Inspirational Journal Challenge for Tracy/Helmar

Soooo, back at the beginning of May, Tracy Weinzapfel of Helmar USA threw down a challenge to join her in creating a personal Inspirational Journal. You can see the recorded Ustream video clip on her blog here along with further details: Tracy’s awesome blog. The challenge was from the beginning of May through the end of June, to complete this album. Well here it is with less than a week of June remaining and I finally finished my COVER. Yes, my cover. lol So, here we go…

I knew that I wanted to use this one perfect image off of the Webster’s Pages diecut paper from the Spring Market collection. I knew I was going to use this specific quote with this image from the first moment I saw the paper months ago, so when Tracy announced the Inspirational Journal project, well I already had an idea in mind…but how to make it look like I imagined? Not a clue. Here’s what I ended up with instead. This is a 2 part cover here’s the outside/cover of the entire album (the quote reads, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s about learning to dance in the rain”:

When you lift the acrylic cover, this is the inside page/second part of the cover which actually illustrates the first part of the quote (the fussy cut image from the WP diecut is coated in iridescent medium, but you can’t see it in the pic):

So as you can see, it’s a bit backwards, but so am I…so I think that’s about right for me. 😉 If you’re thinking hmmm…that acrylic looks kinda hazy…you’re right! It’s not your eyes and it’s not me trying to get a photo on a castover day, it’s diluted acrylic paint that I coated on the backside of the cover to make it look like a hazy, rainy day. TFL!

Materials:

Webster’s Pages Spring Market diecut
Winsor & Newton Iridescent Medium
Folk Art Acrylic paint
Strathmore watercolor paper
Kaisercraft large square acrylic album
Stazon ink
Stamp by Victorine Originals

Adhesives:

Helmar 450 Quick Dry (make sure to test before use on acrylic)
Helmar Zapdots
Helmar Acid Free Glue

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Webster’s Pages – Let’s Celebrate (early release)

Webster’s Pages is having a week long event to celebrate their early release called…Let’s Celebrate! Each day this week, June 20-June 24th, more products from the line will be revealed and there will be different interactive games and prizes daily. To start things off with a bang, they’ve already posted a lineup for what will be shown each day on this thread: Welcome to the “Let’s Celebrate” Promotion Week!

You can get your first taste of this gorgeous new line, by going to this thread (where Brandin reveals all the papers in this collection!): Welcome Let’s Celebrate!

The first game of the event has been posted here: I SPY Let’s Celebrate!

Don’t forget to join in on the live chat TONIGHT 6pm PST/9pm EST on Inspire Me!

Life – Helmar’s June Challenge

Helmar posted their first monthly challenge on their blog and I was really excited to see it! It’s a gorgeous sketch by DT member Lydell Quin! Well, I was a bit intimidated considering I wanted to make sure my project was Helmar-worthy for one, but also because when I think of Helmar’s fabulous adhesives, I think of Tracy Weinzapfel (who I didn’t find out until later that she’s the president of Helmar?!!) and when I think of Tracy, I think artsy artsy artsy! Pretty and artsy. Not exactly my comfort zone kinda stuff? Anyway, if you know Tracy, you know she’s a high-energy, you gotta try it, very inspirational, very motivational type of positive person, so I just HAD to do something that was outside of my norm.

When I looked at the sketch, I first thought of a photo of Christian I’ve been wanting to sketch, but the idea that formed wasn’t really do-able w/o being about the resize the photo, so I scratched that idea. Then I remembered that I’ve been wanting to scrap one of the last ultrasound photos of Christian…it was from a series that came out exceptionally clear and you could see his profile perfectly. The rest came to me immediately after, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it look the way I’d like. In order to create my layout, I had to flip and rotate the sketch. I replaced some of the floral details with Larry’s and my sketched hands, but still included a few close to the central image. I combined this challenge with one hosted by Becky (fellow DT member) on Sketches4All. Her challenge is to journal around your page and add one other technique she uses in the sample posted in the thread. Here’s what I came up with:

Here’s a close up of my sketching. I haven’t sketched a thing in years and have never taken a single class, so please excuse the amateur quality to it:

This is the fabulous Helmar sketch I got to work with:

This is how I flipped it to make it work for me:

Materials:

Lily Bee (Helmar Prefered Partner) This & That patterned paper (“pretty fabric”)
Core’dinations (Helmar Prefered Partner) G45 Core Impressions cardstock
American Crafts white cardstock
Prima flowers
Webster’s Pages Vintage Inspired Netting (original version)
Webster’s Pages Sparklers
Pink Paislee Cushies foam alphas
Pink Paislee (Helmar Prefered Partner) Artisan elements circle
Queen & Co. Rhinestones
Tattered Angels Shimmer mist (used to “paint” the bg paper, circle and alphas)
Distress Inks

Adhesives:

Helmar 450 Quick Dry
Helmar Gemstone Glue
Helmar Craft Glue

TFL!

Paper Secret’s New Online Store – Now Open

The Paper Secret’s Online Store is now open! Click the image above to be directed to the online site! Here are some of the fabulous items currently listed:

Crate Paper – Emma’s Shoppe

Crate Paper – Toy Box

Echo Park – Splash

Some Bling

Some fab flowers

AND MUCH MORE!

Earn an entry into the drawing to win a $25 Paper Secrets Gift Card for each current monthly challenge you complete. Find all the fab June challenges HERE.

Hope to see you there!

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