there! 

I'm Heather Adams, a 20 year old college student. I am currently going to school for graphic design, and I love it. I love documenting the little things in life. I enjoy making just about anything you can create with paper-- cards, layouts, Project Life pages, you name it! Besides scrapbooking, I enjoy traveling, shopping, and photography. I also have a 16-year-old sister that I love doing things with. 

Right now, I can truly say that I am happy with my life. I used to have a lot of anxiety and sadness over how events in my life were turning out, but now I can honestly say that I am happy. Not much as changed, but I think my attitude has. And of course I couldn't resist putting a photo on my page of me holding scrapbook supplies! Because, hey, that makes me super happy too.

I used the stencil included in this month's kit for the "happy" in my title. I colored it in with the Cracked Pistachio distress marker. You can tell that it looks a little like watercolors. So how did I do that, you might ask? I colored on a clear acrylic stamping block with the marker and then picked up the color with my waterbrush. After that, I filled in the letters through the stencil with the ink. After I colored the letters, I went around each one with the fine tip of the Cracked Pistachio marker. That color is so pretty and so is the stencil!

My favorite embellishment on this page is the large geotag card. I added the sticker that says "where I want to be" and I think it's just perfect. Yes, being happy is right where I want to be. The little "happy camper" tab was perfect too, I thought.

Visit Heather:

Blog: http://craftyscrapbooker.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004174548395
Instagram: http://instagram.com/heatherphotochic
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/heathera17/

Behind the Art with Melissa

Happy Tuesday everyone!

I am so in love with the June kit! Not only does it have awesome product from Crate Paper and Simple Stories but, I love the subject... I AM.

The sky is the limit for where I want to take this. Here is one of my pages using the kit:

I love the thought of leaving pages with journaling for others to read. My imagination runs wild with who might come across my albums years from now. So, this one I'm leaving a note about me being... FUN. Because I am. I fly my dork flag proudly, as you can see in the photo I used.

I was inspired by the glitter letters in my kit. The minute I saw the word FUN, I thought, "Hey! That's me!"

I did some layering with the elements and really utilized the gold. I think that when it comes to pieces of our personality, they are valuable to who we are. And I wanted to exude that with the embellishments.

Arrows lead the eye around my page and the feathers symbolism carefree to me. I love the idea of being a beautiful feather, floating in the breeze, loving life and all it has to offer.

Thanks for swinging by today! 

Are you ready to dive into one our journaling kit? Head over to Inside Out to grab yours now!