Card Making Frenzy

I found myself on a card making frenzy the other day.  Once I discovered this simple format, I churned out these three beauties.  They are variations on the same layout.  It is really fun to take one layout and expand on it.

Since I love owls, I think the one with the owlie is my favorite.  But the Camphor Cream vintage label one has a its own charm.

I may even later use these as letter book covers.  We shall see.

Kay

Cherish Letter Book

I continue the never ending battle of using up all my scraps.  Letter books often come to the rescue.  This little guy is simple and fun.  He is made of all scraps, even the embroidery thread used to bind it.

Score one for the Waste Nots!

Kay

Wish Book

My friend Martha and I are doing a collaborative journal project called Wish Book.  It is a small format journal with the theme of things we wish for.  It promises to be a fun project.  Gosh knows, I need a project!  

Here is my very first Wish Book page.  It sort of sets the mood for what my other pages are to be....a series of no constraints wishes and desires captured in art.

Hope you enjoy the journey with me and are inspired to create a Wish Book of your own.

Kay

Garden Dreamer Paper Doll

I am really running with this paper doll thing.  Ever since the paper doll contest started on Snagging Stampers, I have been cutting out little bodies and decorating them up.

This is my latest creation.  She has been cut out for a while.  I never could find the right background to put her on.  I really wanted a dark background that would make her pop.  But, after several attempts, I decided to put her on the front of this altered book.  

She is equally fun and funky.  

Her face is made out of Sculpey clay from a mold I have.  I painted it with metalic paints.  Her skirt is stamped and embossed leaves that I further painted gold.  Her belt is a floral sticker.  Her crown is a filigree jewelry finding.  Her shoes are cut out of some paisley stickers I had laying about.

Of course, her hair is some twisted fibers.  I considered making her braids, but braids didn't really seem to be her style.

I also made her a little necklace out of some seed beads along a piece of metallic embroidery thread.

There are a bazillion paper doll templates out there on the net to try.  You don't need a template, though.  You can make your own.  If you haven't put yourself together a paper doll yet, try it now! 

Kay

Letter Book

I am so very happy with how this letter book turned out.  I painted the background myself using some gel medium, blue ink, and gold acrylic paint.  I used metallic blue embroidery floss to bind it.  It just all came together.  I don't often to a monochromatic color scheme, so I think it made me feel especially accomplished to do something so different for me.

Kay

Sculpey Clay Day

I saw a inspiring piece in the May/June 2009 issue of Somerset Studio.  Look on page 34 for an extradordinairly beautiful piece by Jody E. Hansen.  It really spoke to my heart.

She used Sculpey clay to make tiles for this mixed-media collage.  I loved the possibilities that this piece offered.  I haven't done much with Sculpey clay, so I thought that might be a fun challenge, as well.

Here is my first try at doing a Sculpey clay tile collage.  I was happy with my first effort.   I put it together on a 6" by 6" canvas.  I found the most fun part was painting the tiles.  I did most of the painting with my fingers.  

I encourage you to try one of the collages too.  If you share your piece on your blog, please post a link back to it here because I want to see!  

Kay

Amy's Journal

A while back, I received a journal from a fellow Snagging Stamper.  She PIF'ed it, and how could I refuse a sharing of art and soul?  She actually PIF'ed two such journals.  My friend Martha snagged the other one.

Once we got our journals we were so overjoyed at how nice they were.  It prompted us to share back with Amy.  So, we made her a collaborative mini-journal.  Martha and I each contributed pages, and I bound it up with my comb binding system.  The picture is of the cover I put together for it.  

Amy doesn't know she is getting the journal.  I hope we hear squeals of delight all the way from Ohio when Amy finds our creation in her mailbox.

I'll let you know how it is received.

Kay

Amy's Journal's Envie

How could we send such a marvelous, heart-felt creation in an ordinary envelope?  We couldn't!  So, I decorated this envelope to add a little zing to the surprise experience.

Kay

Amy's Journal:  My Contributions

Here are the pages I contributed to Amy's Journal.  I hope she enjoys receiving them as much as I enjoyed making them.  

I have been doodling alot lately.  So, it was only natural to include a doodle page.

This is one of two recipe cards I included.  I love simple and delicious recipes.  I like cooking, but I don't like cooking alot.  I like eating alot.  :)  So, these two recipes minimize cooking and maximize eating enjoyment.

The "only look dead" was actually a quote I had originally clipped for a scary story zine I am working on.  But, something about the haunting looks of these vintage ladies seemed to fit the quote.

The Valentine page was paint experiment.  I am just learning how to combine different color ephemera by blending them by using paint.

"Inspire" contains a personal note on the back about how I have been inspired by the group that Amy owns on Yahoo!

I think I am most proud of the "dear friend" pink page.  There are several elements that are my originals.  I recently met Amy's best friend in person, even though I have never met Amy herself in person.  The "dear friend" page is a tribute to her and her best friend.

I have been forcing myself to do stuff outside my comfort zone.  This page was a result of a challenge I imposed upon myself.  I told myself to turn to a random page in a Somerset publication and emulate something on that page.  This was the result.  It was fun!

All the pages have personal inscriptions on the back.   The whole process has been so rewarding.  

Kay

Another Paper Doll

This lady came from a free template offered at Stampington.  I like how she turned out.  I never accesorize myself as much as I did this paper doll.  I like that I can use the smallest bits of leftovers to make a purse, hat, or collar.

She was fun!

Kay

Paper Doll Contest

There is a paper doll contest being held at Snagging Stampers, and I didn't want to miss out on the fun.  So, I dug through the bits on my desk...and there are LOTS of bits...and came up with this little lady.  

She was fun to make.  I think I will be making lots of paper ladies to decorate upcoming projects.

Kay

Letter Book: Asian Inspiration

Even though this

 letter book doesn't have any real Asian imagery on it, I think it still carries an Asian feel 

to it.  It is simple and interesting.  Despite the busy background of a scrap of Que Sera Sera paper from K & Company, it still feels clean.  

Kay

Letter Books Are Fun

These little letter books have been really satisfying little projects.  I almost always use scrap pieces to make them.  The cover is usually a card stock and the inside pages are regular weight printer paper.  Although, I do try to coordinate the inside pages with the feel of the outside.  To accomplish this, I might use cream colored paper instead of white or embellish the edges of the interior papers with coordinating stamped images.

I have changed my binding technique based on one I learned from Esther K. Smith's book How to Make Books:  Fold, Cut, & Stitch Your Way to a One-of-Kind Book.  Now, I am binding my letter book like a signature you would find in a book.  It is completely stitched top to bottom and has a much more finished look.  I am very excited about this improvement.

If you aren't inspired to make one of your own, I am not doing my job properly.   I should get back to work and come up with some better samples.

Kay

Letter Book

This little gem was made with ephemera that was shared with me from a nice lady in the sketchbook group I belonged to.  

I have been enjoying a streak of lazy creativity lately.  For instance, these two bits of ephemera were lying together when I was organizing some stuff.  I thought.."They should GO together!"  So, ten minutes later, out popped a letterbook.

Enjoy!  

I did.

Kay

Letter Book:  Serendipity

While tidying up my craft room, these two scraps happened to get stacked on top of each other.  They looked so good together, I immediately stopped what I was doing and put them together as a letter book.  The craft cord I used to bind them, I left multiple ends hanging at the side.  I then took vellum stickers of flowers and circles in coordinating colors and stuck them on the end.  The end of the craft cord is sandwiched between two stickers so no sticky is showing and there is no "back."

I like this little gem.

Kay