Cara's 60th Birthday book

Cara is going to be 60 in July!!! I just can't believe it!!! This calls for something special. Even though Cara doesn't drink wine I thought that creating a Birthday Book in the shape of a wine bottle was a good idea. ...Well, I don't think she drinks wine .... I've never seen her drink wine; she prefers other beverages. I had a great picture of Cara that was taken at my house for her 50th birthday party. We had thrown her a surprise 'garden party'. Each of us made crazy looking 'garden hats' for the occasion. I cropped the picture and typed the word "vintage" across it. She is definitely 'one of a kind'!!!

On the inside front cover I used one of my stamps "Age is merely the number of years the world has been enjoying you".

I searched the internet for Maxine cartoons and then selected 13 of them that poked fun at age. I used some of my stamps to create a background on the pages and then added color around the page edges with various inks.

You've got to love Maxine! I know Cara does and that is why I chose these cartoons to be the focus of Cara's birthday book.

Well, I don't think Cara plays bingo, but I'm sure Maxine must.... so I included my bingo stamp.

Cara is a little like Maxine.... Oh, not in any way by the way she looks!!! Maxine tells it like it is, and so does Cara!

I had some great stamps to go with the theme of the booklet. My little 'sexy senior' stamp works well, but of course none of us look at all like her.

I grouped the cartoons by subject matter to determine their position in the booklet. The cartoon on the right is the only one that is not a Maxine cartoon. But I couldn't resist because it fit right in with some of the others.

Some of the quotes on the Maxine cartoons were a little grainy when I downloaded them from the internet. They may be difficult to read here on the blog, but they are readable in person. Of course, most of us may need to put on our reading classes!!!!

And one more Maxine quote! I had the perfect stamp for the inside of the back cover. It talks about living life to the fullest.

On the back cover I took a picture of some grapes and typed over the image. The words may be difficult to read. They say... "Guaranteed to be 60 years old. Only the oldest, but finest grapes are used."

Here's to you Cara!!!! Happy 60th... and many more healthy years to come!

Susie's 60th Birthday Book

Susie turns 60 in April and we need to celebrate!! Just sending Susie a card isn't enough so I made a little birthday book. Well, I didn't make it all, but I did do all the decorating. My friend Maggi had made me the book and I searched the internet for some 'appropriate' pictures, mounted them, and added the words. I loved this see, hear, and speak no evil picture and had to use it for the front cover.

You've got to have a little cake to celebrate a birthday! Well, we need more than cake for a 60th birthday. Here's hoping that this little birthday book provides a few laughs.

60.... the NEW 40? Let's hope so because all of us are going to be 60 sooner or later. Susie just happens to be the first in our group to turn 60! These ladies look like they're having a good time!

Exercise class!!! Oh yeah, that's us!!! Right!!! Don't you really wonder what these ladies were really doing when this picture was taken??? Who would be doing squats in a dress and heels??

Shopping.... I think Susie likes to do this... and traveling!!! Look at these cute little ladies. They have their red hats on and are burning up the stores.

A day at the beach.... checking out the muscles on 'Mr Body Builder'... oh, I hope that isn't us some day!!!!

Party??? We like to get together to have a few drinks and talk. I think we talk more than we drink these days. And laugh!!! A lot of laughing takes place when we all get together.

A little 'X-rated' picture for the last page should get a few giggles. If you knew Susie you'd understand that this picture if perfect! I just happened to find it on the internet...what luck! I hope Susie gets some laughs from her Birthday Book!

Fantasy Film and sea glass necklace

I joined a 'Fantasy Film' swap on CCSwaps. Why not, I had fantasy film that someone had given me a while ago and never had the chance to play with it. I searched for techniques using fantasy film and found one that explained how to create faux dichroic glass using Fantasy Film and Franklin Opals! The technique looked simple and the outcome was fabulous. There was only one catch, the technique called for using a product that was not yet available for sale. I tried the technique without the product and my results were a failure. The faux dichroic glass was much too brittle... so onto another idea.......
I decided to use some sea glass as a base for the franklin opals and the fantasy film. I had a jar full of sea glass that I found in Florida over a year ago and hadn't used it yet. I applied versa mark to the sea glass and then proceeded to add 3 layers of franklin opals, melting each layer with my heat gun prior to adding the next layer of opals. While the 3rd layer of opals was hot I layed down 3 pieces of fantasy film on top of each other, then sprinkled opals on and heated it until melted. I added one more layer of opals and after melting I stamped an inked butterfly image into the opals. I used copper brilliance ink on the stamp. I left the stamp sit in the opals until cooled and then lifted off. To finish off the piece I used my copper krylon pen to color the 3 edges of the glass.

I had a bunch of formica samples that I had picked up at a local DIY store and I had seen others make necklaces using them. I colored the sample with alcohol inks - sapphire blue/pinata and gold/ranger. I lucked out.... my first choice of colors looked great with the color of the fantasy filmed sea glass.

I attached the sea glass piece to the sample using large glue dots.

Since there is a butterfly on the sea glass, why not add the words 'fly'. I had some alpha beads on hand, but the color didn't go well on the formica sample so I used gold alcohol inks to color them. I strung them and some small glass beads onto a piece of wire and curled the ends.

I attached this piece onto the formica sample with mini glue dots.

Here's the finished necklace.

I added some of Golden's gold mica flakes to the formica sample and let that dry before attaching the black cord and gold wooden bead.

I'll let the recipient know that she is welcome to wear it as is or take it apart and use the sea glass piece and alpha beads on another project of her own if she wishes. After all, some people aren't into necklaces.