Birthday Card -Dimensional

 

My friend Laurie, has a beautiful daughter named Mary. She shared with me her wonderful ideas of how she planned to surprise Mary with cards from everyone who loves her. It sounded very special and I asked to join by making a card for Mary too!

 

So that night I went home and was thinking about Mary and what could I make that would be special... Well when I think of Mary, she is young and vibrant with an old soul and a generous heart. Oh, and she loves pink and black.  So here is what I did...

 

 

 

The theme is vintage sweet and playfully beautiful, like Mary.

 

The front cover :

I used dazzles black filigree to frame the pink rose and petal. The rose and petal are cut-outs from a paper scrap and glued onto chipboard, pencil colored and stickeled.  I then added it to the card with foam dots so it pops from the page a bit. I did the same with the top right frame and wrote her name in it. Then at the bottom left I layered a pink, coffee, and chocolate-colored paper petals with yellow fibers and a tiny watch.  



 

The inside:

The background paper is of soft rose and blue tones in the images of florals and birds.

The left page is a planter  I made from a cutout  and placed using foam dots. I also used dazzles for the opposite corners, the butterflies and the words "Be Fabulous". I cutout the frame and journaled a special note to Mary. 

 

On the right page I found a image of a couch and cut it out.  I glued it onto chipboard and placed it onto the page with foam dots. I penciled in some more color for shading. I made a book with more chipboard and placed it on top of the couch. I added dazzles to line the base of the couch, to add a purse on the seating, and a butterfly at the left top corner. At the bottom right of the couch floor I added dazzle stiletto shoes. Then the final piece was the birdcage, again using dazzles.

 

 

 

 Right page Close-Up

 

The Back ...

I cut out some leaves from a scrap page glued them onto chipboard and placed them on the page with foam dots. I added a butterfly cutout and a dazzle dragon fly on the top right corner. Placing the leaves to form a flower. I used dazzle pieces for dimension in flower center and for the stem.



 

Dimensional View

I always like to have the piece come alive and have dimension, although words can do just that, why not have the paper join the party too! :)



 

 

The Envelope please...

 

I wanted the envelope to look like a little black purse. So I made it from card stock to fit the card. By the way the card is 5x5 square. I added a handle made from leftover ribbon. This ribbon is black satin on one side and glittery on the other. It has tiny pink seed beads and black and pink circles at each tip. Very playful. As you can see the card rests comfortably inside, with just a peek of whats to come.

Steampunk Pendant-Charms

Steampunk - How it started:

 

I started down this road, because I needed a pocket watch charm for my very first steampunk scrapbook and couldn't find anything out there that worked for my design. So like most curious cats, I went out and tried to figure out how to make one. I had so much fun with it, that I started making several.  I just started a month ago and with trial and error, here's what I have so far. I hope you like it.

 Angel-Balloons:

As you can see I started with a pocket watch bezel. I then lined the inside with a decorative vintage background, with use of paper, ink, stamping and staining. I then sealed it and let it dry. All this work for the initial layer takes a couple hours. Then I start on the next layer. I play with gears, shapes, textures and color until I find something that works in this 30mm small space. BTW, the outside diameter is 35mm. In this piece I cut gears to fit, I inked gears for dimension and color. I then glued them down for security.

For the top layer I placed a silver vintage cherub/angel. I then attached wire stems to her hand for the 'string" that I connected two green pear shaped crystals for "balloons" at the top. Then to the right of the angel I added a flower made of clay and painted green. To the right of the flower I placed a silver heart with a green crystal on top.

On the bezel face, I inlaid by hand over 300 gold seed-beads, layer upon layer to give the "encrusted texture" feel. On top of the seed beads I hand placed /evenly separated 15 green crystals. I finished the piece with a single green crystal at the top of the bezel.

 

 

Eiffel Tower:

 To the base layer is just as if not most important of all three layers in this piece. The base has to be sealed and dry before you add the next layer of pieces. Also, each item in your piece must be sealed before you start the last step of building in your resin.

The base in this piece I colored it with a denim blue and added more distress to it and then sealed it.

I then added the first layer of gears. There are 2 gears at the bottom beneath large copper gear. I then added the copper gear, but fist glued Martha Stuart blue "fine" glitter onto the gear edges. I then added drops of glossy accents to each gear tip for dimension.

Each gear is glued down into the bezel for security.

For the top layer I placed a silver vintage Eiffel tower with a clock hand on top to give the idea that the tower is the larger of the "2" watch hands. I added a royal blue crystal on top of the clock hand. To the right of the tower I placed a deep royal purple flower.

On the bezel face, I inlaid by hand over 50 crystals in complimenting colors of blue and ice black . They appear to work well with the inlaid design. I finished the piece with a single blue crystal at the top of the bezel.

Here are a few more,
I won't write up a detail for each one,  since I think you now have an idea of my method, so please take a look and I hope you find some enjoyment in these to follow:

 

 

 

8x8 Scrapbook Dimensions-Fairies

The wonderful world of Fairies:

This 8x8 book was made by special request, a friend was looking at one of my other 8x8's and wondered if I would make a book of fairies? I had not considered this before, but gave it a go...

Based on trial and error, I have coined two practices that work well for this design. The book binding and the fabric cover method I have developed. If anyone is interested let me know and I will pull a video together.

The spine is covered in a brown textured leather. I punched grommets into the spine to place a chain link for charms. I added a 2inch long charm of a faerie. Her wing tips are painted in green and there are blue crystals outlining the wings as well. I placed a fabric vine also onto the spine starting from the base and branching out to three stems up to the top.

   





 
The book is covered in a colorful butterfly fabric print. The back and front cover of the fabric I inserted batting. This allowed for the "quilted look" when the butterflies were added to the front.
I searched for this fabric for a couple hours at M&L's, it suited my design perfectly.



                             



 On the cover I made two large 3D butterflies. I selected and glued 2 butterflies from the remaining fabric onto chipboard. After they dried I cut them out. I left a section of the fabric unglued, so that I can fill it with batting. I then glued the section so the batting stays put. Note: I only placed glue on the outline of the wings and the center body.

 

I painted the chipboard backing. I bent the wings up a bit for dimension. I then hand sewed the butterflies onto the cover. I then covered the stitches with blue crystals on top, also giving the butterfly center body more dimension as well.

 

 

This is the first pair of pages to the faerie book.

The left page -Mushrooms: has a clock on top of the "O" in Once Upon a Time page that is the base page cover. Beneath the "O" is a sleeve I made, tore the edge and added green ink. Inside the sleeve I made two cards. On top of the sleeve are moss drops to show the page is part of the earth. Amongst the moss you will see several fairies I colored, inked and stickeled. On the bottom right of this left page I place a leafy 3-stem vine one going across the page and the others up to the top. On top of the vine is a cluster of mushrooms I made from chipboard. Painted, stickeled and added green and red crystals. A faerie sits on top. Above the faerie is more moss with red berries.

 

The right page-Mushrooms: has a twiggy tree I made with rope and colored it brown, added moss drops and a  faerie sitting on a branch.  I added a corner sleeve to the bottom right of the page, and edged the ends with brown ink. I made faerie cards and inserted them here. Just beneath the faerie tree in the center of the page is a mushroom patch. I made from chipboard to compliment the smaller mushrooms on the opposite page. I placed moss on the base of the page and tiny flowers sprinkled about.

 

 

Now for the 2nd pair of pages...

 

The left page-Berries & Blossoms: I don't know if its fair to say, but I think this was my most favorite page of all... I made a tree from chipboard, covered it in card stock, moss and berries. I got the berries from Michael's floral section last Christmas and just saved them till now.  I was so happy when I found them. :) They worked out great here.

 

So, I added leafy vines to the branch, made a bench from twigs to build a swing. I then glued a pair of fairies onto chipboard and added them to the swing. I placed moss drops onto the tree and placed a faerie onto two of them, like perches. To the right of the tree I made two faerie cards and glued a metal clip to the top of the page to hold the cards. The bottom right of the page I made 2 bottle cap charms with the letter "B" & "E", for the word "BE". Just "BE" yourself.  :)

To the left of the caps I placed a tiny batch of white flower blossoms and a faerie sits beside them with some in her hand.

 

 

 

 

The right page- Berries & Blossoms: This page consists of a floral ring, the type fairies wear as crowns. I placed fairies around the crown, s "look" for them they like to hide...

In the center is a four-way mini book. It has a tiny magnetic closure. I don't have this book anymore, and I don't have a photo with the mini open, so my apologies. But each page is adorned with faerie images and areas for either journaling or adding photos.

 

 

 

This is the 3rd pair of pages...

The left page-Tree House: I loved making this page, mostly because I wanted a water pond and didn't know what I was going to do to make it happen. The top left is a frame made of rope that I colored brown and twist and glued together. To the right is a leafy vine from bottom to top of page. From one of the branches I built a house made from tiny twigs for the base and the top. The center body is made of a tiny basket. I added brown moss and stickles for texture. On the top left of the roof I added a faerie I made from card stock. I colored and stickeled his clothes, wings and shoes to match. From the house I extended a step ladder made of wood pieces and I added words of inspiration onto each one. SMILE, BELIEVE.PLAY.

At the bottom of the ladder is a wooden fence I made and colored brown. I wrapped leafy vines around each boarded slat. I placed flowers and butterflies on top. I added a faerie to the right of the fence.

The Pond, is on the left bottom of this page. I started by placing a 1inch round mirror onto the page. I then layered in moss and pebble stones. On top of the mirror I added tiny aqua blue seed beads, leaving a pattern of  reflective movement on the mirror. I place a faerie sitting beside the pond looking into the "water".

 

 

 

 

The right page- Tree House: The top left has a Phrase, dimensional sticker I made from chipboard, clear adhesive and ink. I added a dragon fly to the top right edge. Beneath the phrase is a tree and door I made from polymer clay that I made by hand and baked in the over. I then painted each one and placed it onto the page. The tree has lots of dimension, just hard to see on photo. The door has a center round peep hole. If you look through it, there's a surprise, but not visible on the photo. Sorrrrry... :)

On the right and left of the base of the tree I place a faerie, a girls kneeling to play with a bug and a boy leaning up against the bark, both with the wings all a flutter. The photo is a little cut-off, but you can see there are tiny stones leading away from the door an out to a path. At the base of the door are tiny "wood" (chipboard) steps I made.

On the upper right of this page is a mini book with a faerie on the outside cover. Inside I placed pages for journaling. I also decorating the inside cover with fairies and butterflies. The book is bonded with two tiny ring jumpers, and has a magnetic closure.



This is the 4th and final pair of pages...

The left page-MushroomMini, This entire page is a purple mushroom patch, where all three mushroom tops open to reveal a section for adding photos or journaling. After making the first mushrooms earlier in this book, I wanted to make the mushrooms interact. I made these from sketching onto chipboard, cutting them out and inking them. I wish I had close-up images for all these e type of pages, so you could see the detail. I placed purple paper flowers on the large center mushroom and in the center is the word "cherish". I colored the word and placed a clear resin adhesive on top for dimension. The smaller right and left mushrooms have clear dew drops I placed on to their tops, giving a whimsical look to the page. There is leafy vines on the sides and moss at the base of this page as well.  Oh, and if you look close you will always find a faerie or two.  :)

 

 

The right page-Wishing Well, I had this close up photo of this page, so I wanted to share it. You can see more detail then in the photo above. On the left of the page is a tree I made of rope and colored it brown. I added leafy vines and yellow and green blossoms on top. At the based of the tree I placed a faerie sitting, watching. In the center of the page is wishing well I made of tiny twigs, a tiny basket as the pail , aqua blue seed beads for "water" and tiny stone pebbles at the outside base. I added a rope to "hang" the pail to the well. At the top of the well I place a faerie. I color and stickle all my fairies.

To the right of the page is a frame, on the frame I have a couple charms. The left is metal charms spelling the word "DREAM". The right is tiny twigs shaped into a circle and bonded by wire. Inside each circle is a letter. The charms I made by hand and the word spells "WISH". I made a card insert for the frame, can be used like all of the inserts I make for either journaling or photos. The bottom right of this pages ends of course with a FAIRIE.



                                                                        

 

This book took several hours and days to make. I think off and on about a month. I really enjoyed each page, as each one was not only an adventure but a challenge to my creative nature. It was exciting and truly made with every child-fiber in my being.  I hope its new home treasures it.

8x8 Scrapbook Dimensions-Twilight

I will be posting the books I make onto seperate posts, so that its easier to manage and view for all. :)
This post is of the very first book I made and I was humbled and surprised by the wonderful and thoughtful feedback by such amazingly talented women. I hope you enjoy viewing it.

The exterior of the book is covered in vintage fabric with images of paris and stamps and folks in the park. On the cover I stamp of the cullen crest in red wax. I added made a bottlecap with the couple and added red ribbon, same ribbon used on closure, along with a wood book knob painted in black. The center has a large black lace flower and smaller white one on top and then a red fabric rose in the center. I added black chain links with crystals as charms. The spine is covered in black textured leather with a ring clip attached. Attached to the ring is different fibers and charms,keys, lock. See below.

 

 

Below is the 1st pair of pages. This book stars Edward and Bella, I hadn't seen the movie when I made this book, so I don't know which version these images are from. I just liked what I found and put them all together. :) The left page has layered borders of different papers and topped with black lace. On top of the lace is a mini book with a clock I made from a cricut picture frame and a clock face I made. The mini book opens bottom up to reveal journaling area. At the bottom left you see an image of Edward. (Gorgeous right?) :)

 

I drew in scrollwork and then stickled it with red stickles around Edward leading up to the clock.
The mini book opens bottom up to reveal journaling area. At the bottom left you see an image of Edward watching out for Bella's safety. (Gorgeous right?) :)

 The right page is a picture frame in white roses. I placed black chain links on the left of the frame with white lace and tiny red roses. The insert card is also of white rose paper with a red tip and ribbon and charms at top. Edward and Bella are on the bottom left in a black glittered frame. I printed the image in black and white and colored their lips in with red pencil. The area with the work BITTEN I stickled to appear as blood dripping.

 This is the 2nd pair of pages in the book.
The left page-Forest, has a willowy tree I created with stickles and then covered it with moss. On top of the moss I placed tiny yellow flowers and crystal gemstones to reflect dew drops. I finished the tree with a small yellow butterfly perched on a branch. On the right of the tree is a moss covered picture frame with a card insert that I also adorned both sides.

The right page-Forest, I made a mini-book and binded it with ribbon, and inserted journaling pages. This book closes shut with a small magnet. On the right of the page I have a clock with a large black lace rose and a smaller white rose on top. The background page has tall thin trees that I sprinkled moss to the tops and the small curve path at the bottom of the page. I added tiny yellow flowers,stickles and clear dew drops to the moss.

 This is the 3rd pair of pages in the book.
The left page-Wedding, on the top right you see Edward peering through as the moon lights the special event. I liked this feature I had never done this and will use it again. I just cut into the page and colored the undeside edges to make Edward "pop" in the image. In the center of the page is a gazebo. This is the only item that I knew from the idea stage of making this book that  I knew exactly what I wanted. I sketched and came up with this version. Its drawn on chipboard then added decorative felt embossed cardstock and then cut it out. I added clear crystals to the posts and a single red one on the top of the gazebo. I placed a charm and card insert inside the gazebo for photo or journaling. The base of the page has moss and tiny white flower petals.

The right page-Wedding,  the top right of the page has a metal word charm framed in resin. Behind it is white lace. On the left of the charm is a picture frame made of thick crocheted black ribbon. The inner border is damask pattern, black and white. The frame corners have ceramis icons with tiny red rubys on top. The frame also has an insert for photos, etc that I removed for you to see below. At the bottom of the right page is a white lace border of flowers and hanging from them are red ribbon with three charms.

 

 

 

 

The is the final and 4th pair of pages in this book.
The left page-Bella, consists of Bella with layers of different papers for dimension beneath her. Like layers for who she is. (deep... i know! hehe.. ) In the center of the page is a white scroll with a red lace rose and on top of that a Key to her heart. Top left of the page is a card sleeve with a card insert decorated with coordinating papers and topped with ribbon and a bead charm I made.

The right page-Bella, The top of the page has borders of lace n black and white and on top of that is white lace roses. I sketched a gate on chipboard covered it with cardstock, drew lines with black stickles to reflect an iron gate. I added black and clear crystals as scroll work. The gate has a black ribbon closure with a charms. The inside has a contrasting paper in black and center is a section for journals or photos. The surrounding area in the black and white squares I made chess pieces and hearts from stickles.

 

Well, I hope you enjoyed viewing this book. It was lots of fun and love that went into it.

PS.. I actually made a couple versions of this Twilight theme books and they all sold for over 100.00 a piece. I was shocked at the adoration they recieved.

8x8 Scrapbook Dimensions- Alice in Wonderland

I started working 8x8 scrapbook pages and when it was time to place them in a book or binder I couldn't find anything I liked. So for a while I looked into how I could bind the pages myself in a way that worked for me and my projects. I decided to bind them with paper extensions and glue and the pages themselves are chipboard with cardstock on top. Take a look... I have created different ones based on friends and clients requests...

This first one inspired by +Alice In Wonderland.

The books is 3 inches thick and contains 8 pages. The spine is covered in leather with a charm ring attached, then I added ribbons,beads, keys and a pocket watch to the ring. The exterior is covered in fabric, lace and paper flowers. The fabric is MadHatter, with Alice as a seperate fabric top layer.The closure for the book is ceramic book knob.

This is the 1st pair of pages, with Alice in the parlor on the left looking for the kitty and Tea being served on the right page with words of inspiration poured into the tea cup. The Teapot and tea cup open to reveal section for journaling.

This is the 2nd pair of pages in the book, the left page is Alice as her curiousity is aroused by a tiny little door with a room containing a table with a potion for drinkng (shrinking. shhh... she doesnt see it yet). Then below on the right page, you find her suddenly shrunken down perfectly to be able to fit through the door. As you see now the little table is larger then her and the bottle rests on the floor towering over her. On the left page in the picture frames are floating metal chairs.There is a picture frame on the right page where a photo can replace the card insert. Also the door hinges open and the bottle topper is ineractive. It can sit in the bottle top or rest attached by ribbon on the side as image displays below.

The 3rd pair of pages in the book I will speak on seperately,
The madhatter Hat, left page...
This hat was lots of fun for me, its the one piece I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. Which is not the norm for me, usually I never have anything planned out, I prefer to just figure things out as I go along, its more fun that way. There are fabric covered button on the top of the hat, then attachd a chain link with a pocket watch dangling on the right. I glued lace onto paper and then out into shapes to add dimension to hat. There is a white feather with a AB rhinestone heart on top. I also made a Hat pin with crystals and a pearl bead at the tip. Its removable. The Hat opens from the bottom up to reveal a colorful journaling or photo section.

The TeaParty, right page... this was great fun to create! I must add that I have never made a book like this so its was all so very exciting to see what I would end up with as each page unveiled itself to me.
The Cheshire cat steals the show for me on this page. I found these images on google and printed them out in black and white then colored them in, glued them onto chipboard, cut them out and placed them on the page. I placed kitty perched on a tree. The tree I also made of chipboard and covered in decorative moss from the craft store. The moss runs along the entire base of the page as grass beneath the picnic table. The table and chairs I drew onto chipboard glued decorative cardstock on top, cut out the pieces and placed them on the page. I did the same with the teapot, tea cups, jam, desserts etc. The table flips open from bottom up. By the way all my doors in my books have magnetic closures so they remain closed as you turn the pages.

This is the final pair of pages in the book. Again, another fun section to build.

The left page 4-Way mini book consists of a tree I made with red and pink flowers to match the image on the center of the page. The tree is covered in moss and falls also along the base of the page. The center piece is a four-way flip book. It reveals several sections for journaling or photos. The base.of the mini book has red chandelier beads. On the right top of the left page is a note card with chain links connected to a crown and key charm.

 

The right page -The Queen, with "off with their head" theme in mind, I made the queen from a printout and colored it in, glued onto chipboard and placed it onto the page as a sleeve. Behind the Queen you can slip in and out cards or photos. I inserted two large ones and decorated both sides with her "soldiers" and quaint phrases. All my card inserts have a grommet on top and cooridating ribbon.

On the right side of the right page are three windows  I created with doors that open. Inside each window is a charactor from the story and the one the Queen is pointed at looks very frightened. :)

 

 

 I would never of thought to create this book, if it wasnt because a friend wanted it made to give as a gift. I must thank +Linda Z for the opportunity and the experience, I enjoyed every moment, OKAY except for the page binding part, that was boring but necessary, kinda like doing laundry.  :)