Out With the Old: Some Unshared Projects From 2014

Hello!  I was organizing some photos the other day, as I was tucking 2014 into bed, and realized I had some projects that I hadn't shared here!  Would you like to have a look-see at some of my favorites?

Mini Albums

I love this mini album I made to record memories of a trip to visit my dear friend Christine in Denver. I adore the rustic piano hinge binding that I made using twigs that I gathered from the birch tree in my front yard.

Another dear mini album is the one I made for my dad for his 70th birthday.  Yeah, the cover doesn't really match the style of the interior pages, but I'm ok with that.  The focus of this project was to express the love I have for my dad, and I think that I conveyed that pretty well.

While presenting in front of a whole lot of family, I didn't want to provide explanation for this "Do Not Poke the Bear" card from Cocoa Daisy.  But, growing up my dad always referred to my mom as "The Bear", and during those smarmy teenage years he would often coach me not to provoke her with my attitude.  :)

Art Journal

I worked quite a bit in my art journal this year, and most everything in it was black and white work. I practiced sketching and shading, and I doodled and journaled.  

Scrapbook Layouts

Here are a handful of layouts to peruse.  I think all the seasons of the past year are represented, though chronological scrapping is not my thing.  My guides are emotion, nostalgia, and pretty paper.

I love that these kids truly love each other.
I hear them say it to each other all the time.

Love this bouquet of dried sage flowers picked up on a local walk.

Blaze loves the beach! It's nice to finally have a kid that enjoys it as much as I do.

Documented Bliss*
*Mine, not hers.

Jillian's costume from Halloween 2013 finally scrapped

Dorking out, just because it keeps me entertained.

Aw, sweet little ol' me.

Off-the-Page Projects

We started 2014 off with a fun commissioned project for our new local scrapbook store.  Anna, one of the other design team members, Mike and I worked together to build a huge magnetic chalkboard for the store's grand opening.  It was so fun to work on this project with Mike.  I must say, as difficult as they were, I truly miss those years where we worked side by side creating and running his bike company.  :)

Photo by Tonya Wade

 Here is a cute little gifty inviting a friend to Tea for Two.  I love that I had a couple of teabags from Trader Joe's whose tags perfectly matched the paper I used.  It's Ginger Pear White Tea, if you are interested.  Pretty good with a vanilla and white chocolate biscotti.

This was a failed attempt to do some free-motion sewing, challenged by the One Little Word blog to create something inspired by the word "aspire".  I didn't continue the piece, annoyed by puckering, impatience, and lack of stabilizer.  But I enjoyed the practice, and will keep at it.

In the meantime I finished these pillows for our sofa, which I hand-emboidered with the artsy look of free-motion sewing.  Mike drew the dogs for me and I traced them onto the fabric along with the words "sit" and "stay".  I crocheted a scalloped trim, and hope they send a welcoming invitation to our guests.

 Aw, here is Blaze modeling how to use one properly.  :)

This is another commissioned piece made for a teacher's retirement.  The kids later added their thumbprints as foliage to the tree.  

I love these little Halloween trees!  My favorite part are the tree stumps made from wine corks.  I painted the corks black and scribbled on them with gold glitter glue--totally looks like bark!!

Also, for the love of all things pumpkin, I crafted these wire pumpkins and tacked them to canvases.  One canvas I painted orange, and the other I left primed white.  I rather like both of them!

Here is another wine cork craft.  I made these cute place cards as a design team project for Craft Envy.  Just a simple circle folded into a rectangle and slipped into a slit cut into the cork.  

And finally, a gingerbread luminaria, which has been on my bucket list for a dozen or more years.  I had seen them in a Sunset magazine long ago, tried, failed, and have long lost the magazine.  I was able to come up with a great "construction" gingerbread recipe online that made for much more predictable and sturdy pieces.

So, there you have it, assuming someone actually made it to the end of tis monstrous post!  It is my intention to share more regularly in 2015.  I will be sure to put out more manageable sized chunks of content.  No one should have to take a potty break in the middle of a blog post!!

Thanks for stopping by!

New Love: Fabric Twine

I. Am. In. LOVE!!

I saw this tutorial for making fabric twine on Pinterest and just had to give it a go.  Finally!!  I'm putting fabric to use that has been in my stash for 20 years!!  (Not even exaggerating!!)

Once I had a good amount of twine twisted up I played around with ways to use it, from tying up pretty packages to making this:

I painted a canvas with a couple shades of brown, then covered it with a piece of burlap.  A bit of pinkish paint around the edge to coordinate with my twine, and then the fun of looping the letters began.

I used needle and thread to carefully baste and weave the twine securely in place.  What's next?  Words, shapes, pot holders, a rug??  Who knows!!  But I'm definitely going to be twisting up some more twine!!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Current Obsession: Paper Beads

We had a stack of fliers at work promoting a weekend Cinco de Mayo celebration that took place on Saturday, May 3rd.  It seemed a shame to toss them into the recycle bin.  They were glossy printed on both sides of a heavy sheet of paper, and the festive colors were so fun!  I felt they needed to be used for something greater than pulp and made a few paper beads.

I love them!  And I have plans for them--a wall hanging, kind of like a beaded curtain.  I am now obsessing over them, and was awake in the middle of the night planning other bits to work into the design.  

There are so many different shapes and renditions of paper beads with plenty of tutorials online like this one at www.bigbeadlittlebead.com. I am embracing the wonky, and choosing to hand cut my paper without ruler, measure, or straight edge.  Super fun!

Have you ever made paper beads?

Thanks for stopping by!

Keep Calm

Our family has a bit of a reputation.

We are an easy-going bunch.  No arguing, no bickering, no drama.  No rushing about.  No worries. We go with the flow.

Friends lovingly tease us about our family vibe, and "Flaherty" has become not so much an adjective or a verb, but more of an attitude, a way of approaching stress or chaos.

Keep Calm and Flaherty On.  

I hand cut the words to create a stencil and used flexible modeling
paste to "screen" them onto an old green T-shirt.  It was an
experiment, to be sure, but fairly successful.  Next time I would
cut the stencil out of card stock instead of flimsy copy paper.

It was the idea I had for the crown that pushed me to actually create this piece.  And with "Calm" being the Word Up at the One Little Word challenge, I had a deadline.  No worries, though. :)

Chill.  

It's a little wonky, but I was free handing the embroidery from
 a sketch I drew up based on a piece of clip art.  

Head on over to One Little Word to check out all the loveliness created by the design team and other Wordsters.  And, if you'd like to link up your own calm-inspired creations, you have till April 14th!! 

Have a chill day! 

Thanks for visiting!

Bunny Canvas

Our little bun-bun, Edward. *sigh*  We've been missing him, as he passed away earlier this year.  He was the best rabbit.  We loved having him hopping free about the house, and snuggling in like a pup when we'd eat dinner at the coffee table or settle in to watch TV.

I know you are resting in peace, little guy, except when you are happily bouncing from cloud to cloud
 or having your ears and face cuddled and petted by your loving angels.

I made this canvas for Remember When a few months ago, using some papers from Fancy Pants and inspired by this post on Pinterest.  

Various papers from the collection were cut into 1/4 inch strips, randomly chosen, and trimmed to size

Heidi Swapp Color Shine painted on the edges.  I think I use that stuff on almost every project!

Pierced holes and embroidered around the edge of the silhouette
sharpens the shape and adds a finishing touch

This was a super fun project, and a great way to use up scraps!  Thanks for stopping by and having a look!  Have a "hoppy" day! ;)