Behind the Art with Melissa

I thought it perfect to create a layout based on the word I chose for 2014.
This coming Friday, I'll be sharing some design tips about this layout but, I thought I would give you a glimpse at why I chose certain elements from the kit.

I started doing this tradition about 4 years ago. While I don't remember where I heard about choosing a word first, I am sure it was passed along from the One Little Word workshop Ali Edwards does.

Each year I've felt the need to choose a quiet word. This year, I felt I needed to choose a movement word. I've spent a few years being very introspective. I've examined myself and my heart. I've been cautious. In a good way. But, there is something different about this year. I feel like the butterfly just after hatching out of the cocoon. My wings are drying out and I'm ready to fly! I love it!

So, my word is DREAM.

Photo Source: Unknown

I was immediately drawn to the paper with the dream catcher on it. How appropriate right???

Hearts, feathers and bling seem to help symbolize the freedom I wanted to exude with this page. My journaling is simple. It's written in a way that would make it great to come back and read. 

I want to read it and say, "Oh yeah!!! Off I go!!!" 

I feel like 2014 is going to be a banner year for me. Fittingly, I chose a banner from the chalkboard stickers in the kit. How awesome is the texture on that sticker??? It's hard to see from the main photo. I just love texture. :)

My final piece of symbolism was using the chevron bling. Moving forward. Not standing still.

This girl has done enough thinking and has every INTENTION of moving forward and dreaming up all kinds of adventures. 

Behind the Scenes with Lori

Today we have design team member Lori Wilbanks sharing some Behind the Scenes info about her layout - Reveal.

What prompted you to pick this take on risk?

This particular quote rings true for me, that when we risk sharing all we are with someone, they may not like it. I want to get to a point where I can acknowledge those hidden wishes and thoughts and share them with others.

 Why did you choose this photo?

I think this is a great photo to show risk/reveal. No make-up, no glasses, realllly up close.

How do you feel about the message of your layout?

I think this is a pretty universal fear, that revealing who you really are is risky. I hope the message comes across that, while it's risky, and while many of us, including me, are not quite at the point where it comes easily, or that we're ready to "reveal it all", that it is important to do so. Each of us has a unique voice to share, and that uniqueness is beautiful.

What symbolism did you pull into your design?

I started this layout by doing a "free write" of some personal "dreams". I'm not even ready to read those again myself, much less share them with the world, so I painted over them and added a favorite quote from Sabrina Ward Harrison.

I used the crepe ribbon and cut it and added the zipper as a symbol of revealing.

Tell us a little bit about how you feel now that you have "let it all out" on this page.

I love the finished result of this. The "zipper" element turned out exactly like I wanted it to. I like that you can still see that I did some journaling under the paint, but that I'm not quite ready to "take the risk" of revealing it....something I still need to work on.

What-if-itis

photo courtesy of stock.xchng

Do you suffer from What-if-itis?  That's where you have a moment (long or short) and you think about a previous experience and your mind starts to question... What if.... 

...what if I had said that snappy comeback to that bully instead of walking away, head hanging?

...what if I had made the decision to get on the Barenaked Ladies tour bus?

...what if I hadn't moved to Ohio?

...what if I had continued on in acting?

...what if {insert your own thoughts here}

I have gotten better at not suffering from what-if-itis.  In the past, though, I had been afflicted by this disease often.

What's changed?  Well, I'd like to believe that as I've grown older, I've become more willing to take the Risks.  Risking my heart in the past has often brought about so much pain.  But I have learned it also brought about great and fantastic rewards.  Today, making the risk in order to potentially reap those rewards is happening more and more often.

In the past, I have also over-analyzed all of the possible outcomes of a decision for any given circumstance, and typically a single perceived negative outcome would have 100 times more power than 10 perceived positive outcomes.  Taking the risk in these circumstances more often than not reaps positive results, rather than negative. 

And I love learning that.  What-if-itis is slowly becoming a disease of my past.  I'm more and more likely to risk my heart and risk making a choice to do something, rather than run from it out of fear of a negative result. 


By the way... I've also answered a lot of those what-if-itis wonderings...

I DID talk confront a bully and it was very empowering and has made me much less tolerant of that behavior today.

If I hadn't moved to Ohio, I never would have met my husband and kids, or the fabulous friends I have surrounding me today.

If I hadn't given up on acting, I probably never would have begun scrapbooking and art-ing.  And I love that part of my life so very much!

And getting on the Barenaked Ladies tour bus?  I really did have that opportunity, oh-so many years ago.  Not taking that risk is still something I have the what-if-itis about.  But if the chance were to come along again, I'm pretty sure I'd make the same decision, so it doesn't matter anyway.

So overall, I believe that Risk = a happier Kai. 

Although, I still don't think I'll be jumping out of an airplane any day soon. 

How about you?  Do you suffer from what-if-itis?  Have you begun to knock that disease out of your life?  Join us and celebrate RISK today!

What Does Risk Say to You?

It's February, and we're exploring Risk.  When you think of the world Risk, do other words pop into mind?  What does Risk mean to you?  Looking at the synonym Word Cloud below... what other words pop out and touch your heart?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

Click to enlarge.

Night Dreams

A while back we talked about some of the dreams we think of during the day, or day dreams.  We think about goals and future plans and wishes. 

How about our nighttime visits to la la land?  Everyone dreams, but not everyone remembers those nighttime forays into adventure-land.  I remember mine.  In fact, I have repeat type dreams that come back, sometimes years later.  Sometimes when they come back, they continue on, like the next chapter was written.  It's really weird because I recognize, while dreaming, that I've been in this dream before and yet, I don't wake up. I let it go on, even when it's an uncomfortable dream.

source

For example, I have a recurring dream about being in an elevator, or walking into an elevator.  Now, I have a phobia of falling... not necessarily heights, because I can be in a very tall building, and as long as I'm safe from falling, not have any adverse reaction.  But these elevator dreams are very distressing.  When I walk into the elevator, it's always under construction and the floorboards are actually just one or two crossed planks.  Otherwise, you can see straight down the elevator shaft.  I *must* take the elevator somewhere so I always have to board.  Other people in the elevator don't seem as distressed at the lack of flooring but it's all I can do to keep my balance and stay on the wobbly floor boards until the door opens on my floor.  Sometimes I am trying to enter or exit the elevator without falling through the gaps, but most of the time I'm riding in the elevator.

I also have a recurring dream about being in a house - a combination of my house of my youth and my paternal grandmother's.  I find a new stair case leading either up the side of the house to a secret room, or down into a basement that is usually dark or only partially lit.  The staircase leading up leads to a tiny room filled with books that I've never seen before.  While I'm looking at them, I find a passage way that actually leads down to the basement (or I start in the basement).  There is always some ominous person in the basement I am trying to avoid and I'm always trying to get back to the hidden library.  Every once in a while, there is a black cat (anyone out there superstitious), who is usually in the library.  There are other parts of the house I explore too, but I always end up in one of these two places.

I find it weird that I have recurring dreams and that I remember them.  Does anyone else have them?  What do you dream about?  Are they scary or just mellow? 

I actually love dreaming, but sometimes the feeling in the dream transfers over into my awake world, and I don't much like that.  For example, if i have a fight with my husband in my dream, and wake up in the middle of it, I'm awake and mad at him for no reason in "real life".  It's hard to shake.

Do you have that happen to you?

Oh, and make sure you come back tomorrow... we'll talk more about dreams and another Inside Out challenge!

Peek-a-Boo, I See Through!

I think I'm going to start calling Tuesday's "Tutorial Tuesday".  I think we're overdue for another piece of goodness from our design team.  Here are some great tips by our very own Felecia on how to use see-through elements on your scrapbook pages, as shared on our community forum boards.  Let us know what you think after you read it!

Using See-Through Elements

by Felecia Krech

There are TONS of see through items in this month’s kit…but sometimes see-through elements can be intimidating, or baffling. Here are a few suggestions for using see-through items. They provide a huge number of options, depending upon how they are layered or backed.

One thing to keep in mind when working with see through elements: what you put behind a see through element can completely change how it looks.

Just to see how it would photograph, I put three pieces of cardstock behind the Hambly transparency: white, dark pink and pale pink…you can see that the transparency color changes based on what is behind it.

Experiment with backing to see what looks best for your project. You can certainly choose to use a see through component as the foundation for your layout like I did on the See Through layout..(note that these are very hard to take pictures of for posting. You might have to experiment with that, too!)

Fussy cutting is a great option for see through elements. Choose an element and cut it out from its background. I really wanted this little element from the larger transparency, but couldn’t get the whole transparency to layer correctly with the rest of my page elements. Cutting just the element I wanted was a perfect solution. There are now layers of see through and paper elements.

Another option is to back the element with paint or ink. If you are going to use ink, use alcohol ink and be sure you allow enough dry time. I thought about dripping alcohol inks on this doily, but chose instead to use paint.

To paint, turn the item over, paint liberally on the back and allow to dry.

The results are so pretty!

See through elements also allow us to combine techniques. Fussy cutting, backing and layering were all used for the butterflies.

I first cut several butterflies from the sheet, then ran them through the Xyron (You could cover them with any dry-ish adhesive. Wet adhesive will make them curl.)

Next, I cut pieces of ribbon and adhered them to the backs of the butterflies. You could use other papers, tissue paper, or fabric for this step.

Next, I cut the excess ribbon off and embellished with a few little pearls. Finally, I layered them over other un-backed butterfly sections to give some dimension.

See through elements provide lots of options for scrapbooking and using visual imagery. The possible uses depend only on your creativity!

Happy Scrapping!

I know I alway struggle with acetate... I love it, but I never know what to do with it.  I can't wait to try out some of these techniques!  Thanks Felecia! 

How about you?  What do you like to do with see-through elements?

Crackle It!

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a Tim Holtz fan... and if I'm a Tim Holtz fan, that pretty much makes me a Ranger fan as well.  This month's Vulnerability kit has a wonderful new crafty item for me to play with, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.  Meanwhile, over at the Inside Out forums, our very own Nancy read my mind and shared this great tutorial using the Crackle Medium! 

First Christa, now Nancy... the design team just might have developed a new mind reading skill!  Did Nancy read your mind too?  Here's some tricks and tips (and really fancy technical terms) for using Ranger's Crackle Accents:

Creative Ideas for Ranger’s Crackle Medium

by Nancy Doren

This month’s kit contains the very cool Crackle Accents medium from Ranger. 

It’s a bottle full of a clear gel that dries to a pretty crackle finish.  It’s the perfect technique for all your pages about Vulnerability—very symbolic!  Here are a few ways to use Crackle Accents:

I created crackled flowers on my Only You layout by applying the gel over the flower, then swooshing (yes, that’s the technical term) it around with a paint brush. 

I tried a thin layer first, but after it dried there was almost no crackling, so I went back and applied a thick layer.  I found through my experiments this month that the Crackle Medium works best in a really thick layer.

Let the flower dry, and you’ve got a lovely crackly bloom!

I also used Crackle Medium on the Pink Paislee transparency.

And on the metal badge. I love that it looks like a “broken” heart!  To apply it to those surfaces, I just squirted some on and smooshed it around with my finger.

My favorite way I used Crackle Accents was on paper. I applied the gel to my ruffled paper strip like this:

Then I used my paintbrush again to swoosh the gel around.

After it had dried, I gently bent the paper to create more cracks. The paper was actually very flexible and had an almost rubbery feel to it.

And here’s the finished product:

Another fun way to use Crackle Accents is as a kind of enamel.  I used it to create these butterflies:

I created the butterflies by trimming them from the Dear Lizzy lace paper, then backing them with patterned paper. I did this by tracing the “holes” in their wings, then cutting out each bit of paper. Here’s what the back of the butterfly looks like:

Then I filled each hole with the gel medium, being careful not to get it on the wings.

Then I let it dry and it looks like this:

I also tried using it on chipboard letters, then used my heat gun to make the drying process faster. This did not work. :D At least not in the way hoped for. What actually happened is the gel heated up and bubbled. I left it the way it was because I kind of like the look, but it’s definitely not crackled.

I know that you are all such clever crafters and will come up with lots of fun ways to use Crackle Accents. Let us know what you discover!

Whoo Hoo!  Well, my kit arrived in the mail today so I know the first thing I'm going to play with.  Have you ordered your kit yet?  If not, and you want one, better hurry before we're sold out!  And, as always, join us in our community for more inspiration, sharing and tutorials like this one!

Life and Layers

We are exploring vulnerability over at Inside Out this month.  The kit is absolutely gorgeous, and one of my favorite things is to watch and see what the Design Team creates with these goodies.

I love this layout by Christa because it is exactly what I can never seem to do... it has white space (what's that?  I've rarely seen that on my layouts) and ah-maze-ing layering.  I love, love, love the look of all of that layering.  It gives a layout such depth and interest!  Luckily, Christa wrote up a handy dandy tutorial on layering this month... she must have read my mind.

And, since I can't be the only one out there who needs some tips and tricks on how to layer on a layout, here I am to share it with you. C'mon!  Let's have fun with layering...

Adding Layers

by Christa Paustenbaugh

I love to add bits of layers to my layouts, whether it's just a couple of things in a corner or in this case, it's all over the page! When I opened up the February kit that is the first thing I thought of when I saw all the embellishments and the Dear Lizzy die cut paper. There are so many elements to layer in this kit that my layout, "Life", quite literally fell together by itself!

First up, I knew I wanted to use the Pink Paislee clear cards somehow. I put it against the light blue cardstock and it wasn't the effect I wanted. I decided yellow would do the trick and set to work on digging through my paints to see what would strike my fancy. I found a nice dark yellow and set to work on painting a rectangle paper. I chose to brush it on with a tissue rather than a brush to get a more muted look.

Then I set to work on getting the bits layered how I wanted them. I never adhere anything until I know for sure it's how I want it on the page. Wish I were more of a fly by the seats of my pants kind of gal, but I'm not! I laid the wallet sized photos, overlay and yellow painted paper down in the vicinity of where I wanted it to the edges and border.

Next, I cut out one of the medium sized flowers from the die cut paper and chose a ticket/tag I wanted to use for the title. I laid them on the layout to make sure they were in good composition to the yellows, etc.

Finally, I cut some leaves from the die cut paper, and layered the Maya Road doily overlay with some flower and metal accents. I layered and re-layered until it was appealing to me visually, while still keeping the focus on the photos. I was going to leave it without the pink butterfly (cut from Dear Lizzy paper), but once I cut it and put it on it had a nice pop that I wanted.

I have to admit that I tend to push paper around for a while before it suits me, but this one took much less time than normal. There are so many things in this kit to layer that I look forward to seeing all the different possibilities everyone comes up with!

Thanks Christa!

Do you layer on your layouts?  Let's see them... join us over at Inside Out!

What it Means to be Vulnerable

Only You by Nancy Doren

What is vulnerability?

vul·ner·a·ble

/ˈvʌlnərəbəl/ [vuhl-ner-uh-buhl]  

–adjective

1. capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt, as by a weapon: a vulnerable part of the body.

2. open to moral attack, criticism, temptation, etc.: an argument vulnerable to refutation; He is vulnerable to bribery.

3.  (of a place) open to assault; difficult to defend: a vulnerable bridge.

---

Origin:
1595–1605; < Late Latin vulnerābilis,  equivalent to Latin vulnerā ( re ) to wound + -bilis -ble;

—Related forms

vul·ner·a·bil·i·ty, vul·ner·a·ble·ness, noun

vul·ner·a·bly, adverb

un·vul·ner·a·ble, adjective

It's a topic so many people spend a lot of energy protecting.  We are taught to be tough, to hide our sensitivities, to show no weakness.  Yet, at Inside Out we're asking to you push all of that hogwash aside and rediscover those hidden, sensitive, vulnerable sides of you. Take a moment... take several moments... and explore vulnerability.  Delve into it, let yourself BE vulnerable.  We'll be gentle, we promise.  We'll even help you start exploring, just ponder these questions...

• When do you feel most vulnerable?  

• Who do you turn to when you are feeling vulnerable?  

• What do you do to protect your vulnerable sides?  

• What scares you about allowing yourself to be vulnerable?
• Have you ever felt empowered just from allowing yourself to be vulnerable?

Be vulnerable with us... explore and make a layout (or two, or ten!) about your vulnerabilities.  Join us and share in our community and watch for more inspiration throughout the month here.