Tuesday, June 16, 2015

My Other Creations: Gardening Notebook

So I have this amazing friend that has mastered two skills that I have yet to learn: cooking and gardening.  The baked chocolately goodies this woman whips up are to die for and her yard is filled with quaint little gates, flowerbeds, paths, and a wheelbarrow bursting with blooms.  I admire her talents and since her birthday was coming up, I decided to make her a notebook that she could use for recipes, gardening secrets, favorite books, or anything else that came to mind.


I started with a piece of paper from the Paper Studio's Country Road pack.  The Paper Studio is a brand you can get at Hobby Lobby.  Using acrylic paint and the Prima Honeycomb stencil, I made some dots in the background.  I also smeared on some Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron, and Cracked Pistachio.  Then I used Papertrey Ink's Quatrefoil Die to cut out the lattice work.  I snipped the lattice down and cut panels to go inside of the lattice with different pieces of patterned paper.


You know I love this girl stamp!  Called, "Sunshine Girl," you can find it at the Paperbag Studios.  I stamped her onto flesh-colored paper, then colored her in with a black Sharpie where the stamping wasn't bold enough.  Then I fussy-cut her out, cut out a patterned paper headband and added some smudges of ink to it.


I made a dress for my girl, then glued her onto the top of my page and added some flowers to her headband using Martha Stewart's small Hydrangea punch.  I added some pink chalk to her cheeks and used a Tim Holtz stamp (Life's Possibilities) to add some numbers to her dress.  I started in on my sentiment using Prima Sunrise Sunset paper, Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink and Studio G alphabet stamps.  I wanted to say something that really reflected how my friend makes the world better, so that's where the sentiment came from.


Using the We R Memory Keepers journal kit, I glued my page to the chipboard cover provided.  I found a cupcake sticker, which I added to my girl to reflect my friend's baking abilities.  I added patterned paper to the front and back of the chipboard covers and made tabs to stick to the divider pages.  I bound it together with the Cinch machine and wah-la!  My notebook gift was done!

  
I always love a good crafting adventure, but there's something that elevates it to another level when you're making something for someone else.  It feels good to share the love through paper and stamps, you know?  And it also makes me feel less guilty for buying so many supplies!  So share on, share on and thanks to everyone out there who makes life more beautiful for the rest of us.