Sunday, August 19, 2012

A Bowl of Cherries with a Couple Pits.

Sometimes life is a bowl of cherries and sometimes you just get the pits. Lately, I`ve had a bit of both.
The sweet news is that soon we will have not 1, not 2 but 3 grandchildren! I think I mentioned that our daughter and son-in-law are expecting their 1st baby in December.
A little boy - and a cousin and playmate for our little grandson. We are all so happy and excited! Now we've been told that our grandson is soon to be a big brother. Yes, our son and daughter-in-law are expecting their 2nd child in February. Just 2 months after our daughter! Wowie!! There`s going to be lots of laughs and good times ahead!
Unfortunately my hubby has not been feeling well lately. And a sick husband is the pits! He had us all worried at one point as he was retaining water like crazy (think Michelin man) but is slowly on the mend. Hopefully he`ll soon be feeling better and playing with his grandchildren.
The good news is that hubbys bedrest has given me lots of scrappy time.
I made a Halloween abum with the Graphic 45 Happy Haunting line. Anyone who knows me knows that G45 is one of my favourite manufacturers. I love their vintage lines and also that they offer so much fussy cutting (another fave) and versatility. Happy Haunting did not disappoint. I am still waiting for embellies for the cover so will share it with you in another post.
But talking about G45 - I cannot get enough of their altered boxes. Remember the jewellery type box I posted earlier, with the Theresa Collins accordian folder inside?
Well while making it, the cover reminded me of an old fashioned screen door.
So I made another one and that's what I did!

                              

I painted the entire box white then covered the front and reverse side in a Coredinations woodgrain cardstock. I also painted the c/s white then sanded it to bring out the 'wood grain' and look old and worn. To give it a real screen door look I added fine screening, a Tim Holtz door knob and decorative clay molding on the 'window' corners.

It now looked like an old door but I needed to make it welcoming. So I added a resin welcome wreath that I painted to match and a white resin birdbath with fluttering birds. I then added flowers, beads and vines as if climbing up the side of the door. The beautiful butterfly was made by the talented Angellica Franssen. (check out her blog to the right under 'Inspiring Blogs'.)




Before adding all the embellies, the rest of the box was covered in a digital paper I downloaded and printed and then inked. The inside of the box was covered with paper from Bo Bunny's 'Welcome Home' line.


     Now, to put an album inside.


Rather than use the accordian album provided, I used a Bo Bunny 'home' album.
It was a perfect fit - both for the size and the theme!



The album has 12 chipboard pages but I will just share a few with you so not to bore you!
My favourite page uses a BB paper with a white picket fence and a white resin bench by Prima. I added glittered flowers and 'bushes' behind from the same paper line and a clay butterfly rubbed with stickles to give it a bit of glitter. (all butterflies need glitter!)





Another fave page is one where I used a bird on a branch die from Tim Holtz Alterations,
added stickles and a black pearl eye and an awesome birdsnest with little eggs from Prima.


Rather than share another page I forgot to mention that as you open  the 'door' I stamped a chandelier on the first flap of the box. Stickles were added to give it some 'light'. As you look thru the front door you see the chandelier image.
(The other pages contain lots of room for photos and journaling).


Okay that's it for now - time to return to whatever it is that you should be doing! Throw some flour on your face or something so you at least look like you've been busy.
 I had so much fun making this altered box and mini.
Now to list it in my Etsy shop so that I can finish that Halloween album and start making some grandma brag books.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Birthday Boy and Book Deets

Well yesteday was our little gandson's first birthday. He is such a happy little guy.  We bought him a little outfit with a hoodie to keep him toasty warm in the coming months but what would a birthday be without toys. So, we got him a 4 in 1 riding car and he loves it!



As mentioned in my previous post I also made him a 4X8 Birthday Book for him to always have memories of his 1st birthday.



I used the adorable vintage/retro Cakewalk line from October Afternoon. It is cute and cheeful for any child's brthday celebation yet has the vintage feel I am drawn to.
On the cover I sprayed chipboard banners in both silver sugar and a bronze mist from Tattered Angel. I then used various buttons and ribbon from my stash and hung a heart charm from the binding.

So, I'll walk you thru the pages with a brief description and photos.
I used the Swiss Cheese Edge Punch by EK Success thruout the album as well as 'Evergreen Bough' and 'Antique Linen' Distress Inks by Tim Holtz. I also used 
ric rac, alpha's and buttons from my stash. Besides the cardstock (Stampin' Up) eveything else is from the Cakewalk line of papers. 
The pages have various flaps to hold lots of photos and journalling.

Page 1

Page 1 - Flap Open

Page 2


    Page 3

                                   Page 3 - Flap Open

Page 4

Page 5
                
                                                         Page 5 - Flaps Open

                                        Page 5 - Flaps Wide Open

Page 6

 Page 7

                                       Page 7 - Flap Open

Page 8

Page 9

                                     Page 9 - Open

  Page 10

Page 10 - Open

Page 11

Page 11 - Open

Page 12

Page 13 - Tags for guests to add advice for as he grows.

Page 14

 Page 15

Page 15 - Open

Page16

                                    Inside Back Cover

Back Cover

And there you have it - front to back - cover to cover!
This little album was so much fun to make and hopefully our little grandson will have many more birthday books.
Don't forget to check out The Paper Passion for supplies to make your own little book or contact me thru my Etsy shop - Sapphire Noteables - if you want me to make your own custom book.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

I'm NOT Complaining

...but  it's 35 degrees celcius outside - really? Is this not BC  where the winters are mild and the summers don't have the extreme heat? What the heck is happening with Mother Nature. It brings back memories of living in Ontario - without the mosquito bites though! Man I don't miss those things - if you weren't soaking in a tea bath to soothe your sunburn you were rubbing calamine lotion  all over your body to relieve the itching of bites. We may not have bugs and mosquitoes as much here but we also don't  have central air like we did in Ontario. After all, we don't need it. Yeah right. Today it would be nice. So the doors are open, the windows are open (not that there's any breeze but it makes me feel better) and the ceiling fan is going full speed. I can't help but think of my 84 year old mother in her apt. back in Toronto in even hotter temperatures - like I said - I'm not complaining!
I've been busy making a birthday book for my grandson's 1st birthday. Can you believe that he is one already? It's so true when they say time flies! Tomorrow is  his actual birthday and luckily it falls on a stat. this year (I still refer to it as a Civic Holiday - but in BC they call it BC Day). So he'll celebrate his special day tomorrow with family and friends - big and little.
Here's a pic of his birthday book but I'll post more photos of the pages and deets later.



I'm so looking forward to seeing his excitement when we give him his actual birthday gift but  this little book is a special gift from me to him - hopefully he will cherish it over the years and it will be the first book of many.
Well I'm off to light up the barbecue and relax with a nice cold drink.
 Lather on the sunscreen and have a safe and happy holiday weekend!