The Artful Gathering (Part 1)

I'm back! The annual weekend retreat of an online group I am in was a HUGE success. List mom, Jeri, puts her heart and soul into planning, organizing and conducting these retreats. There is always a theme, a major book project and lots of fun make-and-takes. This year's theme was "girlfriends" and we created a darling girlfriends book, swapped handmade autograph pages which we assembled into autograph books which we all signed, made some cute girly projects and basically had tons of fun! Seventeen of our 42 members attended and they came from all over the US, some as far away as California and Washington state.


There is so much to show and tell about that I will be posting several times in order to get all the photos loaded. Today you will see some of the neat goodies that gals brought for us.


Joan made this great travel jewelry holder from felt, muslin and fibers. The first pic shows it closed with the pretty tag attached and the second shows the case open.

She also made this other tag - darling! I love that image of the precious little boy!

Jeri gave each of us this package of friends stamps - perfect for using in our books.

Jean, one very talented seamstress, made these aprons for us. Each had a fabric transfer with this cute image and our names. The great thing about these aprons is they are adjustable! The second photo shows a closeup of the transfer.

Cher gave each of us this super cool pack of playing cards from ArtChix Studio. Each card has a different collage and image on it. Each suit has a different theme. Aren't they beautiful?

This tag was made by Candy. Each was totally different and we chose our favorite. I loved the image of the little girls and the neat background so this was mine.

This was the chunky wood ATC that Julie and I collaborated on to give everyone. They were made from a 2x4 piece of wood cut 2 1/2" wide to be the same size as an ATC but fat! You can't see it in the photo, but there's a decorative upholstery tack holding the flower on the top.

We also received lots of cute little baggies filled with odds and ends of embellishments, candy, nuts, and even a candle and bath fizzie! What fun is that to get lots of gifts from your friends!

Tomorrow I will share some of the projects we made.

Pillow Exchange

By the time you read this, I will be on my way to the art retreat - yeah! I just wanted to share the pillow I made for our pillow exchange during the weekend retreat. It will be like a "Chinese gift exchange" - we are supposed to bring a pillow approximately 12" x 12", either handmade or purchased. I saw a pillow awhile ago online (on Craft Stylish or Craft Gossip maybe?) which I decided to make for this.

This is the back of the pillow - can you guess what it's made of? In case you can't - it's made from a man's pinstripe shirt! Super easy as you use the front portion with the buttons as the back of the pillow - no zippers or handsewing a seam!



Here is the front. The flower is made from a torn strip of fabric from one of the sleeves, gathered and topped with a button. I also tied on four buttons from the wrist cuffs in the corners of the pillow.

Here's a closeup of the flower and one of the buttons in the corners. I hope the gals will like it. It's very simple, but oh so soft. I love the fact that I recycled a shirt!

Still another class

Scraps, scraps, scraps. What do you do with all your scraps? How about "Scrap Happy Cards". That's the name of another class I'll be teaching with Cre8Joy Workshops in the coming months.
We will take 12 card sketches and a pile of scraps and make 12 cards. Here are my few samples, using only two sketches to show how different cards can look depending on the papers, embellishments and even the orientation chosen.

Today I'm crazy busy packing supplies (lots!) and clothes (not so much!) for the annual four-day retreat of an online group. Lucky for me this is being held about ten miles from my house, but there will be twenty of us from all over the country. Some of the gals I've met before; some I haven't. So this will be a fun, fun weekend. And Saturday we will all be attending the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, TX. So, not sure if I'll get a chance to post these next few days, but I'll have plenty to share next week!

More teaching projects

Another class I'll be teaching is a card class making "Cards for Him" - these can be used for Father's Day cards or just general cards for those men in our lives. I think masculine cards are the hardest to make as I always want to add ribbons or flowers or buttons etc. In my classes I try to include different techniques along with stamping - these cards include alcohol inks on acetate, stamping with bleach, wrinkle-free distressing and making a wood plank background.

MIA

I apologize for being absent almost a week. I spent a good part of last week getting ready for Cre8Joy's Open House - we showcased all our upcoming classes, had a make-n-take and served refreshments. It was very successful and we had lots of sign-ups.

One of my classes will be a vintage "suitcase" and travel/heritage book. This took alot of my time the past few weeks, but I can now share pictures. I designed this so that it could be used as a memento scrapbook of a special trip or used for treasured vintage photographs.

The "suitcase" box and book are from Maya Road and the book fits inside the box, even with all the embellishments. Here are pictures of the top of the box and a sideview. You can't make it out in the pictures, but the "luggage label" has a stamped transparency which says "destination unknown." The box has a frosted acrylic inset which I backed with some items and then collaged additional items on top. This gives added dimension.

This is the front cover of the book. The square is actually cut out from the cover with clear acrylic added. (The patterned paper that shows through is from the first page of the book.) Adhered to the top of the acrylic is a collage sandwiched inside a Tim Holts memory capsule frame.

Here are the inside pages. I used twill ribbon, stamped acetate, buttons, other ribbon, foreign coins, an old map page, tickets, copies of old postcards, postage stamps and various other ephemera to embellish.

I used Graphic 45's "Transatlantique" papers, another fab paper line from that company. This was super fun to do once I got into the groove. And, of course, I hope that many people will sign up!

Happy Memorial Day

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday but took some time to appreciate and thank all the veterans and current servicemen and women for their sacrifices to ensure our freedom. I grew up in a small town in New England and the Memorial Day parade was one of the highlights of the year. Everyone turned out to either march in the parade or watch from the sidewalks. The parade went to the cemetary for a short ceremony. My most vivid memories are of all the little flags on the graves and the gun salute that was always presented.

I am participating in a patriotic 4" x 4" fatbook swap. I finished my pages a few days ago and thought it appropriate to post it today. The picture I used is of my father and I in about 1950. I must have gotten tired of walking and he picked me up and carried me the rest of the way. I was the firstborn and at the time of this picture my younger brother hadn't arrived. Look at how fancied up I was - I think I was my mom's little doll. I always had curls and bows - and did you notice my little coat and purse? (Click on the photo to enlarge.) She sewed all my clothes too.

For this page I swiped some cream paint on the lower left corner of the paper and stamped over it. The mini-beads were adhered on a strip of tape. The red star is a child's hair clip and the "ribbon" is a strip torn from an old pinstripe man's shirt. The flag I am holding in the picture didn't show up very well and was too small to color in, so I found a tiny flag on a calendar and made copies to add. This is one of my most favorite pictures of my dad and I and I'm glad it worked well for this project.

Baby gift and card

I went to a six-hour crop Friday night and was able to get a few projects finished. A good friend just had a new grandbaby so I wanted to send a little gift to new baby Clara. It's a wooden initial C which I painted and covered with paper. The baby shoes are a sticker. I stamped pink baby feet on a little white tag and added letter beads to spell her name - like the hospital bracelets that used to be put around babies' wrists. (I guess now they just put a cheesy paper band on!) Then I just added some tiny flowers, buttons and bows.

Here's the card. I used a chipboard dress form from Crafty Secrets as a pattern and traced it on cardstock. The coordinating pinafore is scored just below the waist to open for a handwritten greeting. The "lace" edging is strips of white paper punched with a Martha Stewart border punch.