verb [ intrans. ] indulge in enjoyable recollection of past events
It's been almost 8 years since I was planning my daughter's wedding. It was a crazy time with not only a wedding but we moved from our home of 17 years and I was in the middle of doing a book, "Designing With Fabric". It has been a long time, but if by chance you purchased that book, you might have noticed that most of the projects that I did were wedding related. Many projects had to do double duty in both the wedding and the book so I could get to all that needed to be done. One of my favorite projects was Emali's bridal shower invitation. My sister and niece did the shower but asked if I would help design the invitation. We all got together to assemble them....it was a lot of fun, and actually went together pretty quick with the three of us working on it.
Here is how the invitation was pictured in the book -
Please don't notice that 2 hangers in the center are facing backwards....loved this picture, but that always bugged me!
The idea for this came to me in the middle of the night. I got up, sketched it and went back to bed. Am I the only one that does that?
You will need:
wire hangers - I got smaller sized hangers from my dry cleaner.
3 book pages per invitation
small buttons
1/4" ribbon
tag
fabric tag
Cover the hanger with 3 vintage book pages. I used pages from a vintage wedding etiquette book that I found. I used a bit of glue stick just to keep them together until the stitching and ribbon ties were done.
Page #1
Covering the left side of hanger
Page #2
The center page
Page #3
Covering the right side of hanger
Punch 5 holes for ribbon ties
Add ribbon, stitch X's and sew on buttons.
Up close details....
A tag was slipped into the "pocket" between pages. It was to be returned to the bride at the shower. It could contain advice, a quote, or a memory for the bride. This created a perfect start for a "Bride's Closet" theme carried on through the evening.
The actual information about the shower was printed onto fabric and cut into a tag shape. We were able to get four per fabric sheet. Twill tape was used to make a tab at the top and attached with a grommet.
(The printing on the fabric was quite clear, I have blurred the contact info)
The fabric tag was tied to the top of the hanger.
Today I went to another shower for Emali, this time a baby shower.
After 3 darling girls she is having a boy!! Congratulations Em!
I have been participating in the Young Survival Coalition (Duluth) Scrap for Survival since I met Alane a few years ago at the Chicago CHA Show. The Young Survival Coalition supports young women across the US, diagnosed with cancer whether you are newly diagnosed, a survivor or a caregiver.
I live here in California so I participate by creating something that can be offered in a silent auction at the event. I thought I would share what I created before it gets packed up and shipped off this week to my friend Alane.
I used a picture of my niece's family just to show you a finished
tray. When I send the tray, it will have an empty spot so the buyer can
put their own family picture in. Also included is a set of chipboard
numbers to personalized the top right corner.
The Photo Shadow Box Tray (16 x 12") is 7gypsies of course, as is the easel it is sitting on. The paper is from My Minds Eye - Kraft Funday, 6 x 6 pad that I picked up at my local scrapbook store, The Shabby Scrapper.
On a side note, it has been years since there has been a scrapbook store in my area (I am talking 150 miles in either direction).
So nice to walk in, see great displays, paper and embellishments.
Seriously, a darling store. So if you are on the Central Coast of
California, maybe vacationing at Pismo Beach stop by at 1045 Grand Ave, Arroyo Grande, CA. #805-489-4430
Now let me show you the details...
I cut the flower shape from the MME paper and held it in place with a memo pin and a cork. I added some text paper and a vintage watch face. The hanging dots are part of an extra embellishment pack from MME.
The phrases card I made myself. This one fits the tray at 4 x 5 1/4". If you want a copy of the PDF file, just email me.
The hanging tin is an old salt shaker that I wired to a swivel clasp. The swivel clasp is hanging from a hook created by 7gypsies specifically for the trays. Can't get enough of these.
To make the patchwork background, I cut a piece of computer paper the size of the tray opening. I cut pieces of the patterned paper and adhered them to the white paper with a small amount of tape from a tape runner until it looked like a patchwork quilt.
Next...sewing of course. I put the sewing machine on a larger, almost basting size stitch length. Time to cut the threads...
This is what the back looked like in the end. If I had some loose stitches on the edges I just taped the strings down with scotch tape.
Here I just cut some very simple house shapes from chipboard and decorated them with vintage paper and new. The stamp is from the old Disclaimer stamp set (seriously one of my all time favorites). The 10 cent ticket is vintage with another chitchat sticker added.
The metal piece, I believe, came from my visit to Red Lead Studios (my favorite store in St Louis). The little dog is from a Monopoly game. I just gave him a brown coat of Alcohol Ink.
And lastly, I used some glossy accents on the word, good and the butterfly.
So that's it for today. Time to pack it up and ship it out to Alane.
Again, if you want to know more about YSC or find a local chapter you can click here for the home page then click on the city closest to you.
And if you live near Dulth, MN and might want to participate in the 15 hour scrapbooking event on April 21st, you can register here.
cheers to Alane for her ongoing efforts in this cause!
paula
My all-time fav is the harlequin black and cream paper - I hoard that stuff and am down to my last page or two. I notice there's some in the box so pick me!
Congratulations Susan, email me your address and I will get your box of goodies sent out right away.
Enjoy,
Deb
ps) Stay tuned...we'll be back later today with 7gypsies tray project.
I have been waiting patiently for my box of brand new 7gypsies product, which sadly has yet to arrive. I was planning on doing a "give-a-way" post...sharing our gypsy stuff is one of our favorite things to do.
It occurred to me that there are a lot of gypsy goods that have been created in the past (some still my favorites) that are impossible or very difficult to find. Since I have become the keeper of all "vintage gypsy" I thought I would put together a box with some of those items. Most included in the box you won't be able to find online or at a retail store. A lot of items you can't see in the photo below, so there will be surprises! Some of my favorites are Life creme paper, "Atelier" enamal plate (great for your studio), disclaimer rubbings, "Work In Progress" book band and "papier" tissue.
click on photo for larger view
Do you have a favorite vintage 7gypsies product? You know, those things that you are afraid to use as you "may not be able to find them again". Post a comment by Monday, telling us your favorite for a chance to win. We will announce the winner on Tuesday.
Hope you all had a nice weekend. I went to an estate sale on Saturday morning and picked up a few things. Sometimes it amazes me what people keep for so long. Things that should have gone to recycle or the dump years ago. The man having the sale was funny...he told me would give ME $5.00 if I would take the broken lamp/table (you know, it's a standing lamp that has a small table around it's middle). It had no shade and the only half the table. Something I did not need at my house, but we both got a nice laugh.
I ended up with a couple really large frames, a big spool of heavy wire (just because you never know when you might need wire), a couple old books, and a wooden thing...kinda shaped like a bowling pin. I asked the man what it was and he said it was for women to hit their husbands over the head. See, I told you he was a funny old guy. I already have an idea for it and it has nothing to do with hitting Jay over the head. More on that another day.
So on to today's tutorial!
I have this box of Liquid Pearls that were sent to me by Ranger when I participated in this. Liquid Pearls Dimensional Paint is a waterproof pearlescent paint
designed for paper and fabric. Each of the 30 colors have a pearly finish which gives an interesting depth. As the name
implies it's dimensional, meaning that when you squeeze a bead out onto a
surface, the bead will keep it's shape during the drying process (it will also change from a "candy kiss" shape when squeezed out to a round bead). Once dry, the dimensional beads can be left as is or painted over.
When I received the box for the Designer Challenge, I sorted the colors by "my range" and "brights",
not normally the colors I gravitate to. Sorting out the colors helped
me narrow down my choices for the project I was working on at the time.
This are some of my the tags I did when testing this product for the Designer Challenge. It's always good to see what a new product (or at least new to me) can do before you start. It really helps me to formulate more ideas and uses.
Today I decided to get out the Liquid Pearls "brights" and challenge myself to use them. I made some fun discoveries. I still need more time to experiment but let me show you the in's and out's of what I learned today.
First, I got out a stack of really big (like a #10) heavy weight tags to work on. I decided on Liquid Pearls in Daffodil a nice bright yellow. You will need to work on a craft mat because in most cases the Liquid Pearls will go over the edge and that is not something you want on your craft table, kitchen table or clothes.
I want to preface this part by saying that when you use Liquid Pearls in a non-traditional use such as this...thinning it out so much...it dries very fast. So be ready with a 1/2 sheet of a paper towel scrunched up, then squeeze the Liquid Pearls out onto the tag.
Start rubbing it into the surface right away. The first time I tried this I used a lot of Liquid Pearls and covered the entire tag in one shot.
It was a rich yellow color. Super vibrant with a really interesting texture to the surface. It almost has the look and feel of Venetian wall plaster. Have you ever touched a wall with that kind of paint treatment? super smooth, velvety feeling. This is that same kinda feeling.
Try No. 2
This time I want to give more depth to the tag. So I decided to use less Liquid Pearls to leave some raw space on the tag.
The thinner it gets the faster it dries so I found it easier to do the middle, then go back and and a bit more on the edges.
This was my final result. Even the edges that look like they are still raw, have a slight yellow to them, it's just very thin.
I went around the edge with a light coat of Vintage Photo. Remember, Distress Ink is a dye ink so it will only "stick" to the paper surface not the Liquid pearls. If I were to do this same thing on the first tag I created it would not age the tag at all since I left no paper for the Distress ink to color.
Next I went back over the tag with Milled Lavender.
Now that's the depth I was looking for.
Love how the center is very vibrant yellow and the fade to the edges.
I added my current favorite stamp from Stampendous - flower fields using Archival Ink - coffee. If you are going to stamp on the tag you will need to use Archival or Staz On because of the slick surface. I set the inked image with a heat gun.
Here you can see the Milled Lavender a bit better. So many levels of color here.
Tag No 3.
This time is was heavy on the Liquid Pearls to give more texture (since the dimension will keep it's shape in the drying process) and did not pull the color all they way across they tag. This will make a good inclusion for a journal and I can still write on the back side.
I went around it with Vintage Photo and stamped it with the 7gypsies clear stamp - Conservatory.
I know I need more time for experimentation using this product. But for now I am happy with what I have learned and with Easter in a few weeks this Daffodil yellow is perfect.
What did I do with the 1st tag that I colored all yellow?
I punched butterflies.
Before I end this post I wanted to add a few random bits of information: Wood Disc's - I have heard from a few people that they have gone to their local Michaels store and have found that the wood disc's used in last weeks tutorial discontinued. I have found the same thing. There are many places online to purchase the dics.
Here are a couple:
single bag - Woodcrafter
bulk - Woodworks Ltd
Also if you have a minute this week be sure to read this lovely post by Cathe Holden.
And if you have a couple hours...take the time to find and watch Bill Cunningham New York. A documentary about Bill and his life's work, photographing fashion on the streets of New York. I loved this movie and Bills humor and honesty about life. Even if you are not "into" fashion it is still an absolutely fascinating profile of this extraordinary man.
It can be found at Netflicks and on iTunes for download ($3.99)
Here is the trailer.
PS) Be sure to also watch the deleted scenes (about 8 of them). Totally worth the extra time (I watched it while I folded the laundry so the time was not a waste at all).
Well, that's all for today. I think I have given you enough to think about for a few days and even a couple homework assignments.
cheers!
paula
I love discovering a good book series already out so I don't have to wait for long stretches of time between books. Awhile back my sweet daughter-in-law got me hooked on The Hunger Games book series. As she was explaining to me the concept for the book I didn't think it was something I would get into but started it anyway. It is the kind of book that you can't put down and on the New York Times bestseller list for three consecutive years!
Can't wait...
They have made it into a movie which is coming out on March 23rd.
Here's a trailer.....
See more here....here's hoping that the movie is as good as the book.
So many people have liked the distress stain technique from last week, thanks for all comments everyone! Today I wanted to share what one of our readers, Anne Voss sent me. Lets just say, Anne took it a few steps further than I did! Love it.
She followed the same basic technique (white paint then distress stain) on the wood disk but changed it up using a Distress Crackle -Rock Candy instead of Glossy Accents. I am trying this once I get more wood disks. The local Michaels store has now shifted everything and the darn disk packages are gone (you and I both know they had been there for 30 years). So today might just warrant a trip to JoAnne's to see if they have them.
I asked Ann if she would give us a detailed description of how she did this (which you will find below) and she was happy to share. Man, I saw the ornament hangers on the after Christmas sale...why didn't I think of this?
After the Distress Stain was dry, I cut the picture from an old advertising sticker (maybe Easter Seals?) using my die cut machine and a scalloped oval die from Spellbinders. I glued the picture on with Glossy Accents. Once dry, painted the disk with Distress Crackle - Rock Candy. After that dried, I used Distress Ink in Vintage Photo over the top and edges, but wiped it off the surface so it was just in the cracks. I also left it where a few of the pieces of crackle paint popped off (which I "encouraged" a little by using a die pick to loosen them). I added a little more ink around the edges to make them a little darker, trying to not get too much over the actual picture.
I drilled holes in the wood using my Dremel, and then cut ivory color ribbon into a thin strip. I also colored the ribbon with Distress Inks by pulling it over the pad a few times and squishing it and misting a little with water to get the right color.
Using one of Tim's Charm Clips in one of the drilled holes, I threaded the ribbon through and then attached it to the rusty heart (from my stash) by tying a bow on the back. The butterfly, again from my stash, is attached with a metal brad through a hole in the body and the wood. The copper-ish wire and clip are from some old electronics, stripped off the rubber. I used Alcohol Inks - Slate and Sandal and Metallic Mixative to color the clip and wire. After drying, I wound the wire around a Q-tip then used black and grey Copic Markers to color here and there over the wire and clip to dull the color just a little.
The Bunny is die cut (QuikKutz) out of cardstock. I painted it with a crackle medium and let it dry completely. Antique gold/brass embossing powder was applied after covering the bunny with Perfect Medium. I did not fully melt the embossing powder, since I wanted it textured. I went over that with the Black Soot Distress Ink, again wiping off the surface, leaving the black in the "pits". The hanger on the top is from Target (after Christmas sale), it is an ornament hook.
So many good techniques in Anne's description. Love the bunny...and who would have ever thought to add stripped wire to a piece? not me.
Thanks go to Anne for sharing her talent today at One Lucky Day.
