2015 Top Projects & News for 2016

Hello, everyone!  2015 has come to a close.  I hope that 2016 is treating you well!  I'd like to take this opportunity to look back at and share some of my favorite projects from this year.  Here, in no particular order, are my top ten. 

 1--"Yeti are Cool!" scrapbook page 

2--mosaic-look Valentine card

3--northwoods "Family Vacation" scrapbook page

4--"geek chic" robot tag

5--"Mississippi River" scrapbook page

6--birthday card with "stained glass" stamped butterflies

7--"Wild!" scrapbook page

8--dragonfly beaded necklace

9--clean & simple summer card

10--"A Cat from the Past" scrapbook page

Seeing that colorful bunch of projects brought a smile to my face.  In many ways, 2015 was a good year.

Unfortunately, I suffered a wrist injury in November of 2015, and it is still giving me trouble.  Due to the injury, my papercrafting productivity is way down.  For now, I am going to take a blog break, in order to give my body more time to heal.  I hope to return to blogging eventually, but I cannot predict when that will be.  I want to wish all my blog buddies a Happy 2016, and I hope to return to posting on my blog and visiting your blogs sometime later this year.  Take care!

Geek Chic Robot Tag

Supplies: B/W striped paper & robot stamp from My Mind's Eye; all other paper from October Afternoon; swirl/flourish stamp from Unity; grey ink from Autumn Leaves/Stampology; black ink from Hero Arts; chipboard from ScrapMatts; Liquid Pearls & Stickles glitter glue from Ranger; thread from DMC; pink tulle from Wyla; black tulle, straight pins, clock face, roses, & sequins from my stash; pen from Foray; household office hole punch.

When I saw that the prompt for the current challenge on the City Crafter blog is "Geek Chic," I knew right away that I wanted to make something with my robot stamp.  It's one of my favorite, most-used stamps.  Since I use it so often, I decided to come up with a fresh approach this time.  I took my inspiration from the "chic" part of the challenge title.  For me, the word "chic" conjures up images of femininity and haute couture.  So, I decided to give my robot stamp a ladylike look.

I started by stamping the robot lightly in grey ink.  Next I sewed along the main outlines with dark grey thread and went over the smaller details with a fine-tipped black pen.  Then I sewed a little hair bow and a tutu for the robot.  I also added pretty pink Liquid Pearls accents for that extra feminine touch.  Does Ms. Robot look chic?  :)

The decorative swirls around the edges of the robot image are from a Unity stamp.  I stamped them with black ink, and after it dried I added dabs of pink glitter.

To play up the haute couture theme, I added sewing notions like straight pins, sequins, and a chipboard spool and buttons.  I also tied some lush pink tulle through the hole of the tag.

I finished the project by adding lots of layers to the tag.  This project was a little different from what I usually do, but it was so fun.  Moreover, it fits my personality really well, since I like both sci-fi and fashion.  I definitely enjoyed the technique of embroidering over a stamped image, and it's something I'd like to do again in the future.

ETA: Well, what do you know, I won the City Crafter "Geek Chic" challenge with this tag!  I am very excited and honored.

Thanks for stopping by my blog to see my tag.  Take care & have a good week!

Summer of Color Week 1: Birthday Tag/Bookmark

It's summer, hooray!  And that means it's time for the Summer of Color.  For week one, the color prompt is 1 blue + 1 blue + green.  To get started, I opened a watercolor set and chose three colors: sky blue, indigo blue, and apple green.  I've approximated these three colors in the borders that I've added to my photos.
 

Supplies: patterned paper from DCWV; watercolor paints from Angora; pen from Zig; washi tape (used for masking) from 3M/Scotch; ribbon from Scrapbook Fantasies; puffy sticker & sequin from my stash.

To create the stripes, I simply masked areas with washi tape.  (The grid lines in the background paper made it easy to keep the tape straight.)  As I painted, I let the colors run together.  This always creates such a pretty effect with watercolors.  I love the contrast between the crisply masked lines and the blurred, flowing paint.

This is quite a large tag.  After I took these photos, I wrote a birthday greeting on the white (masked) lines, and then I taped it to my friend's birthday gift.  This particular friend loves to read, so I figure she can use the tag as a bookmark in the future.

As a finishing touch, I added a bit of shine--a sky blue sequin and an indigo puffy heart.  I also doodled around the borders and tied a ribbon through the hole of the tag.  And now...I'm off to see what everyone else has been creating for the Summer of Color.  I'm sure it will be interesting, as it is every year.

T is for Tags (+ Life Update)

Hi, tea fans!  It has been a long time since my last post.  I can assure you, though, that I have been drinking lots of tea since last we visited.  In fact, I even attended a tea appreciation event hosted by Minnesota-based retailer Tea Source.  I found out that Tea Source offers flights on Tuesdays, and I couldn't resist trying one (pictured below).  All the tea was yummy, but my goodness, that is a lot of tea for one person to drink.  Next time I plan to bring a friend to help me drink all that tea.

I had all sorts of goals and plans for how I would use my free time once my university course ended.  Life interfered, in the form of illness (a sore throat for me, ear infections for the rest of the family).  So, I have not been up to much lately.  However, I did accomplish one of my goals: I completed my 2014 family scrapbook!  It's always exciting to finish a big project.  I looked through the album to see if there were any pages I could share for tea day, and I came upon this Valentine's Day page.
 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; flair badge & bokeh paper from Lawn Fawn; title sticker from Bo Bunny: hippo paper from Imaginisce; border sticker, labels, tabs, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; pen from Zig; ribbon & calendar sheet from my stash; household stapler.

I have been obsessed with tags lately, and I used a tea tag as an embellishment on this page.  I also cut the side panel from the Valentine chocolate box that my husband gave me and upcycled that into a tag as well.

So that's what I have been up to lately.  Now I am off to see what is new with everyone else.  See you soon!