End of the Month MOJO Nov '09

Thank you to Susan for conducting this month's EOMM interview!!

When asked to pick this months Honorary Gutter Girl my mind immediately went to Tracy P. I met Tracy on a couple of message boards that we were both hanging out on and not only did I love her scrap style but her crazy personality too. I asked Tracy to do this months challenge and to tell us a bit about herself.


Tell us a bit about yourself
I am a Busy Mother of a girl who is 10 going on 20 and a just recently turned teenage Boy, The Wife of a Banker and the feed supply/walking escort/Belly rubber of my Big Loveable dog "Captain jack". I work for a Wearable Artisit who travels the country doing juried National shows from coast to coast. I am her right hand gal or more politically correct I am her Assistant.

How did you start scrapping
Just after my Divorce (2001) I was a thorn in my Mother's side. Literally! I had no Friends and no Hobbies, so I was constantly in her hair. One of her friends was a CM host and we went to her crop. I was instantly hooked and I haven't looked back since

Explain your thought process about this months prompt and your lo.
Well I wasn't really going for sad and depressing. However when I listened to the song and heard the line "Don't equating Death with stopping" and noticing that it was 2yrs to the day that we buried my father. It hit me, that I needed too scrap a LO about my Dad. I remembered a recent photo and expirence that I had and that was my inspiration. The LO really took on it's own personality from there. I know that sounds crazy! However I never paint or use gesso or gel medium on a LO. I really was drawn to that technique for some reason.

Pratt? Are you related to Spencer & Heidi? hehe
Oh God NO!!!!!!!! Well maybe? lol.... My Husbands Married name! Actually his late Grandmother was a very famous Ballet Dancer (Ella Fountain Keesler Pratt) in North Carolina who was the head of the Arts council at Duke University and very dedicated to bringing the arts to North Carolina, His Uncle Sam also in North Carolina is an Artist who works with clay on canvas. No famous Artisits in my Family. Damn;)

What puts you in the mood to create
The desire to create. I have to create everyday! All things put me in the mood. But mostly working all day side by side with an Artist, that really pumps me to go home and utilize some god given talent.

Where do you draw inspiration from?
My Inspiration comes from everywhere!!! I never really know. I am constantly thinking of thoughts for my next LO and the one after that and after that! lol
Sometimes I think my head is going to explode! I have found trying to relax at night in the bath tub with Mozart and a good book or glass of wine is no exception! I Think ART therefore I am.. really applies too me

I know you've lived and visited a lot of other countries. Which one was the greatest source of inspiration and why.
WOW! That's a hard one. My Most favorite country would have too be the Netherlands or France or Germany, Switerland. Yeah I cannot decide, they are all beautiful and offer so many different things! The Netherlands for Amsterdam and it's cheeses and windmills and of course it's canals, I loved walking down the narrow streets or riding my bike around, it was an amazing experience. Oh and the Architecture can't be beat! France for all the Beautiful castles and rolling country sides and of course the finest food ever and oh the ART!!!!!!! Germany.. well I just love Germany! LOL must be because I am German. The people there are some of the finest I have ever met!!! I love to travel and I am not done with my quest for new places too visit either

What are your fav. songs right now.
Gosh... I really don't know! I have way too many. I'm still stuck in the 80's. I love the Ramones, depeche Mode and the Cure. I love all Genres of Music I am a HUGE Green Day fan. One would think I am all Rock n Roll, however i can sit and listen to Yo Yo Ma, Mozart,Vivaldi or Enya for Hours and I still Love me some Dr Dre & I will always have a place in my soul for the Beatles. I am really diverse when it comes to music

Last book you read?
The latest Sookie Stackhouse Novel. It was a good read however not long enough

Christmas wish list?
A New washer & Dryer
World Market Lavender Bubble bath
I need some new earbuds for my iPod
some scrappy supplies

Any specific direction you'd like to take your art in the coming year?
I would like to be published!

Do any other arts or crafts?
I like too paint and play around with clay when I have the time, I can't sew, nor do I have a desire. I do own a sewing machine though. So maybe someday. lol

Share with us 3-5 of your favorite lo's or projects and tell us why each is a fav.

I Love this LO of my DS from 2003 when he was in the 1st grade.I Love to layer product, I just Love how this LO worked out in the end with the Bright colors that really make the LO pop! And how cute and innocent he was at this age.

This LO of DD is one of my Favorites because, I adore this candid photo of her. And all the whimsey I created with the unicorn paper, the tulle and the hambly bicycle paper peeking underneath and than the Frame around the entire LO completes it.

This LO was so fun to create and captures my style which is eclectic and one of my favorite past times taking bubble Baths. So many of my LO's I are not pre-thought and are a total surprise. I start with a photo and build from there with color, texture and dimension.

I Love this LO because I used a book page and cut the photos of them to look as though they were walking through the path. It's a pretty cool technique that added so much whimsy to this page.

And Finally this LO that is my all time favorite! My Kids love winter! Each winter you will find us on the slopes either skiing or sledding, I love how this one turned out by just adding bits and bits of color from different manufacturers. And the smiles of my kids in the photo is priceless.

GUEST GUTTER GIRL & NOV PRIZE WINNER!!

KimmyS said...
Awesome challenge!! I played along and this will certainly not be the only time. I cannot wait for the next challenge already

http://kimsonksen.blogspot.com/2009/11/caardvarks-gutter-girlz-and-more.html

Kimmy, we'd LOVE to have you as our guest gutter girl for our upcoming prompt on Dec. 15th!! Please send us an email using the link in our left sidebar and let us know if you are able to be our guest!! Please put DEC GUEST in your subject line.

NEXT MONTH'S PRIZE:
will be a gift certificate to TallyScrapper!!

Nov. 15th, Prompt #31

Are you an optimist? Maybe you're a pessimist. Either way, we want to know...
THE PROMPT:
My Glass
THE SONG:
Thank You by Alanis Morissett
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE:
Newspaper clipping
Please welcome JINGLE, our Guest Gutter Girl!! She rocked our prompt, as did the DT!! I can't tell you how much it makes me smile to see what everyone creates each week!! This week, I even managed to MAKE something!!
Jennifer

This prompt really caught me off guard actually. I love the song, so when I first red the prompt I expected that to carry my piece, but then when I sat down to create, the 'glass' portion of the prompt kept nagging at the back of my mind. The usual 'half full/ half empty' discussion was lingering there and I couldn't decide which half I I was leaning toward. That's when I realized that I didn't CARE if it was half full or half empty. My glass, is different. It's unique. The question is not whether or not it is full or empty, but rather which half? When you can bring yourself to the point of nothingness and silence, from that I find that you can discover clarity and in that clarity you are able to discover that which is uniquely you, hence the Latin at the bottom of the piece. And this is what keeps me coming back here to Gutter Girlz challenges. Creating isn't about showing your half full or half empty glass - it's all about expressing that which is unique to you. Thank you so much for this opportunity to be a part of this challenge!

Patti
I used a verse out of the song to get the emotion of this layout. I used his actual hospital braclet for this layout. I wish I had of kept the newspaper headline for this day. I would have used that for my newspaper clipping. Great challenge again Rachel

Glenda
When I hear those words from the song "how bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out" it makes me think right away of exploited women and children. I watched that movie called "Taken" and it has haunted me ever since. Women and children are being abused, molested and trafficked every single day and it breaks my heart. I can't imagine what life is like for some of these people and I can only hope and pray it gets put to an end. No one deserves to be the property of another.

Kristy
I guess mine is a lil on the lighter side. We have gone thru so many tough times this year (will be very happy to see 2009 END) but we have a plan now and it seems like a new beginning. Even though it is taking FOREVER to get our lives turned around and past personal problems I think I can consider my glass half full now.

Becky
I used two lines from the song along the border of the layout. The lines reminded me of how I over come my fear and entered a local art show. I wanted to document this moment so that I can remind myself in the future that it is okay to be a little afraid but that you must try and try again.

Lara
Torn pieces of newspaper collaged on paper with a light wash of Gesso on it. Then i mixed acrylic paint and water and dripped from the edges - cool effect with the soppiness of the paper. Then i put my hand down and took paper towel and more white gesso and wiped it over my hand. Really pretty!

Kris

Nikki
instead of half empty! i cut out a template of a martini glass and then glimmer misted around it...added a whole bunch of other paint too.... Inside the glass I wrote a bunch of the the thank you's from Alanis' song. ( I absolutely love her by the way! her songs are perfect for prompts!)

Christi
A couple of months ago, a good friend of my son's passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. I knew when I saw the product for this challenge was a newspaper clipping that I could scrap a page about Matthew, using his obituary. This was a tough subject, but I'm glad I have those pics of the boys together, and had this chance to thank Matthew for his friendship.

Rachel
A couple years ago, some friends of mine stopped talking to me. It's taken me a few years, but I'm finally at a place where I can say THANK YOU. I'm truly better off without them... so I used this prompt to say that my optimism has SURVIVED. My glass remains half FULL. Even when I have felt like it was the other way around.

Susan
This prompt could have gone so many different ways for me. I think I might do a couple of more lo's just from the other ideas I have. I think the journaling says everything for me:
This used to be my glass: Margarita's, martini's, single malt scotch, or Red Bull & vodka. Now you're more likely to see me with a cup of coffee or a bottle of water. I looked for answers & oblivion in the bottom of my glass for YEARS, but all it brought me closer to was the porcelain god & self-loathing & depression. It also made me a 'glass half empty' kind of girl. Putting the glass down, stepping away from the bar and staying out of the bar made me a 'glass half full' kinda girl.

Don't forget to leave us a LINK in your comment to be entered to win our PRIZE, or a spot as our NEXT guest Gutter Girl!!