Crafty Friends- Epic Embellishment Swap!

Woo Hoo!  Sorry I've been a bit MIA.  I been busy getting ready for craft fairs, another Sister Stamps Release and then my internet went down!!!  But I'm almost back to normal and I can share the last Crafty Friends Swap that happened last month when our friend Rina Scrapstress joined us in Hawaii.  Hi Rina!!!  We had so much fun at lunch and sharing all our projects.  We were excited that Jo Paperdrama joined in the swap even though she couldn't make it.  Next time Jo!

I think this video will explain the different embellishments better than I can write about them, so please check out everyone's amazing projects here...

I also received a RAK from Rina that you can see here:

And finally, here's what I made for the swap:

Hope you enjoy all of our projects!
 
Our next swap is Christmas Themed Shaped Tags!  Stay tuned to see what we all come up with!

I Thank My Lucky Stars...

 Well, it's been awhile since I last blogged.  Sorry for the absence, but craft fair season is right around the corner, so I've been crafting, just haven't really had the energy to update my blog.  Although I'm in "mass production mode" (aka I have a lot of unfinished projects in the works), I thought I'd share an older project that I did for my friend Cami.. (Hi Cami!)

Cami's birthday was last month and because I only get to see her when I go visit Oahu, I had to plan ahead and get my project done for her birthday.  We had already agreed on the clipboard swap (see previous post) so I had to get that done too, but I still wanted to make something for my friend.  We decided to deviate from our usual dim sum and go to Tsukiji's for lunch.  It was good!  Now I know why it's Cami's favorite!

On to the project...  I had found this alarm clock from Ross awhile ago and had always meant to alter it.... Then I saw Sabrina's clocks, which inspired me to dig mine out of the closet and make one too!  My biggest challenge was the painting.  It was a really dark color- not sure if it was brown or black, but you get the idea.  It took several coats of gesso and paint to get it the color that I wanted.  I went with white since then I could accent it with any color flowers.  Here's how my clock came out...

I think I shared earlier that Cami loves Magnolia images, so I decided to use some of my new stamps on her clock.  These girls are growing on me! I think its cause they really match the whole shabby chick thing.

I found some of my little birds and added a pink one to the handle.  (oops, you can really see the glue there!)

I added this Tilda stamp on top of the clock.  It was fun to play around and add her to the outside of the project.  I stamped her with a brown ink before coloring and really like the results.   BTW- all flowers are by petaloo, Wild Orchid Crafts, and Prima.. oh and some from Downtown LA.

Here's a better look at the main image.  I think she's one of my favorites.  Do you also see that teapot stickpin?  Love it!

Sorry, this shot is a bit difficult to see.  I used a piece of silver mirrored cardstock and embossed the sentiment in white.  I like this new stamp set I got from Simon Says Stamp called W plus 9.   I thought the sentiments in the set were cute and matched this project.  I was kinda worried about the embossing on mirrored cardstock, but it seemed to come out ok.  Oh yah, that pearl star is from DIY boutique.  Love it!

A better look at that cute teapot stickpin!

Here's the side of the clock that is right behind the Tilda image. I think you can see that I actually ran some lace around the clock before adding all the flowers.

And here's the back of the clock where I wrote a message and added more flowers.

Cami really seemed to like it! I'm so happy!  It was pretty fun to make.  I have a few more frames that I should try out too.  Now I want to get more of those alarm clocks!

Crafty Friends Clipboard Swap Projects

 Hey Peeps!  I can't believe the weekend is over already.  I didn't get as much done as I wanted to, but at least I started on some craft fair projects.

Just wanted to share my friends projects from our altered clipboard swap!  If you would like to see the clipboard I created, check out Linda's video here.... and if you want to see what Cami made for me, visit my channel here...

Sorry, I guess I didn't take photos of Cami's clipboard for me, but you can watch the video!  Ok now I did get pictures of Kyoko's and Linda's clipboard projects.  First up is Kyoko's...  So cute!  Love that her Magnolia is on a swing!  I think it was a separate stamp from the Tilda image but it looks like is from the same stamp.

Here's a better look at Tilda..

Next up we have  Linda's project...  For the back story on this, watch Linda's video here...  LOL!!

Here's Linda's 2nd project.

And a close up of Tilda...

Again, don't forget to check out my video to see Cami's project!

Hopefully I'll have more projects to share soon!

Crafty Friends Swap #4- Altered Clipboard

Phew!  I sure had a hard time recovering from the Labor Day weekend!  I guess I'm getting old cause I could totally handle before, but I feel like I've been a zombie this whole week! Thank goodness I only had to work 4 days after the holiday before my next day off!

So during my trip, I got together with my crafty peeps so that we could share our swap projects.  This time we headed to Tsukiji restaurant for some yummy sushi and other goodies.  I tell you, it's always best to go with Mrs. Lum cause she will always get us the best table, etc.  LOL!

After lunch, we shared our swap projects with each other.  This time it was Kyoko's pick and she decided on an altered clipboard.  The "rules" this time around was that we had to have the following on our project:

• Magnolia image
• Pearls
• Lace
• Ribbon
• Use the color red

Let me tell ya, I was stumped for awhile. I think mainly because I had just used red on my last project for Cami's canvas and didn't want my next project to look the same.  Plus the clip part was scaring me a bit since its hard to cover the clipboard with the clip portion in the way.

So we almost postponed the swap because everyone was having a hard time with it... especially Linda!  She said she stayed up to 3:00am the night before trying to finish it.  I will share everyone else's project in my next post.

So we decided that since this was a bigger project, we would only make it for one person (not all 3).  Kyoko told us our swap partner would be the person that made our canvas for us, so last time I had Cami, she would make for me... Lind made the canvas for me, so I make for her.  

After starting my project, stopping, looking at it, then scrapping it... I finally got inspired and put the decoration portion of it together in one night.

 

I started off by painting the clipboard around the edge with gesso, then white acrylic paint.  that way, I didn't have to worry about sizing the paper all the way to the edge since the clipboard portion would be in the way.  After that dried, I used some of that wood looking paper (sorry I think it's by Kaisercraft but it's kinda old).  I decided to go mostly white and cream with red accents.

Pictured above is the lace I used to dangle from the bottom of the clipboard.  I love that trim.  Really need to find me some more of that.  Then I also put some of that small daisy trim around the edges so that you don't notice the paint job too much.  (It's all about layering!)  Then I added a resin frame that I got from Prima ArtVenture when we went to LA last January.  I really wanted to use the Mangolia that is peeking around the corner, so I used the frame as the base for her to peek from.   Then I layered one of the wood "friends" that I picked up from SaCrafters on Zibbet.  I just ran the wood across my black Archival ink pad to give it the black color.

 Here's a better look at the image.  I think she's my favorite.  Oh, and there's the pearl heart!

I made the cream colored roses awhile ago and decided to use them on this project.  I had added some glitter too for a frosty look.  You can also see the pearl bling and acrylic flower I used in the cluster.

 And I had completely forgot about the ribbon, so  good thing I checked the guidelines again.  Just added a bow made with seam binding onto the clip portion and then a red rose in the center.

Thanks for checking in!  I'll share the rest of the clipboard projects soon.

Hoard Vault Swap with Scrapstress

Hello Peeps!  Just wanted to share a swap that I did with my new friend Rina "Scrapstress"!  Let's just say that I was kinda intimidated to swap with this girl since she does awesome work!  Lfundoo doesn't make me feel any better by scaring me with her comments after she saw Rina's project for me.  Yikes!  Hope she likes what I made for her! (Biting my nails).

Well, it's too late now right?  If she really hates it, she can peel off the name and re-gift it to someone. Bwahahahaha!  So speaking of peeling off the name... check it out...

Did you notice?  Well, Lfundoo did when I showed her a sneak peek at my project.  That's what I get for working on it when I'm sleep deprived.  How embarrassing it would be to have given this version to her!

So I fixed it by adding in the missing "s".  Good thing I had Linda proof read it for me.  LOL!

So I started with a suitcase looking box I found at Ross.  You can get some inexpensive boxes there and alter them- cheaper than using real wood boxes and it comes with the hardware!  First thing I did was paint the box. I hate painting... want to just get to the part of decorating it, but Rina told me to relax and enjoy the process.  Is she kidding?  LOL!

After I finished painting it, I had to figure out what I was gonna do.  At first I was going to use my sprays on it, but didn't want to mess it up.  So I opted for covering it with paper instead.  Used some of my shabby fence paper- I think its by Kaisercraft.  Love. this. paper!

After I got the paper on, went through my stash of flowers and picked out a bunch in pink, celery green and white.  We asked each other about preferred color scheme and this is what Rina said she likes.

After putting on the flowers,  I felt like the top left corner was too bare, so I added on a banner using some seam binding.  The banner was punched with my new SU banner punch and Prima Princess papers.  Added one of my rhinestone butterflies from my Downtown LA haul.

Then it was time to decorate the sides.  I was a bit unsure how to proceed because if I used dangling lace, it would interfere with opening and closing of the box.  So I decided it was time to bling the heck out of my project by using this beautiful trim I got from Aarti from One Little Dreamer.  Love it!  Not sure why, but this trim just screams "Rina" to me!

Now the inside doesn't totally match the outside, but I filled the box with some goodies.  We agreed that the only goodies we could buy was non craft related. If we added in crafty stuff, would have to be from our stash.

Oh.. almost forgot to show you the pocket!  This was the first time I made a pocket. Hope it is secured ok.  I used some of the lace on a roll that I have and glued it to the inside cover.  Added some white trim I got in DTLA and then some sweetheart flowers from my stash.

Ok peoples... wish me luck.. hopefully Rina likes what I made!