Beautiful Bride

I simply couldn’t resist her!  And since it’s wedding season (wedding season?  Duck season!), why not make a sweet little photo album for her to adorn.

Can we say pink to the max?  Oh yes, we can!

Inside, black cardstock for mounting photos and a few vintage floral papers for interest.  I added a metal button and seam binding for a closure; an alternative to the usual ribbon tie.   And of course there are Stickles and Tim Holtz metal washers!  I can’t finish a book without Ranger stuff, now, can I?

(Duck season!)

Beautiful Bluebird

It’s been awhile since I’ve been so tickled with a finished book that I can’t stop staring at it.

I think in this case I’m just smitten with the color!  I mixed “true blue” with “royal purple” for the background paint, then highlighted some areas with “French vanilla.”  It’s so rich and pretty.  And of course, I love me some birds.

Lots of Tim Holtz goodness here; metal brads & washers & word tag, plus tissue tape ruffled up to make a pretty trim.  The inside is filled with gorgeous K&Company papers in vintage nature/bird themes.  Love K&Company; they never disappoint!

It’s Been Awhile!

Been super busy the last couple months and neglecting this poor ol’ blog!  My family visited over spring break and we did SO many fun things, including a trip to the oldest city in the United States (St. Augustine), a trip to Kennedy Space Center (which made my “nerd” brother’s head explode), and canoeing on the Santa Fe River (two miles from our house), during which the canoe overturned and I learned that Canon makes amazing cameras (two days after being underwater, it’s working again like a charm)!  And I got a great accidental photo as I fell in.  You can see the edge of the “traitorous” canoe to the right and the beautiful blue sky above.  I’m 99% sure I was actually underwater when this was taken.

It was a beautiful day for an unexpected swim!

Anyway, I’ve been busy making books, as always.  Haven’t done any more of the calendar ones, but they are on my extensive “to-do” list!  In the meantime, I’m having fun making small journals with 7 Gypsies covers.  And of course, plenty of Tim Holtz goodness!

My BFF, Terri, gave me some of the “doily” transparencies because she wasn’t inspired by them at all.  I think this beautiful lady looks great with one peeking out from behind her.  And naturally she has to have a crown.  (I am seriously into crowns!)

Another Calendar Journal

Because they’re so much fun!  I’m getting much faster on the sewing, too – this one went together in less than three hours – all sewn, no glue involved.

I started with a Cynthia Hart Victoriana calendar from those I’ve saved over the years.  They are far too pretty to throw away when the year is over!

Leaving part of the calendar showing, I collaged all over the front and back cover.

 

I left the calendar illustrations intact and embellished only the calendar grids.  Here are three of the 13 spreads.

 

This one is inside the front cover.  When you fold and sew down the edges, it creates a pocket along the left side.

Next January I’ll be haunting the 1/2-price calendar aisles with an eye for making journals!

Old Calendars = Tons of Fun!

Who knew recycling an old calendar could be so much fun?  The smaller journal I made first had a machine-sewn binding and pages collaged with Mod Podge, but this new one is entirely sewn – not a drop of glue in sight!  I used a 12″ square calendar with a butterfly theme and lots of interesting ephemera from my stash.

The back cover gives you an idea of what the inside calendar pages look like.  I left the butterfly pages plain and embellished only the calendar grids, so there’s a humongous butterfly on every other page spread.

Here’s a look at some of the embellished pages.  It was so much fun breaking out my sewing machine again!  It had been a long time since we parted ways.

 

 

And now I really am going to use my beloved Cynthia Hart Victoriana calendars!  I have five of them saved from past years and I think they’ll be amazing as journals.  Maybe I’ll even load up the sewing machine with pink thread!  (Oh, say it isn’ true!  Pink?  Really?!  Bestill my girlish heart!)

New Use for Old Calendars

So my BFF, Terri, bought me an on-line class for my birthday!  (Am I one lucky chick, or what?)   I’d had my eye on Patty Van Dorin’s calendar journal class for some time, but thought I was too busy to take the plunge just yet.  I’m so glad I finally checked it out, because what a great time I’ve been having!  This is one of those classes where you just itch to get started on your own project.

Patty teaches you how to make a fun, scrappy art journal entirely from one calendar and a few miscellaneous papers, fabrics, etc.  I made it through the first four videos and then immediately ran to my studio and gathered up all those beautiful calendars I just couldn’t bear to throw away!

This is my first effort; it’s a nice purse size (4″ wide by 7-3/4″ tall) made from a calendar that was 8″ square.

And the back:

The calendar theme was beautiful bouquets of flowers in various settings – very shabby chic!  I left the pretty illustrations as they were and covered the calendar grid pages with ledger papers, old maps, wallpaper, dictionary pages, etc.

My next one will be made from one of the many 12″ Cynthia Hart Victoriana calendars I’ve saved over the years.  I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Pinterest No More…

I haven’t been on Pinterest long, but I’ve pinned a good number of things.  Now I’m getting ready to delete my account, and here’s why.

It’s easy to think something is ethical or legal because “everyone is doing it” or because there’s a venue provided to do so or because artists/creators “should appreciate the exposure.”

I’m all about sharing one’s creativity and learning from the creativity of others.

But, as has been pointed out in the article linked above (and the articles she references and another written by a lawyer), those who pin, not Pinterest, are taking all the risk should a lawsuit arise. Pinterest not only shifts all the responsibility (or “blame,” if you will) to the pinner, but requires the pinner to provide legal counsel for Pinterest as well!  Further, by pinning something, you’re telling Pinterest you hold the copyright to that item, that you transfer that copyright to Pinterest and that they can use it in any way they please.  Do I hold the copyright to any of the items I’ve pinned?  Certainly not.

Make no mistake, Pinterest exists to make a profit, and their terms, which you agree to when you sign up, ensure they are safe from prosecution.  Is the risk low?  Probably.  I could likely pin whatever I wanted to for the rest of my life and never hear a word about it. But I’m not personally comfortable supporting a business that provides a venue which may foster illegal activity while ensuring their own hands are kept clean.

The Return of Steampunk Sally

Steampunk wasn’t something I “did”, until I bought this image of a beautiful Gibson Girl from Debrina Pratt at Land of Enchantment.  I just love adding metal gear brads, glitter and rhinestones to her head-GEAR.  :)  Steampunk goes girly glam!

This book is specifically for smashing or sketching, as the pages consist of mostly sketch paper, though I threw in a few steampunk-themed decorated pages from DCWV’s “Tattered Time” stack just to make things more interesting.  That’s tissue tape along the bottom, which makes a great ruffled trim.

What did I ever do before Stickles came into my life?  (Clearly things were more desolate – and a lot less sparkly – back then.)

It’s About Time!

So I managed to injure my wrist somehow a couple weeks ago.  Or possibly three weeks ago – who can remember?  All I know is, I woke up one day and there it was, all defiant and ouchie.  Since I tend not to see doctors unless I’m actively hemorrhaging and/or a limb has come off, I decided to self-diagnose on-line.  (Really, who hasn’t? Don’t judge me!)  The Mayo Clinic and other web sites assure me that this is probably a pinched nerve and should get better with rest, anti-inflammatory medication and lots of whining.  (I might have made up that last part.)

So in the interest of the aforementioned “rest,” I’ve put off housework, laundry and making stuff in favor of shopping (for wrist braces), eating comfort food and avoiding any physical activity whatsoever.  In other words, my lifestyle hasn’t changed all that much (except I normally shop for art supplies).  It hasn’t been too bad so far, except that my avoidance of laundry has resulted in my having to scrape the bottom of the “clean pair of jeans” barrel, where the smaller sizes reside.  (I finally had to break down and do a couple of loads after spending a day enduring a constricting pair that left zipper-shaped gouges in my belly!)

So all this inactivity has left me itching to get back into the studio, and I finally took the plunge a couple days ago.  Things were slow going what with my wrist threatening to turn on me at the slightest wrong movement, but I managed to get a book done and only said, “Owwwww, (insert curse word)!” twice!  :)

I know the dreamy lady looks familiar; I’ve used her before ’cause she’s just so darned adorable.  I filled the inside with nature-themed papers from K&Company, my designer paper heroes.  :)

And of course, there are Stickles.  (I should just cut and paste that phrase, “there are Stickles” into every post, ’cause I never don’t use them.)

Fantasy in Blue

Spring is just around the corner!  Okay, maybe the corner way down the block past the little grocery store near the gas station…

Still, it isn’t all that far off.  Or maybe it just seems that way because we’re having a very mild north central Florida winter, especially compared to last year.  According to our electric bill, we used 400 kw more energy last year during roughly the same period, probably because I had to break out the space heater on many occasions.  And I do remember quite a few dark, frigid mornings that required an ice scraper for visibility!  ::shiver::

But this year, as I sit here in my capris and T-shirt, expecting another beautiful day, my thoughts turn inevitably to spring related projects.  Budding trees, flowering bushes, flitting butterflies, nesting birds, and – why, yes! – spring is when the fairies come out of hiding, isn’t it?

(It isn’t?  There are no such things?  Oh come on, just roll with me here!  I’m in the spring mood!)

This was the first time I’d broken out the purple waxed cord.  I don’t use a lot of purple normally, but it goes well with the fairy image, which is from Shabby Cottage Studio.  And check out the background – a happy accident!  The cover was a very nice sky blue and I had intended to keep it that way.  Then, while outlining the edges with a fat Sharpie, my hand slipped and drew a squiggly black line about two inches long.  Disaster!  When I was done blinking in disbelief, groaning with frustration and kicking myself pretty hard, I grabbed some green paint to cover the mistake.  Not wanting to ruin all the pretty blue, I sort of “faded” the green into it.

I used white paint to highlight the stamped letters on the Tim Holtz metal tag.  Alas, this is when I discovered my Snow Cap Ranger paint dabber had stopped working.  The paint inside was as thick as pudding; its dabbing days long over.  On the bright side, it’ll be great for textured effects.

Anyway, check out the beautiful K&Company papers inside.  Always high quality, always so wonderfully designed.  My other papers are jealous because I spend so much time fawning over these.

Come on, Spring!  I’m ready for ya!