Christmas Gift Card Holder Class

This is a picture of 4 of the 5 projects included in my Tags and Bags Xmas Class at The Scrapbooking Depot.  The Ornament and the Stocking are Gift Card Holders, there is a larger gift bag that is not in this photo but you can see the tiny gift bag with tag at the bottom of the photo. At the top of the photo is a post it note holder.  There is also a matching pen to the post it note holder that makes a nice little stocking stuffer for the person who needs to write themselves notes as to not forget what they need to do that day or buy at the grocery store. I have made several of these in different patterned paper and have them decoratively sitting around in just about every room as I am always looking for paper to jot something down on.

Houses Swap Accordion Book Received

On November 20th I posted a picture of my Fairy Mushroom Village. Below is a picture of all of the Houses submitted for this swap. The hostess attached all of the houses so that they open as an accordion and are free standing. All of the stamps used are Cherry Pie Stamps. My Fairy House is the last one on the block.

 Getting back to my ART! Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Thanksgiving is over..time to get back to creating ART!!!!

Back to getting the creative juices flowing!  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend and didn't empty their wallets on Black Friday.  Gotta get in the Christmas mode and start making my Holiday cards.  See ya at my craft desk!!

My House project

My Mushroom Village.   Fairies flyin' Everywhere.
10 members each created their own house pages. The swap host will bind all 10 different pages together as an accordion folded book and return them back to us...I am excited to see what everyone created.

Happy B'day to me!!!

 
 Just wanted to share a picture of my cake! Yes it is a Carvel Ice cream cake.  Aren't the candles just the cutest ever??? Well it was fantabulous and yummy!

A Belated Boss' Day Gift

Awwww, C'mon...it may be late, but I think it was worth the wait!!! This bag was a blank canvas slate...I cut the handles and painted the bag inside and out. Using fabric glue I adhered the loops for the handles and then took the bag to the local shoemaker and had them stitch it up for extra sturdiness...okay...I may be artsycrafty but I can't sew a stitch!!! Enjoy the pics. It was made for my boss for her trip to India in February, 2010. Hopefully it is big enough to hold all the souvenirs she intends on buying.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!!!

Okay, am I the only one who loves her birthday??? Many of my friends try to forget theirs, but I have always loved my birthday...because it is my day! I guess I could thank my mom, because she always made my birthday extra special. Yeah, yeah...I do have other friends that also celebrate the 15th of November...but it's fine with me...because I don't mind sharing my day!!!

I am wishing for a Carvel Icecream cake...which is my all time favorite for my birthday. So hopefully Al will surprise me with a Carvel cake...I just adore those chocolate crunchies...Yum!!!

Music Mini Book...the last book of the year for me!

This is my mini book on Music. I chose Salsa because my boyfriend and I are always listening to his Salsa Music CD collection. Willy Chirino, Marc Anthony, Celia Cruz are just a few among the many different Salsa artists that we listen to. Celia Cruz was the Queen of Salsa and then there is Ray Barreto who was labeled the Godfather of Salsa Jazz...For some more history into the world of Salsa read  here:                                                                                                                                      the true beginnings of the use of the term SALSA as we know it today. Ray Barreto and Johnny Ray were two Puerto Rican musicians and Ray Ruiz a self proclaimed "promoter" from upper manhattan who had developed ties to the Cuban musicians who often made that place their home even before the Cuban exile post- Castro. Upper Manhattan, with all its night clubs and upper end restaurants was a petri dish for Latin musicians, specially Cubans who were on the cusp of the music scene here in the US, where the "Cuban sound" could be twisted and turned and mixed and mangled without or with less criticism than it would receive in Cuba from the "puristas" of the music of the time.

Ray Barreto, Johnny Ray and Ray Ruiz wanted to take the rich Afro-Cuban sounds and make them more their own, and they did so by incorporating, of all things, nuances from the Classical Music genre and the works of such greats as Bach, Beethoven and others. They wanted to create their own "sound" which would be indigenous to the people of El Barrio, who were primarily of Puerto Rican ancestry. Like all immigrants, they wanted something to call their own. They were, in their own way, geniuses; they created a street sound that became known as "the Bugalu" and it took off like wildfire.

While on a promotional tour of their new "sound" to Venezuela, Ray Ruiz and Johnny Ray had the opportunity to sit in with a very well known and industry powerful DJ of his time, in Venezuela, Venezuelan radio DJ Phidias Danilo Escalona; This man had a very popular radio show that reached millions of people, something akin to an "American Bandstand" only on the radio. During their interview, they plugged their new sound, this Bugalu (also spelled BOOGALU) which they identified as "the ketchup of music" relating to the tasty sauce which was popular in America. But the DJ could not wrap his head around the idea of this "ketchup"....what was it like? What did it do? During that exchange Escalona said "Oh...its like a sauce..a Salsa" , and from that moment on, the word Salsa became synonymous with all types of Latin Music. Ray Ruiz, Johnny Ray Tito Puente and others later created the greatest Latin Music Enterprise in the history of Latin Music, The Fania All Stars... the rest, is History.

This is the cover to my mini book on Georgia. Not only do we share a birthday...she is one of my favorite artists. She passed away at age 98. Whew! I sure hope I get to live that long...healthy of course. This book was painted using acrylic paints in only BRIGHT colors as was Georgia's artwork...Bright and Vibrant  Colors!

Mini book Round Robin comes to an end

This is the niche that contains a little bio on Georgia O'keefe.

Class pics-Gift Card Holders-11-11-09

Hi, Just wanted to show you what is next on my agenda. I will be teaching a class at The Scrapbooking Depot on 11-11-09. Above are pics of the Gift Card Holders that we will be making.

ATC cards?

Yikes! Like I don't have enough to keep me busy, I joined an ATC group at my local Scrapbooking Store. The Scrapbooking Depot in Sunrise, Florida...hmmm, how's that for a plug??? Anyway, to the right is an ATC that I made for this group and also 1 was for a yahoo group that I am on. The yahoo group only required one ATC to be made to swap whereas the local SBS requires 16...Soooo, Marianne made 17~ talk about cutting it close...The theme is Candy. The letter C is for Candy....2 different theme titles...yet it worked...How swift was that? When ya got it~ ya got it! But in my case I was just glad that I got them done!!!! The stamps are from EatCakeGraphics and the background stamp is from Stampin' Up! I hope you like it...I am still practicing using the Copic Markers...but I still don't have a handle on them as of yet. But I will letcha know when I do. My next time using these Copic Markers will be on Glossy Paper...wish me luck!!!

PolkaDotSwap-Card Re-do

This is the previous card that I posted. I had made it for a Polka Dot Swap. I decided that her polka dot dress wasn't enough dots, so I relayered the card with a polka dot piece of cardstock. Added a sentiment, embellished with photo corners and some gemstones...ahhh she looks much better.

New work of art....

Okay, I couldn't wait for my swap partner to receive this card. This was for the Card Undone Swap. Participants were partnered and had to send their partner all the ingredients needed to make a card. Once received that partner had to make a card and send it back to the originator of the undone ingredients packet.
My friend, Jane Peters sent me this stamped image of vegetable dresses, the background paper and other layers of CS...and embellishments...aren't the little itsy bitsy paperclips adorable??? Well this is what I came up with and several of my stamping friends who shall remain nameless know how difficult this was for me. It did get me to play with my Cope-ick markers. If you click on the picture when you see it larger you will notice some areas that bled beyond the stamped lines of the image...of course I tried to hide it by drawing a halo around some parts of the image...Hope you like your card Jane....you should be receiving it in the mail shortly!!! I am currently waiting to receive my card back from Rita....I think I freaked her out with the ingredients I sent to her.

Playing with my Copic Markers

Okay, you got some esplainin' to do!!! What is the big hype??? Why did I just have to own these very expensive markers? So they are alcohol based markers, but what is the BIG ta-dew about them?

Years ago I owned the Studio 2 Markers, but these really aren't the same!

What's a stamper to do?

Run,go and buy these newest stamping trend of a marker??

I bought the supposed "Copic Paper" to use them on...DUH! they bleed.

I had some friends play with them to see what this hype is all about. We tried them on the recommended cardstock, we tried them on different brands of cardstock that we all had between us and no matter what; they bleed thru. Oh, but wait...everyone and I mean everyone...has written on their websites, written on their blogs and even told me in person (ok, over the phone) that Glossy cardstock is NOT the way to go. Sooo, call me pigheaded...I will be trying the Glossy cardstock next. The picture in this posting was done using Copic markers and coated cardstock...yes, it bled thru that is why it is layered onto the blue cardstock.

Oh and just as an added note: the markers are called Copics with a long "o" sound, if written phonetically it would sound something like this: Cope-icks!! Need I say more? Some Copic peeps get offended when not pronounced correctly.

Altho' I love to spend time coloring my images and many a friend have always referred to me as the Marker Queen... the jury is still out on these babies. But I shall prevail...until I Master these Markers...I will not give any further opinions about them. This may become a very expensive experiment, but since I own about 28 of these babies, I will not be purchasing anymore of them UNTIL I do master them.

Geesh! I give up!-Well, not really...I will give it my all...I will not be defeated by an alcohol based marker! LOL

Catching up is hard to do

Getting there one stamp at a time. Here is one of the swap cards that I owed...still have a few more to go. This was a Cream and Burgundy swap...Ok, maybe I took it too literally, but growing up my Grandmother always had Burgundy Wine with her meals, so that is the first thing that came to my mind when I heard that the swap had to do with Burgundy!

Catching up to my stamping obligations...

I am trying my best to get myself out of my stamping funk...it has been a slow process...

Below is a mini book that I made for the local Altered Book Club that I belong to. The theme of the book is TRAVEL and the owner of this theme made a list of different places that she's traveled; so I picked Las Vegas, because I lived there from 1989 - 1997. Some of the pictures are pics that my dad had from when he visited Vegas in the mid 60's. There is a picture of Caesar's Palace, Downtown Vegas before they closed Fremont Street and covered it. The Golden Nugget then and now along with the MGM Grand, The Luxor, The Strip during the day and The Strip at night. I made an accordion book out of the mini chipboard book and inside of the accordion is a little flip book along with a pocket and

tag page. Enjoy the pics.

Zzzzzz....fell asleep....but I'm back

Hello Blogging Friends!

I have nothing to report, but just wanted to say hello. It seems I have fallen asleep since my last post. Haven't been in any great creative mood, so my artwork has been slacking. Below are 2 cards I did awhile back, just wanted to share some of my art with you...nothing current tho'. Thanks for looking!

A black and white...Cocktail themed card

This one was made using the cuttlebug folders and a rainbow inkpad. Gotta love a sparkley cupcake!!!

My LIFE QUOTE!!

Hi ALL!

Well, I was perusing my FACEBOOK site and came across a really cool quiz. I couldn't find the hyperlink to share it with you but if I do, I will definitely post it. IT was Your Life Quote Quiz. I did the quiz and this is what it came up with for me:

"I've never tried to fit in, I was born to stand out."

Unique: Well , what can I say about you . YOU STAND OUT . Always have and always will . Whether you like it or not , people see you as a crazy , friendly , freaky , cool , funny , outstanding person ! Everyone should like you for just being yourself , random is the way you like to live it.

I have to agree with the results above as this is what I have heard from all of my friends over the years!!! LOL...Well when the shoe fits, ya gotta wear it!

Checking in....

Hi everyone,

Haven't had much to share so I have been quiet for awhile, but we know that doesn't last too long. I am attaching some more pics of another mini book that I did. The theme of the book is shoes.

Orange mini chipboard book

In my local Scrapbooking Store that I teach at I belong to their Altered Book Group. We meet 1x a month. It is a round robin group and this month I had Rhonda's theme: Colors. Each member when it is their turn, works on a mini chipboard book. Each book is a different color. I chose the color Orange.
The book cover is made from a swatch of Orange fabric. The inside pages are either patterned scrapbook paper or paint chips from The Home Depot paint dept. The embellishments are Jolie Stickers.

Ryan's photo album

On May 17th I posted a pic of the cover of Ryan's scrapbook. Above are some pics of what's inside. I didn't have any pics to put into the book so I sent the book to Ryan and his mom Desiree will have to fill up his book with pics. The theme was Disney animated movies...Now that Ryan received the book I am able to show you what was inside.

Thanks for checking it out.

A past due art book

My boss went to Egypt and I had the bright idea of making her an altered scrapbook of her travels. Of course it was supposed to be her Christmas gift for 2008, however, she just received the finished gift May 2009...I didn't realize how many pictures she took. Check out the pics below...it came out great if I must say so myself! The book has pockets, accordion sections, flip books, 3D elements and lots of rubberstamping. Enjoy perusing these pics. I am quite proud of this accomplishment.

Christmas in May for Cousins in New Yawk!

Yesterday I made my way to UPS to ship off a package of goodies to my Goddaughter and cousins. It was fun buying things as I would see them and filling up a box. With everyday that passed the box became filled with trinkets and dodads. Both my Goddaughter and her mom collect Roosters. It is amazing how these feathered creatures seem to be in the most unexpected places. In growing up with an Italian Grandmother who was superstitious, my cousins and I laugh about it and yet walk the other way if a black cat looks like it will cross our paths or avoid walking under an opened ladder. Although the outcome of most of my grandmother's superstitions were negative the only positive one that I can remember was that Roosters bring Good Luck...hmmm, maybe I should start to collect them...one can never have enough good luck. Well, Ashley enjoy your gifts...I enjoyed buying them for you. This is a picture of the scrapbook album that I made for my baby cousin which is Ashley's nephew. It was done using several different Disney movies as the theme for each double page spread. The only problem was that I didn't have any photos to put into the book, so it will have to be something Ryan's mom, Desiree' will have to do for him. So Merry Christmas in May! LOL.

Music-The International Language

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

Please check this out...it is awesome...gives you hope that we can accomplish global peace!!

Stampin'Up! Occasions Mini-4/1 thru 6/30

Check it out! Go to my sidebar and see what it's all about.
Contact me when you are ready to place an order.You can either email me at italianarteest@aol.com or go to my SU! website and place a customer direct order~
http://www.mariannemerola.stampinup.net


I'm here for YOU!
Stampingly,
Marianne

Black and White

Is everything black and white? Are there ever any gray areas?

Today I used my cuttlebug embossing folders. It is so nice to own all these supplies, it is another thing however to use all the supplies we purchase. If I had my druthers I would have all of my stamping and scrapbooking tools, supplies and toys out all the time so I can just create all day long. But then again, where would I eat my meals? Ever since I converted my dining room into my stamp room it is hard to find room on the table large enough for a plate of food.