Deco mini books

Hello and Happy Monday!  I know that a lot of you like to create mini albums of all different kinds so I thought I would show you one I made quite a while ago for a deco round robin I participated in.  It worked identically to the doll round robin I described in my post on March 3rd only this time we created decos instead of cloth dolls and journals.  "Deco" is just another word for mini album and it was the first term I learned for this kind of miniature art book.  I have made a few of these and I just love them because they are so quick to do and look so cool when they are finished.  This is the second one I made.  The first one, although cute, didn't turn out exactly as I would have wished.

This one is titled "In Your Wildest Dreams" and each page has something to do with dreaming or being in a dream-like state.  It measures 2 1/2" x 4".  I made the front and back covers out of chipboard and covered them in marbled hand made paper.  It's bound with ribbons and fibers.  I apologize in advance for the photography.  These pictures were taken before I got my digital camera and I have never taken new pictures of these older projects.  I just hope you can get a good idea of what it looks like in case you want to try to make one of your own.

The fun thing about creating these little works of art is that there are no rules.  You can sketch, paint, stamp, collage, use photos and any assortment of paper crafting tools and embellishments... just anything you can think of and whatever makes you happy at the time.  I made this and other decos before I discovered the wide, wonderful world of paper crafting so it is rather simplistic in comparison to my current style.  I just thought you might enjoy seeing one of the projects that eventually led me to this awesome world and into your midst.

Thanks for looking and have a great week, everybody!

Anniebee

Winter is back! and cards for the girls...

I thought wintertime was over in Texas, but as is sometimes the case, it's not leaving without a struggle!  We had a cold front blow through here last evening and today it's cold and blustery.  No snow and no rain so far but it's definitely cool enough for a jacket.  I happen to like winter much better than summer... it gets soooooo stinkin' HOT in Texas!... but spring and fall are my two favorite seasons.  Unfortunately, they are the shortest-lived of the four seasons here.

I meant to post this yesterday but I got busy working on a project and didn't get around to it.  I thought I'd bring you some cards for the ladies as I promised a few days ago.  Outside of family members, most of my friends are female so I have an abundance of feminine cards to choose from.  Here are three birthday cards and a Bosses' Day card.  I have to give equal time to the ladies after all, don't I?  I'm not going to give my recipes for these cards but you can email me if you want that information.  All cuts on these cards were made on the Cricut Expression.

First on the agenda is a birthday card for my beautiful granddaughter, who will be Sweet 16 on the 22nd of this month.  I can't believe she's 16!!!  That makes me feel soooo old!  I don't know if you can read it but the inside says "Glitter and Shine on your Birthday".  The winged guitar (I think it's so cute!) is sticker I bought at Michael's.

Next is a card I was commissioned by a friend to make for her mother's birthday.  She wanted something bright and whimsical with lots of flowers all over it because her mom's hobby is gardening.  She told me what she wanted it to say so I could hand write the inside sentiment for her.

This next card was made for one of my neighbors but I evidently didn't take a picture of the inside of it, which said very simply "on your birthday".  It was actually intended as a combination birthday and sympathy card because her father had recently passed away and I hadn't had an opportunity to talk to her since  he died.  This picture shows the envelope and the front of the card.  

And last is one of my favorite cards of all the ones I have made.  I'm not sure why I like it so much unless it's the black and cream color palette.  The first picture is the card front and the envelope, followed by the inside of the card.  I love making these multi-layered dahlias.  Can you tell?  Because of the color scheme, I think this card could work equally well for male or female.

So there you have it.  That's all I have for today.  I am going to a celebration of life party this evening hosted by my brother-in-law in honor of his wife's (my sister's) birthday.  She would have been 53 on March 2nd.  She made us promise before she died last year that we would throw a big party in her honor because one of her favorite things was to entertain in her lovely home.  How could we refuse her?

As always, thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have enjoyed these cards and I wish each and every one of you a wonderful weekend!  See you soon, I hope!

Anniebee

Happy Thursday and an Altered Book

Okay, I decided to wait to post my greeting cards for "the girls".  Today, I thought I'd write about an altered book I started some time ago to accompany one of my cloth art dolls on her round robin journey.  If you have never participated in a round robin, it goes something like this: each person in the group starts a project, in this case a cloth doll.  We were allowed to create as much or as little of the basic doll as we wanted and because there were only 6 people in my group and I knew my doll would require quite a lot of embellishment by the other artists, I started my project with the entire body, including a face I sculpted of polymer clay. We were to create some sort of a journal to go with our doll so that the other team members could document their contributions to the project.  We were supposed to choose our favorite storybook character as the theme for our doll and we would have a month to complete our additions to each one before we sent it on its way.  Okay, now that's out of the way, I need to tell you that I chose Scheherzade from "The Arabian Nights" as the theme for my doll.  I have always loved this story and thought it would be an interesting subject for the others to interpret.  Anyway, I was very lucky to have found an old library copy of the actual book for a dollar at Half Price Books and decided to alter it for my doll journal.  I was just getting interested in paper art at that time and had never altered anything in my life (artistically, at least!).  So... without further ado, here is my first attempt at book alteration.  I'm highlighting only the pages I created myself.

I covered the hardbound book in upholstery fabric that I thought looked old and had a Middle Eastern feel to it and a wide fabric ribbon with gold metallic embroidery on the spine and added the tassels... what's an Arabian book without tassels, right?  I printed and matted an illustration by Edmond Dulac and framed it with tiny metallic trim and placed it on the cover with the book title in metallic letter stickers (not sure you can read it on the photo though).

  

 

I used a large variety of products from paint, colored pencils and rubber stamps to stickers and ribbons to embellish the pages.  If you look closely, you'll see the print of the text showing through some of the illustrations that I printed on vellum paper and acetate.  And, in case you're interested, here's the completed doll that goes with it.  If you'll notice, she stands on a miniature Turkish rug and her little pointy-toed shoes were a gift from a Turkish friend of mine who brought them back from one of her visits home.  I used very large gold sequins for her finger cymbals.

So that's it for today.  I know my posts have been rather long thus far so going forward, I'll try to shorten them as much as possible and still tell you what I think you might want to know.  You can always ask questions if you want more information on any of my projects.  I hope you have a wonderful day... it's almost the weekend again already!  Yay!

Anniebee

For the Boys

How about something for the boys in our lives?  I don't know about you but I seem to have more problems designing gifts and cards for the guys than I do for the ladies.  Well, today I have for your viewing pleasure three birthday cards and a Bosses' Day card that I made.

First up, is one I made for my grandson's birthday last year.  This little guy has been into automobiles since he learned to crawl so what could be more fitting for him than Pixar Cars?  The images were, of course, cut on my Cricut Expression from the Disney Pixar Cars cartridge.  The background was pieced together from different colored sheets of Recollections cardstock and hand colored using a combination of Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils.  The red and silver foil cardstock is by DCWV.  The lettering other than the Cars logo and "Hot Roddin" are from George and Basic Shapes and Storybook.

Next, we have a birthday card for my son, Jason, who is an avid off-roader.  The diamond plate background on this card was embossed using the Cuttlebug diamondplate folder.  The paper beneath it is from DCWV's Rockstar stack.  "It's Your Day" and the other lettering inside are from the George and Calligraphy Collection cartridges, respectively.  "Celebrate!" was cut on my Silhouette using three colors of glitter card stock.  It as well as the silver foil cardstock are from DCWV  .  The truck is a die cut sticker purchased from Michael's.

(I'm not sure why Blogger insists on turning some of my pictures on end but the second picture is a rpime example.  If anyone knows how to correct this, please let me know as I find it most irritating!)

Now, we have a birthday card I created for a male co-worker.  I'm sorry but I don't recall what papers I used on this one but the blue card and envelope are from one of Jo-Ann's Value Packs and the bronze colored metallic paper was open stock purchased from Michael's.  All of the lettering on it is cut from Plantin Schoolbook and I believe that both the marquee and the pretty flourish image are from Home Accents.  The first image is the card front and envelope.  

Last, but not least, is a card I made for my former boss.  He had a cute figurine of Mickey Mouse in his office that his daughter had given him when she was very young.  It was that figurine and his love of antique cars that inspired my card.  The car and Mickey are from the Mickey and Friends cartridge, all of the lettering is from Plantin Schoolbook and the little flowers are from Walk In My Garden.  The pastel card and envelope are from Michael's, all cardstock except for the brown and silver foil are from Recollections.  The foil cardstocks are from AC Specialty Papers.  The shading was done with Prismacolor pencils.

Other than putting Mickey and the car together, all of these cards are relatively simple to make.  I hope you enjoyed them.  The week is over halfway gone already, can you believe it?  Tomorrow, maybe I'll do something similar to this, only for the girls... and maybe I won't!  Thanks for stopping by!

Anniebee

Your Story Bundle Giveaway

Cindy over at Cindylu's Scrapping Room is hosting a wonderful giveaway with 3 different prizes and 3 chances to win!  Show her some love and check it out here.  Entry deadline is March 5th.

A Photo Journal

Good afternoon, crafters!

Today I'm going to show you a photo journal that was commissioned by an attorney I worked with a couple of years ago as a gift for her daughter's 21st birthday.  This little project took lots of collaboration and coordination with the mom because she didn't just want me to create the book, she asked me to place all the photos and do all the journal entries for it as well.  Because I was working full time and only had evenings and weekends to spend on it, it took almost a month to complete.  It's sort of like a mini scrapbook except that I made the book from cover to cover out of heavy manila cardstock like the kind file folders are made from.  The paper I used to cover the pages changed every page or two and it's bound with raffia ribbon.  The pictures had to be sized, cropped, then printed and I made mats or frames for almost all of them.

The book started before the child's birth, with pictures of an ultrasound, and ended at her 21st birthday.  It was an awesome project and I felt a big sense of accomplishment when I finished the last page.  It was my first commissioned piece.  I'm not sure I would tackle one that large and complex again unless it was for a family member or I could charge what I really had invested in it (in the way of time and materials), but it was good experience for me.  I won't show every page as it would take up entirely too much space.  This post is pretty graphics-intensive so if you'd like to grab a cup of tea or glass of wine to sip while you peruse these photos, now would be the time to do so!  Okay, here we go....

                                   

 

I used a wide variety of embellishments, including images cut on the Cricut, stickers, tags, charms, ribbons, brads and pre-made die cuts.  I forgot to mention it but the mom also asked me to include quotes from famous people that had some bearing on the different stages of her daughter's life.  This required a little bit of research on my part because I wanted to include thumbnail pictures of the person or something pertaining to the person being quoted.  It was fun listening to the mother tell stories about her daughter and by the time this project was finished, I felt like I knew her daughter despite the fact that I had never met her.  Her mom told me that that journal was her daughter's favorite gift that year, which made me feel really good and made all the time and effort it took worthwhile.

If you're still reading, I'd like to thank you for humoring me.  I'm trying to display a variety of the projects I have worked on in hopes of giving some insight into my creative process and the methods to my madness.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Anniebee