Recycle Wednesday

Yeahhhh

Adrian is out helping grandpa with the boat so I can sneak in here for a couple of minutes and show you my latest recycle project.

My last swap of the year (as of right now anyway hehe ) was a Altered Container/ contents Swap. We were instructed to alter a container and then fill it with contents that matched the theme of our alter. I chose May Baskets for my theme since we were mailing them out by April 1st.

I started with a Nestle Quick container. I have 3 of these every 2 months as I use it as the base for my cappuccino mix. When I'd finished wrapping it with a basket-weave patterned paper, this is what I wound up with:

I used 2 pieces of cardstock glued together then wrapped in the same basket-weave paper to make the handle and attached it with gold brads. Because of the rim of the container, I couldn't use the Crop A Dile so I used my wood burning tool to make the holes.

I signed up for this swap towards the end of last year so I've spent evenings in front of the TV making all different kinds of flowers. I used Embroidery Floss to crochet all white ones and variegated colored 5-petal flowers. My EK Success Daisy Punch is one of my favorite flower punches to work with and I made a bunch of these. Some had buttons for centers while I used bling for others. I added bright yellow silk daisies, made 2-layered flowers with brad centers from silk petals (box of about 800 in the wedding dept.) There are also some Studio G paper flowers layered in different combinations and centers. As a final flower touch, I added flower brads and eyelets. Aside from different types of flowers I also made Lady Bugs in 2 sizes and added birds and butterflies from K & Co.

Here's a shot of the basket with the contents spread out:

I had a blast coming up with the different flower combinations and sharing these embellishments with others I know who can put them to use. However, with the summer garden, freelance writing and still wanting creative time this is my last swap for awhile. I have plenty to play with.

Cya Monday! Creative Blessings

Magazine Monday - Really!

Happy Monday Everyone – Oh wait… it’s Tuesday (and evening at that). Monday was just nuts! I’m still trying to get the garden situated and the heat lately has been crazy hot. We were 103 yesterday… didn’t drop below 100 before 9 p.m. Tired of this already.

Add to this I have a visiting teenager. I’ve not seen Kassie in two years so we have lots of catching up to do. Luckily she likes to craft with me – still at 14! I’m so proud of her. She got in late Thursday night and we’ve been on the constant go doing stuff since she got her. Which means Monday was my catch-up day for business. All I managed to accomplish toward today’s post was to cull the magazines for the card I wanted to do.

My inspiration for the card this week came from a swap I’m in. Our challenge is to create a card showing our favorite things. I love flowers. Not necessarily daisies, though they are very pretty. My favorite is actually roses or lavender. But I loved the stamp set I bought and thought it would fit perfectly.

I LOVE Crafts n Things magazine. I get so many cool ideas. This week’s card came from the April 2008 issue and has been changed very little. Tracy Sauer’s card is called Twinkling Daisy. She used linen background, stampng the harlequin image in the same place I did with Certainly Celery. For her main image, she used a single large daisy

flower stamped using Twinkling H2Os in white and yellow against a harlequin patterned paper (the pattern is shadowed on a black background then the white daisy stamped in the middle). She matted the image on Certainly Celery CS then on black CS. Where I used the Pear Pizazz Ribbon Seam Binding (SU spring mini 2011), she used a sheer green swiss dot. I replaced her black accent knot on the beaded safety pin with a snag of white to offset the white mat.

I chose So Saffron as my base, stamping the harlequin image from SU Background Sampler in Certainly Celery. The image is from Studio112, a $1 stamp line distributed by K & Co. It’s called Love Grows in my Garden. Rather than brads, I let Kassie add the light green Stickles in a diamond pattern – her idea – to mimic the diamond pattern in the harlequin design. Told you she was crafty!

I’m really happy the way this card turned out and I hope the recipients in the swap are too. What do you think?

All About Me

Back in January I applied for a staff position with Scrapbook News and Review, an on-line scrapbook magazine. Part of the application required submitting a layout showcasing ourself. It took me a while to figure out how to tell them about me in a scrapbook page. I referred to various idea books, including The Book of Me by Angie Pedersen and Scrapbooking your Adult

Years from Memory Makers . Finally it hit me. Everything I do stems from my love of COLOR. And I knew what the basis for the layout needed to be. I needed to include the color wheel.

I also needed to submit 4 other items that showcased my work - items I am the most proud of. I chose to use 2 additional layouts - 1 of a 2-pg spread and one of a single - as well as a card and a altered tag.

The 2-pg layout. It is a tribute to my late brother-in-law, Dan. A. Fellows. He was career Navy and served a tour of duty in Diago Garcia - his only unaccompanied tour. While there, we corresponded and I learned a lot about my brother-in-law. In the LO, I included a poem his wife (my sister) wrote about his leaving her and their 2 young children behind, called A Family Says Goodbye, which I chose as the title. I used a Christmas card he sent me from the island as a pocket to hold the letters I received.

Eventually I'll change the layout a bit to include the Navy insignia embellishment from K & Company. The military items were released after I'd created this for a competition.

The single page layout showcases a dear friend (and former daycare child/ Daisy Girl Scout troop member) She was only 6 in this picture. She's now 14! Man they grow so fast. But regardless of how old Kassie gets, I know she's always going to be very much like me.

Next week I'll have a springy layout to show you, introducing you to my very first daycare child. She recently became a mother for the first time. Remember what I said about them growing up so fast? Whether it be your own child, grand child or just a young one you have a fondness for, cherish each moment in your heart and on a scrapbook page. You'll be happy you took the time.

Creative Blessings!