Eniko's Playhouse

Taking it to the Second Floor...an Addendum to the Upcycling Challenge

I wanted to say a few words about the importance of challenging ourselves as artists...to push ourselves in directions that are sometimes uncomfortable -or even unsuccessful. I've been following two amazing artists for a while now, Natalie Kalbach and Julie Fein-Fan Balzer...both extremely creative and inspiring women. They have teamed together to pose  The Second Floor Challenge. The idea is to encourage artists to step out of their comfort zone in their artwork. March 12th's inspiration was to use gold acrylic paint in your next layout. Both women took their own challenge, and both turned out work that they were not entirely 100% happy with. Gold paint can be tricky to work with, and as Natalie tried something new, the results were not quite as predictable as she was used to. Julie had a similar result, and she did the "silk purse out of a sow's ear" -thing and turned her "failed" piece into something else.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is more important to push ourselves in new directions, even if we at times fail, than it is to stick with what is safe and "tried & true", but utterly predictable, and therefore less creative. In my last post, I wrote about upcycling scrapbook packaging material and other items that we might normally toss out, but that can sometimes be given a second life as a part of our artwork (pushing myself further & further from my comfort zone) and you're probably wondering why I am including the same scrapbook pages here.

Well, unlike Natalie and Julie, at first I was perfectly happy with the results of my  layout created mostly of scrapbooking packaging materials and other "throw-a-ways" (and using a touch of gold paint), but the more I looked at the pages, the more I liked them better independently, rather than as a double-page layout. Especially the page below...I feel that it stands alone so beautifully and so completely as a piece of art.

Somehow, the composition of each of these pages work better for me when they are not opposite each other (SEE BELOW).

You may, or may not agree, but for me, it was an interesting and revealing realization. Generally, the composition of my double-page layouts is designed in such a way that the two pages work perfectly together. Perhaps I was so focused on other elements that I was briefly side-tracked...who knows?

In reality, the pages will probably remain together...partnered for life in the protective sleeves of a scrapbook, since side-by-side they do tell a more complete story...which is the point, after all. -But it was fun to step back and take a second look and experience first-hand the consequences of risk-taking. Honestly, though, I wouldn't have it any other way.

So I encourage all of you to take up the challenge and take your scrapbooking, cardmaking, art journaling...whatever your art...a little further, and take a chance on trying something new once in a while. It's good for the soul and who knows, you might discover something new about yourself as you "Take it to the Second Floor."

Happy Creating! -Enikö 

Speaking of challenges...I decided to "Take it to the Roof" when I responded to the Let's Scrap Design Team call. I love this group of creative women and I desperately wanted to have a spot on the Design Team. I found out early this morning that I made it! My "reign" begins on April Fool's Day...which just added to the joy of the whole thing.-More about all that in my next post...I just couldn't wait to share the news!

Your ideas, reactions and comments are deeply appreciated! -And if you decide to take on the "Take it to the Roof" challenge...or create something with upcycled products, I hope you will include a link, or post it on my

Upcycling Packaging from Scrapbook Supplies & Using Up Your Stash

I admit it...I am a bit of a pack-rat. When I open a package of new scrapbooking supplies, I often save the packaging as well as the embellishments inside. I can't seem to get myself to throw away that crisp cellophane envelope, which I just KNOW will make a wonderful enclosure for a future keepsake, and I simply can NOT toss that wonderful cardstock backing, which I certainly will make into a glorious tag someday! In fact, I don't stop there. I save tissue from gift bags, molded clear plastic packaging,  interesting tags from clothing purchases, bottle caps and twine, ribbon & string. But before you call Hoarders Anonymous and turn me in, hear me out.

I am actually en-point with the latest scrapbooking trend! (Purely coincidental, I assure you.) Recently, I've noticed several scrapbooking blogs and videos promote the use of packaging materials in a trend they refer to as upcycling. Prima Marketing is actually promoting their new "Green Concepts Projects" to encourage scrappers to upcycle -check out these great Valentines on Prima Marketing's blog that utilize packaging materials.

In fact, just the other day, as I ripped open a Jolee's Boutique packet of embellishments , I discovered (2) printed tags, just waiting to be cut-out and upcycled!

I caught a little video on You Tube in which an entire tutorial was devoted to making a mini-book from Prima Marketing packaging and I think I've even heard Tim Holtz mention something about utilizing the backing of scrapbooking supplies. And on Spiegel Mom Scraps lovely Jody offers a month-long challenge in honor of National Craft Month and encourages her readers to upcycle as they scrap. (She has some great examples of upcycled packaging materials, which I am absolutely lifting!)

So I took up the challenge and created a scrapbook page exclusively out of upcycled materials saved from packaging, found objects that were never originally intended for scrapbooking, and paper scraps. Even the photos were ones that I downloaded from MySpace in 2008 and tucked away, hoping to get my hands on better copies someday. -But why waste? This is a perfect time to scrap them!

So I pushed myself to the limit of upcycling...I even used the cardboard backing of scrapbook paper stacks as my background paper instead of cardstock! To make them a bit more interesting, I sprayed them (along with a couple chipboard elements that I've had hanging around for ages) with several colors of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (mostly Brick, Creme de Cocoa & Gold) and a touch of Perfect Pearls (Evergreen):
Next, I dug out my scrap paper bin and the stash of miscellaneous upcyclables that I'd been hoarding for years:

If you look closely, you'll crack up at all the seemingly silly things I've collected through the years. Besides my scrap bin, which clearly is over-flowing with close to ten years of scrapbooking paper remnants and my button drawer (that is only one of two...I also have a tin of buttons that once belonged to Jim's mom!) ...I've saved used tags galore, lots of interesting packaging materials, coffee cup sleeves, candy wrappers, bakers' twine (from a real bakery!) and Simplicity tissue sewing patterns.

So for this scrappbooking project, I decided on the two Prima Marketing packaging tags you see here...the green one and the printed one in the lower center of the photo, the yellow tag (which I flipped over to the blank side) and the natural colored string. I also found a cardboard heart that I had cut-out for an art journaling page, but never used.

I wanted to tie-in my elements with the golden sheen of the lion's costume that my adorable grandson wore for Halloween when he was just a year-old, so I sponged some gold craft paint onto the background, the chipboard elements, and onto the cardboard heart.

(I just want to mention here that I am linking this to The Second Floor Challenge of Julie Fein-Fan Balzer and Natalie Kalbach -the idea is to encourage artists to step out of their comfort zone in their artwork. March 12th's inspiration was to use gold acrylic paint in your next layout. Well as you can see here, I didn't step...I JUMPED out of my comfort zone and right up to the second floor...gold paint and all!!!)

Instead of over-thinking and over-planning, as I often do, I just created art, following my instincts and my sense of design and whimsy. I began pulling random scraps of scrapbooking paper that matched my color scheme. I used the green Prima Marketing tag as a base for the title: "Lions & Tigers and Bears, oh my" -which was the title Rigel's mom gave the main photo on her MySpace page.
The process was very appropriately organic, and far different from my usual style of scrapbooking. Since I've been a member of Let's Scrap, I've been influenced by some the the layering that members use in their card designs and I just went at it. I had a die cut image of The Wizard of OZ that I tucked in by the title, I used the yellow tag that was once attached to a rug, I think, as my journaling tag and added some scraps from Graphic 45's Le Cirque (loved the lion image) and some animal paw prints left over from a child's craft project. I'm rather pleased at the outcome and the only thing that cost me money on this layout was the adhesive!

It's not too late to join in Jody's upcycling challenge...in fact, I'm on my way to Spiegel Mom Scraps to upload this. (I'd love comments and feedback!)

Happy Upcycling! -Enikö                                                                           

More Art-Cards: Card-making with an Artistic Flair

So the fabulous month-long Let's Scrap Blog Hop is over and I am in card-making withdrawal. I managed to juggle a busy work schedule, Valentine's weekend, an Academy Awards Party, doctor's appointments & all the other trappings of life and somehow squeezed out enough time to complete 18 cards. -Not much to boast about considering that so many others made the maximum 50 cards that were offered up in inspirational sketches on the various stops on the Hop, but honestly, I had a ball and am very proud of the artistic flair I gave my humble 18. I thought it would be fun to share some cards, along with the sketches that inspired them. This is one of my favorites. I made this card for my dear friend, Annelle (a very talented Penny Rug designer), who cared for my children during my Newport restaurant days, and played jazz for them every night during dinner. She and I enjoyed several Newport Jazz Festivals together, and this card plays tribute to those days. So this sketch, created by Debby D. of Let's Scrap was the one that inspired the layout for the card. Just to share the thought-process with you... First, I found the fabulous image of the jazz singer and the jazz musicians in the Curtain Call collection of the wonderful scrapbooking paper company, Graphic 45 and gathered all of the other elements that I planned to use.

I'm not sure what made me think of the sentiment, but Annelle is a highly spiritual person, and her heart is abundant with love, and she surrounds herself with music, so it fit: "Love is the Music of the Soul". I cut that out of red paper with my Cricket die-cutting machine. I also knew that it would make a stunning statement if I colored the songstress's lips in bright red glitter...it would emphasize the passion in her heart and add drama to the card. It was close to Valentine's Day, so adding the heart was a no-brainer. I covered that with the same red glitter, as well as the heart-shaped pin...and voila!

I guess my initial inspiration comes from the graphic images I find in my stash of scrapbooking supplies (that, or a great sentiment I might come across). It is only after I have an image in mind that I match it with a card sketch that will lead me in the direction of the final layout...at least that's how I operated during the February Blog Hop. This next card is a great example of that. I found a unique graphic of a bird flying over a botanical image (from Graphic 45's Botanicabella collection) and it just fit a quote that I particularly liked. "Nothing is too Wonderful to be Real"...isn't that the loveliest sentiment ever?

So I matched the idea to the sketch you see here on the left. There are no strict rules when it comes to sketch inspirations...the only rule is to use the sketch design as a guideline for the layout. The design can be flipped, inverted or altered in any way that suits the user. As you can see, I only used one sentiment, instead of the suggested three, but I used the idea of the three identical shapes (though in different proportions) in my design. I also raised the three square shapes on pop-dots to add interest and dimension.
An interesting note about turning accidents into positive elements: The cool printed tissue tape on the far left was added because the card tore at the crease when I scored it a bit over-exuberantly. Also, the tear above the sentiment was originally not intentional -it was simply an accident. I decided that instead of trimming it straight, I would emphasize the tear by inking it. I then inked all my edges for balance and consitancy. -Often it's the "oops"-s of a project that will end up giving it depth and character. I really love the way this card turned out, don't you?

Cassie, if you're reading this...this card was inspired by you. Cassie has decided that she's had enough of Boston winter and has booked a flight to the Caribbean to get some "beach time". I've been dieing to make something with Graphic 45's Travelogue collection (which I won in as blog candy a couple of months ago) so it was the perfect motivation in combination with this card sketch:

The sketch is simple, which I love...it allows for creative tweaking & interpretation. (Incidentally, these were concerns when I first entered into "sketch" territory...I was afraid that using another's sketch for inspiration, or guidelines, or design, would somehow impair my own artistic sensibility or creativity. -But what I found was that it pushed me, instead, in areas of creativity that I may have otherwise not entered into and challenged me in ways that pushed me out of my comfort zone and encouraged me to see beyond my own limitations.)

So I picked my background paper and  my graphic image...the sentiment was easy...the word "BEACH" said it all. I also wanted to add the lacey element that appeared on the sketch without being too "girlie" (which Cassie is not), so I simply used a paper punch to "imitate" the lace in the sketch. The only tricky piece was the "fussy cutting" of the Bird of Paradise flower that I thought the card needed for color balance. What do you think?
I just love the colors and the textures and even the simplicity of this card.

I will end this post with my Oscar Party invitation. (I will post more cards really soon...I promise). Many of you know what an avid movie-buff I am. -Not sure why that is, but I LOVE the cinema! Every year I host an Oscar Party for my like-minded movie-loving friends. This year, my favorite movie was Hugo, by Martin Scorsese. I had a feeling that Hugo would do well at the Academy Awards, but that more than likely The Artist would win the coveted golden trophy (which is exactly what ended up happening). This following card, inspired by the sketch on the left, was a tribute to the silent era of Hollywood, as well as to these two amazing movies that honored it.

The images are, again, from Graphic 45 (it just so happens that their papers are exceptionally artistic and I find myself being highly inspired by them). The graphics I used were from the Curtain Call collection...the central image of the moon is one you might remember from Georges Mellie's movie, "La Voyage du la Lune"...and featured in Hugo. The filmstrip images of silent movie stars was a respectful nod, on my part, to the theme of The Artist. The image of the watch is also reminiscent of Hugo's theme. (It's fun to scroll back & forth between the sketch & the finished card to see what elements were adapted in what way.) -I think you'll love this:

So I think I will pause now & announce the winner of the LEAP 46 Blog Hop Candy. Here's Jim, pulling the winning name out of a hat:

And the winner is...(drum roll, please)...

CATHY!

Congratulations, Cathy! Please leave your address on the Let's Scrap website, or email it to me directly, and I will send the goodies right out to you.

More cards in my next post, stay tuned...

Hugs, Enikö

Art-Cards: Card-making with an Artistic Flair

We've become accustomed to email "Thank yous" and texted "Happy Birthdays", but we can all agree that nothing beats receiving a thoughtful, handwritten card in the mail. Greeting cards have delighted me throughout my life, marking every important occasion. As a little girl, I treasured pretty birthday cards and most of all, the yearly over-sized pink and lacey Valentines from my dad, which always made me feel so very special. I still have the love notes that my first crush slipped me in the seventh grade, and all the cards that boyfriends have sent me through the years. Engagement cards, wedding greetings, congratulations on the birth of my children, condolences after my mother's passing...I still treasure them all.

After taking up scrapbooking, I occasionally used my stash of papers and embellishments to create cards from scratch. Last year, I hosted a Valentine card-making party for some girlfriends, and this year, I even made my own Christmas cards, but it wasn't until this past month that I took card-making seriously as an art-form.

When I agreed to be a host on the Let’s Scrap Leap Around the World Blog Hop, it came with the challenge of making a possible 50 cards from 50 inspirational sketches and posted on blogs from all over the world. I doubted that I would reach the ultimate goal, but I was hoping to make at least one-a-day during the month of February. (Yikes! I'm seriously behind!) As I diligently worked towards my quota, I saw beautiful little works of art come to fruition. What a lovely thought...to actually create and send a handmade card that is worthy of being framed. I started with some Valentines. First, I made one for Jim, expressing the devotion we have for eachother. I layered lovely papers and die-cuts that I chalked around the edges for added dimension and even tied it with a gossamer ribbon. (I love ribbon on cards!)

Then I made one for my sister, Ildi, who still has on display the Valentine I made her last year: I've had this little cupid image for a while, just waiting for the perfect reason to use it. It reminded me so much of my sister at age 3 or so, with her lovely blond locks. The vintage seam binding (such a pretty, soft color) was crumpled from storage, and I just allowed the creases to fall where they may & then glued them strategically to frame the image and the sentiment.

I made this next card (one of my favorites) to honor the lovely quote by Helen Keller- a reminder to appreciate the simple gifts of life: Most of the cards were made with someone in mind, which added to the joy of creation. For example, my son, Attila, was turning 34 this month (a fact that still baffles me) and I was thinking about what an adorable little boy he was, so I captured my thoughts in this card and included a favorite photo of our first outing to Chappaquiddick after moving to Martha's Vineyard -I think he'll treasure it: In case you're wondering, the metal medallion was something I picked up from the Making Memories Bravissmo line. It came with the epoxy circle that fit perfectly over the punched-out photo. I used two other epoxy elements for balance.

I was looking for a way to thank my dear friend, Susan Branch, for the lovely tea she invited me to, so I made her a card that suits her personality as well as the occasion... My friend, Laura, was getting excited about her upcoming tropical vacation (if I could only stow-away in her leopard luggage!) so I made her a "Happy Vacation" card. I was getting more and more jazzed about card-making as an art-form, as I found myself becoming more and more creative. Here I used some great paper and tags from Graphic 45 along with burlap and silk flowers I had in my stash.

The more I saw my cards as frame-worthy art, the more inspired I became. I came across a wonderful image that spoke to my heart and found a sentiment to match. I believe I made this one just for me: Well, I'm signing off for now...I still have 11 days before the month is over (thank you leap year for that extra day!), so I better get back to my art room and make some more card art!

Thanks for stopping by, and it's still not too late to join in all the card-making fun!

(Do be my Valentine and leave me some love in the comment section below. If you're reading this via email, hop on over & say "Hi" so I know you've stopped by.)

Hugs! -Enikö

Let’s Scrap Leap Around the World Blog Hop #46!

Welcome! My name is Enikö DeLisle, and I am very excited to be one of your hosts for the Let’s Scrap Leap Around the World Blog Hop. (This post will stay on the top of my blog for the entire month. See below for new post!)

I am one of 50 hosts from all over the world...from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts to Australia and everywhere in between! Our mission is to inspire you to make as many handmade greeting cards as you can during the month of February 2012! Each of us is featuring a card sketch to inspire you and great prizes are offered to entice you to join in!

This is where I live...the island of Martha's Vineyard...I don't actually live on the beach (shucks!), but I am only minutes from some very beautiful beaches indeed!

OK! So here's my fabulous sketch 9-15-10, LEAP46 designed by Debby D. at Let's Scrap: Isn't it a wonderful idea for a card? I hope you decide to make a card inspired by this great sketch.

I was inspired to make two different cards using this sketch. I used the same background, but wanted to illustrate how slight changes can alter the look of a card. One is a Valentine, of course! How could I resist?

I hope you choose to make a card from the sketch above and post it on Let's Scrap, but you don't need to make a card to be eligible for my give-a-way! You can just leave me a comment below (which I would really appreciate!) and you will be entered in the draw...If you do both, you will have 2 chances to win my blog candy!

So my give-a-way to the lucky winner of the random draw will be these three great Martha Stewart acrylic stamp sets, Mary Engelbreit dimensional "love" stickers, Basic Grey rub-ons with a touch of bling, and some truly scrumptious gossamer ribbon by Maya Road- all perfect for card-making & papercrafting: 
This is how you can be entered into the draw to win my give-a-way:

Chance 1:

          Be or become a member of Let’s Scrap

          Become a follower of my blog, Eniko's Playhouse

          Leave a comment for me below -"What's your favorite Blog Candy"?

Chance 2:

          Create a card (or scrapbook layout) using the sketch above

          Upload your creation to the Let’s Scrap gallery, tagging it exactly like this:                                            9-15-10, LEAP46

Link your project from Let’s Scrap into a second comment on my  blog. If you need help with how to “link”, instructions can be found here:

http://letsscrap.ning.com/forum/topics/how-to-copy-and-paste-a-page...

GOOD LUCK SCRAPPERS!

If you're following the hosts by numerical order, then you just came from:

#45 -Carla De Zinger's blog from South Africa! http://sweetscrappins.blogspot.com/

Currently, you are visiting me, #46 -Eniko DeLisle, on a small island called Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, United States of America. http://enikodelisle.typepad.com/enikos-playhouse/

From me, you can leap to:

#47 -Tory Frail in Ontario, Canada!  http://tfraildesigns.blogspot.com/

If you get lost, just return to Mindi Brown in Montana! -She has the full list of blog hosts at: http://scrapchat-n-coffeetalk.blogspot.com/

This blog hop promises to be a lot of fun! You will get a lot of cards done and you will have 50 blogs to visit that are all giving away wonderful prizes. (Complete details are available at Let’s Scrap.)

Thanks for coming by...I hope you visit me again soon. I will be blogging about how I made these two cards in my next post.

Happy bog hopping! -Enikö

Card-making Inspiration - Handmade Valentines

Just a quick post designed to inspire you to make your own Valentine's Day cards this year...and to get you ready for tomorrow's Let's Scrap Leap Around the World Blog Hop! Don't shy away from trying...it's really quite simple to make a card. Look...
This is a simple little card I made for Jim a couple of years ago using a pearlized pre-cut card. The sentiment was cut from patterned scrapbook paper, then trimmed with a lovely border punch by Fiskars. -But look what happens when it's opened up:
Isn't that the cutest thing ever? Photos can add a real personal touch to any handmade card. I added a border sticker around the photo, a heart-shaped sentiment, then added my own message. Easy!

Here's another idea. This one was made with a pre-cut card that opens in the center:
The card as it comes is visible in the background, on top of the white envelope. The card in the foreground has been decorated with a border punch. (OOPS! I thought I had the correct punch in the photo, but I now remember that that I borrowed this one from a friend at our card-making party...it may be by Martha Stewart -not sure.) Anyway, it illustrates how much difference a simple edging can make...and without much work.

All I did to complete this card, is layered a couple of heart-shaped embellishments as a "closure", lined the inside with a pretty soft paper, and added a rub-on sentiment inside.
This is what it looks like closed:
Isn't that adorable? I just added my own message...it only took minutes!

This next one could be a birthday or a Mother's Day card, or it could be made into a Valentine. I started with a pre-made blank white card I purchased at my local stationary store and I trimmed the edge with the same pretty border punch that I used on the pink card above.
Then I glued a pretty vintage image that I found on the web onto the front, and looked for scrapbook paper with similar colors and tones that would look nice peek-a-booing out from under the lace border. After cutting it out, I adhered it to the inside of the card.
I added a slim strip above the thicker strip to balance things out, and placed a journaling block from my stash inside so I could add my own message.
Here's the finished card...just waiting for a warm sentiment to be added to the empty spot under the rose.
So I could write Happy Mother's Day or Happy Birthday or Congratulations or Thank You...this card would be lovely for almost any occasion. Now look how easily I can turn it into a Valentine's Day card, just by adding a little heart here and there and by adding a love-themed sentiment:

See...it's magic!

Well, I hope I've added a touch of inspiration to your card-making and I do hope you'll join us at Let's Scrap for the exciting Leap Around the World Blog Hop. If you'd like to join the Blog Hop, follow the directions on my previous post. When you return to my blog at 11am Eastern on Wednesday, February 1st, you will find a lovely little sketch to jump-start your creativity and I will have directions & links & examples galore to guide you and to inspire you...and a great little give-a-way to entice you!

Happy Card-Making! -Enikö

Blog Candy and Random Acts of Kindness: You, too, Could be a Winner!

Are you one of those bloggers who don't enter contests and give-a-ways, because you think you "never win anything"? Well, let me tell you...you, too, could be a winner! Within the span of two weeks, a couple of months ago, I won not one, not two, but THREE different FABULOUS gifts from various blogs that I follow.
So I got an email from a lovely woman from Maya Road urging me to reply since she'd been trying to reach me so that I could claim my prize. I had completely forgotten that I had left a comment on a blog post in which Maya Road and Stampendous teamed up to generate new fans. When the package arrived a few days later, I felt like a little kid at Christmas. The ribbons and cords and twine from Maya Road are over-the-top! -In fact, the gorgeous plaid ribbon I used in the Garden Railroad Layout in my last post was from this wonderful gift package.

Best of all, the Jumbo Lily Rubber Stamp from Stampendous was one that I was desperately yearning for...I just fell in love with it on their website and was really hoping to get it one day. I couldn't believe that I had won it! -Along with an acrylic block to attach it to. Soooo happy to have these great items!

About a week later, I saw my name on Graphic 45's blog as a winner! At first, I wasn't even sure what I had won, since I leave comments on G45's blog regularly (LOVE THEM). To my delight, it turned out to be their brand new, hot-off-the-press, Tropical Travelogue line! The whole line! -Chipboard tags and the 8"x8" paper pad in addition to the 12"x12" paperpad!
Those of you who are familiar with Graphic 45 papers know what an incredible score this is. The papers are top-notch quality...gorgeous colors, fabulous images... absolutely delicious, and a MUST for an island-inhabitant as myself. Martha's Vineyard can hardly be considered a tropical island (it's been hovering between 10-30 degrees Fahrenheit these past two days of January), but much of the paper would fit any island theme...and, of course, it will be perfect for layouts of my Key West vacation I took a while back. Over-joyed!

Well, my winning streak didn't end there. After posting some of my artwork on Graphic 45's Community Gallery, to my surprise, I received an email saying that I had been chosen for a 'random act of kindness' for being a contributing supporter of the site. I nearly keeled over! Well, they sent me a lovely little package with some seriously wonderful goodies. Take a look:
I've been so wanting to try Graphic 45's new cling stamps, and the ones I received are from the beloved Curtain Call line. How fun is the Eiffel Tower stamp...or the Can-Can Dancer stamp? The chipboard flowers and buttons are from G45's Staples Collection. And then there are those versatile word ribbons and lace! I sure am a Lucky-Ducky!

Last year, I won a spot in Christy Tomlinson's She Art Workshop through the Where Women Create website by leaving a comment there. I wrote about how that experience changed my life by expanding my scrapbooking and papercrafting into mixed media artwork in this blog post: Scrapbook Techniques Enhance Mixed Media Art. It was an amazing on-line workshop that pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to spread my creative wings.

Well, my intention for posting this was certainly not to brag or to be a show-off (truly, I always thought I was one of those people that never win anything!) -I simply want to encourage all of you to take a leap of faith now and then. Bloggers LOVE IT when their readers leave messages and many businesses gage their popularity by how many messages are left after their blog posts, or how many "Likes" they accumulate on Facebook. Some pretty great prizes...often called "Blog Candy" or "Random Acts of Kindness", are offered on a regular basis to those who leave comments, in an effort to build a bigger following. So go for it!

By the way, I will be offering some nice little Blog Candy in my next post. I will be participating in a fun-filled Blog Hop through Let's Scrap. I will be one of fifty hostesses posting inspirational card sketches on our blogs and challenging you to create greeting cards based on the posted designs. So do check back in and do participate...and try to leave a comment (also called Blog-Love) whenever you can. Who knows what random acts of kindness may be waiting for you right around the corner?

Spreading some Blog Love, -Enikö

Turning Artwork Into Christmas Cards

So I promised you a post about how I turned my mixed media angels (see previous post) into Christmas cards and tags. It's Christmas Eve day and I still have to finish wrapping presents, but a promise is a promise, so here's my Christmas gift to my scrapbooking friends...
After printing off multiple 3"x5" copies of my artwork (taken from photos), I trimmed the images and adhered them to blank cards that I purchased at Michael's craft store. I added lace or ribbon trim and embellished the angels with pearls and crystals...each one a little different, as the mood struck me.
Next, I added sparkle to the snow on the evergreens and the ground, trying several variations of Stickles by Ranger, and made some with crystal snow. Sometimes I even applied some to the angel's wings.
Don't you just love the sparkle? ...Makes me yearn for a white Christmas.
Here are the Noel Angels, which were adhered to gold cards instead of the silver:
I printed some of these in a little larger size by selecting "fit image to size"...I like both sizes for different reasons. The Noel Angels received embellishments on their halos and on the bells...some on the dresses. I stamped sentiments on the inside (I think these acrylic stamps are by Tim Holtz...love him!):
...And even cutomized a Martha Stewart stamp to personalize the cards:
I printed some of the angels in wallet sizes and turned them into tags:
So there you are...that's how i turned my mixed media artwork into Christmas cards and tags! Some of you may have already received your card in the mail (they kind of went out a little late), but I'm still sending out greetings, so if  you didn't get one and you'd like one of my cards, leave a message below and I will send one out to you.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night! Enikö

Deck the Halls with Paper-Collage Angels!

I've been playing around with mixed media for a while, now...using scrapbooking papers and scrapbooking techniques, but just in a different way. I was originally inspired by Christy Tomlinson's She Art on-line workshop, and have since taken my artwork in a new direction. I designed these two pieces for Featherstone's Holiday Gift Show, but fell in love with them instantly and decided to use them to make Christmas cards with.

The paper artwork is applied to 8"x10" Gessoed canvas, layer-by-layer, then painted, inked, and altered. So the first step was to adhere pretty background scrapbooking paper. I chose a sky-blue paper with dots of "snow" and a deep purplish paper with a plethora of stars: I decided that one of my Christmas Angels would be a "Snow Angel" and the other would be simply called "Noel Angel", and I went about to find the right papers for the angels' dresses and used a punch to cut out circles for halos the word "Noel" from a very pretty Christmas-themed scrapbook paper. The heads and arms of the angels were cut out from old Dictionary pages. I knew I had some lovely dried leaves and velum leaf stickers that would make perfect wings. I used sparkly white paper to create the ground-snow on one, and a pretty Christmas-y paper for the ground of the other. After sealing everything with Mod Podge, I painted on the hair and colored in the faces and the arms, and added dimension to the dresses with acrylic paint. I happened to have the perfect Jolee's paper evergreen stickers for the Snow Angel, but of course, needed to add some snow with Snow Stickles. I also added some glittery Stickles to random flakes of snow:
In case you're not familiar with Stickles, basically, they are a line of designer glitter glue by Ranger Ink and are loved by the scrapbooking community for ease of use and consistantly superior quality.

I used some scrapbooking and mixed media techniques to apply ink with a variety of rubber stamps, painted the edges of the canvas with metallic paints, and even added  cabochons at the necklines for 3-D embellishments. I absolutely love the way they turned out!

I'm finding it impossible to pick a favorite, but I may be partial to the Snow Angel because of the trees. They are great as seasonal Home Decor pieces, but I'll be turning them into Christmas cards in my next post... So which is your favorite?

(I hope you let me know in your comment below.)

Wishing you Christmas Joy, Enikö

Scrapbooking Papers Used to Alter Objects

I thought it would be fun to share this project with you. This is what is known as an "altered object" in the world of scrapbooking. It is when a found object - perhaps something picked up at a yard sale or a flea market - is transformed into something else by applying scrapbooking papers and scrapbooking techniques.

Silly me did not take a photo of this little cupboard before I altered it, but I assure you that it looked very different from the item above. I purchased it a while ago with the intention of using it in one of my Barbie dioramas. It was all white, with little purple grapes painted on the top drawer and the outside front panels. Cute, but perhaps a little too cute for my sophisticated Silkstone Barbie decked-out in her finest lingerie. So out came the Graphic 45 paper stacks -I believe I used images from the Fashionista and Steampunk Debutante lines. I cut-out the wonderful graphics of corsets and dress forms from a bygone era and Mod Podged them onto my little cupboard. Then I aged it by applying a series of inks. I just kept adding layers of brown, tea, maroon, and green until I got the look I wanted. I added a little gold to frame the trim around the artwork and gilded the knobs. Next, I lined the inside, including the drawer, with more of the fabulous scrapbooking paper from Graphic 45: 

Isn't this just the cutest little thing? -A perfect dresser for Barbie or jewelry box for me. Perhaps we'll just share.

Hugs to my readers, Enikö                                                            

 

Scrapbooking Techniques for an Oscar Party Invitation and More...

 
Everyone who knows me also knows that I have three major obsessions: Scrapbooking, Barbie Doll Collecting, and Awards Season in Hollywood. These passions are more than hobbies...they are what keep me smiling when life's challenges threaten to overwhelm... they are what keep the best things about me fresh, young and alive.

Sharing my passions with others is my joy, and that's why you are invited to my 2011 Oscar Party, where my three obsessions have joined in a particularly delightful way this year.

Every party needs a proper invitation, so I used the fabulous papers from Graphic 45's Curtain Call line. I love the Golden Age of Hollywood, so it was fun to represent it by using the face of the vintage cowboy. I covered the vintage-style movie strip image from Curtain Call with photos & titles of this year's various Oscar nominees cut from a movie magazine -I wanted to create a 3-D effect with the strip, which was a little tricky, but very effective. My favorite embellishment is the tiny "Oscar" statue that hangs from the gold-threaded ribbons.

I hope you're styled for the Red Carpet as you join us inside for the party:

The table is set in Red Carpet-crimson and actually sports a mini Red Carpet in the background -a great little table centerpiece that I won at the Barbie Collectors Convention the year it was held in Hollywood. The fabulous antique Bette Davis canvas marque was a gift from my sister, who found it at a yardsale in NH. You'll notice the "Lord of the Rings" tower on the left...various movies from the past, recreated with Barbies, decorate nearly every surface of the house: "Gone With the Wind", "My Fair Lady", "101 Dalmations", "Legally Blonde"...to name a few. The mantle sports a nod to Hollywood's glamorous Golden Age.

Grab a glass of Piper Heidsieck and some food...there is chips & salsa in honor of "127 Days", fresh veggies & herb dip for "The Kids Are Alright", Jim Bean for "True Grit", tea & tea sandwiches for "The King's Speech", poor man's (eggplant) caviar for "Winter's Bone, animal crackers for "Toy Story 3", dark chocolate truffles as a nod to "The Black Swan"...there's shrimp cocktail and a wonderful variety of English and Irish cheeses.

Meet some of my fellow Oscar lovers- This is Cassie with me, who is my right-hand Oscar party wrangler.

 

 

 

This is Laura, posed infront of my prized "Slumdog Millionaire" poster.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend, Robin, who I attend many movie screenings with.

 

Patrie was a vision in her Oscar gold. You can see the "Alice in Wonderland" tableau behind her.

 

Here is a better view:

I felt an urge to represent all of the ten Best Picture nominees, and here they are:

This was my favorite scene from the "Toy Story 3", when Andy plays with his toys for one last time before he gives them away to the little girl...it makes me cry every time I watch it.

 

 

 

 

Here's my version of the Hailee Steinfeld character in True Grit.

Not sure if you can see the giant gun she's holding, but it's pretty funny.

 

 

"127 Days"
...ha, ha, ha...did the hunting knife give it away?

 

"The Kids Are Alright" ...all that auburn hair is apt to get a girl in trouble.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The Social Network"

 

-It was really fun recreating Mark Zuckerberg in an outfit so very similar to the one he's sporting on the poster. There is actually a mini Facebook wall on the computer screen...

 

 

 

"The King's Speech"

 

I hope you can see the old-fashioned microphone in front of the poor petrified King, and the comforting arm of his beloved and devoted wife.

 

 

 

 

Next, my personal Favorite, "Winter's Bone" -If you saw the movie, you understand the significance of the chain saw. And yes, that's a hand-rolled "cigarette" in her mouth.

"Inception" -The dream is real

And finally, "The Black Swan"
-My apologies for not including "The Fighter"...at this writing, I am contemplating bidding on some vintage Ken boxing gloves -apparently that's the only prop missing from my extensive Barbie collection.

I hope you've enjoyed attending my virtual Oscar Party...

I think it was a relatively good year for movies...certainly colorful with a wide variety.

Back to my scrapbooking...

Hugs, Enikö

 

A Bright & Shiny New Year's Eve Scrapbook Layout

With New Year's Eve just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to share this 'shiny and bright' scrapbook layout with you. From photos taken as we celebrated the last day of 2005, this scrapbook page remains one of my all-time favorites.

When capturing the memory of a specific event on a scrapbook page, every element of the design should support the photos by reflecting the essence of the moment. In this case, the moment was an intimate New Year's Eve gathering filled with silly hats and noisemakers, good champagne, great food, and lots of laughter. The embellishments used on the layout were carefully chosen to compliment those components, thereby helping to better tell the story of the event.

The star-speckled ombre paper is a perfect choice for the background since it depicts the feeling of a waning evening beautifully. The metallic silver ribbon that weaves its way around the photos also embraces them with the warmth of the evening's mood. The title is simple: Happy 2006 -but because it is spelled out with shiny silver lettering, it offers joyfulness along with information. The playful sticker embellishments, namely the silver & gold streamers, champagne bottle & flutes, party hats, party horns, hourglass, crescent moon, and most importantly, the silver clock with hands nearing midnight, all add fun and whimsy.

Speaking of whimsy, I think my favorite embellishments are the silly alterations made to the photos themselves. For example, Laura and I each wore feather tiaras in the photos that said "Happy New Year" on them. I placed a sparkly "Happy New Year" sticker over my tiara to accentuate it, and I glued pink ostrich feathers on the photo of Laura's tiara to make it more pronounced and fun. Jim's hat received a giant rhinestone on its tip, as did the front of Laura's dress. And because I found it funny that Jim chose junk-food over lobster for his "last supper" of the year, I emphasized the silliness of his choice by placing an over-sized hamburger & soda sticker on his tray. Hence, I captured the humor of our "bright and shiny" little celebration perfectly!

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous 2011, and as you make your New Year's resolutions, I hope you add "scrapbooking photos and preserving memories" to your list. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Scrap Yourself a Vintage Little Christmas...

One year we all received handmade aprons from our sweet Gigi. I began a Santa collection when my kids were little and I delight in adding to it and putting my treasures out every year. Knowing this, Gigi made me a beautiful Santa apron out of a vintage-style Christmas fabric. Laura, who adores anything leopard or red, found a leopard-print apron lined with bright red in her gift box. Those of you who know Jim -a little kid at heart- knows how crazy he is about trains. For him, Gigi made an apron out of a train-conductor striped cotton and decorated it with a train-themed fabric on top. What a clever young woman... and so very thoughtful!

We loved our aprons and took photos of each other modeling our fabulous gifts. My brother and his wife were visiting for the Holidays that year. As they were helping me in the kitchen, I dressed them in the matching pink aprons with heart pockets that Gigi had made for my birthday earlier that year, and thankfully remembered to snap a photo.

As you can see, scrapbooking these photos was almost as fun as receiving the aprons. I found some lovely vintage-inspired scrapbooking paper as my background. I wrote my title with 3-dimensional red chipboard, which looked great on the page, and added some Santa-themed vintage Christmas cards that Jim had saved from his childhood. I matted the journaling on bright red cardstock and added a little extra whimsy with peppermint candy stickers.

Fun little scrapbooking ideas:

• Add interest to an edge of your journaling block with a decorative paper punch
• For fun, occasionally use stars or flowers instead of circles to dot the "i's" in a title
• Take advantage of the "power of 3's" as I did here- notice how the eye moves from Santa card to Santa card to Santa card, and how the three photos on the left direct the eye to the focal photo on the right.

Wishing my readers a joyous Holiday Season!

A Personalized Advent Calendar Using Scrapbooking Techniques: Part 2

I promised to post step-by-step directions for my Personalized Advent Calendar using scrapbooking techniques, and here it is. This calendar combines my passion for Barbie collecting with my passion for scrapbooking and was made for my own amusement.

Here's the finished product:

Don't you love the way it turned out? I started with  photo of a Christmas diorama that I made with my Barbies. After printing the image from my photo file on 81/2 x 11 matt photo paper, I trimmed off the excess.

Next, I chose 24 of my favorite photos of Barbies and Barbie dioramas and copied them into a separate folder to make it easier to print out. I then printed them out as I would a contact sheet or in Thumbnail fashion on high-quality glossy photo paper.

Then I trimmed off the excess paper on the top & bottom of the vertical print-out, so that it would fit perfectly under the large photo, which of course was printed out in landscape fashion. With a pencil, I marked exactly where the contact sheet would sit behind the larger image.

Here's where it becomes a little tricky. For the first three Advent Calendars I made, I cut out all the thumbnail photos and adhered them separately behind windows that I cut out to match. In other words, my cropped mini-photos were different sizes & some were in portrait and others were in landscape formats. As much as I loved the finished products, the process was grueling and very time-consuming. Determined to find a more user-friendly solution, I decided that using all landscape photos were the way to go. This way, I wouldn't have to cut them out separately, and I could just adhere the entire contact sheet behind the cover photo after cutting out the appropriate windows. Eureka!

It does, however, take patience and some accurate measuring. I'm not one to be overly fussy, so I just taped the contact sheet underneath the cover photo and held them over a light box (actually, I used my computer monitor...but I would have used a light box if I had one) and simply marked where the bottoms and sides of the mini-photos would be with a pencil. Engineer & mathematician-types would be a lot more careful, I'm sure. Either way, a metal ruler with an Exacto-type blade cutter is a must, and do have extra sharp blades on hand. A self-healing cutting mat or large sheet of cardboard is recommended to protect your work-surface.

I realized halfway into the project that it may have been wiser to mark the underside of the cover photo since the darker areas of the image made it difficult to see the pencil lines.

After cutting all the windows on three sides (I prefer bottom-openings for the windows), the remaining un-cut area of the window may be scored with a blunt tip to make it neater & easier to fold up.

Next, the contact sheet needs to be glued down - I used an adhesive tape runner. Be sure to line the windows up properly with the mini-photos. (Beginners should use removable adhesive - my favorite is the one that becomes permanent when it dries.)

Now for the fun part: Decide which order you would like the calendar to be opened in. Foe this project, I used an image of my "Barbie" Santa as "24" so that it would be the final window opened in the countdown to Christmas. Then I numbered all of the windows in a somewhat random fashion, begining with "1".

Next, I matted the whole thing with a pretty holly-themed paper, and then adhered that onto a larger piece of red cardstock. After punching two holes, I added a pretty gold ribbon to hang my calendar by, and embellished it with a couple of 3-D poinsettia stickers. I love how it came out!

And the countdown to a Barbie-enhanced Christmas continues...

 

 

A Personalized Advent Calendar Using Scrapbooking Techniques

The first day of December was always exciting at our house because it was the first day of the Advent Calendar, a wonderful tradition that makes the countdown to Christmas realy fun. The calendars have 25 numbered windows that are "hidden" within an image, and the idea is to open the windows chronologically -one each day of December until Christmas- to reveal surprises behind them .

I decided to design personalized Advent Calendars for some special people in my life using my scrapbooking supplies and scrapbooking techniques. This one was made for my Jim, who simply adores his kitty, Shadow.

I chose this whimsical photo of Shadow lounging in the snow of our Christmas Village as the face of my Advent Calendar, so I printed it out on 81/2 x 11 matt photo paper. Then I gathered all my favorite photos of Shadow and Martha (our sweet kitty that passed away) and printed them out in thumbnails (like a contact sheet), after placing them all in a photo file folder. I cut 25 windows with a craft knife, leaving the top flaps intact, and adhered a tiny photo behind each one.

I've opened some of the windows here to show you how it works and how much fun it is to find the surprises. After all the photos were in place, I carefully glued the edges of the face of the Advent Calendar to a Christmas-themed scrapbook paper and then adhered that onto a solid scrapbook card stock.

The edges of the cardstock were perfect for writing a personal sentiment in colored ink -just like I would add journaling to a typical scrapbook page. Then I added a pretty coordinating ribbon with some decorative brads to hang it by. What do you think? Isn't it a lovely idea and a unique, personalized gift? If you'd like to try it, I will post step-by-step directions in my next post. Until then...happy scrapbooking!