True Story Guest Artist Rachel Hawkins and TWO more Challenge...plus our next kit!

Before this incredibly quick month comes to a close (is ti just me?), I want to share the beautiful work of our guest contributing artist, Rachel Hawkins. Here's a little bit about her:

Rachel is a wife, mother, counselor, dance teacher, and lover of creativity. Being a counselor Rachel loves crafting as a way to connect stories and process emotions. Scrapbooking is not just a hobby for Rachel, but a therapeutic outlet as well.

And you've got to love her name too. :)

You can see more of her work on Instagram and on her blog.

Here are two of her takes on this month's theme, TRUE STORY.

Doesn't this kit make you a fan of pink? There's such a modern, feminine look with the gold, black and pink combined.

And make sure to come by our members group for TWO MORE layout/art journal page challenge for this month - perfect for creating this weekend. Click here and just ask to join!

Stay tuned for Sunday's full reveal of the November kit, INNER GIFTS.

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Behind the Art with Felecia

Greetings, my friends!

Today I'm posting my last project from Inside Out's True Story kit. 

For my final project, I reflected on a question asked by my nine-year old son - What is my big dream. 

I found it disturbing, because I had no answer.

So, I thought for right now, it would be really good to document the fact that at this stage of my life, there is no big dream in my works.

I started with the white cardstock because I felt like this deserved some messy mists. I used two of Heidi Swapp's mists from my stash to set up my background. 

The words on this My Minds Eye journal card spoke precisely the words I needed into my thoughts about not having a big dream.

As I said in my Behind the Art post for my Be Moved project, I find the butterfly a common image I use in projects about growth or metamorphosis...And this certainly seemed like the right place.

I've apparently grown out of some of the dreams I had earlier in my life and I'm transitioning to new things...

The journal cards make perfect tuck-behinds, so I cut them up and slipped them in where they seemed to go.

Before I went on to the butterflies, I used the distress marker to outline my page. 

My particular rub on set included the perfect title phrase...this is all about my true story right here and right now...I also broke one up to use in the top and bottom corners to draw your eye across the page at an angle.

The die-cute butterflies are so amazing. I like to make them appear as though they are lifting off the page, heading into flight. To do this, I put a triangle of dimensional adhesive under each wing, but adhere the center to my page with quick drying adhesive.

As a final project, this feels so right, to set a course for big dreams and new things to add to my story. Perhaps its time for me to work on the next direction of my trajectory...

Peace, ya'll.

Behind the Art with Felecia

Hey, everyone!!!  I hope this post is finding everyone working on your own True Story.

For my next project from Inside Out's True Story kit, I focused on using the Just Add Color papers from Bella Blvd. I LOVE black and white papers and how adding just one color can really pop every single paper and pattern in the project.

My project is about my sweet sister Kellie...we've lived at least 1/2 way across the country from one another all our adult lives.  BUT she recently moved just 30 minutes down the road from me and we've been having a great time writing a new chapter to our story - one where we have family dinners and lots of phone calls and sharing special moments.

This picture was one we took on a recent trip to California...a moment of huge fun I pray we have a lot more of!!

I wanted to put as many patterns into this as possible...to reflect the extreme fun.

I've been doing quite a lot of layering behind my photos using a cut-by-hand technique I learned from Ashli Oliver. I am very timid when it comes to layering, especially in a messy way. I'm much better with neat and tidy square arrangements, but I've not felt satisfied with that technique lately. So, I've been experimenting with alternatives. Gettting a little bit messy and unsquare...its more like my REAL life...and the art should reflect real life, don't you think?

The bits and pieces in this kit are so amazing. This little ticket was just the perfect addition to my silly selfie. 

I love having a new chapter in my story with my sister - a funner and more involved chapter...

Peace, ya'll!

Behind the Art with Felecia

For my second project from Inside Out's True Story kit, I really wanted to focus on the "story" part...

It seems to me that the best parts of my own story have nothing to do with big deal stuff...its in the little parts, the small moments. 

I kept looking at those amazing My Minds Eye letters and how striking they were all together. I really wanted to save the letters for my other projects, but I loved how they looked together so much that I decided to punch them out and use the left over chipboard as a background. 

Letters are the small parts of words, moments are the small part of time...words and time make up our stories...maybe that only makes sense to me, but I love how the symbolism speaks to me. 

So...as I was considering how to use chipboard sheet my letters came from, I decided to paint over them. My original paint job was a bit to bright. So I used some white mist and toned it down a little bit.

The great super narrow tape reminded me of ribbon, so I wrapped it around several times, like a tie around a journal.

The mat for the photos is meant to look like a file folder and I used the MME typewriter paper (of course!!) to hint at my "story" theme.

I properly labeled my "file folder" and gave it a tab on top using a journal card, some die cut bits and the amazing letters!

And of course the little hashtag sayings properly identified my moments and my over all story!!!

LOVING where this kit is taking me in my exploration....

Peace, ya'll!

Behind the Art with Felecia

Hello!  Welcome to my first True Story project post!

Have I mentioned before that I'm not so much into pink? Wellllllll...this kit might be the one that pushes me into the liking and maybe even LOVING pink category.

I started by thinking about my own true story, my faith is a huge part of it. I often pray for big huge mountains to be moved...or for God to show me the way around them, through them, over them...whatever. But in my study and learning, I have found that sometimes I'm the big mountain...and I hope that my story includes those moments when I have enough courage to BE moved by God as appropriate.

For some people, I think this flexibility is quite easy. I cannot necessarily say the same. I'm quite dedicated to my way of doing things and thus I sometimes find myself stubbornly holding onto things I have outgrown, that are holding me back, that are causing me pain, or are just plain old not working.

I started with black cardstock and played with a couple of mists - Heidi Swapp Gold and a very old Studio Calico white, creating a little background.

I then used several layers of the My Minds Eye paper to frame my picture so that it had some dimension and movement.

Butterflies are a motif I often use when I'm documenting change, movement, or metamorphosis in my own life - those moments I can identify with certainty are "becoming" moments. So...I definitely wanted to use the gorgeous My Minds Eye butterfly paper.

I'm not entirely sure that I could say that a butterfly is "my" symbol, but I can most certainly say that I use this symbol in a lot of my projects about my own growth.

Ok, ok,  ok...I sort of wished there two sheets of this so I could use the words on the flip side for one project and the butterflies for another...BUT...I chose the butterflies...they just spoke so much to me! 

I played with the layout a bunch of ways, but in the end opted to fussy cut thebutterflies and the phrases out so I could make my own arrangement.

The end result is supposed to be me being moved by all these gossamer butterflies with encouraging words...

It feels right...

Peace, ya'll!