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Yes, I dropped an ENTIRE jar of gesso on my right foot. This is about halfway through the cleaning process (after attempting to scrape up all of the still usable gesso). Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the footprints I left between my studio and the laundry room. Amazingly, it all came out of the carpet (and my clothes).
This is why they don't give engineers paint.
Here is a peak into the first half of my in-progress art journal from Dina Wakley's Art Journaling 301 class:
Here are the base pages of my 2009 "December Daily" album. I still have some embellishing to do, so look for a related post in a couple of days. I used We R Memory Keepers silver toned Grommlets for the holes in all my pages for durability and to match the silver grommets used on the included page protectors. You can see my other posts regarding this album here (cover), here (binding), and here (alterations).
Page 1 - Page protector with Jenni Bowlin "December" calendar page on front.
Page 2 - Basic Grey Figgy Pudding paper covering back of calendar page (adhered to outside of page protector). Basic Grey paper cut into folder shape (using Heidi Swapp rub-on storage folders as a template, perfect fit for this album). 
Page 3 - Inside of folder.
Page 4 - Making Memories glitter dot paper with torn edge.
Page 5 - Making Memories music paper and Creative Imaginations paper.
Page 6 - Page protector.
Page 7 - Red lunch bag punched with Martha Stewart punch, with acrylic star.
Page 8 - Creative Imaginations paper.
Page 9 - Basic Grey paper punched with Martha Stewart punch, adhered to create a pocket for No. 8 shipping tags.
Page 10 - Basic Grey and Creative Imaginations paper.
Page 11 - Making Memories paper and page protector.
Page 12 - Red lunch bag, punched with Martha Stewart punch.
Page 13 - Basic Grey paper in folder shape.
Page 14 - Inside of folder.
Page 15 - Basic Grey paper with torn edge.
Page 16 - Basic grey paper, page protector.
Page 17 - Making Memories glitter music paper.
Page 18 - 7Gypsies (I think) red flocked paper and Basic Grey paper in folder shape.
Page 19 - Inside of folder.
Page 20 - Page protector.
Page 21 - Basic Grey paper.
Page 22 - Basic Grey paper, Making Memories stamp storage envelope. I used the envelope last year to hold all my Christmas cards, want to do something similar this year.
I have a dilemma...
You see, this year, smack dab in the middle of December, I'm having major surgery. We purposely scheduled the surgery for December so that it would impact our work/school lives as little as possible.
I didn't think about how it would impact my Christmas scrapping :) .
So here's the dilemma. How in the world am I going to do a December Daily album this year? I don't want the album to focus on my surgery/recovery, I want it to focus on our Christmas activities. So my choice was to forgo a December Daily this year.....or get creative.
So here's what I came up with. Instead of doing a "daily" album (two of which would be in the hospital), I'm going to count off Christmas activities. Step 1 - put up the tree, Step 2 - decorate the house, etc. I have no idea what number I'll stop at (wouldn't it be funny if I ended up at 25?), we'll see when I get there. Now all I need is a creative title - still working on that.
Here are a few other "December Daily" alterations I've made:
1 - Because I added rings to my fabric album, the included pages were sticking out a bit when the album was closed. Easy fix. I simply whacked about 1-1/4 inches off the right side of each page. I resewed the page protectors using red thread.
2 - I cut a transparency to size and inserted it into each of the included page protectors. The transparency adds a little more stability to the page protectors so that I can use them as acrylic pages, instead of page protectors.
3 - Trimming off the right edge of the included canvas pages led to an awesome discovery. Pockets! Not sure if I'm going to include these or not, but how cool!
I'll be posting the "innards" of my "December Daily" tomorrow. See you then!Here are my results from Class 4 of Dina Wakley's Art Journaling 301 class.
First, I created a spray ink collage using the same templates and spray ink colors I used for my other art journal elements.
Then I used that spray ink collage, along with coordinating scrapbook papers, fabric, and vintage paper to create two paper collages.
Then I cut the paper collages into confined collages for my art journal. I chose stars because I am using a star motif elsewhere in my art journal and I also cut a few pairs of wings.
I outlined my confined collages with charcoal for definition. I prefer outlining to inking edges because I like a more urban (rather than vintage) distressed look.See this post for a description of the Advent calendar I am making from these ATCs and how I plan to use them in my December Daily album.
See this post for a description of the Advent calendar I am making from these ATCs.
Class 3 of Art Journaling 301 with Dina Wakley was creating add-in pages (smaller pages that will be sewn into the journal binding). I created my add-in pages from vintage dictionary pages and added spray ink over stencils (swirls, dots, and hand cut stars), paint, charcoal outlining, and sewing.
Here are my add-in pages:
First, I want to thank Ali Edwards for her blog shout out yesterday. Second, I want to thank all of YOU for the wonderful comments you have left me over the last few days.
Method Playground Challenge 54 was to create a page inspired by something in a magazine. I chose these beautiful wedding themed, neutral palette pieces from the November/December 2009 issue of Somerset Studios.
These pieces all had a vintage feel. While I loved the application of the neutral color scheme to the wedding theme, I wanted a slightly more urban, less vintage, feel. Here's my finished layout.
Here's what I did:
Step 2 - Paint another piece of the same color cardstock with Tim Holtz's crackle paint in Picket Fence. Allow to dry. (No need to paint the brick shapes, I was headed in a different direction when I did that). Once the crackle paint is dry, seal it with gel medium. This will keep the paint from flaking too much during the later distressing steps.
Step 3 - Cut 15 - 20 "bricks" from chipboard. My "bricks" are approximately 2-3/8 x 1-1/4 inches. Spray some graphite Glimmer Mist on a craft sheet and dip the edges of your chipboard "bricks" in the Glimmer Mist to get rid of those raw edges.
Step 4 - Cut an equal number of "bricks" from your painted cardstock. Distress the edges of the painted "bricks" (I used a Tim Holtz distresser) and adhere them to your chipboard "bricks". The chipboard gives the "bricks" dimension.
Step 5 - Subtly stamp a floral pattern on approximately 2/3 of your background paper. Emboss with clear embossing powder. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to stamp my background (just roll over with a brayer to get good contact between the embossing folder and your background paper. Emboss portions of the design with Stamp and Stick embossing powder and the foil with silver foil.
Step 6 - Stamp "09" repeatedly up the right hand side of the background paper. Sprinkle drops of black India ink in the bottom right corner of the background paper and blow the ink up and to the right with a can of air. The resulting streaks provide a beautiful organic, botanical look.
Arrange and adhere the "bricks", your photos, title, and journaling. Consider cutting some of the "bricks" into partial pieces for added texture.
