Springtime, Faeries, Divas & More - a Mini-Album

Hello! Welcome to one of the stops in the Creative Cuts & More March Album-themed Blog Hop! Hopefully you are joining me from my sister's project over at The Scrap-a-Teeny Girls' blog. But if not, you'll want to go back to the beginning so you don't miss anything FABULOUS! Just click here & you'll be directed back to the Die Cut Diva blog where all the happiness starts!

As you read on my sister's post, we decided to split up the Mix & Match album from Creative Cuts & More (we each got 6 fabulous, double-sided pages to work with!). For my 6 pages, I decided to do a little Springtime Garden Book with a TWIST...lots of fun images of divas, faeries, butterflies & some great quotes to go along with each! (I hope to get this little gem up in our Etsy store on Thursday!)

A little quote from Willy Wonka with this springtime nymph!

Each spread of pages has a theme...the first two are all about Faeries...

A quote from Yeats

I made a large tag to insert between these two pages with this great Steampunk Faerie I found at the Altered Artifacts blog. Isn't she AWESOME! I printed her on a transparency & then attached her with a couple of brads to the tag...

 

Her quote is from Peter Pan

Here the backside of the tag...with Faerie Images from Luna Girl

 On the next page, I used this awesome image of Bette Davis (I think!) off the Web (can't find my link!) & a Tim Holtz stamp for her wings over the dictionary page for "fairy"...

Next, I moved on to the Garden...

I found this fun vintage image (online somewhere!) of a little girl at the garden shed looking so exasperated!

The quote reads, "My garden will never make me famous, I'm a horticultural ignoramus!" by Ogden Nash

Again, in between the pages, I made a funky envelope & added the flower, garden def. & a MME tag that I glittered over the word "sunshine."

Behind that is another Diva page with fun quotes about gardening...

The top Diva is from a Flickr gallery & the others were found online

 The two quotes here are: "I don't take myself too seriously anymore. Sometimes I garden in my knickers & platform shoes." Kim Wilde & "In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." Margaret Atwood

And, what's a garden book without Butterflies??

The cutout butterflies are from a DCWV paper stack & all the other butterfly cards are from Luna Girl with the exception of an image of Joan Crawford added to one!

 And finally, the back of the album...I added this great nude photo from a "History of Photography" book I have, (but the photo was unlabeled!)...

"If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring & would stay that way later in the fall."

That's it! Again, sorry for the super long posting! I wanted to be sure you got a feel for the whole book (plus, now I can post this link in the Etsy listing! Ha!)

Now it's time to hop on over for our last talented lady of the day...Noelle of noellescrapsalot! I know she will have something amazing to share with you all!

Don't forget to head back to the Creative Cuts & More store to place your order for some great mini-albums & more! She's really got a great selection AND you don't have to cut out any paper to match up with the chipboard - just pick a background color & you're set!!

TTFN!

Long Live the Queen...Ahem, Maggie's Teacher (a Birthday Card!)

It's funny how sometimes your intuition tells you need to look into something & that something just happens to be that day! Well, that happened to me today when I dropped off Maggie at her classroom! I knew that her teacher's b-day was this month, but didn't know what day & had kept meaning to check...well it was TODAY!

So, while I was at the gym, I schemed up this little card in my head...I received my Marie Antoinette stamps yesterday in the mail (link is below in the "supplies" list - many AMAZING vintage style stamps here!!!) & was dying to get busy with them!!! It's not exactly what I had in mind, but pretty close! Sometimes it's hard to translate what's in the head to paper! I am hoping to tweak a few things & throw a few up for sale in the Etsy shop!

I would love to hear what you think would make it better too, so leave me a comment & you might just find me contacting you so I can send you one!

full image

close up of Marie

close up of banner

inside of card

There ya have it! My glitter skills need a little honing & I am not super wild about how the carriage stamped, but all-in-all it's a fun card & she liked it (& the Starbucks card!)! And that's all that matters, right?!

Tomorrow, (Maggie's cough permitting!) I get to meet my mom & sister at Archiver's for a little shopping (mostly window since I already spent my budget online & at Michael's this month!) & girl time! Hopefully I will have some more ideas to share with you soon! (I have to say, I am obsessed with Marie right now, so you might be seeing quite a bit of that!! Hang in there, it's pass!)

See you soon!

Supplies:

Card: Studio G, $1 bins at Michael's!

Ink: also Studio G & some Distress Ink

Glitter: Martha Stewart, Michael's

Cream Cardstock: AC

Banner Dies: PTI

Stamps: Oxford Impressions

Labels: We R Memory Keepers

Misc.: Colored Pencils

Stampin' the Day Away!

My poor Magpie was sick with a high fever (102!) & headache for the WHOLE weekend. I spent so much time hanging out with her this weekend, browsing all the creative blogs online while she rested, that I had all these ideas buzzing in my head! I had big plans to "get my craft on" first thing this morning!! So when morning rolled around, I knew that even though she was acting like herself again, I couldn't send her to school because she needed to be fever-free for 24 hrs (school policy).

Can you say "BUMMER?"

But, she was so great today! Playing & watching movies & "wrecking" the house AND letting mommy "work" for the better part of the day!!! Boy did I get a lot done!!

One of the ideas I had was to create a bunch of tag sets to sell in The Scrap-a-Teeny shop. 

I pulled out all the stamps that I own, some plain paper & tons of ink & started scheming! I had a great time pairing images & playing with layering techniques ALL. DAY. LONG.

Such fun!!!

I haven't had a day like this (by myself!) in ages!

{Thank you Maggie! I love you even more today - if that's possible?!?!}

I hope I get to do some more tomorrow, but school's closed due to CRAZY blow freezing temps (wind chills -35!!) here in Denver! And, I don't think I can "ignore" my kiddo for 2 days in a row!! But keep your fingers crossed I get a little time in my studio! Maybe I can bribe her with some playtime at the gym & her own crafting project...hmmmm, the wheels are turning already!

Here's a glimpse of the sets I did...

Message in a Bottle Set

The Journey is the Reward set

Gotta Have Vision set

Wonderful You set

Cupid's Arrow set

See you soon!

HaPpY BiRtHdAy to My WONDERFUL Mom!!

I have a wonderful mother! 

Not only is she my mom, but she is my friend. She has been there for me no matter how awful I was to her as a kid & whenever I need her as an adult. Not too many days go by that I don't speak to her on the phone, get together with her to shop, scrapbook, craft, watch movies or do family stuff!

She is just an amazing woman! She's wise, kind, thoughtful, beautiful, funny, intelligent & Uber-crafty! 

She's what you would call a "jill-of-all-trades!" She dabbles in needlework, quilting, sewing, knitting, mixed media art, watercolors & of course, she is a fabulous scrapbooker!! (Here's one of the albums she's done for sale in our Etsy shop.)

So, the photo above was taken on her birthday many years ago & it has inspired me twice now...I used it for a Graphic 45 DT Call! This time around, it inspired me to create this little printer's box:

As I remembered the gorgeous dressing gown she has on in the above photo, I said to myself, "wouldn't it be fun if I could do something with a vintage child's dressing gown pattern for mom?" And behold!

I found this one from a seller on Etsy & snatched it right up!! It is an actual, used pattern from the the decade mom was born in - the 1940's!! I then bought all those great shell buttons that I have already used in another project (here), from a seller on Ebay!

Then I scoured the craft stores looking for just the right box & found this one at Hobby Lobby for $5.99!! I have to go back & get more!!!

I covered the back, sides & inside with pieces of the pattern tissue using modge podge (not super easy to work with in tiny places as well as it tearing when it gets too wet! But I think all that just gives it a more vintagie feel!) For the lid, I stained it with some FolkArt Antiquing Medium, & used hot glue to put all the shell buttons around it.

After all the tissue paper was in place & dry, I brushed a light coat of varnish over the whole thing & let that dry.

Then the fun began!!! Putting all the nick-knacks inside! I had collected a few things here & there that I thought I wanted to use, but then while visiting family in Kansas over the holidays, I found the MOTHER-load: a mason jar FULL of vintage sewing notions at an antique mall! What luck!!! (wish I'd taken a pic of it while it was full!) So, here's a peek at the interior...

I used hot glue again to put everything inside. For the girl & the other paper pieces, (bird, dress form & little "fabric bolt" are all from a set of "Paper Girl" paper dies by The Girls' Paperie) I used a strip of chipboard as a stand to keep them in place. Isn't it just PERFECT!!! I love that both my mom & the pattern girl are holding dolls & their hairstyles are similar!!!

It just makes me giddy!!! :D

I will give it to her tonight - If I can wait that long!! I will see her in just a little bit - we (sis & me) are getting together to do some crafting with her & then the whole fan-damily will go out for yummy Mexican food (one of her faves!) tonight!

Mom, this day last year!

So Mom, if you are reading this now, then it's probably a day or two after your birthday. I hope that you loved your gift(s) & had a wonderful day with all of us! We love you so very, very much & we look forward to more birthdays to come!!

XOXO

Beck

Her wonderful reaction to opening tickets to see Michael Buble last year!