Spiral Journal

I've been wanting to alter a spiral bound notebook for a while. Yesterday my daughter and I were in the store and saw all the school supplies on sale so I picked up a couple to play with. I am planning to send this one to my Aunt. She likes to sew and I saw this paper in Michael's and thought it would be perfect. This is from Tim Holtz's Ideaology line. The paper is Kraft Resist. I colored the lovely lady with colored pencils and metallic crayons. Also used some Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Faded Jeans and the Distress Markers in Faded Jeans and Mustard Seed. The tag was punched out of Me&My Big Idea's Coastal Venice paper pack. I also glued some plastic pearls and a piece from a sewing kit. 

I hope she will like it. It was fun to make!

Thinking about the Holidays

September is upon us and even if I am not quite ready to give up on Summer, I must start thinking about the upcoming holidays. This is a card I was excited to make. I wanted to work with circles and this is the end result. Unfortunately it takes an hour to make each card! I really wanted to make more for my family and friends, but I may have to think of something less time consuming. I've only made two of these.  I do love them though!

The papers are from a coordinating pack. I don't know the name. And I used a Burgundy pigment ink from Color Box, Black pigment ink from Studio G, Ranger Stickles in Burgundy and Goldenrod and acrylic paint by Folk Art in Gold and Burgundy.  The stamp is from Inkadinkado. I used a one inch circle punch to punch the paper and punched them so they fit together snuggly. This is the time consuming part.  Everything else is kinda random.

Holiday items are all over the internet right now!  I'll get in the swing of things soon, but for now I am going to hold on to Summer as long as I can. :)

Don't be afraid to sparkle!

I saw this quote a little while back and thought it would be perfect on an ATC. This ATC is my contribution to my ARTHaven group swap. I've been in a monochrome mood lately. I printed out the words and glued them to the ATC blank, then just chose a color and just went with it. I recently received an order of  Tim Holtz Distress Ink and this one is called Faded Jeans. Then I used black paint to make the squiggly lines and stamped the little flowers. I used Ranger Stickles in Crystal and Silver to make the flowers sparkle!

I like the quote. It has helped me in my everyday life lately. At work I tend to try not to be noticed and after seeing this, I thought maybe I should not be afraid to sparkle and shine at work. Maybe it will lead to bigger and better things! Or, if not, at least I'll be myself and will be happy. :)

New In my Shop!

16 Sheet Rainbow Pack

24 Sheet Squares Pack

Purple at a Discount

Check out these new listings!!!  I've been making paper like crazy (when I can) over the last few months. I've finally finished all of the rainbow colors and will be working to place them in sets and get them listed and to also make journals.  Next goal is to make about 1000 white junk mail sheets! Fun! Fun! (Really, it is! I love it!)

A Sympathy Card

Had the need to make a Sympathy Card last weekend. Will be giving this to a co-worker tomorrow.  

Beginning of a Rainbow

I am working through the rainbow again. Started with Red and Pink. I have Red-Orange and Light Red-Orange drying on the racks now.  Someday I'll have more time and more room for drying the sheets but for now, I'll do what I can when I can. Hoping to have the whole rainbow done by June 1 so I can put together more rainbow packs. I also have a local shop interested in selling my papers so I need to get packs together for that as well!

I am so enjoying making paper!  It's the perfect craft for me. And I recently reorganized my ART Studio so now it is easier to work. And easier to sort the paper scraps.  

Enjoy your day everyone!!!

Getting Messy

We had some cooler weather this morning and I really needed to make some covers for my journals so I made paper outside today. Just a few sheets. I had water all over the place!

This is a 5 x 7 sheet made from the leftover pulp that I had after making 3 covers for my journals. This paper is nice and chunky!

New!!!

UPDATE!   I am extending the coupon code below until 10pm on Wednesday, April 25, 2012!!!


Once again it has been months since I posted anything. I think that winter put my creative mojo into hibernation. Now that spring has arrived, I have been motivated and inspired. Sometimes ideas hit you on the head so hard you can't ignore them and sometimes they tap you on the shoulder a few times, wait for a response, then tap again when you ignore them. This idea just kept tapping because I was not making a move. Until last week, when it got tired of being ignored and slapped me right upside the head!!! I really don't know what took me so long in making this journal. I've been mulling it around for a while now. I have to say though that I am super excited! I've got a few other types of journals I will be making soon, however, I really want to go ahead and show you this one.

It is an Art Journal made using my handmade recycled papers on the inside and also on the outside covers. This is bound with a 3/4" O Ring binder (Bind-it-All). The cover is brown and the inside pages are a rainbow of color! 

What do you think?  Like I said, I am excited. I've made 2 so far of this size (5 x 7 inch sheets) and one smaller one (3.5 x 5 inch sheets). Tonight I made enough junk mail papers to fill 2 of the larger books as well as 2 thick covers to go with them. Can't wait until they dry so I can put the books together!  

And, I've decided that since Earth Day is this weekend, I would have a pre-sale in my Etsy Shop for these journals. Starting Friday, April 20 at 10pm Eastern Time, I will offer 20% off when you pre-order an Art Journal (5 x 7 inches).  You will be able to use Coupon Code "EARTHDAY2012" at the time of purchase. You can choose to have the inside pages be Junk Mail papers or a Rainbow of color. Each Art Journal will have 20 sheets inside. You can also choose either Brown or Junk Mail covers.  This is a pre-order. I will only have 10 pre-orders available and will make the Art Journals on a first come, first serve basis. 

If you don't want to purchase an Art Journal but would like to purchase some handmade recycled paper sets, you can also use the Coupon Code to receive 20% off.  The Coupon Code (and Art Journal pre-sale) will expire at 5pm Eastern Time on Sunday, April 22.

So.... Now that I've shared my new Art Journals, let me just say "Thank You" for taking the time to check out my blog and for having patience with me for not posting regularly. :)  

Until next time! I promise to post again before September! 

Holly Jolly Christmas card

Now that Thanksgiving is done I've been working on Christmas cards. I've been making paper too so I just HAD to make a card using the new papers. This card is layered with a highly textured green paper and a red (well, it's sorta pink) paper that is also highly textured. It was quick and easy. I plan to make more to send out to friends and family this year.

Goal

Isn't this a beautiful dress? I used a special setting on my camera to showcase the wonderful color in this dress. It has a fishnet overlay with some sparkles (love those sparkles). I bought this dress to wear to the Ball this year. It was on sale this summer and even though I knew it was a size too small, I thought I had time to lose a little to fit into it. Well, I just didn't even try. I've been struggling for so long with my weight and nothing seems to really motivate me. So I've let things get out of control. This dress is not just one size too small. It's more. I hadn't even realized how much I've "grown". So, this is my goal. I will wear this dress to the MC Ball next year. It is our last. This will be my last chance to really dress up in a formal gown. If I lose more than this, great! I will have the dress altered or shop for another one. I always wanted to wear something vintage. You know, form-fitting with a beautiful flare at the bottom. Something elegant. I have 12 months. 12 months to fit into this size 11 dress. I know I can do it. I know I've never posted anything quite so personal here, but I am hoping your support with keep me going. Thanks everyone! Tomorrow is a new day!

Fall Leaf Card

I was in two swaps last month. One was for the Fall ATC in the previous post and the other was for a Fall Leaf Card. I made this card using my crayon papers (the red background paper and the leaf punches) and some tree cardstock. I also painted the word "HELLO" on the top with acrylic paint. I need to work on my painting penmanship!!!  I also made a matching envelope by using the crayon papers.

It seems very fitting for this time of year. We have leaves all over the ground. Happy Autumn everyone!!!

Fall ATC

My online craft group is having a Fall ATC swap. This is what I came up with. The leaf is just from a little package of leaves I bought at the store, the glitter around the edges is Stickles Golden Rod. I printed the quote on manilla colored paper and cut out the words and glued them to the background piece which is crayon paper.

We have nine participants in this swap. I hope they all like it. The leaves already had glitter on them. Couldn't pass those up!

Been busy!

I have been busy making handmade paper over the last 6 weeks. Here are the results:

I got through the rainbow. Now I am working on neutrals and junk mail paper. :)

I finally got one listing in my Etsy shop. I am hoping to list one item a day (at least this week).  Hopefully by next weekend I'll have some more paper ready to go into my shop! You can check this listing out here: Craftstudiopaper at Etsy.  

Thanks for looking! 

Today is my Birthday

Today is my birthday. It has been a very good day - even at work. :) My Hubby sent me a fruit basket which was very yummy and enjoyed by my co-workers.

Today is a big birthday for me and I am determined to not let that number get me down. :) I've really enjoyed today, no worries, no negativity, just a good day with a great attitude. :)  Now, if I could just keep that up everyday. That is my goal for this year.

Have a Happy Day everyone! Enjoy the day!

New cards

So, let's see... Since my last post we've gone through Spring and most of Summer. From the end of school to the beginning of school. Through Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. I know some of you will be shocked that I've updated my blog! LOL!!! I just can't believe it's been so long since I've really made anything that I can share.
I found myself in need of cards this week so I just sat down and made up a couple of very simply designed cards. One is for a friend who lost her father to cancer recently and the other is for a co-worker who will be getting married next month. The paper is all my handmade paper, except for the flower image (can't remember where I got those). I covered the flowers with Stickles (Distress - Crushed Olive and regular Yellow Stickles). The words were printed on my handmade paper with my printer here at home.

I think the design works well. Sorry the photo is so fuzzy...

Until next time! (Which I hope won't be another 5 months!)

A little bit O' Luck - Tag

My ARTHaven craft group had a tag swap in February. The theme was St. Patrick's Day. Here's the tag I made. The base is my green crayon paper. The images were from a free clip art website and I used Stickles as gold. I wrote the letters on some heavy duty handmade paper. I didn't make the paper. It came out of a set of sheets I bought a while back. I loved the texture and thickness so just stored it in my paper stash.

Scraplings

My ARTHaven Art group had a swap using paint sample cards. This was my version of these "Scraplings". You can also see some here at my friend Diann's blog. These little cards are so fun to make and would make nice cards for gifts or maybe to give to a friend or co-worker. There so many colors to chose from and they are kinda addicting to make! :)

Custom Handmade Papers

Recently I received a custom request for handmade papers. I am always excited to make paper by request. This order is for 30 sheets in different shades of 3 colors: pink, purple and blue. They are approximately 8.5 x 11 inches. It was a fun project for me - I just love making paper!!!

These papers were made with a mixture of scrapbook paper scraps and shredded ivory paper that I rescued from a gift basket at Christmas.

I hope my customer will enjoy using them as much as I enjoyed making them! :)

My Daughter the Rock Star

I took some photos of my daughter this weekend. I think my favorite is the "poster" version. I am hanging this one up in my office. She was a great model. :)  She had been asking to have her picture taken with her bass guitar so we got out Saturday and played around a bit. The sun was shining and it was warm for a change. We both had fun.

Love is in the air!

 It feels like only yesterday we were celebrating the New Year and now Valentine's Day is right around the corner! Gee whiz - 2011 is off to a flying start. In honor of the upcoming Lover's Holiday I am posting some of my own Valentines. Enjoy!