Happy Halloween!

So, there's this strange old man who comes by my office sometimes.  And in a creepy pervy kind of voice he says things like "do you like candy?"  And he reaches in his pocket and gives candy to me and my coworker, Kristy.  So, Kristy andI have kind of a running joke with what we call "pocket candy."  There is one particularly crusty chocolate tootsie pop that we play "dirty santa" with.  She will hide it the drawer with my toothbrush then I'll sneak it into her purse, then she'll put it in my lunchbox after lunch so I don't realize it until I get home, etc.  Her best one so far is leaving it in a lawn decoration on my front porch. 

Today, it was my turn.  I took a whole slew of tootsie pops and wrapped them up and made all these fabulous fake flowers (all with scraps from old pages, etc.).  These are Kristy's favorite colors.  As you can see in the second pic, I also stamped and punched some dragonflies and butterflies and attached them to some pipe cleaners left over from Aidan's Halloween goodie boxes last week.  The whole thing is arranged in an old plaasic cookie box leftover from Christmas last year and decorated with more scraps.  For the base to put the flowers in, I took the box that the tootsie pops came in, covered with more tissue paper and poked a few holes in top to arrange the flowers in.

I put a note on it that says "pocket full of posies or posies full of pocket candy?"  LOL!  I can't wait to see how she'll get me back.

Make it Your Own - Parasailing Mosaic

For this layout, I took elements from a kit I had purchased from Dillons Laser Designs.  I loved the elements of the kit, but I couldn't make my pictures fit it.  Instead, I made the kit fit my mosaic!  I simply cut the pieces I needed off of the layout and used them like die-cuts.

I used an 8x10 enlargement of the parachute to get my 1" frame tiles. 

I should have left a little room for journaling because the cute story that went with these pics is that as the parasailing employee began to unfurl the parachute, he says "I bought the best parachute money can buy . . . . at Walmart!"  (as the giant smiley face was revealed!) 

This may be a chance for me to use that "hidden journaling" technique that Kevin taught at CKC Cincinnati, no?

Camo Kid! Kayden on his 4-Wheeler!

My handsome nephew, Kayden, got a 4-wheeler for Christmas last year.  He had really been wanting one for a while.  When he discovered this one in the garage on Christmas he said "Aww, man, somebody got the four-wheeler I wanted!"  He was so excited when he found it WAS for him. 

I didn't have a lot of pictures from the first date he got it (it was cold out!) and only a few pictures  here-and-there from other days when he started riding it.  So, unlike most of my pages, which consist of pics from a single day/event, these pics all just represent this child's love for dirt (and his 4-wheeler, of course!)

The neutral colors on this DIRT layout look kind of muted in this pic.  In real life, I have inked the edges of all the paper squares and the die-cut elements and I don't think it looks so "washed out."

Fridays are for Friends - Erika's Baseball Layout

Great minds think alike?  Erika took a lot of the same kind pictures that I took at the Reds Game.  She even used the same custom Reds paper, but look how different her layout looks.  My layout was a little "cluttered."  Erika's has all of these cool strips of paper aligned neatly so that you can clearly read the words.  She is so meticulous and it really gives her pages a "professional" feel to them!  I think she's got this Mosaic thing going on!

Words of Wisdom

I've been feeling so creative lately.  I picked up a bunch of mosaic paper at CKC Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago and my creative juices have just been flowing like crazy, ever since.  My girlfriend, Alicia, looked up a little astrology for me today and it seems to fall in line with what I've been feeling.  I have been compelled to stay up at night because I have all these great ideas flowing in my head.  I've been seeing mosaic elements in my photos and in layouts on other websites, etc.  I just keep finding inspiration and I can't seem to get it all on paper fast enough!

"You should make photographs with your heart, mind, eye and soul.  The capture device is simply there to allow you to transfer your vision to a medium that you can share with others."  Bill Frakes

Deep, huh???

Bling It On!

So, I saw a layout similar to this, but it wasn't a mosaic.  The layout just spoke to me and I knew I could do it as a mosaic.  The piece that had been my inspiration had stitching around each photograph and I knew I wasn't up for all that!  But, I decided to use Stickles and bling this layout up.  By using a second sheet of the same paper, I layer a second layer of the waves and the seagulls on the upper right with dimensional adhesive squares.  I also traced the existing wave paper with color-matched Stickles to make it pop.  Lastly, I added some die-cut seagulls in a couple of other places to tie it all together.

The 1" squares on the border are alternated photographs of seagulls, pelicans and the kids, interspersed with pics of sand and colored paper squares.

Tuesdays Are All About Techniques

DIY Panoramics

Nope, I don't have one of those fancy cameras that takes panormic photos.  As it turns out, I don't need one!  For this panoramic view, I used the "mending horizons" technique featured on page 53 of Tami Potter's "Designing Photo Mosaics and More" book. 

To do this, you align your photos side by side, syncing them up at a common horizon line.  Then, you cut your desired height (2 1/8, 3 2/8, etc.) with the photos aligned at that position. 

I also used some pre-printed Niagara Falls paper for the photo mats and accent pieces. 

Baseball!

So, I did a mosaic layout about our Reds game outing for my niece, Samantha's, album.  I used the  We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy stitch template to sew a 1" strip that I used across the right side page.  I used some custom "Cincinnati Reds" paper that I purchased at a local scrapbook store for accent pieces.

I used the same technique and materials to create a "traditional" non-mosaic layout for my nephew, Owen's, page about the same trip.

My Students Are My Best Inspiration!

Tracy, my sister, was my first pupil!  She has been very patient with me.  Nowadays, she is the master of the Mosaic Moments Quick Cut Guide and lining up all of her photos to cut the perfect squares.  This is her favorite mosaic so far, and it's easy to see why . . . . the black paper plays up the dark, rich caverns.  And, could my nephew (Aidan) be any cuter? 

More from Erika!

Although this photo doesn't do it justice, I just had to share Erika's second mosaic, too.  Check out those Legos!  What a great texture to play up!