Matchbox Fairy Garden

Hello hello! When I saw these Graphic 45 matchbox boxes, I knew one would eventually be a fairy garden of some sort. I love fairy gardens!

The matchbox is 3" x 5",  and with tiny feet and a handle it stands 6" tall. I used Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden - remember that gorgeous paper? I have just a little bit left these days. Perfect for small projects like this!

I can't seem to get the coloring right on this photo, but you can still see the full garden. :) Since the matchboxes are snug, I simply painted the insides a very light peach color, then distressed a bit with fine sandpaper. That way it still slides.

Thanks for visiting today! I hope you find time to get a little creative, too!

Cheers,
Susan

Fairy Garden Box

Hiya crafty folks! I participated in a swap on Craftster called "Invite Your Partner". Since my sister Lora and I have never been paired in a swap together, I decided to ask her to swap with me. Luckily, she said yes!

I made her a fairy garden, complete with twinkling lights!

The garden is in a former cigar box. I sanded the varnish off and left the wood bare.

The background is an older Pink Paislee line, to which I added upside down raindrops with a stencil and molding paste mixed with paint. I also added a few fairy-themed torn bits from a dictionary.

The poem was scanned from a poetry book by Robert Louis Stephenson.

The fairy lights!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you are feeling creative, too.

Cheers,

Susan

Halloween Spool Project Swap

Hiya folks! I made this Halloween project for an Altered Spool Swap on Craftster.org.

On one of my spools I used a little Gathered Twigs Distress Ink on a sponge. I didn't want to cover the text on that end so the ink helped to age it a little more. (A spool of thread for 29 cents? Wow!)

I used little wood caps as for Scrabble letter bases. My favorite adhesive these days is a matte super heavy gel medium. It works for just about everything and sets up quickly. Total drying time is longer, but it does set up so you can set things aside to dry without worrying - the Scrabble tiles never threatened to fall off as it dried.  

The banner was made from bits of cardboard with Halloween paper on top. I poked small holes and used jump rings to connect them and teeny tiny eye hooks attached to the dowel rod and spool.  

The raven is a Dusty Attic chipboard painted with black satin acrylic. I wanted to find black feathers for a wing, but no luck.

The bats were originally going to be solid black. I have an older paper with bats all over it but I wanted to make them a little more durable. I found a kraft paper with swirls on it and thought it would look fine as the backside so I glued them together. Once I colored a tiny bit with a black Copic  the swirls had a resist effect. Neat, huh?

Thanks for visiting today!

Cheers,

Susan

Dia De Los Muertos Birthday

Hiya bloggers! As promised, here are two of my most recent projects. The first project I want to share is a mixed media piece made for my sister's birthday. Her birthday is November 2nd, which is also a part of Dia De Los Meurtos festivities - and she's a big fan. I had a lot of fun with this!

I like all the skellies, but the singing one on the far right cracks me up! I made all the "lanterns" with bead and bits, and scoured my backyard for sticks that would bend just right. The grass is shrubbery greens I found in the model train section of the craft store. It's really cool stuff and I can't wait to use it again.

The second project is a "chunky Halloween house" I made for my sister. I used Pink Paislee's Hocus Pocus paper - love this line!

This is the front - click the photo to see more detail. It's about 7" tall. The skeleton is 3 layers: background, full-oval cameo and the skeleton on top. The fly is also dimensional with little raised wings. The crystals are all Swarovski flatbacks.

And here's the back. The background is from a 12x12 sheet and the cut-out frame is from a 6x6 of the same design.

If you want to see a small sampling of her art, go to CalliopeDesignStudio, her Etsy shop. You can also find her on Craftster.org - her user name is "cackle" and she makes incredible art!

Thanks for stopping by today. I'm going back to Christmas cards now. Have a swell day!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Fluttering Butterflies

Hello crafty folks! It's Monday and that means I get to share another Beary Scrap design team project with you. A new challenge starts today where we all get to play Tic-Tac-Toe and choose three in a row!

 
I've made a tag (oh how I love tags!) using the Tim Holtz Tag & Bookplate die. The beautiful paper is Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden, and my challenge row is "lace-distress-glitter". I wanted to showcase the birdcage and bird on the paper, so I built around them. There is a bit of distressed lace on the bottom (spritzed with Glimmer Mist). I age-distressed the edges of my tag with Vintage Photo ink and the flowers and butterfly spots are glittered with Stickles Star Dust.  The Prima vine is tinged with Tattered Rose Distress ink and touched with Stickles Star Dust. The butterflies are cut from one of the PP Butterfly Garden pages, and the hanger is made from apricot seam binding.

Click to make me bigger!

 Thanks for visiting today! I hope you can be inspired with all our projects this week to challenge yourself to a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. You could win a $20 voucher from The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: June Sketch

Hello crafty friends! It's another Monday - oh, how does the weekend go so fast? It was a beautiful one here, and we took advantage and trimmed trees and weeded. I hated the work but love the results!

This week the Beary Scrap design team is showing samples using our current Beary Sweet Sketch Challenge. We're adding a little extra element to our projects in the form of seam binding.

Here's my take on the sketch. I wasn't sure about the sketch at first, but fell in love with it as I pulled the Bo Bunny Vicky B papers together. There are so many wonderful designs in this 6x6 paper stack that I had no problem at all. I adore these colors!

I used the wooden dragonfly from Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden collection (currently sold out in the store - sorry!). I gave it a base coat of pearly white and pink acrylic paints and then painted the body and part of the wings with glue, then sprinkled copper German Glass Glitter. On the wing tips I used the German Glass Glitter in white, with an itty bitty bit of Star Dust Stickles on the very ends.

The pink brads are from My Mind's Eye Madison Ave and the green swirl brad in the flower is from the We R Memory Keepers "Inspiration" Eyelet & Snap set. 

The mulberry paper roses were spritzed with a light green Glimmer Mist and touched with Star Dust Stickles. The  crocheted flower is an Etsy find from an awesome seller called Willowfolk and the decorative pins are from my new Killam Creatables line (available on Etsy!).

Card Recipe

• Paper - Bo Bunny "Vicky B" 6x6 paper pad; Bazzill Basics Walnut, Lime, Orange, Off-white
• Medium - Meyer Imports German Glass Glitter in Copper and White; Ranger Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo; Ranger Stickles in Lime Green, Frosted Lace, Star Dust (at the very end of the wing tips), Antique Bronze; Glimmer Mist in a light green
• Embellishments - Pink Paislee's wood dragonfly; Mulberry paper roses; Ivory seam binding; We R Memory Keepers "Inspiration" Eyelet & Snap set; Killam Creatables Decorative Pins
• Tools - Ranger Blending Tool; Scor-Pal
• Adhesives - 1/4" Scor-Tape; Fabri-Tac; 1/16" Glue Dots

Thanks for visiting today. I really hope you can join our Beary Sweet Sketch Challenge, going on now through June 14th. Come play with us and you could win a $20 gift voucher!

Cheers,
Susan

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TBS DT: Mischievous Fairy!

Hello hello! It's Memorial Day here in the US, and I hope with all my heart that everyone takes a moment to celebrate and remember those who fought the good fight. Thank you all.

This week Gini and I are wrapping up our current Beary Sweet "Nature" Challenge before Patricia kicks off a new sketch challenge on Wednesday. Can you believe June is almost here?!

I can't seem to break away from butterflies during my nature-themed projects, and this last one is no different. :) This time, it seems the fairy has released the butterflies from captivity!

Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden line is the name of the game on this Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix die cut tag. I've used Butterfly Garden for both the tag itself and the cut-out butterflies. The fairy was cut from the "Botanical Garden" sheet.

The Butterfly Garden wood cage (currently sold out - check back for more) was colored with Tattered Rose Distress Ink and then randomly dotted with the same color Distress Stickles. I was very inspired by Guest DT Debbie and her pink glittered cage of 2 weeks ago!

I added Star Dust Stickles to all the wings and mulberry paper flowers, and used Frosted Lace Stickles on the rose for a little glitter without all the glamour.

Card Recipe

• Paper - Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden "Butterfly Wings" and "Botanical Garden" 12x12 sheets
• Medium -Ranger Distress Ink in Tattered Rose and Vintage Photo; Ranger Stickles in Star Dust and Frosted Lace, and Distress Stickles in Tattered Rose.
• Embellishment -Sage seam binding; hand cut butterflies and fairy from the Butterfly Garden sheets; Pink Paislee wood cage; Mulberry Paper Roses; assorted pearls; decorative pins from my collection
• Adhesive -Fabri-Tac
• Tools - Tim Holtz Alterations "Tag & Bookplate Die"; Honeybee Scissors for precision cutting

Thanks for visiting today! You shave until midnight EST tomorrow to enter your Nature-inspired project into our Beary Sweet Challenge. You could win a $20 voucher to The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Nature's Flutters

Hello hello and happy Monday to you! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I had a birthday... and it was good. *wink*

So, this is Week 2 of our Beary Sweet Nature Challenge, where you can enter any project that you think conjures up "nature" in your noggin. As a bonus challenge to the design team, we have to include a charm in our project. Easy enough!

Kimm just got this fun filmstrip ribbon into the store, and I decided to use that as my jumping-off point. Here's what happened when it all landed:

Card Recipe

• Paper: Bo Bunny Gabrielle 6x6 pad; Bazzill Basics Lily Pad and Walnut
• Medium: Ranger Distress Ink in Walnut Stain; Stickles Star Dust and Patina; Ranger Glossy Accents as a top layer on the bitty butterflies; Irridescent acrylic paints on the Pink Paislee wood butterfly
• Embellishments: Tiny butterflies cut from a sheet in the Gabrielle paper pad with homemade wire antennae; Tim Holtz Idea-ology film strip ribbon (available soon in the store!); Pearls; Assorted Prima flowers; Hand made decorative stick pins; crochet lace from stash
• Adhesive: 1/4" Scor-Tape; 3D Dots - 1/8" black 
• Tools: Scor-Pal (check out the Scor-Pal Mini!); Ranger Blending Tool; sewing machine

Thanks for visiting today! Come back all week for more great design team samples of our Nature theme. I hope you can enter our Beary Sweet Nature challenge, too. You could win a $20 voucher from The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Thankful For You

Hello friends! Hope you had a great weekend. We had a little family gathering to celebrate Grandma's 89th birthday. Now my wonderful in-laws are visiting and doing a little granddog sitting while Husband and I have a wee midweek fling in Philadelphia. *grin*

This week the design team is using the BSC #13 sketch with a little added challenge just for us: Apple, Pear, Pumpkin. This is open to interpretation and could be the foods themselves, their colors, or a combination of the two. Or even something I can't think of right now. :) See? It's all open to interpretation *and* imagination... 

I had a little problem at first... 'specially since I'm dying to use my new Christmas papers which have nothing to do with apples, pears or pumpkins. I poked around my paper bins and found the awesome Pink Paislee 365°. Of course, it's absolutely perfect so I opted for "sketch plus colors".

You'll notice I barely layered on this one. *gasp* I was unsure about a green dress so I figured I'd try it on the bottom layer first. (Normally I don't completely color the bottom layer - just the edges.) It turned out so well that I decided to use it.

Card Recipe

• Stamp - Magnolia
• Paper - Bazzill Basics in Mud Pie; Pink Paislee 365° 6x6 pad and "Be Free" (stripes) in 12x12
• Medium - Copic E0000, E01, E11 for skin; Prismacolor pencils with OMS; Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan and Creamy Brown; Stickles Crystal and Diamond; Distress Stickles in Spiced Marmalade
• Embellishments - Kaisercraft Pearls in Snow; May Arts Crocheted Lace (brand new in store - call to order); Satin ribbon (large and woven into lace) from stash; ticket - my design and Kimm's sentiment (thanks a bunch!)
• Tools - Scor-Pal; Cuttlebug Embossing Folders
• Adhesives - Scor-Tape and 1/8" Glue Dots

Hope you can find inspiration from this... and while you're feeling so inspired *grin*, please join our Beary Sweet Sketch Challenge! It's going on now through November 14th. See you there!

Cheers,
Susan

Bewitching Tilda

Hello! Wowzers - I love posting everyday. It means I've been productive, right? Hee hee. Today I have a beautiful bewitching Tilda to share with you.

Great non-traditional Halloween colors, no? Or are they? It seems that it's perfectly normal to me! Before I go any further I have to send a special secret shout-out to Gini. Thanks, sweetie!

I love the layering on this Tilda - especially the hat... and the pocket. Can you see it?

Here is the "inside" of the easel card. See the swirly thing in the bottom right corner? It's made from Pink Paislee's Artisan Elements. It started out white, and I colored it with a Black Soot Distress Ink reinker. It took a looong time to dry in the crevices (OK, days to dry), but it was worth it.

And here's the whole kit and kaboodle!

Challenges

• Charisma Cardz #43 (11/3) - Match Master
• Colour Create #56 (11/3) - Purple, Aqua and White

Cheers,

Susan

TBS DT: Boo!

Hello hello dear friends, and happy October to ya! It got cooold this weekend and was a bit of a surprise. I *knew* it was going to get cold, but I forgot how October can be here. That's what sweaters are for, though. I love a warm cozy sweater!

This week The Beary Scrap's design team is bringing you projects created with a Halloween theme. Click HERE for the current Beary Sweet Sketch Challenge - it's a fun one!

The most important thing I can tell you about my card is this: It kicked my butt! Haha! I've been admiring stamp-free cards lately, and decided to give it a go myself. Honestly, it felt a little like my very early card-making days... and it was uncomfortable. BUT I stepped out of my current style box and tried something different, about which I'm very happy (the end result? Eh. But I tried!). I used a ton of "product" and still let the paper tell the story. I like that.

The card is a combination of Cosmo Cricket's Haunted (in-store only) and My Mind's Eye "Halloween Wishes". I've gone and used black card stock as my base once again... it's a trend!

This swirl is part of Pink Paislee's Artisan Elements pack. They are paintable swirls and bits that you can spritz or paint to match your project. Love! I dripped a little Black Soot Distress Ink onto the swirl and tilted it around until it covered the whole element. It took a long time to dry, but it was worth the wait!

The cream and black diamond paper was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and randomly inked with Charcoal chalk ink to give the hint of dark. I decided it needed more, so I sprayed (too much?) Pearl Glimmer Mist all over. If I planned this out, I would have sprayed with GM *then* embossed and inked. I was worried that I would lose my embossing when the paper was wet... luckily, no. Phew!

"Boo" started out as unfinished die cut letters. I dripped slate alcohol ink (the closest to black I have) on each letter to give it a dark base and set it aside to dry. Once it was ready, I layered black Stickles to cover completely and set aside once again. It's very sparkly!

Card Recipe

• Paper: Bazzill Basics Raven; Cosmo Cricket Haunted - available in-store or on the phone; My Mind's Eye Night Light "Halloween Wishes"
• Medium: Stickles - Black Diamond; Glimmer Mist - Pearl; Distress Ink - Black Soot; Color Box Fluid Chalk - Charcoal
• Embellishments: Bazzill Tulle; Petaloo flowers; We R Memory Keepers Designer Snaps (on sale!); Pink Paislee Artisan Elements; Bazzill leaves and American Crafts die cut letters from ooold stash. :) 
• Tools and Adhesive: Cuttlebug embossing folders; Scor-Tape

Tomorrow Gini will haunt these pages, so please come back!

Cheers,
Susan

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Our current Beary Sweet Challenge can be found here.

Isn't this a fun sketch? Come join us! You could win a $20 gift voucher to The Beary Scrap!