Daisy Frame

I just can't seem to resist the sparkly stuff here lately! I found this daisy paper with glitter from Imaginescence and just HAD to make something with it! Used one of the $1 wood frames from Michael's simply painted white. Of course, the glitter of the paper wasn't enough, so I edged the whole frame with glittering crystal Scribbles, then added little iridescent yellow flower sequins around the inside edge. A few layered flowers from Bazzill, some more sequins, then more Scribbles in the center of each of the flower sequins. It went really quickly. Maybe 20 minutes to DO, then overnight to dry. Now I've got to drag Michael out and get a nice spring-like photo to put in it for Grandma (who loves daisies)!

Another Spring Birdhouse

I was recently asked "why birdhouses?". I know to some it may seem counterproductive to be churning out these little dust collectors and (gasp) wasting my precious scrapbooking time and products on them when I could be actually scrapbooking instead. To be perfectly honest, for the past few years since my separation and divorce, scrapbooking has just been HARD for me. Every time I pick up a pen to start journaling, I get caught up in these complex thought circles that have nothing to do with the task at hand. Older pictures I find myself wondering if I should be journaling how I felt THEN or how I feel NOW. Newer pictures I wonder if the absence should be noted. It just feels surreal after years of scrapbooking on my old dining room table in my old house etc. But I realized, that for me, the creative process was just as important to me as trying to preserve the memories. I also realized that just like creating a layout, creating an altered item brings out my own feelings and personality. Each piece means something to me and can evoke memories and feelings. The papers were picked with a thought in mind and even when I start a project just wanting to use a certain paper, I've found that it's because that paper brings out some inner piece of ME. Something I want to say, even if I'm the only one who can hear it. Ok. And so I just love to play with paper too! :)

Philosophical hijack over, on to today's project! This winter has just seemed to last forever so here's another one that's just about brightness and flowers and chasing away those winter blues! Patterned papers by Stemma (floral) and Making Memories (roof). Brads by Making Memories - all the tabs were removed and they were simply glued on. The paint is two shades by Making Memories mixed together.

Wishing you all sunshine and flowers today!!

Another Birdhouse!

As seen in the April/May 2008 issue of Ready Set Create E-Zine.

Not really holiday themed this time, although I suppose it could be Spring or Mother's Day, lol! Papers from Paper Studio and I just went dot-happy with the Scribbles 3D paints in watermelon, lime, lemon and crystal over the dots on the paper. Again, I had to use chalk (pink) to tone down the bright red bird. I hand-cut the scalloped parts of the roof paper (green and red) to make them stand out. I also added lime Scribbles paint over the edge of the green scallop. This was such a busy paper I decided not to add anything else and just go with the flowers!

Noteworthy Altered Wheelbarrow

I don't think I ever posted a picture of these little wheelbarrows when I first came across them but they're from Hobby Lobby - $1 in the unfinished wood section! Everything I used to embellish it was from the Noteworthy line from Making Memories except the paint (Sea Foam), which was from the Funky Vintage line. I also used some glittery Scribbles just around the top rim. The only difficult part was the way I did the wheels. To get the felt flower on the wheel, I had to dismantle the front end. That required getting out a wooden peg (glued, of course) that went all the way through both the outside pieces and the wheel. I first took an Xacto knife and poked it around the peg on both sides to at least have the edges free of glue. Then, using a hammer and a plastic rubon tool (the ones that come with all American Crafts rubons) to tap away at it. It was NOT easy and required some odd leveraging with the wheel to get it out. Then I simply glued the felt flowers in place and attempted to put the peg back in. Lining it up was a pain, but nothing compared to getting the peg hammered back in. One squashed index finger later, I did get the peg back in, then realized that for my purposes it really didn't matter if the wheel didn't turn - I should have just glued the wheel back in and ignored the peg since I was covering it with more flowers and buttons anyways! Anyways. I've thought of several uses - it would look great hanging out on a desk holding paper clips, or in a bathroom holding little girl's ponytail holders - basically anything small. I thought it might be cute holding chocolate, but really, it just wouldn't hold enough chocolate to be worth it, lol! I took the one photo with the paint bottle to show an idea of the size.

Spring Basket

As seen in the April/May 2008 issue of Ready Set Create E-zine. I'll put the pictures back up when allowed!

Yes, I am REALLY wishing Spring would hurry up and arrive! I'm just not a winter person. I don't like snow, despise cold, and want to open my windows back up!

This basket is one of the $1 ones I discovered the other day at Michael's. I rolled up tubes of Lucy Lines paper from the So Girly line from SEI (here's a tip - this technique does NOT lend itself well to thick, double-sided paper like this - next time I WILL go back to using a nice thin paper...) and glued them all around a basket I had already spray painted (such a time saver, especially objects with lots of weird surfaces like this) white. For reference, this particular basket took exactly one piece of paper to cover in this fashion. Because I was having such issues with the tubes staying rolled, when gluing them on, I made sure that both sides of the seam were touching the glue, then wrapped the whole thing with rubber bands to keep it in place while drying. I then wrapped some trim around the basket, ribbon around the handle, tied a few bows, and added a cute little tag from the same SEI line with a sentiment stamped on it. Stamp from the Springtime Swirls Kit from Sugarloaf (now Inque Boutique but don't know if they still carry this particular See D) and the ink is Chestnut Roan Chalk ink from Clearsnap. Trim from Making Memories, ribbon from All My Memories.