A Ladies Diary Card

One of the ladies in my swap group has recently left Dubai and it was with sadness that we combined our last swap with a farewell lunch for her.  Her creativity and cheerfulness will be missed.  

I made a card for her not only as a memento but with enough "space' for all of us to write a personal message to her.  I thought about the design and style for a bit because I know she loves to work with bright colours but in the end I chose the papers from the glorious Graphic 45... A Ladies Diary,  Who would not love a card designed with these papers??!!  

So without further ado, let me show you the cover before we tuck into the inside pages...it is quite unique.

On the cover I used lots of lace and flowers.  I also distressed everything with my white dabber to give it more of a vintage shabby look.

With this card I wanted to create something she would treasure as a keepsake representing the group and not me so I divided two additional plain card stock sheets to fit inside of the card to accommodate all the messages of the different members of the group.  Next I fussy cut various ladies from the paper collection to represent the group.  I also punched holes in the middle page, ran a silkystring through it and added a heart charm.  On the last page I added a group photo!

The page below is the inside of the first page of the card

The image below is the middle section of the card

 The image below is the last page of the card

 The image below is the back of the card

 The card showing the various pages

Dont you just love the ladies in the design of this awesome paper collection...

I thought...felt it quite apt to fussy cut the different ladies on the awesome papers...after all our group does consist of the most awesome group of ladies :-)

When you work with Graphic 45 papers anything you create is bound to tbe appreciated!!

Hope you like the card................

Bird Nests Galore

I love love incorporating birds nests into my projects.  This blog post shares images of some of the projects I created as gifts for the awesome ladies in my swap group.

Hope you like them...

I created the above project using the red toothpaste box as shown. The die cuts was a gift from my awesome friend Swati. If you look closely behind the window on the left hand side you will see a couple.  I fussy cut the couple and the car from A Ladies Diary by Graphic 45.  The weathered look I created with white acrylic paint and Martha Stewart crackle effect. All artificial flowers and greenery are available at Daiso. Lace and birds from my stash.

I created the above canvas using a Daiso kitchen strainer. The artificial flowers, canvas and foam bow strip on the edge of the canvas are all available at Daiso too.  The window and lamp are shabby chic embellishments by Prima.  Butterfly and bird from my stash  I used various masks, glimmer mists, perfect pearls, distress inks and dabbers to create the canvas background.

 I created the above kitchen wall hanging using a Daiso kitchen ladle. I chose the blue colour to compliment the colour scheme in my friends kitchen.  The blue/white butterfly is by K&Co, the wooden bird branch by Prima and all artificial sunflowers and greenery is by Daiso.  The vintage looking lace, crochet doily I used to cover the back of the ladle and the blue checkered ribbon are all available at Daiso too!

 I created the above using a Daiso tea pot. All artificial flowers and greenery are from Daiso too.  Laces and bird from my stash.

I created the above wall hanging featuring a Daiso glove. The chipboard base was a left over part of a Paper Lane pre-cut mini album and the skewer was in my stash because I throw nothing away.  I covered the chipboard using a sheet of paper from the romance novel collection by Marion Smith. The eggs are beads from a cheap necklace I bought on sale, the wooden bird and shabby birdhouse is by Prima and all the crochet looking bits and creme lace are by Daiso.  Artificial flowers and greenery too; in fact the brown lacey flowers peeking out from the green leaves is from a tray cloth I cut apart also bought at Daiso. Laces and "create" from my stash.

  I created the above using a very small Daiso wooden spoon; the awesome birds nest is by Websters Pages. Lace, pearl and blue sprays are from my stash while the blue petite roses are by Melissa Francis. Greenery by Daiso.  Ribbons and flower at the back of the spoon from my stash.

I had so much fun making these gifts.  With the exception of a few items everything I used to make these gifts was bought at Daiso at an average price of 7dhs or just under 2dollars.  Point is you do not need to spend a fortune to create something unique and pretty.  

I do hope that via these simple projects I inspire you to do something similar and please do send me a message or a comment so that I can come and visit your blog to take a look.

Thanks for stopping by..

Life Time Mini Album

Everybody knows I love making albums ... could not resist to make a quick one with the awesome Life Time Papers. The album I made is perfect for a family album.  Lets take a look..

This album is so quick to make anyone can make it within a few hours...it is based on the tutorial of Steff with a grin".  The covers are chipboard and uses two 12x12 sheets inside.  What I love about this album is you can "grow" it.  I could take another two sheets, use bigger ring binders and I could add so much more photographs. See the width..how slim.  You could create as many pages as you wish...

The inside pages are also fun to make!  I added more texture and colour on some of the pages

It was difficult for me not to add lace everywhere but I managed "smile".  I adhered either a whole or half a doily to most of the pages. On this mini I used mod podge as my adhesive.  The burlap under the flower also matches well with the Life Time collection.  

The pages of this collection is absolutely amazing.  If you are uncomfortable working with mixed media this collection has already done it for you - all you have to do is cut and embellish.  Most of the embellishments in this mini album are from the Life Time collection but all of them are Prima!

Play around with some Prima masks and stencils...add some glimmer mists, distress inks, Prima flowers and Life Time stickers and cutouts and you have a awesome page. I have cropped the right hand bottom corner - see image below to provide a few more details 

I used half a doily and half of a Starbucks coffee sleeve to act as a pocket.  The flowers are all Prima (various collections).  The typewriter wooden piece and the wooden X are all part of the Life Time Collection. I used Victorian velvet distress ink to colour the X and white washed the typewriter with white acrylic paint. See ladies, the possibilities are endless... 

The back of the album has a strip of lace down the center (can't help myself "grin") and a lightly stamped pattern - the beautiful papers from this collection do not need much help!!

Because this album is so easy to make I am thinking of creating a kit (any collection) and PDF instructions.  All you have to do is purchase it!  Let Paper Lane know if you are interested...it is easy ladies...you will be glad you made one for yourself!

Take care and happy crafting...Janine

Mixed Media Prima Tag

My latest passion is mixed media..am loving experimenting with this medium.  Of course it is absolutely awesome to be able to pop into the Paper Lane store to stock up on my paints, masks, stencils, pastes, sprays, inks, etc.  Paper Lane stocks a wide variety of mixed medium items and have excellent workshops and boasts an in store artist to assist you if you need help and guidance in your mixed media journey!

I bought the Prima Tag Pad.......

and am loving its length with the script stamped on each tag; of course it is also the perfect size for the doll stamps.  

For this project I hot glued two of the tags together for additional sturdiness because I knew I was going to be adding gesso, mod podge and layers of textures.

I had no idea what the out come would be but of course this is what is so amazing about dabbling in mixed media ... there is no right or wrong...it is all up to you.  So without further ado...let me show you an image of the tag I created...

I gesso'd the tag twice, cut words from the Prima Life Time collection and adhered randomly with mod podge.  I used different stencils, pastes, glimmer mists and Martha Stewart paints...love the outcome.

Below I have a tree and clock hand die cut (gifts from a dear friend). With a brad I positioned the clock hand on a mini tag that I cut from the paper collection. The lace trim is glued on the top only so that the wooden clock peeps through. See close up on the images below...

It is not clear anymore but near the bottom of the tag I adhered half a Starbucks coffee sleeve, mod podged a picket fence with the word hope on it.  Leftover crocheted lace under and on top, left over wooden shapes from the other projects and of course the beautiful Prima bird.  Everything you see here is from the Prima Life Time Collection.

Hope you got your Prima Life Time...Janine

Ikea Shadow Boxes

Ikea Shadow Boxes are awesome to alter with your imagination as your muse...you can create anything.  Today I will showcase three of them...........

One I created for a swap...

One I created for a bride to be...

And one I received in a swap...

They are pretty col to create...once you start your imagination takes over!

You should try one yourself!