Living my dream

Hello hello hello......The Frank Garcia Design Team Blog hop

It's been a while since I blogged hasn't it? Well I've got a great reason now. As part of the inaugural Frank Garcia DT, we are holding a blog hop so everyone can meet everyone and see all our wonderful styles, PLUS get to see the stunning ranges that Frank has released as part of the Prima Marketing team.

I'm hoping you've come here from Frank Garcias blog?! If so, welcome! I'm excited to welcome you to my little corner of the webosphere. Today I'm going to show you a bit of my scrapbooking style and also give you the opportunity to win a prize... But that can wait until the end....

First I'm going to show you a cute little album I made earlier this year using one of Frank's lovely albums and one of his stunning collections, Archivist....

 

I taught this album as a class in July and it was very popular.

It had a ton of different aspects to it, from hidden pockets, openings, extra pages etc etc.

I especially loved the trim Frank designed for us to use....

It really finishes off the side of an album.

To see more samples of work I've done using Franks delicious designs, just scroll on down to the next post where you'll see a class I put together using A Victorian Christmas. It was a fun set of tags to make, and we managed to get all 7 done in 3 hours.

Teaching is one of my passions and I'm lucky to do this on a regular basis throughout NZ, Australia and even further afield when the time arises. Next year I'll be teaching on a cruise through Needlepoint Tours and Cruises that goes out to Vanuatu. What an amazing time we're going to have!

Talking of amazing times, who wouldn't want to win a gorgeous prize from Frank Garcia for someone who joins us on the blog hop.

Just leave a message to us on our blogs and we'll be choosing a lucky winner in due course. I'm sure you'd like to see what your might win? Here it is.....

Perfect for that last minute Christmas card/gift.

Well, because this is a blog hop, you're going to want to know which blog to hop along to. I'm sending you to the lovely Jennifer at this blog addy: http://scrap-escape.blogspot.com/

Enjoy the hop and have a wonderful day!

Playing with Scrapmatts Memory Cabinet and Prima

If you're a friend on facebook, you will have seen my terribly untidy desk after a few days of 'playing' with a gorgeous Scrapmatt's chipboard piece. Well, I thought it was about time to show you how it turned out.....

Do you know what I love best about the Scrapmatts product? It has a 'burnt' edge which means you don't have to ink it or colour it or even sand it. Fantastic.

Now you can see it when the doors are opened. I added in some cute little bottles filled with gorgeousness, some lovely Prima embellishments and lots and lots of 'wallpapering' with Prima papers.

 

Here's a close up look....

The sides and back didn't get left out. I had to embellish and play with them too.

It did take me a few days to complete, but that's because I covered every little piece of chipboard. But I think also because I was having fun. Designing little bits to fill the cupboard, making sure I had the right papers to compliment each other, trying out some die cutting to fill areas where I wanted something 'more'. It really was just for fun.

This wee cabinet stands approx 23cm high and is approx 19cm wide.

If you love this item as much as I do, then get in touch with Scrapmatts or your local store to order it in. It's called Memory Cabinet 01 (CB7011). 

A cute little tree as seen at CHA

Before Xmas I saw these gorgeous little polystyrene cones which I thought would look amazing altered. I knew CHA was coming up and knew I'd like to try incorporating some new Prima product with some of my Spellbinders dies.

So I did. It was incredibly simple. But just took time. And I realised half way through that my 'random' way of doing it wasn't working and I needed all the bigger flowers along the bottom and smaller ones at the top. But that was ok!

I loved that the Free Spirit collection was so bright and cheerful and had lots of green which worked in so well with my 'tree' idea.

And if you're wondering which dies I used? They were some older ones. Bitty Blossoms. They allow you to make flowers very easily.

Just cut the paper using the die, roll the paper up and then spread the 'flower'. I often use my fingers, some water, or even an embossing tool to get into the harder to reach areas. 

You can make the flowers smaller than the die, if you just trim off the beginning.

And in my design above, I've added in some white Prima flowers underneath to give it a bit more of a 'tight' look.

If you want to see more of the Prima booth (and this little tree there), just click on this link which will take you right there.....

A cute Christmas Gift

For the last couple of years, the McClunes have done 'Make or bake' Christmas gifts. It makes for some really fun times as we all see what others have made for each other. There have been some incredibly creative gifts and talented people!!!

We each get given a name of someone and we just create for that one person. This year, Matt got his cousin (second cousin) Aaliyah who is just 2.5 years old. Because we'd left it so late, and she lives in Aussie, I decided to make something myself.

I created this:

What is it you ask? Well, it used to be an old hard back book, but I made this cute little family of owls with their very own home.

Let's see how I created it....

The first thing I did was take the book out it's hard cover. This is actually really easy as it's usually not attached all the way down the spine. But be careful as you may be over enthusiastic with your cutting and go right through the cover.

Next adhere some fabric to the front and back of the book. 

This book was already painted, but you don't need to do that! I didn't cover the whole book as it would be difficult to do and keep without lines appearing in the fabric. I also think it looks nice to see the cover.

Because the pieces of fabric weren't cut perfectly, I decided to add some ribbon along the edges to create a straight edge and also add a bit of texture to the book.

From there it's simply a matter of adding a zip. Yes, ok, that's the tricky part. And basically, you sew the zip into some pieces of fabric as if you were sewing it into a piece of clothing, but it's just being attached to random fabric.

Once you've done that you can glue it into the book.

Ensure that the start and finish of the zip is at the bottom/top middle of the spine of the book, so when laying flat it opens all the way.

To make the inside pretty, you just need to add some material over the inside spine of the book, then some paper/cardstock/fabric over all the inside edges of your fabric.

Then just add something inside to finish off the gift.

To keep within the 'make' part of the present, I decided to make some cute little felt owls. they are all hand cut, hand stitched and are the perfect way to fill the insides of this altered book.

To finish off the present I add Aaliyah's name to the outside spine with a little bit of bling. What girl doesn't like some sparkle?

It was so much fun to make and didn't take that long either. The book was done in maybe an hour? I think next time I could do it much quicker as I now know how to do the zip part. After all I'm NOT a sewer!

I think the cost was perhaps around $15 total including the book (second hand shop), fabric (Spotlight), and zip (Spotlight). The other items were all found around home. Of course it can be cheaper than this, but I happened to pick a relatively expensive fabric. Oh dear! Grin.

An easy and cost effective gift. 

 

Prima ArtVenture NZ - Pandoras box sneak peeks

Isn't it great when two of your favourite things collide?! Prima and a luxury retreat?! Oh . my! So good.

Just two weeks away now and so excited about my classes. I am particularly in love with my altered book. The class is called Pandora's box and well, it has some surprises which I won't go into just now.

But here's a little sneak of what it looks like and what we're going to be creating....

 Yes, it's a real book! Yes, the colours can be used for ANY theme! Yes, we have lots of fun!

And a final one...

Can't wait to see you there!

I LOVE Books - an 'Off the page' project.

I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. In fact one of my most vivid memories from childhood was being taken off for a reading test which I remember being incredibly stressful and fun all at the same time.

For Scrapfest by the sea, I decided to put my love of books into a project. I popped up to the local
op shop and brougt a cheap book (just $2), then set about to alter it. I knew the idea I wanted to go with, but wasn't entirely sure how it would work out. So I just gave it a shot. Here's what I came up with.

I am in love with stencils/masks at the moment, so it only made sense to give the book a little texture using Prima's checkerboard mask. I used both the large and small masks to give different sizes of squares and the white texture paste and clear. Again, for a different look and to see what the clear looks like....

Although I used 'mostly' Prima products, I also threw in some transparency's from Collections and some tags from Typo.

To get the rounded pages, all I did was work out how many pages were in the book, then divide them roughly (I divided into lots of 5 pages). Then I folded them in a half circle and glued back to the spine of the book. I was surprised at how quickly I got through doing that! It didn't take long at all!

I also wanted to include some teeny tiny bottles that we were selling at Scrapfest. They are so darn cute!! So I filled them with glitter to match the colour theme and glued them on.

I LOVE Prima's vines. And they worked perfectly here. Adding a sense of cohesion to the project that clusters of flowers may not have done. I especially love the green leaves and tendrils.

Once all the pages had dried, it was simply time to embellish. I added the vine first as my base, then worked around it adding in additional flowers, transparencies, bottles etc until I was happy. I didn't want it to be 'overdone', but also wanted to have something pretty and enduring.

As usual for this type of project, I used my all time favourite glue - Helmar 450 quick dry. It's brilliant. Strong, quick to dry and rubs off if you get it in time. Also for a project like this, it's not brittle, so if the pages move, you're not going to get pieces 'popping' off.

Setting clear, it is also great for the transparencies I attached.

My project can be found in the latest release of PaperHaus magazine which was just released on 1st September. It's a fabulous fall inspired free online scrapping magazine. Just click on the cover below to visit it....

New creations using Spellbinders, including a 'how to' video

Recently Spellbinders had their DT call. I decided to give it a go, and while I got through the first round, unfortunately, that was as far as it went for me. As you know from my posts here, I LOVE Spellbinders and all their gorgeous products, so I thought I'd share with you what I created as part of my entry.....

First round was this delightful little hanging heart....

I used 5 different Spellbinders dies and the paper which is (both collaged and not) is 7Dots Studio.

The heart is an MDF piece I brought from Spotlight some time ago. It is meant to be hung on your door, but in this instance, I covered the hole for the door knob and put in a Spellbinders gate.

It is now hanging from Sarah's roof.

For round two, I created this cute layout....

For this round, I used another 5 dies. Scalloped circles, banner, gate, and two types of triangles. I also used a few doilies, and of course some Prima papers and embellishments.

We also had to create a video showing how our project was created. Here's my video....

 

For close up's of this layout click on my post on the Paperhaus blog where I'm showing this layout.

I hope you get a chance to do some crafting today!

I love to make little bags

I just adore making little bags. Especially for my classes. I fill them with goodies and give away as prizes.

This is one that I made for my class in Sydney at Scrapbook Superstore.

They are so easy to make and look quite cute. I especially love this yellow one.

I have basic instructions on how I made this bag over on the paperHaus blog.

A Masquerade Mask for a friend

Recently I created something different. I was asked if I could make a mask for a friend attending a masquerade party. I've never made anything like this before, so found it hard to start with. But then decided to just go for it.

This is what it ended up like.

I started off with a mask from Spotlight.

I then painted it a bluey colour. Followed by a turquoise glitter.

Once this was dry I also put some of my favourite iridescent medium over parts of it.

Then it was up to the decorating part. I was given some feathers from the lovely Wendy (from Scotties), plus those gorgeous white threads of beads. And quickly found a spot for them.

As a final touch, I added in some crystals from Prima and of course a couple of flowers from Prima too.

Mandy sent me some photos of her in the mask at the party. It looked like she had a lot of fun!

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to try something different Mandy. I'm so pleased you liked it.

Scotties retreat and my mini album class

I had such a wonderful weekend. I have to admit I was a little nervous before I taught as the mini album I was teaching was very personal, and as such, it was putting myself on the line. But as usual, once I got there and met all the lovely ladies it was fun!

If you didn't attend the Scottie Crafts Summer retreat.... you missed out!

It's as simple as that.

The location was stunning. The food A . MA . ZING! The venue gorgeous. And the price, really reasonable.

Here's the ladies in the middle of my class.

Talking of the class, let's take a look at it shall we?

The album we used and altered is one from the new Prima mixed media range. It had a heap of amazingly cool file folders and plastic folders in it, and we decorated the main areas, so it could then be filled with their own trinkets, photos etc.

The front of the mini is quilted. And that was so much fun to do! We had 5 machines going at once and everyone gave it a great go. I should have taken some photos as there were some really creative covers. Like the swirly one, and the sun rays. Very cool.

Inside there were 5 sheets we altered....

All of the pages were made into pockets, for extra room to store things that are precious.

And this is the inside cover. Lots of gorgeous texture on this one.

One of the sections of the album is about moments that change your life, or moments that are special for whatever reason. Funnily enough, one of those moments occured for our family today. I can't go into it right now, because it may not happen, but it affects the health of one of our children. We're undergoing further tests over the next few weeks and while it's not life threatening (thank goodness), it could change things for us. I'm feeling a bit weird about it all so any positive thoughts sent my way would be gratefully received.

Oh, and if you're thinking you like the look of the retreat, get in touch with Scotties. I hear they are thinking of running another, and you won't want to miss it.

Home Made Vintage Tea Party Birthday Invitations

Sarah's birthday is coming up in just over 2 weeks and we've been planning her birthday party for a LOOOONNNNGGGGG time. She's going to have a vintage tea party. We'll have a beautifully decorated table with lots of scrummy food, and play lots of old fashioned party games.

But before all that happens, the invitations need to go out. So we made these ones....

A paper teacup and saucer, filled with lollies and the 'detail' part of what's going on.

I brought out some spare papers I had and Sarah chose this beautiful pink/white Studio Calico paper (Sassafras Ethereal) which matches the colour theme of the party - pink and white.

Each tea cup and saucer was then wrapped in a cellophane bag with white seam binding holding it together.

And did you see the beautiful pink ball decoration? Sarah made that herself. Amazing.

So how did I make these?

First I have to admit, I cheated. I didn't make the template for the cups/saucers myself. I brought it from Waltzing Mouse Stamps. It cost me 2.5 pounds, but was worth every cent.

I was then able to cut out each piece, stick it together ready for the rest of the invite.

Of course if you wanted you could decorate the teacup and saucer further, but for this purpose, as is was fine!

Then I made the 'details' part of the invite. I realised I needed something quick and simple so decided a die would probably be the best way to go so went to Scotties to see what they had. I got chatting to Wendy Jones and she showed me a very cool die that makes boxes, but would make the perfect little envelope if tweaked a little.

And that's what I LOVE about Spellbinder dies. I've now got a fantastic die that can be used to make cute little boxes, or other things depending on your creativity.

So what did I do?

First use the die that makes the top of the box and cut it out.

Then cut the sides (that are the used to stick the sides of the box together) of the die off, so you are left with just an envelope shape.

Fold the sides of the paper along the scored areas. Then again about 2mm higher (towards the edge of the paper, not the middle).

You've now got a little envelope where you can add the 'details' of the party on a seperate piece of paper inside.

Even though we didn't need to 'secure' the envelope, we decided a little white tag would make it look really pretty, and we could put each girls name on it too. 

And it was easy. We just put the string around the envelope then put the tag through the two pieces of string and pulled it tight.

On the back you can see we added wording to show what party Sarah is having.

In hindsight, I wonder if these invites were more for me than her, but she was pretty stoked with them, so that's all that matters!

Here's hoping the party comes off as well as the invites.

An altered book for paperHaus

I'm so excited today to show you an altered item I made especially for the paperHaus blog!

I very first saw a book being altered by Jamie Dougherty when we were on the Prima Design Team together. It was amazing and I couldn't believe how you could do something like that. Finally, I've given it a go myself. And it's actually not toooo hard. I'm going to show you a few steps to make it super simple for you...

First choose your book and take the dust cover off.

Next mark the front cover in pencil the size of the opening you'd like to have in the front of your book. This will depend on the size of your book, so there's no set right or wrong.

Then cut the hole and all the pages inside to fit the same sized space. This may take a while depending on how far into the book you want to go.

Once you're happy with the depth of your hole, you can glue the pages together. I went through and glued a few here and there, but then used modpodge and glued around the whole of the book. I glued the outside of the book pages and the inside so everything was stuck together nicely.

Then it's time to decorate. I decided I wanted something I could hang on my wall.

In this instance as I was going to use the book as a frame for a picture of my children, I decided to use a black and white photo and some soft colours to compliment both boys and girls.

My first step was to paint the books front cover white. Then I added a series of 'dots' to the page using one of Prima's masks and some texture paste.

Once it was dry I sprayed the book with Nougat Glimmermist to 'shabby' it down and take away the starkness of the white paint.

Then I added in some muslin (cheese cloth) to the bottom and sides of the whole, plus added some painted corrugated card around the edges. This softened up the whole book.

But it still enabled the words from the pages to show through.

Finally I added in all the embellishments I thought would work to get the right 'feel' to my book/frame. I love Prima, so used all their products on this project and added in a ton of flowers (including one of their divine vines) plus as a 'centre piece' I used a set of Prima's new wooden doors to frame the photo.

I also used some Vintage Trinkets, resin pieces and a gorgeous new die from Spellbinders to create that cute little leaf you can see above.

I had such a fun time with this. A bit of paint, a bit of glue, a bit of fabric, some flowers and embellishments. This girl was in heaven!

To hang it on the wall, I just drilled a little hole in the back with a drill and now it's ready to be hung.

With Christmas coming up, this would be the perfect gift to make and give to someone special. I hope you give it a go.

Trina

PS: Did you notice the banners running across the top of the book? They are cut from the packaging of the wooden doors. Cool huh?!