Bricks Along the Journey

Today was the silent auction called Bricks Along the Journey. It raises money for Breast Cancer. I am pleased and proud to tell you that both my brick and Krissy's bricks were bid on and went for $70 and $25 respectively. YAY!! We are so happy to do anything we can to help find the cure for this dreadful disease.

I am already looking forward to participating in next years auction and planning my brick. I may even find a brick and start now.

Close To My Heart Jewelry

Yes, that's right - I did say jewelry. Nothing fancy, just simple and fun to wear! Again I have used papers from the Olivia paper packet. I can't help but be drawn over and over again to the rich autumn colors of these papers!!

Each pendant starts with an every day metal washer. I used some Liquid Glass and covered the front of the pendant with my paper of choice. Once it dries, simply trim around the paper. So easy! For a little more finished look you can leave 1/4" of paper and wrap it around to the back of the washer and stick it down with more liquid glass. Snipping the paper into the washer every 1/8" inch or so will allow it to wrap nicely without any crinkles.

This first pendant I then sprayed with some shimmer mist. It doesn't show in the photo but it adds a real pretty sparkle!

After the paper is adhered to the washer and shimmer misted I then covered it entirely with a layer of Liquid Glass. This pendant I misted heavily with the shimmer mist. It dries in little pools this way, but I love the marbley look it made!

This last one I added some Opaques prior to the Liquid Glass. They could also be added when the LG is wet, but I wouldn't add them after it sets. Once the Liquid Glass has set completely (I usually give it over night before I start playing with them again) add a cord and any other accessories you may want. Fun to make, fun to wear! Let your imagination go wild with ideas!

And Yet Another Pumpkin! (Tutorial)

Welcome to my first ever photo tutorial. This comes as a result of my friend Shawnee asking that I post directions for this pumpkin on my Facebook page, Paper Boutique. I tried to take photos of every step and then decided that was far too many photos. I tried to weed a few out, but I still have a lot on here. How many it too many? I'm pretty much a visual person so that's a very hard question for me.

This is most of the supplies used for the project but a few more will come into play as we go along.

• 3" Terracotta Pot
• "Olivia" Paper Packet: 1 - 12" x 12" Backgound & Texture (B&T) paper (text weight) for pumpkin shell and 1 - 12" x 12" Terracotta color Card Stock (CS) for stem. B&T scrap for leaves
• "Many Thanks" Stamp Set
• Liquid Glass
• Paper Trimmer
• Circle Cutter
• Spritzer
  

Putting together the pumpkin shell/base:

Select your B&T and cut a 7" x 12" piece. Then cut this piece into 7" strips. I cut mine into different thicknesses, of 1/2", 3/4" and 1". You can cut them into random thicknesses or all the same. One of my favorite qualities of CTMH B&T is that it's double sided. When putting my pumpkin together, the backside of the paper will show through and be a pretty orange, rather than plain old white. If you use paper that is white on the backside, consider sponging some color onto it.

Add a thin line of liquid glass to the back side of the end of one paper strip. Press it on the inside of the lip of the terracotta pot. Continue with each strip around the inside lip of the pot until all strips are used. The pieces should overlap a little. Be sure the 'right' side of the paper is all facing toward the middle of the pot. Liquid Glass is the perfect adhesive to use here. It dries very quickly so you don't have to hold the paper against the pot more than a few seconds. It also makes a very strong bond!

Turn the pot upside down and glue the strips to the bottom with more Liquid Glass. I placed my pot over a jar to keep the paper from being squished around the top. An alternate way to adhere the paper to the bottom is to put a long (1" or longer) brad through the hole in the bottom of the pot, punch a small hole in the end of each strip and secure it over the brad. Don't fret if your strips don't seem to be perfectly aligned. This is art, and the charm is in the imperfections!

Making the lid & stem parts:

Cut a 4" x 4" piece of B&T and CS and glue together. From this piece cut a 3-1/2" circle. Cut a second 3" circle from CS. Cut a 1-3/8" x 12" strip from CS. Score this strip every 1/4" and fold accordion style.

With Liquid Glass, glue the ends of your accordion strip together making a tube. Place a circle of glue on the smaller circle of CS using a thick, strong craft glue (I used Scotch Quick Dry adhesive). Flatten the accordion circle and place it over the glue on the circle. You can use a heavy object to hold it in place while the glue sets up.

This is how your accordion tube will look flattened out and glued to the circle of CS.

Make a cone using a scrap of CS. My scrap was about 3" x 4". I used redline tape to glue my cone.
Cut the large end of the cone to make an even opening.

Cut off the small tip of the cone and make short cuts up into the cone, about 1/2" and about 1/4" apart.
Bend these short pieces outward like a sunburst.

Place the narrow end of the cone on the center back of the large B&T/CS circle. Place a pencil inside the cone and draw a circle on the CS using the narrow end as your template.

Remove the cone. Using an exacto knife, make cross cuts from edge to edge through the pencil drawn circle. Bend back the points and flatten them against the CS using a folding tool. This is the hole that your stem will eventually go through.

Using Liquid Glass or the thicker Scotch glue, run a line around the edge and the inner edge of the large end of the cone.

Place the gluey edge on a scrap of CS and hold in place until secure. Allow to dry thoroughly.

When dry, trim off the scrap paper close to the cone. Sponge some ink onto your cone to create a distressed look for your stem.

Close the cuts of the smaller end of the cone and insert it into cut in the large B&T/CS circle from the B&T side. Open up the starburst cuts of the cone on the CS side and glue to the cardstock. You now have a stem & top to your pumpkin!

Making the leaves and vines:

I have to say this is my favorite part of the pumpkin process!! Stamp out three leaves in Pear ink on the lesser patterned B&T. I used the rock n roll method: ink up the stamp and lightly stamp it off on scratch paper. The "roll" the edges of the stamp only on the ink pad. Now stamp your image on the paper you want.

Cut two 12" x 1" strips from the green B&T. Cut out the leaves. Notice the pretty color on the back of the leaves. Again, this is what I love about CTMH papers. The leaf in the middle is turned over so you can see how the back complements the fall leaf look we are going for. How cool is that?

Now spray a leaf with the mister. Soggy is okay. Wrap a small portion of the leaf around a smooth slender object. I used my piercing tool. Any thing of this shape will work as long as it won't be damaged by heating. Using a heat embossing tool, heat the leaf until it's dry. The leaf will stay in the shape it is dried in. Experiment with twists and curves, it's so much fun and so perfect for autumn leaves! Repeat for all three leaves.

Spray one of the strips of B&T. Soggy is okay. Gently begin twisting the paper at one end and work your way to the other end being careful not to tear it. Try to get the underside of the paper to show in places as well.

Once the strip of paper is twisted, wrap it around the tool and set it with the heat embossing tool. It takes a little longer than the leaves because of the thickness. When it's set you can pull on the coil and it will bounce back. It it's not bouncing back heat it a little longer. You can take it off the tool to heat once it's got it's basic shape.

Final Assembly!

It's time to assemble the lid and embellish with leaves & vines! Run a line of thick glue around the bottom of the circle holding the stem, about 1/2" or more from the edge. Attach the accordion circle so that the accordion is between the two circles. Attach the leaves and vines to the top in a manner that appeals to you. I usually uncoil the vines slightly and wrap a little way around the base of the stem.

View of the lid from the bottom.

View of the lid from the top.

The completed project!

Lovely Olivia! October Paper Trail Blog Hop

Welcome to the October edition of the Paper Trail blog hop! This month we are featuring the Close To My Heart "Olivia" paper packet. If you arrived here from Mary's blog you are on the right trail! Aren't her layouts with Olivia and the other CTMH products amazing?!?

I absolutely adore this paper. The colors are so cheerful and yet so autumny. Makes me want to start a bonfire or bake a pumpkin pie!

Although we already featured a packet perfect for all your Halloween scrappin' and card making, I decided there was still time for more, so my first card is for Halloween. It's a little different take on the colors, but I like how it turned out!

My next card is for Thanksgiving and I have to say I am in love with this cornucopia stamp. I wish you could see the touches of Liquid Glass I added. The tomato (apple?) and grapes are all bright and shiny and I tried to dab tiny little dots on the corn to make it look kernelly. The glittery large metallic brads are one of my (many) new favorite items!

Thanks giving card inside.

My last item, for today anyway, is this paper pumpkin candy dish. I love how it turned out, too. Can't wait to try it with some of the other Olivia papers. I like how the double sided paper affects the over all look.

Candy dish, lid off.

Hope you have enjoyed my items made with the Olivia pack. Now step on over to Karen's Blog for some more beautiful Olivia layouts featuring photos of the Close To My Heart convention. What a great time we had there!!

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.