friday . . .

4.30.2010

I am still here - just playing the avoidance game a bit - not that I really want to avoid all of you wonderful readers out there - you all keep me blogging :) The truth is I made a very important decision recently & I have just been waiting until I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I think with any loss, comes great reflection. And I have been doing alot of reflecting. I rediscovered what is so fabulous about running these past few weeks - the time to just really think - no interruptions - just you and the silence. Within this silence my mind of course has been going a mile a minute just thinking about my priorities & if they have been in the right place. In the end, I made the decision to resign from Imaginisce, Scrap Within Reach, and GCD Studios. A VERY difficult decision, but in the end, I know it is the right one for me at this point in my life. I LOVE scrapbooking - it is my escape at the end of a long day & my way of documenting the wonderful moments I have experienced in my lifetime. However, the deadlines - well, when you have too many of them as I did, they tend to change all that - or at least they did for me. It became about getting it done & what pics work for this paper line & I need to take pics of this so that I have them for an upcoming assignment. It saddened me deeply - this hobby is about treasuring my memories & I think I was losing sight of that. Being a part of these teams was such an awesome journey & they are truly ALL fabulous companies to work for :) Each and every one of them was so understanding & kind after I shared my decision with them & I appreciate that tremendously because I feel so horrible about ending my terms early. I will still be continuing my position as sketch artist for Magpie Club, My Creative Scrapbook, and The Scrap Room as well as doing some guest designing here & there for the next few months :) AND - I will still be blogging - no worries :) I want to say a special thank you to all of you who took the time to leave such kind & thoughtful comments on my last post & to all of you who sent me such sweet emails (that I still have yet to finish responding to - sorry again). They ALL just touched me so much - I am so lucky to have such a fabulous & caring group of readers!!! Thank you ALL again from the bottom of my heart!!

Now, I couldn't leave you all without sharing some scrappiness - yes I am still scrapping. I had a number of assignments to finish up this month & being that I was away from the blogging scene for so long - I am going to overload you all with some pics :)

As mentioned in my last post, I had the wonderful opportunity to guest design for Paper Posies this month. For my third layout, Michele asked me to create a sketch along with it that she could share with her subscribers. Here is the sketch . . .

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And here is the layout . . .

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I really LOVE title work - the combination of more than one alpha set within a title always seems to make it "pop" more to me. There were 2 within this kit - the red and the ledger type blue & white - LOVED them both!!!

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I always see people doing this half-circle punch out thing - really liked the effect of the missing space & the little butterfly in there :)

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When I printed off this photo of my son a few weeks ago, I knew the color scheme was perfect for the GCD Studios Artsy Urban line. I just love how the mix of gold, maroon, and black in the patterned papers totally complimented the pic.

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I definitely love to layer, and this layout was no different. I used a combination of the border strips, inspiration cards, mat pads, journal cards, chipboard stickers and patterned paper to incorporate a number of patterns & colors into layout.

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I also wanted to add some dimension to the layout as well so I used some punched patterned paper & chipboard to create this cute flower.

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The flower was super easy & quick so I thought I would take a moment to share how you too can create this to use on your layouts :)

Handmade Flower Tutorial:

#1 First off, you will need 2 sizes of flower punches, patterned paper, paint, mist, twine, a chipboard circle, a thin paintbrush, and sandpaper.

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#2 Begin by punching 2 flowers of varying size. You want to make sure the patterned paper is double-sided because you will see both sides in the final flower.

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#3 Use the end of a thin paintbrush to curl up each petal.

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#4 Do this to every petal on both punched flowers.

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#5 Attach the smaller curled flower on top of the larger curled flower. I used a thick pop-dot so that the smaller flower was slightly raised above the larger.

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#6 Now you will need to create the center of the flower. Paint the front of a small chipboard circle & spray a light coating of mist on it. Once dry, sand the edges a bit to give it a distressed feel. Punch 2 small holes near the center to create the "button".

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#7 Using a piece of twine, tie a small bow through the holes of the button. Adhere this to your flower & voila - a fun & easy handmade flower to add to your layouts!!!

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And finally, some sneaks to share for pages I will be revealing over the coming week :)

Magpie Club Sneak :)

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And last but not least, a few sneaks from my upcoming Guest Designer spot over at Paper Poppy - if you haven't checked this kit club out you should. It is owned by a FABULOUS designer - Aphra Bolyer - who used to design for me when I was running 52 Sketches 52 Weeks. She has a knack for putting together some totally yummy kits & I had a ball designing with all the goodies she sent me :)

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Thanks again so much to all of you out there!!! I have the best readers ever & I so appreciate all the kindness & support you have shown me :) We are heading out to the mountains for some much needed family time but I will be popping in this weekend to post my FULL reveal for Paper Poppy so make sure to check back!!!

ttyl - julie

16 comments:

  1. Beautiful work, Julie! You have always been so inspirational to me. I think you've made the best decision for you and your family at this time. Your heart knows what's best. ;) Good luck to you.

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  2. So good to hear from you! I was starting to get worried since you blogged on regular basis. I could not find you email address. Well, I am glad you are fine and you just had to take some time to think. I was always wondering, how you managed to keep up with so many positions.
    Looking forward to seeing many more of you wonderful sketches.

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  3. wow - you are such a talent and it takes a lot of guts to do what you did. I can relate though - about getting the right pics for these papers and this shot for this assignment... you quickly lose sight of why you're doing this 'hobby' - for you or for the companies we 'work' for... My dh often kicks me back into reality when I become 'stressed or short with the kids and says - is this about that 'non-paying job' of yours again? Suppose to be for 'fun'. Good for you. I'll continue to be inspired by your work and words. Take care!

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  4. Oh Julie, such beautiful LO's. You are so very inspiring. I am glad you are running again. Jenny hit the nail on the head... in your heart you know what is best. You can totally lose site of why you do this with so very many deadlines. I, too, often wondered how you kept up! Your work is beautiful and we will always be here for you!!

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  5. such a good idea to find the joy in your scrapping again. :D

    thanks for the tutorial :D

    great pages :D

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  6. Beautiful pages as always! You will always inspire me no matter where you are! Glad you could make a decision for you - we ladies forget to do that way too often. Enjoy your weekend!

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  7. What great layouts!!! I hope you are able to find the joy in scrappiness again. Maybe you'll be able to do a few guest design spots or even entering some of the online challenges out there....so you get the best of both worlds. To share your craftiness with new people all the time, but not be tied to any deadlines that you can't back out of. :) :) :)

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  8. Hi Julie, Glad to hear that you have reached this difficult decision. I can totally understand how it would take the joy out of this wonderful passion of ours if you were under too many deadlines, not to mention, not really scrapping what you really wanted to scrap at the time. It is your families memories that are most important to be documented. I am so excited that you are guest designing at Paper Poppy this month. The sneaks look wonderful and I can't wait to see the full reveal! :)

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  9. You are amazingly talented, courageous and kind. I hope you have unlimited happiness and joy in your life. I adore these scrap lo's as always and of course the sketch is fantastic...and perfectly timed I might add I'm sure it will come in handy with NSBD on Sat. Be well my bloggy friend.

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  10. Hi Julie, Each day I would check to see if you blogged, and then I would say a prayer that you were o.k. You've had so much to deal with lately, I was hoping that you were taking some time to center yourself, and it seems that is so. Thank you for sharing your beautiful art and your self with all of us out here. You are truly an inspiration.

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  11. GORGEOUS LOs as always!!! So glad to see you back in blogland! Hope you are doing well!

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  12. Beautiful layouts, Julie! I'm glad you're back, refreshed and still scrapping. You are such an inspiration! :)

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  13. Good to hear from you...my you have certainly made some changes and you know we will be missing you at Imaginisce. Glad you are in a good place with it and totally looking forward to seeing all of your work with Aphra's kit. She knows how to really put together a winner. Take care -

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  14. Julie you are so very talented and I am glad you made the decision that works best for you and your family I know from experience owning and closing a LSS took all of the fun out of scrapping for me and it was my greatest passion before I decided to open the store and now after it has been closed for a year some of the stress is starting to leave and some of the passion for scrapping is coming back..I wish for you the best in the world:)Big Hugs~!!
    Cecile

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  15. Julie- I know that you made a hard decision,but it sounds like you did what was best for you. I have caught up with you on here and I am so inspired by your courage and strength. Happy that you are not leaving your blog and that we still get to see your fabulous talent! Gorgeous work above! Off to make some of those flowers- thank you for the tutorial!

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  16. You have made a very hard decision but it is one that bring you so much peace. You do incredible work--but you are right, the purpose of this hobby is to keep our memories. We don't need the added stress of doing it they way others want/need us to, or feeling the pressure of deadlines. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings :)

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