Kai Layout and Ink Stains

First things first! Roni, over at Ink Stains recently had a birthday. So she decided that in celebration of her birthday she should pick a bunch of people and send them a present!! How cool is that?

It reminded me of when I was a kid in Holland. For your birthday you were allowed to bring something to class to celebrate your special day with your classmates; be it a tin of cookies, candies, etc. You would have a moment in the limelight as you went from desk to desk, and as each one took one of your delectable treats and said thank you. This was the height of priviledge, and we all LOVED it. Maybe we have it all wrong in the west?

Anyway, I was the very lucky recipient of some of Roni's HANDMADE items. Check them out, and be sure and check out Roni's blog..she's got some great ideas!



I just LOVE them. If that weren't enough, today I also received a magazine from her with a bunch of ideas in it for Christmas! I was SO surprised! Thank you so much Roni!! Don't forget to visit her.

Now, onto the second part of this post...

Kai is SUCH a boy! Therefore, doing a page of him was extremely difficult. I didn't want it to be too baby-ish...yes, I know he's just little, but even so, I wanted something that was more masculine. I finally came up with something I hope my parents will like and which still reflects Kai.

I showed the picture of the full page twice because I like each picture for different reasons. The paper in the second photo really doesn't shine this much in real life, but it has better coloring than the first one, which seems a bit washed out. Still the glitter in the first one is more realistic to how it looks.

You'll notice that there's a tab coming out from under the card (Starring). The name Kai has so many meanings, that I couldn't put them all on the card. So I included all the meanings on another sheet that pulls out. My son and his wife picked the name because of the meanings "Rejoice" and "Ocean." His second name, Linden, is after the hockey player Trevor Linden. They are HUGE hockey fans. His third name is after his Daddy's second name.

Below are some close ups of the page:



I received some Tim Holtz stamps in the mail today that I won through eBay. The birds on the wire is one of the stamps I received. The plane is a rub on.



The clockworks is another Tim Holtz stamp. I stamped it onto a separate piece of paper and used pop dots to give it some height. The corner stamp is also from one of the stamp sets. I love his stamps!!!


Then there's the crown stamp...also Tim Holtz. Kai really is a prince in our eyes. He's such a happy boy, full of spit and spunk, yet soooo sweet and sensitive. I like that. He's got it all!

Here is my second attempt at Kai's page. The photo is kind of overexposed and a bit blurry, but you get the drift of it anyway. Things went terribly wrong with this one...I actually dropped an inked stamp onto the wrong part of the page, and I'd already taped most of my elements in place. I didn't want to have to redo it, so I 'fixed' it. Can you tell where??


I've used different rub-ons, but the stamps are the same, just placed differently. The paper is the same color, but the glitter is more colorful. The "fix" is the bottom center of the page where there are some more plants. It's barely noticeable, and it still looks okay.

Well, that's it! I hope you enjoyed my photos. Thank you for visiting and come back soon!

Corner Bookmark Tutorial

Hello Everyone,

I've had a couple of people here and a few local friends ask how to make the corner bookmark from my last post, so what follows is my first video tutorial!!

As with anything, the first time is usually the time you get to see all you did wrong, but because it was a big ordeal...you just post it anyway. LOL. Yes, I'm already learning a few things.

1) Don't zoom in too far...
2) Make sure your audience can actually see what you're doing...

I can think of a couple of others, but let's get on with it. Here it is...
MY FIRST VIDEO TUTORIAL !!!!

I hope I've shown you clearly enough. Enjoy making these little gems!!

Second Attempt...a little different

So here is my second copy of the same photo layout. I used a few different papers in similar colors for this one, mainly because I didn't have enough of the same paper left.



The photo below shows the left top of the page. It's very similar to the first one except that the inside of the circle has more green tones.

This is the bottom right of the page. The butterfly is in a different position, and the corner colors have been switched. The flower on the right is a bit larger as well. Everything else is pretty much the same.


What can I say? I like big flowers.......this one has a larger center than the other.


Here are the two of them side by side. They give you the same feel, and yet they're a bit different. Now to decide who gets which one....


In the next few days I will be making up the 8x8's of my grandson. Until then, have a nice week!

Layout for 8x8 Album

Last year I made a mini album for each of our parents as a Christmas gift. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Dec 2008 brought us a new grandson, and 2009 brought us a new daughter in law. Could we be any more blessed? This is the first page completed...the second will be like it as I try to keep them somewhat the same for each set of grandparents. After that one is completed, I will do two of our grandson. Here is the first completed page:

The first photo is of the whole page. As you can see, I'm no photographer...although I get an A+ for effort. I hope the photo does the page justice!



The next photo is of the top left side of the page. It highlights the tear with the lace behind it. Note the pearl glimmer mist. It's one of my favorite products!!


This one is a close up of the flower and the butterfly on the bottom left of the page. Note the bling...love it! The acetate butterfly I made myself with a printer.


The next photo is the bottom right of the page. I've turned up the corner, placed some lace beneath it and put some bling on it. Oh...and the tear, of course.

Here is another look at the layout. I don't know if you can see it, but I have Amanda's name on there with the meaning of her name beside it (on the top). Her name is Amanda Lee. The meaning of those two names are "loveable," and "meadow"...and she's very, very loveable and is as sweet and refreshing as a meadow after a light rainfall!! You can just see the date they were married...

I hope you enjoyed this layout. It's actually the first one I've featured on this new blog. Have a wonderful week...and I'll be back soon with more.

Until next time...

Teacup Mirror and Envelopes

Here is something I made last year out of recycled teacups. I absolutely love this mirror, which currently hangs in my kitchen close to my Dutch blue delft plates, etc. I am thinking about making these to sell, but am concerned about shipping costs and wondering how practical it would be to even try to ship these. In the meantime I thought I would share these photos with you.

Here is another craft I did a while ago. These little pockets are made out of regular envelopes. You close the flap and cut the envelope in half, cut the open corners and fold it back. Then you add patterned paper and flower embellishments. Easy!

Then I took my Zutter Bind It All and bound them into a little book with photos of my grandson....I'm a very, very young grandmother...really I am! ;)

I did the chipboard letters with a special embossing technique created by Marion from A Piece of Craft. I really like the effect which I think looks very masculine. If you double click on the picture, it should enlarge it a bit so that you can see it.

I made my mother and mother-in-law each a mini album last Christmas of all their grandchildren. One of the things I worked into each page was the meaning of their names, and in their baby page I included the date they were born. It was a big hit!!

Since then, another one of my sons married, and the other son and daughter-in-law had a son. So why am I telling you this? Well, I'll be doing up a couple of 8X8 pages for each of them very soon and hope to post them here.

Until then,

Soap and More...

Hello Everyone!

I was given an order for some of the binder clip photo holders. This customer wanted something that would hold name tags on her Christmas table. So here is what I made for her:



Here are a couple of close ups:



The papers have glitter on them, plus I've added glitter to the snowflakes. You can see the shine a little better in this photo:



As well, I finished my Beer Soap. Here are a couple of pictures of the preparation. I used Avocado Oil, Shea Butter, Castor Oil, Wheat Germ Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Olive Oil and Coconut Oil in this batch. It will make a moisturizing and lathery bar.



Note the temperature of the beer once the lye was added (180 degrees).



I actually had some trouble with leakage in the mold, and so the loaf was hard to remove. Therefore, since they're a little rough looking, I have dubbed these bars "Beer Brick Soap." They smell just wonderful!!!

Well, I'm done soap making for a couple of weeks or so. I have one large batch I want to make with the oils I have left. I'll be showing a friend how to make soap when we do that batch.

Well, that's it for today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Something Smells Good...

For the next few posts, I'll be showing you some of my cold process soaps. This time of year I often like to make soap. This time I used a Coconut Milk recipe which is supposed to be a hard (long lasting) lathery bar that is still moisturizing. Both batches of it smell just heav~en~ly!!

The top batch is a mixture of sweet orange, mandarin, lime, ginger, cinnamon and jasmine oils. I think I'll probably call it "Tropical Rain." Once it's cured some more (4 to 6 weeks), the scent will change some...so I may decide on a different name.




The bottom batch is straight Neroli...which I've decided is one of my favorite scents. They're a little bland looking, but the scent makes up for it. Next time I'll use more coloring.

My next batch will be beer soap. Using beer gives the soap more lather. Additionally, it appeals more to men...since anything with "beer" or "lager" in the title MUST be manly!!

Wish you were here to smell it!!

Until Next Time,

Hello Everyone!

Here is the last card I made. It is a copy of a card design from the early 20's, although I saw the template on Valita's blog recently. It's such a classy design! I apologize for the poor image...I was in a rush.



First I used an Inkadinkadoo 'writing' stamp and applied it with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink for the background.

The word "delight*ful and the flourishes came from the Sharon Ann stamp set I purchased at a garage sale, and the "You're so..." came from the Inkadinkadoo Birthday Cupcake stamp set, also from the garage sale.

I used copper embossing powder on the flourish stamps.

The flower center is from the Bo Bunny collection.

The edges of the V fold were "inked" with metallic rub on.

I finished it off with small copper brads and felt pen stitch lines.

The photo below shows the copper embossing better.

This card was a lot of fun to make, and I'm sure I'll make lots more. Thank you Valita for the measurements! Please check out Valita's blog for the template!

ALSO:

My sister went back to Holland for the first time in over 40 years recently. I wanted to show you what she made for me when she got back. One of the things that makes this so special is the earring hanging off the tag. It belonged to my grandmother in Holland.

Didn't she do a lovely job?

Here is a close up of the shells. The blue ones at the bottom are from Kijkduin in Holland, as is the sand. Apparently the blue coloring is due to the dye used in their famous Blue Delft creations. I thought that was interesting!

Well, I guess that's it for today. Enjoy! I have a lot of projects to work on in the next while, so I'll probably be posting again soon! Until next time....

Carmen

A word to the wise:

Always assume the best about others; it makes life worth living!

Drum Roll, Please...

Hello!!

Just a quick note to let you know I haven't forgotten about your blog candy. I have been on the road, and just had my husband pick the winning entry out of a hat. A hearty thank you to all who participated in this blog candy!!

So without further adieu....the winner is.....DRUM roll please.....

Maureen said...

Absolutely mind boggling Carmen....it's beautiful....how do we find out how to make one of these? I'd like to give it a try. What a lovely blog site as well...I'll have to try and spend some time having a look around.

Congratulations Maureen! I hope you enjoy filling this mini-album with your Christmas photos.

Many thanks to all of you who are following my blog! I appreciate your visits!