Hello Update!

Hello Lifers!

I hope you are all doing amazingly well.

I have been crazy busy and although I've been around on other blogs, it's been a little bit since I updated my own. (isn't that just the way it goes!)

Here's what I've been up to:

Marion Smith Designs

This month, I had two projects featured on Marion Smith Design's blog.

The first was a simple, but beautiful project using Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel, Water Colors, Vintage Sheet Music and Marion's "Curious" Stamp Set. 

You can see the full tutorial here: Stamping Gold with Curious Stamp Set

My second project features the joining of two of my favorite companies: Marion Smith and Graphic 45!!

I used Graphic 45's Small Matchbox, along with Marion's Garment District.

You can see more pics here: Garment District Altered Matchbox

Graphic 45

I have been having so much fun stretching myself on the Graphic 45 Design Team.

Here are 3 of my most recent projects:

YES! I actually did a "Project Life" style Scrapbook layout. My sister-in-law would be so proud! LOL

Did I go a little crazy on the fussy cutting? :)

I turned Graphic 45's banners in to a spooky shingled roof for my little house made from a file folder!

What?! YES!

You can see these and more over on the Graphic 45 Blog

For Others...

Many of you know that I have a total heart for an organization called Saving Grace, which is a home that houses and helps girls between the ages of 18-early 20s who have aged out of foster care, are homeless or have a living situation that is unhealthy.

Last year I was asked to come to their mentor/mentee retreat and do a project with the ladies. We did crowns and dress because the them was "What Not to Wear."

This year I am so honored to be asked back again. This year, the theme is "Fight Like a Girl" and I was asked to design a paper mache dress form.

Here is what I came up with:

I was able to use this piece on a mixed media website that I was asked to do a guest post for.

You can read more about the story behind this piece at: Mixed Media Art-Taking Your Art Journaling Out of a Book .

For me....

As an artist in this business, it is so easy to get so caught up in "assignments" that you never create just for yourself.

Last week, I felt that tug in my creative spirit. I thought...when was the last time I sat down and created with out an agenda? An honestly...the answer was close to 5 months.

So, I decided to change that.

I pulled out this old canvas that I had played with last year, but never finished. It had mod podged newspaper covered in Tattered Angels spray ink, with a green glittered fleur-de-lie kind of shape in the corner. Ya...I had no idea where I was going when I started this one! LOL.

I've been wanting to work more on my painting skills, so I decided to use this project for some fun experimenting on my painting style. I just played....

This is what I came up with: 

She's not done yet, but I love her. I plan on adding a quote and some other fun elements, but even if I never finish it or it takes me another year, it's still a symbol of what I can do and reminder to do it more often..just for the fun of it.

So there you go...a quick little update on what has been going on in my studio.

I promise, now that school is back in session, I WILL be more faithful to blogging. :) or atleast I'll try. 

Until next time friends, remember to make your art an intentional part of your life and not an after thought.

XOXO,

KERI

P,S. Did I mention my YouTube Channel "The Creative Life Studios?" I've got a lot in the works for it!

P.S.S. Did I mention I am taking a "Belts Bracelets" class from Christy Tomlinson? Ya...super excited. More on that later. :)

Having fun with Unity Stamp Layers of Life!!

Good Day Lifers!!

I hope you are all having an amazing day!!

Today, I want to share with you a piece I made this weekend using
 Unity Stamp Company's Layer's of Life (July).

Layers of Life is a monthly subscription where you get a beautiful stamp set delivered to your door every month for only $11.99 (including shipping!) I have never been disappointed when I open my little envelope!

Here was July's Set:

I loved it so much that I sat down and made this mixed media piece the DAY I got it!

I made a Snap Guide to take you step-by-step through the entire process!

Check out How to Create a Project Using Unity Stamp July Layers by Keri Sallee on Snapguide.

I hope you enjoyed today's project!! I would love to see your take on it...leave me a link in the comments!!

Have an awesome day and remember....make your art intentional...not an after thought!

XOXO,

KERI

Blog Hoppin' with Graphic 45 and Scrapbook Adhesives!!

Hello Lifers!!

Today, I am so excited to be participating in a blog hop with my fellow Graphic 45 team members and the amazing designers at Scrapbook Adhesives. 

Today, I want to share with you a mixed media art journal piece I made using Graphic 45's new An Eerie Tale and great adhesives from Scrapbook Adhesives.

Here is what I came up with for you!

I do have to tell you a funny story about this piece...last month I was on a long road trip with my family and I decided I wanted to challenge myself to CREATE in my CAR. yes...this was all created confined in the passenger seat of my sequoia on the way to the beach. 

I took pictures along the way and made you this Snapguide when I got home: 

Check out How to Create an Art Journal With an Eerie Tale-Graphic45 by Keri Sallee on Snapguide.

With this art journal piece, you'll get to play with Faber-Castell Gelatoes, Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Mister Heey's Mist and lots of layers using 3-D Foam Squares from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L

Here are a couple of my FAVORITE close-up shots!

Thank you so much for stopping by!!

Are you ready to hop along to my fellow designers? A little birdy told me if you made your way around the blogs you could win a prize!

Today's blogs are:

Ginny Nemchak - USA 

Katie Zoey Ho - Singapore 

Keri Sallee - USA <----You are here!!

 AJ Otto         http://www.thewillowgarden.blogspot.com

Latisha Yoast   http://crafteebee.blogspot.com/

Thank you again for stopping by and remember...make your art intentional...not an afterthought.

XOXO,
KERI

Update!!!

Hello Lifers!! 

I hope you are having an amazing and creative day!! 

I wanted to take a minute and give you a sneak peek of few projects that are in the works for Graphic 45!!

First up....color challenge!!

This week you'll find me on the Graphic 45 blog where we were challenged to take 3 colors from their Core'dinations line of cardstock and make a project around those 3. 

Here's a sneak peek...can you tell my colors??

Next up...a blog hop with Scrapbook adhesive from 3L. 

I decided to do things a little differently and do a mixed media art journal piece. 

This features their new collection "An Eerie Tale." 

You can catch this next week!!

Lastly....the upcoming Paper Arts show in Atlanta!

I was honored to be asked to make a project using Graphic 45's monumental 45th (!) collection "Time to Celebrate!"

First, I made a mixed media piece..

And then, I finally got to use this AMAZING flip card Sizzix die I got at this past CHA! 

And...even though it wasn't an assignment, I was ssoooo inspired by their new "Raining Cats and Dogs" collection, that I made a little something extra. ;) 

I used a Graphic 45 Book Box...just wait until you see what's on the inside!! 

So there you go...if I haven't been blogging much lately it's because I've been busy creating! 

I can't wait to show you all these full projects and much more!!

Until next time lifers...remember to make your art intentional and not an afterthought! 

Xoxo

Keri

Ps...wanna keep up with me on a daily basis? Make sure you are following me on my social media: 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thecreativelifestudios

Twitter: thecreativelifear

Instagram: thecreativelifestudios (this is my fav!) 

Betty the Glamper...she's almost done!!

Good morning lifers! 

I hope you had a fabulous weekend...I know I did! 

As many of you know, we recently bought an old pop-up camper and decided it needed a little love (not everyone is down for fake wood and a rainbow of country mauves and blues.) 

Today, I wanted to show you some updated pics! I spent most of last week at my sewing machine making her new curtains, pillows and covering the ugly cushions. 

In total, I made 8 pillows, 9 curtains and recovered 6 cushions...I don't think I have sewed this much in my entire life. Lol. 

Oh...did I mention her name was Betty? Why Betty? Well, my sister (who we are traveling with in a few weeks) is redoing her camper as well and we wanted their names to be "related" somehow. We thought about starlets or maybe Wilma and Bett or Starlight/Starbright, but eventually we landed on: BETTY AND VERONICA!! It's actually pretty perfect for our personalities and the looks of our campers. 

Wanna see?  

I fell in love with this big stripe because it felt like the old changing "tents" that you used to find at beaches back in the day. The stripes, coral pattern and anchor pattern materials all came from Hobby Lobby. The navy blue sailboat and the cushion fabric both came from Hancock in the Home Decor Section. 

Wanna money saving tip?! For pillows, don't buy pillow inserts! They can cost anywhere from $8-$15 each. Instead, go to your local thrift store and buy ugly throw pillows (the uglier they are the cheaper they are and the funnier looks you'll get at check out! Haha!) throw them in your dryer on the sanitize cycle (or high heat if you don't have a fancy dryer.) Then simply cover your pillows for a fraction of the cost. My 8 pillows cost a whopping $16 at my local thrift store. 

You can see on the top of this curtain, I added a strip of the cushion fabric to the too. I did this for 2 reasons: (1) it ties the whole thing together and (2) my striped fabric was about 10in too short for the length I needed and I was not about to try to line up all those stripes to add more of the same fabric! 

We painted 2 coats of Valspar primer and paint all in one over the ugly faux wood. We chose the outdoor version since the camper will have to endure temperature changes. The white REALLY brightens the whole thing up and is a really cheap and simple change. We bought just a quart and didn't even use the whole thing. 

I love how my brighter colors POP of my darker cushions. Plus...better for stains! 

If you're thinking about Glamping (glamour + camping) here's a few money saving tips we've found along the way! 

(1) like I said above...instead of buying new pillow inserts, buy used throw  pillows at your local thrift store and recover to match. Just remember to check them closely for scary stains and santize them in your dryer. 

(2) remember your space is small. You might be used to buying gallons of paint, but 1 quart is more than enough for your little space. 

(3) Check what you have in hand already! We all have gallons of paint leftover from various projects. You might have what you need sitting your garage right now. We painted the vent covers gray (sorry no pics of them!) using a gray spray paint we already owned. (We learned this lesson the hard way...we totally had paint sitting in our garage that we could have used!)

(4) Check your local Habitat for Humanity Restore or other similar charity store that specializes in home products. We were looking at new handles (we needed 8) at a big box home improvement store and the ones we liked were $3-$5 each. Uummm....no. My hubby went to our local Restore and found them for $1 each. Much better right?

(5) don't forget the coupons on the fabrics! Hancock Fabrics has coupons and sales through their website and in print, while JoAnn's and Hobby Lobby both have apps. Look closely though...usually the coupon can only be used on one "cut" of fabric, so it might require multiple trips or a helper to go through a different line to get the savings.

(6) When it comes to fabric, spend a little more for your cushion fabric. It's gonna get a lot of use. For pillows and curtains, a canvas or duck cloth works great because it's sturdy, but not too expensive. 

So there you go....Betty is about 80% done. I can't wait to show you the finished project and the pics of her in action in just a little under 2 weeks. 

Have an awesome day and remember...make your art intentional...not an after thought. 

Xoxo, 

Keri 

Creating a Masculine Layout with Stencils

Hello Lifers!!

Today I am so excited to be sharing a mixed-media layout over on The Crafter's Workshop Blog.

Here's a little sneak peek!

Head on over to their blog for more details and a complete tutorial!

The Crafter's Workshop

Until Next time...make your art intentional...not an after thought.

XOXO,

KERI

Blog-cation is Over!!!

Good Morning Lifers!

Have you missed me? I'm just gonna keep it real...I was feeling a little overwhelmed with projects, blog posts, design team stuff, PTO responsibilities, and life in general. So I decided to take a little blog-cation and relax a bit (as much as a crafty mom of three can at the end of the school year! LOL)

Wanna know what you missed?

Check this out (stick with me...it's a little long, but there's a lot of pictures!)

Family Life 

The Glamper

If you've never heard of Glamping...it's basically camping for those of use who like pretty things. :)

My hubby and I recently bought a pop-up camper and decided it needed a little love. The '93 decor of light mauve and country blue just didn't work for us. LOL.

Here's a few "in progress" shots.

Love that faux wood? Ya...me either.  Crisp white it is. 

Primer on...ready for the gleaming new white. 

These are the fabrics I chose! The blue/white stripe will be our new curtains and the others will be accent pillows. Loving the bright nautical look!

We're still trying to decide on a name. 

We are planning a trip in just a few weeks with my sister and her family and I want our campers to be "twins." I'm thinking something cute like Betty and Veronica or Starlight and Starbright. I can't wait to share the progress and the finished product. 

Tiny Dancer's Debut Recital

My youngest, Khloe, made her stage debut for tap and ballet and...she was FABULOUS and just plain adorable. :)

Date with my soon to be Middle Schooler

This handsome little guy was my date to see X-Men: Days of Future Past. Tomorrow is his last day of 4th Grade and he will be moving on up to middle school next year. 

Starting the Outdoor Fun Early

We are enjoying the great outdoors (ok...our back patio.)

Hubby is seriously enjoying his hot dog. :) 

And it's never too early to learn to take a good selfie. 

Fun and Field Day!!!

Water Slide Inflatables, Fire Truck, outdoor fun and friends...can't ask for much more.

Fun Hikes with my little. 

With just a few days left before the big kids get out of school, taking every opportunity to spend time with my little one on one.



My BEAUTIFUL niece graduates High School.

When I met her, she was only 4 years old...now look at her! So proud of the amazing woman she is becoming.




Hottie Hubby!!

I got to celebrate 1 more year with my hubby. It's been a rough year for us and it has really made me feel even more blessed to do life with him.

 Our anniversary fell on my niece's graduation, so we had a great dinner at this restaurant in Springfield, MO called Metropolitan Farmer. It's so cool...everything is locally grown and super yummy.

Creative Life

Graphic 45

While I was away, a total scrappy dream came true!

Yup....I made the Graphic 45 2014 Design Team.

EEEKKK....SQUEEE....FREAK OUT MODE!!!

I am so excited and I'm not even sure if it has fully sunk in. 

In case you missed my audition projects back in March, you can see them here: Graphic 45 2014 Design Team Audition . 

You would not believe the generosity of Graphic 45 is to their design team. I made a little video when I opened my first box.

Box #2 arrived yesterday (YES! Box #2!) so I will be making another video soon to show off those goodies. 

The Crafter's Workshop

The Crafter's Workshop has always been one of my favorite stencils so when they had their first ever design team call, I had to jump on it!

I didn't make the design team (a little sad), but I DID make their Guest Design Team (BIG HAPPY!)

You can see all the other fabulous artist who made the cut here: The Crafter's Workshop Design Team Announcement. 

Want to see one of my favorite submitted projects?

Here are the amazing stencils I get to play with. I can't wait!!

Tattered Tangles 

I had the chance to be featured on the Tattered Angels blog using their new Tattered Tangles life of Zentangled-inspired paper and ephemera.

I had so much fun playing with this!

Here is a sneak peek:

For full details and more projects, check out the Tattered Angels Blog: "On My Way" Layout by Keri Sallee

So that has been the last 6 weeks! I'm excited to be back on the blog wagon and I can't wait to take you along on more of the journey of my Creative Life.

XOXO,
KERI