Monday and Manias!

I probably got you thinking..."what the heck does she mean with that title??"  Well, I don't think I've blogged at all about MANIAS.  Those are wonderful happenings that take place at my favorite scrapbook store, Making Memories Unforgettable, every Friday and Saturday from 6:00 p.m - midnight.  And yes, you get to scrap or craft your little heart out.  And yes, I was at the Friday mania this past week - got lots done for my etsy store inventory and spent amazing time with some of my dearest friends.  You know, it's pretty great when you get to "mess around and mess up" someone else's space - and they don't mind!!!

But I digress...I should say that on Monday I enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's Day with my sweetie and we kicked it low key with a romantic dinner at home and dancing in the living room - perfect!  The rest of the week I was pinching myself because I couldn't believe our temperatures were reaching 80 degrees!

Had lunch with some fabulous friends on Thursday and later on Ron and I were at McKale enjoying a VERY exciting basketball game as our Wildcat men's team beat Wazoo (Washington State U.)!  But the best game on Saturday with a WHITEOUT vs. U of Washington

pregame arena

Kyle Fogg

It was really a thrill to walk into the area and see a sea of WHITE!!  Pretty awesome, and the excitement and noise was off the hook! Oh, and it really helps that we beat them Huskies in total drama in the last 2 seconds of the game!

Received a fabulous bundle of treasures from Richie and Pat...fabric, trims, and fibers which had belonged to Pat's mom and she is SO generously sharing with me.  Richie sent priceless photos, articles, ephemera from our childhood which I will tackle down the road for the family archive album.

I'm sure some of you haven't had a chance to check out my etsy store, so I thought I'd post a few pix this week of my newest creations.  Unfortunately, dimensionality and detail doesn't come through in the photos as I would like.  The cards average size is 4.5 x 6.5 inches with a 3 in. drop from the ribbon.

Are you wondering what I've got for you this week, craft-wise?  Well, it's a real goody and one that I think you'll enjoy, easy to make too!  

ANTHROPOLOGY-ESQUE NECKLACE

Materials

White felt - about 10-12 in. square

Sharp scissors

Glue gun

Pearls or embellishments of choice ( I also used vintage buttons)

Chain necklace 18-24 inches long

White cotton trim of choice - at least 2 yds. (I mixed mine as you'll see in the photos)

Wire cutters or and old scissors that will cut your chain

Directions

1.  First, cut out three felt circles in the size you want your lace flowers.  One circle will be LARGER as this will be the center flower.  

2.  Put hot glue around the edge of one of the circles.

3.  Press the edge of the trim into the glue, being careful not to burn your fingers.

4. Repeat this process, spiraling your trim towards the center.  Cut off the extra and glue the end down.

5.  Glue your pearl embellishments in the center of your flowers.

I used two different types of white cotton trim, and buttons and pearls for the centers.

6.  Now, glue the large flower down on the remaining felt.

large flower

7.  Next, get the necklace chain ready to be cut.

8.  Find the center of the chain and with the wire cutters or old scissors, snip through the chain so that you have two pieces.  They should be the same length.

9.  On one of the two remaining smaller flowers lay down hot glue and attach one of the chain pieces, about 3/4 in.  Repeat with the remaining small flower and chain.

10.  Place a small flower on either side of the large flower until you have the shape you want, then glue down.

11.  Finally, cut around the flowers, carefully trimming off excess felt.

12.  Show off your new necklace!!

Have a wonderful week and listen carefully for your muse! xoxo

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Well, it's here...the day of LOVE!  When I think of Valentine's Day I think back to elementary school and our V parties.  We had to decorate a shoe box to receive our Valentine mail.  Sadly, there was no "equal for everyone" rule in my classes, so some got few and others abundance.  Fortunately, things have changed today.  When I was teaching I always told my students "You don't HAVE to bring in a card for everyone, but if you do bring in cards then you must have one for EVERYONE.  The following photos are from last school year....my last Valentine's Day as a Dunham teacher.

My Valentine for each of my students

Our classroom

our schedule for the day

Whatever your celebration is today, be sure to tell someone you love them! [sigh]

Another fabulous week has passed by which found me working like crazy on my inventory for the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Mkt.  Our dear friend Milena was there on Sunday with her fabulous wares and furnishings and displayed my things as well (but not in these pix because they were taken before she received my paper art).

Anxious to hear if the Californians liked my line...

In the meantime, I also took a wonderful class at MMU and learned how to make this amazing wreath - wrapped in yarn and embellished with hand cut felt flowers!

The model

And this is mine....a work in progress....finished project to be shown at a later date!

Friday came and my dear hubby was home at last, after 5 long days on the road; On Saturday it was a day with Debbie and scavenging the Tucson secondhand and antique stores looking for treasures.

 

Thrift Store ramblings...

Here are some gems I found that begged to be part of my altered paper art

and this fabulous old crate holding my fiber trims

My week ended on Sunday. Mandy and I had lunch at Maynard's. Our first time at Maynard's but we'll definitely be back...I highly recommend the Caesar Salad and Mushroom Pizza! We ended our afternoon  with a matinee performance of Liszt and Ravel by the Tucson Symphony.

Some of you may be giving loved ones gift cards today, so I thought it was appropriate to include this little project in my blog this week.  Even if you're not giving a card today, this might come in handy in the future!

EASY BREEZY NO-GLUE GIFT CARD HOLDER

Materials

decorative paper

scissors or paper trimmer

ruler and pencil if not using a paper trimmer

standard hole punch

ribbon

decorative edge punch/scissors (optional)

bone folder (optional) or scor-pal (optional)

gift card

Procedure

1.  cut your paper so that it is 4 1/2 in. wide by 8 in. long *if your paper has a directional pattern, be sure you are cutting in the direction you want your pattern to follow

2.  Measure 3 in. in on the long side, draw a straight line across the middle and fold; if using scor-pal or paper trimmer use your scoring tool.

This pix shows the paper folded over along the 3 in. line

3.  Continue along the long side and do the same thing at the 6 in. mark

It should begin to look like an envelope

4.  Slip the gift card inside, center it in the envelope, and crease along each side with your nail

5.  TAKE THE CARD OUT  (You don't want to punch through it!).  Mark where you want to punch and punch a hole on each side of the envelope, opposite each other. Lace your ribbon through the holes.

front

back

6.  Slip the gift card back into the envelope.  Tie off the ribbon in a bow.  BEAUTIFUL!!

Of course you can do a lot more with this using glue...some ideas would be to cut out the edge with a decorative edger and glue a contrasting paper underneath....and then there's the whole other universe of brads, buttons, and bling!!!  Have fun with it and Happy Valentine's Day

It's a Marvelous Monday!

Good morning my dear friends.  This has been SOME week!  Thank you for all your responses to last week's post, both on the blog and Facebook.  Your responses help me to make this all bigger and better.  

I had the fortunate opportunity to work at the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, thanks to my dear friend Debbie Stertz and Feather Expressions.  

What a trip!  I LOVED it, as you can see from the pix! AND I've begun using feathers on my paper art!  You can see what I've done at my Etsy shop: khess136.etsy.com.

I took a couple of MMU (FAVE scrap booking store!) classes.  They were amazing! Alex never ceases to amaze me with her creative talent and continues to inspire me.  We made "Love to Go," a dozen little gift enclosure cards in a Chinese take-out container.

Alex Hardy, creator extraordinaire

the cards

My mess which gets me to the final product!

Oh, and then on Thursday I became Copic savvy with Copic Certified Instructor, Kiera Salkowski. She offers amazing instruction and technique.   If you haven't tried these markers....You must!!!  I'll be doing a demo and cute card at a later posting, but for now you'll have to trust me.  I can color and blend without ruining markers...YAY!!

The Master

The Student (Sandra)

And before the week ended, it was "be good to me" with a Shellac for the nails from my friend Scarlett at Gadabout Salon and Day Spa.  Ahhhhhh, and not a minute too soon - Valentine red!

Scarlett Shellac-ing

best part - the massage!

Gadabout Salon & Day Spa - Speedway location

My little project this week is an oldie, but a goodie.  You know, I wasn't going to post a project this week, but with Valentine's Day just around the corner I thought you might be able to use this one.  It's an ALTERED BINDER CLIP.  I've used them for a number of things:  at special parties we take pictures of the honoree with each guest.

Melissa's Roaring 20's Birthday Bash

That way a copy of the photo can be enclosed with the thank you note.  SO, an altered clip serves as  a cute little photo holder and favor!

It can also be used as a card holder at a buffet to identify the various dishes...Or a place card at a special dinner, or just a fun, funky message holder!

So, let's get BUSY!!

Altered Binder Clip

Materials

Large Binder Clip - 1"

3" square of scrapbook paper or card stock

embellishments of choice - rhinestones, feathers, buttons, flowers, etc.
ribbon, tulle, decorative cord, etc.

Tools

paper trimmer

scissors

ruler

Adhesive

double sided tape - for attaching paper to clip

Zip Dry - optional

glue dots - optional

Instructions

1.  Cut your paper so that it measures 2" wide by 3.25" long.

2.  Add the double sided adhesive to the paper on all 4 edges, and down the center.  Begin adhering paper to the clip; tuck it under the rolled edge at the top on each side.

3.  The clip bottom is not flat, so be sure to smooth the paper against it so you have a good bond.

4.  Your clip should look like this at this point:

5.  Now you can begin embellishing.  Remember to build outward.  In this step I added pom pom fringe.

6.  Next, I added white and black pearls.

7.  Finally, I tied on the tulle and ribbon, and added my message, which I stamped.  

I hope you enjoy trying this fun and useful project.  It's perfect for holding wallet size photos as well as the other uses mentioned earlier.  

One holiday season I included a decorative clip and recipe card along with the homemade sweets I gave my neighbors.

Have a great week and remember to listen for your muse!