Fly Away Art Journal

Today, I want to share an art journal I created for Spellbinders to use in an ad.  When I responded to the call for this project, I decided to make the journal as if it were for myself.  Then I would have something I liked if it wasn't used for an ad.  Well, of course, they liked it!!!  I like it, too! 

 

The call required the use of aqua, soft yellow, green and orange.  I doubt I would have used those exact colors otherwise!!!  It was a challenge to step a bit out of my "box"!  I really like the combo now!

 

I made this art journal totally!  I cut Mixed Media paper and tore the edges for the pages.  Then I bound it with my Bind-It-All. 



The cover is natural canvas that I dyed with Ranger Color Wash.  Actually, I used the back side because it was a better color for this project.  I stitched the canvas to a smaller piece of natural canvas with some cotton batting sandwiched between.

I sewed the cover to the binding with leather lacing.  It took me awhile to figure out how to connect the two. The sewing worked out well!

The pages are blank for art journaling but I added a few little inspiration cards bound in with the pages.  Each one has an art related statement.  Those are from Cosmo Cricket.  I used the same mixed media paper, leaving it plain so one could art journal on the tags, too.

Now for the cover, the fun part! 

The bird is one of the new blanks from Spellbinders® Media Mixage™ line.  I painted it, textured it and sanded it a bit.  A bit of turquoise felt shows through the opening on the bird.  I added fabric wings that I colored with ink. The bird pulls 2 flags through the sky!  I used letter stickers from Cosmo Cricket to spell the words.  I added a couple clouds to the sky, too.

 

The bird house was cut with a Spellbinders Cuckoo Clock die.  ( now retired but may be available yet in some stores)  It's cut from burlap.  I trimmed off the "cuckoos" from the bottom and the chimney.  I cut 3 different fabrics for the roof trim and layered them and added yellow brads. The trim at the bottom of the house is 2 layers plus some yellow ribbon.  The flowers and leaves are cut from wool felt and canvas. I layered a few of them and added button centers.  I attached all the pieces to the cover with Beacon Fabri-Tac glue. 
 

 

Here's the ad as it appeared in Cloth, Paper, Scissors!  I'm so thrilled to have it in that magazine!!! 

Thanks for stopping!!!

Happy Creating!
-judy

Supplies:

Spellbinders MMM-001 Artisan X-Plorer™
Spellbinders MB6-011 Birds One (blank)
Spellbinders MD2-011 Birds One (die)
Spellbinders S5-075 Cuckoo Clocks
Spellbinders MD2-004 Flowers One (die)
Spellbinders S4-398 Say What? (clouds)
Spellbinders S4-399 Charmed I'm Sure
Spellbinders S4-328 Foliage
Beacon Adhesives - Fabri-Tac
Buttons Galore & More buttons
Cosmo Cricket Stickers
Creative Impressions - Yellow Brads
Burlap
Canvas
Cotton fabrics
Wool felt
String
Tiny Eyelets
O-Wire Binding
Mixed Media art paper
Bind-It-All machine
Cotton batting
leather lacing
Yellow Ribbon

Heart Bracelet

Hello everyone!
I went searching through my photos today and found this bracelet I made for a friend.


Very simple design!
The heart bezel is from Spellbinders Media Mixage line, MB1-005 Hearts One. I cut a heart of orange craft foil with the matching die, MD1-005 Hearts One. Perfect fit! Next I textured it with Spellbinders MT-005 Grate Works Three texture plate. It looks like little "x"s and "o"s. I sanded the embossed pattern to reveal the silver color of the foil.
I cut another heart from a piece of black craft foam, the stuff found in the kid's craft section. I placed that in the bezel first. It's simply a space filler to bring the foil heart closer to the top of the bezel. It cuts easily and works really well. Once the heart was in the bezel, I added ICE Resin. It's so clear it's hard to see in my photo!


I fashioned a bracelet from 2 lengths of chain and a lobster clasp. A jump ring holds the heart on the chain.
I made a quick pouch of burlap in stead of gift wrap! One of my favorite wrapping techniques for jewelry!


Happy Creating!
Judy

Bright Flowers Card

Today, I have a bright flowers card on Juliana Hudgins Positively Me blog! 

I sort of stepped out of my box for this card!  I usually don't create with such bright colors!  I love the contrast against the black card stock!

I've listed all the supplies and a brief description of how I made it on Julianna's blog.  You check it out there.

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers!

Judy

Flowers Feed the Soul Journal

No jewelry in this post but I did use more Spellbinders Media Mixage™ products!

 

This is a project I did for Spellbinders.  You can find it on their website here.  There's even a link to download the instructions.

 

My inspiration was to make a garden journal.  A place for notes about  anything gardening!  Since I made the journal with my Bind-It-All machine, I added envelopes as dividers between the pages. A spot to tuck in a seed packet or info about a new plant.  

 

The aqua flower inside the dark blue flower is a Spellbinders blank from MB6-004 Flowers One.  There's another one peaking out from under the pink flower. The blanks are gold color.  I used ink to color it with clear embossing powder over it.  The other flowers are paper, inked and clear heat embossed.  I used MD2-004 Flowers One matching set of dies to cut
those.
The label was cut with another Media Mixage die, MD2-001 Frames One.  I inked through the die and then stamped the verse.

The butterfly is the larger blank from MB6-008 Butterflies One.  I used the matching die set, MD2-008 Butterflies One to cut the paper for the wings.  The paper is white cardstock colored with pigment inks and clear heat embossed. There's a touch of gold embossing powder sprinkled over top and heated into the clear.  I hand cut a piece of paper to make the "body" of the butterfly and glued it to the blank.

For more info and the full directions, you can find the download here.

Happy Crafting!
-judy

 Supplies:

• ES-006 So Trendy
• S5-171 A2 Curved Matting Basics A
• MB6-004 Flowers One
• MB6-008 Butterflies One
• MD2-001 Frames One
• MD2-004 Flowers One
• MD2-008 Butterflies One
• Spellbinders™ Grand Calibur® Die Cutting and Embossing Machine
• MMM-001 Spellbinders Media Mixage Artisan X-plorer™ Machine
• Penny Black Inc., A Wish for Peace Clear Stamp
• Flourishes, From the Garden Stamp Set
• Sparkle N' Sprinkle, Clear Embossing Powder
• Basic Grey, Plumeria Cleopatra, Moonstone, Yellow Wallpaper Patterned Paper
• Bazzill Basics Paper, Velvet Cardstock
• Clearsnap, ColorBox Wicket Black Archival Dye Ink, Watermark Ink, Deep Sea, Night Sky Pigment Ink
• Creative Impressions, Purple, Yellow, Pink Sheer Ribbon
• Scor-Pal, ¼", ½" Scor-Tape, Scoring Board
• Elmers, Glue Spots
• Xyron, 900 Creative Station, Adhesive
• SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L, 3D Foam Squares
• Cardstock - white, dark purple
• Text weight paper of pages
• Kraft Envelopes - 3
• Purple Ink
• Purple marker
• Purple Alcohol ink
• Lightweight chipboard
• 1" O-wire
• Bind-It-All
• White craft glue

Fleur de Lis Pendant

You've probably noticed I've been dabbling in jewelry making!  Perhaps a bit more than dabbling!  Since Spellbinders™  released their new Media Mixage™ line, I've been doing more jewelry making than stamping! 

 

Here's a Fleur de Lis pendant that I made for a friend.  Actually, I made one for myself first.  Then I made 2 more for friends who liked it so well.  You may have seen it on Facebook.  Cindy Alexander posted a photo when she got the package.

 

 

The base of this pendant is the smallest one in Spellbinders MB2-007S Fleur de Lis set of bezels. It comes in bronze or dark silver. What makes it so easy to add a shaped insert in the bezel is that there are matching dies!  Each a perfect fit for the bezels!  The Fleur de Lis bezel die is MD1-011.









 

I've cut a piece pink craft foil to fit in this pendant.  I first adhered the foil to a piece of adhesive backed black craft foam.  I often do that when I'm working with foil.  It gives it body and dimension.  The sticky back foam works so well!  Then I cut and embossed the foil.  Because the craft foam compresses as it goes through the Artisan X-Plorer™, the thickness is no problem.    Because I wanted the pink insert to be about level with the bezel edges, I cut another piece of craft foam, no foil, to place in the bottom of the bezel.  So there's 2 layers of the foam with the top piece having foil on it.  I sanded the foil to take off the pink on the embossed areas and fastened a cubic zirconia crystal to the center.   My next step was to mix ICE Resin® and fill the bezel.  It's so easy with the syringe dispenser from ICE Resin, no measuring!  The hardest part is waiting for it to cure!   I usually pour it in the evening and by the next day it's hard. 

 

 

To finish the pendant, I added 3 little pink crystals at the bottom.  I used silver colored Artistic Wire to make eye pins and wire wrap the beads to the fleur de lis.  I think the wire was 22 or 24 gauge.  I could have easily used purchased eye-pins.  For me, the wire was easier to find and I have more color choices!

 

Because I sent this pendant was a gift, I wanted something cool to package it in!  So I made one of my fabric pockets, this time out of denim from an old worn pair of jeans. (you can see another pocket of new denim on this post)   

 

 

 I tore the denim to about 4 x 9 1/2" leaving the jeans hem as the edge for the pocket flap.  The edges are glued with Fabri-Tac glue to form the pocket.   I glued a piece of pink satin ribbon across the top and made faux stitches with a marker.  No sewing!!! The little fleur de lis is again foil over craft foam with another craft foam fleur de lis behind it. That one is cut with the medium size die. I trimmed the "wings" a little to fit the smaller one better.  I actually coated it with ICE Resin, too, just a thin layer rubbed on it.  It stiffened the foam and sealed it. There's a jump ring at the top to hang it from the cord.  I made 2 more pink crystal beads with wire loops to add to the cord.  These could easily be added to earring wires (I tucked earring wires inside for Cindy) to have matching earrings!  Or hung on the chain with the pendant!

 

 



 This was a fun gift package to make!  and give!

-judy

• Supplies:
• Spellbinders Artisan X-Plorer maching
• Spellbinders MB2-007S Fleur de Lis (bezels)
• Spellbinders MD1-011 Fleur de Lis (dies)
• Spellbinders F-014 Delicate Pastels craft foil
• ICE Resin
• Cubic Zirconia crystal
• Black craft foam
• Pink Crystal beads
• Artistic Wire Silver 22 gauge wire
• Silver Cord
• Pink Satin Ribbon
• Pink Silk Ribbon
• Scrap of old denim jeans
• Beacon Adhesives - Fabri-Tac Glue
• Chain

 

C-Koop Bracelet

Today, I'm sharing a bracelet that I made from a kit.  I didn't design it.  I just put it together! I love the copper with the enamel pieces! Lots of my favorite colors!


Back in March, I worked at a Make & Take table for Spellbinders at the Bead Bash held at the Mall of America. There were lots of bead and jewelry making vendors there. I happened to be right next to C-Koop Bead's table. Their display(wish I'd taken a photo!) had beautiful glass enameled copper beads and kits and the cutest little enamel flowers with copper stems! I couldn't help stepping closer to admire them whenever I had a break! By the end of the show, I bought 2 kits! This bracelet was one of them. I also chose a necklace kit that I haven't put together as yet.


Sara Lukkonen is the artist and creator of the enamel beads and kits. Check out her website if you'd like to see more of her beads and kits like this bracelet!
C-Koop Beads
You can also discover the history behind the name "C-Koop".

I'll be back soon with something I designed!
Thanks for stopping!
Judy