IT Girl for Margaret - Cemetery Angels

June's IT Girl is Margaret, and her theme is 'Cemetery Angels'... she loves cemetery angels. When she was in WI for an art retreat we visited a cemetery in Cedarburg so that Margaret could take pictures.
My idea... go snap some pictures of cemetery angels, load them onto a disc, and put the disc in a decorated CD holder.
The CD holder has a glossy finish.... perfect for alcohol inks!!



I went to a cemetery in Milwaukee that I used to visit often as a kid. We had lived across the street from it, and I and some friends would go 'play' and explore in the cemetery. It sounds goofy, but that's what we did sometimes!
I also took a few pictures in a cemetery in Mukwonago when I learned there were 4 life size angels there.





I used 3 of Ranger's alcohol ink 'brights' and silver to color the CD holder. I have one angel stamp that I love so I stamped it onto the front cover with black ink. She isn't a 'cemetery' angel, but I don't think that matters.







I applied the same alcohol ink colors to the inside of the CD folder.








Just a CD didn't seem enough, so I searched the internet for quotes relevant to angels. I printed them onto this blue sheet of paper and will include it in the CD holder.








Here's the completed CD holder. I printed a couple of the angel quotes I found online onto blue vellum and attached one of them to the front cover. I inserted a couple of eyelets into the spine, threaded a ribbon and decorative fiber through it and then tied a gold angel wing charm to the fiber.



On the left inside I attached a print of one of the angels taken in the Mukwonago cemetery, I stamped a flourish, and attached one of the angel quotes printed on blue vellum. The CD containing pics of the cemetery angels is inserted into the pocket.





On the inside right I stamped a flourish and inserted the sheet containing the angel quotes I found on the internet.








And here is the back..
Another cemetery angel pic that I printed, a flourish stamp, and an angel quote printed on blue vellum.
And it will be off to Margaret on Monday.

Distressed booklet

It's time to work on another swap item. This swap involves creating something that looks distressed.
I started with 2 chipboard pieces that would be used as covers for a booklet. I had purchased some of these in various shapes a while ago from The Oriental Trading Company.







For the pages of this booklet I cut out 8 pieces of cardstock just slightly smaller than the covers. I punched a hole in each that would line up with the hole in the covers.





I covered the chipboard covers with decorative scrapbook paper then using the foam blending tool I rubbed vintage photo distress ink along the edges of the covers and where the 2 pieces of scrapbook paper met.







This is a picture of the other side of the front and back covers for the booklet.












I decorated each of the 8 pages with decorative cardstock and then using a foam blending tool I rubbed on some vintage photo distress ink.









And here is the other side of the 8 pages. The backs are decorated in similar fashion as the front, just using different decorative cardstock.







Here's the finished booklet. I attached some fibers to a jump ring and then attached that to a split ring so that it could easily slide onto the key ring I used to bind the booklet.
I've intentionally left the booklet blank so that the recipient can stamp or collage with images that they would prefer.

Altered eyelet containers

We ran a swap called 'Recycle It'. The idea was to use a recycled item in your artwork. I had made something for my partner and mailed it, but she never received it. So today I decided to make a replacement item. I had been saving a bunch of empty eyelet containers expecting that someday I would find a use for them. Well, I finally came up with an idea and used 2 of them for this swap. Usually I save things forever, finally throw them out, and then about a month later think of a use for them!!!


Using a felt pad and the 3 alcohol inks shown in the picture, I colored the first eyelet container.

With a felt pad and these 3 alcohol inks I colored the second eyelet container.

Here is the completed pink container. I colored a fabric flower using the same felt pad and alcohol ink that I used on the container. After inserting a gold brad through the middle and winding a green paper covered wire around I then used a large glue dot to attach the flower . I used some diamond glaze to hold the wire stem to the top and then added a leaf button using a glue dot.

Here is the completed blue container. I used red line tape to attach silver trim around the side. I had some silver star buttons, so I cut off the shank and adhered them to the top with glue dots. Then I used silver glitter glue to create star streams so that they would look like shooting stars.

Art Doll Swap

Back in March we ran an Art Doll swap on CCSwaps. Unfortunately, one of our members never received a swap item from her partner. So today, I worked on this art doll and will be mailing it to Rena.

I printed the little girl with wings and cut her out. To add some support, I glued her to another heavier piece of handmade paper and attached the paper covered wire so that Rena could hang this art doll if she wanted. I threaded various beads and buttons onto another piece of paper covered wire and attached it to the base of the little girl. She didn't look complete without something on her head and luckily I found the crown in my stash. Now she looks like she is ready to fly to Canada.

Shutter cards

These are 'shutter cards' I made using a new tool I recently purchased, the Scor-Pal. You can view this item at www.scor-pal.com
I became interested in this tool when I saw items created by my friend, Bonnie, on her blog www.craftiblog.wordpress.com
I encourage you to check Bonnie's blog for some fantastic 'eye candy'.





You can view instructions to make these shutter cards on either the scor-pal website or on Bonnie's blog. The instructions on the scor-pal website involve using a 5 1/2 x 12" piece of cardstock. If you check out Bonnie's blog she provides pictures and instructions on how to create 2 other versions of this shutter card.

One of the versions Bonnie shows is called the 'full front' version and uses cardstock that is 5 1/2 x 11". You can see that version to the left and below.

Bonnie's blog also shows another version that uses cardstock that is 5 1/2 x 11" and creates a 'half front' shutter card like the one shown below.

The Scor-Pal was so easy to use to create these cards. The hard part for me was deciding how to embellish the cards once I had attached the decorative cardstock.

I think these cards turned out great and I'd like to thank Bonnie for turning me on to the new tool and the card design.