Love and Play

Ok I'll admit.. I bought these Gorjuss Girl stamps awhile ago. So long that I don't even remember!  Yikes!  So as it has become my mission to use what I have, I decided to give them some love and use them before I buy any more..  Yes I am contemplating getting more!

So here's my first card share of the bunch.  I thought this image was so cute!  Love, love, love images on swings!  So I couldn't resist buying this one when it came out.  I decided to use my Prima Lyric paper pad since I have been hoarding those long enough.  The card base was one of the Recollections corrugated card bases (my favorite) which I gesso'd earlier.  Then, I distressed some of the lyric paper to layer over it.    The Love and Play banner at the top was actually part of the paper that I fussy cut and mounted using pop dots.  This allowed me to adhere the image behind the banner and look like she was hanging from it.

Since the colors of the papers leaned more towards the peachy pink side, I used some orange copics to color up my Gorjuss Girl. At the bottom of the card, I adhered some lace trim and dug in my stash for peach and orange flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts, Prima, and I am Roses.

Here's a better look at the banner.

Inside the card, I pulled out my new favorite stamp set!!  If you haven't gotten this set yet, you really should check it out.. It's by Winnie and Walter and I think I used it on all of my cards!

Hope you like it!  I have a bunch more to share so stop by soon!

Imiloa Egg Class with Eileen Tokita

Have you ever seen Eileen Tokita's eggs before? If not, check out her You Tube channel... you will be amazed... 

Imiloa hosted a class by Eileen over the weekend and I decided to attend with a couple of friends.  I was pretty scared to take this class because it looked like you had to be very detailed and precise, which I am not.  But I decided to go anyway just for fun and was surprised to see a bunch of other crafty friends too.

The class provided everything you would need to make your egg.  She even pre-cut the egg and painted the inside for us! I picked the pink one of course.

Then she showed us a great technique for painting the eggs..  Love the color she chose!

After the paint was dry, we added the pearls and gold cording.  Can you believe this is my egg?

Then some gold trim...

And the pearlstickpin and bead cap.

And she showed us an amazing trick for making the bow!  I think I still need to practice.  Here's my finished egg.  I still can't believe I made this!!!

As you can see here, the egg is tilted a bit upwards so if its on the table you can see it.  I love the bunny.. She's so shabby!

Eileen and Debi brought some of their samples... Amazing!

Look!  She actually cut out parts of the egg!

OK this was my favorite egg.. I found out Debi made this!!!

See it opens up!

This one is so cute. I think it was made with quail eggs.  Found out Debi bought this from Eileen almost 40 years ago and its still nice!

This one was covered in velvet.

This was the Year of the Dragon kit.  Wish I could've taken this class!

 Eileen also teaches bling classes too.  I think I want to take these next!

So, if you live on Oahu.. you are in luck!  Eileen teaches classes almost every Sunday at the old Photocraft site off of Waialae.  I really want to go to another one of her classes again, it was so much fun!  I really surprised myself and still can't believe I made that egg!

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!

Messy Stenciling

So you read my post from yesterday right? Well, I wasn't kidding. I really did not like stencils, but now that I have the freedom to be messy I love it!

So now I feel the need to share some of the techniques I've learned along the way in terms of mediums and tools that are helpful with using stencils.  So I'm gonna teach a Messy Stencil Class later this month at Island Scrapbooking.  Check out the cards we are gonna make in class!

Hope you can join us!

Positive and Negative Stenciling...

I'll be the first to admit that I did not get into the whole stencil craze. I took one class on Faux Cloisonne, years ago and never did that again.  In fact, I was terrified to use stencils in projects because I'm such a messy crafter (I rip my tape if you know what I mean).  Normally, you need to be very precise when stenciling and my projects always came out crappy.

So, now that it's years later, and Mixed Media is in the picture, I love using stencils!!!  Mix media as a whole is very messy, which is right up my alley.  But I'll get more into that in another post.  The point is, that got me back into using stencils.  

Awhile ago, Aunty Jan taught me how to make your own stencils which is a class she once taught at Photocraft when the store was still open.  I picked out one of the cards she made and she told me she made it, so I asked her if she would teach it to me.  Its pretty easy to do and I love the results!

So I'll be sharing this technique in a class at Island Scrapbooking later this month.  Hope you can join me!

Pop Up Box Card

Hi Everyone! I'm sure you've seen many of these pop up box cards recently on the internet.  So I finally joined the bandwagon and tried to make one myself.  I followed several tutorials, but ended up changing up the measurements so that it will fit into an A2 sized envelope.

Here's what I came up with...

Just can't get enough of the bunny from Mama Elephant!  The balloon was from a Hero Arts stamp set, and the sun and cloud dies are by Lawn Fawn.  Love how these collections just work together.  The background paper is actually by Lawn Fawn too, but it's hard to see in this photo.

I have more projects to share- will post again soon!

Happy Belated Birthday Debi!

Late as usual.. I did quite a bit of traveling last month, so we had a hard time meeting up to celebrate Debi's birthday this year.  But we were finally able to get together for lunch and had such a good time catching up!  I guess we were gabbing too much and forgot to take a pix.  Next time!

So I decided to keep with my resolution and use the stuff I have.  I bought the new Jumbo Tim Holtz tattered florals die and wondered when I would ever need a flower that big?!  So here's what I came up with...

Decided to replace the bow with a handmade flower.  That flower is huge!!!  But I like how it came out.  Cut about 6 of the largest flower and made a rose with it following Rosanna's tutorial.  Check it out- you can use smaller flowers too.  Love the results and how easy it is to make.  Thanks Rosanna!

Next I finally sat down to make a card.  Not sure why I always struggle with cards nowdays.  But I managed to crank one out before our lunch.  Started with Recollections corrugated cardboard base and distressed it using gesso.

Then I layered using the new Lawn Fawn paper and cut some green cardstock using my PTI die that makes making hills so much easier!

On the green hill, I used my new Walter and Winnie stamps.. I LOVE THEM!!!  Super happy with the results.  Also picked up a similar set by Stampin up that I hope to get to use soon.  Also used the new banner punch that I got from Stampin up and punched out several papers. Strung them on some pink twine I got from the dollar bin at Target (score!).  And the focal point of the card is the two bunnies from the new Mama Elephant set.  So cute!

Finally, I also made her a Happy Meal too.  Decided to keep it simple since the background paper was a little busy.  Stamped up another bunny from Mama Elephant's Up and Away set. I also wanted to try using some of my pocket scrapbooking cards in my other projects, so I pulled one from an American Crafts birthday set and added it to the Happy Meal.

Need to catch up on more birthdays!  Hopefully I will have more projects to share in the near future!

Sister Stamps Happy Meals- Inspired by Bona

Happy Meals are not just for kids right?  Well, I was watching one of my favorite You Tube Channels- Live Love Scrap by Bona (Hi Bona!).  She made these amazingly cute Happy Meal boxes and decorated them to give away.  Although she made them awhile ago, I filed it in my brain to eventually return to that tutorial so I could do my own take on it.  Here's the link to her amazing tutorial...  It's super easy to follow.

 

Since I was meeting up with some of my besties in Honolulu, I decided to make some of these Happy Meal boxes for them.  At first I wanted to use my new Prima Doll stamps, but those girls were just too big, so I resorted back to Sister Stamps.  I really wanted a vintage/shabby chic feel to it, so I went with my instinct and here's the end results...

 

All three were made using the new Prima Princess Collection paper line.  Used a variety of lace and embellishments.  Some I made (stick pins) and some were purchased.  The large bow on the top of the box was made using the Stampin up bow die. (Love that die!)  And because the recipients would appreciate the project, I decided to splurge and use some of my beloved bling that is saved for special people who will not just throw my project away!

 

I gave this one to Kyoko.  Added some home made stick pins for balance.

 

This one went to Linda... Used my new banner punch by Stampin up... Love it!

It's hard to see but I cut out the cupcake and replaced it with a heart embellishment.

And this last one was for Cami.  Used Minako cause she reminds me of Cami.  See the hamburger box on the side?  I ended up not giving it to them. Had so much issues with it. Instead I cut out the mini milk carton die and put that inside instead.

Hope you enjoyed my projects!  And thank you to Kyoko, Cami and Linda for a fun day at The Scrapper's Den and lunch!  I can't wait till we meet up again next month!

Tulle Flowers- Inspired by TooTooAmy

If you haven't checked out TooTooAmy's You Tube channel, you really should.  She has pretty awesome ideas and tutorials that are easy to follow.  Thanks Amy!!

 

One of the project she shared was pretty tulle flowers.  Here's the link to her tutorial...  Now you have something to make with all that tulle!

 

 

I decided to give it a shot since it seemed pretty easy to make.  Here's the three flowers I came up with...

 

The first flower was made by using some shabby flowers from my stash and then I glued a Martha Stewart paper flower on top.

This next one is my favorite.  I cut up some doily trim and glued it to the center.  Then added on an resin rose that I've had for awhile but have never been able to find the right project to use it on.

And lastly, I got one of my lavender shabbies and layered it with one of the flower pearl hair pins that I got from Downtown LA.  See Lfundoo!?  I'm using my stuff I bought on our trip!

These flowers were made for some special ladies I met up with on my trip home.  Will share more on that in my next post.