Saturday, March 9, 2013

Vintage Tattered Florals Corsage


When Tim Holtz announced his Tattered Florals Challenge my brain kicked into gear and I got a little nutty.  I Tweeted Tim to be sure we could enter more than one project- he said "yes"- and I got down to business.  
For those of you who have never seen the die, I wanted to show you what exactly it is.  At left you see the shapes that come from the Tattered Florals die and the die is laid out as you see it.  If you cover the die entirely with 1 layer of whatever material you want to cut, you will get 1 of each petal shape.  Because it is a steel rule die, you can cut multiple layers of fabric and cardstock at once.  To get only 1 or 2 of the petal shapes you simply cover that portion of the die.   Steel rule dies cut a variety of materials- cardstock, chipboard/mat board, Grunge (paper and board), fabric, craft metal, craft plastic, felt, flexible magnet, poly foam, Shrink Plastic, vellum and vinyl making them so versatile.  
Ok, so back to the challenge.  The first project I submitted is an older project- from June- but I LOVE  the way it looks and I really want to share it again.  The project was made during the Compendium of Curiosity Vol. 2 Challenge as part of the Tissue Wrap week.  I made package embellishments from the "daisy" petals of the Tattered Florals die and Tissue Wrap.  The Tissue Wrap makes for such a full and textured flower and I added a big Jolee bling to the center of each flower…easy and effective.   You can read more about it here.
The second project I submitted was the bunny card with the chiffon flowers that I posted yesterday. 
Each flower was made using several of the same petals and adding a Swarovski crystal or two to the center with hot glue.  

That brings us to today…this vintage corsage I made for my 96-year-old grandmother.
The fabrics are vintage…lucky me I get a box every month from the wonderfully talented Gilded Girls Stash Society full of yummy vintage fabric, trims, jewels, and embellishments. The Mother (Debbie) and Daughter (Shea) duo behind the Gilded Life are uber talented and have such a flair for feminine and vintage it boggles the mind.  Check them out if you haven't heard of them- you won't regret it and don't be surprised if you find yourself lost for hours inside their world.  Their blog is What Happens Next.  If you want to read posting about the Stash Society click here, or to see the unbelievable clothing that Debbie makes for Shea's daughter Stella, check out What Stella Wore…I promise you will be stunned in the best way possible and oh so inspired.
As I was saying before I got all lost among the Gilded Girls…the corsage fabrics are vintage: a tan linen and a rich, buttery-soft, brown velvet.  I added a little gold tulle that I had from who-knows-where because it needed the texture and sparkle.  The stamens are just cheapies from Michaels that I dyed with alcohol ink like my friend Paula Cheney does.  I just LOVE what the ink does to the stamens.  I used a combination of colors- Gold, Butterscotch and Cranberry Adirondack to color them.
For this project the flowers are made suing a combination of petal shapes.  I played around with layering the linen and the velvet in contrasting shapes so that the velvet petals are much smaller than the linen petals.
The ribbon is NOT vintage but it sure looks like it doesn't it?  I cannot remember what colors I used but I misted the white Seam Binding with water until it was quite wet and then added a few Distress Stains in brown colors- I think I used Pumice Stone, Tea Dye and Old Paper…but I'm not so sure.  Play around with Distress Stain colors- it always looks amazing.
I cut small holes in the center of the flowers and stuck the wire from the stamens through, added a length of 22 gauge wire and floral tape- in reality I just used a very simple but traditional technique for making a corsage. The wires were then floral taped together as I built the corsage from the top down to the ribbon bow.  I cannot wait to give it to my grandma.   She's been ill this week- ill enough to be admitted to the hospital for a few days so hopefully this will bring some cheer to her day.

Laters Baby….
This Post was linked to the following Linky Parties:
The 36th Avenue
Bloom Designs Online

Friday, March 8, 2013

Bunny Card

While I didn't have the Mover and Shaper Bunny, I do have the full size version.  I decided to cut him out and use flocking to give him a stuffed bunny look and feel.  I added glass glitter embellishments and a jaunty blue bow.  

 The background is made using Tim's new Distress Paints.  They are faboosh…make such vibrant and gorgeous backgrounds.  I did use ink to fill in the areas that didn't' get paint.
 The flowers are made using Chiffon and Tattered Florals die.  I make each flower from a single type of flower cutout.  A Swarovski crystal- or two-was glued in the center of each flower.
I am submitting this card to Tim Holtz's Tattered Floral Challenge as well as the following Linky Parties:
Ranger Ink Seasonal Palate
Just Us Four
The 36th Avenue
Bloom Designs
Laters Baby….

Thursday, March 7, 2013

March Tag: 12 Tags of 2013

I cannot believe it is already the 3rd tag of Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013.  Time is flying by…

First I always like to show Tim's Tag:
Source: Tim Holtz
And then my tag:

 Tim used the Mover and Shaper bunny which I didn't happen to have but I do have the butterflies.  I ended up making this on a size 10 tag which I LOVE.

The flowers are Vintaj; I have Tim's Ideaology flowers and I about tore my hair out trying to find them and finally gave up.  As soon as the paint was dry and the flowers attached to the card I found Tim's sitting right next to my workspace….figures!
Laters Baby….

This post was linked to the following Linky Parties:
Ranger Ink
Just Us Four
The 36th Avenue
Bloom Designs

Monday, March 4, 2013

Quick Little Mini Album

Tim Holtz is hosting a Tattered Florals Challenge and I am knee deep into making flowers to enter.  The challenge runs until March 22 and the only rule is you MUST use the Alterations Tattered Florals die.  That's it!  Tim and his team will pick 5 winners who will each win a $100 Tim Holtz Prize Package and you know I wanna win.

Good News/Bad News:
  • Bad: Even though I have spent two long sessions in the studio playing with flowers made from fabrics (chiffon, organza, tule, burlap, satin, silk velvet & the coolest metallic) as well as paper (Grunge, chipboard, & book pages) and colored the flowers with Distress Stains, Glimmer Mist and Color Shine sprays, Distress Stains,  Distress Inks and Distress Paints.. I'm Distressed cuz I haven't had any EUREKA moments yet.
  • Good: I have learned some new and interesting ways to layer the petals that will be perfect for B's wedding projects. 
Tim made fun and funky pins using Distress Paints in fresh spring colors giving them such a playful quality.  
Source: Tim Holtz
He asked several of his favorite artists to play along and of course they stepped up and made some pretty amazing items.  Paula at 2 Gypsy Girls made a happy piece she put in a fabulous YELLOW frame that is just perfect for spring.  
Source: Paula Cheney 2 Gypsy Girls 
Jim at The Gentleman Crafter went Steam Punk making his flowers from metal and adding clocks and gears for his project.  
Source: Jim Hankins The Gentleman Crafter 
Tammy Tutterow really blew me away with her millinery flowers.  She used several Distress products to get a great vintage look on her petals.  She used the flowers to decorate a straw hat that her darling daughter is wearing for the blog photo.  
Source: Tammy Tutterow @TammyTutterow.com
All four have posted very thorough, step-by-step, photo tutorials.  Tammy and Jim are each giving away a Tattered Floral die- all you have to do is leave a comment on either or both blogs (use the links above) before midnight March 22nd; each will draw a random winner on the 23rd.

As for my flowers….I hope to have something to show tomorrow.  When I got tired of fighting the flowers, I worked on my version of the March tag for Tim's 12 Tags of 2013.  I have it almost completed- just need to get the metal flowers-or a substitute since I am not sure I have the flowers- and then photograph it, run it through Photoshop, blah blah blah.

I do have a cute little album to share that I made a few weeks ago.  
Like the Memory Album I posted last week, this project started as a digital file from Lori Whitlock.  The Accordion Fold Binding Mini Album is available here for $2.99.
I didn't mention this before, but I use Sure Cuts A Lot aka SCAL2 in order to be able to use my Cricut Expression with digital files like this. Unfortunately, SCAL is no longer able to sell a version for use with Cricut products.  Cricut does have a Mini Books cartridge available as a physical cartridge or a digital download (you can order either one from the link).  Of course, if you have one of the other cutting machines, you can use SCAL; read all about it here.
I didn't photograph every page because they are just simple undecorated pages, but you can see there are several different pages in the book.  The digital file included an envelope with a large tag and the scalloped border page.  Of course, it is up to the artist to decide how many of each page to cut…this is the beauty of digital files.

One of my favorite 101 Ideas projects
Source: 101 Ideas
The paper I used is from Heidi Swapp's Sugar Chic collection. The Dream Sticker is a super old Making Memories definition sticker from the dark ages.  Bright pink polka dot Washi tape and a strip of rhinestones complete the cover.  

Finally, I did want to mention that Michael's is now selling Heidi Swapp products and for those of use without a local scrapbook store. I can only say "YAY".  Heidi is celebrating with 101 Ideas; her ideas are always fun and she has made it so easy that it is worth checking out.  All of the "101 Ideas" are posted to one specific page on her website meaning no searching through endless blog posts to find them.  From now until May 26, pop on over to 101 Ideas to find a new daily "Project Inspiration" with instructions.  So far Team Swapp has posted layouts, cards, mini albums, Memory Files, garlands, and home decor; really something for everyone.


That's all for today….my "short posts" always end up "not short posts" as in "really wordy posts"…I have issues.  Sorry…that's all I can say.

Laters Baby…..

Friday, March 1, 2013

Clippings Mini Album

I made a beautiful mini album using the papers and embellishments from Basic Grey's Clippings collection.  I had a lot of small pieces of paper left over and quite a few embellishments so made a small mini album using pieces of paper as the binding.  

Lots of fun envelopes and  texture added to the pages. 
 
 The binding looked messy on the outside so I covered it completely with Idea-ology Tissue Wrap and Tissue Tape using Ranger's Glue 'N Seal.  Perfect way to easily cover an uneven surface. 
This book is for sale on my Etsy site. 

Laters Baby….
This post has been linked to the following Linky Parties:
Just Us Four
Finding Fabulous
Liz Marie Blog
A Little Knick Knack
Classy Clutter
The 36th Avenue
Bloom Designs