The Glamorous Life of a Travel Teacher...Papertrail6

This past July I had the awesome adventure of traveling with Eileen Hull & Scotty for PaperTrail#6. We headed out to the Paper Arts Show. Eileen blogged all about our fun adventure which you can read Papertrail6Review . and review pt2 and review pt.3. As you can see we had a great time, Eileen did a fabulous write up so what can I possibly add? Well how about some behind the scenes stuff or what I like to call- "The Glamorous Life Of a Travel Teacher.

Here we are bright eyed and excited ready to go on Papertrail 6. As a mix-media/art journal teacher I already know that things can go wrong, product doesn't show up or is discontinued the minute you order it, you forget that 1 critical doohickey and you husband has to run it up to your local store for your class. Of course all the students ewww and ahhh over your 6ft5 Harley riding hubby- oh no wait that's another story. 

Going on this trip gave me a new appreciation of what exactly goes into that happy demo you see at local scrapbook convention. From the largest thing like 10 Big Shot machines to the tiniest brad. All these supplies have to be ordered, inventoried, packed and shipped or hand carried to the convention. Once you are there the crazy task of setting up, re-organizing, teaching multiple classes begins with little time in between for things like eating, sleeping, all those mundane tasks. As in local teaching that really important doohickey might be missing or packed in the wrong box, or shipped to the wrong show. Now what do you do? 30 students to 1 die. Well the fun begins after the show- late night kitting!!! 

For those of you who followed us on Instagram you got a peak at the behind the scenes stuff. Like me in my PJ's at 2am in our hotel room cutting out felt flowers. There is nothing else to do other than dig in and get the job done. However the secret is this is the fun stuff. This is where the zany stories come from. The late night giggles caused by sugar & caffeine overload that make trips like this memorable.

Another shot at the start of late night where we cut out 100 pieces of matt board. We - Eileen, Ann Butler & Cheri from Sizzix had an assembly line going from glue, to paper, to cutting. I bravely ran the Big Shot only realizing at pass #97 that I could turn the machine around and use my other arm to crank the handle. What can I tell you I was in the zone!

We survived!!!!

 

I also learned on this trip that when things go wrong there are strangers who will step up and help you like the police officer and the neighbor who got Scotty back on the road after he jumped the hitch, while his wife chatted with us as we blocked their driveway.

 Or the mechanic Eddie, who opened shop on a Sunday to help get us back on the road saving us a day and a hotel room all the while patiently explaining what a spark plug does in relation to coils. 

Or Madelaine who while friend to Eileen was a stranger to me but included me in a lovely dinner and even the wonderful gift giving that she had planned for her friends. Mine is the polka dot! Love this hand made case. So glad she did decide to adopt me in the end! Hop over to Eileens for the tour, Madelaine has the most amazing studio!

As we headed off the final stretch a big whopping 720 miles to go...

with amazing views of USA countryside...

 I learned my biggest lesson of all. If you eat a Dairy Queen Blizzard for dinner at 8pm you will have no problem driving until 4am!

I want to thank Eileen for this incredible opportunity and her generous spirit. It was certainly a full service adventure filled with life lessons, travel tips and teaching advice. I also got to knock some of those non-visited States off my list! Eileen even got me up & running on both Twitter and Instagram. I hope you enjoyed this snapshot of our adventure and for more fun keep an eye on Eileen's PaperTrail Adventures.

Eileen Hull"s Needlebook Art Journal Fun

Hi and Happy Thanksgiving weekend!!!! I hope your turkey is tender, your family fun and you make some great memories. In July I had the privilege of traveling on Paper Trail 6 with Eileen Hull. If you come back Saturday I will share a funny adventure from that crazy fun filled trip!

This is one of the sample's I made for the Paper Arts Show in July with Eileen's die cuts by Sizzix. Eileen has a large range of awesome dies both steel rule and thinlets. Two of my favorites are the Square Box and Needle Book dies. I used them to make an art journal book collection. *The magic of Eileen's dies is they both cut & score your material and can be used with very sturdy mat board. Basically the bends are created (scored) when your board is cut using the dies and makes assemble easy and your project sturdy.

 Here is my finished project. I am tempted to add some flowers and bling to the box but that thought is just marinating for the time being. I used the cube die and ran it through embossing folders before putting it together.To create a box instead of a cube, I simply left off the top - tada!

Each of my journals were made using the wonderful Needle Book die. Seriously love this die! As I love all things inky each book used a different technique which I carried through that book. 

This one for example was comprised of gelliprint papers. I art journaled each page using some of my favorite stamps. 

Taking paper signatures I bound my books with wax linen and added beads either on the threads left dangling or directly on the spine. An awesome paper to use is Rendr paper by Crescent. It has the ability to prevent bleed through to the other side- that is right no need to gesso your page first! 110 LB weight it is truly a wonder that even a wet spray ink does not bleed through.

 

My covers were each different in structure using either modeling past, embossing folder or stencil but all with Glimmer Mist sprays by Tattered Angels. Each cover is sprayed with a different color combo yet together they look fabulous!! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial & be sure to tune in Saturday when I share a fun story form PaperTrail6!!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Resin Craft Paper

Hello Blogland. Today I have a post on the Resin Craft site with my 2nd tutorial on making Resin Paper. Jump over there to get some great tips as I test different papers while we play with EasyCastResin!

Deck the Halls Ornament

Here it is November & time for some holiday fun. Today the Canvas Corp Crew are making ornaments! Go to the blog to see a ton of cool inspiration! Here is my finished Vintage Ornament.

I started with a wood ornament and paper from the Santa's Journey 8x8 Paper Pack. Cut the paper & adhere with decoupage glue. Once this is dry cover with glimmer glam to add a shiny glimmer protective coat and add color to the edges. 

Next I used a beautiful flower from Petaloo Paintables and spritzed it with Glimmer Mist. Once dry you can paint on glimmer glam to add glitter and this will add stiffness and protect the flower. When the glam is wet arrange the petals where you want them and set aside to dry. Once dry I added painted Glam on the center area over the beads to create interest. 

Next cut out your favorite tag from the Farmhouse Christmas Tag paper and paint a light coat with Organic Garden Glimmer Glam. This creates a nice transparent glaze. Add flower with a strong glue like glossy accents. I used a THoltz memo pin to add my tag. Adhere one of the Santa's Journey Charms & presto you have a beautiful vintage ornament to hang or give as a gift. 

Happy crafting!

Documented Life Project wk#13

Here is my next DLP yay! I actually started this in August enroute to FL. Where where does the time go?

March Theme
Making Your Mark (Doodles & Mark Making)
March 28
Art Challenge:  Make a Custom Element
Journal Prompt:  "Ride the energy of your own unique spirit." - Gabrielle Roth

Here is my finished page:

My product choices were limited as I was arting as we drove.  Using acrylic paint for my background with lots of stencil work.

Drawing is something I am challenged with as I haven't had a lot of practice. I kept it pretty simple using my messenger bag as the inspiration for my custom element. I figured I would be able to draw this. The doodles show up on the wings of my cute owl. 

The title comes from the prompt but I went with no journaling this week. Fun easy layout. You can join us here at The Documented life Project. I am excited to move into May!

Inspiration Wednesday week#8

Yes another week done, my book is starting to look all nice and chunky! I actually skipped #7 as I wasn't keen on it and I am ok with that. You can't like everything and I am giving myself permission to skip a week if I don't feel inspired by it. Week #8 however i loved and even though it is a repeated technique in the class I ended up with something completely different. Mainly as I used different colors and added extra texture embellishments but I love this page! It is so rich, lush and metallic in real life. So without further delay I give you Fall!

Nummy!! Which seems to be my favorite word these days. You can join the fun with Donna Downey!

Christmas Time!!!!

No time to waste!!! As I seem to be missing months this year I for the safety of my sanity have decided to jump into the Christmas Spirit immediately. THIS WILL BE THE YEAR!!! I will be organized ahead of time & enjoy the holidays and the month of December's joy DAMN IT!!! Like most of my friends we scramble and jump and stress while the lovely spirit of Christmas becomes a big fat chore-to-do list. My illusions that I will spend time a week before Christmas in a mall bar sipping a Christmasy drink and enjoying watching people scramble, safe in the knowledge that I am fully ready have yet to be realized. Last year a group of friends signed up for my plan and NONE OF US WAS READY!!! In the wonderful spirit of that joy here is my Linnie Blooms post for the month.

Also in the spirit of getting things done this is my page for the wonderful The Documented Life Project. 

April Theme
Color Safari (Exploring Inks and Paints)
April 25
Art Challenge:  Inks
Journal Prompt:  Before the Ink is Dry

I am embracing this weekly project and doing it when I can so while I am ions behind that is ok. (sssh I know this is an April prompt don't tell anyone) I am loving the times when I can play. Apparently I will have all kinds of time in December to catch up!!! To see the full tutorial on this page and be sure to check out her new Holiday canvas shape bundle, jump over to Linnie Blooms here. Enjoy!!!