Getting Creative Again, Part 2

I've completed the card organizer that I mentioned in my blog post last week, actually I finished it the day after I posted the sneak peek.  Unfortunately it still had quite a few rough edges and as much as I liked how it came together, it still seemed unfinished.  So I started another one and deemed the first one my prototype.  I used my entire Stampin' Up! stash of designer papers to make the modge podge prototype and as much as I liked all the different colours and the fun vibe it had, I decided to try for a more cohesive look on my second go round. Thus inspiration came from Graphic 45!


It just so happened that I have been looking for some way to use my G45 'Place in Time' Paper pack and I wanted something special for my mom's birthday.  This organizer seemed like the perfect opportunity to do both!  I feel a little guilty because I really wanted to promote the card organizer as an upcoming Stampin' Up! Class but between the prototype photos I'm about to show you and the finished G45 gift photos, you will see that I haven't gotten around to a finished and fabulous Stampin' Up! version yet, not to say that I won't..just not yet and I'm too excited and impatient to wait to do a third organizer before I show you all the pics I've taken of the project(s).

Oh well, such is life..I got creative and I want to share with you all so here goes:

This is the binder that I started out with

I covered the edges with washi tape and used Sizzix adhesive sheets to adhere the Paper cover

This is what the finished cover looks like

Next I had to create the card holders themselves.  I did this by covering up file folders

two file folders were glued back to back before covering with papers

I also created a mini card holder, accordian style

I also used an envelope to create a pocket holder, great for tags

this is the layered look of the inside

and thus, the prototype is born!

 Now I want to show you what the Second Card Holder looks like.  I think having a coordinating paper pack does pull the look all together, but really I kinda like the eclectic mix of the first one too!  Either way, I don't judge..it's all crafty to me :)

The Cover isn't made from G45 papers but Little Yellow Bicycle Papers**

The finished Organizer

The inside

Now I just need to make some cards with various themes to put inside the organizer and then this gift is ready to give to my mom.  I hope she likes it!!

Cheers!

p.s.  ** the Papers I used from the Little Yellow Bicycle collection are actually from a kit I bought from www.birdsofafeatherkitco.com .  I belong to their monthly kit club and honestly I can't get through all of the great stuff I get each month from this company.  I just wanted to share the link because this is an amazing site with great deals!!

Wonderland of fun Part 2

This will be a short post today, just updating on material I posted previously.  I finally got my butt in gear and wrote up the tutorial for making the Mad Hatter Hat. So anyone that wants to try this at home, here are the instructions to do so.

I hope you can see the instructions ok, I'm learning as I go and enjoying the journey :)

I also got the chance to show a couple more ladies how to do the Hatter Project and their creations turned out beautifully as well! I just love how the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante Paper coordinates with these hats.  I do want to try making one more hat with my Stampin' Up papers though, because I'd love to see what effect a different style of paper has on the overall look.  I'll keep you posted.

Take care and have a great week.

What a Wonderland of Fun!

Oh me oh my..I'm late, I'm late, for a very important deadline, er date!!  I meant to blog a week and a half ago as I have set a personal deadline for myself to blog at least once a month...oh well, guess I was just holding out for something extra blog-worthy!  I'm glad I waited! 
This last weekend I attended the 'Down The Rabbit Hole' Wonderland Themed Crop here in High Level.  This is the crop I mentioned in my last post, where I was going to teach the project class on how to make the 'Mad Hatter's Hat'.  I was so ill prepared and felt so rushed because it was a crazily  hectic week and I very much felt like the Rabbit in the story, forgetting things left and right and muttering to myself; I didn't even get my cookies baked for the crop until the moring of, and of course I forgot to take a picture of the end product..silly me.  Which is unfortunate because I had made shortbread cookies and put them in pretty decorative cupcake holders with ribbon and a tag that said 'Eat Me'. Oh well, it can't be helped and in the end I managed to get my sh..stuff together and showed up at the crop...10 minutes EARLY!  How about that, I had the time wrong anyhow and was actually early for the crop!

Anyhow, I was still very nervous about teaching the Hat Class, this is only the second time I've taught a papercrafting class and I'm always worried that the projects won't turn out or people will feel like I'm a sucky teacher, I'm still feeling my way along as it were.  The ladies I taught were great though and their projects turned out AMAZING, and honestly it's due to their talents and not my teaching!  Thankfully, they gave me their permission to post their projects here..aren't they gorgeous!

From Left to right - my teaching demo, Monica's, and Kathy's

 

 

I also promised I would send along the link for my original inspiration for the hat!  Which is a site I found on Pinterest where a DIY tutorial showed me how to make a full size hat that is used for the Mad Hatter Costume!  here is the link to the website via Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/pin/283586107757269658/

 

Aside from the class, this had to have been one of my favourite crops to attend, partly because I LOVE Alice in Wonderland so I loved the theme for the crop but also because of the fun atmosphere the whole time I was there.  From the crazy teapots, to the decorations, to the games we played, it was all soo much fun!  The organizers are ladies that love to Crop and it shows in every detail they put forth..so thanks Bonnie, Gaye, and Mona..you ladies totally rock!!

 

Until next time...



Back to life, back to reality...

I am currently in denial that School is about to start and that it's time for me to be back at work.  I've had the summer off and it was relaxing enough to make me feel refreshed and just busy enough that I didn't want to pull my hair out.  My oldest son starts grade three this year and he's happy to be going back to his old school and seeing his old friends that he's missed; my youngest son starts kindergarten this year and he can't wait for his school to start so he can ride the bus (meanwhile, mommy is still in denial that her baby is old enough to go to the 'big school'); and my little girl starts Headstart Preschool this fall as well and I can't believe how much she has grown this past year and the things she has picked up developmentally..sigh...can't we just keep them little forever :(. 
Strangely enough I'm looking forward to the teenager going back to school because I feel like we haven't seen much of him this summer and we seem to touch base more often and chat more often during our drives to/from school each day and I missed him even though he was right under our noses, I feel the need to reconnect.
Creatively I can't say as I've been taking advantage of these summer months to do much.  I didn't do much baking, crafting, or cardmaking.  About the only thing I took advantage of was my photography - taking wedding photos and vacation shots.  I made a summer to-do list and I procrastinated until the very end of summer in completing it (which is a good thing I guess since my priority was to hang out with my family, which I did!). 

I did finally get my creative juices flowing and finished two papercraft projects that I was very very happy with the final results.  I'll post the picture for the one project here: My Mad Hatter's Hat, which I will be teaching as a class for an upcoming crop.  At first I wasn't happy with the grungy modge podge look of it, but after a day or two I realized it worked for the final result and I'll keep it.

I loved the challenge of making this and the final result.  I made it completely from scratch using thin chipboard, papers, and embellishments.  So cute and it's inspired me to make a matching Hatbox to go with it!  I'll post pics when I get that project done.

Anyhow that's it for me this Friday afternoon, gonna enjoy my long weekend and hopefully get inspired to do a lot more crafting while the motivation and ideas are percolating in my brain.

Talk to you soon!!

Creatively Challenged!

It's a beautiful Friday morning here in High Level, Alberta..which isn't saying much because our weather is so typically Albertan that by this afternoon we could have thunder showers or even (dare I say it) snow!  You just never know.  Despite all that I love my hometown and I've always been proud to say that I hail from here. 

I've had a few other blogs and they just haven't seemed to stick so here's hoping better luck with this one.  The others weren't for me I think because they limited me, or rather I limited myself with themes, topics, and/or just used them to vent.  Not saying that I may not vent a time or two on here but for the most part I want this to be a positive virtual space where I can share all my many shades of creativity with you. 

To start I thought I would show you a project that creatively challenged me and was inspired by Susan Lui's 'Little Darlings' Mini Album on the G45 blog, you can see the post here.  http://g45papers.typepad.com/graphic45/2012/06/marvelously-magical-mini-albums-a-tutorial.html#entries

I loved the look of the mini album and wanted to figure out if I could do it myself.  I think that's where a large chunk of my personal creativity comes from..trying to figure out how things are done, put together, how different elements fit, and to be personally challenged to create something wonderful is truly a gift in itself.  I get so giddy when the end products actually look like I want them to or have worked out similar to the original inspiration.  I still doubt my skills a lot and I never seem to believe my stuff looks as good as the original but in the end, who cares.  I made it!

Anyhow here is the project I made, my very own 'A Ladies Diary' Mini Album.  My version is an 8x8 album made from the Graphic 45 'A Ladies' Diary' Paper Collection. I also made all the paper and ribbon flowers for the cover and I was very happy with the end result.  The album was made from scratch using Stampin' Up's Very Vanilla Cardstock, G45 papers, and various embellishments from Prima Marketing and Webster's Pages.  I love how it turned out in the end, now I just have to figure out what I'm going to add to the inside pages or who I'm going to gift it to..decisions decisions.

That's all for now, see you next time!

Tammy