March in Florida!

Thanks to a great home swap through http://www.homeexchange.com/ I spent March in Florida! Did you see the movie, The Holiday? Then you know what I'm talking about Take my word for it - coming from snowy mountains to the Treasure Coast is a real treat at this time of year. I was also lucky to find a great scrapbooking store in Lake Worth that had a couple of fun classes, and a very friendly and welcoming staff. Don't miss it if you visit that area! http://www.everythingscrapbook.com/

Using acrylic products and paper flowers from Accent Scrapbooking, I combined alcohol inks, embossing paste with a stencil, stamping and Stickles. Inside the heart I featured an embossed sheet of irridescent material, combined with Angelina fibers. Isn't it fun to learn new tricks?

Follow Your Bliss!

This month's goodies from Accent Scrapbooking are all acrylic in a wide variety of shapes and sizes! I used alcohol inks and stamping, plus some sparkling hearts, Stickles glitter paints, and ribbons. My granddaughter saw the cute purses and buttons and said, "Oh, are you making me a necklace?" So, of course I did! I also used acrylic shapes and stamping combined with penstitching with my Pitt pen to embellish a couple of cards.

Love My Journal!

Resolving at New Year's to do something creative every day (instead of wasting so much time!) I signed up for Jessica Wesolek's twenty-one day Love This Journal class, and am becoming an Art Journaling Diva! We're halfway through, and it's loads of fun. I'll post some pix of my extra pages, soon! We're not allowed to share our assignment pages. Here's her link http://www.lovethisjournal.com/index.html

Acrylic!

I worked up the nerve to decorate the large acrylic bell. At the suggestion of an online friend, I bought a can of Glass Frost, put a large stencil over the bell, and sprayed - luckily we had a warm day so I could work outdoors. After putting all the bells together on the
ring I added fibers, beads, and a decorated tag for a key holder.

There are so many possibilities on a base of bells! Bells ring joyously at many of life's happiest events, and toll on the saddest days of our lives. We think of Wedding Bells, bells at Easter and Christmas time, bells to ring in the New Year, and bells that mark other religious services. And then there are the everyday bells - for teachers and kids, bells ring in the promise of the year to come, signaling the arrival of Fall. Wouldn't it be fun to record a special family dinner, or a visit to a dude ranch using a "dinner bell" theme? Or a trip to Philadelphia to see the Liberty Bell? Or to commemorate a tour of the great cathedrals of the USA, or of London (Big Ben!), Rome or Paris?

Do you hear what I hear? Happy New Year!

On the back cover, a photo of lights on the lake behind the hotel is above an artist's rendering of the same subject. The mini-bell is embossed with the new year. We hated to leave!

Golden Bee!

A stop at the Golden Bee was essential! Sing along honky tonk piano, the famous "Bee" cheese spread, and laughs watching people drink their yards of ale . . . it hasn't changed since I was a new teacher there forty years ago. Yikes! Copper alcohol ink decorates the acrylic frame from Accent Scrapbooking, and the embossing on the hotel folder is highlighted by chalk inks.

Flowers

Chipboard squares are accented with paper flowers with copper brads at center. The bathroom was enormous - all marble and beyond luxurious . . . wow, definitely the Sweet Life. Needing a pocket, I punched one with my Sizzix, for storing the key and the bill. More stamping, more embossing!