Hidden treasures

Hi all:

I love looking through all of the January CHA releases.  Since winter CHA happens right after Christmas, all of the pretty new things to look at and dream about using are a  great way to escape the winter uglies that happen in February and March. 

This year, there were two new products that really drew my eye.  One was Tim Holtz's Distress Markers because - hello - I'm a Tim Girl.  The other was Heidi Swapp's Memory Files.  What a great way to collect all of the bits and pieces of an event into one compact, easy to store album.  Heidi's Sugar Chic collection is full of bright splashes of aqua, pink, and yellow, set off by stabs of black here and there.  Pure awesomeness!  The cutest embellishments ever are also available.

I couldn't resist combining Heidi's ideas with Tim's flair for the vintage and steampunk.  Here is what I came up with:

The adorable little truck is one of Tim's stamps from The Journey by Stampers Anonymous.  The label on the file folder tab was cut with Spellbinders' Grommet Tags die. 

Here is the entire cover.  The gold scrolls were created with Martha Stewart's Craft Clay and the Frames and Flourishes silicone mold.  The flourishes were then painted using Martha Stewart's gold metallic paint.  The paper is Antiquities by Donna Salazar for gcd studios.  This was a plain old manila folder when I started.  It's colored with some of Tim Holtz's Distress Inks - Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo, and Gathered Twigs.

Here are some inside shots:



Same Spellbinders' die, same paper, same distress inks.  The pink tinsel glitter is Martha Stewart's. The silver glitter is Stickles by Ranger.  The ruffled newsprint is Tim Holtz tissue tape, simply gathered into ruffles as it was adhered.  The copper and white twine by Bead Landing, the letters, and the Recollections flowers are all from Michaels.   The letters were white.  I colored them with a gray Copic marker.  :)  The button is an old one - from Bo Bunny, I think.

Here is a complete look at the inside:



This nifty little album lies almost flat when closed, taking up very little space, yet it will hold up to 24 pictures and journaling notes!  Isn't that amazing?!  I love that concept!  That little booklet that say, "Magic" on the bottom right flips open to display 12 pages.  The "Captured" note flips up to display one or two pictures or notes and you can also put something on the front of that if you like.  The button closure hides places for two pictures and a note or three pictures.  It has a magnetic closure.  And the gadget tied with jute on the left side will also hold 3-4 pictures.  And that doesn't even count the front where you can add a title or a picture or both.

I just love this little file.  Hope you enjoyed looking at it!

Kath



Summer frames

I've been a busy girl for the last week.

In February, a little girl named Isabella was born.  She was premature,weighing only 1 pound and 2.8 ounces.  She had to have surgery to close a hole in her heart.  She is so tiny - so very fragile. And she is already an important member of our community.

This is Isabella at one month old.

In a few weeks, our community is holding a spaghetti dinner fund raiser for Baby Isabella.  There will also be a Chinese auction.  My friend, Tracy, asked me if I could contribute one of my handcrafted items for the Chinese auction.  

I happened to have a couple of unfinished frames and some new Martha Stewart Crafting Clay in my stash, and I had a few ideas running through my head.  On Wednesday night I got down to work.

Here are the final results.  First up is a summery, rather beachy scene, inspired by Webster's Page's new line called the Palm Beach.  I loved the colors in this line and wanted to find a way to work with them.  

There is a quote written around the heart opening that reads, "The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea."  Isak Dinsen

The other frame is also summery, although it's more about our summer holidays.  So...it's...ya know - patriotic and stuff.

So, which one do you like best?

Cool beach blues....

Hi all:

Occasionally, I break away from paper crafting and get my hands into a different area entirely.  I apologize for those of you who like to read about my paper adventures, but hope you'll enjoy today's post anyway.

My favorite color is blue, but it's a special blue.  It's that Caribbean turquoise -- that "I want to dive into this" blue.  Pool blue.  Beach glass, sea tile blue.  The blue that makes you feel a bit cooler just to look at it.

I recently bought a new t-shirt in that color.  I like to pair my blue with white capris or shorts.  So far, so good. But what could I add to really make it sparkle?

Once day a week or ten days ago, I noticed a new display at Michaels.  On one of the end caps in the jewelry aisle, there was a collection of beach-themed charms.  Seahorses, shells, starfish, sand dollars - all done in an antique-toned silver and set with iridescent blue/green glass.  I didn't have any idea what I was going to do with them, but I bought a set of three charms just because they were so me.  And - hello - blue/green iridescent jewels?  Yum!

They sat on my desk for a while and I looked at them nearly every day, forming ideas in my head.  Last week, all of the beads at Michaels were 40% off.  It was like the universe was practically commanding me to scoop up beads.  I fetched a t-shirt off the shelf in nearly the same shade as my new one and went to work, choosing colors, textures, shapes, and sizes that I loved together.  I came home with eight different packages of beads and went to work.

I finished my project on Saturday night and wore it to church yesterday morning.  What do you think?

I love how it came out.  Right at the bottom, you can see the little starfish and off to the right, about halfway up is the shell.  Way at the top, you can see the tail of the seahorse.  There are so many sea-like beach finds on here, I can hardly stand it!  I love the chunks of shell and the freshwater pearl pieces together.  I also love all of the blues.  I found a few other beads in my stash that were frosted and added little bits of a beach glass touch.  You can see one in the lower left.  Most of the beads are my favorite blue, but I put some greens in there as well.  Here's another look...

The top half of the necklace is simply a chain.  All of the party is in the lower half of the necklace.  It measures about 30" in length, so it's long and slips over my head easily - another thing I prefer.

I love, love, love this and will be wearing it many times this summer with my new t-shirt - and probably with my new white t-shirt as well.

Enjoy that summer-like weather!

Kath