Project Update: Guitar Hero

I have spent several precious hours tonight in the studio. After a little bit of picking up, I pulled out the Guitar Hero project and continued where I left off. [This is an accordian/exploding book.]I believe I have about 70% of the pictures cut and temporarily attached in their final locations. I have pictures on the front and back, when I had only planned to cover the front. But as I went through the pictures, I found people who were missing from the existing photos, and I wanted to make sure the project documents Kyle's special night. So I expanded to the back.

I used the Tim Holtz distress inks in Scattered Straw, Aged Mahogany, and Milled Lavender, but very little of the lavender. I've inked some tags, some metal rimmed tags, and some cardstock pieces for journaling. I used a combination of round and square stamps on the tags and attached them with eyelets in an old gold color. I used black craft foam cut into strips to raise up some photos so I can add journalling behind some of the pictures. I'm about half way through attaching the photos and embellishing the front.

It's always fun watching a project come together. I was tempted to take some pictures at this phase, but I have learned that at night there isn't enough light in the studio for good pictures. The flash overpowers things. I will have to wait for morning to take photos.

[Note: Here is a picture taken early Sunday morning. The lighting is not great, but it gives you an idea of how the project is falling together. If you look closely, you can see tabs behind some the pictures, and a tag behind one.]

I have researched options for having pictures taken of this project to add to my portfolio. Unfortunately, the photographers I contacted are all quite expensive, so I'm not taking that route. I've decided that I will learn how to set up the lighting and learn how to take the photos myself. I'm sure I will have to invest in some diffusers and lighting equipment. If anyone reading this has already traveled this road, I'd appreciate any tips and suggestions you can offer.

Project Update: Wedding Present Almost Finished

For many weeks, I've had a partially completed wedding gift for my sister's step daughter on my worktable. The background has been finished for a while, but each time I would sit down to finish it, I found myself unhappy with the embellishments and would set it aside. On Friday, I realized it has been a whole month since the wedding, and that I needed to push myself a bit to finish it up.

The project is based on an IKEA mirror covered with patterned paper. I'm using a piece of glass over the picture. This is a picture I took of the happy couple a year ago. They can substitute a wedding picture in its place.

I purchased a 7 Gypsies clip to use to hold the glass and photo in place. I didn't believe a glue would hold the metal clip (with its spring) to the wood, but several people told me Ultimate would work. So I tried it. It not only didn't work, the glue adhered the paper background to the metal clip, separating it from the wooden substrata, creating a bit of a mess. I ended up using two screws, smashing my thumb in the process. But it holds beautifully and the repairs underneath are invisible. (I'm not naming the names of the people who told me this would work. You know who you are!)

Here is the project before the glue disaster (and subsequent screwing) with the word tiles roughly in place. I removed the glass from the photo because of the glare from the flash.



After getting the clip mounted, I was so excited about the project's momentum that I pulled out everything I had considered to use as embellishment. In the midst of this, I was invited to come and work at Melissa's house. In spite of technology problems, cell phone problems, and even GPS problems, I managed to arrive (somewhat late) and work on the project. After a few hours of snipping away at beautiful fake red roses, stringing seed beads and other beads to a very thin wire, and tying a huge bow with French wired ribbon, the project was nearly completed.



I wanted to give the glue 24 hours to dry before I finished fussing with the project. I need to trim the ribbon tails, turn the P into an R, and add a hanger on the back. (Did you catch that in the photo?) I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. If I was starting over, there are changes I would make.

1. I thought the letters would look better if the spacing wasn't so perfect, but I'm not quite happy with the placement I used.

2. I would rework the rose placement to make it higher. The rose seems to hang a bit low over the photo, even though it is not significantly lower than just the clip. I tried to keep the clip mechanism easily accessible so they can change out the picture later.

3. I would rethink the amount of embellishment. I had planned for more embellishment, but decided to simplify. I like the addition of the beads strung into the ribbon, even with the addition of new colors. Perhaps with the rose higher, I could have included a bit more.

Overall, I'm pleased that I've created a memory art item that captures their engagement and will hold a wedding photo. I think they will really like it. I do like this framing option, using a clip to hold a sheet of glass, and will use it again.

Fun Class Tuesday Night

Last night, I took the Book It class with Jennifer Wagner at Scrapbooks, Etc. She was fun, the project is adorable, and I had a great time. I'm going to modify the project away from the Father's Day/Men theme. I've got an idea about what I'm going to do, but I won't be sure until I get started. I'll post a picture of the book when I get to it.

My day job is going well. As I've mentioned, I have huge deadlines on Friday. But due to my client not being able to meet his deadlines, a portion was pushed back a month. This made it possible for me to make my deliveries today, two days early. That's why I felt I could take a class last night.

I've got a huge list of things I'm going to do with the next few days, including napping, resting, sleeping, and otherwise taking care of myself. I hope to spend some time in the studio, and hope to have some ART to share on my art blog. What a concept.

After I wrap up the wedding gift, my next project is a birthday event book for a friend's all grown up son from his surprise 18th birthday party pictures. I can't wait to dig into it. I've been buying things for it for a couple months now, shopping for inspiration. I'm ready to jump in!