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!

Can You Tell...

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; patterned & white papers from Bo Bunny; stamp from Lawn Fawn; stamping ink from Hero Arts; edging ink from Clearsnap; colored staple from Target.

...that I love this paper?  I used it last month to make a scrapbook page, and now I've used it again to make this card.  Halloween is only 31 days away, so it's time to start getting ready!  :)     

Into the Woods

Are you ready to go into the woods?  The theme this month at Berry71Bleu is "forest."  That theme perfectly fits my vacation photos from August, so I just had to play along.  Here is the scrapbook page that I made.
 

Supplies: green bokeh paper from Webster's pages; enamel shapes, alphabet stickers, spray mist, die cut arrow, damask paper, & ledger paper from October Afternoon; orange leaf paper from Doodlebug Design; all other patterned paper from Lily Bee; doily from Michaels; laser cut banner from Scrapmatts.

Below is the mood board for the challenge.  I see lots of greens and browns, with a few pops of orange and scarlet.

You may never have heard of Pine City, North Branch, Hinckley, and Sandstone, the places where I took these photos.  They are pretty, wooded places in the heart of Minnesota.  And they are beautiful to visit.  Here are a few detail shots.
 

This historic Ojibwe winter lodge is in Pine City.

The woodland fairy is cut from a greeting card that I recently received in the mail.

My family passed through a lot of doorways--both natural and constructed--while on vacation.

We had sunny weather on some days, but grey and rainy weather on other days.  It doesn't matter, because the forest is beautiful in any weather.

It was fun to get these vacation photos scrapped.  And I am so please that I was able to fit ten photos on the page!  Thanks for the inspiration, Berry71Bleu.

A Mini Album Made from Scraps

For today's destashing post, I want to share with you a mini album made entirely of scraps and random household items.  I've shared bits and pieces of this album in previous posts, but I've never shared the whole album before...until today!

front cover

pages 1 & 2

page 3

page 4

pages 5 & 6

page 7

page 8

back cover

I have not included a supply list for this project, because such a list would be so long.  However, I do want to mention that the album pages themselves are made of cardboard from food packaging, and I'm sure you can spot bubble wrap stamping, napkin decoupage, scrap collage, and glitter.  Here are a couple extra detail shots that better show how the glitter on the pages catches the light.

My son loves to grab this album and page through it.  I think that one reason he likes it is that it's just the right size for little hands.  I hope that you like it, too!

"Fanta"-stic Fun

No one in my family is much of a pop drinker, but we do love pineapple.  Therefore, we got excited when we came across pineapple-flavored Fanta for the first time.  We split one bottle among the three of us, just to try it out, and we liked it.  It was so syrupy-sweet that just 1/3 of a bottle was the right amount. 

Of course I had to save that Fanta bottle cap and do something creative with it.  I decided to make it into a sunflower.  I used decorative tape and twist ties (from bread wrappers) to fashion a stem and leaves for the flower.  It was a fun and symbolic embellishment to use on this scrapbook page about my son's growth in his martial arts class.

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; alphabet stickers, die cuts, patterned paper, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; tape from Scotch/3M; decorative scissors from Fiskars; pens from Zig; household mini stapler, paper clip, twist ties, pencil, & bottle cap; sequin from my stash.

There is nothing wrong with your screen.  Do not attempt to adjust the picture... :)  My journaling on this scrapbook page explains: "A. told me I could only photograph his red belt test if I used Photo Booth.  It was fun, and he passed with flying colors!"

Photo booth is a fun app, and I love the silly pictures that it gave me.  My favorite is the one above, where it looks like my son is sparring with himself.  (He told me that's his evil twin.)  I hope that this scrapbook page brought a smile to your face.  :)

Cruciform Dragonfly (OBW365)

I am happy to be participating in the Our Beautiful World link party today.  It has been awhile since I've had the chance to participate there.  The theme for this week is beads.

These are photos of a dragonfly necklace that I made in July.  The dragonfly has a rather cruciform shape, and the overall design of the necklace is reminiscent of a rosary.  I enjoyed using non-religious items to invoke religious imagery.  I also enjoyed finding interesting ways to photograph the necklace.  

If you would like to see more beautiful bead photos from around the world, then I invite you to check out the Our Beautiful World blog.  Have fun!

Summer Travel 2015: A Tale of Three Parks

Hello, all!  As I mentioned in my previous post, my family went on vacation earlier this month.  We traveled "up north" and visited three different state parks.  Today, I'd like to share some of my vacation photos with you.
 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper, orange patterned paper from Authentique, monster & plaid patterned paper from Bo Bunny, alphabet stickers from Lily Bee, enamel shapes from October Afternoon, paint from Deco Art, pens from Zig, upcycled bubble wrap & gift bow, household mini stapler.

Traveling north from the Twin Cities, our first stop was at Wild River State Park.  At this park we enjoyed taking in scenic views of the Saint Croix River and doing activities in the visitor center.  I have even managed to scrapbook my photos from this park visit already!

When we left the Twin Cities, we thought that we had left our library adventures behind; however, we discovered a delightful little library in the Wild River Park visitor center.  I love the rough-hewn book shelves with the bark still on them.  There was also a hot beverage station for the park's library patrons.  I imagine that this cozy book nook is a godsend for campers who experience cold or rainy weather at the park and want to warm up for awhile.  However, it was sunny and hot on the day that we visited, so we did not stop to read or have a hot drink.  We only stopped long enough to admire the charm of the library.
 

The weather did turn cold for us later in the trip, when we visited Banning State Park.  You can see that instead of shorts and tee shirts we're in long pants and sweaters.  I have already scrapbooked this photo as well.  I blogged about that scrapbook page in a previous post.

We got rained on lightly during our last park visit, which was at St. Croix State Park.  Luckily, this park has a scenic driving path, so we were able to enjoy the park from the car.  As you can see from the photo above, St. Croix State Park is a beautiful place for a country drive.  I haven't scrapbooked this photo yet, but I hope to get to it soon.  I'll be sure to share the finished page with you when it's ready.  Until then, take care!

Free Sketch--Great for Using up Scraps

Hello!  It's been busy around here lately, and I have so much to tell you.  I want to share some vacation photos with you, update you on my son's library project (yes, he finished!), and show you what I've been making lately.  Those will all be future posts, though; today it's time for my monthly de-stashing post.  This time around I have a scrap-busting sketch that I drew for you.  I don't know how to use any fancy graphics programs, so it is an actual hand-drawn sketch.  :)

There is a story behind this sketch.  It all began one evening when I was out cropping with a group of friends.  I had packed some old paper scraps that I wanted to try to use.  Among these scraps I found a tall, thin piece of Pink Paislee house-patterned paper that seemed like a good match for a trio of backyard photos.  I put the photos and paper together on a layout, and my friends told me that they really liked the design of my page.  I figured that if people like the design IRL (in real life), then it would be a good idea to share the design online as well. 
 

Supplies: cardstock from Bazzill; patterned paper from Pink Paislee; burlap from Canvas Corp.; alphabet stickers from Basic Grey; pen from Zig; corner punch from Creative Memories; household mini stapler.

This sketch is very flexible.  It works for cards as well as scrapbook pages.  You can substitute patterned paper rectangles for some or all of the photo slots if you wish.  That's what I did for the Thanksgiving card below; I used up a handful of scraps from a Doodlebug Design 6x6" paper pad.

I hope that this sketch inspires you to create some projects with scraps.  Use the sketch however you like and have fun with it.