*IMPORTANT* Memory Works announcement. Memory Works will be going out of business December 31, 2013. Products on the website will be discounted and I can order for you until the end of December. Out of stock items will not be reordered. Please email me scrappingtales@gmail.com  to place an order, or if you would like more information.

And now for somthing completely different!

The past few weeks, I've been working on painting up a concrete lawn ornament.
 I "volunteered" to do this for my landlord. I'd never worked with concrete before, so seemed like a chance to try something new.

Did some research and bought supplies. We started out with outdoor craft paint, easy to find at any craft store.

     










But the results weren't super because he didn't want me to use primer (long story, the client is always right). And there were some imperfections on the concrete, even after cleaning that showed through the paint. So he went rogue and found something else from the hardware store he wanted me to try. Note that concrete is very porous and I will never not use a primer again.

 

 

 

Paint with built in primer, not specified for outside, but we gave it a whirl and the coverage was nice.

For the detailing portion, went back to trusty outdoor craft paint in Citrus Green (dead on match for your basic John Deere green). He's happy with how it came out and after putting a waterproof sealer on it, it will be placed in the yard.

 

 





Alcohol inks on wood embellishments

This past Saturday I was at the Captured Moments "Christmas in July" crop and had a lovely time as usual. One of the last layouts I started had a photo of part of an installation from a favorite artist of mine, Jenny Holzer. I also had yet to use wood cut embellishments on any major pieces and wanted to remedy that lapse.

First let's talk about Tim Holtz alcohol inks ~ vivid permanent pigments, mmm! I wanted to use these because I knew the colors would be just right for this project and that it would bring out the texture of the wood as well. I decided to go with a combination of Lettuce, Bottle and Mushroom.

 

I poured a little of each in a tray and used a little blending solution to smooth out my application.

 

 

 

 

I think this one is my favorite. The color has a luminous quality I really like. After they were dry, I sealed them with matte Mod Podge and added them to my layout.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the finished piece. Wasn't able to get the larger sized image to load, but you get the idea.

 

 

 

 

Smashing Fourth of July

Hope everyone was keeping cool over the holiday! It was a scorcher here, but the man and I went out and about in the early evening to hear some music and catch the fireworks. I'm still enjoying and using the I Heart Summer collection from Simple Stories. I had some colorful Sassafrass Lass paper, so threw that into the mix as well.

Just a reminder, I'll be at the Crop Circles Summer Lovin' Crop in East Greenbush on Saturday, July 20th. We'll be at the Holiday Inn and I will have a table with products for sale. Hope to see you there!

Cropping @ the Library

Went to a lovely *free* crop at the East Greenbush Community Library yesterday. This was a Capital District Crop Circles event hosted by my good friend Carol Casatelli Vivenzio.

I've been using the new Simple Stories I Heart Summer collection for quite a few things lately. Here's a layout about my unseasonable freckles popping out during an unusual spell of HOT weather we had at the end of May. Everything is Simple Stories except the washi tape.

Used one of the cute printables she passed out to complete this smash page. I love incorporating doodling into my work.

I didn't make these at the crop, but I will have kits available for sale to make one of these adorable altered mini-composition books. More of the I Heart Summer line!

If you come out to the Capital District Crop Circles "Summer Lovin' Crop" on July 20th, 2013, I will have a table with Memory Works products to sell & some finished items. We'll be at the Holiday Inn Express, Route 4, East Greenbush, NY 12061, so come on down for some scrapping fun!

NSD Crop at Albany Yacht Club

Very late to posting on this, but it was too fun not to cover. Better late than never!

I went to a wonderful small crop at the Albany Yacht Club on May 4th. Here I am sharing a table with my scrapping buddy Kathleen.

We had lunch right on the Hudson River ~ beautiful day!

There was a 2 page layout workshop given by one of the hostesses. Here's the one I finally finished up today. Photo is my youngest sister sacked out on Grandma's couch in 1972.  We used mostly Close To My Heart products. Don't you love the Bumble paper?! You can find out more about it on Carol's site

Also worked on some new smash pages. Very nice day!

Spring/Summer 2013 Catalog here!

Email scrappingtales.gmail.com if you would like to receive a catalog. Or click on the link at the top right under Order Products section to go directly to the website.