Room Service

I had a bunch of stuff on my desk from my last Studio Calico order and this picture of a room service dinner from one of my favourite hotels. I love the Studio Calico stamp and die sets that are coming out now that feature different continents. I wanted the Europe one as soon as I saw it but it was out of stock. As soon as I saw they had it back in, I ordered it right away. If you’ve been waiting too, you can find it here.

Room Service

The background paper was a piece I found in the far back of my scrap basket. It had a pale grid and texture print on it that kept the layout looking more casual than it would have with a pure white cardstock. I stamped the Europe stamp onto some glassine/tissue type paper with some watermark ink and then added gold embossing powder. I like the effect it gave even though it was a bit less crisp that if I had stamped it on vellum. I added a bunch of transparent layers with washi tape and acrylic die cuts, and some graphic touches with multiple stampings of black ink.

Products:

My Mind’s Eye, Necessities, Black & Grey 6×6 paper pad
Studio Calico, 3×4 card
Studio Calico, Europe, stamp set
Tsukineko, VersaMark WaterMark ink pad
World’s Greatest Embossing Powder, Ultra Detail Mirror Gold, embossing powder
Marvy heat gun
Tim Holtz, Distress Ink, Pumice Stone
Ranger, foam blending tool
American Crafts, Amy Tangerine, Cut & Paste, One Two Three
Studio Calico, Aloha stamp set
Studio Calico, Zeus stamp set
Tsukineko, VersaFine, Onyx Black ink
EK Success, Triple Heart Punch
Recollections, Fall, brads
Studio Calico, Silver Glitter letter stickers, Tiny Alpha in yellow, and acrylic die cut
misc. washi tapes and sequins

Fallingwater Cafe

A little warning – this post will be longer than most. I love, always have loved, Frank Lloyd Wright and Fallingwater, and tend to ramble when I come across a chance to talk about them. :)

During the road trip of 2005, we also visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous design, Fallingwater, near Mill Run, Pennsylvania. It consistently makes the lists for places to visit before you die and most recognizable buildings in the world, has been featured on the cover of Time Magazine, and has recently been nominated to be placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites list. The home, and Wright, provided inspiration for the Vandamm residence in Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, and inspired Ayn Rand when she created the character of Howard Roark in Fountainhead. It is a captivating piece of architecture that includes design elements that continue to be on the edge of what is happening now. It’s timeless, and gorgeous, and anyone who loves architecture or design will love how the site is cared for and protected.

It’s set up so that you can walk through the main home and the guest house with a guide. The guides are wonderful – they know the history, the facts, the rumours, the stories, and it’s obvious they have a passion for the place. There are also trails on the grounds that you can walk along unescorted, and getting to see the home from various points on the hills around Bear Run.

We opted to buy tickets for the longer tour that allowed visitors to take photographs and I’m so glad we did. We also set aside the whole day to be there, and that let us wander the paths and enjoy some time in the beautiful Visitor’s Centre. The Centre is in a pavilion designed by Spanish architect Paul Mayén. It too has been recognized for how well it blends in with it’s surroundings, and is the perfect compliment to the site and to Wright’s intentions for it. There is also a lovely cafe and gift shop, and places to sit and relax before or after your walk.

Fallingwater Cafe

I made such a simple layout for this photo. Partially because images from this day bring up so many full memories that I don’t feel the need to add much, but also because Wright disliked too much ornamentation and it felt wrong to ‘cluttering up’ something that had been so perfectly designed in the first place. Odd? Probably… :)

Products:

Recollections, kraft cardstock
Glitz Design, Uncharted Waters, Scallop
Teresa Collins, Nine & Co., Rub-Ons
Jenni Bowlin Studio, Canning Jar Fun, Rub-Ons
Basic Grey, letter stickers
American Crafts, DIY Shop, Cork Sticker Arrows
Ranger Foam Blending Tool
Tim Holtz, Distress Ink, Pumice Stone
My Mind’s Eye, The Sweetest Thing, Bluebell, round brads
My Mind’s Eye, The Sweetest Thing, Bluebell, enamel dots
My Mind’s Eye, Now And Then “Milo”, Inspired, enamel dots
My Mind’s Eye, Collectable, Notable “Cute”, enamel dots
Tsukineko, Memento, Tuxedo Black ink

Moon Over Niagara

We decided to take a quick trip to Niagara Falls for lunch one Sunday. It was a lovely day to be there – clear skies, crisp air, and every change of the light was beautiful. One of the special things about living close to the Falls is getting to see them at different times of day and different times of the year. Seeing them in the middle of summer with huge crowds moving around, all the sounds and colours, is exciting. Seeing them on a day when there are only a few people out, you get the chance to be still and notice the sound of the water and how the mist changes. On this day, we sat just before the brink of the falls and watched as the sky changed colour and the moon came up. It was easy to appreciate just why this is a wonder of the world.

Moon Over Niagara

I wanted to create a layout that avoided the typical blues and nature items I would have normally reached for. I wanted to pick things that tied in to my thoughts on that day. Feathers reminded me of how the mist floated up into the air, and doilies reminded me of how this has been a special place for centuries. I cut out some of the hexagons and used distress inks to colour the paper behind them. I suppose the idea of something below the surface ties in to the river as well.

Products:

American Crafts white cardstock
Webster’s Pages, Alisson Kreft, Composition & Color, Chalk Prints
Wilton 4″ doilies
Studio Calico wood veneer feathers
Starform, border stickers
Basic Grey, BAS-3984 letter stickers
Basic Grey, Oliver, Micro Mini letter stickers
Copic, B34 Manganese Blue
Studio Calico, Mister Huey’s Mist: Opaque White, Shine
Tim Holtz, Distress Inks: Weathered Wood, Faded Jeans, Wild Honey
Ranger, Foam Blending Tool
Studio L2E, Labels & Tags, clear stamps
Memento, Tuxedo dye ink
Recollections, 1-1/2″ Circle punch
misc: washi tape, date stamp, ATG, Tombow Mono Multi, Fiskars Trimmer

Boathouse: Buffalo

On a trip to Buffalo, New York, we stopped by the then newly built boathouse. It hadn’t been opened to the public yet but when we stopped by, a member of the building committee was on site and asked us if we wanted to take a look inside. It was wonderful luck – I love Frank Lloyd Wright, and to be one of the first to walk through one of his buildings was such a privilege. The boathouse is used for rowing, and also community and private events. More information can be found on their website.

Boathouse: Buffalo

This layout is the first I made using the Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer that I wrote about on Tuesday (you can check out my review of it here). I love the idea of using graph paper for the background, and how the mist from Copic markers mimic the main tones in the photo. Before I attached anything to the graph paper I used a typewriter to add some journalling. The photo represents the process of designing and constructing a building to me, so I wanted the layout to have a documented, office-y (okay, not a word), feel to it. I also knew I wanted to include some of Frank Lloyd Wright’s signature colour – Cherokee Red (Pittsburgh Paints Color #6432-7). An office supply tag was the perfect way to introduce the colour and it worked with the office-y (sorry, it’s all I got), feel. To make sure the red on the tag didn’t look out of place, I also used it for the title.

Products:

Studio Calico, Journal Kit, ledger/graph paper
Recollections, grey cardstock
Tim Holtz, Distress Marker Spritzer
Studio Calico, Mister Huey’s, Elongated Hexagons mask
Copic, B34 Manganese Blue
Copic, B99 Agate
Copic, W3 Warm Grey No. 3
Copic, W6 Warm Grey No. 6
Staples, Shipping Tag, Size 1
Simple Stories, Urban Traveller, Expressions Cardstock Stickers
Tim Holtz, idea-ology, Label Letters
My Mind’s Eye, Wicked, black enamel dots
washi tape, roller date stamp, Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Product Review: Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer

I had walked past this tool for months before I bought it. It always caught my eye, but I wasn’t convinced it would give me the look I wanted – a fine, delicate, even mist, from the markers I already had. I didn’t want to have to buy more markers – I have a bunch of Copics and I wanted something that would work with them. I finally Googled the tool, found this video of Tim Holtz showing how it could be used with any marker, and that was enough for me to give it a try.

When I got it home, I knew after the first spritz that it was perfect. It worked just how I wanted with my Copics, but also with any other marker I tried. It is easy to switch out markers – very quick, and no clean up required. You can control how intense the colour goes on by how close you hold the tool to the paper. Much like with mists, the closer you hold the tool to the paper, the more dense the ink goes on and the more you can see the direction of the spray. Hold the tool a bit farther from the paper and you have an even, fine application of ink without loosing any intensity of colour.

Tim Holtz Spritzer

You can overlay colours to create a very natural blend or gradation from one to the other – it is very easy to get soft blends from one colour to another. You don’t have to wait to add more colour the same way you do with mists. It is such a light spray of ink that goes on that the paper doesn’t warp, dries very quickly, and doesn’t bleed through. The paper I tried it on is a notebook weight grid paper by Studio Calico, and you can see that there is absolutely no warping or rippling, and there was no bleed through on the back of the paper.

I love being able to use my Copics in another way, and that I can mist things in any colour I want. It doesn’t take up much room and doesn’t need any sort of refills. It is inexpensive ($15USD at both Scrapbook.com and A Cherry On Top), and well made. If you like misting or want a new way to create backgrounds for stamped images, this is a great tool to have around.

If you’re interested in what the first layout I did using the Spritzer looks like, be sure to check back on Thursday for that post.

Elixir: Pipilotti Rist

I went to see Pipilotti Rist’s art exhibit, Elixir, when it was installed at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland. It was stunning and unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.

From the moment you walk in, when you’re asked to take your shoes off, you are immersed in the exhibit. There are carpets for you to sit on and watch the video projected on the walls, and long snake-like cushions to rest your head on while you lie back to watch the images projected on the ceiling. Bottles hang from branches that are suspended from the ceiling, and their shadows overlap and merge with the video. Each section of the exhibit is different, but they’re all connected and it feels very natural to wander from one part to the other. It is timeless and relaxing, while stimulating and thought provoking at the the same time. I don’t have the words to explain how it feels to be in the installation – which does’t make for a good blog post. The artist says, “Elixir can be medication for the mind… a hospital for the mind and the spirit.” That is probably the best description.

If you want to hear Pipilotti Rist speaking Elixir, and see a few images of the exhibit, you can click here to watch a short video.

Elixir: Pipilotti Rist

I love bokeh prints and vellum, and this was the perfect layout to use them both on. It can be hard to create any air, ethereal feel with papers, and using photos that have so much dark and shadow in them didn’t make it any easier. I decided to use as many translucent elements as I could, and to mat the photos on black cardstock so that it didn’t look as though I was completely ignoring such a obvious part of the photos. I cut the elongated gold diamonds from some office file folders that happened to be the colours I was working with.

Products:

Webster’s Pages, Strawberry Fields, Field of Gold
Crate Paper, Flea Market, bokeh vellum
Studio Calico, plastic die cut arrows
sequins
Ranger, Glossy Accents
Basic Grey, Spice Market, letter stickers
Fancy Pants, Burlap & Bouquets, Sticker Fundamentals
Scotch, washi
Tim Holtz, Distress Ink, Pumice Stone
Ranger, Foam Blending Tool
Wink Of Stella, Clear

Love Blink

It feels like forever since I’ve posted anything! Not sure that two weeks counts as forever in the blogging world, but it feels that way. Life got busy, my studio got turned upside down, and it took way longer for me to get things back to normal. My space is still a mess – now of regular projects and all the christmas supplies I’ve pulled out for holiday projects, but it’s a good mess. The kind of mess that just invites cutting and gluing and all sorts of creative play.

Today’s layout was a quick one. It was my first layout in a couple weeks and it always takes me a layout or two to get back in the groove of things. If someone tells you that creativity is effortless – it’s not! I grabbed a few supplies and tried not to overthink it. I might change it up in the future, but it’s going in the album just like this for now. I love the squinty look my cat gives me when she’s content. It’s as though she’s so mellow and carefree that she can only pull off half a blink. More than the layout, that photo – the memory, is what I want in my album.

The patterned papers are all Project Life cards, and I used dimensional stickers and foam dots to add dimension. I kept to a narrow colourway of white, grey, and shades of pink and coral, and I used two different fonts to add some subtle interest.

Products: