Vintage Baby Book



I took a class that was called "Junk Journal" back when I went to spark..but it really should have been called "amazing ways to transform an old book". Basically you brought an old book with you to the class and transformed the pages into pockets, outlines of butterfly's and picture frames. I have never looked at old books the same since..This particular book I purchased in an Ephemera lot off of EBay. Little did I know it was from 1910! I shouldn't have used such an old book, as now it is a little more fragile than I would like. But, I finally finished it and it makes an adorable baby book (mine). I also did a spin off of sorts with a vintage kids jungle book. Instead of cutting out shapes, and doing frames I put the pages right over the words of the book. I left most of the color pictures alone because they were so vibrant and beautiful. They sure don't print books the way they used to. My favorite though is a golden book (smaller children's book) alphabet story I did in vintage school theme. It turned out sooo cute! My first craft show ever was last Sat and I actually sold it there! I made it the night before, and only shot a couple pics with my phone as I was setting up my table at the craft show! I plan to do a few more, they are just sooo fun to work with, and of course vintage school (or anything) is my favorite!!

  

 

Halloween Paper Rosettes

 



I  really love the look of the paper rosettes..they remind me of those first place ribbons..not the little ones that are around now, but the grander ones given out at horse races in the old days. You can really make them any size and color you want..to fit your project. I made these simpler ones to put on my son's class Halloween treat bags. At first I tried using gluedots. But overnight the rosettes came apart. Then I tried using an all purpose craft glue..but then quickly realized that the wet craft glue didn't dry fast enough. So, I moved on to my trusty hot glue gun. Wham! The assembly went super quick and it was a ton easier because the glue dried so fast! Here's the gist of how to put them together (see photos) and here are a few notes...(step 1)I used a one inch strip because I wanted my rosettes to be on the smaller side. (step 2) A scoring board works like a dream, but if you don't have one just initially fold one end,  then flip the strip back and forth after each fold to get the accordion fold. (step 5) getting the accordion strip to lay flat takes a little shaping..I sort of pushed down the center while the edges fanned out wide. It took me a few tries, but after the 20th one it was a cinch. (step 6) The rosette always wants to flip back up so I held it down steady with my fingers until I could hot glue gun the center. Even after I placed the punched scalloped piece in the center I held it in place for a few seconds. These are so easy and look great on any project!

 

 

Butterfly Mobile

Here's a long overdue project for my dear sweet friend Victoria. Her Mom asked if I would make Victoria something to decorate her newly painted bedroom, and of course I said yes! She loves butterflies and wanted something to hang above her bed. I took a regular cross stitch hoop and painted it white. Then I cut out 3 different sizes of butterflies on my Silhouette. I tied white string to 4 equal points on the hoop. I then tied a loop on the point where the 4 points came together at the top of the hoop. I then tightly wrapped the hoop in white satin ribbon. I tied clear thread every 4 inches around the hoop. I hung the hoop so that the clear thread hung straight down. I attached the butterflies to the thread using a button. First, I put a gluedot on the button and then lined up the thread with the center of each button. I then lined up the button with the center of each butterflies body and pressed firmly to adhere the button to the butterfly. For the final touch I tied white satin ribbon in a bow just below the top loop. I also made her a picture with her name on it. I wanted to make her a framed monogram with butterflies. I scouted around and the cheapest I could fine a frame was $5.00 for a cheapie 8x10. I didn't want it to look like a diploma frame, so I kept looking and my patience paid off!  I was at Target and came upon a set of eight pictures on clearance for only $9.98! I knew one of them would be perfect for my project for Victoria. I started out by taking the original butterfly picture out of the frame and tracing it on a piece of cute butterfly scrapbook paper. I then cut her name out using my Silhouette. I glued her name to the scrapbook paper and set it aside. The frame had some gold edging I didn't really like so I took painters tape and masked the brown part of the frame. Using white craft paint I painted over the gold. I also smudged a little bit of the white paint around the brown frame. I let it dry completely and removed the painters tape. I then glued vintage pink lace to the white edging. I returned the scrapbook paper with her name on it to the frame. I then glued 3 vintage white buttons in the corner and the same butterfly I used in the mobile. For the body of the butterfly I glued on 3 little pearls. It was a fun project and she really like it.

Flower Power

I was making two Halloween mini-albums for my friend Lori (my first paying customer!) and I was looking for some black flowers to put on the covers. I adore the beautiful prima flowers, but they are a bit out of my price range. So I looked on utube and man, loads of videos on how to make your own flowers! I love all the ideas that were out there, but fabric and lace cost a bit now a days. I thought about fake flowers too, but they are bulky. On a trip to the Dollar Store I saw a bunch of black roses with leaves and spiders..hmmmm...lets see if I can make them work... I needed to make them flat and prettier. The first step was taking the pedals and leaves off the stem. I tossed the plastic pieces, and trimmed up 3 of the pedals to be smaller.

 

I used stickles to fancy up the edges..

 

 

I went to a couple of craft stores looking for rhinestones to put in the center of the flowers, they had  plain gems in a big pack for a reasonable price, but I wanted something a little more "jewelry" like. I found ones I really liked at Walmart in their jewelry making  section, but they were $1.50 each, so I decided to head to the fashion jewelry dept in hopes of finding a bracelet or necklace I could take apart. I was so excited when I spotted a big bracelet with huge princess square rhinestones..and it was on clearance for 5 bucks! I used my wire cutters to cut the bracelet and slide the rhinestones off. I used my glue gun and glued the petals together with some black  tulle from my stash. Finished it off with the rhinestone in the middle. Of course I forgot to take a picture of the two books I made!? But I thought the flower came  out pretty good for costing almost nothing to make!

 

 

 

Vintage Record Album



When I was out thrifting recently I came upon a couple of old children's records. It brought me back to my little record player and my favorite story record peter pan!  I was so excited to find them in really good condition and in several colors! That inspired me to make this little album..I really wanted to see if I could drill some holes in the record, but I thought it too risky as they might crack. Instead I used a piece of chipboard (my good ol' cereal box!) painted black for the cover. I laid the record over the chipboard and traced the record shape leaving enough at the top to make a binding with my bind-it-all. After I cut the cover out I traced that on all my patterned paper. I cut the paper out 3 sheets at a time, then glued the record onto the cover. I lined up all the paper and the cover to make the album and put it through the bind-it-all. All that was left to do was embellish the pages and covers. It was so much fun using Studio Calico, Echo Park and Cosmo Cricket paper..and of course my stash of vintage buttons, cards and ribbon!

Sew Natural Photo Tree



My project for the August  Papercrafting Class at JoAnns is the Sew Natural Photo Tree. The supply list called for the Tim Coffey Travel line,  but I wanted to do something a little more feminine. I included some photos of my beautiful nieces Jennifer and Kayla. I found some K & Co pink flower speciality paper and coordinating bird stickers on sale at JoAnns. I chose pink cotton floss for the sewing. I did cross-stitch, back stitch and the straight stitch on the trading cards. Being that my photo tree was bird themed I decided to make a little nest (out of ribbon from my stash) on the vase and included little pink jelly beans for the eggs. I also added punched pink flowers on the branches (which I got from my backyard). Im going to bring it to work with me to brighten up my desk!

Vintage Flashcard Mini Albums

I recently got a Zutter bind-it-all (awesome ebay!) that punches holes and presses a wire binding togther to create an album or journal. You can use lots of things to make books out of...I made two mini albums out of vintage flash cards. One "girl learning/school" themed and one "boy learning/school" themed. First, I measured then cut out the front and back covers from a cereal box. I painted them black using acrylic craft paint and a sponge brush. While the covers were drying  I covered every other side of the flashcards with patterned paper. Then I decided in what order I wanted the cards to be in, and arranged them. I used my Zutter machine to punch holes and bind the album. Lastly, I embelished the cover and pages. To add alittle something to the boy album I punched a hole in two bottle caps, set an eyelet in each and attached to the binding with a small chain.  I'm officially hooked on making mini albums..but I don't think I can give up my paper lunch

sacks just yet!   

Oh The Possibilities....

I was at a local army surplus store recently and saw some old military cloth ammo bags..perfect for altering and making cute! The guy at the counter asked me what I was going to do with all the bags  I was buying..and I told him "why make them into cute purses of course!" He looked at me funny and replied oohh.  It seems as though I just see things a little differently than most.  In my world old stuff is full of possibilities.. For this beauty I first washed it in the washer on gentle cycle and let air dry. I made the butterfly by cutting out a piece of cream canvas from my fabric stash. I rubber stamped a butterfly on the canvas using chocolate brown ink, trimmed off the excess canvas material, added a copper paperclip from my stash and glued with fabritac.  Next I made several fabric flowers (my ultimate favorite project in the world), gathered several buttons from my stash and glued them around the butterfly. To finish off the purse I attached a doilie by spraying it with adhesive, poking the clasp through the middle of the doilie and gluing with fabritac.  I'll always see a possibility in an army bag....hmmmm...how would a vintage hankerchief look on one....

Fantastic Fabric

One of the best things to find at thrist stores is old fabric..wether it's a shirt, table cloth, curtains or a pillow case.. I get such a happy feeling finding patterns that catches my eye. There's endless things to do with fabric and sewing stuff. I recently picked up a few old suitcases for less than $5 each at my favorite thirft shop. I decided to sit down and try my hand at mode podge (MP). It was really easy and kind of theraputic! First I cut all the pieces of fabric into squares, then laid out a pattern on the suitcase. A dry run of sorts before I commited! I did each side with the same alternating fabric pieces and then did the rest with a diffrent alternating fabric. I used what I already had in my fabric stash and tried to stick with greens and browns. I put a thin layer of modge podge on the suitcase a little at a time, then laid the fabric smoothing it down with my hand. I also put a thin layer over the fabric after I smoothed it out. I tried to be speedy becasue the MP dries rather quickly. The space by the top handle and bottom feet were a little tricky. I ended up cutting several tiny pieces and overlaping them to cover the wierd angles. I let it dry and then glued on white rick rac with Beacons fabri tac. I love how it turned out..

Paper Sackin it Again!

Okay, I know i did some paper lunch sack mini books before, but I just keep going back to them because they are just perfect for what I want to do! I Love em! I made this pregnancy mini journal book for a friend at work..she loves vintage just like I do. I used scraps from a October Afternoon kit I got last year at the Scrapfest Mall of America (which i am going to again this year--super stoked!) and some Studio Calico paper. I type a few journal starters on regular card stock. I love looking back at my pregnancy journals and hopefully she will too!

My kind of recycled plastic...

I finally used up one of my gigantic containers of Lysol disinfecting wipes and thought to myself "what a waste to just throw this nice (and clean!) container away". I do tend to keep way too many things on the thought that " will use this one day" or "I could make ____ out of this".  But this time I had got the idea the same day I used all the wipes! After getting a plastic grocery bag from an overstuffed drawer I had my great "...hhhaaayyy....wait a minute..." moment.

I applied the same idea to a liter plastic water bottle too!

All I had to do was pretty much poke holes for the holder and decorate.  I decorated both using Echo Park Paper. The Lysol container "Hello Summer" and the water bottle "Little Boy".  I made a pinwheel using "It's the little things" by Fancy Pants and a popsicle stick from a Dove bar. 

Yippee..no more plastic grocery bags stuffed in a drawer!

   

Paper Sack Mini Albums October 2011

I  LOVE working with lunch paper sacks to make mini albums! I got introduced to these versatile little babies when I went to a make-in-take at a local scrapbook store (way back when there were several stores in the area) I even made them into my Christmas cards that year. Not only are they super cheap to start out with, but can be made into so many cute things. I’ve made birthday party and pregnancy mini albums as gifts. All the recipient has to do is put their photos in. I’m big on journaling so I add plenty of spaces for them to write with “starters”. For instance, the pregnancy one has “the food I crave most is..” or “my favorite maternity outfit is…” For the birthday party one it was “my guests were…” and “this years best moments..” There are so many possibilities with these sacks. I’m going to also make some party invitations here pretty soon. I donated these two mini albums as prizes to a fall festival. They sure were fun to make with this years Kay & Co Halloween line.   

SPARKerrific September 2011

SO Blessed...I got to venture to Utah to attend SPARK (a super duper creative event) Chalk-full of more advanced sessions that require you to think creatively..not a craft-by-number sort of event. At first it was even a little hard for me. I broke down and needed a Starbucks the first day! But after my friend Jennifer helped me get a grip, I had SO much fun! One of the best parts of the whole trip was getting to meet up with Jennifer (my friend from MS) and meet her friends. We stayed at her friend Cristin's beautiful home. Cristin's hospitality only matched her kindness and creative spirit. The weather was beautiful and the mountains were breathtaking. Couldn't have asked for anything better (ok.. maybe 80 degrees) I got so many creative ideas it was hard to write fast enough. Luckily, most of the instructors have their own blogs. I almost forgot to mention the Artisan Market--filled with all handmade goodies..i'm gonna pin their stuff on pinterest..so be sure to check it out. Here are a few of my favorites..

This was the Nest Necklace by Cathe Holden. Really easy to make. After I got home  I went to Hobby Lobby and found all kinds of little trinkets to make necklaces out of. I got a metal tool punch set at the local hardware store to punch letters into the tags too. Her blog is pretty amazing...justsomethingimade.com

Amy Tan taught her famous reverse applique.  Mine didn't turn out ..i brought a cheap ribbed shirt (it works best on tight weaved cotton fabrics) ..so I took a photo of Cristins creation! So adorable! She did it in less than 20 min. I first saw Amy Tan in Minneapolis at Scrapfest in the Mall of America. Her and Elizabeth Kartchner were at a crop I went to. Sweet, sweet gals..and of course very talented! amytangerine@blogspot.com and www.elizabethkartchner.com It was so great to see them again at Spark!   

Mixed media was another reaaalllyy fun thing to experience! One of the reasons I love mixed media now is that it’s so messy and free. Paper piecing, doodling and just having plain fun is what’s it’s all about. Her blog is ridiculously inspiring! I even took a 12 days of Christmas ornament online class (more about that later) Check out her blog www.christytomlinson.typepad.com

I also learned how to turn a book into a “junk journal” but I don’t feel like junk is the right word. More like awesomely awesome journal :O) Jen Jensen showed how to take pages away from a bound book, adding pocket pages and photo sleeves to make it all your own…all amazing. Now I keep my eye out for any book that has a cool binding or neat subject with pictures. I haven’t finished the one from the class yet (pathetic, I know) But when I do I will post it. She doesn’t have a blog but here’s a picture of her sweet work.