More Memos

Another round memo board done with "Boom-di-ada" paper pack. These are so fun to do!! The ribbon is simply threaded through the buttons to make a hanger. Since it is not attached in any other way, the ribbon can be shortened if desired, by simply pulling more through the button and trimming off the excess.

Close up of the shabby paper ribbon which I hand stitched through with floss. The four magnets are covered with paper and given a coat of Liquid Glass for a beautiful shine.

An outline of Liquid Glass around the letters gives them a pop & sparkle.

September Ink or Dye

Taking a moment to share what I did for the Ink or Dye meeting this month. We didn't swap last month so we had double the swaps this month. The first is my take on "Free Wheeling." Makes you think of Max the pig, right?

Next is "Yikes Stripes!" For this one I did something I never ever did before - I used a sketch from a blog! Made it so easy to create the card. See the sketch here.

When I was making this card, I forgot about the square behind the circle so one of the two had no square... ooops!

I felt a little less than inspired by the ATCs I created. This one is "Rock n Roll Heaven." I printed out the words to the song, stamped the image on vellum and - well, you can see how it went together.

Last of all is the ATC I did for "Movie Props."

Paper Bundles

My altered art group (Altered Reality) did paper bundles last night. I was a bit apprehensive about this project. It came from Cloth Paper Scissors and was suggested by Sandi. It was a bit outside my tastes as garden or yard art.

The idea behind the paper bundles is not yard art, however. I know, you are wondering what this bundle of paper is doing hanging from my tree if it's not yard art, aren't you?

Let me explain....

We started with book board or some sort of heavy duty card board. We painted that with acrylic paint on both sides and then added some shimmer mist or other medium to it.

Next we grabbed an assortment of papers and scribbled on them with water soluble crayons. Stack those papers up and bind them to both sides of the book boards. Very pretty don't you think?

It's okay to say, "no."

Then it's all strung together with wire & twine, or ribbon or whatever you choose... remember, altered art is all about making it your choice... there is no right or wrong. We added dangling objects - suggestions were found objects, but I stuck more to some large leaf shaped beads I had, with a couple of metal washers and a key.

And then you hang it on a tree.

Or a fence, a nail, a flower pot hook - whatever you can hang it on outside to get weathered.

Weathering is the key to the project. Wind will rumple and tear at the papers. Rain will cause the crayons to run and blend together and drip. Sun will fade, yellow and make brittle. Wire will rust, oxidize and patina (is that a verb?).

Sometime down the road - I think we settled on January, we'll take our bundles down and take them apart. As a result we will have entirely new distressed papers for some future altered art project. In the meantime, I think I am actually beginning to enjoy my paper bundle as yard art. No one in my neighborhood has anything quite so unique!

I'll post more pictures as the project progresses.

September Paper Trail

Welcome to the first edition of the Paper Trail blog hop! We are a group of Close To My Heart consultants working together to bring you cards, layouts, and other art featuring a different Close To My Heart paper packet each month. If you arrived here from Erica's blog you are on the right trail!

This month's featured paper packet is Hooligans, a bright and festive paper packet that is perfect for Halloween. I made a little 4x4 wallet album that is perfect for all your hooligans' little Halloween photos.

I couldn't decide what stamps to use so I used everything I have!

The Boo Crew - C1421

Party Animal - D1437

Fright Night - B1359

Childhood Portrait (tree) - D1373

Thanks for stopping by. You're on your way to Mary's blog now for some more great ideas. Just click on her name.

This blog hop is scheduled for Sept. 15th - if all have not posted yet, please check back.

"Bricks Along the Journey"

Bricks Along the Journey is a silent auction to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. Artists in the greater Cincinnati area receive bricks to decorate in any manner they want. These bricks are then auctioned off raising money for various, local Breast Cancer agencies.

This is the brick I created, using paper as my medium of choice. I created a shabby chic flower and filled the center with seed beads. Twisted paper creates the vines to which I attached leaves and butterflies of vellum.

Each entry must have a pink ribbon somewhere on it. I used one of the pink ribbons we made into pins for Harriett's funeral.

This brick was created by my daughter, Kristen, who had a very special bond with Harriett. When we first moved to Kentucky we fell in love with the cardinals and Harriett chose to sit in our sun room where she had a wonderful view of all the birds and animals that visit our yard daily.

Our bricks honor our friend/sister/mother Harriett Milburn, Nov. 10, 1949 - June 19, 2009.
**Click the link to Bricks Along the Journey to read more about the history of this auction. You can also see bricks auctioned off in the past and some of the current bricks to be auctioned this October.