Prize Ribbons

As mentioned earlier, I joined the Prize Ribbon swap hosted by Tabitha at Creative Wings Boutique.  My partner was none other than Tabitha herself, and I was a little nervous about making something she'd love.  Her favored colors are pale pink, turquoise and white.  I had several ideas, but ultimately went with this.

Since Tabitha's blog is Creative Wings, I thought the little lace wings were just the thing.  I used vintage lace, seam binding, ribbon and velvet cording for the streamers.  Since she hosted this and the Very Merry Unbirthday Cake swap, I sent along a few hostess goodies.

I wanted to make some kind of container for the things I was sending, and had read about using clear Contact Paper to create a sort of "fabric" with paper.  I decorated a couple of pages from a music book and then covered those and an undecorated page (for the bottom and sides) with the Contact Paper.  I then cut it to size and sewed it all together.  The flap is a pale rose-patterned fabric, also covered with Contact Paper, with a vintage millinery rose attached. The post card graphic is from GalleryCat on Etsy. 

Tabitha seemed pleased with what I sent and sent me the sweetest e-mail.  Her package for me should arrive tomorrow, and I can hardly wait to see. I'll be sharing that in an upcoming post, of course!



For the Love of Dog

Anyone who knows me knows I'm crazy about dogs - mine in particular, but I just love dogs in general.  Jackie Peters taught a cute dog journal class recently at Paper Crown, so of course I HAD to sign up.  The journal is made from a file folder with a mini-binder insert.  Jackie had lots of cute vintage dog images for us to use, along with dog-related quotes, pretty papers and ribbons.  I also won a door prize during the class - a cute little beach-themed journal.  Here are my two books.

For the dog journal, we stamped the inside of the folder, added a pocket, then vintage images, quotes and washi tape.  We then added the binder and decorated our pages.

I used vintage images on the front of my pages, and pics of my babies on the backs.

I've added a couple of pages since the class and plan to add a few more.  Yet another fun Jackie project!

I've been collecting a bag of beach-themed vintage photos and ephemera for a while, but didn't have any particular ideas for a cover.  The little beach journal I won will be perfect.  It has blank pages ready to embellish.  I've made a few additions already, and will use the photos and papers from my stash to finish it up.  Here are a couple of things I've added so far.

I'll be posting soon about the last round of the Paper Cowgirl's Summer Travel Postcard Swap, and also Creative Wings Boutique's Prize Ribbon Swap.  Hope you'll check back to see!



 



A Class and a Project Day

Dina Wakely was in OKC recently for four classes.  Because of scheduling conflicts, I was only able to take one of the classes - Dying for Dylusions.  We made this vibrant little tag book using Dylusions spray inks, modeling paste, stencils and stamps.  The book is a single folded sheet of paper.  The tags go into pockets formed by the folds.  

The class I most hated to miss was a "Dear Self" encaustic tag book.  My friend Chris was able to take all four of Dina's classes and being the nice person she is, she invited Kerry and me over last Sunday to make a tag book.  She had everything ready for us, but of course we brought a ton of supplies anyway.  I wish I had taken photos of their books because they were both amazing, but bad blogger that I am, I didn't take my camera so my book will have to suffice.   

 

This is one of my favorite things I've made, not only because my self-esteem can always use a boost, but I just like the whole idea of how the book is made and the endless possibilities for this format.

Dina was a great teacher and I'd encourage anyone to take her classes, but I have to say that Chris was a pretty great teacher, too!

A Very Merry UnBirthday Cake Swap

Finally I remembered to charge my camera battery so I could show pics of the beautiful cake I received from Kimberly for Creative Wings Boutique's Very Merry UnBirthday Cake Swap.  We both chose the "vintage dirty" color scheme. The box Kimberly sent has scalloped trim with vintage buttons, and don't you love that little banner?  The vintage millinery rose is beautiful, nestled atop a bed of organdy roses.  I would never have thought to paint and glitter one of those little pink plastic ballerinas, but it is so pretty!  You can see Kimberly's photos here and here.

Inside the box were lots of goodies - vintage lace on old clothespins, tiny vintage millinary flowers, a doily, a little jello mold, a doll head and arms, and lots more.  I love it all!  Thank you so much, Kimberly!

This was my first faux cake and it turned out a bit more Victorian-looking than I intended but I was happy with it overall.  I covered a round box with lace from a vintage table runner, then added a row of pleated trim from a 1940s lampshade.  For the top I added a couple of extra embellishments to a Jolie's Boutique flower. It's all bit more "dirty" and not quite as white as it looks in the photos.

I filled it with a doily, lace on tags, Scrabble tiles (great minds think alike, right?), a little tin full of buckles, buttons, and other little goodies.  I also made a tag using a Character Constructions stamp, a bit of vintage velvet ribbon, and a piece of my favorite vintage lace.  The last thing I added was a flower made using Rebecca Sower's tutorial from Etsy.

 This was one of my favorite swaps, both for the fun of making the cake and for what I received.  I'm doing Creative Wings Boutique's Prize Ribbon Swap next and will have photos to show later in the month.