Scrapbook-Bytes Goodness

On Digital Scrapbooking Day I purchased a few items from Scrapbook-Bytes. I guess I wasn't really paying attention to what was on the website because yesterday I received an email from them and I was pleasantly surprised. Because I had spent more than $10 in their store that weekend I was given a coupon for a free Digital Scrapbooking Day Designer Collaboration Kit (valued at $50). It has 75 papers, 143 elements and 3 alphas. I was so excited and it's a beautiful kit. So thanks Scrapbook-Bytes you made my day!

Digital Scrapbooking Day Shopping Finds

I must admit I have never before bought any digital scrapbooking supplies, usually I just love downloading digital freebies. This Digital Scrapbooking Day however I did take advantage of a few sales and bought the following items. Can't wait to use them!!

Guest Blogger Bonita Rose On Art Journaling

Bonita Rose, This is me.

I am what you'd like to call a RENAISSANCE WOMAN. I really am. I have a lot of passions. A lot of things I love to play with in my studio. Somedays - it's just hard to choose what I want to create that day. So many things and projects appeal to me.. it's hard to choose! Paper crafting is my first passion. I love paper, plain and simple. I am still a firm believer in sending real mail and real cards in the mail, I love filling writing journals and my art journals with stories of my life, and I am a firm believer in using pretty things to tell your story, to tell my story.

I love to write. I love to write. I'm a writer at heart and it's one reason I have such an active blog. Writing comes easy and I so believe in telling the stories behind the photos. The stories that may not seem so obvious.

I learned to sew this past year, and am getting my toes wet when it comes to my sewing machine.. I love stitching on paper and love the pretty effects just some colored thread can give to a simple card or layout.

I have dabbled in jewelry making as well. I create my own talisman mantra pendants and map pendants for my shop, as well as bloom earrings and rings... always with lots of color!

Mixed media is another passion. I love playing with paints, acrylic inks and stencils in my work.. and using bits of found papers in my art. For me, anything goes!

I have been art journaling and playing more with paints and media for about one year - before that -- it was mostly just paper. Who knew how much I would love it?

I am truly a spontaneous artist. My Studio is jam-packed full of supplies, which reminds me, I seriously need to declutter and destash.. my room is busting at the seams! I usually sit down with a vague idea of what I want to work on for that day, but then, I just choose colors and mediums, and paper spontaneously -- whatever moves me, whatever I reach for at the time. I work better that way.. I honestly don't really plan any of my art.. it just happens!

You can visit my blog here, I blog daily a few times a day, I love blogging!

My etsy shop is here, vintage finds and colorful playful art.. all kinds of art!

Find me on Pinterest here.

My Flickr group of sets is here.

Friend me on Facebook here!

Twitter feed is here.

All About Art Journaling Beginning to play with papers and paint. Art journaling. Altered Art. It's really so much fun playing with color and paint etc.. Let your play-time be really PLAY time!

Here's what I would suggest to get started: -- a large 18x24 pad of newsprint, found at you local Michaels or online at Dick Blick, to cover your work area on your desk. you tear a bunch of pages off and just lay on your desk where you work.. it will protect your surface.. I usually use a painters cloth under that over my entire desk as well... just to be sure nothing splatters etc. -- one bottle of white gesso -- stencils and masks to use with spray inks etc. Make sure to get some Punchanella from my shop here! -- So much fun to use as stencils and masks on your pages! -- get some tumble tie dye inks fr robenmarie.com in her Artgoods shop.. They spray very bright colors and are great spray inks to use, plus they work on fabrics too! -- cheap bottles of acrylic paints -- paint brushes - bristle brushes and foam brushes! -- an empty jar or tin cans for water for your table -- Golden gel medium, matte or modge podge , matte or glossy - decoupage medium.. love it! -- cheap sponges for sponging on acrylic paints onto your pages -- glitter if you like glitter! brush on some modge podge then sprinkle some glitter! -- watercolor paper 90 lb or 140 lb.. 140 lb is thicker and holds more water without buckling, just more sturdy -- you can find paper pads at Michaels. -- a watercolor set of paints or watercolor pencils or crayons, so much fun to play with watercolors! -- thrifted or vintage old books for ephemera to use torn book pages on your pages. -- magazine cuttings, so fun! keep those magazines! -- black rollerball pens for doodling over paints -- if you like sewing, fabric scraps for your pages! You can also add fabric to your pages using modge podge, just brush on the page, put fabric on top, then cover with decoupage medium! -- and don't forget your inkpads and your rubber stamps! So many possibilities!

2 Peas Sunday Blogger Challenge

hi bloggers.. your challenge today is journaling!!

do you think you do enough of it? does it always relate to the story?

In all honesty my journaling really varies depending on what I am doing. When I make actual paper layouts I tend to journal more. For some reason with my digital layouts they are kept fairly simple with just a bit of journaling. When i am planning layouts I often think of tons of things I want to say - stories I want to tell - things from my heart I want to share, but then when I am actually completing the layouts my mind is so focussed on making a nice page that I often forget to include the most important part - the journaling from the heart. I do however get in my fair share of journaling with this blog - it is my outlet - my escape. Where I can put down my thoughts, speak from my heart and speak all that's in my head. I should start speaking on my scrapbook pages the way I do while writing these blog posts. Perhaps this is going to be my new challenge to myself - to journal on my scrapbook pages from the heart.

2 Peas Friday Blogger Challenge - Creating

Please feel free to join us if you blog

Challenge~
Do you feel that sometimes you get in over your head with things your creating?

Thankfully I have never felt like I have gotten in over my head with my creating. Creating for me has to be something I am into doing at that specific time. I have to have that desire within me to create. I think if I had to create on a time-line or with a deadline I would not be able to get so much out of it. I think then I would feel overwhelmed and I would stop enjoying the process. I love that when I create I am inspired by something around me. I have a need to create based on what I am seeing or feeling at that time. You know, I don't know what I would do if I could not create.

2 Peas Wednesday Blogger Challenge - Creativity

Feel free to join us

Challenge~
Why is creativity important?

Creativity means so very many different things to everyone. For me creativity is a means of expressing what is inside of me. It allows me to share my emotions with other people. Whether it is a scrapbook page, a tole painting, or a photograph, the act of creating for me is a way for me to often deal with the emotions or thoughts going on inside of me. Sometimes my panic disorder is really bad and the act of creating for me will help to reduce my anxiety, a form of release that helps me to sort out what's going on that is making me anxious. It allows me to share parts of myself that I would never normally share with others. Creating allows me to be that just ME. I don't think I could not create - it's just in me to create whatever I can whenever I can. I breathe creativity into my life, just as I breathe in air.

2 Peas Sunday Blogger Challenge

Join us in the challenge for today if you blog

Challenge~
If you could follow someone around for one day (unseen), who would it be and why?

There is this landscape photographer that I am so inspired by. His name is Jeremy Turner. You can see his work here . His work is fabulous! I love that he shoots equally well in both color and in black and white. I would love to spend a day with him photographing and not knowing I was there so I could see his way of capturing images that speak to the heart. I'd love to see his approach, his technique, concentration - just everything about who he is and what he does. Here is some of his amazing work:

2 Peas Wednesday Blogger Challenge - A Trip To The Art Museum

feel free to join us if you blog Challenge~ A trip to the Art Museum makes me feel... so absolutely amazing. I feel as if I am in another world ... as if there exists no time ... as if there is no one else there but me. It's a wonderful feeling, a wonderful sense of peace and contentment. My mind becomes so full of ideas and color combinations that I am instantly inspired to create. I love taking my time, wandering around looking at the artists use of color, or technique, or texture. I am inspired both in their creativity and in the emotion that must have been involved in the creating process. When I am looking at the works of others I am compelled to certain pieces. I will often study these pieces for so long trying to focus in on what I am getting out of the piece, and trying to figure out why I was drawn to that certain piece. Art is sometimes a mystery to me ... but it's a mystery that I don't want solved. I want to continue being surprised and moved by art. I want to continue living and breathing art into my life so that I can be amazed and inspired daily.

I'm in Love

I'm in love - completely, absolutely, madly in love with ... this camera. The Digital Rebel XTi. The specs on this camera are fabulous. I love that it is more advanced than the camera I currently own. Having this camera would allow me to learn more and take my photography to a whole new level. I have started saving my pennies but man it's gonna take forever.

2 Peas Wednesday Blogger Challenge - Creating

Come join us if you blog.

Challenge~

Is creating "beautiful art" more important than the process of creating?

When I have a true desire to create, the process by which I do, and the emotions that are involved are the most important part to what I am creating. I am not saying that I do not think about creating my idea of "beautiful art", for I do ... OFTEN. There is this doubt in what I create that sometimes keeps me from creating anything at all. It's like it blocks me from starting to create something because of a fear that once I'm finished "it won't be good enough". I so very often, have a desire to create. I'll get an idea for a creation in my head. I'll focus on it and go through the process of how I'd complete it, and then I'll visualize what the finished piece would be. This is where that fear will come into play. I'll see that finished piece in my head and I'll wonder if I'll do good enough to have it turn out the way I see it. Sometimes, I can get past that fear. Sometimes, I'll visualize a piece, I'll complete the process and I will have a finished piece of art. It's not always exactly like I visualized, but it's always created with true emotion and heart.

Here's a project I completed last night - it did not end up like how I had visualized in my head but I love it! I love that it speaks to me about the woman I am striving to be. I love that I allowed myself to just completely doodle, to let the pen flow freely. I did this because last night I wasn't afraid of how it would turn out. I love that it comes from my heart.

2 Peas Saturday blogger - Imperfect Lives

Join us today/Saturday if you blog. Challenge: What's a book you are reading right now? anything? blog about it.

I picked up this book in the city at Chapters the other day. It is amazing!! The stories and layouts in it are amazing - all about scrapping those things in our lives that show the reality of our lives, not just the "perfect things." Really has me inspired to do some layouts I had always thought about but never was sure if they would fit in my albums. I am inspired to create pages about my addiction, my divorce, single-parenting, guilt, panic and depression.

2 Peas Sunday Blogger Challenge - Scrapbooking

Please join us if you blog Challenge~ Blog about what got you started in scrabooking and what keeps you in this wonderful hobby. When I first learned about scrapbooking was when I was pregnant with my first daughter back in 1999. I was so sick during my pregnancy that I was on the couch most days reading or watching tv. I fell in love with this show called Aileen's Creative Living. It showcased all kinds of craft projects and scrapbooking was one of them. I fell in love with it instantly. I have almost no pictures of me as a baby or small child so the idea of creating something that my baby could some day look at intrigued me. I then looked scrapbooking up on the Internet, learned everything I could, bout a couple how-to books and magazines and the rest is as they say...HISTORY!!

2 Peas Thursday Blogger Challenge - All About Blogging

Join us today/thurs if you blog. Challenge: Blog about how you feel about your blogging. Is it too time consuming? Do you love sharing? What are the benefits of blogging? and the negative things of it? With Rhonna's and Cathy z's blog ending, I am wondering why both of them are doing it... it's just interesting to me. how about you?? blog about it...
I too was disappointed to hear that Rhonna & Cathy Z's blogs were ending. I often look to these (and many others) for inspiration. I love journaling and often feel better being able to put my thoughts down somewhere concrete. Sometimes when I journal in a notebook, I tend to forget to go back and keep at it. When I discovered blogging I was so excited because I could journal in such a creative way. I love photography and fonts and colors. I love computers. Being able to blog gives me a chance to release the many thoughts (and sometimes emotions) that are going around in my head. Blogging does take time, but to me it is time set out just for me. Time to figure out what's going in in my head, time to share the joys and hurts in my life, and time to praise God for all He does in my life. It gives me a release, a chance to just be 100% me.

AWESOME MAIL DAY!!

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! This book that I ordered off ebay finally arrived yesterday!! I am so excited!! I have always loved Elsie's Style, but have been afraid to try lots of the techniques that she uses. I have also been having trouble getting motivated to scrap at home, so the challenges will hopefully get me off my butt, making pages and documenting the lives of my girls & I. I can't wait to get started!

2 Peas Thursday Blogger

Join us today/thursday if you blog. Challenge: Blog about the struggles you face as a scrapbooker. What are the challenges in your life, related to this craft? Anything you have trouble doing/understanding? Blog about it.
Most of the time my biggest trouble is just doing it! I am always filled with ideas and thoughts about scrapping, but I never just start it. I gather so many ideas on 2 Peas, from magazines and in my favorites and then I don't get started. Sometimes I wish I had a better area for scrapping but I know that the one I have would be great if I kept it clean and organized. I think I might just see a challenge in the next few days - I will clean and organize my scrap are and get off my butt and get something done.

Join us today/Wed if you blog. Challenge: What is the last thing you created? Could be anything.. scrapbook related, papercraft, artsy, whatever.. share on your blog about what you created and post a pic if you can!
I went to a crop this past weekend and started an album of my trip to Niagara Falls with my girls. This is the title page I did for the album. I completed 16 pages, but still have to journal them. I will post more pages as I get them done.

2 Peas Blogger Challenge - Scrapping Plans

Join us today/Thursday if you blog. Challenge: You love to scrapbook. You love to create something with paper. With all the cool papers out there, or the ones you already have, what is something on your heart you really wanna start... an album, a layout, a project -- anything...!! Share on your blog what your scrapping plans are.. what things are just in your head, itching to get done??? There are so many new and interesting ideas and projects out there, but in all honesty the projects I am working on now are the ones dearest to my heart. I am still behind on my girls albums and would love to get them caught up, they enjoy looking at them so very much. I am also working on two albums dear to just me, a faith album and an all about me album. I feel it is so necessary and important to document who I am, someday my kids will see these and know what I was like when they will little, someday they will be able to show their own kids and say that "this is who your grandma was and what she was all about." Sometimes through this documenting just me I am even learning more and more who I am and what is important to me.

My new Scrap/Painting Area

I got so tired of always trying to find all of my supplies so I turned my closet into a scrap/painting area. Worked on it all week. Heree's the finished product.

2 Peas Wednesday Blogger Challenge

Join us today/Wednesday if you blog. Challenge: Let's talk about scrapbooking supplies, this should be fun!
Fave patterned paper line right now: anything by basic grey - their stuff is awesome!!
Fave kind of ribbon: I don't usually use ribbons - hmmm maybe I'll have to search ebay
Fave embellishment you just love using: rub on letters
Fave font: americana bt - it is a great journaling font - easy to read
Fave cardstock: bazzill
Fave rubons: I love the heidi swapp letters and the making memories letters
Fave alphabet stickers: anything that matches the page I am working on
and last but not least, your most fave scrapbooker, someone you look up to.. and admire?? Have anyone? I love Ali Edwards and Amy Grendell - both gardengirls - both amazing work capturing everyday moments

2 Peas Saturday Blog Challenge

Join us today/Saturday if you blog. Challenge: Photographs. We love em. What is your fave photo size to scrapbook? 4x6? 2x3? wallets? 5x7? 8x10? larger? Blog about your fave photo choices!

I typically scrap 4x6 photos in my albums of the kids, 5x7 in my faith album and any size in my Me album. I guess it depends on the picture and the journaling. Really special photos usually are larger.