Musings Over a Shabby Chic Canvas

This is one of my last projects for the Graphic 45 2010 DT - a canvas with some of the new metal staples embellishments, Prima lace and flowers, and tons of white acrylic paint. Here's a little closeup. I painted the canvas all white, added some newsprint patterned papers and painted again. Then I added most of my embellishments, and then even more paint, to try to make them all blend in. Finally I added some flowers without painting them, to have some details that kind of popped.The quote is a favourite of mine, because surely, a home would just be four walls and a roof, if not for the people living in it. Being about to leave this home and setting up a new one, like I am, this becomes even more true, because the new house that we will move into in a while is quite a bit smaller than the one we live in now, with low ceilings and tiny rooms, but it doesn't matter, because my family will be there with me, and that's all that counts. That and the location of the house, the closeness to the sea, the billowing hills, the woods, the meadows, the silence and the fresh air that surrounds it. Also, the prospect of having a brand new house to start over in, like a blank canvas to fill with all the ideas that I have gathered in my mind over the years, is very appealing, to say the least.

Come to think about it, if you change the world home to art, this quote would be very appropriate to why I'm keeping this blog, and what I love most about papercrafting. "What I love most about my art is who I share it with." True, right? I'm blessed to have a whole bunch of good friends to hang out with, scrapping, laughing, sharing ideas and inspiration, and having a great time! I'm also blessed to have so many wonderful readers of my blog, who leave me the sweetest comments, and really cheer me up when I'm feeling a bit down. Thank you all for that ♥ It really means a lot to me.

Johanna - Jag skulle gärna vilja hjälpa dig där, men jag är inte säker på att finns något som kan få scrappade grejor att stå emot regn och rusk. Någon slags lack, kanske? Kolla med färghandeln, de kanske kan rekommendera något bra :)

Hello sunshine!

This beauty greeted me the other day, as I got out to the farm. Isn't it just gorgeous the way it opens up to greet the sun, and reflects it with it's bright orange pistil?

So, I guess most of you already know I wasn't asked back by Graphic 45 for another year. After spending a month on the Steampunk Mansion, and another month on coming up with brand new, never before seen, final round projects, I thought if that, and everything else I had put my heart and soul into this last year, wasn't good enough, I really must suck as an artist.

I lost a lot of inspiration there. Mr Mojo took his stuff and got out of here, so to speak. However, I cleared out my scraproom completely, and lo and behold, there he was, crouching behind all the Steampunk stacks, with my brand new DT-kit from Scraplagret in his hands, and quite a lot of stuff got done over the weekend. Unfortunately, I can't show any of it yet, but pretty soon I guess I will have this blog flowing over with new, lovely Prima, and some Crate from the last Nook kit, not to mention brand new Echo Park loveliness, which I already have some of, and which will also come in the next Nook kit, due on my doorstep any day.

So, all is well, Mr Mojo lingers, and I create for my own pleasure. And as my ever so cleaver little boy put it: "Mom, even if someone else didn't like what you do, I think you do nice things, and I like everything you've made for me. " And that's what matters, isn't it? He loves his Steampunk Mansion, and that makes it worth all the hours I put in.

But I'm sure as h*** never going apply for a second round of the same DT again. It really sucks knowing what you are missing out on!

Welcome to the Steampunk Mansion!

I can finally reveal this project to you - the Steampunk Mansion that I made for Graphic 45. This is my favourite project ever, with my favourite paper line ever, the Steampunk Debutante line. I don't think I will ever run out of ideas of what to do with these fantabulous papers. I just love them.

So, here is the house. It took quite some time to make it, but it was tons of fun. I am just going to show you a few photos of it, and if you want to see more and know the full story, hop on over to the Graphic 45 blog for a full tour of the mansion.

So relieved and happy...

...to see my name on this list. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done if I didn't make it this far. To me, there's nothing quite like Graphic 45. I would not be able to create the tings I do without Graphic 45. Sure, there are other manufacturers out there that make beautiful stuff, and I have been blessed to work with a couple of them too, but it is the Graphic 45 style that really keeps me going, and inspires me to do the things I do. I would not be where I am today without them, and being part of their design team for this past year has been such a wonderful experience that has touched my life in so many ways. I have been living my dream for one year.

Diane, Aimee, Charee, everyone else at G45, DT-girls of 2010 - I adore you!

It's that time of year again :)

Time for a new DT-call at Graphic 45, that is. I have been so happy being a part of their DT for this past year, and I would LOVE to be part of it yet another year. So keep your fingers crossed for me, dear blog readers, and with no further ado, here are my fifteen projects for the application.

No 1: The fairy house

No 2: the Come Angels garland I made for Christmas.

No 3: The Steampunk Balloon

No. 4: The Alice tree

No 5: The Curtain Call/May Arts mini dressform angel

No. 6: The Steampunk Mini

No 7: (my biggest and most favourite altered project ever, and this one hasn't been posted on the G45 blog yet, so you are only getting a sneakpeek so far) The Steampunk Mansion

No 8: Just Wonderful layout

No 9: Our Fairytale World layout

No 10: About a Boy layout

No 11: Sand Between my Toes layout

No 12: Beautiful Girl layout

No 13: Once Upon a Springtime card

No 14: Curtain Call card

No 15: Halloween in Wonderland pop-up card

So, what do you think? Do I have a chance to get on for another year? I sure hope so, because being on this team is wonderful, and I'm so inspired by these fabulous products and I have so very much more to give.

I can't tell you...

...just how much I would like to show you all the samples I made for the Graphic 45 booth at CHA. Or how much I would have loved to be there in person. But I get to have the second best, even though I won't be there. A fair number of layouts, cards and other projects that I made will be present. And I've put my soul into those projects, like I always do, so you could say that part of me will actually be there. Anyway, if you are going, be sure to stop by the Graphic 45 booth and say hi to the girls for me :)

And I would also very much like to show you what I made with the new lines, Le Cirque and Curtain call, but that will have to be a bit later. Instead here is a layout made with Steampunk Debutante. I'm pretty sure I will never grow tired of this line. In fact, I have a huge little Steampunk side project that I'm working on whenever I have a moment to spare. I have put in many, many hours, and it's still not even half done. Anyway, here's my boy again. Also, here are tons of cute chipboard gears from Imaginarium Designs, owned by my fellow G45 DT-member Jane.
Another detail shot:

My fairy house

I don't have much time to write anything fancy today. I just wanted to show you som pictures of the fairy house I made for Graphic 45 this month. The papers are from the fabulous Once Upon a Springtime Collection.

This must be the home of a Scrapbook fairy, don't you think? :)

Oh well, I'm off for some new adventures. See you!

It's approaching fast!

Christmas, that is! Wow, I wonder where on earth November went? I know, I know, there's still almost half of it left, but the days are flying past so quickly! I mean, normally I can't wait for November to be over, but this year, it's ridiculous how busy I am and how little time I have left to do things I really want to do. And at the same time, I try to prepare what most likely will be the last Christmas we will ever celebrate in this house. I want it to be special, something to always remember.

I am dying to start decking the halls, but I realize it's still way to early, and I try hard to restrain myself in that matter. However, if you make a Christmas thing that isn't all that Christmas-y, then it must be OK to put it up, right? Even though it's still only November, right? So, I took out my Graphic 45 Christmas Past Deluxe Edition papers and made this garland.
"Kom änglar" is Swedish for Come Angels, and that is the title of a song I love very much, by Swedish singer/songwriter Lars Winnerbäck. You can listen to it here.

And I'm ready for the angels to come now, and bring some Christmas spirit to our house!

See, it didn't thake that long until my next post. I think my break from blogging is now officially over :)

What a week...

This has been a week full of worries, and unfortunately, things did not exactly turn out the way we wanted them this week. So, today, when all is said and done, I feel like a balloon that lost all of the air inside... I guess you all know that feeling. Well, one can put it like this: our weekend just opened up, and we decided to do the best with it, so tomorrow we are taking the kids out for some adventure... They will hopefully be really pleased with their old boring parents for once, because this summer has not been much fun for them, poor little ones. P and I have been so busy, and it was all going to come to an end today, but that didn't happen.

Anyway, here's a balloon that didn't lose air. It's made with the brand new yummylicious Steampunk Debutante collection from Graphic 45. Can you not love this? The colors, the patterns, everything about this collection is just so gorgeous!!! And I'm so lucky to be on the Graphic 45 DT and actually have these papers in hand, not just drooling over them on the screen, like I have so many times before.
See those gears and stuff? Sometimes having a 7-year-old boy that collects stuff can come in pretty handy, because I bribed him into give me some of his stash. LOL.

And then there is Hallowe'en in Wonderland... another must-have. It's already in shops, so what are you waiting for? Go buy!

I made a pop-up card with these papers. The little playing cards come from one of the papers in the 8X8" paper pad, and they are so darn cute! I love it that these papers come in both 12X12" and 8X8", because the smaller ones are perfect for cards. You can also see a few items from the Staples collection - the new line of G45 embellishments - the flowers, the trims and the TEA letters. Gorgeous, aren't they?

Here's the inside of the card where I've used a mix of cut-out designs and tags:

So, that's it for today. It's way past bedtime here, and it will be a busy day tomorrow. Have a great weekend, everyone!

A whole lot of Graphic 45!

Even though I'm on summer break, and shouldn't be having all that much to do, my days are still busy, busy, busy. But it's the fun kind of busy! I'm painting furniture, cleaning out cupboards, trowing away old junk, you know, all those things you seldom find time for when you work long hours. And the kids are having friends over to play too. I was supposed to lean back, put my feet up and relax this week, but I'm just going to have to put that off for a few more days. There are so many things I feel like doing right now. Plus I have a few scrap assignments keeping me busy as well :) And then there is a huge project coming up, hopefully in a few weeks, that will keep me busy for a long, long time, and that I can't wait to get started on!!! I'm so friggin' excited about that one. Will tell you all about it in a while, if things head in the direction I'm hoping for.

Here's what I made last month for Graphic 45.

Remember those dictionaries I said I'd alter? Here's another one. I crumbled, inked and misted the pages, and then I decorated with Le Romantique papers and tags, and a few goodies from Prima as well.

Here's a layout, also from Le Romantique. These photos are from Agnes' photo session at her daycare. Her hair was a total mess that day, but nevertheless, she is adorable, my little one ♥

Here I've used an older collection, Times Nouveau, combined with a little bit of A Proper Gentleman. I've been sitting on this photo of Albin and his grandmother for ages, and finally I scrapped it.

So, right now I'm planning for a late night of scrapping with the Nook July kit ♥, and Alice in Wonderland running on the computer to keep me company.

Have a nice weekend, everyone!

Blogswap with G45 and Tombow

I'm at home again today with sick kids. We have had the worst sick period in ages, and it ncouldn't come at a worse time for all of us. Today it's fever again, and both of them have been coughing through the night.

So, there's nothing bad that doesn't have anything good in it, is there? Because now I can let you know about the blogswap that is going on at the Graphic 45 blogGraphic 45 has teamed up with Tombow, and all of us in the design team got a fabulous set of adhesives and pens with our DT shipment this month. Throughout the week, there will be projects and tutorials and stuff shown every day, and there will also be a huge giveaway, so comment as much as you can to have a chance at winning that one. Be sure to check out the Tombow blog too, to see what their design team has made with Graphic 45 papers.

I would also like to share with you a little box I made with Graphic 45 Le Romantique, and tons and tons of Glimmer Mist :)
A perfect gift box for someone you love, or for someone who's getting married.

OK, so now I'm off to check on my little ones again. And you should go visit the blogswap.

Have a nice Monday, everyone.

Altered dictionary part 2

Remember my mission to find as many ways as possible to alter a dictionary? Well, here's another one I made as one of my monthly assignments for Graphic 45. I've always wanted to make a little "secret box" out of a book, and here it is. I have used the most wonderful papers from A Proper Gentleman, a Zutter Perfect Closure and some Gadget Gears, cut out with my Tim Holtz die. A little Tim Holtz key managed to find its way on there too.
So, here's the inside. It took a while to cut out the hole in all of those pages, but I really like how this box turned out, so it was well worth the effort. I used quite a lot of Glimmer mist and ink to give the the book a worn, shabby look. My son got this box, and he is now using it to store
Pokemon cards :)

So, I hope you all have a great spring Saturday. Here, it's raining heavily right now, but I'm hoping for better weather later today