Spring Tag

It is my turn to share a spring-themed project over at IndigoBlu.  To get all the details about this floral tag, pop on over to IndigoBlu and check out my step x step.

Notebook Cover

Today is my first post of March for the International Design Team at IndigoBlu.

This month we were asked to create spring-themed projects and I was happy to do that since it snowed again last week.  Mind you we were luckier that many and the snow stayed mostly out over Lake Ontario.  Today is the day the calendar says it is spring so I hope the weather co-operated where you are.

I wondered if I could stretch a little and use poppies as a spring flower but since the ones I have seen are always deep red or orange I was going to abandon that idea until I Googled poppies and discovered Icelandic Poppies.  Who knew that poppies come in lots of other colours and mostly light spring colours - pretty peach, ivory, coral, etc.?  So that was all I needed to use the IndigoBlu Poppycock stamp with confidence.

I decided to make a notepad cover and started by making the cover.  These make great little gifts and can be decorated in any number of ways.  The notepads come from the dollar store, usually in packs of four and sometimes come in other sizes.  This time I used pads that are 5" x 8" and my cover is designed to have two pockets inside, one to hold the cardboard backing on the notepad (so you can easily replace it when you want) and one to hold "stuff".

Start with an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of card stock (kraft card stock from Recollections for this project) and trim 1/4" off the long edge.  Put the long edge in your scoring tool and score at 5 1/4" and at 5 3/4".  This will give you a half inch gusset, which is a tad loose since the pad is only 1/4" thick but allows for the dimension of the pockets and for you to add a fair bit of "stuff to the left pocket.  Fold each of your score lines and burnish them with a bone folder.

Now to make the pockets, cut two pieces 3 3/4" x 5 1/8".  Score at 1/2" on the long edge, fold and burnish.  Clip a little mitre out of the folded piece on each side as shown and add double sided tape to the outside.  Then cut four pieces 3 1/8" x 1" and fold in half lengthwise (these will form a gusset for your pockets. making it easier to insert "stuff").  

Add double sided tape to each side of the gusset pieces and adhere to the inside of the main part of the pocket on the short side - the fold should be facing the edge and the bottom of the gusset should be butting up against your fold line.  Remove the tape backing from your gussets and fold the pocket bottom up over them.

Remove the tape backing from the bottom and adhere the pocket to the inside bottom of the cover about 1/16" above the edge, making sure it is centred from side to side.  Sorry, this photo was taken after I decorated the left pocket - oops!

If you are using smaller pads, simply adjust the measurements accordingly but it isn't difficult.  The tricks are to add a little bit of give everywhere.  I would also recommend that you don't use white card stock unless you don't mind it getting dirty or plan to cover it with patterned paper.

Next I created my flowers by stamping the large poppy with Versamark onto different scraps of card stock and heat embossing them with Copper Embossing Powder from Recollections.  You could use Flitter Glue and Gilding Flakes, such as Copper Kettle but I didn't have any flakes that were the right colour so this time I went with the embossing powder.  I did the same with some of the leaves from the Poppycock set.  Everything was fussy cut.   Sorry the lighting was not great to get a good photo.

I also painted the centres of the poppies with Lemon Meringue Acrylic Paint.

I created a panel for the front and the inside left pocket by cutting pieces from the yellow 12" x 12" Damaged Damask paper and stamping the border from the Live, Laugh, Love stamp set in the same manner as I did the poppies.

To assemble the cover, I distressed the two panels with my scissors and mounted them and then added the poppies and the leaves to the front.  I recommend that you keep your front profile fairly flat so that when you want to write on your notepad the cover will open completely.

This is a shared post so pop on over to IndigoBlu and see what Giovanna and Ksenija have created.

Folded Birthday Card

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and this time Kathy, our hostess, is calling it You've Got to Know When to Fold 'Em!  Here is what she has to say about it:

This challenge is all about using folded paper in a way that goes beyond just folding it in half. Create a vintage or shabby chic project that uses folded paper in a way that elevates the design. You can make a fancy fold card, or add folded embellishments to a card or layout.

My Grandson's birthday is today so I decided to make a card for this challenge that I could give to him. When I saw the Wendy Vecchi balloon mat minis and knew they would be perfect on a card for an 8 year-old.

I also remembered a vintage circus-themed paper pad that I bought on sale at Hobby Lobby on one of my trips to visit my dear friend Patti in Virginia and thought it was time to cut into it.  I just love it when things start to come together.

The hardest part was coming up with a fold.  I had a great looking one made with paper added but before I could decorate it I discovered that the darn thing would not stand up so this is the second attempt.  This is a tri-fold card with different sized panels.  The patterned papers have all been inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and most have been matted on red card stock and then added them to the base.  I have used a couple of very thin magnets under the patterned paper to ensure that each flap stay shut when the card is closed.

This is what it looks like closed before I added embellishments.

Here it is with the right panel open.

And here it is when I open the left panel.

The next step was to alter the balloons and a chipboard number 8 but I forgot to take photos so I will just describe how easy it was.  I painted two balloons and the number 8 with dark red acrylic paint and when they were dry I tapped them with a Versamark embossing pad and then heat embossed them with Wendy Vecchi's Red Geranium Embossing Powder.  The third balloon was painted with some Aqua acrylic paint and heat embossed with some clear embossing powder.  Once the balloons were dry I stamped them with the polka dot portion of Wendy's Large Collage background stamp and Tree Branch Archival Ink.

Here is a view of the inside with the computer generated sentiment and some stars that I stamped with an old Tim Holtz stamp using Red Geranium Archival Ink and then fussy cut.

To finish the outside of the card I added the stenciled sentiment and topped it with a rosette I made from one of the papers and added a polka dot button.  The balloons were topped with some bows and tails made of burlap string and finally I added another star.

I won't be seeing my Grandson today so he and I shopped for his presents on Saturday and then I gave him the card when we got home.  His comment was "You did a good job Grandma." - whew.

These products used to create this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique - the best place for your crafting supplies:

Patchwork Bird

It is the first Thursday of March and that means a new challenge at Stamps and Stencils.  Toni is our hostess this month is she is calling it Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep,Cheep! ~ Put a Bird On It!  Toni describes the challenge this way:

One of the joys at this time of year, is to wake up to the glorious sound of birdsong. The challenge this month is in celebration of our fine, feathered, friends. We would love to see your mixed media projects, that include at least one bird. Whether it's a journal spread, an assemblage or card, just make sure that a little dickie bird features somewhere. Please don't forget to include stamping, or stenciling or both. Can't wait to see your creations!

I thought I would make a funky canvas this time so I started with an 8"x10" canvas from Michaels and gave it a coat of Liquitex Gesso.

Some of the next steps were done on some days when the weather was miserable and I could not get great photos so I am just going to describe how I altered the canvas.

After the Gesso was dry I gave the canvas a coat of Fresco Finish Antarctic Chalk Acrylic followed by a coat of Fresco Finish Lake Wanaka, which was wiped back a bit while it was still wet.

Next I added some Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains - Twisted Citron, Tumbled Glass and Lucky Clover making sure dry between each colour.  Then came some Lindy's sprays - Starburst Jack in the Pulpit Teal and Moonshadow Mist Buccaneer Bay Blue.  Finally I dripped some FW Budwing Copper Acrylic Ink on my kraft sheet and used a sponge to dab it on the canvas.

The next step was to add some stenciled greenery on the bottom with an IndigoBlu stencil called Laurel Leaves.  I used some Clover Folk Art Acrylic paint and it seeped under the stencil in spots but I decided not to worry about it because I had plans to add some flowers.

Using a Tim Holtz clear stamp set with no name that I picked up on sale at Michaels and some of Wendy Vecchi's Watering Can Archival Ink I added some random stamping. I also added stamping with a Kaisercraft called Sheet Music.

I made a template for my bird and then traced around it onto a piece of heavy card stock.  Then I put the card stock on my light box (holding it up to a window works too) and traced the bird on the other side over the first one.

Next I decided which way I wanted my bird facing on the canvas and on that side of the card stock I covered the tracing with small bits of torn patterned paper using Mod Podge under and over the pieces.  Once it was dry I turned the card stock over and cut my bird out by following the second tracing.

I used a couple of markers to give my bird a beak, eye and define the tail feathers.  I hand cut the wing from some old book paper that I had computer generated and also hand cut the tiny heart.  The legs were hand drawn and then everything was inked with Pumice Stone Distress Ink from Tim Holtz.  After the bird was adhered to the canvas I outlined him with some chalk pastels from Mungyo and blended it with my fingers.

The flowers were punched with some EK Success punches, shaped with an embossing tool and given tiny buttons from Making Memories for centres.  The butterfly was created with a Martha Stewart punch and the sentiment was computer generated.

I think my funky patchwork bird standing tall in the flower garden is perfect for that sentiment, which is so meaningful in these days of turmoil around the world. I hope you will create something with a bird on it and share it with us at Stamps and Stencils.

Flower Box

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  Nancy is our hostess this time and wants us to Welcome Spring!  She describes it this way:

Springtime! It's fresh, soft breezes and fragrant blossoms are just around the corner. Create any vintage or shabby chic project that welcomes the advent of this glorious season. Think budding trees, birds and nests, butterflies, and beautiful blooms!

In keeping with our celebration of all things Wendy Vecchi, I decided to use some of her new and old floral stamps and create a flower box hanging on a fence, rather than a window.  I was going to make a card but decided instead to use a canvas as the substrate for my flower box.

I started by coating an 8"x8" canvas from the dollar store with Gesso and then painted around the edges with some Espresso acrylic paint mixed with a bit of black Gesso.

To make my "fence" I cut a square of grey card stock and scored it every 1/2".  Then I turned it over and on the side where the score marks are raised I ran down the length with Pumice Stone Distress Ink followed by Walnut Stain.  I used the ink pads themselves and went in one direction.  Then I took a brown marker and made lines and dots to show the ends of the board and the nails.

Next I made a shallow window flower box from scrap card stock and used the rust pastes from Prima to make it look rusty.

Now it was time to make some flowers to fill the box.  I used a couple of the new floral stamps as well as one of the older stamps.  All the flowers have been coloured with prismacolors and fussy cut.

I have an urn that I fill with flowers for the summer and I always make sure that there are vines or ivy that is going to hang down so I decided my box should have something similar and that was accomplished by cutting some branches from a Tim Holtz die called Garden Greens.  I used some scrap card stock from Bazzill and then spritzed them with Shabby Shutters Distress Spray Stain before I cut them up.

The flowers and leaves were all shaped using a large embossing tool and then planted in the box.  Finally a little butterfly from a Martha Stewart punch with some dollar store gems for a body was added to the canvas.

Five Hearts

I am sharing a new card over at IndigoBlu today.  This is a departure from my usual shabby or vintage style so pop on over there and check out how this simple card was made.

Saturday Step x Step

I am doing the Saturday Step x Step feature at Frilly and Funkie today and this is a sneak peek at one of the elements.  Why don't you pop over there and see how it figures in my project.

Fun and Funky Valentine

It is time for me to share my first project for February for the IndigoBlu International Design Team.  The theme this month is Love so I made a funky valentine card as my first project.

The background was created by taking a piece of grey card stock and adding some stamping using Jet Black Archival Ink and the Script Background Stamp as well as stamps from the Tasty Textures and Rugged Edge sets.

I used some Red Geranium Archival Ink through the Texture stencil and then added some circles with Gee-SSo Good White and a cap from a spray bottle.

To make the heart I started by cutting a piece of red paper from the Damaged Damask 12"x12"paper set and ran it through my crimper over and over and over until it became almost as soft as fabric.  Over time the layers of paper separate as you can see in the photo.  Once I thought it was soft enough I ironed it from the back side with a dry iron to smooth it out.

I got so engrossed in creating that I forgot to take process photos of how the "fabric" paper became a heart.  I cut two hearts from some scrap card stock and another one the same size from quilt batting.  Then I cut another heart from the red paper adding a quarter of an inch all the way around.  The batting heart was glued to the card stock and then the paper heart was added on top with the border glued to the back making sure that the curves were clipped so they would lie flat.  I then glued the second card stock heart to the back.

Some Lindy's Frozen Jack Frost Ink was spritzed on the heart and then a natural sea sponge was used to dab on some Ruby Slippers and Raven Black Metallic paint.

Next I stamped the Big Butterfly on some white card stock with Gee-SSo Good Black and painted it with Ruby Slippers Metallic paint.  A little Mulberry Bush paint was mixed with the Ruby Slippers to add a bit of shading.

I added the background to my card blank, attached the butterfly and then the heart.  Finally I printed the sentiment on the computer, added scribbled frames and then inked the edges with Red Geranium Archival Ink.

I am sharing this post with Gio and Ksenija so pop on over to IndigoBlu and check out all the lovely projects.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Creative Artiste - Anything Mixed Media Goes
The Artistic Stamper - Love Hearts
Let's Craft and Create - Love is in the Air

Out of the Cold

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and this time I am the hostess.  I am calling this one "Out of the Cold" and when I set the theme a few weeks ago, I didn't realize how much I would want this to be my reality today.  Here is how I describe this challenge:

"It is winter and that means snow and cold in so many places so let's head to the tropics. Create any vintage or shabby chic project that will make us feel warm - think lots of sunshine, bright colours, flora and fauna and even animals hiding in the rain forest."

As I sit here creating this blog post, my husband is outside shoveling snow for the third time in 24 hours. It is cold and miserable and I want to go somewhere warm and fuzzy but since that isn't happening, I am just going to lose myself in my card with warm colours and lots of wonderful products from Wendy Vecchi.  February is heart month so I just had to add at least one and as you can see it works perfectly with the sentiment.

I started by creating my background.  I took a piece of Specialty Stamping Paper and smooshed it through some of Wendy Vecchi's Archival Inks that I had put on my kraft sheet and added some rubbing alcohol to.  I used Tree Branch, Dandelion and Orange Blossom.

Next I marked off a part circle on one side using the circle mask from Wendy's set called Four Spotlight Frames & Masks and a Micron pen.

I left the mask in place and sponged some of Wendy's Tea Rose and Red Geranium Archival Inks on the rest of the background.

Next I did some stenciling with Wendy's Watering Can Archival Ink.  I used the circle frame with a Pointed Star stencil from Jenni Bowlin Studio to keep it inside the part circle.

Note:  After I had done this I remembered that I had one of Wendy's background stamps called Vintage Wallpaper that would have been perfect and wished I had used it instead so I will link it below.

Then I put the mask back on and used Wendy's Checkmate stencil.  I didn't like how bright this part was so I sponged a thin coat of Gesso over it.

Using Jet Black Archival Ink I stamped two copies of the little flower from Wendy's set called Mix and Match Art on each of three different scraps of paper from Graphic 45 and then fussy cut the bloom portion from each.  I shaped the petals of one of each colour bloom and mounted it on top of the flat bloom.  I used a gold gel pen to highlight the stamens.

Now it was time to assemble the card.  The sentiment is from Wendy's set called All Occasion Art and was stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink on a scrap of Graphic 45 paper and the edges were inked with Wild Honey Distress Ink.  I popped it up with some craft foam and added a little dollar store gem.

I cut some leaves with Tim Holtz's Garden Greens Die and inked the edges with Forest Moss DI.  The flowers were adhered to the card with leaves peeking out here and there.

Finally I used Martha Stewart punches to make the heart and the butterfly.  A couple gems were added to the body of the butterfly.

The following products used to create this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Change

I am thrilled to have been invited to do a Guest Designer spot at A Vintage Journey.  Jennie is the hostess and is calling the current challenge Words That Are Special.  

When I started to think about what I would do, a special word that came to mind was Change. I spent some time with the uber-talented and very lovely Jenny Marples a couple months ago and when I told her I tend to over-think my creations she encouraged me to just play, which for me would involve change. Then I thought about a quote I heard at a conference a number of years ago about that very topic and I knew those would be my special words.  This canvas came about by playing and trying to follow Jenny's advice.

If you want to see how this canvas came together, please pop over to A Vintage Journey where you can get all the details.

Inspirational Post at Stamps & Stencils

Today I am sharing the Inspirational Post over at Stamps and Stencils.  Here is a peek at what I have done so if you want to know what this is and see some more, click here to head over to Stamps and Stencils.

Believe Canvas

Another month has rolled around and that means it is time for a new challenge at Stamps and Stencils.  Rachel, our hostess this month, wants us to create with Texture, Crackle and Paint. She describes it this way:

"This month I would love to see what you come up with using texture, crackle and paint! Anything goes using stamps and/or stencils - make it mixed media please. Can't wait to get started - hope you'll join us!"

I have made a canvas with lots of texture. If any of you have read my blog lately you will know that I lost some files recently and a few of the process files for this one were part of that accident but I will explain what I did.

I started by making a template for a heart as shown on the left. Then I cut one out of chipboard and gave it a coat of Liquitex Gesso as shown on the right.

The next step was to coat it with Golden Light Molding Paste using a credit card to smear it on. I wasn't too careful to make it smooth and actually went in afterwards and roughed it up a bit. Once the paste was dry I painted it with a bit of Fresco Finish Haystack and Blood Orange Chalk Acrylic leaving bits white. I sealed the heart with a watered down coat of Mod Podge.

Next I grabbed a 6" square canvas, gave it a coat of Liquitex Gesso and then added some stenciling with the Light Molding Paste and a TCW stencil called Mini Pattern Stripes and a Prima Zig-Zag stencil.

At this point I added some strips of Recollections Washi tape, some Tim Holtz Tissue tape and bits of Tim Holtz Postale Tissue Wrap.  I gave everything another light coat of Gesso.

The next photos are a bit confusing because I had to recreate them after the accident but the narrative below will explain what I did in what order.

I added some colour with IndigoBlu Townhouse Teal Acrylic Paint and Fresco Finish Haystack and Blood Orange along with some Ceramcoat White.

Next I did some stamping with a stamp from an IndigoBlu set called Tasty Textures along with some stenciling with a TCW stencil called Mini Geometric Art Layers.  In both cases I used Jet Black Archival Ink.  I also decided to add some Wendy Vecchi Crackled Texture Paste through the stencil.

I also added a heart made from Tim Holtz Frosted Film on the bottom right corner that I painted with Blood Orange and I stenciled another heart on the top left corner with a Hearts stencil from Heidi Swapp.

Once everything was dry I sealed the canvas with watered down Mod Podge, added the large heart and a piece of wooden text that I painted with IndigoBlu Raven Black Metallic Paint.

This canvas is a bit of a departure for me but was lots of fun to make and is quite cheerful.  I hope you will join us for this challenge and show us lots of texture.

Shabby Valentine

The new challenge starts today at Frilly and Funkie.  Zoe is our hostess and calls it Be My Valentine!  She describes the challenge this way:

Love is in the air, and with Valentines Day just around the corner, this challenge is to make a card for your sweet Valentine in a vintage or shabby chic style.

I originally thought I would make a card for my husband but once I got going, it became shabbier and frillier and definitely not one for a guy so I will have to come up with something else for him.

I lost some files when our anti-virus software started churning out false positives and quarantining hundreds of thousands of files so I don't have process photos for this one but am happy to describe what I did. I am also happy that only a few photos could not be restored or I would be sitting in a corner blubbering because sadly, we have become so dependent on our computers and I am no exception.

I started with some Bazzill card stock for the blank and then added a panel of paper called True Love from Graphic 45 Mon Amour 8"x8" pad.  I topped that with a panel from Prima Vintage Emporium and then a couple chevrons from the Graphic 45 Mon Amour 6"x6" pad.  All the paper was distressed before I added it.

Next I made a pleated heart from some scrap paper in my stash.  I started by making a template based on one I saw online and then formed it the same way you would a round rosette.  I cut the shank off a fancy button and added that to the centre.

I hand cut some leaves from black card stock, shaped them and rubbed some Pewter wax from Treasure Gold on them.  Next I topped them with a Wild Orchid magnolia flower along with a couple flowers from the dollar store.  I made a big plaid bow, added a loopy bow from black cord and then the big button with hearts and flowers.

I cut the sentiment from the Mon Amour 8"x8" pad and attached it with a little red clothespin.  Finally I scatted some Kaisercraft pearls around.

The following products used to create this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.