Mar 5, 2010
Posted on Mar 5, 2010 | 4 comments
designed January 2008
Ahhhh, this project makes me smile. I made it the year my daughter Anna was a senior. When we had her senior pictures done (by the awesome Holly McCaig) she insisted on including me in one. I really do not like having my picture taken, I am probably the most self-conscious uneasy person in front of a camera. But I agreed and we ended up with one of my favorite photos of us together. I always smile when I see it. It is kind of bittersweet looking at this project because I included a photo of us together when she was just a week old. When I look at the two I feel a bit sad for the years that are gone and a bit confused about where they went. Somedays it feels like it was just yesterday that she was that wee baby in my arms and somehow we are nearly 20 years later and she is away at college making her own life. They simply grow up too fast. sigh. If I could go back and slow down time and have more moments with this sweet girl I would.
I am choking myself up. . . so anyway, about the project. . .
This project was for CHA and features the Sultry collection from BasicGrey. It was one of those projects that I sat down with no real direction and ended up with something pretty cool. I could have gotten a similar look in probably a less complicated way, but the process was fun and just evolved along the way.
I started out with a box canvas and ended up turning it into a shadowbox. I had no real plan when I started, I just sat down with stuff and let it take me somewhere. After painting the canvas, I adhered thick chipboard to the inside to give the front surface strength so I could cut through it. I added pattern paper to the front and then cut an opening. I added rub-ons to a piece of plexiglass and adhered it to the opening on the inside of the frame. I covered all of the wood framing with pattern paper on the inside. For the inside back, I covered another piece of chipboard and added photos and embellishments and adhered it to the back of the frame. On the front I added rub-ons, chipboard elements, buttons, brads, and sticker letters. I think the whole project turned out so soft and pretty looking and probably way more simple and less complicated than it was.
Feb 26, 2010
Posted on Feb 26, 2010 | 1 comment
This frame makes me smile! I still remember the moment I got the box of new release papers for CHA when BasicGrey released Lime Rickey. Normally the bright graphics and bold colors would stump me a bit, but this time I knew the second I saw the little birdies exactly what I would make.
My oldest was getting ready to leave for college and my wee one, who is the little mini me of her big sissy was not very happy about it. So on this day Anna took Emma to the mall to make her very first Build-A-Bear so that while she was gone, Emma would have something special to love on when she missed her sissy. They went in their favorite rain boots out of pure silliness and did all of the mall things two sisters should do and Emma came home with her first bear that she helped make with her sissy. Such a fun and sweet and silly day. Good times.
Feb 20, 2010
Posted on Feb 20, 2010 | 1 comment
So I had planned to post one of these portfolio pages every Friday, but yesterday I forgot. It seems I was so engrossed in making and photographing my shabby frame that I forgot about projects past. So to catch up and to share something pretty I am posting a flashback project today instead.
This suitcase measured about 12-13″ wide and was recovered in BasicGrey’s Perhaps papers. It was a for a tradeshow sample. I removed all of the leather-like strappings and recovered them in paper, complete with stitching. The tag reads, “However far you may wander this earth, always take with you grace, wisdom, and beauty”.
Jan 28, 2010
Posted on Jan 28, 2010 | 3 comments
I was in Hobby Lobby a couple of weeks ago looking for things to alter for the show and this little wooden wheelbarrow caught my eye. I knew the name of the line but hadn’t seen it yet. With the name “Green At Heart” I kept thinking about gardening and earthiness. I wouldn’t so much say that is the focus of the collection, but it kind of stuck on that with me. What could fit better with what I was thinking about the line than a garden wheelbarrow, right?
Altering the wheelbarrow in my mind at the store was easy, altering at home was a bit more involved. I generally disassemble pieces as much as I can to recover them. Unfortunately, the box part of this piece doesn’t really come apart. I knew I wanted to make each slat a different color so I measured and cut each piece to fit onto the still assembled box. It took a ton of time, but I think in the end, looks really cool. It reminds me of really old time farm stuff that people made from whatever they had on hand including mismatch re-purposed lumber. The pattern to the paper really has that kind of old and weathered paint feel to it to me.
I was actually able to get the wheel out so it got a new paper face and a fun chip element at the center.
A fun wheelbarrow is cute, but what do you do with it? I decided the project needed a purpose, so I decided a recipe card holder would be really fun.
I used the fun little note elements on each tab for the labels and as fun flowers paired with the delicious fabric covered brads.
It is always funny to me that the collection I don’t instantly connect with when I first see it, usually ends up being a project I really love. That happened with this collection. I liked it, but I am drawn to much softer colors. Bold colors sometimes stump me as to what to do with them. I ended up saving this project to last, which is what I do with the one that doesn’t click for me. The more I worked with it, the more I fell in love with the bright distressed solids and the vivid patterns. Once again, the one that didn’t click instantly became a favorite project!
Tomorrow’s project is my other top favorite project and features the Origins collection. I can’t wait to share it so be sure and come back tomorrow to see it!
Jan 27, 2010
Posted on Jan 27, 2010 | 1 comment
I know I already said it before when I posted my other Cappella project, but I really love this collection. I love the blues, browns, and greens. sigh. It is just a perfect collection to me.
These flowers and leaves were painted and Mod Podged like I described the other day on the post about the Capella Canvas.
For the embellishments on this frame, I layered rub-ons, chip elements, and the dimensional sticker elements along with some bling and flowers with fabric covered brads.
I also added a chip element heart on one of the canvas tags.
It is hard to tell in the photo, but each section of this frame has a large groove at each corner. The pattern on the paper I used is all straight lines so I cut, matched and mitered each side to match up at the corners to make the square effect.
I really wish I could get a better photo of how the flowers turned out, they look so amazing in person.
Okay, tomorrow is another BasicGrey post and a fun project that looks deceptively easy.
Jan 26, 2010
Posted on Jan 26, 2010 | 2 comments
I love any collections that come out that focus on soft pastel colors and florals, so of course the new Kioshi collection sparked for me. I have always said that no one does pattern paper solids like BasicGrey and this collection is packed full of great distressed solids. This collection has absolutely awesome pastel solids! Just look at the green on the frame below, I love it! This collection also has really gorgeous florals too, so be sure and check those out too.
I layered the fun chip flowers with the felty elements to create lots of depth and lots of texture. I sanded the edges on the chip pieces a bit to add a little bit of distressing.
Lots and lots of adhesive foam squares. You can see on the tallest flower, some of the petals have extra lift with adhesive squares under them to keep the flower from just laying flat.
I also added a foam square under one of the wings of the felty dragonfly do give him some extra dimension.
For tomorrow, I think I will share the second project I did from Capella. Be sure and come back tomorrow to check it out!
Jan 25, 2010
Posted on Jan 25, 2010 | 0 comments
I think this release from BasicGrey will make some of my pet loving friends very, very happy! It is absolutely adorable and has a little something for every kind of pet. Since I have a dog, I went with a frame that would show off a favorite photo of the old man (as we have taken to calling him at 9 years old).
I really love the combination of colors in this collection. I love the browns and oranges with the turquoise. Even if you aren’t a pet owner, you will want to check out this line anyway because the colors are so rich and there are patterns that are must haves that don’t have anything to do with pets, like the fun check and dots above.
Is that canvas you say? Why yes, yes it is! I was thrilled to see canvas tags, love, love, love them. For the tag above I layered a chip element on the canvas tag, which is on an epoxy sticker, which is on a chip tag.
The chip shapes in this collection are really fun. I loved the puppy in the set!
Okay, check back tomorrow for another BasicGrey project featuring another new line!
Jan 24, 2010
Posted on Jan 24, 2010 | 6 comments
When it comes time to share my trade show projects and I know I will be planning them out to post over several days, I can never decide whether to share my favorite project first or save it until last. This time that turned out easy, since I have two favorites- one gets to be first and one gets to be last. I have six projects to share and will be posting one each day until I share them all.
Let me say, this new line, Cappella is absolutely 100% what I would design a line like if I had the graphic design skills and artistic ability to design paper. It is packed full of colors that I love, shabbiness that I love, bit of vintageness that I love. . . simply put, I absolutely love this line. It really pained me to cut into it.
I actually go to do two projects with it for the show. The first is a canvas with words that are very important:
This project combines lots of layers and textures and tons of foam adhesives square, which you know I just can’t create without!
On the “do” letters I had a fun discovery. I painted the raw chipboard letters with Shimmerz new Pearlz paints. They gave the letters a really cool silvery metal look. I decided that I decided I needed some glittery bling, so I painted a layer of Shimmerz Blingz over the Pearlz. It looked great but the more I looked at it, the more I decided it needed shine since there were several epoxy elements on the project. I grabbed my Glossy Accents, but since I was going for the vintage distressed look, I grabbed the Crackle version.
As the Crackle Accents started drying, I noticed that it was flaking up. Evidently, because Shimmerz paints are water based, the crackle pulled some of the water out and kept it from binding normally. I had a definitely “oh, no” moment because the letters were already stuck on the project and the last d and o I had in that size. As it flaked up I noticed that what was left was pretty cool. It looked like rough metal. It was still glittery like, but not really shiny. The Crackle Accents also took on a silvery opaque color. Some bits of the crackle came off, but others hung tight so I left it as it dried and decided that it was a very happy oops result. The blue letters were already blue but got a light coat of regular acrylic paint to give them some variation and then a coat of Crackle Accents. No weird reaction for it, just yummy vintage crackle.
Another fun touch was my experimenting with the paper flowers. I wanted them to have a sparkly and shiny finish instead of the mat paper finish. I first brushed on some Shimmerz paints with a stipple brush and then painted each flower and leaf with a coat of Mod Podge. The end result was sparkle, light shine, and almost a waxed or plastic look that looks very pearly.
Okay, enough photos and talk about this one! Be sure to check back tomorrow to see my next BasicGrey piece!
Jan 8, 2010
Posted on Jan 8, 2010 | 0 comments
I am so thrilled to have a tutorial in the January BasicGrey newsletter. If it hasn’t arrived in your inbox yet, you can find it here: BasicGrey Just the Basics January Newsletter.
Since space was limited, there wasn’t room for too many photos so I wanted to share some additional ones with you here as well as a template for the photo corner used in the project. To download my photo corner template, click HERE.
Jul 30, 2009
Posted on Jul 30, 2009 | 6 comments
I so love this collection! I swear that when I opened the box and saw it for the first time I gasped out loud! I have had a vintage style canister set FOREVER that I have been itching to put paper on. I have just been waiting for the right paper to come along and it finally did!
For the canister labels, I adhered one of the journaling cardstock stickers onto chipboard and cut it out. I inked the edges and embellished the sticker face with Stickles. I used cardstock letter stickers to add an extra word to the label, for a little play on words beyond the normal canister word. I outlined each letter with a fine tip pen and then coated each ith stickles. For the main words on the canisters, I sanded and inked blue BG chip letters and adhered those to the label with adhesive foam squares.
For each canister, I trimmed the top edge with ribbon (from assorted previous collections) and the bottom edge with cardstock border stickers.
Tomorrow I will share my last of my four projects for CHA, a doll case using Lemonade.
What I make with my hands I give with my heart.
