Find Your Voice

Find Your Voice, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I love free stuff, don't you?? =D I ran across another free workshop--this one's about storytelling. It's called Find Your Voice.

And it's FREE!

It's an 8-week course, free, with coursework, inspiration and lots of contributors, all about finding our own voice in storytelling. Perfect for journalers as well as scrapbookers. And it's all FREE!

Did I mention this workshop is FREE?? ;-)

It's run by the talented Kristin at rukristin papercrafts...with lots of help from others. There's a Facebook page and other community building spots too.

Kristin suggested that we find or make or buy some kind of album to put all our photos and writing in during these 8 weeks.

I grabbed a brand new Tim Holtz two-ring binder and made my own little album. I cut up an old OLD accounting textbook and BOOM. Album done! Upcycling heaven!

I decorated the outside panels with Tim Holtz paper. And then I just threw that flower on there because it had been sitting on my desk for like two years.

The little stickers on the side read "Find Your Voice 2013."

This is the first week for the workshop so join in! You can catch up in no time!

Did I mention it's FREE?? It IS!! ;-)


And today I'm working on a totally different project. Busy, busy around here!! =D

Oh, and if you love Day in the Life type stuff, play along with Ali Edwards as she documents her day. Check it out on her blog here.


That's it for me! Craft happy, my friends!!


~Cynthia

Coneflower in Bloom

Coneflower in Bloom, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Hey, long time no see! ;-) I've been busy scrapbooking and completing fun projects! And here's one page I just finished.

I think I've used this kind of layout before, but it really works when you have just one 4x6 horizontal photo.

The papers are all from the Little Yellow Bicycle line called Poppy It's a super bright, colorful line perfect for summer or garden photos!

Alas, this is NOT a shot of *my* garden! =D I went hiking a few days ago at a Nature Preserve that is partially run by a local college. They have planted an educational garden which is now full of these gorgeous pink Coneflowers! Ah, the bees were a'buzzing!!


Thanks for dropping by today. Check back tomorrow and I'll show you one of the projects I'm working on this summer!


~Cynthia

Oh Boy!

Oh Boy!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

So.

Yesterday I mentioned that I've got lots of wildlife around my yard.

About a week ago, I noticed a leaf caught in what I thought was a spider web beneath this big sun face on the side of my house.

On Tuesday the "leaf" had gotten a lot bigger.

Investigation ensued.

I opened the second story window above the sun face and leaned out, tilting the face a bit to see what was going on behind the scenes there.

To my surprise...a BAT had taken up residence!! He (she?) was supplying us with guano!!

I didn't want to disturb him further...nor did I want him flying in the house!...so I settled for photos of his new abode and not of the actual bat. And then I let the journaling tell the story. ;-)

The paper is from a line by Bazzill Basics called Lucy's Crab Shack. I cut up a few of the journaling cards from the same line including the "BOY" piece. Originally it said something like "I love this BOY," but I thought it would be kinda funny to use BOY in a completely different, head-shaking, head-scratching, disbelieving kind of way. (Unless you HAVE boys. Then it's probably the same thing, right?? Heh, heh.)

I threw on some Bella Blvd washi tape and some October Afternoon letters--which, awesomely, matched exactly. ;-) Love it when that happens!


And that's it for me today! Thanks so much for visiting!! I appreciate it!!! =D


~Cynthia

CASEing Shimelle

CASEing Shimelle, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

You might have noticed a theme running through my scrap pages lately...the Great Outdoors! I live in a very rural area--not cow rural, but tree and forest rural. And there's always something exciting going on outside! I do tend to take lots of pictures of those exciting events. Which makes my 'everyday' scrap pages full of wildlife!! ;-)

But I promise--these will be the last crow photos! =D

This page is really way cooler in person. I cut the strips of paper by hand, making big scallops. I cut it messy on purpose. Then I used Pop Dots randomly under a few of the scallops.

It's a fun, messy look and I think I'll use the layout again. I got the inspiration from Shimelle's sketch.

The paper is very old (and very loved and very hoarded) Cosmo Cricket--the Mr. Campy line.

The journal card and the little letters are from Simple Stories, 24-Seven line. The big letters are Thickers.



Thanks so much for dropping by today!


~Cynthia

Rain Rain Rain

Rain Rain Rain, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I'm trying to scrap more of the everyday around here. The photos for this page are of sweet gum tree seed balls. We call them sweet gum balls or landmines. If you accidentally step on one barefoot, you will be in a world of hurt! :O

We've also had a TON of rain this year. This has caused the sweet gum seeds to sprout while still inside the ball. I've never seen this happen before! They're very alien-looking!

So I took a few pictures and scrapped them on some American Craft rain drop paper with an 8x8 sheet of BasicGrey.

I threw in some snippets and a bit of washi tape along with some metal dots and a K&Co flower. I also added Pop Dots under paper edges and flower petals.

The letters are from The Paper Studio and October Afternoon.

The layout idea is from a video I saw by one of the Garden Girls over on Two Peas in a Bucket--justlulu.  She's got a link to the video on her blog.



It's pizza night around here, so I'm off! Have a lovely evening!!


~Cynthia

CASEing Sam

CASEing Sam, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

OK, all I've got to say is....this page really does look so SO much better in real life!! Maybe I'll try and photograph it tomorrow when the sun's up and you'll see the true colors--with no shadows!

And with that mini rant out of the way, on to the page!

I saw this page by Sam Wright over on the BoBunny blog and absolutely loved the idea of using a faux postcard.  Scroll down a bit on the BoBunny blog post to see it.

I used a bunch of different stamps and even a (dreaded!) rub-on, which I managed to apply with NO mistakes! Yay, me!! ;-)

I added some brand new washi tape and another handmade flair button--currently I have obsessions with both!! =D

The photos, which are hard to see, are yet more shots of my brave little Five-lined Skink. He was peaking his head out and once again posed so quietly for me that I had to take more photos of him!

The main paper is from BasicGray and the die cut flower is from Memory Box, with a few bits from Kaiser Craft too.



Have a great weekend!!


~Cynthia

Sketch to Page

Sketch to Page, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Quick post tonight...it's almost time for "Burn Notice" and I love that show!! ;-)

I followed Shimelle's sketch today. She meant it to be used for photo booth strips, but I used 3 photos I took with my cell.

The larger paper is Little Yellow Bicycle (Acorn Hollow) as are the green pieces on the far right. The yellow piece is the back side of We R Memory Keepers' Country Livin' (Flower Field.)

I added cork stickers, wood triangle thingys and a butterfly. Plus some fun Pebbles sticker letters, along with my beloved Authentique tiny letters.

OK, I gotta run! Can't be late for Michael Westen! =D



~Cynthia

More Wildlife

More Wildlife, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

For today's scrap page, I have unashamedly copied this page by Ann-Marie Morris over on the BasicGrey blog.

Unashamedly because her page just ROCKS.

I absolutely love the layout, but since most of my photos are 4x6 and not 6x4, as she uses, I had to move things around a bit.

The main paper is from Kaiser Craft. The "A" side is this weird explosion of birds and leaves. I never bothered to check out the back side until recently....and loved it! It's got a cool graph paper thing with fun polka dots going on.

Then I kinda threw in a bunch of other company's stuff, some washi tape and another handmade flair button. And called 'er DONE! =D




Thanks so much for visiting today!!


~Cynthia

PS:  Forgot to add this....I kinda like the geotag fad going on right now, but didn't really have anything geotag-ish.  Then I remembered I have a rain drop punch from EK Success.  Just punch a small circle for the tag part and you've got an instant geotag!!  Sweet!!  I added one to the top right banner/arrow.  Cool, eh?  ;-)

Phone Booth?

Phone Booth?, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Doesn't this shot remind you of British phone booths??

No?

Is it just me then?

Fine.

Let's just call it, "I had an artsy photographic moment and thought this was cool architecture and color and texture and lines and design." OK??

OK!

This is actually a section of of the front door of my local pharmacy.

Cool, eh?

I was bored, waiting on my Mom, so when I get bored, I start taking pictures with Instagram and my cell phone.

I like the minimalist vibe on this one. And the colors. Oh, those glorious reds and glass blues!

=D



Thanks for popping in today!


~Cynthia

Story Telling with a Sunburst

Story Telling with a Sunburst, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

OK, so there's a front story and a back story to this page.

Ready? Deep breath....

Shimelle has a Starting Point Challenge on her blog today. The challenge is to use a sunburst on your scrap page.

Shimelle *also* has a prompt in her Break it Down class over on UK Scrappers on documenting a conversation.

I have...magically...designed a page that answers to BOTH challenges.

I'm sure you're saying, "WOW. How does she DO that??"

You're probably also saying something like, "Um. There's a church on her page and those are the colors of Ohio State University. Please explain the correlation."

Can do! Which leads me to the back story of this page...

See. I went to my second cousin's graduation on Sunday. He went to a Christian school and the graduation was held at the church which houses the school.

(Keeping up so far??)

The speaker for the ceremony was from Ohio. It is a well-known fact (which I did not know) that if you are from Ohio and yell, "O-H!!" at someone who is ALSO from Ohio, you will hear the other person yell back, "I-O!! If they *don't* yell it, they aren't from Ohio.

Did I mention my entire family is from Ohio? Yes, yes we are.

So when the speaker yelled out, "O-H" several members of my family responded...in church...at a graduation ceremony..."I-O!!!"

Cuz we're all from Ohio and this is how we roll.

Thus, a photo of a church with the Ohio State University colors.

Thus the sunburst. Made of Ohio map paper.

And thus the you-gotta-be-from-the-great-state-of-OHIO to understand this conversation.

O-H??

I-O!!!

GO BUCS!!!!!





~Cynthia


PS: If you're dropping in by way of Shimelle's blog...I am totally not always this crazy. Well, OK. Most of the time. I *AM* from Ohio after all! ;-)

Warning! Snake on a page!

Warning! Snake on a page!, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Yeah, so you've been warned if ya don't like snakes! ;-)

I thought you might be tired of seeing owl pictures, so I scrapped some snake photos today! =D

Don't worry. This one is non-venomous and thanks to my phone's super zooming capabilities, I wasn't really in any danger from getting a snake bite. Plus, this snake (a Red-bellied Water Snake) is very docile unless messed with. He was pretty accommodating while I once again acted like paparazzi and snapped tons of photos!

I used some old Cosmo Cricket paper and some brand new (to me!) tire track washi tape.

The "hello" flair is handmade by me! ;-)

I.

Love.

Flair.




Have a wonderful weekend!! And all youse guys up the East Coast take care! ;-)


~Cynthia

Hoo Me??

Hoo Me??, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Barred Owls are easily identified by their call, which sounds like, "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?" Sometimes their call is abbreviated to "hoo all," thus the title for my page...Hoo me?

This is the backside of the Webster's Pages paper I posted yesterday.

I added the journaling on this page--which is probably the only writing I'll do for this series of photos.

I kept it pretty clean-and-simple, like the rest of the pages are/will be, using lots of greens, blues with accents of yellow and orange.

In the top right corner...the fun little bread bag "tie" idea is from the Real Life Page Tabs by Evalicious. I just cut the paper down to the size I wanted, punched the heart, and then stapled the paper with Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher. Or as my mom likes to call it--the Tiny Attacker. Heh.


That's it for me today. Back to working on another owl page!



~Cynthia

Owl at Home

Owl at Home, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

This is the first of several pages I've completed so far concerning the recent visit from a Barred Owl. I made this like a title page, so no journaling or much embellishment.

I titled the page 'Owl at Home' after one of my most favorite ever children's books called...you guessed it..."Owl at Home" by Arthur Lobel.

The background paper is an old old old Webster's Pages creation. So pretty. I didn't need to add much to the page.

I colored a wood veneer butterfly with Distress Stain, then added a small Maya Road paper owl to the bottom left corner. The sticker there is from Simple Stories and it says "true story."

I added a few more pieces of paper and a trio of wooden stars.

And there ya go! =D


And if you're interested in taking a cool class from Shimelle Laine, there's a free one happening on UKScrappers called Break it Down. You don't have to be from the UK to participate, you just need to sign up on the site! That's free too! :-)



Carry on scrapping!!


~Cynthia

Starting Point

Starting Point, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Over on the Pretty Paper; True Stories blog, Shimelle has challenged us with a Starting Point scrapbook page.

She gave a few dimensions for paper layers and then we are to take it from there!

This page is actually one of several I'm working on involving photos I took of a Barred Owl on the patio. He came in for a visit, politely posed for many (MANY!) photos and then flew away. They're very common around here, but I've never had one sit on the patio furniture before!! =D

I thought this particular photo went well with Shimelle's challenge. I just moved my paper layers over a bit because he was looking down.


Thanks for checking this out! I'll be posting the other pages of the Owl Visit all this week! ;-)


~Cynthia

Tim's Tag For June

Tim's Tag For June, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

It's June first and you know what that means!! Tim's Tag Time!!!

So Sir Tim has challenged us in a (for me!) very challenging way this month.

We have to color stuff.

With Distress Markers and water brushes and watercolor paper stuff.

I do not color.

But it's a challenge, right??

So I took on Sir Tim's challenge and here's my tag.

I stamped the sweet Carolina Wren and the daffodils in Archival Ink.

Then, because I was too scared to do any coloring, I made the background part with Distress Stain, Ink and Paint.

Then, because in order to complete the tag you actually have to COLOR the tag...I sucked it up and colored my image.

I will say I held my breath a lot.

And might have contemplated taking up drinking...in excess.

But no.

I persevered and colored my image!!!!

For having zero coloring talent, I'm giving myself a Not So Bad grade. ;-)

At least you can tell it's a bird with flowers.

Right?

Hello??




Thanks so much for stopping by!

~Cynthia ;-)