Kellso Collage

My Collage how-to

This was my first real attempt at a straight collage 12×12 scrapbook page. I have been reading about collage more and more, and I find them rather intriguing. While, at first glance, it may look like an ‘anything goes’ kind of project, once you try one you realize they’re anything but. There are all sorts of unwritten rules about balance, movement, flow, and color. So, did I hit the mark? Well, that depends. Are we talking ‘Design Team’ mark (no, apparently not) or ‘looks good to me’ mark? You can judge for yourself, but I actually really like the way it turned out. And that may be the only written rule about collage-Like it, or go home.

Layer by layer….

1. This started as purely experimental, as I mentioned. The first thing I put on the page (hardly visible now) is…toothpaste! There is a big, white, chalky stripe down the right side and along the bottom of the page. The toothpaste is highlighted with gold Perfect Pearl luster dust.

2. Another huge inspiration for this page is the dress. The picture was in a magazine, the dress was worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City. I found it pretty, anyway, and saved the picture.

3. Embellishments include a page from an antique Girl Scout manual, a coffee sign and a coffee pot, then arms and legs from a very delicate figure. At this point, the collage started to take on a life of its own-it was becoming a study on Femininity, a blend of traditional and personal interpretations on that theme. I decided to complete the page as an homage to the women who have influenced me over the years.

4. Each of the pictures were cropped in a long, narrow shape, partly to mirror the flow of the arms and rulers, partly to crop out a lot of Men in my Life! (ha, ha.) The edges of each picture were sanded and scratched to age them. I also coated each picture with Matte accents to take away the shine, giving a more antique feel.

5. The title, ‘The Women in my Life- Loving, Supporting, Inspiring’ were both printed and stamped with a label maker. I inked the plastic from the label maker to tone down the yellow, then inked the words again with Pearl ink to highlight them.

C’est la Vie…

Well, I did not make Design Team for Mystic Paper. Please, for your own good, try to accept this and move on. I have. It’s only healthy.

YOU KNOW, IT JUST SUCKS WHEN…(*cough*) when you just put your best work out there and have people pretty much ignore it, you know? I mean, I really tried, really, to do something unique, creative, and interesting not to mention personal and emotional and BEAUTIFUL, but it just WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH!!!! Well, PHOOEY ON THEM!!! (Sniff…sniff). poopheads.

The Women in my Life…Loving, Supporting, Inspiring.

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This page was the one I submitted to Mystic Paper to audition for Design Team. Despite popular opinion, I am very proud of this page. I set about to make a page in a traditional collage style, something I had never done before. It sort of evolved over time into a study of femininity, and what that means in my life. I decided to focus the attention of the page on the women who have had the biggest influence on me and my life through the years. There are so many women I could have put on this page, but I narrowed it down to a handful of women I have known my whole life, or their whole life… Each of these women has celebrated with me during joyful times in my life, and wept with me during the difficult times. And so, it is with great pride that I introduce each of you to The Women in my Life!

Grandma Nancy Metzler: (denim vest, far right) Grandma Nancy is my Dad’s Mother. She was born and raised in Minnesota, and moved to Arizona with my Grandpa when her children were in their teens. Growing up, she lived only a few miles away from us, so I have many memories of her and her family from my childhood. As a child, she taught me to knit (I still remember how), to sew (that one didn’t stick), and instilled in all us kids a love of gourmet, elegant cooking at an early age. She is a firm believer in saving up for quality items that will last. Her laugh is infectious and memorable. The last few years of her life are proof that, despite what the calendar may say, you don’t ever have to grow old. She has learned how to use a computer, travels frequently, and goes on all sorts of adventures with her husband, Phillip.

Grandma Joni Judge: (top right) Oh, Grandma Joni, or Gigi as she has come to be known the last 8 years (it’s short for Great-Grandma!) There are so many memories from my life related to Grandma Joni, as she and my Papa also lived nearby during my whole childhood. (Am I lucky or what?!) The memories that stand out to me may seem a bit silly, but they are precious to me. I remember one Christmas (1985, to be sure!) where all 8 of us grandchildren each found an illusive, coveted Cabbage Patch Doll under Grandma’s tree. She worked for Osco Drug at the time, so that gave her a bit of an ‘in’ as to when new shipments of the hard-to-find dolls came in, but I have no doubt that she hunted and stalked those dolls, NO ONE would be disappointed. I also remember one afternoon when I was lucky enough to have some time alone with Grandma. She had a barrel palm tree in the back corner of her yard, and…could it be?… there was a tiny, snowy owl perched in the branches of the palm tree. Somehow or another, in a way only us Judge women can, we began to write a song about ‘The Owl in the Tree’. The lyrics have long since been lost to time, but a couple of years ago, I e-mailed her and asked her if she remembered our afternoon with the Owl. Her response? “Oh, dear Jenna, I think about that day all the time!”

One Generation down, more to come!

My Mystic paper project

[[popup:img_1853.jpg:::1:center]][[popup:img_1855.jpg:::1:center]][[popup:img_1857.jpg:::1:center]]Last month, I read something absolutely intriguing…

One of my favorite local scrapbook stores, Mystic paper, has a blog that I check regularly. Recently, they decided to add some new members to their Design Team, and put out the call on their blog for people to ‘audition’ for a spot on the team. Many scrapbook magazines and product lines have design teams. Basically, it’s a group of people who create projects out of the latest and greatest scrapbook products so they can be placed on display as examples and inspiration. When I heard about the contest to be on their design team, my purpose was clear. I had to be on the team, at least I had to try.

Each person who entered the contest had to contribute a 12×12 scrapbook page, and one project. As much as I want to be on the team (The 3 winners will be announced next week), I tried to focus on just putting out the best work I could, and making it special to me. As my hubby put it, if I had a project I was proud of and was special to me, that would be an accomplishment in and of itself. I truly feel that I contributed the best work I had ever done to this contest. (come what may…)

Pictured above is my project titled “My heart…my home.” It is a 3 dimensional, 2 sided cardboard house. My home is truly the center of my life. As a stay at home mother of 3, some days it feels like I have NO life outside my home! I try (some weeks more successfully than others) to keep a home that is tidy and beautiful. But, the way I feel about my home encompasses so much more than the look and feel of the house. I feel (as does Matt) that sharing our home, our family, and meals with friends is not only a huge source of joy in our lives, it is a calling from God.

To keep a home that is welcoming and pleasant to others starts inside our four walls. If our hearts are not right before God, why would anyone want to hang out with our bodies? Phew, that is a lot of pressure! There are more times we fail than succeed, but we try increasingly to commit all areas of our lives to Christ and His desires above ours.

So, can one little cardboard house communicate all of these desires for our home and family? Probably not. But, when i think of my home, the first things I think about are the 5 people peeking out of the little windows, and all the hopes and desires I carry in my heart for them.

My ‘house’, layer by layer

I pulled out all the stops for this house! I felt this house was an ‘all or nothing’ project. Here are some of the techniques and products I used

1-Paint the house brown and use Distress Inks to age and warm the paint color.
2-the Roof-I painted the roof black, then used a crackle glaze. I accented the crackles with Pearl Distress Inks. I added a chimney made from a dice. I toyed with the idea of adding smoke I pulled from felt, but it looked stupid.
3-Accent pieces-I cut a heart to fit the house, inking the edges to accent the heart. For the chandelier, I used a pre-printed chandelier picture, cut out all the details with an X-acto knife, then painted the silhouette with metalic purple paint.
4-The windows. These are all recent pictures of my family encased under glass. I added a rub-on to accent each window. The window frames and shutters are made from Fimo dough, then inked and painted navy to age the clay.
5- The door is a logo from the top of an Altoids tin. (does the shape look familiar?) In person, you can still read the embossed ‘Altoids’ through the paint. The paint is a textured rust paint of my own design, red oxide colored paint with some black to darken it, mixed with Distressing powder to give it the texture of rust. The doorknob is an old bingo chip…N35?
6-The words were printed on the house in a OLD SCHOOL style, baby…Tole painting. I learned this technique when I was still in elementary school. I printed out the words on my computer, then carefully traced and colored the letter with a lead pencil on the back of the paper. After taping the paper into place, I re-traced the front of the letters. The lead was then tranfered onto the house. I inked in the words to finish the title. Halfway through, I realized I would have to transfer the words over the chandelier, which was tricky!
7-I glued the antique-style key to the side of the house, transfered ‘Kellso 2007′ on the side in the same font, and I was done!

Discovery Dinner, Aug ’08

Discovery Dinner is a ministry of our church, Grace Bible Church of Tempe, AZ. Once a month we cook a dinner in our home for people who are new to our church. It is a great way to get to know them better, and a great way for them to get to know us better, as well!

This month’s menu: Mediterranean cuisine

Lemon and fresh herb chicken…That’s what I call it, the correct term is kotopoulo skorthato…don’t even try, I didn’t.

http://greekfood.about.com/od/poultrydishes/r/kotopouloskorth.htm

I did not cook the potatoes as the recipe suggests, but I would definitely cook it for the time recommended. It was YUM! The Chicken thighs were much more flavorful than the breasts. I marinated the meat for several hours before cooking, as well.

Home made Hummus:

http://mideastfood.about.com/od/appetizerssnacks/r/hummusbitahini.htm

Tahini is available at Sprouts or ethnic food stores. I served this with pita, bought from Haji Babas in Tempe.

Greek Salad: Lettuce, red onions, cucumber, tomatoes, feta and the dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil
3 T. red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 T dried basil

For dessert we had Italian sodas. I filled disposeable cups with ice and Seltzer, then passed out a little Dixie ‘shot glass’ with pre-measured syrup, a drizzle of cream, topped with whipped cream. Each person picked the flavor they wanted, then dumped the whole shot glass into their seltzer. The syrup mixed instantly and the whipped cream just stayed right on top, so cute!

So, what’s the big idea?

I have had the idea to do an art-based blog for a while…

Looking at art being created around the world is very exciting and inspiring to me. Scrapbooking and paper arts are a passion of mine, and I enjoy getting others excited about it, as well. There were a few things holding me back..Well, many things (see: first blog post!). Another hesitation I had was that I am not a regular Scrapbooker. I am a stay at home mother of 3, active in church and with family and keeping up with my home. So, how much and how often could I share my projects with others? Yet, I still love it and really make an effort to ‘get my hands dirty’ from time to time. (Seriously, if I show up to an event with green fingernails, it’s ink, not a fungal infection!)

While the idea for my blog was brewing, I overheard some girls from my church talking about their blogs. Many of my friends have “Mommy Blogs” documenting their day-to-day lives in the home. I have peeked at all of them, and follow some of them closely, I have laughed and cried over many of the stories of their sweet little ones. This conversation, in fact, centered around just that-using their blogs to make a difference in others’ lives, by exposing their hearts in their love for their husbands and children, and their desires to see them come to know the Lord and live a life that honors Him. Hearing these women, and looking at their motives in light of my wanting to do an Art Blog, I could think only one thing – “I’m a jerk.” My hatchling of an idea for my blog was quickly dropped, and forgotten.

But once again, try though I might, the blogosphere (shudder) had me in its sights, and there was no escape. As I have mentioned, there is a smidgen of a chance that I will need to have a blog to document my time on a team I might be part of. (One more week until the announcement!) (‘might’ and ‘chance’ being the operative words) So, there I was again, back at the idea for an art-based blog. I talked the problem (desiring to say something meaningful in a potentially frivolous blog) over with my hubby, Matthew. As is the trend with his casual, no stress, frazzleless, optimistic, rather medatative, and alltogether CRAZY worldview, he did not see any of this as a problem! In fact, he started to get really excited about my (?) idea of blogging about art-WITH A PURPOSE! Make the meaning behind the art the focus, and put tips and tricks to achieve the look of the art as a side point. He was right, of course: You can copy someone’s style as much as you want, but if what you’re creating doesn’t mean something to you, it can never be special to you. That is true whether you’re someone who Scrapbooks a couple times a year, or every day, 10 minutes a page, or weeks on one page. If you’re more of a photo album and frame kind of gal, or you create hand made cards to share at Christmas, it’s what you’re thinking about while you do these things that matters. Only then can it matter to anyone else.

So, there’s the outline for my blog. I give in world, Jenna Kellso has a blog, happy? Believe it or not, I am happy, I think it could be a lot of fun. I already have a few of my most recent projects photographed and ready for documentation, and now that i finally have my intro finished, AWAY WE GO!!

Top 5 Favorite Crafting Tools

1. Paper (of course), but the beauty of paper is that it does not have to be taken at face value: It can be torn, sanded, inked, painted, cut for patterned parts…
2. Scissors. This list is becoming WAY predictable, but I put it at #2 to encourage you to invest in a good pair. Use your 40% off coupon at Michaels, your lines will be sharper and you can make tighter cuts
3. Paint. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…Red, orange, yellow…
4. Ink. Part of the reason I like ink so much has to do with the weathered, aged, ‘grungy’ look it can give a project. Some people don’t like that, but all the straight lines and right angles people get hung up on drive me batty, so there!
5. #5 already, oh, dear this is tough…I’m going to go with letter stickers. They can be used for words (of course) or accents such as initials or ages. Most of my layouts have only a handful of words, and letter stickers are perfect for that.

Yes, another blog!

Well, despite months of resisting I have finally acquired the newest must-have accessory for the modern woman: A blog.

Just this week, a friend commented on her surprise that I did not have a blog. Wait, she wondered-Do you have a blog?

Well, technically, yes, as of that moment. I have claimed, bought and named my very own website. Are there any posts on it? Is it fully designed? It’s concept and purpose fully realized? Not even close.

My delay in blogging wasn’t so much a personal protest as it was a complete neutrality of interest. I mean, first of all, let’s start with the name. Blog. “Web-…log?” It sounds more like a combination of the words ‘blah’ and ‘bog’, a very apt description of the internet in my opinion!

Another hesitation-I can not imagine a scenario where my life would be interesting to very many people. However, I have spent plenty of time looking at other people’s blogs, and my Mother, Mother-in-law and Grandmas are constantly asking for more pictures, stories, etc., so there goes that theory!

My final reason for holding back on getting a blog is more of an observation on a large scale, it is NOT related to all the Mommy Blogs I have laughed and cried over… You see, I have a theory related to things like reality TV, talentless celebrity socialites, athletes who try to be actors, and actors who try to be singers, and to a somewhat lesser extent, blogs…People are trying desperately to make their mark on a world that is constantly changing and has a very rapid turn-over rate. I mean, let’s face it…we all have looked back on family pictures from just 3 or 4 generations back, and gotten that sinking feeling…I have no idea who these people are! These people had friends, families, hobbies, jobs, they cooked, they cleaned, possibly made their local paper a couple times in their life, not to mention made life choices and laid down a genetic trail that somehow, someway led to me and my children…and the most I can say about them is that it’s lucky someone had the foresight to write their name on the back of this tattered photo! People don’t like to admit that a human life lasts about 80 years, their immediate influence lasts a bit after that, and that’s…about it.

But, in today’s world it’s easier to case a wide berth, get on TV, speak your mind, suddenly people seem to think that their lives, that THEY are interesting. They want to be remembered and acknowledged, not just another face in the crowd. However, the way most people choose to make themselves known is very flawed. In a world where many Presidents have faded into near-obscurity, I doubt very much that the winner of Can You Survive to Marry the Next Dance Idol? will be well known for long. Perez Hilton, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry, but it’s true.

And yet, in an instant, my biggest reason for NOT getting a blog became my biggest reasons FOR getting one. I can accept and acknowledge that my great-great grandchildren will not (or hardly) know me, that I will be naught but an ever shrinking branch on family trees in late 21st century school projects. I probably will never write a book, or have a painting in a gallery, win an academy award (besides ones shaped like shampoo bottles…). I am certainly aware that hardly anyone outside of my friends and family will read this blog…but what if someone does?

While my life may be nothing but “…a mist, that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14), ever widening and weakening like ripples from a stone thrown into a pond, THIS living stone has not yet hit rock bottom, I’m still making waves! (Oi.) If today’s world has invented ways of making a bigger splash, then we need people making the right kinds of splashes, wouldn’t you agree? I want the mist of my life to linger in my children’s lives, and all the lives I come in contact with, so they can pass the lessons of my life on to their friends and families…and so on. The waves may be ever weakening, but I want them to matter, as long as they last.

Enter, my blog. There is, at this point in time, a SMALL chance that this blog will be linked to from another website. I have entered a contest where, if I am chosen (BIG IF), I am required to have a blog to chronicle my time as a member of this team. (I’m being vague because I don’t want to go into details if (when) it doesn’t happen!) I promise to update as soon as I find out. But-despite the small chances-what an amazing opportunity! And thus, Kellsocollage was born.

I’ll save my vision for this blog (online journal? nournal? web document? bocument? These are much prettier names than ‘blog’) for another post, as I have rambled on for much too long already. All I can say now is that it will be art-based, focusing on all of life’s prettiest moments. And, if the first 40 sentences of this blog didn’t put you off from ever reading it again, that last one certainly will! (ha, ha)