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!

Martha Stewart Gesso & Goodbye Summer

Holy Smokes! How are you? All I can say, is that I blinked and summer disappeared. Literally...poof! My family and I had a wonderful time enjoying the warm weather, a fab vacation to Mammoth Lakes, baseball games, and all the good things that summer bring. I am so sad to see it go! My daughter just headed back to school this past Wednesday, so it is back to schedules, homework, and busy! I am happy to say though, I live in southern California...so the flip flops aren't going anywhere for awhile. :)

As I was packing up artsy goodies for our family trip to Mammoth and a Hubby & me trip to Vegas, I knew I wanted to bring along some gesso. I use it all the time. It is my absolute "go to" product for pretty much anything I am working on. I didn't want to bring my large container of Liquitex, so I ran over to Michaels (I seriously should work there) to see what I could find.

I found a small bottle of gesso by Martha Stewart that looked perfect. It was just a little bit bigger than a bottle of craft paint. I also HAD to buy this inexpensive Artist Loft set of watercolor. I mean, I HAD to - they shimmer! I am a lover of all the shimmer, the shine, the glitter, the sparkle. So these looked like a ton of fun. When I got home, I tossed them in my bag thinking I would have time to give them a try. 

 Fast forward to Mammoth. We did a whole bunch of this...

 ...so, there was not a lot of time for creating. Which was fine with me!

 But, when my husband & I went to Vegas, I had plenty of time. He had conferences all day so my art journal kept me company. I really liked using the Martha gesso. I liked trying something different. The consistency is pretty fluid, but grainier than the Liquitex. Once I spread it out over the page it became much more creamy in texture. It is thin and shows layers well, which I like. You will need to use a couple of layers if you want something completely covered though. I am going to stick to my favorite Liquitex, but I will also love changing it up from time to time. Hmmm, or better yet...maybe another mini vacation! Hint. Hint. :)

  
I got started on this girl while in Vegas and finished her up at home. I used some of the watercolors too. I'll talk about those later on in another post. But, let's just say - I love them! I also used some alphas from Heidi Swapp that can be inked, misted, or painted to change their color. I loved using them too and can't wait to do more projects with them. 

I hope you have had some fun creative time. Are you working on any projects?

DO tell...and HAPPY creating!

Don't forget to come find me on Instagram!! I'd love to see you over there.

I am @sadieinspired

Happy Flowers & The Color of Summer 3

Whoa! I can't believe how long I have been away from my little creative home here at Sadie Inspired. I just couldn't get my blog writing mojo going. :) Creativity has been flowing...a few canvases, art journal pages, home projects, and working on this year's (and last year's) Project Life album. I just needed a bloggy break.

I worked on this little happy flower canvas this last week as we celebrated our final week of school. Summer is officially here in our house, and I am beyond happy about that! Do you have any big summer plans? We have a very mellow summer planned with lots of trips to the pool, visits to the beach, lazy mornings, baseball games, flip flops, and watermelon. Hopefully lots of painting and crafting too!

Another fabulous addition to my summer will be The Color of Summer 3 - Artist's Choice, hosted by Kristin at Twinkle Twinkle. It is a free bloggy event that is super inspiring and loads of fun. If you paint, craft, scrapbook, art journal, sew, take pictures, or anything creative... you should come over and join in. This will be my third year participating and I am looking forward to it. Summer of Color has just started and you can read about it RIGHT HERE. Oh, wait...did I mention there are prizes involved too? As if a big color celebration isn't enough...prizes are involved! :) So, if you haven't popped over to 

Twinkle Twinkle already - GO!

 Besides enjoying the days of summer with my family, joining in the artsy fun at SOC 3, preparing new pieces for my shop, and tackling some crafty projects around my house (which I will be sure to share here)...I also will be revamping the blog a bit. It's time. I want my blog to fit where I am creatively. It is an ever changing process and journey, right? There are so many things I am interested in artistically and I want this space to reflect that! So be on the look out for that. Yay! :)

Last order of business - my Reader. I read all your fabulous blogs in my Google Reader. I had heard that as of July 1 Google was going to be taking that feature away (Boo). I was preparing for that, but my Reader has already disappeared. Poof! Gone. Did that happen to anyone else? Needless to say I am going to be making a transition over to Bloglovin' unless I find something else. What do you use to read your blogs? Any suggestions?

Don't forget that you can always find me on Instagram @sadieinspired.

I hope you are having a beautiful weekend!

Insta Love

I have had a hard time getting to the computer this week to post.

It has been full on summer mode in our house - which I love!

So I thought I would share some Instagram love from this week... beach time, date days, hometown visits, pool days with great friends, sprinklers & water balloons, and lots & lots of ice cream! : )

Here are a few favorites....

Date night with the cutest boy ever, reading new magazines...so much inspiration!

A day at the beach. I grew up at the beach, so it always feels like a little bit of "home" to me. :)

The kids went to Grandma and Grandpa's to spend the night with their cousin, so we had the day to ourselves. We hit my hometown...and spent the day playing, eating (yummy build your own veggie burger), relaxing, movie watching, and just plain ol' fun!

Water balloon fights with lots of little girls and screaming. :)

...and the cutest summer toes ever!! 

I hope you are having a wonderful week!

XOXO,

Happy Happy Summer

Happy First Day of Summer!!

My little kiddie got out of school at the end of May...so we have been all about summer lately. But, just some happy summer wishes on this 

first official day of summer.

May summer be filled with...

watermelon,

flip flops & tank tops,

BBQs

fun in the sun,

sprinkler's

pool splashes,

cute summer dresses,

bike rides,

picnics,

lazy beach days,

and tons of giggles. 

What are your summer plans? 

Smiles,

Jen :)