The Odd Whimsy

So I have fallen completely in love with Graphic 45's Nature Sketchbook paper. The colors and patterns are so gorgeous and my favorite thing about the paper is the loads and loads of butterflies!!!!!!! I LOVE to fussy cut butterflies and pop them up on my projects to make them 3D. So when I got this paper I instantly wanted to do a configurations box from Tim Holtz. I had never used one before, and this just seemed like the perfect paper to use with it. It also helped that I hit Joann Craft store right at Black Friday time and got a ton of Idea-Ology things to put in the box to help fill it out. I really love the way this turned out! I think what took the longest was trying to figure out how I wanted all the boxes arranged. I think measured them all and cover the insides of the box. I then followed Tim's directions for tissue taping all the seams. I used different things cut out from the collection and some of Tim's Idea-ology line to fill up all

So today I am very excited to announce that I have filmed and posted my very first video tutorial to youtube!!! This was definitely a challenge for me, and I still have quite a few kinks to work out in the filming and editing process so please bear with me :) My video today features a card I made with the brand new Graphic 45 Nature Sketchbook! I am completely in love with this collection!! The rich, vibrant colors, the gorgeous patterns, and of course all the butterflies just begging to be fussy cut!! Without further ado, here is the video!!!! Thanks for stopping by!! AR

So this post I'll keep short and sweet, as its rather hard to make. My Grandpa fell ill rather quickly, and we lost him. It's been a little over a week, and its been very hard. I purchased the Graphic 45 Cafe Parisian paper just a few days after he passed. I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it. I made a scrapbook layout featuring a photo of him holding a pie on one of our Birthday's. We shared a Birthday and he always got a lemon pie, and I got a chocolate cake. It was years of wonderful memories I will also cherish.

Hi all!! So today I decided to bust out a project I had set on the back burner. Sometimes I get started on projects and set them aside if I get busy, or in the case of this project, I didn't like the way it was turning out. So I pulled it back out and decided to try it again. The project I had going was an old washboard that I got from my Great Aunt's house after she passed away. It was slated for the trash, and I saved it from it's fate in the dump. It had too much potential!! I knew instantly that I wanted to use Graphic 45's Home Sweet Home collection. I started with altering the top, and I loved the way it turned out. The problem came with doing the bottom half. It was just not turning out the way I was seeing in my head. So I set the project aside to work on when I wasn't so frustrated with it. So fast forward five months and I FINALLY finished it. I love the way this one turned out! It was better than what I saw in my

Hello all!! So this last month has been crazy busy. I have found some time to work on cards in amongst everything I have had going on, bot not much else! Summer is always rather busy for me, and this last summer has been no exception. Hopefully coming this fall I will start making video tutorials!! YAY!! I have spent the last few months researching how to do them, camera mounts, etc. I have limited space to film in so I've spent a lot of time trying to get it all sorted out. Which has meant my larger projects have taken a back burner. I also took all three of Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry, so I have been branching out and trying new things. Exciting! Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for new projects coming soon!! -Altina R.

When I was 15, my family moved from Missouri to Texas. I quickly reconnected with some old friends, one of whom introduced me to scrapbooking. I fell in love immediately and I have been hooked ever since. Scrapbooking quickly lead to making mini albums, card making, altered canvas, up cycled items, and mixed media. I kept scrapbooking on and off, but found myself spending less and less time on it as I learned new things.   So yesterday I decided to try my hand at it again after about two years. I picked a photo of myself and my mother from when she and I went to see the Broadway tour of Wicked when it was in Springfield MO earlier this year. I chose Graphic 45's World's Fair paper for this layout. I wanted something very bright and colorful. I chose to make my photo black and white to help draw the eye in. I did lots of fussy cutting and distressing for this layout. Lots of pop dots where used! I used Tim Holtz distress inks in Spiced Marmalad

Hello all! Sorry to have been MIA. The summer is a very busy time around my house. But in amongst all the crazy, I had an order for some wedding invites!! The order was for five invites, all different. This is the first large order I have had! I was so excited! Word of mouth pays off :) So I have been taking my time on these, if I rush my process I tend to get frustrated. I used the Mon Amour paper line from Graphic 45 for all the cards. And yes, I used a lot of my scraps on these! This is why I keep everything organized. This is the Bride's personal card. She requested the image with the saying "I carry your heart with me. I carry it in my heart."  I think my favorite part about this card is the butterflies. I tried to subtly keep all the cards tied together in some way. I used at least three layers for each card, and I also used a different love saying from the collection for each card. This also helps tie the card into the bride's card.

The last few weeks have been a bit crazy around my house with not a whole lot of time for crafting. But the past couple of days I have finally had a chance to sit down and make a couple of cards. I've been trying out more layering, fussy cutting, and distress techniques on my cards. I have throughly enjoyed taking the time to sit down and work on these the last few weeks. Hopefully I will have some new projects soon! Thanks for stopping by! -Altina R.

For my latest card I wanted to experiment a little more with layers. I have been getting braver and been learning to be ok with covering things up on my beautiful Graphic 45 paper. For this card I decided to use the gorgeous World's Fair paper. I love the bright colors and the intricate designs. I have used this paper for a few other cards, so I used a mix of scraps and sheets from the pad. I cut out several different elements from the paper for this card. The background layer is made up of three different papers and distressed. The third layer is popped up with pop dots for extra dimension.  Tip for using different images from the paper, just because it isn't a complete image doesn't mean you can't use it! The flowers at the top were cut from the edge of a paper sheet, and I just covered the cut edge. Same for the tickets, I just tucked them up so you couldn't see it wasn't a complete image. It took me awhile to get everything arranged li

Hello all!! Just a quick update since I haven't had a chance to post in over a week. Things have been very busy here, so I haven't had time to finish a full project yet. I am currently working on altering an old washboard I have had tucked away in my stash. I am also working on stocking my card stash, as I may have an offer to stock them in a local shop!! Eek!!! Anyway, no pictures yet but I will soon. Thanks for stopping by! -AR

While I was cleaning up all my art supplies the other day, I found the part of the packaging from the Graphic 45 drawer pulls I had used in one of my recent up cycles. I almost threw it away when the thought occurred to me that I should use it as a tag! So I set it aside until I had some free time to work on it. So this............. Became this...... I just love the way this turned out! I had the Artisan Style paper sitting in my collection for awhile and decided this would be the perfect thing to use it on! For detailed instructions just check out my snapguide: Check out How to Recycle Graphic 45 Packaging With Artisan Style by Altina Robinson on Snapguide . Thanks for stopping by!! -Altina R.

Making round two has been an absolute dream come true. I have had the biggest smile plastered across my face from the very moment I found out.  For round two I decided to make three projects that represented me as a designer. For this I choose two altered projects and a card.  For my first project I was inspired to do an altered bottle after watching the movie Snow White. I am a HUGE Disney fan so Disney movies are heavy in the rotation when I put in a movie while I craft. I was inspired by the scene where the evil queen is mixing up her poison and you see all the bottles, melted candles, and cobwebs everywhere. Since I collect old bottles this felt like the perfect fit for me. I painted the inside of the bottle using a mix of blue and black paint. I have painted the inside of bottles before, but let me tell you this was an experience! I normally just water down a little paint and then pour it inside and it works like a charm. This however did not. When I awoke the next m

Hi Everyone!! Just a quick post today, as I am neck deep in projects. I did receive some very exciting news last Friday!! I am in the top 30 for the Graphic 45 2016 design team!! I was so excited I was walking around with a smile plastered all over my face all weekend. I have a couple of tags I made over the last week I thought I would share. I've been playing around with some Ranger Adhesive Foil, and I'm liking the results. Thanks for stopping by and wish me luck! -Altina R.

So I'll start off by saying that I am NOT much of a stamper. I like them, but I never seem to know what to do with them. About a month ago I was at the lovely scrapbook store in Branson, MO and found these adorable stamps by Santoro Gorjuss.  They have a very strong Alice in Wonderland vibe to me (which for anyone who knows me, I ADORE.) I held off that trip but I made another trip yesterday and decided to splurge and buy a few. When I got home I busted out one of my mixed media art pads so I could stamp them and decide how I liked coloring them best. I have several different makers, watercolors, pencils, etc to choose from. I decided to try out each image with a different one to see what I personally liked best. All the images. So for the first one I did I decided to use the Tim Holtz distress markers to color it in. I like that they can be toned down or blended out with water. I like the way this turned out, though I'm not crazy about some of the harsh edge