StarLitStudio

fly a kite joy taylor style

This card was inspired by a Joy Taylor design - it is an excellent way to punch your way through those lovely scraps and use them up.

Thanks to this design of Joy's I no longer have a pile of Fly a Kite scraps.  Edges of the punches were sponged with Walnut Stain Distress ink. 

When I create cards that I feel share a core with another person, I give that person credit by doing this:

To further enjoy Joy's talent either Google 'Joy Taylor blog', or this link will take you to her blog, Less is More.  Finished size is 4-1/4" x 5-1/2".  Here's to fewer scraps!  Yay!

sidewalks print tray

In digging out some old supplies I found this white, six panel tray from 7gypsies. 

Using October Afternoon Sidewalks I created this altered piece.  Getting my thrill out of this line before Farmhouse and Holiday Style arrive, and then those lines take over my creativity.

Other 7gypsies retired goods used, along with some idea-ology products.  This was a fun project.

It is what I look at when walking into the art room - and I love that photo of the five of us! 

Up since 5:30am - did not eat breakfast  - not hungry and body needed a run.  Plus I can't eat then run or - well, let's say that's not a good thing.  Plus with the braces on my teeth I gotta brush after I eat anything, so I just don't.

Got all kids on their buses, hit the gym, ran a 5K and did weight training.  Hit the steam room and showers.  Grocery shopped for the week on the way home.  Put the cold stuff away then shipped packages for the store - mailcarrier comes in late afternoons on Mondays - usually do this before I hit the gym. And it's only 3pm!

I love Mondays!

dull folder plus scraps is win

I had a pile of paper scraps from a paper line (Sidewalks) and since they were all from the same line they all coordinated - that made this project very easy for me.

A folder was needed in my attempt to stay organized, and a box of white ones from almost a decade ago are still here - my days as a Stampin' Up demo - we would use the (then new!) jumbo wheel rollers on these.

I collaged the Sidewalks paper scraps into this - now one could add ribbons, machine stitching and/or all sorts of embellishments to this, but it is unfortunately not going to be on top all of the time, so I kept the surface flat to allow stacking.

I love using scraps and random shaped paper pieces in projects like this.  But what I really liked was I didn't have to think about coordinating them - I was free to use them all and wasn't restricted by fear of what looked good next to what.

I saw this photo on Mish's post here and this inspired me to do this project:

I so want to try this.  Need to go make more scraps - ha.  Best wishes for a great day!

masculine notebooks using idea-ology

These notebooks were created for the male teachers for my oldest child.  Notepads are from Papertrey, and the finished size is roughly 2-1/2 inches wide and eight inches in height.

Retired Tim Holtz papers used - these are 9x9 and some are left in the store here.  Cardstock was cut to eight inches tall and six inches wide.  I created a half-inch flap on the notebook cover to provide a nice edge when opening it - more details/photo regarding the cover flap in Thursday's post.

Supplies used:  Ruler Ribbon, Lace Chain, Sprocket Gears, Hinge Clips, Game Spinners, Mini Pins, Light Bulbs and Muse Tokens.

I collaged the mass of metal paraphernalia onto a one-inch by eight inch strip of patterned cardstock (matted in black licorice cardstock), then adhered that completed strip onto the notebook front using two, side-by-side, eight inch lengths of foam tape.  The light bulbs have two handy holes in them, and I simply and quickly wired them into place. Some gears were adhered in place using Glossy Accents.

The ruler ribbon - dyed with Antique Linen Distress reinker - was adhered with red line tape.  Thanks for stopping by today!

idea-ology notebooks

edited to add:  These notebooks were photographed on a refurbished printers tray that I hope to store reinkers and precious stamps in.

These notebooks were created as gifts for a birthday boy (turning 9) and a birthday girl.  Lots of idea-ology goodies used on these!

Striped notebook materials:  Graphic 45 papers, frog & date dial images are from Lost & Found Salvage Stickers, a Papertrey Ink number die and Sizzix Tag & Bookplate die were cut from Grungepaper (crown is from a retired Grungeboard pre-cut set covered with 7gypsies Conservatory papers); the bookplate was painted with Distress Tarnished Brass Crackle paint and the numeral nine was inked with Crushed Olive Distress ink; Facets, Game Spinners and Sprocket Gears further embellish the notebook.

The girl's notebook uses My Minds Eye papers, Stampers Anonymous Odds and Ends stamps which coordinate with the Sizzix Ticket Strip die.  Bling is Zva Thriving Crystal; the pearl baubles and chain tassel are fastened onto a Lace Chain using jumprings.  The French doily was colored with Spun Sugar Distress Stain.

Interior features a handy pocket.  Both notebooks use idea-ology corners set with a Home Pro LR (bonniesbest.com).  Congratulations to Gilda on the Memory Box giveaway!  Thank you and best wishes for a great weekend!

altered shoe

I have been working on an altered shoe, and wanted to share the finished piece.

This is my donation to Habitat for Humanity - the theme is Hard Hats and High Heels, and this is through the Artists of Yardley.  Members had their pick of a hard hat, a pair of black high heels, or any combination thereof; I chose a single shoe to alter.

The instructions were to create a piece of art using the hat/heels/etc. in the artist's medium.

Member's creations will be on display at First Savings Bank branches around Bucks County, Pennsylvania, this month.  They are then to be auctioned off sometime in November - all proceeds going toward Habitat for Humanity. 

I had a tremendous amount of fun in having this piece come together!  I did dismantle an old cell phone, and kept this piece in a steampunk theme.  Nothing like the ole' shoe phone to call Mr. Verne with!

Lots of Glossy Accents used to adhere the components together.  For the band of watch parts around the heel base, I used Scor-tape to initially hold the tiny watch parts, then sealed them using Glossy Accents.  Tim's new Rosette takes front center stage, along with bunches of his Idea-ology products throughout.

I think the above is such a sexy shot...

Yup that's the circuit board for the cell phone.

Best wishes for a great week!!

boo decor

Halloween decorating took place at our house this past weekend, and I created this framed piece for a table in the front foyer - just something seasonal to put out for one month out of the year...albeit one of the more fun months of the year!

Lockhart Stamp Company's Haunting Witches Dress was stamped onto long rectangles, and colored with the above Copic markers.

I began with a 3-1/2" x 6-1/8" base of white cardstock, inked with Distress Antique Linen and Vintage Photo, then covered 95% of the cardstock base with Distress Crackle Paint in Milled Lavender.  It looked like this when dry.

 

A black leather scrap, bamboo clips, Timepieces, clear clocks, a watch dial - plus a few other goodies decorate this piece.  I find frames like this one in framing stores - they must use leftover framing from jobs and construct these small, unusually sized pre-made frames.  A perfect image for a very fun time of the year!!

bridal cubes

(Top view of cubes - pieced Zva Creative Little Pearl Trees idea is from Debbie Olson.)

Last May I participated in a Fine Arts Festival at my kids' elementary school. One of the altered items I brought in to share was this cube (or look at the pic below, center cube).

Two weeks ago, one of the teachers at my kids' elementary school informed me two female teachers were getting married, and 'could I create something like that cube I brought to the Festival back in May, for these two teachers, and keep it bridal themed?'  

I said yes, immediately visualizing the cubes in this post...this project took a few hours to assemble, allowing dry time for Mod Podge & E-6000.

 

Cubes used were 3-1/2" square paper mache, covered in old 7gypsies papers using Mod Podge. All naked cube edges were inked with Distress Walnut Ink first.

Here are the four sides:

One of the teachers is into nature and birds, the other is classic and classy, very Ann Taylorish. I allowed their sense of style to guide me in the creation of their cube.

These glorious metal feet are discontinued from Provo Craft. Tim has something similar here.  Doodads and components were from my stashes of product from over the years.

The bridal shower was this past Friday - really hope they liked them. Thanks for stopping by today!

bridal shower wine tags

I had a custom order - tags for wine bottles to be given at a bridal shower.

I had not heard of this, but evidently it is all the rage now: the bridesmaids coordinate a gift basket of wine bottles to celebrate milestone occasions in the couple's future life together, such as 'first fight', 'first dinner party', and so forth.  The decorated wine bottles are presented to the bride at a bridal shower.

The tags I created were for 'wedding night' and 'first anniversary'.  Seeing that these were to adorn wine bottles  I immediately thought of a tag concept and created these:

They are designed to be tied onto a wine bottle like this:

It sounds like a fabulous idea for a bridal shower.  I googled the concept and found this site for more occasions. 

supplies:  Nesties Labels One, Prima Mini Gypso flowers,  7gypsies velvet leaves, Heidi Swapp clock faces, Tim's Game Spinners, silk ribbon.  I found the wedding rings at Michaels maybe a decade ago.

Hope you are having a good week and thank you for stopping by today!

framed butterflies for Alice

My neighbor and friend Alice just celebrated a birthday, and this is the gift I created for her.  It celebrates Alice's love for butterflies, and uses a frame from my local framing store.  They have these in a big bin where one walks into the store, and most are reasonable in cost and beautiful for projects like this one.

Graphic 45 papers featured, along with vellum paper (Papertrey Ink) and May Arts ribbon.  All edges of the Graphic 45 papers were inked with Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distress inks.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!