A Christmas Present for a Friend

Is December an odd time to post a Halloween project?  Maybe, but this one has been TOP SECRET since June!!  Now that it has been given to my friend Amy I can finally share it with you, too!  The book itself and most of the pockets came from Heartfelt Creations, but the decorations are from everywhere!  

BOOK COVER

PAGES 1 & 2

Pages 3 & 4

Pages 5 & 6

Pages 6 & 7

Pages 8 & 9

Pages 10-11

Back Cover

Book "Latch" 

(Magnetic Closure)

Close up of the large tags in this project

A winter flower garden

Here in the Midwest we are enjoying the first snowfalls of winter.  Ice and snow covered trees are very pretty, but I prefer the bright happy colors of spring flowers.  So what is a girl to do in December?  Make my own flower garden, of course!

 Altered Pages sells several different styles of gold glam stickers and one of my favorites is the Bloom set.  There are several sizes of stylish flowers, leaves and butterflies.  I chose a different color card stock for each size flower and cut them out leaving a bit of color showing of the outside edge of each one and then did the same for the other items.

I chose a lacy ribbon for the bottom of the card because the loops remind me of a little garden picket fence.  It also adds a touch of softness to the golden flowers.  Because it is a polyester ribbon it has a light shine of its own so it fits perfectly.  The design is completed with "Time to" from the Celebrate set and the word "Bloom" from this one.  The flowers are adhered with a glue stick and tacky glue for the lacy ribbon.

In low light

SUPPLIES

Gold Glam Stickers - Bloom set

Gold Glam Stickers - Celebrate set

Adhesives

Scissors

Ribbon / lace

Click HERE to see this post at the Altered Pages Artsociates blog.

Ready to ring in the New Year

Today I have a tag that would be a lovely addition to that hostess gift you're taking with you on New Year's Eve.  Perfect for a gift package or hanging on a bottle of wine, this tag will let you ring in the New Year on a festive note.

My inspiration for this tag was the lovely lady in black and white.  I saw her on the Life in the 20s collage sheet and had to use the image.  Don't you just love flappers with all the fringe? 

I made an urban background with a brick stencil and two colors of ink.  I chose one of the clocks on the Time Travel stencil that is about to hit 12:00 midnight.  The bricks and clock are available at Altered Pages and they are two of my favorite stencils.  I added a cityscape with silver ink windows and then layered on some fancy lace and holiday collage images.  

Now...where's the party?

Supplies used:
Bricks stencil
Time Travel stencil
Ink
Lace & fibers
Tacky Glue (to hold down the lace)
Double-sided adhesive
Black rhinestone (for the clock center)

Collages:
Life in the 20s
Calendar Numbers 1-31
Dressed To Ring In the New Year

A little winter romance

Who doesn't need a little romance in their lives?  This happy couple is enjoying a winter skate with a little Christmas angel watching over them.  This is one of the images on the Young Lovers collage sheet and is perfect for a Christmas card for your sweetie or a favorite couple, a winter anniversary or just a note card to say you're thinking of them.  Altered Pages has Christmas collages of all types from Vintage to modern.  Be sure to check them out for your holiday art.

To see the post for details on how it was made, please visit the Altered Pages Artsociates blog.

Retro Christmas Fun

Are you a traditional red-and-green Christmas fan or do you like to step out of the box and go non-traditional?  I have this fantastic paper pad called Fabulous by Authentique and it has a pink & turquoise pattern that reminds me of snowflakes, so I couldn't resist making a retro style Christmas card.

To see the details for putting this retro Christmas card together please visit my post over at the Altered Pages Artsociates blog.

Supplies Used:
Authentique Fabulous 6x6 paper pad
Celebration Trees collage sheet
Dresden Foil Pennant Point gold border
Chipboard snowflakes
Emerald Creek Metallic Mirror Gold embossing powder
Diamond Stickles
Typical card making supplies: scissors, adhesive tape, glue, etc.

Using color with abandon - a Day of the Dead celebration

This is such a fun time of year with the Fall colors outside and Halloween decorations inside.  And then there is Dia de los Muertos!  The Day of the Dead celebrations use color with wild abandon.  Sugar Skulls and flowers burst with a rainbow of color.

The Altered Pages Design Team is highlighting stencils by The Crafters Workshop and I couldn't be happier.  Check out the full post on making this card on the Altered Pages Artsociates blog.

Products Used:
6 x 6 stencil by The Crafters Workshop, designed by Carmen Medlin
Dye inks in various colors
Stickles
Ole cutouts by Sabor
Honoring the Day of the Dead collage
Standard cardmaking supplies: Scissors, glue, etc.

Purrfect Halloween Wishes

Halloween is coming!  I love the costumes, decorations, whimsy and fun that this holiday brings.  My project this week is a cute Halloween card to get us into the spirit.

I recently got three new stencils from The Crafters Workshop and one of them is a pattern that reminded me of both flames and animal print.  Both of those things say Halloween to me so I decided to make a card with this great pattern by Carmen Medlin as the base design.

I used a piece of orange card stock with a shape cut out like a window.  If you don't have panels with windows already cut out, just grab your favorite basic shape die and cut one.  I sponged black dye ink onto the card stock. 

That's a great start.  I wanted to add a richer color to it so I added touches of red, green and yellow here and there.  Use your favorite blending tool, sponge or spouncer and just keep adding layers until you're happy.  I added green around all of the cut edges and then filled in.

Now for a focal point.  Altered Pages has many Halloween collages ranging from cute enough for toddlers to scary and macabre.  I chose one on the cuter side.  It's from the Halloween Memories sheet.  A Wink of Stella adds just the right touch of sparkle to the pumpkin's glowing face.

Since the image also has a black cat, I thought it was a wonderful chance to use my cat chipboard cutouts.  They are natural chipboard color so I sponged on black ink.  And every tasteful feline needs a collar!  This sheet of border stickers was purrfect.  One strip of the dotted pattern was all I needed to highlight the cat and the stripe on the card front.

A little black bling to balance out the top corner and this card is done and ready to be mailed.  A mail art treat for a friend!

Supplies Used:
Inks in your favorite colors
Blender tool (or spouncer)
Cat chipboard shapes
Border Design 2 stickers
Black bling
The Crafters Workshop stencil
Halloween collage sheet
Card making supplies: scissors, adhesive
A basic shape cutting die

Also posted at Altered Pages Artsociates art blog.  Click here to see the blog post.