lindaalbrecht

Being Creative

Hello!  I wanted to stop by to share a couple of newer projects that I've made.  I feel like I've really been lacking in creative ideas lately... so I avoid being creative...then I feel so uninspired when it comes time for an assignment for a design team.  I saw this quote the other day...

I really think that this is true.  The more you create, the more inspired you are to create.  I also think that some of us (ME!) put stress on ourselves to create amazing things... things that will be totally awesome.  Well unfortunately, I am not totally awesome.  I make mistakes and things don't always turn out like I see them in my head.  Or I see nothing in my head at all!!  Then pressure rises and sometimes I don't want to create anything ever again.  Have you ever felt like that?

Good call, Joseph Chilton Pearce.  No one wants to be "wrong"... in my case it is a fear of disappointing those that put their trust in me to use their products in a way to inspire others.  It takes me a long time to create something and probably because of the fear of it being wrong.  So now I need to try harder at taking more time to create and to lose the fear of disappointing someone.  Did I mention that I am a perfectionist too?!?!  Oh dear.

Anyway, long story even longer... I am a creative person with flaws and I have to learn to do what I love instead of worrying about if it is right or wrong or if anyone will like it.  Didn't someone once say that "art is perspective"... or maybe Im thinking of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." 

So, I've created some things... things that are "me."  I think that I am happy with how they turned out.  I hope you enjoy :-)

For Maya Road...

I really like working with Maya Road products.  They are so versatile and you can either pile them on or use just a few.  This house box is made using one of the chipboard pages from the "Home Sweet Home" mixed media album.  I used plain chipboard to add the "box" portion to the chipboard house shape then covered it wih old book pages and the sweet pink striped paper from Pink Paislee's new Cottage Farms collection. 



For a few more photos of this project and a complete list of Maya Road supplies you can go to the design team blog HERE.  Feel free to add any of the images here to your Pinterest boards if you wish.



I have a few old windows that I've collected so I used one of them for this project where Maya Road paired up with Jillibean Soup.  I love the "Grandma's Lima Bean Soup" Collection-- those sentiments on the tags are awesome and the papers are so vintage looking which went great with the old window theme.



For a list of the Maya Road supplies used you can go to the blog HERE. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day!
Linda

Dog Days of Summer post and Giveaway!

Wow... has it really been that long since I posted here...APRIL????  No idea where the time goes.  I promise that I have not been lazy and just sitting around doing nothing ;-)  It's been hot hot here again for the past couple of days.  I'm tired of air conditioning and closed windows.  Fall, where are you because these hot summer days are getting old?!?!


This little pumpkin has a small part in distracting me from blogland.

He is almost 6 months old already!  I can hardly stand how much fun he is and he amazes me every time I see him.


One with his mama...

You can see more photos on my Facebook wall...check out my albums for more of my photography sessions (another reason I've been so busyand time has slipped away on me!) 
https://www.facebook.com/linda.albrecht.7


There was the Summer CHA show too in July that kept me swamped with paper crafts.  Here are a couple of Maya Road projects from that time.



^^ There's my little distraction again! :-)

You can see more photos of the above project on the Maya Road Blog HERE.  Loved making this sparkly little project for their booth in Chicago. 


I also made a couple of projects for sale as kits.  You can go to The Scrappy Gourmet for this mini album information.

It's loaded with product... trims, patterned papers, buttons, giant patterned rhinestone accents, chipboard, epoxy and stickers all added to a wood Pink Paislee album.  Lots of fun.

Then there is a 3 page layout set that they named "Color me Pretty" over at Frost it Pink.  They are full of embellishments all layered up with product from Cosmo Cricket.


So summer is almost over... the days are seeming hot and long and I am ready for fall anytime with it's cooler days and nights.  School starts in one week here in my hometown and we always seem to have one last hot spell.  Always.  My youngest, Cort is in 9th grade this year....another sign that time keeps slipping away. Here's a couple of late spring photos...

 



Thanks so much for stopping by!  I know it's been too long to expect anyone to remember me and my blog so I want to have a GIVE AWAY to celebrate my first post in 3 months.  Who wants to win the completed album above that is for sale at The Scrappy Gourmet?  Yep, no photos, just the completed pages for you to fill up with your own memories.  Post a comment here for a chance, then tell your friends on your own blog or on your Facebook page and let me know for a 2nd chance! 

Love to all,
Linda

Mikarose giveaway winner and paper creations!

Hello!!   I am sooooo behind here to post the Mikarose giveaway winner... with hosting Easter dinner and the death of an Aunt and Uncle last week, I have been overwhelmed.  But I am here now and ready to share some stuff and announce the winner of the $50 gift certificate to Mikarose.

First, a project for Glue Arts....


The assignment was to use the Glue Arts "Raisen's", a dimensional square adhesive.  I used the Raisen's to make most of the flowers that I then adhered with hot glue to the paper lantern.  I had picked up a 3 piece set of the white paper lanterns at Hobby Lobby on sale last fall and knew that I wanted to embellish them with something someday. 

I used some old book paper, white tissue paper, some Martha Stewart Wedding flowers and Melissa Frances blue Crepe Paper and Pearl embellishments to make the flowers.  The flowers were cut using AccuCut dies.


Over at the Glue Art blog you can see how I layered my flower pieces with the Raisen's.  You can also comment for a chance to win your own Raisen's!

I also forgot to share an Easter card that I put together for Glue Arts so here that is...

I love spring with all of it's flowers, birds and pretty colors.  Supplies here are BasicGrey (paper, brads and chipboard leaves), Pink Paislee (paper, butterfly gem and bird diecut) and a few miscellaneous trims.


My photos above were all edited with Kim Klassen Textures.


Now for the best part... the winner of the Mikarose $50 goft certificate is...
APRIL G !!!!!  Her comment drawn is below.

I pinned an item: http://pinterest.com/pin/201465783300768524/
Posted by: April G | March 28, 2012 at 07:58 PM

April, I will be emailing you and letting Mikarose know that you have won.  Thanks so much to everyone for the comments and for checking out Mikarose.com and an extra BIG thanks to Mikarose for hosting this wonderful giveaway.  Thank you, thank you!

Hope to see you all soon,  Linda

 

Fabric Eggs and Mikarose Giveaway!!

Hello blog friends!  Thanks for stopping by today... it's beautiful here in Minnesota.  A little bit cooler than the 80 degrees that we had a little over a week or ago, but things are greening up and the birds are chirping away.  They're busy in the bird houses around our yard... fluffing up their nests and getting ready for new life.

Did I tell you that a new little life has come into our family recently?  Our sweet baby Riley David arrived on March 8 and he is so adorable and precious.  I always like spring babies because they seem to just go along with what nature has happening.  All of my children are spring babies, so maybe I am biased ;-)

Here is our sweet angel...

Isn't he amazing?!?! :-)


I have a project to share today that I made for the GlueArts blog.  This weeks theme is Spring Fabric crafts.  Many of the Gluegirls actually "sewed" their fabric projects, but I opted for something quicker.  Not because I can't sew... I love to sew... but because I am so behind and so busy right now. 



I wrapped a big paper mache egg with strips of muslin fabric and lightly sprayed on a color mist... actually I added 2 colors, one a pale green and the other a golden color to add some distressing. 





I wrapped the egg in some old cotton lace and tied a bow at the top then hot glued some embellishments around the bow.


Details will be on the Glue Arts blog on the 30th.  Remember to go to their blog to leave a comment for a chance to win something.  They are always giving away their adhesives and many times even other scrapbooking supplies. 



Now for another awesome giveaway!  Mikarose is giving away a $50 gift certificate to one of my lucky blog readers..  They have beautiful clothes and a new accessory line of necklaces that my daughter in law would love to wear.  I need to send her there to shop!  

 
Their prices are so reasonable!  If you haven't shopped there you will be pleasantly surprised at their selections and cost.  One of my favorite dresses on their site is only $59.99!  It's called "Sophie" and you can find it HERE.
 
So, here are the rules and how to enter to win the $50 gift certificate:
(This offer is open to US and Canadian residents only-- thank you!)

Comment here on my blog -- on this post (required.)

For additional entries to win-- 
"Like" them on Facebook
Post about this giveaway on your own blog
Post about the giveaway on Facebook page with a link to Mikarose.com.
"Pin" them on Pinterest
Follow them on Twitter 

This contest will be open through March 7.  I will notify the winner via email and will announce it here on the blog too shortly after the 7th.  Good luck everyone!!


Linda :-) 

Wonder layout & the Shabby Apple Giveaway winner!!

Hello all!

It has been a crazy busy week for me but I wanted to pop in to share a new project and to announce the winner of the Shabby Apple $50 giftcard. 

My project was a bit of a challenge for me.  GlueArts teamed up with Tsukineko this week and I received some awesome stamp pads and their Goosebumps Texture Spray.  I am not the world's biggest stamper.  I love hand stamped projects but forget to use stamping to add uniquness to them.  My photos aren't the greatest of the stamped image because it was so dark here the day that I took them, but hopefully you can see how I used the product.



 
The stamped area is the tag to the right of that adorable photo of my new grandson and my beautiful daughter.  Oh, they are an amazing pair of people!  We are so happy and blessed.

The Goosebumps Texture Spray was used as a resist to the ink and the images are the butterflies and flowers.  I also stamped some images with ink first then layered the texture spray over it and added more ink.  The colors that I used were Pear Tart, Cantaloupe, Sweet Plum & Rhubarb Stalk in Tsukineko's Memento Dew Drop Inkpads.  I also stamped a few images directly onto paper to the right of the tag to make the stamping flow out from the tag onto the layout.



I layered some BasicGrey papers and a few odds and ends pieces like the old music paper.  I popped the tag up fromt he background with some Glue Arts Raisen's 3/8" Adhesive Squares.  (Remember, GlueArts always has great giveaways weekly on their blog posts HERE!)


The acrylic stamps are by Cherry Arte, Lawn Fawn & Hampton Art.  I can't do a project without the Maya Road trinket pins and miscellaneous buttons.  I love pins & buttons!



Okay... now on to the Shabby Apple giftcard........ the winner is............. Haley Grossman!!!!

Haley's comment:
ooh...i love shabby apple. and also love that its a gc and not a specific dress.
hgrossman at cableone dot net

Posted by: Haley Grossman | March 14, 2012 at 10:06 PM

I'll be getting in touch with Haley to get all of the information needed to get that gift out to you.  Congratulations and a huge Thank You to Shabby Apple for hosting this exciting gift on my humble little blog!  You are awesome!  Don't forget that you all can still gget a 10% discount at Shabby Apple for a few more weeks.... simplethings10off is the discount code.


To everyone else that commented hoping for a chance to win, please come back on Monday, March 27 for another chance to win a gift card from another wonderful company.  It is another fun one!

Goodbye for now and have a spectacular spring weekend.  Love to all!
Linda :-)

 

Shabby Apple Giveaway!!

Hello everyone!  I hope that you are having a super day.  It's beautiful here in MN... the sun is shining and it's 65 degrees.  Not long now until we some green popping up especially since it's not our first day in the 60's.

 So yesterday I mentioned that I would be back for another opportunity for my blog reader's to win something.  This time it's for a $50 gift card to Shabby Apple.  How fun!  If you have never been to bisit their site, they have some really beautiful clothes.  I love the swimwear!  They also have a fun vintage/retro looking apron collection.  So awesome!



Not only do you have the chance to win the $50 gift card, but they are also giving a 10% discount for all orders for an entire month.  This is the discount code... simplethings10off  Please leave a comment here for a chance to win the $50 gift card.  I will let you all know the winner when I find out.


Sharing a Maya Road design team blog project that I did recently.  I love love their chipboard and used lots of it on my layout.  See the blog post HERE for a list of Maya Road supplies.




I did  several different things to the chipboards including adding paper, painting, glittering and stitching.  There are so many thing that you can do with it and it's the versatility that I enjoy the most about it... that and the dimension that it adds to projects. 

The pink paper is BasiGrey and I added a little swatch of white gesso for some texture and the Maya Road white flourish for fun. 

Thanks for stopping by and remember to comment for a chance to win the Shabby Apple $50 gift card.  Will be back soon with something for Easter :-)

Linda

Blog hop Monday with a chance for a giveaway!

Hello!  I'm so glad that you stopped by because it's fun Monday here.  Vicki Boutin has a new book out called "Creative Foundations" in which I have a couple of projects using the fun techniques that she showcases.  It is an awesome book and she is so talented.  So, being the sweet girl that she is she will be giving away 4 copies of her book and has created a fun blog hop to do so. 

Here is a card that I created using a few of the techniques from the book.  I did the gesso stamping technique, glitter tape, masking tape, cardstock flowers and magazine collage.



One of my favorite techniques is the glitter tape.  I love the translucency of the glitter on the packaging tape.  It looks so cool in person... not sure that it shows that much in my photos, but believe me its cool and so easy to work into your projects.  The heart and the strip along the bottom are the technique.

The little blue flower and green dots on the right, the red heart and green color on the left and the music notes near the bottom are all part of the magazine collaging.  The leaves and stems on the background were done using the stamping into gesso technique.


 
So here is what you do... the hop begins at her blog,  http://vickiboutin.typepad.com/.  So if you came to my blog first, you will need to go there to begin.  If you came from Rhonna Farrar's blog  you are at the right place to collect the next word that you will need to complete a sentence.  Rhonna's word was (I'd)  and my word is "LOVE".  Leave a quick comment here on my blog then you can go to the next incredibly talented girls blog to collect your next word... Kelly Goree at http://kellygoree.blogspot.com/.  You will end up at Vicki's blog to let her know you've collected all of the words.  Good luck!!       

See you tomorrow for another giveaway and even a discount code for the Shabby Apple.  The discount code is exclusive to my blog readers so please come back Tuesday, March 13 for this exciting opportunity!

Linda :-)

It's almost spring!

Yay!!!  Spring is just around the corner and it makes me happy looking forward to it.  In honor of spring and butterflies and pretty colors, I made an album kit that will be up for sale at The Scrappy Gourmet today... or very soon anyway.  You can take a close up peek at a few pages on the site HERE. 



There's lot of My Mind's Eye, "Sweet Caroline" papers and embellishments--- flowers, buttons, and butterflies.   Pretty AcuCut butterflies floating around all of the place.






You'll get lots of chipboard butterflies and pre cut butterfly papers and fun embellishments like layered stickers, labels and beautiful rub ons.




There will be some Osnaburg cloth included in the kit for layering behind some of the photos that you can hand embroider on or machine sew some sweet stitches.


Also included with the kit is a pdf with the word strip snetiments that I used throughout the album. 


I still love love those butterfly dies  from AccuCut.  I used them to layer, glitter, stitch on, inserted brads and decorative stick pins into... so many ways to fancy them up and make a unique album.


I will back in a couple of days with a new Maya Road project and something to give away.  Busy busy around here and still waiting on our new baby to make it's arrival.  These last 2 weeks have been so long and I am so impatient.  See you soon!

Linda :-)

Little bird...

"A little bird has chosen his shelter.  Above it are the stars and the deep heaven of the worlds.  Yet he is rocking himself to sleep without caring for tomorrow's lodging, calmly clinging to his little twig and leaving God to think for him."   Martin Luther



I love birds and they seem to inspire me quite often in my creating.  So sweet, so fragile and yet so strong.  Inspired by them once again and by a new snow that has fallen in our almost snowless winter I made this "Snowbird Shadow Box" for the Glue Arts Blog.

My little bird is made from a styrofoam body that I painted white then glitter up with clear glitter and mica flakes.  The twig was cut from my back yard and sprinkled with more glitter and mica flakes and a few sparkly sequins.  The "snow" is Sno-Tex paste.


The sponsored products for this Glue Arts project are from Little Yellow Bicycle (the blue papers, white paper trim and Clear Glitter shapes.


I layered one of the Clear Cut glitter snowflakes onto a Melissa Frances Resin snowflake which added pretty dimension to the corner of the shadow box.



I cut some additional trim from old music paper which I layered onto chipboard using a Tim Holtz Die.  The silver sparkle is tinsel trim.

Little snowbird also sits on some strips of the music paper that he gathered for his nest.  I love how birds are so good at recycling! :-)  If you've ever been able to look closely at a bird's nest, they are very resourceful about building a comfy place to rest.  It's amazing what they find.  My sister, who has several horses, has found nests made completely of horse hair and a friend found a nest in her yard that had a few strands of what appeared to be her own long blonde hairs.  So sweet to find such treasures.

If you have a chance to visit the Glue Arts blog you will find plenty of late winter inspiration from the design team using Little Yellow Bicycle and Glue Arts adhesives.  Remember to leave a comment for a chance to win on their giveaways.

My last post promised a giveaway and that will go to JeanFB | February 13, 2012 at 08:52 PM
Please email me with your mailing information so that I can send off your prize.  Thanks to everyone else that left a kind comment... I appreciate you all.



Have  you all discovered Pinterest ?  Crazy how much time can be spent over there, but wow, the inspiration is amazing.  Here is a beautiful photo taken with what looks like a metal bird ornament hung on a branch...


http://pinterest.com/pin/238268636505277627/

More birds that I pinned was this...


http://pinterest.com/pin/238268636505469589/  Silly little birds.... just adorable for a mobile in a kids room.

Well, I am off to bed..... 

"There's a little bird somebody sent down to the earth to live on the wind.  Blowing on the wind, she sleeps on the wind, this little bird... little bird."

Linda

Love, love, love...and a giveaway

Hello!

It's that time of the year again when it's all about love and Valentine'sDay... pink and red... hearts and kisses.  Pink makes me happy, so it's always a fun time to use one of my favorite colors.  Today I am sharing a couple of projects made for the Glue Arts Blog.




My first project is a Valentine's Day treat box with a tag card.  I picked up the wood box at Michael's for under $1 and covered it with patterned papers from My Mind's Eye "Love Nest" collection.  So sweet and perfect for the day of love. 

Don't you just love the touch of Robin's Egg blue with the papers?  The embellishment on the center of the front of the box is made with U-Cut-It Foam from Glue Arts.  I cut the blue tag from the My Mind's Eye paper and popped that up from the surface with the foam also then clipped on a mini glittered up clothespin and a "Be Mine" sentiment.  The flowers are also made from U-Cut-It foam.  I just removed one side of the protective paper and applied the glitter to the sticky surface.  The pink rhinestones are from Melissa Frances.


The large tag was also cut from the patterned paper and it has it's own little paper heart card attached that opens to reveal the sentiment inside.  I added a sweet paper lace doily too because I can't ever resist using them for Valentine's Day.  Trinket Pins used are from Maya Road and add the perfect finishing touch!

The scalloped circle die cuts were made with AccuCut dies, the flowers are a Provo Craft die and the scalloped border piece was made with a Tim Holtz die by Ranger.



I filled a cellophane bag with sugared cinnamon hearts and the bow on the tag was made from a ripped muslin strip that I painted robin's egg blue then ran under water to soften.


Remember to go to the Glue Arts Blog often to comment for a chance to win the almost daily prizes that they give away.  It always includes some of their adhesives and usually some other sponsored scrapbooking products.


My second project uses some Linen Burlap bags from the new Maya Road release.  I embellished them up and used them to wrap up little ways to say I love you.




One of the bags holds a string of simple paper hearts and the other a heart shaped felt brooch pin. 

The paper hearts are made from Pink Paislee papers and some old music sheets.  I added some lace and small buttons.

The heart was cut from Bubble Gum Pink wool felt from Sweet Emma Jean's Etsy shop.  I machine stitched the heart togehter then stuffed in some batting, added some pretty mini organze roses trim by Maya Road and an antique button with rhinestones also by Maya Road.


To the back side of the heart I added some lace, russian netting, and a daisy from a Vintage trim by Maya Road.

The burlap bags also have the Maya Road Mini Organza Roses trim that I added some rhinestones to, some vintage white buttons from my great Aunt Cora's old collection and a hand dyed seam binding bow.


As promised in my last blog post, I drew a name from the comments to receive a little gift from me.  Patty who commented January 28, 2012 at 08:18 AM you are the winner.  Please email me with your mailing address so that I can ship your package out to you.

I also want to give away one of the Linen Burlap Bag gifts so if you want a chance to win please comment on this post.  I'll try to get back within the next 10 days to announce the winner's name.

Thanks for stopping by... have a wonderful week ahead!
Linda :-)