Winter Fun Photo Journal

front cover
I spent the afternoon working on a winter themed photo journal that I plan on giving as a gift.
I've been collecting snow/winter themed papers, stickers, and embellishments for sometime now. I used mat board for the pages and cut the pages 5 x 10 inches, and the 2 half pages 5 x 5. On some of the papers after they were cut, I sprayed them with white Perfect Pearls mist for a sparkly finish. I didn't embellish this journal too much, because I don't know where the recipient will place the photos. I plan on giving a package of embellishments with the journal so it can be finished when the photos are placed into the journal. On the white book rings I tied sheer white ribbon, and silver and blue eyelash fibers.
inside front cover
1/2 page of torn glitter paper to look like a snow bank layered onto a polka dot paper with Perfect Pearls sprayed over the blue. 2 nd. page

back of the above 1/2 page
4th. page with two snowflakes added to the card stock.
back of 4th. page. Layering of papers and stickers added.
page 6.. front of 1/2 page with layering and sticker and a chip board snowflake embellishment.
page 7..back of the 1/2 page.
  inside the back cover with chip board mittens on the bottom, and snowflake felt ribbon across the top.
     back cover
I haven't decided if I am completely done with this photo journal. I looked for a long time trying to find pretty winter/snow themed papers.

You Just Never Know what you will find

when you least expect it. I was up in the attic this morning digging thru boxes. I found a box that was tucked away in a bag. Inside, I found the first two crewel pieces that I ever stitched. I believe I did these in the late 70's or early 80's. I guess I completed the stitching and they got tucked away and never framed. Will I frame them now? Probably not, maybe someone in the family will want them.

I also found in the same box lots of Cabbage Patch patterns. Also the birth certificates of the 3 dolls that I had bought. I use to sew buntings, dresses, make shoes and all kinds of outfits for all my nieces dolls. My granddaughter's were never interested in the Cabbage Patch dolls, they liked Barbie's. When I was a child, I loved my red haired Ginger doll and my mother made so many outfits for my doll. I wish I still had the doll and the clothes.

It's amazing what you find tucked away that bring back so many memories from the past.

 

Going Postal

Do you get the winter blahs? Do you like finding fun mail in your mailbox? I do, and I am sure most of you like to find a handmade card, post card and other objects of art that are handmade arriving at your door anything fun and not a bill.

Well, if you are like me...I love getting fun mail. So, would any of you who read my blog like to trade with me some mail art...1 for 1 It can be a postcard, card, tag, atc or an empty, sealed, decorated envelope that you have created.

 

This morning I cut some dry cat food boxes to make into post cards. I cut the box down to the size I wanted and then cut and ran a base paper thru my Xyron . I then adhered the paper to the front of my cut cardboard 5 x 7 card. You can also paint on the cardboard and then collage over it to your hearts content. The address and message side I just leave plain with maybe a little stamping on it.

   the box I started with

Since I like the Wizard of Oz..they were the first post cards that I put together this morning.
You say Wicked like it's a bad thing
Road to Oz
I don't have anymore of those clear envelopes to send these post cards thru the mail, and so I will be giving them a coat of Mod Podge to protect them as they go thru the mailing process.  I will write my message and the address on the other side.

Sealed empty envelope mail art.
empty envelope painted with blue green lumiere, gold and pearl paints. Stamped and collaged.
empty sealed envelope painted with gold and pearl lumiere paints. Rubber stamped and collaged butterfly.
So, are you interested? This is open to all. If you are ...send me an email   EAkers@aol.com  with your mailing address and let the fun begin. I hope you will consider swapping with me.

Do you have a favorite mug

I guess I would have to say this Otagari mug is my favorite if I can only pick one. Well, maybe. :-)

On the yahoo group that I belong to..An Affair with Art, one of the ladies, Anne started sharing  Thursday morning tea... a tea review with the group.  Anne use to flavor and blend her own unique tea blends and sell them online and now she is a tea reviewer; and you can read her tea reviews here: http://sororiteasisters.com

In Anne's first Thursday Morning Tea review a discussion  got started on what is your favorite mug or cup that you use most often when enjoying a cup of coffee or tea.

Yesterday, another member of the group..Barbara posted a photo of her favorite mug  in a post called Mug Shots on her blog . Barbara asked if we would take a photo of our favorite mug and write a comment on her blog with a link to our own blog so others could see the photo that we shared on our blog.  Click here...Barbara's blog

The hard part of this for me was deciding which of the numerous mugs that are in the kitchen cabinet is my all time  favorite. You see, I love Otagari mugs and I would buy a mug each time I went to the Cape Cod Mall in a little coffee store that use to be in the mall.  I collected Otagari mugs with seashells, whales, dolphins, and birds. You get the picture...So, for me now to pick just one is almost impossible, as I just can't make up my mind. So I am sharing  photos of a few of my other well loved Otagari mugs.

I am also partial to this smaller brown Otagari Chickadee mug. The back of the mug has pine boughs.

I am not a big tea drinker but I do like unsweetened iced tea more so than a cup of hot tea. I do drink coffee.  I guess it depends on the season on what I drink the most. I don't care for the flavored coffee's. And, I must admit that I stop at Dunkin Donut's for a cup of coffee most days while I am out running errands. Starbucks coffee is way too strong for me. For store bought coffee my favorite is Chock Full o' Nuts - New York Roast.

Want to join in and share your favorite tea, coffee and mug. Leave a comment here or on Barbara's blog with a link to your blog if you have one with a photo of your well loved mug. thanks for playing along. :-)

Shabby Chic Friendly Plastic Heart pin

Not long ago I tried for the first time working with friendly plastic that I had stored away for ages. If you read my blog you probably saw the first few pieces of Friendly Plastic that I melted from the old brittle plastic.

This morning I made a Shabby Chic  Valentine pin using the heart piece as the focal point. I cut a strip of burlap fabric and pleated it to make a circle.  Instead of sewing the burlap this time I just stapled the pleated burlap in the center. I then cut a strip of a used dryer sheet and pleated that into a circle to make a flower shape. I then glued the dryer sheet flower to the burlap, and then glued the heart Friendly plastic piece to the center. This pin took no time at all to create. When the glue is dry I will pin it to my jacket.

Crop Shop Bargains

paper storage unit

top of the paper storage unit. I plan on collaging the the front panel to hide the logo. The color is off in the above photos. The unit is a light cream color.

Below is the email that I received the other day from the Crop Shop, 333 Weymouth St, Rockland, MA. So, of course I had to go yesterday to see what bargains were to be had at 75% off. You will also see the I & Company storage units that was also for sale. I bought the small middle unit that just has  paper storage. Let me tell you, that unit was H-E--A-V-Y. The unit is about 6 feet high, but I was able to get it into the back of my SUV to bring it home. Was Tom happy when I showed him what I brought home last night?  Well, not exactly. (LOL) He thought I'd lost my mind. He couldn't understand why would I want or need something like that and he told me it probably held at least 1,000 sheets of paper. :-)  Correction...Tom read my blog and told me I quoted him wrong. He said, " What's it take to fill those shelves a $1000.oo worth of paper." Tom asked if I had more paper than stamps...not even close on that one, dear. I can't wait to clear a space and get the unit in my craft room and start sorting my papers into the trays. 

Crop Shops email....

Our GRAND RE-OPENING is here!!

We are so excited to welcome you all back in for the start of a fantastic New Year!!

We are kicking it all off with an Indoor Yard Sale starting tomorrow January 5th through Saturday, January 7th

Be sure to stop by and catch the savings! We still have 2 rooms full of product that is marked down to yard sale pricing... what is the discount you ask?

75% OFF

Yes, we are crazy, but we still have too much to keep, so we are passing it on to you!

Yard Sale hours are:

Thursday 10am-7pm

Friday 10am-9pm

Saturday 10am-4pm

Don't miss your chance to stock up on supplies and maybe even find the perfect organizational item to make your scrap space even better! Like this 4 piece shelving unit from K&Company!

  We are really pulling together the new rooms and stocking them with new product. We may have downsized, but we are packing the smaller space with just the perfect amount of new product to make everyone happy!

I bought a lot for very little ($18).  My deals... 7 gypsies, Tim Holtz, 20 sheets of mostly double sided 12 x 12 papers, ribbons, and tools. Prices on the regular items. The Tim Holtz drill punch originally sold for $14.99, 7 Gypsies...paper clips $9.99 and 7 gypsies tissue paper $6.99.

My finds..

travel papers..Paris, New York and luggage

Paris themed, muted green, flash card, clocks

numbers, London, journaling

7 gypsies Paris tissue, winter themed chipboard

winter themed stickers, 7 gypsies paper clips with number tags that hang, Tim Holtz drill punch, ribbons, tools, book rings.

Smash Books

Click here ...Smash Books were introduced last year, but I never bought one.  I thought about buying one with a 50% off coupon, as I liked a lot of the pages in the books that I saw in Michael's. But, there were other things that I always wanted to buy more with my coupon, and so I never did buy one.
What I liked most about the Smash book was there was a holder for a pen/stick that has a pen on one end and a glue stick on the other end. I really just wanted the pen, because I thought I could make my own Smash book using a composition notebook and attach a piece of wide elastic with grommets to hold a pen to the edge. 
Anyway, today when I took a ride to Michael's I noticed a large display on an end cap in the scrapbook section they had Smash books with different colored bindings. Before Christmas Michael's had Smash books, but only a small display. Today there were also lots of accessories to use in a Smash book...AND...lo and behold...the pens/sticks were being sold separately for $2.99. I couldn't resist and I bought a pen than writes in black. Now, I can decorate a composition notebook and make my own Smash book that I will keep in the car if I want. I got a coupon for next week with my purchase that is for 50% off.
Did you buy a Smash book when they first came out? Or have you made your own?  I keep tickets, receipts, brochures, maps, business cards, whatever and also photos that I have taken with my digital camera. The items will be glued into my book. Kind of an easy journaling/scrapbooking method. So, I guess another project is added to my to do list.
  

Fabric collaged tag

my art project for the day
My sewing machine was out, and I was rummaging thru some fabric pieces...so I decided that I would use fabric on a tag.
I started with a manila tag that I cut from a file folder with my Tim Holtz tag die. I covered the tag with polka dotted scrapbook paper, but I probably shouldn't have bothered, because you can't even see it now that the tag is. I sewed 3 small pieces of fabric to the tag, and then I sewed some lace to the top and bottom of the tag. I added an image of a young girl with wings, and on her face I adhered a clear plastic piece that is glued down with Glossy Accents. For the rosette flower..I cut a round circle of interfacing, and cut a strip of burlap. I sewed the burlap onto the interfacing, pleating as I stitched round around the circle. I then glued 2 silk flower petals and glued a button to the middle.
It isn't how I envisioned my tag, but I like the end result. To start I was just going to sew one piece of fabric, collage and rubber stamp with a Valentine theme on the tag, but somehow my muse took me on a different path.
Well, time to get off the computer and get to peeling potatoes if I am going to make potato salad to go with our lobster rolls that we are having for dinner tonight. I cooked a pot roast in the crock pot yesterday, but we ended up having left over Chinese food instead last night.  I guess we will just have that pot roast for supper tomorrow night...meaning more time for art.

Free Assemblage Download

I thought I would pass this along. I just downloaded it to my computer. Enjoy@
Free 4 assemblage download from Cloth Paper Scissors
Again this morning I played a little with Friendly Plastic. Not sure what I will do with these 2 new pieces, but I had fun dropping the colors onto each other. I also added tiny gold beads when the plastic was still hot. I still need to add a focal pieces to them.

Just for Fun...trying out my Friendly Plastic

 
Okay, after staring at the bags of old friendly plastic I decided that I had to try using the stuff. Some of the plastic was very brittle and shattered when I tried cutting the strips with my Tim Holtz scissors. I found the metallic's weren't so bad. I read on a FP website yesterday that you can place the FP in the oven to try and recondition old plastic. I don't know if I will do that, as for right now I am happy experimenting  with how the plastic is right now.
I first gathered all of my supplies...( I first tried non stick Reynolds's aluminum wrap and that worked fine) Teflon sheet, friendly plastic, Tim Holtz scissors, needle tool, cup of water, glass beads and small regular beads, and my heat tool. The plastic slides off both the Teflon and non stick aluminum easily when the plastic has cooled.
My first attempt is the photo at the beginning of this post. I cut purple, iridescent blue, silver and gold and heated the plastic until it started to melt. I then took my wet needle tool and ran it thru the plastic. Reheated the plastic and sprinkled beads on top.
Now, for my second attempt...I cut some white, red and a red metallic FP. I then cut a heart shape from the red metallic and placed it on top of the other colors. Heated the plastic and then dropped small, glass, holeless beads. I really like how this piece turned out..pretty enough to put a pin back on or add it to an ATC or a Valentine card.
my cut red/white pieces
heated red and white plastic with beads
  close up
random colors of FP with a button that I cut off the shank and imbedded into the hot melted plastic.
fairy charm embedded in the red and white plastic
black, silver and white FP with a button coin.
I must say, I really had fun experimenting with the Friendly plastic. I'm not sure if I will attempt making beads and other things because most of my plastic is old and brittle, but for now..I am very happy playing with what I have on hand in my first attempts. Now, to some make cards/atc's to put these medallions on.
Wow, I can't believe that twice today I have shared art with all of you. In 2011 it could be weeks in between art projects. How fun to be able to do this today.