Creative Art Camp 2011 - Day 6, Sun Oct 30

The party's over!!! They say all good things must come to an end... BUT WHY!!! Who ever said that and why should that be true???
It's Sunday morning and almost time to go to the airport, but first breakfast cooked by my wonderful hubby... with a little Asti!
It was great fun and I'm sure we'll all need a little rest from our art camp. We talked about doing it again... maybe another location next year and then maybe back to my house after that! I sure hope so .. we had too much fun not to do this again!!

Creative Art Camp - Day 5, Sat Oct 29

Some people just need to take a little nap. Well, it was the last day of creating and we had been working our fingers to the bone. On this day we had to make a choice... and we all chose the same project... domino collage. Maggi found this project on line http://creativepointe.blogspot.com/2011/08/sharing-challenge-entry.html
Since this artist sells her work there weren't instructions on how to do this and what supplies were used, but we looked at the end result and came up with our method, but we do thank her for the inspiration.




It took me a while to determine how to use the self timer on my camera, but ... after running over to the computer and looking up the owner's manual on line I did it. We are all holding our domino collage.. and we are proud of them!!!
I think we're all happy we chose this project to do instead of another one.








This is Margaret's collage. Oops, I just noticed I forgot to turn the photo and have the picture on its side!!! I love the alcohol ink color combos that each of us choose. I don't have close ups of everyone's collage.. just 3 of them.
You wouldn't need to confine yourself to 6 dominoes. You could go with more, or with less.









Here is my domino collage. I did string wire and beads at the bottom and do intend to string them along both sides and then add some charms or bling to the front of the project.
I was thinking that you wouldn't have to attach a cord for hanging; instead, you could leave the cord off and display on a small easel.
When doing mine some of the letters on my words weren't dark enough so I used a black fine point sharpie to darken them. Also, be sure that your stazon ink pad is juicy and not dry.

Here is Carol's finished domino collage... isn't it wonderful??? She used a piece of flashing tape on the lower right, and see the bird on the lower left... that is a white gel/paint pen she used to highlight the wings.
We learned lots of things doing this project and we all loved our finished projects. I for one will do this again. I just hope I remember all that I learned of what to do and what not to do!!

Creative Art Camp 2011 - Day 4, Fri Oct 28

We started our day by working with the glimmer mist pages we had created the previous day. We tore them in half and then punched them and the covers using the bind it all. Some of us stamped or embellished some of the pages and then I bound them with the coils.
Some of us, like me, didn't bind it yet because I am going to use it to create a birthday book for a very special friend of mine.


Everyone is intent on selecting pictures or stamps to use on their fragment charms. We used the Tim Holtz fragments that already have a predrilled hole. They come in lots of shapes and sizes. Mary had decided to apply a little alcohol ink to her fragment before attaching the image; I don't have a picture, but it turned out fantastic. The images are attached to the fragment using glossy accents. Then, we ran flashing tape through the cuttlebug with an embossing folder, colored it with alcohol inks, sanded it, and then attached it to the back also.
There were times of quiet contemplation and times filled with talk and laughter.. a very good combination. This was a fun project and I think we all found it enjoyable and relaxing at times. Maggi had seen this project I believe on a Tim Holtz video and Margaret had received some of these charms on a recent Tim Holtz cruise as part of a charm swap.


Here are Margaret's creations...
She attached lobster claws to all of her fragment charms and then strung them onto a chain necklace. Think of the possibilities?? You only need one chain and you could switch out charms based upon color or theme.
I sure wish I would have taken pictures of everyone's charms that day to see all the varieties.

Creative Art Camp - Day 3, Thurs, Oct 27

These are fabric beads. Carol brought fabric and beads so that we could make these and use them as embellishments on our glimmer mist book or other items. We actually did the glimmer mist technique on water color paper first and then while waiting for that to dry we worked on beads. All you do is spread glue onto strips of fabric and then wind it tightly around a straw. You can use decorative fabric or paint, or stamp on fabric before spreading the glue. Then after the beads have dried for a while you can wrap and tie with fibers and wire. You can attach beads onto the wire or just glue them onto the beads.
Well, I was really asleep at the job today... I didn't take any pictures of us creating.. our projects. This is the day we worked with water color paper, mat board, and glimmer mists. This is a picture of Margaret's journal all bound with the front cover complete. But, I wish I would have had a picture of all the sheets of water color paper that we sprayed with glimmer mists.. they were stunning. Margaret brought the idea and her supplies; I know we completely used some of her colors.




It wasn't enough that we worked all day on projects.. now, I was making them work for their supper. We were having pizza on the grill and each of us needed to roll out pizza dough for their individual pizza. Luckily we were able to clean off part of our craft area so that we could get out the flour and roll the dough!





What's a little flour between friends? Bev got a little crazy and a some of the flour went flying... right onto Margaret!!
It was totally unexpected and I wish I would have had my camera ready when Bev did it because the look on Margaret's face was priceless!!




Bev and Carol are working on their pizza dough. I should have taken pictures of the finished products... after all, they were one of our creations for the day. The pizza was delicious!!!

Creative Art Camp - Day 2, Wed, Oct 26

We arrived at Jan's around 10AM... and what is the first thing we did... well, shop of course silly!! There were items displayed in her living room area and more in her back room studio. And since we were taking a class from Jan we received a discount on all of our purchases that day. We all left with some great buys as well as our wonderful Vintage Valise.



Class has begun... and here is Jan showing us the valise and explaining how it all goes together before we dig into the project. We highly recommend taking a class with Jan Hoefler if you ever have the opportunity; she is a great lady. Check her out at www.redrubberpaperandink.com She also sells lots of the Tim Holtz products and many other 'must have' craft items. She'll only sell what she feels is a good product.




I was at the foot of the table so I had a good view of everyone. I should have been taking pictures of each step as we created the valise and then of each page we created for the inside of the valise, but... there just wasn't time. I was falling behind as it was some of the time. Here's Margaret, Bev, and Mary working hard.


Sometimes during the class you just needed to stop and take it all in ... or think it through before pushing on. Here's Maggi and Carol giving it their full attention. We didn't even finish all the pages that day so Carol took pictures of the 3 remaining pages and one night 4 of us finished them at my house. I still have some tweaking to do to my pages as I write this.


We're hard at work in Jan's dining room. There were so many things to learn and do. This is a class filled to the limit with all sorts of techniques and materials. We were her 'firsts' to take this class. She had tons of patience with us and she learned from it too. It went way beyond what any of us imagined... and we all love what we took away from the class.



And here is the finished product... well, this is just the outside of the vintage valise. It is filled with pages, each showcasing a different technique or product.
We were 'brain dead' by the time we were finished. What we thought would be about 4 1/2 hours ended up being 7 hours. We were going to go to Hobby Lobby for shopping after, but forget that!!! We stopped for something to eat on the way home and crashed.
Jan is a terrific teacher!!! We'd all take another class at any time.

Creative Art Camp 2011 - Day 1, Oct 25

After months of planning... the day finally arrived. Margaret, Bev, and Carol flew into Milwaukee and drove out to my house. It was late afternoon, too late to start a project, so we took advantage of the dry weather and went for a pontoon boat ride. Maggi drove over to welcome the group too. So off we went with cocktails in our hands to enjoy the last of the colorful fall. It was a little chilly, but we didn't want to wait for another day in case rain would sneak it's way into the day.

Gift box with matching card

Would you believe this used to be a box of Carnation Instant Breakfast?? A friend of mine shared this idea of reusing the box and covering with paper to create a gift box. The decorative paper I used was bright and cheery and offered me many options for choosing a color card stock that would coordinate with it. I chose blue and purple to add interest to the gift box. I used my spots and dots cuttlebug embossing folder on the strip of blue paper and then used an EK Success punch on the purple paper. I've placed some blue and purple tissue paper in the box for the recipient to use.. that is, if I give this as a gift to someone else.
Then, on to the matching card...
I couldn't believe I had a roll of multi-colored rick rack that matched the decorative card stock perfectly!!!
I used the spots and dots cuttlebug embossing folder on the purple card stock. I liked the look of purple mounted onto the blue card. To match the gift box I cut a piece of the decorative card stock on a diagonal and mounted it onto the purple layer.
The sentiment was stamped and then cut with a spellbinders label die. I used broken china distress ink to add color to the white card and then cut a larger label die from the blue card stock to mount the sentiment.

Gift Card Holders

Take a look at this cute Christmas themed gift card holder. I made this at our recent monthly 'shoebox' meeting... thanks Maggi for sharing.
The base is kraft paper that measures 4 1/4 x 10" and is then scored at 3", 4", 5", and 8". The decorative paper is cut to fit each flap, inside and out. You'll need the following:
Inside pieces: 2 each of 4 x 2 3/4"
2 each of 4 x 3/4"
1 each of 4 x 1 3/4"
Outside pieces: 2 each of 4 x 2 3/4"
1 each of 4 x 1 3/4"
Belly Band: You can use card stock or ribbon cut to about 12" (mine were card stock cut to about 10 or 11". And then you choose or create an embellishment to attach to the belly band.
Here is a look at the inside of the gift card holder and the 'belly band' over on the left side. The inside is decorated with the same paper used on the outside. I did that for all of the gift cards holders shown in this posting.
If you look at the short flap protruding toward the bottom of the inside... that is where the gift card is placed.
These are so easy and fun to make!
Thanks so much Maggi for bringing this project to our 'shoebox' meeting.

Wouldn't this gift card holder be great to give someone a gas gift card??? I used a card stock that has a map printed on it to decorate the kraft base. I used a corner rounder on the front flap for this holder and the rest shown below. The 'belly band' of kraft paper was run through the 'clockworks' cuttlebug embossing folder. Even though 'clockworks' is clock related, I think that it also looks like a bunch of gears.. and who can tell if they are from a clock or a car engine?? The car stamp is from Tim Holtz. I stamped it and cut it out to mount it onto the 'belly band'.

This gift card holder was created using kraft for the base and then pieces of basic grey card stock. I used a crimper to create the pleating on the 'belly band' and then used 3 different spellbinders dies and 3 different types of paper to create the medallion attached to the band. It needed just a little more so I added the faux gem.
This gift card holder will be usable for any occasion.

This Christmas themed gift card holder should spread some joy!! I still have some decorative Christmas card stock and I'm trying to use it before buying any new stuff. I used a boysenberry colored card stock for the base of this card.
For the 'belly band' I used a cuttlebug embossing border of snowflakes on a dark green strip of card. I mounted that onto a slightly wider piece of boysenberry card stock. The cute little bear is taken from a Christmas card a friend of mine created years ago. It isn't a stamp; it is a piece of fabric glued to card stock.

This Christmas themed card holder uses the same decorative card stock as the previous one, but I used a dark green card stock for the base. A few years ago I had ordered some Christmas embellishments from Oriental Trading Company and still have some left... like this metal Christmas tree. It looks perfect attached to the 'belly band' on this card holder.
Christmas is just around the corner you know!!! I really need to work on my Christmas cards!!


Here is another Christmas themed gift card holder. I used the paper that was left over from the large sheet Maggi gave to each of us at our monthly 'shoebox' night. Instead of using kraft paper as the base I had a green card stock that matched the stripes perfectly. I also had some felt mittens I had purchased several years ago, so I attached one of them to the 'belly band' on this card holder.
I had used a clear stardust gel pen to add sparkle to the snowflakes across the 'belly band', but it is not showing up in this picture.
I think I may be making more of these soon!

Mini Pizza boxes.. with chocolates

Back in Sept, a friend of mine (Bonnie) showed me and a few others how to make a mini pizza box. You can see that box on her blog, along with a video from Split Coast Stampers where Bonnie first saw this project.
http://craftiblog.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/2011-09-17-mini-pizza-nugget-box/
Bonnie altered the original size of the box so that it would accommodate the candies we were using to fill the box. So the size of paper used to create the box is 5 1/2 x 8".
I love this paper! I can't remember where I purchased it, but I did buy about 4 - 12x12" sheets of it. It is so bright and cheery.
For the 'belly band' on the left I used a strip of the same paper used for the box and attached that to a wider strip of red paper. I stamped a flower stamp (a $1 stamp) onto pink and red paper twice then cut them out. The image was such that I could cut out an inner flower and outer flower, so I did one of each and then mounted them so I had both pink and red on each flower.
On the right 'belly band' I attached a quilled flower. No, I didn't make it. A friend of mine had bought a bunch of them and gave me some to use.



I found this cute multi-colored polka dot paper at my LSS (Polka Dots). The brown background reminded me of chocolate which was going to be the prize inside these candy boxes... so, perfect! The 'belly bands' for each is slightly different; one used the same paper as used for the box while on the other I used a blue that matched the dotted paper.




I used a small pinking circle spellbinders die and a slightly larger inverted scallop circle spellbinders die to stamp the sentiments on.
I had these sentiment stamps as part of a set that I had purchased from Stampin Up a long time ago. I sort of forgot I had them, but glad I remembered as they came in handy for these candy boxes.




The paper for both these boxes was from a 12x12" specialty pack made by Cloud 9 Design. For the 'belly bands' I cut a narrow strip of the same paper used for making the box and then glued that to a slightly larger strip of coordinating solid paper. I used a couple of spellbinders label dies to mount the sentiment on.







I love my new little bird stamp. I picked it up at Hobby Lobby... on sale, of course. I didn't have a whimsical type bird. I stamped the birds on blue paper, cut them out, and then stamped just the wing on patterned paper, cut it out and glued it to the bird.





It was fun and a challenge to find stamps and embellishments that I already had on hand to adorn these candy boxes.
My spellbinders dies were a big help.
I had seen a stamp with the sentiment 'sweet tweets' at the LSS, but I didn't want to pay $7 for it so I tried my own hand at writing it on some of the labels. I did okay, not great.
The paper for both of these boxes was from a 12x12" specialty pack made by Cloud 9 Design.
On the left I created the 'belly belt' with a piece of white card stock that was embossed with a cuttlebug folder called 'musical flourish'.

Oh yum!!! I'd better start giving these boxes away or I may find myself raiding them for the chocolate in a weak moment!
These small hershey treasures are the perfect fit for the boxes. That is what my friend Bonnie had in mind when she reconfigured the size of the box and changed it from its original size.





On the left I used paper from a K&Co designer paper pack called 'Sea Glass'. I think my dollar stamp sentiment says it all.... 'simply enjoy it all'! On the right I used paper from my Basic Grey paper pack. It is time I start using up paper instead of hoarding it.
For both boxes I used a spellbinders fancy tag when mounting the sentiment on the box.
I'm now in search of stamps and sentiments that will be perfect adornments on these candy boxes.



Chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate!!! You could fill these boxes with other things, but who doesn't like a little chocolate? Well, I do have one friend who is allergic so I guess I won't be giving one of these to him.
I'm guessing I'll be making more of these little boxes as time goes on.

Accordion fold gift box with cards

In September a friend of mine shared this project with me and a few others... an accordion gift box with matching cards. You can see her creation along with instructions and a video from Split Coast Stampers on her blog...
http://craftiblog.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/2011-10-10-acordion-fold-gift-box-wcards-2/
Since making my first project I've adjusted the size of the gift box slightly since I typically use 6 1/2 x 4 3/4" envelopes rather than the A2 size. So rather than use a 6 x 12" piece of paper for the body of the box, I use a 7 1/2 x 12" paper. And rather than use a 4 x 6" piece of paper for the flap of the box, I use a 4 x 7 1/2" piece. That also means that my scoring for the body of the box is different also. I score at 5", 6 3/4", and 11 1/2".
I've been busy making 6 more of these gift boxes each with 5 matching cards. For the gift box shown here I used a sheet of 12x12" paper from a packet of K&Co designer paper called Sea Glass. All 36 sheets included in this pack are nautical themed and double sided. I used the basket weave patterned paper to create the gift box. The reverse side of this paper, seen on the flap and sides of the box is made up of many nautical and travel related words and phrases. When making the 5 cards for this gift box I used other sheets found in this designer pack.
On the left the lighthouse image (Our Daily Bread) was stamped and cut out with a spellbinders oval and mounted to a lacy oval. A sentiment cut from the K&Co paper pack was mounted to a spellbinders fancy tag and then mounted to a layer of striped paper attached to a blue card.
The blues and greens of the card in the center are more subtle. The sailboat was stamped and cut out with a spellbinders oval die and then mounted onto a spellbinders lacy oval die. The sailboat patterned paper was torn on a diagonal with the sailboats shown on one half of the card and the reverse of that paper (stripes) shown on the other half of the card. A small strip of the stripes was cut and crimped and attached across the top of the card.
In searching my stamps for other nautical themed stamps I found the pelican used on the card on the right. After stamping him I cut him with a spellbinders diamond shape die and mounted it onto a larger diamond die. It was then layered onto one of the patterned papers in the K&Co pack and a piece of tan card stock before being attached to the green card. A sheer brown ribbon was used to embellish the bottom of the card.
The beautifully coordinated papers in this paper pack made it possible for me to clip various words and sentiments that worked well with these images.
The nautilus stamp (Stamp Zia) used on the left was mounted on a spellbinders lacy circle die while the words in the lower right of the card were mounted on a spellbinders fancy tag die. I used some blue card stock that coordinated well with the printed paper from the K&Co pack.
On the right I stamped the lighthouse (Our Daily Bread) and then cut with a spellbinders oval die and mounted onto a larger spellbinders deckle edge oval die. The printed paper used on the bottom portion of the card is from the K&Co pack while the background paper is Basic Grey. I attached a single piece of fiber down the right side of the card.


This accordion gift box and matching cards were made from a sheet of 12x12" decorative double sided paper from a specialty pack made by Cloud 9 Design. I used a silver and black cord for the handle and an EK Success border punch on the flap of the box.





Stars and stripes on the left with decorative fabric stars attached vertically on the side next to a small strip of striped paper, and the rays embossing folder (Tim Holtz) used on silver paper covering the right side of this card.
Retro circles embossing folder (Tim Holtz) was used on white paper for the top portion of the middle card. Stormy sky distress ink was lightly applied across the embossed circles to add some color. Spellbinders circle dies were used for the sentiment attached in the center of the card.
On the right, the swiss dots embossing folder (cuttlebug) was used on the top portion of the blue card while the striped paper was attached to the bottom half. Silver rick rack helps to define the card and a spellbinders fancy tag die used for the sentiment.

Buttons and decorative ribbon provide interest for the card on the left. The striped side of the paper was used as well as the solid blue (reverse side) with spellbinders oval shaped dies placed in the center for the sentiment.
On the right fleur de lis was the theme using the cuttlebug embossing folder and spellbinders dies for the sentiment as well as corner embellishments. A narrow strip of the stripped paper was crimped and attached across the center of the card.



This accordion gift box is bold and bright. I found this paper at my LSS (Polka Dots). Stripes on one side and floral on the other. I happened to have a piece of ribbon in my stash that was almost, but not quite, a perfect color match for this box. The border punch I used on the front flap is made by EK Success. I wasn't sure how these patterns or bright colors would work on this project, but I really like it! Now, I need to pick the right person to give this to.




These cards would brighten anyone's day! The cards on the right and left use both sides of the decorative paper mixing the floral with the stripes and adding floral embellishments created with cuttlebug and sizzix dies.
The card in the middle has a stars and stripes theme. A stars embossing folder (cuttlebug) and red star brads provide the stars that work so well with the striped paper.





These 2 cards go from mild to wild because I used the floral side of the paper for one of the cards and the bold stripes for the other.
On the left I used the stylized flowers embossing folder (cuttlebug) to coordinate with the patterned paper. I used an EK Success border punch to punch both a brown layer of card stock and the patterned paper. A sheer ribbon was attached to the left edge with red brads to help finish off the card.
On the right I went with a fleur de lis embossing folder (cuttlebug) and continued with that theme using spellbinders dies that also showcase the fleur de lis pattern. Using a deep blue card really made this a bold card.


The 12x12" paper used for this gift box and cards came from a specialty pack made by Cloud 9 Design. The blues and browns gave me plenty of options for choosing coordinating paper and embellishments.
The front flap was punched with an EK Success border punch and a light blue satin ribbon was used as a handle for the gift box.







I really like the retro circles embossing folder (Tim Holtz) and I used it on the two cards on the left. The card on the right uses the polka dots embossing folder (quick cuts) which leaves a much less defined impression in the paper. Spellbinders dies were used for all 3 of these cards for the sentiments . Ribbon, buttons, and brads were used as embellishments. I have plenty of embellishments to choose from!



It's a good thing I have multiple embossing folders with spots or dots or circles so I could give each of these cards a different look.
On the left I used my spots and dots embossing folder (cuttlebug) on brown card stock. I had the perfect blue and brown striped ribbon, and a brown button to use for embellishments.
On the right the swiss dots embossing folder (cuttlebug) was used on white card stock. A strip of blue card stock, the reverse side of the dotted paper, was cut and crimped to create a border across the middle of the card.
Spellbinders dies were used on both cards for the sentiments.


For this gift box I used 2 sheets of double sided 12x12"paper that were in a pack of specialty paper by Cloud 9 Design. One sheet was light blue dotted nested circles on a black background with the reverse side being light blue, and the other sheet was dark blue dotted nested circles on a light blue background.
On the front flap of the gift box I used an EK success border punch that seemed appropriate for the circle theme. The handle is light blue satin ribbon... I love it when I can use things that I already have on hand. I have sooooo much stuff on hand!


I used the blue circles on black background paper to cover about half of each card. I used embossing folders for the 2 cards on the left: retro circles (Tim Holtz) and spots and dots (cuttlebug). For the card on the right I used the reverse side of the patterned paper. I had ribbon that worked well with the 2 cards shown on each end. And once again spellbinders dies came in handy to mount and layer the focal image of each card.



For these cards I used paper with the same dotted nesting circles, but the color scheme was dark blue circles on light blue background. On the left I went with the circle theme. I cut out 3 different size circles from the coordinating blue on black paper, mounted them on spellbinder inverted scallop circle dies cut from silver mirror card stock. I used a clear stardust gel pen to highlight the many light blue dots on the dark circles.
On the right I also used some of the coordinating blue on black paper, but just a strip, that I ran through the paper crimper before attaching to the center of the card. I used the swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder on the white/top portion of the card and a spellbinders die as a background for the sentiment.



I loved working with this piece of paper.. love the theme and the colors. I found it at my LSS (Polka Dots) and I've already gone back for more of it. I have a friend who is crazy about clocks and I know when she sees this... she will want it!!
The ribbon I used for the handle was in my stash and worked great with the colors in the paper. The front flap of the purse was punched with an EK Success border punch... I don't know what the name of it is.



I used various spellbinders labels and tags for the sentiments on the front of each card. The embossing folders used, from left to right, are: distressed stripes (cuttlebug), number collage (cuttlebug), and retro circles (Tim Holtz). I used decorative ribbons to spice up the 2 cards on the right, and a great little clock embellishment from Sky Blue Pink for the card in the middle... perfect!





I used cuttlebug embossing folders on both of these cards... 'clockworks' on the left and 'script' on the right. I also used spellbinders labels on each for the text that is on the front of the cards, and a buckle die for the card on the left.

My embossing folders and spellbinders dies got a workout making the 30 cards that go with these 6 accordion gift boxes. It took a lot of time, but was fun. I can't wait to give some of these as gifts.. much nicer than giving a packet of cards tied together with a ribbon!