SOC4: The Sea is Calling Me

Hello to you all!  I'm happy to have you with me today.  I'm sharing the 5th project for the Summer of Color 4 challenge today.  I can't believe there is only one week left for this challenge.  Kristin does such a great job of keeping the fun and excitement coming every week.  The colors for this week were royal blue, red and a pop of light blue.  So, this is what that became in my studio.

 

 

Once again I thought of the beach.  I love the Graphic 45 collection of papers this summer.  I had wanted to use this lovely image of the girl in the sailor top for some project and this was the perfect one.  I covered a size10 tag with the plaid paper from the collection and die cut the ornate frame from white corrugated cardboard.  I spritzed it with a spray made from royal blue Gelatos and water.  Then I used my finger to rub gold Gliders' Paste on the raised ridges.  I think it gives the frame a worn look that you would find in something resting by the sea. I glued both the image and the frame down and then I cut a coral branch from a piece of cardstock that I had in my stash and glued that over part of the frame. 

 

 

When Tim presented his July tag I thought his recipe for making sand was brilliant and I wanted a project to use it on.  Well, once again this was the perfect project!   So, I mixed all the ingredients, surprisingly I had all of them, (supplies and directions are on Tim's blog, here) and applied the sand to the bottom of the tag.  With Glossy Accents I added some seashell beads, small wooden beads, sequins and royal blue sea glass to the sand. One of the stamp sets that was part of the By the Sea collection had the stamp that I used here.  I thought it fit the expression on the girl's face.  I stamped it using Stormy Sea DI on a piece of watercolor paper and sponged the edge with the same ink.  The tag was finished off with another idea from Tim's tag, linen ribbon that had been stretched apart so that it resembles fish net.  Here are some details.

 

 





 

 

 



 

 

 

There you have my tag for this week.  I had a great time making this tag.  I got to use papers that I wanted to play with some more and I also got to make "sand" Tim Holtz style! 

 

 

Thanks for coming by once again.  I really appreciate it.  Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy and create art!

 





The Library Pocket: French Country Style

I'm excited to show you my latest project.  It's a library pocket with an insert.  I've had the template for this since last year.  I downloaded it from Mirkwood Designs and then never used it. But, I've been wanting to make a pear themed project with the Graphi45 French Country papers and I thought of the library pocket.  I love those papers and since my inspiration is moving into late summer/Fall mode now I think they're perfect for this time of year.  I also have a new pear stamp I've been wanting to use, so everything seemed to come together and I created this.

 

 

I traced the template onto a manila folder and cut it out.  I inked it with Distress Ink and then used a technique I learned from Wendy Vecchi last year.  You spray water, or water and Perfect Pearls, on your craft sheet and then stamp into the water.  Then you stamp your tag, or whatever you're working on.  You end up with a bleached effect that is very cool.  If you used Perfect Pearls as well as water, you have a slightly pearlized effect.  I did use the Perfect Pearls but it's hard to see the effect in the picture.  I used the same technique on the back with a different stamp.  I used a die cut from the French Country cardstock collection and attached it to the top edge of the pocket.  I then folded the side tabs back and embellished the back and used the distress banners die to make a label. 

 



 



 

 

To finish the front I used Distress Ink to dye a ribbon and tied it around the pocket.  I put a brass flower which Linda from The Funkie Junkie Boutique sent me on top of the knot and put a sparkly center on it.  I used some green leaf trim to spill over the ribbon and attached some "rain drop" stickers to it.

 

The insert is where I got to use my lovely pear stamp. 

 



 

I stamped it on card stock that I inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Then I watercolored it using Distress Ink in various colors.  I tore it from the piece of card stock and put it on a piece of French Country paper which was layered on another paper from the collection which I cut to fit the pocket. I used one of the French Country stamps at the bottom of the insert and  I used another Tim Holtz stamp to add the Pear/Poire name to the top of the insert. 

 

Here are some of the details.

 



 

 

 

 



 

 

So, there you have it.  I love the papers and I love pear motifs for this time of summer.  I got to use both my pear stamps and some of my favorite papers.  Since this project is a folded piece I'm entering it in the Frilly and Funkie challenge which is Any Way You Fold It. 

 

I hope you have a wonderful day.  Thank you for stopping by for a visit.  I'll be back soon with, surprisingly, some new jewelry!

 



 





Summer of Color3: Week 5

I can't believe we're at week 5 of the Summer of Color3 challenge!  I know I said that about week 4, but seriously, we only have one more week.  This has been so much fun for me!  This week was a real challenge because the color combination was candy apple red and yellow.  So bright and cheery, but not colors I use a lot!  The first thing that came to my mind was the kitchens from the '30s and '40s.  Those were hard times and those bright colors were a good antidote to the dreariness of life back then.   I had planned to make a summery necklace using beads in those colors and some vintage fruit beads I have in my stash, but I realized I could never have finished the necklace I had in mind  in time.  So, that will be for when I have more than a week to finish it.  What I did make was a small shadow box with Graphic 45's beautiful collection called French Country.  I've wanted to do some late summer projects with these papers and this was my chance to get a head start.

Here's the box.

 

I covered the back with FC papers and the sides with a yellow polka dot from Authentique.  Then I used some of the individual cut aparts from the collection and glued them to the back.  I used dimensional sunflower stickers and silk sunflowers to finish the inside.  I love pennant banners, so I used some other motifs to make a banner across the front.

 

 

 

 

 

The outside and back of the box were painted with Tim Holtz' Distress Paint in Mustard Seed.  I then used some embossing paste and a stencil to give it some dimension.  I inked over the paste and the paint with Distress ink.  It actually is more red than it appears in the picture.

 

 

 

 

On the back I recorded my details.  You can see more of the embossing paste on the side. 

 

Well, that's my project for this week.  I'm pleased with how it turned out and now I can enjoy beading my summer necklace in candy apple red and yellow!

 

Thank you all for visiting.  I appreciate you stopping by and I welcome all you who are new to my blog.  I hope you all have a wonderful day!