Sunday Scrappin’ July 5, 2009

TA-DAs

• Birthday card for a friend, based on SK011009 (sketch at Paper Craft Planet, original attributed to Becky Fleck). I love the Wisteria line from BasicGrey. The beads were threaded on to craft wire, and the base (which you can’t see), is lavender cardstock. The letterpress tag is from Paper Source.

• I bought these beautiful letterpress tags from Paper Source and they are true inspiration for cardmaking. This follows a sketch by Melanie Muenchinger (SK120608 at Paper Craft Planet). All materials are from Paper Source except the PP which is from Making Memories Travel Collection.
• I also worked on my altered book.
• And, because I hate to miss a challenge, I did this little tag to fulfill the “Summer” challenge from last week’s Sunday Scrappin’.  All materials are from Target, except the cute epoxy flip-flops.

TO-DOs

• fix anniversary card for husband (oops)
• buy some graph paper

I probably won’t  do next week’s challenge, which is “and the 4th of July is all about red, white and blue, let’s create a page using those colors. It doesn’t have to be a 4th of July layout just use the patriotic colors.” I’m on deadline for some projects, so I’d best deal with some non-crafting stuff before I go on VACATION!!!

übercandy alert!!

Ok, if I come across any more great stuff today, I’m going to update this post, but let’s start with Tammy over at “Hopelessly” Addicted to Paper.  Amazing offering of tons of different brands…go check it out.

Another giveaway: Iheartcrafts blog!

Ok, I have no intention of blogging every giveaway I come across on the net, but every once in awhile, they are really really cool.   I have my eye on the tea towel in particular–this one is GREAT.

Blog Candy Alert: Creative Antics

Ann has a great bunch of blog candy to give away in celebration of her 1 year blogversary.  It is ALL stuff I love.  Check it out!

Project: Altered Book

I’ve taken on another job (unofficially) for the fall, so with teaching at three separate institutions, I’m allowing myself some real time this summer to explore my creative side. I’ve wanted to do an altered book for awhile now, but have been daunted by a number of different things.  First, I’m a bibliophile, and the idea of “altering” a book, kinda weirds me out, to be honest.  But, I picked up this 1953 historical romance Seed of Mischief (now THERE’s a title) in a box marked “FREE” on the street, so it isn’t as though I’m playing around with a first edition of War and Peace.  This was going to be an inspiration journal a la Donna Downey, but it has since morphed into something else.

Frontispiece

What you see here is a combo of paper piecing and cutting (see detail shot below), and the flower was punched into the paper, I put paper on the back, and then put a distressed double layer flower on top with an indian bead center. “R” is my first initial (for those of you who thought my name is really Lyra). I backed the paper cutting and did the piecing with scraps.

detail of monogram

I think I’ve decided that I’m going to work with the book itself–the narrative and, in these preliminary pages, the biographical material of the writer (that’s her on the left: Willa Gibbs). The book came with the original jacket, complete with the art that screams “1950s historical romance” so I’ve incorporated it here on page (ii). That, my friends, is “Jeanne of France, “  the “lovely, tragic heroine.”  The slipcover talked a little bit about our author’s process, so I included that here as well.

Papers are all Marrakech (BasicGrey) scraps, and the brown ribbon is from Paper Source.

Sunday Postcard Art 6/28/09

Well, it has certainly been awhile since I last participated in a SPA theme!  This week’s theme was “4th of July.” I decided to do something simple, geometric…and something that would highlight was Independence Day is all about for me.  Enjoy!

Sunday Scrappin’ 6/28/09

TA-DAs

Well, this was another good crafty week for me (which means I didn’t get a lot of other important stuff done, but shhh….don’t tell).  Last week’s challenge was to do something in honor of dads, about dads, etc…and I managed to do a component of a LO here.  I tried the iris folding technique several weeks ago and loved it, but it does create lot of bulk behind the mat.  In an attempt to rectify that, I tried an iris effect without folding the strips (and using ONLY scraps).  It came out ok, but I had to add white gel pen because the scraps had such a busy pattern, the effect was obscured.  This will go on a LO about my family, since it is a picture of my dad and his mom, circa 1943 or 44.

iris effect

My biggest accomplishment from last week is that I completed my first quilling project!!

And here are two ta-das from previous weeks that I couldn’t show because the recipients hadn’t received them yet!

You can find all the particulars on the cards in my gallery at scrapbook.com.  I did want to mention, however, that the last two cards use some great Anna Griffin border stamps that I got from Anita at Anita’s Arts.  Do check out her site!

Finally, I whipped this quick card together mostly as an excuse to use my new cherry blossom stamp from inkadinkadoo:

TO-DOs

Amy has challenged us with this for next week:

I’d love to see something that represents your summer. Not necessarily a layout of summer activities… though that would work… but maybe something inspired by the color of your neighborhood pool, or something that reminds you of your garden. Get creative with summer inspirations!

Maybe I’ll integrate it with my next quilling project!

Violet Bouquet

This is my very first quilling project, now completed! It is based on Claire Choi’s “Violet Bouquet” in her The Art of Paper Quilling (p. 38). I changed some of the colors around (acc. to what I had available) and left out a few things I didn’t like.  I’m pretty happy with it…I need to work on my bunny ears and my arrowheads because the bow didn’t come out right. Mounted on khaki cardstock.

Quilling Project A: In Progress

Ok, so here’s a sneak peak at my latest project.  I have to say that quilling has become a good form of meditation for me…and it requires patience, so it is good practice for me in that area!!

Sunday Scrappin: June 21, 2009

Well, it is Christine’s first Sunday at host over at Sunday Scrappin’! I hope you’ll come join us.  This week wasn’t QUITE as fulfilling craftwise as last, but I managed to get some stuff done!

TA-DAs:

Last week’s challenge was to use complementary colors (opposites on the color wheel) with your favorite color.  Well, my favorite color is green, and its complement is red.  I took a more liberal view and stayed within the color families, LOL (not in the mood to do Christmas layouts!!)  Here are the two LOs  of my rehearsal dinner:

As you can see, they fulfill the challenge!  The second one was created using the Non-Conformist collection from ScrapInStyleTV with some Marrakech papers (BasicGrey) thrown in for good measure!

I also tried a brand new technique–iris paper folding! I’m quite excited about this and used it for the frame of the picture on this LO:

I wove the ribbon through the paper and interspersed it with some cute owl epoxy stickers (Paperchase).  The sentiment is from Anna Griffin Friendship rub-on kit.  The wooden tulips I picked up at Cost Plus World Market (I think!) and I placed them around a journaling tag from Maya Road.  I think the photograph is too dark for the paper I chose, but c’est la vie.

And finally I finished this mixed media card up this morning (which just coincidentally happens to meet last week’s challenge):

I was curious to see if some old fabric dye I had would work on paper. Well, it was so old it was gooey, so I smeared it with a tissue. It also was very sticky, so I coated the entire card with mod-podge to get rid of the tackiness (it worked!). The Mod-Podge allowed the orange ink from the fish to bleed a little and I liked the sort of batikish effect.

STAMPS: “Happy Birthday” (All Night Media) and “Gus” (Mostly Animals)
EMBOSSING POWDERS: clear (Ranger) and gold tinsel (Personal Stamp Exchange)
INKS: Versamark and Gold Pigment (Colorbox); fabric dye (Tulip Tye Dye); Marvy Orange Le Plume II (on fish)
OTHER: braided sequined thread, eyelets, Mod-Podge

I also made another birthday card that I can’t show you yet.

TO-DOs:

Next week’s challenge: Show off a card you made or a scrapbook page you completed featuring dear ole Dad or someone who is like a dad to you.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!!