Time for Some Summer Projects

View at sunset from the front of our cruise ship.

Wow, time sure does fly! I can't believe it is already the middle of July. My kids start back to school in a month. CRA-zy.! We have been traveling quit a bit, so creative time has been cut short lately. My hubby and I just got back from our last summer trip to Philadelphia - which was a historical dream. I loved seeing all kinds of new things and making beautiful memories with my family. But, I am super excited to be back home and ready to find some artsy time for all the oodles of projects I have planned. I can't wait to share them! But, first here are some things I have been working on.

4th of July Decor

I had some scrap wood in my garage that has been screaming my name. So I decided to make a quick holiday themed frame for the 4th. All I did was glue three pieces of wood together. I attached some red and white paper from the me & my BIG ideas paper pad. I made a photo matte from more layers of paper from mambi. Then hot glued some rope for some decorative touches. Finally attached mini clothespins so the picture can be changed out if I wanted later.  It really took me no time at all! I have been waiting to use that super cute star paper and this project was perfect.

Sunday Mornings & Summer of Color

Any time I can find, I have been continuing my work on my Sunday Mornings class with Mindy Lacefield and the free blog event - Summer of Color 4 with Twinkle, Twinkle. I have not been able to link up my pages or travel around to all the wonderful blogs which is a bummer. BUT, I am still challenging myself to do the activities. :)

Little Love Cards

Eeeekkkk! Do I ever miss my kids when I travel with my Hubby. I love our "grown up" time together, but my heart aches to see the little sparkling faces of my kids. Whenever I do have to leave, I LOVE to leave little notes on their bed, in their suitcases, hidden in their room, etc. I just really want them to know that I am thinking of them. On this last trip I made these darling little cards using several different items from me & my BIG ideas. All their fun goodies make creating so easy. These only took me a couple minutes to put together & the kiddies loved them. Handmade treats like these always make people feel special. :)

Pocket Page Scrapping

Although I am "behind" on keeping up with my Project Life style album, I am still plugging along finishing weeks as I can. No stress. Just fun! This week 21 spread from 2014 was so relaxing to put together. The entire page is put together using me & my BIG ideas products again. That is why it was so easy!You can read about it right HERE!

Another page from week 22.....

Details about this page are on the mambi blog right HERE

Look how cute my son's writing looks. I love adding memorabilia like this into my album. Years from now pages like this will be a treasure. :)

What artsy, creative projects have you been working on? I'd LOVE to hear!

Prepping for The Summer of Color 4

I can believe that on Monday, The Summer of Color 4 hosted by the very talented Kristin at Twinkle, Twinkle is beginning! Seriously, the fourth year! I say that because first of all, it seems crazy that I have had a blog that long.

:)

So this weekend I am preparing for the color goodness to begin. If you don't know about the SOC, it is a free 6 week event where each week there is a fabulous color challenge. (Info about it RIGHT HERE) I was not sure how I wanted to complete each week's challenge. So I just started pulling out a couple different choices. I vowed to myself that I would not buy anything new to house all my creative play in. I had to use what I had!! 

Hmmmm...an altered book, chipboard mini album, loose watercolor paper, a spiral journal, junk journal. It took me a bit to finally decide and I can't promise that I won't change my mind either. Come back when SOC4 kicks off to see what I decided!! :)

Summer of Color is really fun and I have enjoyed the past 3 years.  Here are a few pictures from the past.

 Read about it HERE

Read about it HERE

Read about it HERE

These are just a few from The Summer of Color 2. The great thing about this event is that Kristin welcomes all kinds of creativity - mixed media, scrapbooking, card making, jewelry, ATCs, photography, art journaling... anything really!! Plus, a little added bonus - there are giveaways each week. It is going to be so ridiculously fun! COME join the COLOR FUN if you haven't already!  

Happy Creating!

Playing with Inspired Color Palettes

I don't know about you, but I am usually drawn to the same color palette. I can pretty much guarantee that my art work, journal pages, crafty projects, or scrapbook layouts will probably have a collection of colors like - aqua, yellow, gray and some pink. There is usually some shades of orange too. Not bright crazy colors...more pastel in flavor. That's it. That is my usual color combination.

So, the other day (while I was feeling adventurous) I was painting with my son and I decided to use the colors he chose for my art journal page. I didn't steer him toward the aquas (which I wanted to do, Ha!) and just let him pick away. His favorite color is red, so I knew there would be some unfamiliar painting colors for me. :)

It was such a wonderful creative release to just paint with whatever I had in front of me. The happy discovery of this little color adventure was that I realized that I really like adding dark navy blue to my pages! I hardly EVER grab for that color. It seems so dark. But I LOVED using it!  

I was thinking about some other fun ways to change up my usual color combos. Here is a small list of what I came up with....

• Blindly reach into your paint bin & pull out 5 colors
• Search for color palettes on Pinterest & work from the colors in one
• Visit one of your favorite home decor blogs or magazines and pull a color combination from a favorite room
• Try using a monochromatic selection with your favorite color
• Find a fabulous scrapbook page and use the colors as inspiration for a painting
• Ask each person in your family (or a group of friends) to give you one color. Put them together as one palette.
• When you are at the grocery store, snap a pic of a bouquet of flowers & use it to inspire you
• Do you have a favorite football or basketball team? Or maybe old school  colors? Use these colors to spark your color adventure! :)
• Come join the Summer of Color 4 at Twinkle Twinkle - It starts June 2nd! It is a free 6 week blog party full of color prompts. SO fun!

Another page started in an altered book with the colors from my sons palette.
White added by me. :)



GO ahead...go change up your color choices. You never know what you may discover. 
Happy Creating!!