Splash Pad {a 12x12 LYB/XYRON/MA hop}

Welcome to the May Arts / Little Yellow Bicycle / Xyron Swap!

It's so exciting when great companies get together, and all week long we've been hopping back and forth between the three blogs and the blogs of their designers! Today for May Arts it's Charlene, and myself up to bat! 

The sneak peek that brought you here!

I'm sharing a super graphic 12x12 titled SPLASH PAD -- of my kiddo having fun in the Splash Pad at a local park here in Vegas. 

I used May Arts ribbons Black Burlap String, Yellow Chevron Twill and the Black and White Grosgrain Diagonal Stripes. Both of the thick ribbons have been run through my Xyron sticker maker. The striped yellow paper is from Little Yellow Bicycle. I also used cheesecloth, Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamps (Striped Chevron Arrow, Dots line, Line of Chevrons, Be an Adventurer,) UmWowStudio Chipboard (Circles and heart) and Flair, 

Pink Paislee black glitter alphas, Amazing Casting Resin (the white 3D splatter embellishment,) Tattered Angels Glimmer mist (Charcoal and Firefly,) Gauche Alchemy washi tape (Black Script.) a dymo label maker and Canson watercolor paper. 

Good stuff right? Like I said.. great things from great companies!! 

May Arts / Little Yellow Bicycle / Xyron

Charlene 

Now, don't forget to keep those comments coming while your hopping!  We've got an amazing prize for grabs!   All you have to do to enter to win is post a comment on any stop along the way!

My Favorite Supplies {Find Your Voice Lesson 1}

Hey folks :) Tonight I want to share with you my participation in Lesson 1 of Find Your Voice.

I've filled out my worksheets and am now gathering supplies. I'm not quite sure what form I want my project to take.. but I'm sure it'll come to me soon. 

So far now I can share some answers to my worksheets and a photo of my gathered supplies (read must haves♥)

Question 1 : What is storytelling to you? What stories do you want to tell?

   --I want to record the small things that change and shape me and my family through the weeks.

   --Storytelling will be a way to remember, to record my legacy, and to be able to pass it on.

Question 2 : Who are you? (this will be a work in progress)

   --I am: smart, witty, strong, capable, artsy, interesting, insecure, weepy, loyal, intense, loved, a sci-fi nerd, a David Bowie fan, design driven ...

Question 3 : What are your storytelling goals? How do they fit in with the rest of your creative & life goals?

   --TO RECORD IT ALL! They fit in perfectly... to grow my business and expand into a scrapbooking empire, making memory saving and storytelling easy and fun.

Question 4 : What are your favorite stories? What doe these stories have in common?

   --Books : Lord of the Rings, anything by Dean Koontz, Harry Potter, and as a kid.. Goosebumps!

   --Movies : Big Fish, Juno, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Moulin Rouge, Labyrinth, 13th Warrior

   --Music : Anything by David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Radioactive, Madness, Hotel California, 

  -----They're all very strong story oriented with lots of action, beat, fantasy and a bit of darkness. 

Question 5 : What styles do you find aesthetically pleasing?

   --Bold intense colors and patterns. Strong visual styles. Stunning scenes and color combos. Graphics that lead your eye. Infographics. Fonts. Numerals. A bit of glitter always wins me over.

Question 6 : Which storytellers do you admire?

   --Project lifers, Louise Nelson, Miae Rowe, Finnabair, Jim Henson, Conan, David Bowie, Michael Jackson.

Question 7 : What is your ideal story? What are you looking to get out of the Find Your Voice summer storytelling workshop?

   --I want to nail down a story style and set in motion a personal journal to update regularly. I want to discover my style. period. 

Since I'm not sure exactly where I'm going yet, I've grabbed some of my favorite supplies... Canson watercolor paper, UmWowStudio chipboard and flair, Gauche Alchemy washi tape and punchinella, Ranger archival ink, Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamps, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in charcoal, HelmarUSA Fabric Glue, some May Arts Ribbon scraps, cute little faces by Mary Lozinak and my favorite pen. 

I'm ready freddy!!!

Happy Birthday {A Masculine Card by Jess Mutty}

Today I get to share a super masculine card by Jess Mutty!

Jess says : For my post this week I decided to try to go slightly outside of my usual style.  I needed a masculine birthday card so I chose to work with the always appropriate Layered Stars and the little guy from the Potty People set.

 

I covered the solid stars with coordinating paper (Heidi Swapp) and outlined them in black pen.  I misted the other two stars with Color Shine.  I like the variety in texture with that added dimension that chipboard brings.

I wanted the little dude to stay raw to stand out near my sentiment and balanced that raw accent with a Layered Arrow in the bottom corner.  Sometimes adding a simple rub-on really lets the natural kraft look shine!

It's a perfectly constructed masculine card for the occasion! Thanks so much Jess! 

Find Your Voice {A Blog Hop}

The Find Your Voice Summer Storytelling Workshop kicked off today and to celebrate we're having a blog hop with lots of giveaways! We're going to have a blast this summer and we really hope you play along! 

This workshop is about finding your storytelling voice. You are an awesome person with amazing stories, so this summer we're going to work together to find the most genuine and authentic way for you to tell those stories. 

This workshop is for everyone! You definitely don't need to be a scrapbooker or paper-crafter to play along. We'll be telling stories through pictures, photographs, social media, prose, and more. The only thing you need is a willingness to become the author of your own story and the courage to step outside of your comfort zone. 

Click Here to learn more about Find Your Voice 

Download lesson one here

Join the facebook group

Sign up for lessons delivered straight to your email

What Find Your Voice Means to Me:

The Find Your Voice workshop is an opportunity for me to share with you some of my favorite ways to capture snippets of life. I'll be sharing a technique or two, some favorite products (Including our own line,) and some favorite platforms for scrapbooking and or paper crafting your story. I can't wait to jump right in!

Join us this summer as we work together to find the most genuine and authentic way for you to tell your stories the way you want them to be told. We’ll be telling stories through pictures, photographs, social media, prose, and more. The only thing you need is a willingness to become the author of your own story and the courage to step outside of your comfort zone. 

rukristin papercrafts: rukristin.com/

Jessica Bree: squarespace.com/jessicabree

Emily Dismukes: emilymayhem.blogspot.com

Molly Porter: mollyfrances.typepad.com

Emily Hathcock: www.elephantgrace.com

Lisa Wilkinson: www.createfor7.blogspot.com

Veronica Milan: blog.chictags.com

Michelle Wear:  table-for-five.com

Laura Kate Is Crafty: laurakateiscrafty.blogspot.com

Jen Ritchie: www.jenritchie.com

Allie: www.alexandraraedesign.com

Katie Stories: katie-stories.blogspot.com

Shay Tibbs: sbookinshay29.blogspot.com

DeeDee Catron: umwowstudio.com

Megan Anderson: www.thenerdnest.com

Nirupama KUmar: avinashhecker.blogspot.com

Eden Hensley: www.theroadtothegoodlife.com

Margrethe Aas Johnsen: http://onelifedocumented.com

Giveaway Time!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by today! Be sure to follow our blog to the right and sign up for our newsletter! We're continually adding new goods and expanding, as well as inspiring for the use of our products with posts on our blog.

Las Vegas or BUST {A 12x12}

Last week I got to share a layout on the Helmar Blog. This is what our uHaul looked like when we moved in 2012 from Gillette to Las Vegas! I took this opportunity to use the UmWowStudio June Sketch Challenge as well! (Check it out on the sidebar)

I got to use TONS of products by my favorite companies on this baby... UmWowStudio Chevron Arrow (Just the tail), Pieces and bits from a Gauche Alchemy Kit, Tattered Angels glimmer mist, seed beads, an epoxy brad, my label maker. The likes! 

I'm sharing this here today though to show this:

I used Gauche Alchemy's Punchinella has a mask and some Liquid Scrap Dots by Helmar as the medium... right as I laid down the glue I applied micro beads, seed beads and the likes to it, then let it dry for 48 hours. I LOVE IT!! The ink is Glimmer Mist. 

I'll be linking this baby up to the Paper Issues link up for the Persnickety Prints Issue.

Do The Impossible {Guest CT Member : Susan M. Brown}

Please focus your attention on our first Guest CT Member : Susan M. Brown. Susan is a super close friend and a talented creative! She works hard and knows her sh!t♥. I'm super excited to share her and her journal page with you today!! Here she is:

painting in the dark | http://www.sbartist.com 

Susan M. Brown {sbartist}

During the daylight hours... I am a graphic artist working in the fast-paced printing industry – after dark {and a nap}... I create while all the world is asleep. For as long as I can remember, I have loved making things and this is still true today. I'm a painter at heart – but I love to make dimensional things, something that pops-up, not just flat on the page.  I “embrace the unexpected”  – using materials in new and unexpected ways – including recycling and giving a new creative life to something headed for the trash bin.

I am excited and honored to be a Guest Designer for UmWowStudios... have you seen the new FLAIR??!! I created an art journal page, using the UmWowStudio Layered Banners. Let me start out by saying that when creating this I was working on two projects at once, both with UmWowStudio chippies. They are so wonderful I wanted to use them all – so I just gave it a whirl and let my creativity go. I sprayed some of the chippies with black and silver metallic mists on top of some freezer paper to protect my counter. I didn't want the beautiful inky swirls to go to waste so I mopped up the glittery goodness with some blank white cardstock. And the chippies hold up to the mists AMAZINGLY - I sprayed several layers to get the saturation of color and shimmer I desired. This resulted in several interesting graphic B&W backgrounds. One in particular had this negative square area left in the center and it was like a larger version of one of the layered banner chippie shapes. This became the background. I had a scrap piece of blue/green patterned paper {make unknown} that I misted the top edge and printed one of my stash of quotes onto it with my laser printer. Then I set to work on the banner shapes decorating them with various colors and patterns of washi tape {yep, I'm a washi junkie, too}. I ran some stripes of black and white washi tapes across the top to have a place for my banners to hang, and fashioned a faux clothesline out of Mizuhiki paper cord adhered with Diamond Glaze. I mounted this into my black paper base art quote journal using miracle tape and pearly photo corners.

Supplies: UmWowStudio Layered Banners; white cardstock; patterned paper scrap; photo corners; Mizuhiki paper cord; Washi Tape - K & Company and others; Tim Holtz Ideology Tissue Tapes; Stuart Superior Memories Metallic Mist; Ditto Black Mist; Diamond Glaze; and Miracle Tape from Viva Las VegaStamps!.

I love Susan's page! The splotchy artsy background, the covered chip, the color palette.. I love it all! Thanks so much for sharing today, Susan!!

The little things {A new page in my mini!}

Good morning friends!! 

Today I'm sharing a new page in my Little Things of 2013 mini album. 

We got out first haircut this year, and as that might need documenting on a nice 12x12 format, I thought the bedhead before the cut was something to be held onto, also. ♥

I used the brand new Film Reel Countdown set of flair and Chevron Confetti from UmWowStudio. The alphas are from Echo park, the ribbon is May Arts, and I used Helmar's Acid Free Glue to turn the picture into its own page by covering the whole backside with glue and jut covering one of my existing pages. GREAT Illusion :) (There's a whole week of Helmar Acid Free goodness going on so check it out!)

I finished off this baby with a little doodling from my favorite pen :)

Mixed Media Demo -- June {A tag}

Good afternoon folks :) 

If you've been following the blog for long you'll know that every first Sunday of the month I do a free mixed media demo locally in Las Vegas. 

Today I'm sharing the tag we worked on last week! 

Join us at The Crafting Place on Russel every first Sunday of the month from 1-3 for a FREE mixed media demo --- we'll explore new materials and techniques each time!

For June I chose to share some black gesso and Silks acrylic glazes! 

The tag uses the gorgeous Sunflower stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps!, Star Confetti Chip from UmWowStudio, Black acrylic gesso, black Archival ink by Ranger, Twine and ribbon by May Arts, adhesives by Helmar, and various Silks Acrylic Glazes by Luminarte and Splash Of Color. 

Basically the gesso has been applied as a "starry night" feel, and heated with a heat gun to get some extra texture. The stamp was stamped and embossed then "water colored" with the acrylic glazes. The stars and ribbon were adhered with Helmar adhesives as a final step.

Don't forget.. some of our tags may seem simple in comparison to others.. but we're sharing and experimenting with techniques and products! 

For the LOVE of Mixed Media {paperHaus Blog Hop}

Hi everyone! Welcome to our stop on the paperHaus blog hop for day 3!

You should be here from the uber talented Nat Kalbach!

   

>>You can read the issue here<<

Look for UmWowStudio on pages 58, 86, 91 and 96.

We cannot express how excited we are... we love paperHaus, we love Mixed Media, and UmWowStudio chipboard is a heavenly gotta have main component in any mixed media project!! 

Our chipboard is acid free, super thick, sturdy, manufactured in the US, and can take a SERIOUS beating. Plus.. it comes in a beautiful natural kraft color! Ink it, mist it, stamp it, paint it, gloss, emboss it, sand it, bead it, gel it.... if you want to do.. you CAN do it! And.... To help celebrate the brand new edition of paperHaus and to welcome you to our blog today we have a giveaway! Want to sample our chip? NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! 

Like us on facebook, follow our blog (We provide regular inspiration using our chipboard!), and leave a comment to be entered to win:

We're giving away our brand new release.. one of each four confettis (Squares, Diamonds, Chevrons and Stars.) Get teeny tiny chipboard shapes perfect for scattering across your work. We also offer larger shaped pieces and pieces designed for layering, both thick and sturdy to take on your altering.

For an extra entry, pin the giveaway photo and leave another comment with a link to your pin :)

Now head on over to ANOTHER amazing company we love.. Amazing Crafting Products! 

May Arts + Stampendous + Core'dinations {A Hop}

Hello everyone!! Welcome to my stop on this hop full of ribbony, papery, stampy goodness!!

Today I've put together a 6x6 square card to share! 

I've used Core'dinations Essentials cardstock, a giant Stampendous flower stamp, and three ribbons by May Arts. I've also used Tattered Angels glimmer mist, Helmar Fabric Glue, UmWowStudip chipboard, a dymo label maker, and cheesecloth.

Here you can see a closeup of the flower stamp, the paper and the ribbon together. 

There's a HUGE giveaway going on so be sure to comment on all stops! 

The full list of participants for today's portion:

Charlene Driggs

Christina Colón

DeeDee Catron

Kristine Reynolds Ava Gavloski Ellen Sosnoski Suzanna Lee

You asked for it... {Blog Badge}

We've had a couple of inquiries about a blog badge for our fans to show their love and support...


so here it is!!

And here is the coding:

<a href="http://umwowstudio.com"><img src="http://i1147.photobucket.com/albums/o560/DeeDeeCatron/ILoveUmWowStudio_zps2d8d9ddc.jpg"/> </a>