Playing with Alcohol Inks..

As promised I said I would let you know how alcohol inking went last night. Roxanne was right, it IS very forgiving and the neat thing no two will ever look the exact same. To use, you simply apply the ink to the end of your blending tool (felt end) and use the alcohol ink blending solution to dilute the colours (if you wish). You then apply....in this case we used acrylic and glass tiles. We also learned that when using only using archival ink... you can stamp on the alcohol ink, rub it off and you have a clear imprint on the inking. Amazing. 

Designed by Roxanne Olsen

The best thing about this is if you don't like how your end product turned out, use windex and poof, its gone!
I am already thinking about where I can use this technique on my next layout. I am pretty excited to get started.

If you interested in this technique you should check out : Tim Holtz demo on alcohol inks

Snow Fun

I just finished this layout today, I had started it a while ago but finally decided to complete it. I used a snow marker to paint edges of the trees and the wording "Winter Wonderland". It's pretty amazing, you paint it on, use your heat gun and puff....you have snow. It kind of reminds me of snow-text but easier to apply because its a pen but not as clumpy. I'm am not to particular on the trees though (hmmm...maybe its the colour).
Of course the layout is of Raydn :)
The snow mobile pictures were taken last Saturday, its was +4 and beautiful. I think Raydn rode for 2 hours. There was no way we could pass up a nice day after 12 days of cold and 30 inches of snow....Oh ya and having Dad home the first weekend in 3 weeks.

 In this first page, around the curved layer I had originally edged the paper brown then today outlining it with white shimmery stickles....what was I thinking of course it turned out gold!!! Snow is not gold!!! I was trying to go for white shimmer. You can notice it on the top of the page and around the tag. I then tried to cover it up with blue stickles.... DIASTER!!! It turned out clumpy and just not nice looking at all. Was not impressed but one of those things I guess.
You can notice the snow pen on the page below.

I just reposted this layout, something was really bugging me about it. I re-did the photo mats. Tilting them seemed to help a bit.

                   Designed and created by Rhonda Witzke.

~~~~ This Thursday we have our first class for this years in review. We are learning to use alcohol inks, I have never used it before so I am super excited to learn. I will have to let you know how those will work out. ~~~~~

Winter Wonderland..

This is a card that I made this Christmas. I borrowed this layout from a friend but changed the paper and accessories. I just starting getting more into cards this last year but I think that's because I have developed somewhat of a stamp collection (especially Christmas ones) in the last four or five months. The great thing about making cards is if you don't feel like making a big layout, you can just do a little project like a card. I was very happy with how this one turned out :)

Between the Innocence of Babyhood.....

Alright!!!  I seriously don't just scrapbook with just My Minds Eye but apparently that has been my paper choice lately. I just love, love, love the glitter! In this layout it took me awhile to remember how to make the spiral flowers but when I did, I had so much fun. I had so much fun in fact that I got to make them twice!! Of all places to leave your layout, on the toy box is not a great choice! Raydn got a hold of it and did some creating all of  his own. Luckily he just got a hold of the flowers. It could have been a whole lot worse. Oh well lesson learned!

 

The main reason I picked this paper was because of the blank space, it was the perfect place for a quote I was dying to use "Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood we find a delightful creature of a boy" So, so true!  I just love that quote!  On the blue stamping I wanted the glitter effect as well so I used a two way glue pen with super fine white shimmery glitter. It turned out fabulous, it matched perfectly! Even though on 99% of my layouts I use brown inking, I really love how the blue turned out.

Designed and created by Rhonda Witzke

I have come to the realization that I am addicted to scrapbooking or would you call it a obsession? Either way I find myself running for my camera to take pictures when  Raydn is posing, playing, sleeping or plainly just doing anything cute.  Anyone who knows Raydn can tell you that he is definitely NOT camera shy by all means. The paper last year by Bo-Bunny "Mama razzi" explains just that. Poor kid!  My addiction however, runs more deeply than just running for my camera. I am forever searching on the net for scrapbooking ideas, constantly reading blogs (we won't even go there on how addicted I am on that lately) or shopping for scrapbooking supplies with my best scrapping buddy, Betty. SHE'S the one who gets me in all the trouble at the scrapbook store, "you don't need it but I know you want it"...lol. She's one lady who is definitely addicted to scrapbook shopping...everyone needs 52 glimmer mists right?!?! Just kidding Betty, you know I love you!! But she could for sure open up a store with all her supplies that she has. She always has what she needs or what I do though at the tips of her fingers to make her layouts nothing short than amazing. OH...Speaking of shopping, SCRAPFEST was amazing last October, the first one I ever attended. Thank god Betty and I had strong bags to carry our purchases or I would have never survived. I was like a kid in a candy store!!  From this I guess I would say I AM addicted  but I never feel bad about it because its not like smoking or drinking, its not bad for you but it can be sometimes just as bad on the pocket book.
With that said this made me remember an email that was sent to me awhile back that made me laugh because I definitely fit into this list. lol. (I don't think my hubby would go for #2 though)

So here we go...


Scrapbooking - The TOP 10 Signs Of Being Addicted10.) If you have a table in the middle of your living room in front of the TV and it is covered with pictures, cutouts, stickers and scrapbooking tools.
9.) If you visit the craft store at least one time per week.
8.) If conversations with your girlfriends always wind up including a new scrapbooking idea that you had.
7.) If your children have asked you the question. Do we have to scrapbook today mommy?
6.) If you tell your husband he should go off with the guys just so you can work on your scrapbook.
5.) If you bought a laptop just so you can scrapbook anywhere you want.
4.) If you own a T-Shirt that Says I Love Cherish-Creative-Scrapbooking.com!
3.) If you have told your family to make their own dinner because you have to finish a scrapbook page.
2.) If you have made your husband sit on Santa's lap just so you would have a great shot for your Christmas Theme Scrapbook.
1.) If you have hosted more than one scrapbooking party at your home, went on a weekend scrapbooking retreat and devoted an entire room in your home to scrapbooking. You are definitely addicted to scrapbooking!

Why Scrapbook...

By creating scrapbook layouts I am giving my memories the treatment that they deserve. We invest a lot of money and time in our memories because we want to remember the precious moments in our lives.We spend lots on cameras, portrait studios and developing, so why wouldn't you give your memories the treatment that they deserve? That is one reason why I started to scrapbook, now it is more like an obsession for me. As you know scrapbooking can be very addictive and expensive but there is nothing more satisfying than looking back at your layouts and remembering that memory. I love that scrapbooking allows me to express or tell a story. I am not able to do this by simply placing a picture in a frame. By using paper that coordinates with my pictures or adding a simple quote allows me to let my viewer know more about what is happening in that picture. One thing is for sure, the possibilities of scrapbooking  are endless and  I  love  that the end result  is a layout that you will be proud to show off to others.

Trick or Treat

In the years that I have been scrapbooking, I had never created a Halloween spread. This seemed pretty odd to some people because apparently Halloween is one of the most scrapbooked seasons (I'm thinking probably Christmas is number one). This year for my family was pretty exciting because our little boy started to walk and could go trick and treating dressed as a monkey (a little bit anyways). I had also decorated my front porch for fall with hay bails, scarecrows, gourds and pumpkins so we could get some great Halloween pictures; however, in doing this we discovered that I had forgotten our camera at my Moms. I ended up using the video camera to take pictures so the picture quality in this spread isn't too great. The paper I used here again was by: My Minds Eye (Haunted-"Spooky Words). The pinwheels don't really go to well with the spread but I only realized that afterwards. I used my cricket for the wording. After taking these pictures I ended up taking off a couple of pinwheels on the second page (the group of 3).

Designed and created by Rhonda Witzke

Viva Las Vegas

I recently got a cricket and needless to say I am addicted. I have found you can add so much more detail and touches with it to your creations. I created this spread "Viva Las Vegas" a couple of days ago only having the pictures for a couple of years now. In Las Vegas we dined at the United States first three star restaurant "Joel Robuchon". The colours in the restaurant were the most beautiful pinks that my eyes have seen. Given this, I found the perfect pink paper to scrap with: My Minds Eye - Lost & Found (Madison Avenue "Girlfriends"). The glimmer on the pages added the perfect speck of detail that I was looking for and the roses are made out of dictionary paper that matches nicely  with the writing that is on page two.

 I learned to make these roses from classes I have been taking with Roxanne Olsen through the Urban Scrapbook Store (check out her work through my page Urban Scrapbook Classes) . I have actually learned to make many, many different kinds of paper and cloth flowers (many, many are not exaggerations). You will most likely see them through my spreads. From Roxanne, I have learned that scrapbooking possibilities are endless.

Designed and Created by Rhonda Witzke