Friday 31 August 2012

A Special Birthday

Last year when god daughter Gen turned 17 and I made the exploding box card  I did wonder how I was going to top it when she turned 18.  It wasn't easy but I think I just about managed it.

I decided that a mini scrapbook that she could fill with photos of her family and friends to remind her of her life at 18 was the way to go.  With that in mind - I took out every single bit of crafting stuff I own and went crazy!

The pages were cut on my Cricut - from the Elegant Edges cartridge - each one was actually 3 (or 4 for the covers) pieces of heavyweight card (cereal boxes mostly!).  The inside pages were then covered with Core-dinations card. (also cut on the Cricut).


I decorated the covers using the techniques we'd been playing with at Leonie's June workshop. The title 'Gen @ 18' was cut (multiple times and pasted together) using Printing Press (my current favourite font cartridge) on the Cricut.  A beautiful gold ribbon ties the front and back together keeping all her memories safe inside.



I started with a little note to Gen and then gave her lots of pages for photos....


Starting of course with family.  She has a big family so I gave her four little mini books for the photos - two are fold out accordion style, kept close with some lovely ribbon, and the other two mini books fit in the little envelopes on the page.



 These pages were designed with two special people (as it says!) in mind.  I added slide out pages so Gen could add a bit of journalling.


Being a social butterfly Gen has a million friends so along with 3 frames for her best-est mates there are three mini books for friends from school, Orford (where she spends most summers) and more!



 I've had a packet of mini wooden clothes pins for ages and was very excited to be able to use them on this 'hanging out' page.  The photo mats can be removed from the clothes pins easily, so Gen can put a photo on the front and do a bit of journalling on the back.



And finally a big pocket envelope where she can keep tickets and other bits and pieces.....


I had a lot of fun putting the book together and Gen loved it.

However I have warned her that for her 19th it's back to flat cards. Maybe with a flower on it. Maybe.

Thursday 30 August 2012

Another Workshop


In June I went to Peterborough for another workshop with Leonie.  As always it was a day of fun, glitter and laughter. We made a few cards and then spent the afternoon on a larger frame project -- which was my favourite of the day.

We started with this dress card - which was the first time I'd used micro beads.  The pictures doesn't show it up very well, but the dress is covered in them and they are fab!

The base card was inked (sloppily in this instance!) at the edges and then stamped with the same pattern we used on the dress die cut.  We added some stickles and gold cosmic shimmer dots for a bit of glamour.

It was a fun card - and Gen (who couldn't make the workshop) liked it so much she recreated it for sister Suzy's birthday card later in the week.  I thought her card turned out better than mine - but I'm not bitter.  For this one we cut the dress using the Cricut (sorry, can't remember the cartridge) and used Spellbinders Elegant Posts to create the dress form.  


The next card was a bit of an 'ode to Sue Wilson'.

Some beautiful Spellbinders shapes (love the leaves and flourish) and a very elegant embossing folder from Couture Creations.  I mad a bit of a mess  (surprise!) stamping the sentiment as I didn't realise the coated card would take quite so long to dry! My second attempt was smudge free but I didn't have time to ink the edges of the shape.

We didn't have time to complete this card on the day so took the elements away as 'homework'.  It's a lovely collection of patterned papers cut, layered and matted on silver mirri card.  The elegant silhouette was covered in glossy accents, the little handbag also covered and a little rhinestone added to give it that designer touch.














The final project was this great frame collage - which you'll see inspired a few other projects this year!  It took most of the afternoon (and some homework time!) but was so much fun and it covered quite a few techniques.




We started with a blank cardboard frame, and two pieces of co-ordinating patterned paper.  We covered the frame with one of the sheets of paper and then added two colours of paint to create a crackle effect.  I chose a purple base colour and covered with a bright pink.  We used PVA glue to create the crackle effect - simply paint the first layer and let it dry, then paint on the cheap PVA glue and while it is still wet cover with the second colour.

Then we tore up random pieces of the second patterned paper and glued them on to the frame.  At this stage I have to admit I was not in love with the project AT ALL. But I trusted in Leonie and kept going!

After adding the paper we got the distress inks out and off we went.... Distressing all of the edges and stamping randomly over pretty much every inch of the paper. To add more interest I used acrylic paint and stamped a leaf pattern sort of climbing up the frame.

We added embellishments, created the back of the frame by stamping on card and painting through a stencil and this is my final product.

Everyone in the class started with different papers and the effects were great - and all so different.  You can see Leonie's amazing (and inspiring) version here.

I'm Still Here...

...and crafting!


It's certainly been a glittery year - I went to a few workshops and I've ventured into some new directions (wire is one of my current favourite things to play with) and of course I'm still buying paper faster than anyone could ever ever use it!  The past few days I've been working on Christmas cards (already!)(go me!) and I'll post some pics of those after my camera battery is charged.

I think a few 'catch up' posts are required so I'll cast my mind over the year and see what I can find.

I'll start with a fun card I made for my niece Sarah's birthday way back in May.

Sarah's a tatted rock chick who also loves George Jones and pink.  In other words - she's one of a kind and I love her to bits.

I fell in love with these little skulls - who knew they'd go so well with glitter!

I cut them out on the trusty Cricut using Teresa Collins Scary Chic cartridge and then added some Diamond Sparkles glitter.  The hats were cut from the Celebrations cartridge and decorated with (what else?) more glitter. The background is a bit of Black Magic Coredinations card embossed and sanded, matted onto a piece of torn Core-dinations.


I added an insert of pink vellum, decorating the border with a Martha Stewart punch.