Ronda Palazzari Designs

Scrapbook Soup, again!

Last year, i traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to film Scrapbook Soup with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  It was the most thrilling experience and i absolutely loved being her guest.  The first full episode, unique embellishments, is up on the Scrapbook Soup!  I have to tell you it was so much fun on the set and in the green room.  KS Productions is a great team and i am blessed for this opportunity. 

Here's the layout you see me creating in the episode. In the background you see my ceiling tile stencil peeking through the layers of patterned paper.  I just love the way the leaves look with the text peeking through the gesso & watercolors.  You can also see the flowers cut from the patterned paper as well as the blue "label" piece i created using a circle punch.  So head over to Scrapbook Soup to check out the episode.  I will also let you know when the next episode will be aired!

Simon Says Stamp Guest Blogger

Once again, i am honored & blessed to be a guest blogger over at Simon Says Stamp.  Simon carries a ton of products including lots of my stencils, both new & older releases.  Today on their Blog, i show you how stencils can be a simple background or the star of the show.  Basically, you get two step by step tutorials, complete with pictures, on one blog post!  So hop on over and tell them i sent you!

Hello Again

This blog, my blog, was started in 2006.  Since that first date, i have been posting regularly not missing more than a few days here and there, maybe a week tops.  Never a month or two.  Whenever i do something, i give it my all and that includes my blog.  So you can imagine it must have taken something dramatic to cause me to stop blogging.  I had headaches off and on for the last year but starting in August, i had head pains.  Not migraines but head pains.  They started as painful moments and grew into every waking moment.  Pain so severe that i could no longer concentrate, no longer think properly. 

After many doctor visits & specialists, i have been diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia.  I can honestly tell you it's the worst pain i have ever felt in my life and i have experience kidney infections, natural childbirth, and kidney surgery.  While Trigeminal Neuralgia has no cure, the pain can be managed.  The longer the pain goes on undiagnosed, the harder it is to get under control.  This is what i have been facing the last 6 months. 

I tried so hard to keep on creating and keep on writing my blog posts.  Finally my body broke down.  Pain so excruiating that i could only get out of bed to move to the couch for these last two months.  I didn't turn on my computer and left all my social media silent while i tried to deal with my pain.  Finally the pain is starting to receed a little bit through a combination of both conventional & alternative medicine. Some days the pain is still debilitating but other days I have moments of clarity, of less pain.  

So here i am again.  i thought of you all so very often, wishing i had the energy to be here with you.  i hope you will be patient with me as i continue to heal.  Patient as i resurrect my blog posts, begin creating again, reveal my new stencils on here, and answer many, so many emails. 

Sending you my love,

10 of Twenty-Thirteen: Tags

In 2009 i started reviewing my favorite layouts of that year.  It has been a great way to reflect on my style and how it's changed, on what i accomplished, and also helps me fine tune my direction for the upcoming here.   i began reviewing last year all the different projects i take on for the year: tags, art journal pages, etc.  i've broken them down into blog posts, last week was scrapbook pages, and today is tags. 

So here are my favorites of 2013

In no particular order

What i Love: There are so many elements on this tag yet they come together harmoniously.  it's a different color theme for me but i really like it. 

What i Love: This tag trio makes me happy.  Love all the layers brought together with colors.  Totally did the pink & grey colors.

What i Love: BRIGHT colors that are so me.  It's my favorite photo of Andrew & me.  Love the black touches all around the tag. 

What i Love:  Absolutely everything.  This is one of those tags that feels very me.  Love how carefree the background is against the patterned paper. 

What i Love: the etheral feel of this tag.  it's dream-like quality makes me happy.  i really like the combination of the soft elements with the black. 

What i Love: Graphic & Bold!  i really like how the elements are different but really work together. 

What i Love: The background using my climbing vines stencil.  i worked hard on creating it and loved how it turned out. 

What i Love: i love the soft subtle background with that big pop of pink and green.  i love the crazy stitches on the background too. 

What i Love: i love the colors of the tag, the pink, grey, & yellow.  i really like how the stamps, stickers, and chipboard pieces come together.  And i love that the tag could be used on a layout!

What i Love: the monochromatic background with the neutral colors.  Love that crazy string that wraps around the tag.  The mottled background creates such a dynamic background that i just love.

Which tag is your favorite?

10 of Twenty-Thirteen: Scrapbook Pages

In 2009 i started reviewing my favorite layouts of that year.  It has been a great way to reflect on my style and how it's changed, on what i accomplished, and also helps me fine tune my direction for the upcoming here.   i began reviewing last year all the different projects i take on for the year, tags, art journal pages, etc.  i've broken them down into blog posts starting with my scrapbook layouts

So here are my favorites of 2013

in no particular order

what i love: i love the controlled chaos in this layout.  The quatrefoil is all lined up but the dripping marks and blurring of them make me so happy, the chaos.  The journaling on the side along with the stamping brings back the organization. 

what i love: The pop of color against the black along with one handsome dude.  The smaller instant frames look so good in color along with those white stars that are all around the page.

what i love: those handpainted watercolor dwellings.  it took time to create them all but i am happy i did it.  Plus i totally love that photo i took of Andrew admidst all our travels. 

what i love: Turning a patterned paper into an explosion of color using NeocolorII crayons.  i also love that the pop come from using black paint with my hearts & arrow stencils.  It really jumps off the page. 

what i love: the softness of this layout.  it totally conveys the feel i wanted, the tranquality of my virtual escapes.  i don't usually work in light colors and this makes me happy that i can keep my style but try on new colors. 

what i love: this layout represents so much for me and i do believe 2013 was a huge growth year for me.  i love the simplistic nature of this layout but it still packs a punch.  The feathers are ever so cool and really provide that pop of color. 

what i love: i miss her every single day.  This layout of the two of us in the 80s just makes me laugh.  There are lots of embellishments on this page but it doesn't feel heavy.   i love the white journaling even on top of the newsprint.

what i love: i'm a color girl so doing this layout freaked me out.  i love a challenge and completely fell in love with the results of this tone on tone layout.  It's still very much me only in black, white, & creams.

what i love: that rainbow color explosion underneath those tags.  i love how the color drips down the page and is reinforced with the variety of hanging tags that are all stitched together. 

what i love: hands down it's the fireworks of color above the urban landscape.  it just really reinforces that feeling of being in a new city and getting to travel across this great big world of ours.  i also love that stitched title and feel like is should really do that more.

It's December!

Can you believe it is December already?  I will be documenting this month through my Document December mini album as seen in this post, complete with pictures.  i am sure that i will be using both my camera & iphone to document this month. i love looking back on these photos & mini albums seeing our traditions and joys of the season. 

Need inspiration on photos to take?  The above is Chantelle's 365 photo challenge.  She posts them every month with directions on how to play long.  It's a great jumping off point for Holiday Photos.  You can see more details on what each day means over at her blog. 

i am all set to go with Day 1 & Day 2 in my mini album.  i know i will try to jot something down daily as well as take my photos.  (For details on all the interior pages plus how i am doing my photos, see my YouTube Video.)   i may even write out my manifesto on the cover page.

Are you Documenting December?  How? with a mini album, photos, art journal, or all three?

Stenciled Backgrounds

i love starting my tags with a stellar background.  Sometimes i have no direction when i start them, just seeing where the creative play leads me.  Sometimes when i land on a technique i love, i create multiple tags so i can have these beauties in my stash ready for any project.  i freely admit once i get started it's kind of hard to stop.  i thought you might like to see the above background technique using my The Crafter's Workshop Stencils and distress paints. 

Try it out yourself on a tag or two or three!

Happy Friday!

Stenciled Pumpkin

This is crafty halloween!  While i was painting my smaller pumpkins, i bought a few larger pumpkins.  Alexi joined me in the studio a couple weeks ago, carving her own pumpkin.  We wanted something a little different this year so we decided to use my stencils and the speedball carving tool. 

This

Plus this

Equals this:

Alexi took my 12x12 Fancy Feathers stencil and drew the embellished Peacock feather onto the pumpkin using a small sharpie.  Once she had the lines in place she carved it out.  After carving for a bit, she decided it need a few more florishes so she placed the stencil around the pumpkin and drew a few more on.  After finishing the carving, she painted the pumpkin with a pink/magenta paint. 

Now i am ready to carve out the top and get it ready for Halloween night.  I cannot wait to do this with another stencil & pumpkin.  Now to decide which stencil to use....decisions decisions.

3 Painted Pumpkins!

A couple weeks ago i bought some smaller pumpkins and some larger pumpkins.  i have been slowly painting them each day, just taking my time.  i first started by painting each pumpking with white or black paint including the stems.  i had to do a couple coats to get a really good coverage. 

The black boo pumpkin was created with black paint and a Big white pen from Faber Castell.  I doodled patterns all around the pumpkin following the curves.  It was pretty quick to create.

On this black pumpkin, i wanted to play with color a bit more along with repetition of stripes and dots.  I used both acrylic and distress paints.  I kept adding different colored lines.  i decided to put the dots in some of the thicker lines too.  i added white (or sometimes black) to the centers of the dots. 

The white pumpkin evolved after seeing a crayon pumpkin on pinterest.  i thought i could create a similar effect using my Liquitex acrylic spray paints.  i would spray the paint into the caps and then drip it down the pumpkin.  i worked in layers, making sure each one was dry before adding the next color. 

So much fun to create and a great project for the family.  These three beauties sit on my table as decoration and will be placed at my door on Halloween night!

Weekend Creativity Carved Stamps

Having been go go go the past couple weekends, i was looking forward to a weekend to just sit at home.  I decided this weekend was a perfect for a Harry Potter Marathon as Halloween is approaching.  It's become a yearly tradition.  So while i was sitting and watching some of the movies, i decided to carve some stamps.  It was the perfect way to be creative without having to break out a ton of supplies. 

i sat down with some simple computer paper and drew a bunch of different images & patterns.  This is probably the hardest part, deciding on what to carve.  After looking at my paper, i decided i had enough drawings to get started.  i use a glazed ceramic tile, a speedball linoleum cutter, and a speedball speedy carve block to carve my stamps. 

A few movies later and i had a nice collection of new carved stamps.  This time i decided to carve a few stamps that are purposedly layered, a two piece and three piece set.  I also wanted some stamps that i could repeat in a pattern.  i always use archival black ink when carving the stamp to see how it's taking shape.  There is something about seeing those images in crisp black ink. 

That's not to say that i don't love looking at the images in colors.  The above is most of my new stamps in different ink colors, distress and archival.  The herringbone stamp is actually two stamps stamped side by side.  The circle at the bottom right is a three piece stamp that can be stamped together or separate.  I love stamping smaller stamps in a row like the triangles. 

i am like a kid with a new toy because all i want to do is keep playing with my new stamps.  Why not put these new stamps to use and finally record my ink colors.  i went to Ranger Ink and printed out their color charts.  The above is Archival Ink.

This one is Distress Inks.  I love how the carved stamps look in these charts.  i am so happy i sat down and carved out some creative time.