Something Wicked This Way Comes Greeting Card, Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells

Hello hello! I've almost used the last of my Graphic 45 "Steampunk Spells" collection. Can you believe it? Such a fun line. This greeting card focuses on the anticipation of scary things to come.

Tick tock... tick tock...

This card is available for purchase via my Etsy paper shop. Thanks for visiting!

Cheers,
Susan

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Haunted House Greeting Card

This is a favorite! It is simple only because the My Mind's Eye "Wicked" papers made it so easy to design. The three pages flowed together so well. I spent my formidable years in a town with a big historic cemetery and a Victorian house similar to the one on the inside.

The house is made of the peacock grungeboard and cut out using a Tim Holtz Sizzix die. I crinkled vellum paper to give the effect of broken glass. The smoke coming from the fireplace is actual peacock feathers. The little girl is a digital vintage image. Shh... we won't talk about the ghostly rhinestones coming from the window; they might hear us.

This card is available for purchase via my Etsy paper shop. Thanks for visiting!

Cheers,
Susan

Dr Dreadful's Emporuim Greeting Card, Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells

"Hello there, deary. Can I off you some perilously potent potions? Oh, you're here for a friend? Perhaps you need some curiously creepy charms? Yes, that's it. Step right in, my dear..."

Graphic 45's Steampunk Spells set the stage for this wicked emporium. Beware Dr. Dreadful!

Dr. Dreadful is layered to get a closer look at his next victim customer

A look inside the creepy emporium

He even has coordinating "packaging" for all potions and charms

This card is available for purchase, either in-person at the Sept 18th "3rd Friday" festival in Salisbury, MD or via my Etsy paper shop after the festival. If you are interested now, please let me know! Thanks for visiting!

Cheers,
Susan

The Queen Of Last Minute Altered Wood Block

Hello hello! I always say I do my best work at the last minute. The pressure of a looming deadline certainly focuses me. The irony of this altered wood block isn't lost on me... see, I started it some time in 2013, I think. When did I finish it? Last month. Yup. April 2015.

Vintage tatting and watch parts. He head is a sprung watch spring!

These parts swirl around the clock face, as if time doesn't matter...

The queen likes her lacy bits

As time goes by...

The papers are from Tim Holtz's first paper pack. You know, from way back when. The body form is a Sizzix die and I think the wings were traced from a grungeboard cutout. The base is custom colored with about 5 different paints.

Thanks for your visit today! As always, I'm just on the other end of your keyboard if you have any questions about this or *any* construction or materials. I love to share!

Cheers,

Susan

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Hello folks! Even though it isn't evident here on the blog, I *have* been puttering around in the studio all summer. It's just been puttering, though, so there are a number of unfinished projects.

I do have something to share today!

I found a cool 7 Gypsies chipboard triptych at Tuesday Morning and put it together with Graphic 45's Steampunk Spells line. I'll be honest and tell you I'm not a huge fan of this collection because of all the orange in it. It does have some great graphics perfect for fussy cutting, though.

I've used G45's hinges to hold the triptych together. There are bits of metals from Finnabair and Tim Holtz on the panels, too. 

 I used Mod Podge to glue the roughly-cut bats to a thin scrap of cardboard. Once dried I cut them out and inked the edges with a black marker. I'm trying to stop using foam dots on projects I want to last a really long time so the bats are popped up using 3D Zots. I had to trim the super sticky Zots to fit - use nonstick scissors if you do the same... once they stick it's hard to get them off from anything, including fingers.

The cat is cut from one of the journaling cards. One thing this collection has is a great selection of journaling cards (hint: mini album just might be in the future for the rest of my Steampunk Spells!).

I used a Sizzix "Branch Tree" die for the  barely-visible tree and the Sizzix Movers and Shapers die for the branch sticking through the window. 

The clock was cut from a Sizzix die - both in plain cardboard and black. Can you see the black shadow behind the red one? The first layer of the red one is Barn Door Distress stain. Ater that dried I used a crackle gloss *then* re-stained the back with Wild Honey Distress Stain to orange it up a bit. As it turns out, Barn Door is really really red. :)

The blue swirly is a Dusty Attic vine and spritzed with a brownish sparkly spritz. (Does anyone remember Tattered Angels?) That was too brown so I painted over with a blend of Lumiere blues and greens. It helps carry that teal color across each panel nicely.

So that's it. I'm going to put this in the Etsy paper shop shortly. thanks for visiting today!

Cheers,
Susan

Birdsong Tag, Take 2

Hiya folks! (Remember me? I'm baaaack!)

Almost 3 years ago I made the Birdsong Tag. It's all over Pinterest and (hopefully) has inspired loads of crafty peeps.

Recently I received a request to buy it. While it's not for sale, I was thrilled to make an updated version for a Very Nice Lady. *waves hi to VNL*

It's a good thing I'm a hoarder I recognize quality supplies and keep them at my fingertips as long as needed. *grin* I added a cage and freshened up the flowers a bit.

Thanks for stopping by! Tomorrow I'll show the second tag I made for the VNL. I love it so much it was hard to ship off. :)

Cheers,

Susan

Charms of the Witching Hour

Hiya folks! I've been playing around with Graphic 45's Happy Haunting today. Look what flew in!

This cute vintage witch is layered up and glittered a little. Isn't she fun?

The black foam clock is cut from a Sizzix die, and the metal clock hands (on the flower) are the same blue as the night sky. I dyed seam binding as black as I could, and added strips of it to strips of pumpkin seam binding. Oh, the black and ivory background paper is G45's On The Boardwalk line. Mix and match G45!

The inside isn't quite done yet. Stickle'd stars are drying as I type. I'll add an "interior shot" when I can.Thanks for visiting today!

Cheers,
Susan

Magnificent Men a la Sarah Engels-Greer

Hello! While I've been buzzing away the last few weeks it seems I haven't shown you any completed projects. Gah! I've been making hundreds of hat pins but cutting very little paper. *sigh* How does this happen?

Anyway, I have a story to tell you. Christmas 2010 I "gave" my Husband his library, a large room off our bedroom that really had no purpose. We had a wall of bookcases and a chair, but not much else. While he was at work one day I outfitted the room with library-type stuff including a 12' rug, library table, more furniture and assorted other bits and pieces. It turned out beautifully!

So, how does one top *that*?

Last December, as I'm floundering away at finding The Perfect Gift for my husband, I ran across a project made by Sarah Engels-Greer. The sky lit up and I could hear the angels singing! Of course, I could make something for the library!

I tried to take inspiration and make my own but her original design is so darn perfect for Husband's space that I couldn't "improve" on it. Sarah and I emailed about it a few months ago and she gave me her blessing to post. I've waited until after her piece was published in Craft Stamper to show mine. It's important to both of us that credit goes to her for original design. Please visit her blog (you'll never want to leave!) to see gorgeous details about her Magnificent Men!

So, without further ado, here are my Magnificent Men:

The box is Configurations with the acrylic front

Left side close-up

Right side close-up

On the bookcase

This project was an incredible amount of work - Sarah called it a "labor of love" and I definitely agree. It took a long time to make but it was worth it. Thanks Sarah!

Thanks for visiting today!

Cheers,
Susan

Baby Boy Mini Album

Hiya crafty friends!

This weekend I traveled up to PA (outside Philadelphia) to a dear friends baby shower. There were 6 years between our visits, and it was so good to see her! I gave her a keepsake album and I want to share it with you today.

That Tim Holtz bird and cage die has gotten a lot of use over the last year! I do love it and can't wait for his new dies to come out over the next few weeks. :) I saw the phrase on Pinterest, in the form of a huge vinyl sticker over a baby crib. I just love it!

The chipboard album is just shy of 6x6, and I included photo corners for each mat.

The paper is 12x12 and 6x6 My Mind's Eye Portobello Road, from the (in)famously glittered "Lost and Found" line. I used silver Stickles over all the factory-glittered bits to seal them in. It made the glitter lines taller on the pages, but the alternative was to ignore it and have Stacy swear under her breath each time she picked the book up.

The banners are all made from the sticky, prepackaged chipboard letter banners from the PR line. I like the thickness but not the letters, so I stuck them on the backs of random scraps and cut them out. I used a needle to thread twine through the corners and finished with the tops of pearl brads. They're all popped up on 1/16" foam dots. The birds are coated with Glossy Accents for a little pop! on the page.

That's it for now! Thanks for visiting today.

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: A Final Thank You

Hi folks - as you probably know by now, Kimm and I have made the tough decision to stop the challenges and retire the design team. There were a lot of factors that went into this decision and as hard as it is to say goodbye, we believe it was the right one.

Today I want to send out a cornucopia filled with "thank you's". I owe a lot of my creative growth to this team and our challenge participants. I don't think I would have stretched (or been pushed!) in so many different directions without all of you. Thank you!

Gini - I give you credit for inspiring me to broaden my horizons and not always default to a character stamp on my cards. I love coloring my Magnolia stamps, but I also really appreciate the beauty of die cuts using Spellbinders and others. You are a whiz with the dies and I always look forward to your next project. And any time I rough up edges of my layers I think of you. You are the Queen of Distressed Edges!

Patricia - I've always been amazed at your talent with the Tear Bears and Critters and now you're wowing me with the Beary Sweet Designs cutting files. You have a great eye and a wonderful spirit, and I cherish the friendship that has developed outside of the team.

Jamie - You have inspired me over and over that there is way more "out there" than cards. Your 3D projects are amazing and I love seeing your family in scrapbook layouts. I can't believe how much your kids have grown while this team has been together!

Lori - Your designs are always beautiful! I'm so glad you were able to join us and sad that our time together was so short. I look forward to keeping up with your blog and being inspired by you!

Thanks so much to Elise, our beautiful former teammate and to our wonderful guest designers Brenda and Debbie. Wow, I look at these 7 names and see 7 very different styles. I've taken a "stroll" through each of our posts and really can't get over how lucky I've been to have such a talented team.

Kimm - We've had a great run here, haven't we? Thank you for allowing us to offer these challenges every month and giving out great prizes. You have been very generous to me and the girls, and I am grateful. I look forward to continuing the friendship that started years ago when I discovered tear bears and you were so generous with your time.

Challenge participants and blog followers - THANK YOU! It's been wonderful to visit your blogs and see your projects based on our challenges. With all my heart I appreciate your continued support of our challenges and The Beary Scrap.

Card Recipe

• Paper: My Mind's Eye Lost & Found "Breeze" 6x6 pad; Bazzill card stock
• Medium: Ranger Seasonal Distress Ink "Gathered Twigs"; Glossy Accents
• Embellishments: Ivory seam binding distressed with a little Gathered Twigs ink & water; flowers, etc from stash
• Adhesive: 1/4" Scor-Tape

There is still plenty of time to enter "Your Beary Best" in our challenge. You could win a $30 gift voucher to The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

Birdcage Mini Album

Hiya folks! So I wanted to try my hand at a mini album and worked on this off and on for many weeks. I've finally finished it! I absolutely adore it and wish I had a little girl or niece to give it to (instead, it's in my Etsy shop). There are a lot of photos - click on each one to view the full size!

The base of this album is Prima Build-A-Book acrylic album. I really like that the pages are nice and sturdy (vs. paper bag albums). All of the papers are from Echo Park's Victoria Gardens line. I used both the 12x12 sheets and pages from the 6x6 pad.

Here is a look at pages 2 and 3 with photo and journaling tags in place (top). Almost all of the tags are sewn on each side, and many have embellishments. The album includes enough self-adhesive photo corners to put one photo on each tag.

Here are pages 2 and 3 with the backs of the tags showing. The journaling tag on the top left is meant for an album title or other identifying info so the photo shows the lines on the tag front.

Pages 4 and 5 with tags in place. See the beady baubles hanging on the green tag on the left?

Here are the backs of tags on pages 4 and 5. The "You" tag is plain on the reverse side, without sewn edges.

Page 6 doesn't have pull-out tags but it does have a large space for photos. Page 7 has 3 tags - I had a lot of fun with the text on the Echo Park papers throughout the album.

Pages 6 and 7 showing the reverse side of tags on page 7.

The back cover

Thanks for visiting today!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Mini Album (Cover)

Hello crafty friends! This week the Beary Scrap design team continues with our Tic-Tac-Toe challenge samples. This has been the most fun!

For the longest time I eyed up the Prima Build-A-Book albums (40% off right now!) and wondered if I should take one on. Could I do it? Would I have the patience to complete all the pages? I didn't know... until one day I decided to take the plunge. I could do it! Why not? I'm a crafty sort of gal, right? It's only 8 surfaces to design and cover, and I had confidence.

I received it and it sat on a shelf for weeks. I told myself I didn't have the right paper collection for it. Really, I was chickening out. Haha! Luckily, Echo Park's Victoria Gardens came along and I knew it was the perfect collection to use on this album.

For this challenge I've used lace, dry embossing and pearls. I have the cover completed and the inside pages will follow in the next few weeks. I'm so happy that I've finally started this album and am ready to plan another one. Can you believe it?

If you saw my message on The Beary Scrap Facebook page last week, you might recognize the teal flower. I used the Retro punches to punch out 3 large and medium flowers, spritzed with water and scrunched up. After they dried a little I carefully opened them back up and glued the layers together. Once they dried completely, the tips were tinged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and Star Dust Stickles. It's not bad for a first try *wink*. I think I'll work on lighter card stock and use more Distress Inks to color them in.There are so many possibilities! The large Retro punch is currently out-of-stock, but you can easily achieve the same kind of results with the medium and large Daisy punches. The daisy's pointy tips would work perfectly - have fun with it!

The "Today I wish you..." banner is from the Victoria Gardens Elements Stickers sheet. I cut it out -backing and all- and used Scor-Tape on the left and right edges to elevate it over the crochet lace.

Card Recipe

• Paper - Echo Park Victoria Gardens: Rose Garden, Garden Trellis on the left edge; Garden Pond for the bird cage; Delightful Doilies for the bird and wing. I also used Bazzil Basics off-white inside the birdcage, which is where you will find my dry embossing
• Medium - Glossy Accents on the bird cage; Stickles Star Dust (just about everywhere); Ranger Distress Ink in Vintage Photo on the edges
• Embellishment - Prima Build-A-Book; EP Victoria Gardens Elements Stickers; Ivory seam binding; lace, flowers pearls from stash; Stick pin and charms are made by me.
• Tools & Adhesives - Medium and large Retro punches; Scor-Tape; Fabri-Tac

Thanks for visiting today! I hope you will consider joining our Tic-Tac-Toe challenge - check out all the fun 3-in-a-row combinations you could use on your project:

Click the pic for all the challenge details!

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

The Witching Hour

Boo! Eek! It's the witching hour and little girls should be snuggled under the covers and fast asleep. Although this little one is wide awake as the spirits escape into the night!

I've been working on this off and on throughout the week. I like the end result but know I need a lot more experience with collage work. I don't think it will include a lot of cardboard, though. Have I told you about my cardboard/newprint/kraft paper phobia? The texture... oh, the texture freaks me out! This was a challenge for me folks. *grin*

The base of this wicked and weird collage is corrugated cardboard, on which I layered an embossed scrap of kraft paper, a grungeboard rickety house and the man on the moon. Why is he smiling? Or is that a smirk... hmm.

There are a lot of Tim Holtz products here: halloween stamp, Regal Flourishes embossing folder, Rickety House die used on Grungeboard and Grungeboard numbers (covered in Black Soot Distress ink refill then dried with a heat gun - the effect is cool). I've also used the small game spinners as clock hands, Vintage Photo Distress Ink on edges and Rock Candy Distress Stickles to highlight the embossing. The little girl and moon are vintage images, and the acetate clock face is Heidi Swapp (I think... or maybe Jenni Bowlin?).

I painted the cardboard with matte ivory acrylic paint and then distressed with sanding paper and ink. The Rickety House was painted in glossy black acrylic - I would have used matte if I had it, but, y'know.

That's it for the details, I think. Oh! The branch is a leftover Prima vine, the smoke coming from the chimney is peacock feather and the gauze is natural cheese cloth.

Challenges, Please

• Simon Says Stamp and Show (7/24) - Show some embossing
• Grungy Monday #16 (7/24) - Use Grungeboard 
• The Stamp Man #27 (7/29) - Anything by T!m (Holtz)

Thanks for visiting!

Cheers,
Susan