Welcome to the Xoxo Blog Hop!

Hiya!!!

True Xoxo is a great team- welcome to our blog hop!!
It was ALL I COULD DO to keep this under wraps for this long!
Lisa Murphy Watson (a wonderful scrapper if I may say so) threw the challenge down LOVELY!
My challenge? Channel master scrapper Ingvild Bolme. WOOOOHAA!
And here it is:

Wonder Wheel- New Year's Day 2011
MATERIALS: American Crafts white cardstock, Tattered Angeles Mermaid Glimmer Glam and Patina Mist, buttons fro m Basic Grey and My Mind's Eye, Chipboard from Dusty Attic, metal gear brads from Oriental Trading

This page is very different from what I normally do and I proved to myself that I can still rock the shabby chic/romantic vibe without getting overly prettified. Still, when I saw Lisa's challenge I WIGGED OUT.
Ingvild's design style is incredibly complex and uses lots of advanced technique.
Click here to check out her blog. But come back here ok? please? :)

Ingvild's a perfect choice for this challenge. She's got a very distinctive style that isn't easily imitated but can be used as a "jumping off point" for your own ideas and style.

First I made a list of themes I loved about her work.

• White background paper- negative space
• Turquoise paint- splatters and swishes
• Transparencies and sewn details
• Lots of texture with gesso, netting and edge distressing
• Black and white photos with blown out highlights
• Flowers, lace and other Prima products

I tried random swishes of a paint across the page but HATED IT!
I dabbed the page with the brush but hated that too.
Then, instead of throwing the page out, I stuck it to the wall and dabbed it more "confidently"with dripping paint- that's how I got that "tree" look.

My only problem with this photo is that it appears to be out of focus.

The photo looks fine in real life but when I take a picture of it WHAM!- no faces!

I then misted it with Tattered angels "Patina" and used my heat gun to dry it off- this lessened the warp I got from using Glimmer Glam.
The Dusty Attic gears were too thick to allow for direct to the page sewing so I referenced the effect by winding some floss around them.

The big blue rose actually started out pink but some misting and glimmer glamming whipped it into shape. I also tried to stay away from edge distressing which can get really ugly in the hands of the inexperienced.

Ingvild's stark white portraits are an inspiration but I decided to take it easy on myself. Rather than start a whole new shoot, I used images from the Polar Bear Club New Year's Dip my husband and I participated in January this year. He jumped in the freezing water and I got my boots wet trying to take photos- it was a truly fantabulous day.

So cozy in the 2 feet of snow...

Did you enjoy the hop? I sure hope so- thank you so much for joining us! Your next stop is back at Xoxo headquarters- thank you for commenting and following each blog- we really appreciate it and remember- it's the best way to win the grand prize- a True Xoxo Guest Designer spot!
But WAIT there's MORE!!!!!
I have a little give away of my own for new followers (and old ones as well- just leave a comment with your email or blog addy)

These lovely flowers are all yours- just swing back to this blog to find out
 who won October 20th!

CLICK HERE for your next stop- the Xoxo home page!

My pant cuffs and feet were completely soaked here- so is the sacrifice I make for me "art".

MuChOs SmOoChEs!

Swimmin' wid Da Polar Bears! BROoKLYN STYLE

My friend Gia has been swimming with the Polar Bear Club in Coney Island every year since 2001 when she saw a PBS documentary. I highly recommend joining in... if you are insane. This year was the first time I felt motivated to go along. It was relatively warm (45 degrees ambient) but really I blame PAPER ISSUES for putting the fire in my butt. I simply HAD to scrap such a wacked out subject! Plus Dave has been itching to do something crazy and sky diving is OUT.

Jumpin' The Drink- Coney Island 1.1.11
Materials: Recollections glitter paper in aqua, EK Sucess waves punch, Bazzill Just The edge in red (waves), Martha Stewart sea star, crab and anchor punches, American Crafts Thickers in giggle painted with ColorBox Cat's Eye ink in brown, K & Co emphemera die cuts and note book paper (THANKS MOJO DAWNY!!!)

Dave chomped this up too.

I got my feet wet trying to take photos in the HUGE crowd. I spent the rest of the day squishing around Little Odessa in search for authentic Russian food. We found the Ocean View Restaurant and I tried my first Beef Stroganov. It was good but I prefer Carne Mechada or Ropa Vieja- they include sason.

Sorry G- I had to throw out the socks you lent me- they STANK! The air temps were good but the water temp was 27- wait- isn't that below the freezing point??? I was told the "worst part" is stepping on the ocean floor on bare feet. For me it was watching the hipsters in "Euro style" (ie TOO SMALL) ironic bathing wear running around cheering and dumping photographers- in full gear- into the drink.

Brave cool peeps- G, Tom and Dave

Dave is SO AWESOME- he went in all the way AND dunked his head under the water. I'm telling you I LOVE THAT MAN!!!!!!!!! Miss Lola stayed with Abuela who quesioned our intelligence. We had so obviously lost our minds eons ago.

HELLA COLD!!!! 

Thank you Paper Issues- you are my first DT and I am forever loyal to you- plus you helped drive traffic into my teeny corner of the net. This page is going on the "All Things New" challenge- the realization that my husband is WAYYY cooler than I am being new to me.

The snow was BANANAS!

MuChOs SmOoChEs!
M.