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.

My Cards and Tags: Cupcake Tag

This week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is all about paste!  I had cupcakes on the brain, so I decided to use modeling paste to create some faux frosting for the cupcake on my tag:

To make my "frosting," I stirred a dab of modeling paste with some Spun Sugar Distress Paint (about a 3 to 1 paste to paint ratio).  It made the paste slightly more runny and it was easy to spread onto my die-cut shape with a plastic knife.  When it was dry, I used a sponge to smear on some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink to give it some shading.

I added some lime green enamel dots to replicate sprinkles and topped it with a flower.  I used foam dots to pop it out from my tag just a bit.  You also may note that I used the ice cream cone scoop die for my cupcake top instead of the cupcake die.  I liked the different look that it gave it.

Here are the products I used to make my tag, which you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

My Favorite Things Sweet Treats dies	Sizzix Big Shot Machine	Lifestyle Crafts Genius Ultimate Platform System	My Favorite Thinghs Tag Builder Blueprints 2	Liquitex - Modeling Paste	Tim Holtz Distress Paint In Spun Sugar	My Mind′s Eye Jubilee Enamel Dots
Waffle Flower Monochrome stamp set	Fiskars Acrylic Blocks	My Mind′s Eye Dwell 6x6 Paper	Prima Timeless Memories A4 Paper	Memento Luxe Rose Bud	Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers Distress Ink	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MERMAID LAGOON
Tim Holtz Idea-ology MEMO PINS Split Ring Metal Embellishment	Idea-ology Paper String	Hero Arts Basic Alphabet Stamps	Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink Pad	Timber Brown StazOn	Mixed Media Sponges Bars	Worn Lipstick Distress Ink Pad
Circle Pop Dots

I'm anxious to see the many ways you interpret our theme and use paste in your creations.  Upload your work to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and you'll not only inspire us, but will be automatically entered into the drawing for a $50 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp Store!

My Other Creations: Fancy Flower Pen

This week I was flipping through Sally Jean Alexander's Pretty Little Things book and saw a really cool soldered flower-topped pen made out a glass tube.  I thought it would be perfect for this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog theme, which is PLANTS!  But wait!  I didn't have any glass tubing lying around, and I can't solder worth a darn yet (despite my attempts over the past seven years).  So I ended up making a faux glass tube pen instead:

I first went to my local glass supply shop to buy some glass tubing only to find that they didn't carry it anymore due to the huge druggie clientele who wanted it for...non-crafty purposes.  Yet another example of drugs messing up dreams!  I had to switch gears, so I looked around for what I already had.  I found a plastic tube that had beads in it which I thought would work great (hoarder moment of success)!  I inked and stamped a piece of patterned paper and cut it to be able to fit into the tube.

I found this great sentiment in an old vintage book with a broken spine, so I cut it out and glued it to my paper and rolled it into the tube.  I also found a Bic pen that fit in the tube and I had my husband drill a hole through the plastic lid of the tube so the point of my pen could stick through it.

I stuck the point of the pen through the hole in the lid, then put the pen inside the tube, inside the patterned paper.  To secure the lid in place, and to replicate the look of solder, I cut a strip of shiny aluminum foil tape and wrapped it around the lid.  You can find this tape at your local hardware store.  Apparently it's used to tape metal vents,etc., together.  I used some flat pliers to press it down firmly around the pen's point.

Next I made my flower using the Avery Elle Flower die.  This die cuts several petals that you assemble with one brad down the center.  You have to bend and glue each petal into a conical shape and I thought these clip tools from Stampendous did a great job of holding the glued parts together (like having an extra three sets of hands)!

I assembled my flower and dipped it in some glass glitter.  Then I threw on some tulle and some vintage silvery leaves I found at a yard sale.  I wrapped the whole bundle with wire and poked a hole in the other end of my plastic tube (opposite of the pen end).  I threaded the wire down into the pen tube and glued the flower to the top to reinforce its stability.  I also added a ribbon, which I made from dragging Tim Holtz's crinkle ribbon through puddles of spritzed Distress Ink.  I wadded up the ribbon and dried it.  I tied it around the pen and wah-la!  My faux glass pen was complete!

Here are the supplies I used which you can find at Simon Says Stamp:

Tim Holtz 12x12 French Industrial Paper Pack	Darkroom Door Dots Texture Stamp	Distress Ink Tumbled Glass	Avery Elle Embellish It 3D Flower Die	Sizzix Big Shot Machine	Lifestyle Crafts Genius Ultimate Platform System	My Mind′s Eye Dwell 6x6 Paper
Stampendous Clip Tools	Stampendous Silver Crushed Glass Glitter	Idea-ology CRINKLE RIBBON	Peacock Feathers - Distress Ink	Ranger Non Stick Craft Sheet

The theme of plants is so vast and endless that I'm sure you'll find all sorts of ways to incorporate it into a project or two.  I'm always amazed at the clever things you come up with week after week.  Upload your creation to the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and you just may win the $50 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!