Merry Christmas Eve!

A few weeks ago I was asked to make a hollow book for my friend to give his girlfriend for Christmas.  In my haste to deliver the product to him I forgot to take pictures, but it turns out the pictures Lisa took are even better!  She currently has the box sitting on a beautiful cedar chest in her home.  I made this project using the Scraps of Darkness/Scraps of Elegance inspiration board.  You can view their blog here. 

Once again, I loved the collaboration of items in the SOD/SOE kits and made two hollow books back to back mixing and matching from the two current kits:  "Ever-True" and "Serenade".

 

I started by layering Tim Holtz vellum paper and Tim Holtz tissue paper around the book.  Then I began layering papers and embellishments from the kits.  I was able to use some flowers from a previous SOD kit and used quite a few embellishments from the Prima Engraver collection.  

 

Although I covered it most of the navy paper up, you can see some of it on the picture above.  This dark blue colors in the birdcage/clock picture from the December Scraps of Darkness/Elegance Inspiration Board were my catalyst for this project.  Also, take note of the clock piece as part of my inspiration.  I also used quite a few stickers from a Tim Holtz pack that I had been hoarding for awhile, as well as some leftovers from an ephemera pack.

 



I used a vintage frame and cut some of the paper included in the kit with a rose on it to frame.  I used crackle glaze over the rose in the frame to create a more aged look.   Lots of flowers and butterflies later, you have the finished product!

Super sorry for the short post, but it IS almost Christmas and I still have a few gifts to pick up and wrap!  :)  Much love, and Merry Christmas to all!

Love,
Mel

This is what happens when you have "too much stuff"...

So...several years ago during a reorganization of the my craft space, I hung a bulletin board over my work table to use for hanging pictures, embellishments, inspiration, etc.  I even bought funky and pretty push pins to hang these items up with.  Around the same time my beautiful friend Rae's son was about to get married.  She brought over some water margaritas and some digital pictures from the wedding/engagement photo shoot.  Somehow we managed to print these gorgeous pictures out using matte photo paper as opposed to glossy.  I didn't really want to do much with the matte photos at the time so I hung them on the bulletin board...

Fast forward a few years...The bulletin board is now slightly less accessible due to some more recent reorganization of the craft space.  However, when I got stuck last week I decided to "clear off" the bulletin board and came across the matte pictures.  Using the Blue Fern Studios December sketch and the Scraps of Darkness and Scraps of Elegance kits "Serenade" kit I was able to create this layout:

 

 

I loved the beautiful papers included in this kit.  Between the romantic feeling of the picture and the wonderful elements of flowers in the papers I was overwhelmed with the possibilities.  After trimming the green paper down for one of my layers, I fussy cut some of the yellow roses from the leftover trimmings.  I took those flowers and put them in random places around my layout.  

 

Below you can see the BFS sketch that inspired this.  I turned the rotated the sketch to the side and made my focal point slightly more off centered to the left.

 

Below you can see some of the chipboard work.  As I was covering the chipboard in gesso the bottom part (butterfly) was a little loose, so I tore it off to make two separate pieces of chipboard.  I coated both pieces in gesso and used some pain included in the SOD creativity kit to color most of the chipboard with a rust-bronze color.  I then used some Tim Holtz Distress Embossing powder and Distress Glitter in Vintage Photo and Antique Linen.  The sequins included in this kit were a nice touch in keeping with the bronze color scheme I was going for. 

 

For the other piece of the chipboard I decided to lighten things up a bit with some pink colored inks and distressing powder (again, Tim Holtz).  The finishing touches were some pearl accents and a little gold glitter.

 

Finally, here is a closeup of some of the flowers (and sequins) used in this layout.  I loved the overall soft feel that this layout has even though it uses more "rough" colors than "soft" colors.  

 I loved everything about this kit, and this is one of my all time favorite layouts.  I cannot wait to surprise Rae with it!  Cheers to cleaning your craft space and finding something old to make something new with!!!  Thanks for looking!

Love,
Mel

I'm BACK! :)

So...I took a three week hiatus from blogging.  While you were missing me I worked my tail off at work, worked my tail off at Crossfit (literally), and cooked up a mighty tasty Thanksgiving dinner!  :)  However, I missed out on getting to share some of my new pretties and after three weeks...

First up I made this awesome wreath/wall hanging/festive display:

 

For this project I used a Walnut Hollow Paneled Wood Clock surface.  For all those who think I have "too many" supplies, understand that almost nothing on this project came from my stash of hoarded supplies.  :(   I used some great papers from the Bo Bunny Gold and Silver collection to make the background, then used some great bling-y pieces to brighten and glitter the rest of the project up.  I guess if we are being technical...the glitter for the letters was NOT purchased for this project and had been sitting around in a drawer for quite some time!

 

 

 

My next project was a quick canvas project.  I've had this stencil for a long time and I absolutely love it!  I covered the canvas in some black gesso and used molding past with the stencil to create the letters.  I love the thought process behind all of these words (part of the reason it is one of my favorite stencils).  

 

I had some more fun with chipboard for this project!  A little painting, a little embossing, and a lot of blinging led to the finished project for the sweet butterfly.  This piece of "art" now hangs in my dear friend Dale's house!  



 

So there you have it!  Been working super hard through the holidays with only a little time to scrap.  I can say, however, that I am almost caught up with my 2014 journal...it is December and I am caught up to the second week in November (yay, me!). 

 

Stay tuned for more projects!  I've got some great things in progress right now!  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

 

Love,
mel

Using Scraps of Elegance...ON ME?!?!?!

So when I first began subscribing to the Scraps of Elegance and Scraps of Darkness kits, I was pretty sure that all of the Scraps of Elegance kits would be used to make projects for other people.  After all, as much as I love getting dressed up, let's face it...between the Army and my desire to be as comfortable as possible when I'm not in uniform my elegant clothes stay hanging pretty in the closet 90% of the time.  Nonetheless, last week we had our weekly night out with the "crew" and despite the fact that I was in my workout clothes (Razorback sweatshirt and running leggings, complete with SoxBox socks) I absolutely loved one of the pictures that my friend took of me and another girlfriend.  After dinner we were watching some t.v. and working on editing the photo since some of our other "friends" put bunny ears and a finger in the background.  The result we loved best was when turned the photo black and white and got rid of the extra hands and fingers.  All the way home Friday I was thinking about the "Sweet Sentiments" kit from SOE...and this is what happened:

 

I had to have a little bit of help from a previous SOE kit for the background piece but as I started cutting, pasting, and what-not elsing I couldn't stop!  I had an absolute blast putting this together!  For part of the background I decided to experiment with the background using a tutorial from Stéphanie Papin.  Stephanie is an extremely talented artist and I was so excited to view the tutorial and try the technique!  Check out her blog for the awesome tutorial.  After figuring out how I wanted my background to look I began to "fill in the pieces" to the puzzle!  I used a square punch to make the photo much smaller than I normally would work with.  I then used a scrap piece of paper that I had distressed for another project use as the first layer under the photo.  The colors were a little too bright for the overall look of the layout, so I used some iridescent medium to soften the color.  In hindsight, I should have grabbed the matte medium bottle, but I was still fairly happy with the overall look.  Some of the paper even crackled a little bit when I touched it before it was dry as though I had used crackle glaze adding an unexpected element to the finished product. 

 

You can see above where I touched the iridescent medium leaving a small fingerprint!  :)  I used a clock piece and cut a flower out from one of the papers in the kit to fit behind the clock piece.  I loved both types of lace that came with this kit and (as you can see above) I was able to use both types (in abundance).

 

As I am becoming more familiar with different ways to play with chipboard I am finding that I am starting to become addicted more excited about using it in my projects.   For this LO I covered the chipboard flourish piece in gesso, embossed it with a shimmery embossing power from Lindy's Stamp Gang, and then used the the stamp included in the kit to stamp over the top of the embossing powder.  Also, you can see in this photo some more of the background technique from Stephanie's tutorial as well as the use of some Heidi Swapp Color Shine Mist (Seafoam) that matched the papers in this perfectly~ 

 

Below is a closeup picture of some of the flowers I used on this LO.  I used a variety of flowers (mostly Prima) including some from the kit, a few from the cigar box collection, and a few from my happy-magical-flower-drawer-hoard-stash.

 

As always, thank you for looking and allowing me to share my "pretties" with you!

 

Love,

mel

Hollow Book Projects Part 2

Good morning!  I'm back to share my other completed hollow book and share a "near miss" for the next one...

 

Above you can see the front of the finished product.  For this book I used the Scraps of Elegance kit Sweet Sentiments and the supplemented with a host of elements that had been sitting on my desk for a few months hot minutes.   First of all, let me say that the Blue Fern Studios papers included in this kit are by far some of the best papers I have ever used in my entire life!  From the moment I touched them, I knew they were magical...but this isn't about BFS, it's about me...me and my hollow book!  :)  This is the first time I've used Renea's technique of covering the book in gesso.  I have to admit that even though I covered the "back" of the book in paper, I enjoyed not having to deal with the ugly brown color that these mache books come in.  I layered quite a bit of paper on the top of the book (including the "binding") and then experimented with some of the pigments that came in the creativity add on with the SOE kit.  I used the pale green color to paint over the binding and sealed with a glossy sealer.  

Here is a close up of some of the flowers.  A few from the kit, and although I didn't get the floral add on, I already had some of the flowers (pink with crocheted petals) included in the floral add on hanging out in the flower box next to my scrapping table.  The blue and white flowers were intended for a winter themed tag, but as you can see, the blue turned out to be way too warm for the winter color scheme of the tags.  However, they turned out great for this project.  You can see the chipboard here as well.  I used some wiry string from a past Scraps of Darkness kit and wound it around the chipboard.  I was going for a "climbing ivy" look, but I think it still needs a little work.  

 

I had to take a close up of this pretty little lady from one of the papers.  The first thing my husband said when he saw the finished project was that I "covered her up", but I informed him that she was just peeking around the corner.  Again, I cannot say enough about these great papers from Blue Fern.  The resin corner was another trinket that had been sitting on my desk for goodness knows how long...I was going to use it on a summer project if that tells you anything.  Also in this picture you can see the distressing and inking combo I used on the papers.  I enjoyed using some colors to ink the edges of the papers that I don't normally use such as yellows and pinks in addition to the normal browns and neutral.

 

And, finally, the pièce de résistance:  the "pages"...Each time I do this I get one step closer to the actual look I am going for.  This time I went for much lighter pages and LOVED the outcome!!!  Notice the scraps of cheesecloth that I colored some pink pigment from the kit add on.  I also used the rest of the paint I mixed up to make some pink splotches at various places around the book.  

 

Now for the near miss!  I started working on another hollow book this weekend using a technique I've seen several times.  (I can't remember where I first saw, so I apologize for not giving anyone credit!) I used gesso and cheesecloth to make a poor man's canvas on the back of the book.  I had hoped to stamp an image into it, but apparently, poor man's canvas does not take to stamping very well.  Either way, coming soon there will be another hollow book to share with you all!  Thanks for looking and having an excellent Monday!

 

Love,

mel 

A Few More Hollow Books to Display...Part 1

This will be short and sweet and put together in two parts since I'm using a little free time at work to post this blog!  :)  I finished two more hollow books last week and I'd like to share them with you really quick!   I have already posted pictures to the Facebook page of both books, but here are the details! 

 

Above you can see the actual finished product.  Again, I originally lifted this idea from Renea and have slowly made it a little more of my own.  I knew I was going for a darker look with this particular book so I used quite a bit of Tim Holtz vintage type items and materials.  The bulk of the book is covered with several layers of paper and ink.  I used, for the first time ever, Tim Holtz Tissue paper on this project and I absolutely loved it.  I used a few of my inks and mists to continue to distress the paper and layered it on along with regular paper and cardstock.  A few trinkets and what nots up top completed most of the look.  I also added some lace and a feather brad that I had hanging out in my stash for quite some time.  The butterfly was die cut and inked by me followed by a little experimentation with glitter (another idea garnered from the above mentioned Renea).  I topped it off with a resin frame and a few "flat" paper flowers.

 

 

Below you can see the inside of the book.  This was one of the smaller books so I was limited with the space that I "normally" have with these books.  For the inside cover I used a stamp kit to create the oval.  Inside it reads "This Belongs To".  I made sure to stamp rather lightly to continue with the distressed look and to make it feel "old".  

 

The inside of the book is covered with a floral damask printed paper.  Ad you can see I inked the "pages" fairly heavily here...they have an almost bronzish yellow look.  Overall I was pretty satisfied with the look.

 

 

 

Here is a look from the side.  As you can see, my inks and mists "leaked" from the "pages" onto the tissue paper.  No harm, no foul...since the book is designed to look a little vintage it's okay with me if there are a few "imperfections".  I thought the layers turned out pretty well in this book despite the fact that I was desperately trying to keep the top of the book flat.  From this angle you can also the small art tile that has been dwindling around my workspace for a bit as well.

 

Thanks for looking!  I hope y'all enjoyed looking at my hollow book! 

 

Love,

 

Mel

Congratulations Debbie and Jade!!!

So, I missed the opportunity to go to Italy with my friends and watch them get married.  Originally I was supposed to run in the Army 10 Miler during the planned time of the trip, but then during surgery and recovery I was too drugged up to remember to register for the race...Long story short, I missed the wedding and the race, but not the chance to create a one of kind gift for the happy couple!  I originally lifted the idea of hollow books from Renea of Renea Bouquets, coincidentally to create a hollow book for one of mine and Debbie's vacations.  Although  I lifted the idea from Renea, I am slowly creating my own look for the books, especially with the "pages".  (And might I add that I never even came close to capturing "pages" like the original artist!)  You'll also notice that I didn't post any pictures of the sides of the book today where the "pages" would be.  That is because something went awry during this project and the pages are not even close to where I want them to be.  However, I feel fairly strong that Deb and Jade will still be appreciative!  ;)  Either way, I made three more hollow books this weekend in preparation for the Christmas Shopping Expo, so you will get to see my "pages" variations soon.

I started with a Tim Holtz configuration book and covered it some papers from my stash and used the Scraps of Elegance kit Pretty Things.  I knew I wouldn't be able to complete the project using just the kit, so I chose carefully from my stash to ensure that what I used to cover the configuration components would match.

 

 

For the cover I layered on pieces of paper, some stickers from a travel pack, a little chipboard, some clocks, a few doilies and other whimsical things that fit the the vintage-y travel theme I was looking for.  The resin frame actually came from Michael's.  I like their "store brand" resin items for things like these because they feel heavier. (Maybe it's just me)

 

Here is a close up of the flowers and the frame.  I fussy cut the little bird from the Pretty Things Kit and used a little bit of goldish paint to spice it up some.  A little stamping, some misting, a hint of bling, and adding a few border pieces completed the look I was I was going for.

 

Here is a closer look at the details up near the top of the book.  I inked and misted the chipboard piece pink and used a little bit of gesso to distress it a little.

For the inside of the book where the boxes go, I added a few items from the kit to the "bottoms" of the boxes as well as a few things from my stash.  For the most part I left the boxes as empty as possible just in case the happy couple wants to store some precious memories in here.  :)

 

On the inside of the cover I used a piece of stash paper that I was saving for my trip to Italy...since it looks like it might be a few more years before I get there I thought there was no better time than the present to use it as a backdrop for a photo of the happy couple.

 

So there it is!  I had a blast making this book despite the issues with the "pages".  As I mentioned I'll get some pictures of the other hollow books up here before too much longer!!!  Thanks for looking in!

 

Love,

 

Mel

Just a little Christmas Fun!

I finally got brave enough order some "Rustic Pallets" from Walnut Hollow to play around with.  I originally noticed these pallets in a Scraps of Darkness  kit, but I didn't subscribe to the kits until the month after I saw the awesome pallet in the kit!  I ordered a few "extra" since I am a hoarder person who doesn't like to pay for shipping more often than I have to.  I started small, with one of the ones that is about 8" x 8" and decided to use it as if it were an actual pallet to stack things on.  In keeping with the upcoming holidays and to help me get into the Christmas spirit I decided to go for a Christmas theme.  I had some great papers in my stash that fit my mood so I started by covering the top of the pallet with the Christmassy papers.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to cover the bottom with papers, so  I used the green Lumiere paint that came with a Scraps of Darkness Kit (Transition) because with the gold undertones in the paint it seemed to go with the theme.

 



 I didn't want to go too overboard with the details because I was already fairly certain that I knew what I wanted to "stack" on top of this pallet.  I layered a few doilies onto the center of the pallet.  The top doily was one that I had previously tried to color and wasn't satisfied with the outcome.  This time I layered some mists on the doily using a combination Heidi Swapp, Lindy's Stamp Gang, and Maya Road.  I'm still not totally satisfied, but it works for the project!  :)  I added some flowers up top and again used some mist to soften the pink on the "top" flower with the bling around it...

 

Here is a close up of the flowers...

 

And here you see my pallet with my Scentsy "stacked" on top of it...I hope you like and thanks as always for looking!!!

 

Love,

mel

Today I'd like to share a little paper project that turned out "okay" for my first time experimenting with the KaiserCraft "Beyond the Page" product.  I chose the Single Shadow Box and some amazing papers from Prima's Cigar Box Secrets collection. 

The project itself was fairly straightforward...use some modgepodge, assemble the pieces, add flowers, and VOILA!  One small issue I ran into was that although I thought I had carefully planned which direction to adhere the pages to my project, I was wrong.  No harm, no foul though, I simply assembled the product upside down.  The shadow box is now on the bottom and the drawer is on the top. 

I did run into a little bit of trouble covering the cardboard that eventually formed the drawer.  For this reason I used some scraps of paper and modge podged them over my "mistakes:



 

To finish it off I used some flowers from the same Prima collection to add a little pizzazz to the top of the shadow box!  

 

My apologies for this post being somewhat short...I have a few more of these great "off the page" pieces that I can't wait to get my hands on this weekend.  Thanks for looking in!

Altered Picture Frame Project

Although the finished project didn't turn out quite like I expected, I wanted to share this project for a little inspiration.  Also, many of the smaller details I incorporated I ended up layering paper or picture over.  I had the idea to do this for quite some time, but I was waiting for something both elegant and rustic enough to "fit the shape" of the frame.  While we are on the subject, I have been pleasantly surprised with the wood products I have purchased at Wal~Mart here recently.  They provide an affordable wood medium (frame, tray, or square) that allows for experimentation without going over the budget!

Finished project created with the Scraps of Darkness Transition Kit.  I used the color add on and the creativity add on for this project as well: 

I started by applying a sheet of the Deco Mache sheets to the entire frame.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to "do" it so I just used the entire sheet planning to cut the hole out for the frame later. 

 

I misted and sprayed the back of the frame and kept the color scheme with a vintage fall look using Lindy's mists and some Heidi Swapp Bronzer mist.

 

 

I then used the Lumiere paints included in the kit to create a green and gold sheen over the misting work and also to tone down and lighten the "harsh" dark colors on the back of the frame.  I used the Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing power included in the kit and a stamp from my stash to 

 create the scroll corner border on each corner of the frame.  I love how this is on the back of the frame.  It's like a little secret that only a few people will know about!

 

I applied a paper from the kit on the backer board of the frame and used another stamp and the embossing power to create a little effect on the picture back ground.  As you can see, some of the mist bled onto the paper as a leftover from my color work on the backside of the frame.  

To cover up the mist bleed on the front of the frame, I used the flowers from the kit and arranged them expertly to cover my "mistake".  This kit also included some great leaf chipboard elements.  I painted them with the green Lumiere paint, used my stamps to "messily" stamp an embossed pattern on them.  After embossing with clear embossing powder I finger brushed the pinkish gold Lumiere paint over the embossing to get the detail I was looking for.  For a finishing touch I applied some of the Lumiere paint to the bodies of the butterflies and dragons on the paper and added some embellishments from the Prima Ephemera pack included in the kit. 

 

Thank you so much for looking and thank you for all of your love!

 

Love,

 

Mel

 

So...in an attempt to reach more people with my "pretties", I have decided to repurpose this blog to focus on my crafy items!  I realize that I quit blogging somewhere early in my trip to Iraq, but let me reassure everyone that Lyle and I made it back safely (about 3 years ago).  Stand by for my first crafty blog post!