A WOYWW Maze Book

As I mentioned before, I made about 5 PiFs, not knowing which would be the "one" to send. After this one was finished, it demanded to be sent to our fearless WOYWW leader, Julia. I wrote a basic Maze/Meander Mini Book tutorial (which you can see here). This is another variation.

The outside I could photograph, but I had to scan in the pages to show them properly.

front.

side. And I just have to say, that's the best looking bow I ever tied lol.

open front.

open back.

Attaching the pages together makes the book more solid. I used a paper piercer, a piece of cork and made holes for sewing along the appropriate pages to make pockets. Except for one pair that I left unpocketed so it could be a panorama. I used a book needle and some Papertrey Ink Twine, then lost the book needle and used a thin tapestry needle. I had the darnedest time finding the paper for the cover and nearly passed this up because it was too "cool/blue". Tim Holtz (crafty super hero) to the rescue with some Antique Linen Distress Ink! I used Distress Ink for everything inky in this project.

The pocket art is shown "out".

Tiny piece of sea glass (aka Mermaid's Tear) sewn on before the covers were attached.

WOYWW 105, the week after.

I'm in the middle of labeling all my distress inks. I saw some on desks done in a similar manner. Very handy and saves a lot of going through stacks one at a time lol. The green string and beads is a little necklace I made a while ago, that wandered back to the desk lol.

There's a lot of talk about Smash books by K&Co., which I don't have, but I did find this lovely stamp. I've yet to master the art of stamping it without getting the left edge of it stamping as well, but it's fun and anarchy sheep doesn't mind :D.

I think I made 5 things before I decided which would be my PiF (pay it forward) for the 104th WOYWW, including one that demanded to be sent to Julia Dunnit lol (which I'll post after I've had word it's been received). I was tickled pink that I got to send my PiF to Elizabeth and Bleubeard, and especially pleased she really liked it :D. (I have something to make for Bleubeard, but it might take me a little while).

Finally I decided this little piece of sea glass (collected in Rockport, Mass) and wrapped in handspun wool embroidery thread (wrapping was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be) would do the trick :D. I love how the thread is visible on the other side (in real life, harder to show in a photograph). I took the photograph on a kraft glassine envelope. Truly a wonder this stuff :D. I confess I'm also partial to regular glassine and wax paper lol.

I thought it appropriate to send a card along with my PiF. Actually the entire card was made with things that had been on my desk (some longer then others, some actually made their way into storage tins lol), and as it was a WOYWW event card, that seemed the height of appropriateness to me :D. And also because it was a WOYWW card, I wrote a long list about what everything was from on the back lol.

With the beachy feeling of sea glass, I turned my Tim Holtz townscape shared in an earlier WOYWW into a beach town. Papertrey Ink kraft cardstock makes the edge stand up even after being sea punched (Martha Stewart). The fleur de lis border is from Octoberish 2009 when I got my Gypsy at the launch and I was madly testing the two cartridges that came pre-loaded on it and couldn't bear to toss perfectly good embellishments just because I didn't know what to do with them lol. I also bundled up a few things that had been on my desk as goodies, Papertrey Ink buttons, a bit of film strip (also by Tim Holtz), a sheep I stamped and cut out, sheep from my Imagine, etc.

It also gave me a chance to use my tiny tiny Tim Holtz brads which I didn't realize, until I used them, had screw heads punched in the top (philipsheads and slots!). So crafty, that Mr. Holtz lol.
If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, or if you are just curious to see what other crafty folks have on their desks, head over to the Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, join in :D.

Boo-lated Birthday Card, but wait there's more :D

 Hello everyone, today is my day to be a guest designer at the Bug Bytes!

 Ok, so it's a scary tree card, nice but...

 

Inside there is writing with a Cricut Marker... nice but wait... there's more.

It's barely visible in the picture (it glows brighter in real life). The moon and tree face glow in the dark! :D I used the Art Deco Glow in the Dark paint on the base, I think four layers would be even better, this is with two.

Using the E2 is vastly improved for using with markers, but I haven't figured out if I can move the blade and what to do when writing inside a card? Gypsy to the rescue :D. Select the card you want and arrange it on the Gypsy. Then make another layer and copy the card to that and line it up exactly. Hide the score marks and add the sentiment where you want it placed.

Using the marker layer, put the marker in the machine and hit the cut button.

After the drawing is complete, return to design.

Take out the marker and put in the cutting blade (and please use scrap paper lol). Then go to the cut layer.  Do not hit the load/unload paper button. Easy Peasy :D

Happy 104 WOYWW

Though I've only been participating for a few months, it is the 104th WOYWW. Our fearless leader, Ms. Julia Dunnit of Stamping Ground, gave us lots of advance notice so we could, if we wished, participate in a Pay It Forward (or PIF).  That's mine ready to go (when I get a name and address) in the back. And I got my Tim Holtz goodies today. I've been pining for those ink pads, kraft glassine anything and the ring binders. The Glow in the Dark is my new obession, 3 projects in 3 days :D.

I also wanted to include somethings on the blog that every one could access if they want to do so.
Here is a jpeg I made from the instruction card included in my newest to me typewriter. You can save it to your computer and print it on cardstock for all sorts of fun things :D.

I'm also including some links to lovely free things.
http://www.interweave.com/Communities/ Interweave has a variety of communities where you can sign up for daily emails with tips and some free ebooks. Quilting Arts, Cloth Paper Scissors, Spinning, Weaving, Crochet, Artist, Knitting, Beading, Jewelry Making, and Sewing.

http://clothpaperscissors.com/media/p/5291/showcontent.aspx This link goes to a free ebook (once you've signed up for the Cloth Paper Scissors community) about 5 Art Journaling Techniques including ZenTangle. You do have to sign up, but it is free.

Here's hoping your Wednesday is wonderful :D.

Club Ruby Designers Blue Yellow and Green Challenge

The current challenge at Club Ruby Designers is a Color Challenge, and make a project with the colors Blue, Yellow and Green.  I made an A2 sized card with Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart cardstock. I made a stamp with fun foam and the Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar Die (glued onto a piece of plastic packaging a la Tim Holtz's idea of making stamps with his dies and really thick fun foam) and inked with some blue Color Box pigment ink. After it dried I stamped the jar from the Friendship Jar Stamp set. The fire flies are from the Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cartridge lined with a fine line black pen. The letters are from Cosmo Cricket.

Because the fun foam is thin and the packaging is thin, the stamp needs to be rubbed onto the paper. The advantage of this is by not rubbing everywhere it's easy to get a distressed look. If you want even application just make sure to rub the whole thing, I'm thinking a nice roll or two with a brayer should do the trick (but I haven't tried it).

There's a bonus aspect to this card. I painted the back half of the fire flies with Art Deco Glow in the Dark paint. So it will give a little night light to the recipient (I'm thinking this will be fun for campers away from home).

By the way, the winner of the challenge will get a goodie bag from Megan, plus it's just fun :D.

Basic Maze Mini Book aka Meander Mini Book Tutorial

I've become addicted to maze or meander mini books, and there are several ways to make them, with pockets, without pockets, glued, stitched, unattached. Basically so many ways to use a 12 x 12 sheet of paper. I made a test book to wrap my head around it which took away the pressure of working with "good" paper lol.  I numbered the squares following the page orientation illustration below and still refer to it when I'm trying to work something out.

These can be scored before folding at the 3, 6, and 9 inch line. Rotate paper 90 degrees and score at the 3, 6 and 9 inch line.

Or they can be folded without scoring. It really helps to have a bone folder though.

Fold paper in half.

Then fold each half in half again so it looks like the picture above. It works best if each half is folded separately.

Rotate the paper 90 and fold it in half and then each half in half again. The end result will be 16 equal squares.

After the folding, it's time to cut the paper. The cutting can be done with a trimmer or scissors.  When you are done it will look like an "M".

 Fold as illustrated and you'll have a little book 3" x 3". I find it helps to line up the pages and use a bone folder to get a more even book.

The pages can be decorated before or after folding, cutting etc. The edges can also be glued or sewn together to make pockets. The pages could also be glued together for a more solid page as follows. Many people leave the book unbound except to put covers on the front and back.

Backs of pages 2 and 3.
Backs of pages 4 and 5
Backs of pages 6 and 7
Backs of pages 8 and 9
Backs of pages 10 and 11
Backs of pages 12 and 13
Backs of pages 14 and 15

So many possibilities for one sheet of paper :D. Look for more examples in the coming weeks.

Papertrey Ink May 2011 Blog Hop

This month's challenge was all about flowers. So I stamped a background of flowers using the flower from Paper Tray. Then I used the balloons and bicycle stamp from Every Day Button Bits and substituted flowers for the buttons.

For this card I used the flower set from Every Day Button Bits and substituted these fun little flowers for the buttons again. The mat is Vintage Cream and I believe the card base is Simply Chartreuse.