9th Anniversary ATC Vancouver

Last Sunday, Nov. 15 was the party at the Grind where we usually swap ATCs every month, but to celebrate the 9th anniversary we had "Cake". Boy did we have cake, each member who wanted to could create as many "cake" slices from a template provided by our fearless leader Penelope. Once all the slices were complete they needed to be filled with handmade goodies, finding something to fit these boxes was the challenge and everyone met that challenge with great creativity.

And I filled the slices with the little knit amulet bags I posted earlier, plus a few more for a total of 12.

This is all the swapped slices.

These are all the lovely gifts I received in my swapped slices.

Journal Page "The Wedding"

Journal Page "The Wedding"
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The challenge this week over on the Created Byhand Challenge is "Times Gone By" so I did a journal page of by grandparents wedding photo. All rubber stamps are from Quietfire Design. The journal is filled with recycled paper from Ruby Dog's Art House and this page is brown cardstock with the cream vertical and horizontal stripes already on the page. I ran pale pink cardstock through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder and centered it on the larger square. The next layer is burgundy cardstock run through the Textile embossing folder and rubbed the high points with white pigment ink. The wedding photo is placed at an angle and the words are stamped on light brown text paper. Lace and ribbon are added to the cream stripes. The quote is stamped on pale pink caardstock and layered over blue cardstock. The corner flourishes are stamped with white pigment ink and the quote is added over this.

November 2009 ATCs "To The Nines"

More 9th Anniversary
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

These are some more of my ATCs for the November swap at the Grind celebrating the ninth anniversary of the ATC Vancouver group.The black cat one has book paper rubber stamped with cat faces and the black cat and fence digital image printed on vellum. The 9 lives is computer generated text torn and rubbed with weathered paint Distress Ink.

Black Cat Halloween

Black Cat Halloween
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The theme this week on the Byhand Challenge is Halloween so here is my entry. The background is book page rubbed with weathered wood Distress Ink. The cat face is stamped with Ancient Page Coal Black. The black cat and fence digital image is printed on vellum and the Boo is digital text also printed on the vellum. The pumpkins are cut out clip art with spiced marmalade Distress Stickles on the front one.

Nov 2009 ATCs "To The Nines"

Nov 2009 ATCs "To The Nines"
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The ATC Vancouver group will be celebrating it's 9th anniversary in Nov so the theme is 9. I'm just getting a head start and have made these, the first 2 are on playing cards with scrapbook paper and book paper. I rubber stamped the number 9 stamp and added 3 buttons, 3 brads and 3 rhinestones. I've also used Distress inks and roughed up the playing card with a sanding block.
The second 2 are scraps of brown cardstock run through a Cuttlebug embossing forlder and the high points brushed with pigment ink and one is embossed with gold and the other with copper embossing powder. The last one is edged with fire opal glitter.

Oct. 09 ATC "Pear With Leaf"

Oct. 09 ATC "Pear With Leaf"
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Paper napkin applique. The beads on the top right corner are applied with a mixture of Diamond Glaze and basil green gel paint. The whole card including the beads is then covered with a coat of triple thick gloss glaze.

Oct. 09 ATC "The Moment of a Leaf"

Oct. 09 ATC "The Moment of a Leaf"
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

These 3 ATCs are cut from a flower image glossy paper and rubber stamped with leaf images, a copper coloured leaf bead and seed beads are added. The words "the moment" are a Quietfire Design rubber stamp. Two of these were sent for the Byhand Artists monthly ATC swap.

Oct. 09 ATC "Trust The Moment"

Oct. 09 ATC "Trust The Moment"
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The theme on the Created Byhand Challenge this week is trust, so this is my entry in the challenge. The background of this card is glossy paper which is part of a flower image, I was stamping a leaf on, but it didn't work, so I covered the leaf with the collage image which was in my collection with double stick backing already on. I used a crackle block stamp and embossed with gold embossing powder. "Trust" is computer generated text and "the moment" is a rubber stamp from Quietfire Design. The image is edged with fired brick Distress Stickles

ATC Daring Damsels Group 2

ATC Daring Damsels Group 2
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Here's the rest of the story of Daring Damsels. These are more of the images from "The Lady's Closet" collage sheet. This time one has Distress Stickles fired brick and a couple have braid instead of the yarn. So all of these and a few older ATCs will be heading to the Grind swap today.

ATC "Daring Damsels"

ATC "Daring Damsels"
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The images are from a free collage sheet from The Lady's Closet" The words are from Quietfire Design word stamp set. I used glitter, fibre and rhinestones on these.

ATC "Secret to Happiness"

ATC "Secret to Happiness"
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Using my paper scraps for the background, rubber stamp quote from Quietfire Design. I used fibre and gold and silver embossing powder on these.

Pumpkin Search 6/9

Pumpkin Search 6/9
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I made this ATC for the byhandartist Yahoo group monthly swap, but it also fits the CBH challenge so I'm posting it to that as well. The same as the previous Pumpkin Search ATCs except I added spiced marmalade Distress Stickles to the pumpkin as well.

Red Journal Page Spread

Red Journal Page Spread
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I used the same design as for the "Thinking in Red" ATC for the focal point of this journal spread. I used as many images in the theme of red as I could easily fit on the pages. Many of the images came from paint sample brochure, the red pears are my own photo and the lady with red cloak is from The Lady's Closet free collage sheet. This is my journal made from assorted papers from Ruby Dogs Art House that I got from the former bulk section of the store.

ATC Thinking In Red

ATC Thinking In Red
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This is an ATC I made for a special swap with the theme "red" I used a digital collage re-worked from one of the pages in my altered board book for the background of this ATC. I placed a torn strip of double sided tape along the top left side of the card and left the release paper on while I glued 3 colours of micro beads around the main image. Once the micro beads were dry I removed the release paper and added red and multi extra fine glitter.Hard to see, but there is a bit of Fired Brick Distressed Stickles in the transition from glitter to micro beads. The computer generated words are mounted on thick card and attached with double sided tape and the beads are strung and glued with Tacky glue around the main image.

09 Oct. 10 Card

09 Oct. 10 Card
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I made it to Cherish The Thought yesterday and had a great time making this card and adding items to my cloth Cherish bag for the40% off sale. For this card we were given 3 precut pieces of patterned paper and the embellished paper is glossy cardstock. We added the peel off snowflakes, rubbed grey ink around on the card then brayered blue ink over that. My grey didn't show through much, but it was fun trying this out. We the repositioned some of the snowflakes ( did only 1) and stamped and embossed the "Let it Snow", added the ribbon and glued all the layers together.

Oct ATCs

I've made some ATCs today and here are a couple of the ones I've titled "Pumpkin Search". I used a digital scrapbook paper for the background and added the larger footprints from the same digital kit. The pumpkins are mounted on cardstock and the edge rubbed with Vintage Photo distress ink. The number 1 is stamped with Ancient Page coal black. I edged the card with Tea Dye distress ink and then applied Distress Stickles spiced marmalade to the front edge. On the second card I punched holes and added a wire and bead hanger.

Knit Amulet Bags

Knit Amulet Bags
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I've been doing a bit more knitting lately and have gotten a little addicted to these little knit amulet bags, and getting quite a lot of this and other knitting done while listening to the cd Donna sent to me. I've been experimenting knitting with sock yarn, novelty yarns and have included beads on some. The centre bag on the table is waiting to have the chain added and I have several others in various stages of completion. You'll probably see more in a later post, but for now I need to get back to making gifts for a 12 Days of Christmas swap. I can't show you those, they have to remain secret until they are swapped and opened.

Snowflakes Card 1

Snowflakes Card 1
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I used the new "Snowflakes" quite stamp from Quietfire Design, stamped with purple dye ink on white paper mounted on purple cardstock. The image is a combinations of a Dover fairy and an ice background from my Print shop programe. This is mounted on light purple cardstock which is then mounted onto Kraft cardstock and the whole piece is mounted to the pale purple cardstock. The quote is added with pop dots for a bit of dimension.

Sept ATCs for Grind and Byhandartists Swaps

I've just finished a bunch of bird themed ATCs and when I finish up a few more I'm working on I should have enough to mail to Beth for the Byhandartist swap and for the Swap at the Grind this coming Sunday. The first batch is titled "Sweet tweet" and started with some designer printer paper I found at a dollar store. What luck, there are a row of bird images down one side of one of the papers and the other looks like handmade paper with petals in it. Perfect for this month bird theme. I cut out the bird images and layered them with various papers also using Cuttlebug embossing folders. For the text I used a word stamp from a set of typewriter word stamps and stamped "Sweet" on a separate piece of paper, then I masked out the S and stamped weet and then masked and added the t for "tweet". these were torn, coloured with distressed inks and glued on. The bird images are all mounted with foam tape for some dimention.



The second set is "take wing and fly" and is using my quote stamp from Quietfire Design and the Catslife Press bird in flight on my own digital paper background.

The third set "Birds" uses 2 more of the Catslife Press bird stamps on brown cardstock. The first has "finger print" eggs stamped with pigment ink and outlined with Pitt artist pen. The branch is another stamp coloured with Pitt brush pens. The second of this group is another Catslife Press bird stamp, this time with a birds nest stamp, eggs coloured with a q-tip and pale blue pigment ink and a hand drawn branch drawn and coloured with Pitt pens. I used a distressing tool on the second one and sponged distress inks on the edges of both.

New Treasures From Ruby Dog's Art House

Well on Sat Sept 12 I didn't make it to the card project at Cherish The Thought because that was the day for the grand re-opening of Ruby Dog's Art House. Of course I missed this store and Leanne so I just had to go check it out. Saw lots of people I used to see at the old store and grabbed some great new stuff including some great bargains on elements rubber stamps, from Lazar Studio Werx which Leanne sold for a very good price since Lazar closed down.
Aren't those just the cutest little bottles, lovely beads too? The white shapes in the bag turned out to be 2 part buttons which I can see using as seperate pieces as well. I also got 10 more of the small black boxes which are just the right size to hold ATCs. I made an ATC shrine out of one of these before, I have plans for some more now.
I have updated the Altered Board Book slide show with a spread I left out until my friend received her copy, the second one I made. You just might like to check it out.

Follow Your Dreams Card Collection

I received the new full sheet of rubber from Quietfire Design today and just had to create some cards from my quote that Suzanne beautifully lettered into a rubber stamp. I used a Catslife Press bird stamp I got on Sat., Cuttlebug folders, a scan of one of my backgrounds printed on cardstock and the Follow your dreams stamp.

Fairytale Greeting Card

Fairytale Greeting Card
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I managed to take me and my tendinitis foot all the way to Port Moody yesterday with just a bit of pain by the time I got home, yeah. This is the card project for Sat. Sept. 5, 2009 at Cherish The Thought
We were given the pre-cut pieces to assemble this card and then were shown how to use part of a cuttlebug embossing folder on the beige cardstock. We then rubbed ink on the embossed piece, I didn't get as much on as I would like, and on the small blue and white pieces. The quote was already stamped for us and I didn't think to ask where the stamp comes from, but it sure is a lovely quote. The quote piece is glued to the small blue piece which is added with pop dots. The ribbon is wrapped around to the back of the beige piece and stuck down withe the double sided tape which then applies this piece to the card. This was a quick and fun project and you might want to check out Jessie's blog and read about this lovely little scrapbooking shop. Oh and I got my Birthday Club coupon for a free class to use between now and next years birthday.

August ATCs For The Monthly Swap

I have been trying some paper-cloth projects out for the last while so I decided to continue with that technique for this months swap. One of the themes was pets so I did a variation on the 52 Quilts Page I did awhile back. For the first set I used a photo of my brother and the first ATC I tried the effect of Royal Coat Decoupage Finish Sepia on a black and white print. I used decoupage finish to glue the photo to a piece of gauze bandage (relax it is new) and then brushed with 3 coats of finish, allowing each to dry before adding the next coat. I rubber stamped "Love my dog" with StazOn Blazing Red ink. The gauze didn't exactly unravel but I distressed it by pulling on the threads with an awl. The centre photo is the original print of the black and white photo applied with matt gell medium again brushing on 3 coats over the top. The last photo is digitally altered to sepia tone and again applied with matt medium. The second set of ATCs is a photo of my sister taken by me with a very simple little box camera I had. I used the same procedure as above with a black and white and sepia decoupage finish, a black and white with matt medium and a digitally altered sepia print with matt medium.

Blog Candy Winner

Well here it is, and the winner of her choice of the amulet bags is Judy in Penticton. This is her lovely comment:

"Joanne, I really would like to have one of your bags because ...hmm they are soo beautiful and I just love them and want to see one in person soooooo hope you pick my message and congrats on the blog anniversary! Lovely knitting as usual girl, love them both!
Judy in Penticton"

However I used a random number generator to select the winner (bribing doesn't work). As soon as I hear from Judy which one she would like it will be sent to her.
Thanks to everyone who became or already were followers and all the comments are very much appreciated. Keep watching for more blog candy in the future, next time just may be your turn.

Altered Board Book Completed

Well I told you when I finished my altered board book I would go wild with fibres, beads and charms, and I think that is exactly what I did. I thought I'd share the finished book as a slide show. Many of the rubber stamps used are from Quietfire Design.
edit: I added the missing page spread which I didn't want to show until my friend received her book and gave permission to post the photo.

Blog Candy and Amulet Bags

Well I seem to get a flurry of stuff done, then it takes me awhile to get something more finished. I finally assembled "Blue Waters" bead knit amulet bag and I had started another little bag and it is also finished. So here they are. You can see the work in progress Of "Blue Waters" here. I finished this amulet bag off with a 3 strand chain and added little beaded tassels on each side.

For the new amulet bag, I didn't take photos until it was finished. I used up a bunch of assorted sizes and colours of beads left over from other projects, I love doing that. I again used a 3 strand beaded chain but this time I made a beaded pendant on the point of the flap.

Now to the blog candy. My visit counter is fast approaching the 3000 mark so I think a celebration is in order. Between now and reaching the 3000 mark (I may go over that a little since my injured foot keeps me off the computer sometimes) anyone who leaves a comment on this post telling me why they would like to win their choice of either one of the amulet bags will be entered in a random draw. For an extra entry become a follower of my blog or let me know if you already are a follower.
Remember you will have your choice of one of the amulet bags pictured in this post, I want you to be happy with your prize.

Altered Board Book Butterfly Page

Altered Board Book Butterfly Page
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

For this page I used one of my own painted backgrounds scanned it and printed my quote. I then rubber stamped the butterflies and flourish stamps. The edges are sanded and rubbed with distress ink.

Altered Board Book Art Page

Altered Board Book Art Page
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This spread is digital collage using scrapbook background paper, a photo of me and my altered heads, which I made translucent to five the impression of thoughts. I took a photo of my "Spirit Dreams" canvas and added it with brads. The hand and "Art" stamps are from Quietfire Design.

Altered Board Book

My first altered board book. The front and back cover is scanned fabric samples printed on copy paper and glued on the cover with matt medium.

I used various digital scrapbook papers to make the background and pocket. The images are from Instant Memories Family Ready-To-Use Scrapbook Pages book and disk. The quote on vellum is from Quietfire Design.

This shows the tag out of the pocket with another Quietfire Design rubber stamp quote.

Knit Bead Amulet Bag "Blue Waters"

Knit Bead Amulet Bag
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I showed you the first bit, now the knitting is done now on with sewing it into a bag and adding the strap.

52 Quilts Journal Week 15

52 Quilts Journal Week 15
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The background is a fabric sample and the pendant is a piece from a metal steamer. This was painted with bright bronze and espresso metal paint. I glued the flat round bead on and then wrapped it with specialty yarn and maple coloured cotton. The fringe at the bottom has some odds and ends of black and white beads knotted on.

Bead Knit Amulet Bag "Blue Waters"

Bead Knit Amulet Bag
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

This work in progress is another of my bead knit amulet bags. This is a pre-mixed aquamarine size 10/0 seed beads and a denim colour cotton thread knit on 1.25mm needles.

52 Quilts Journal Week 14

52 Quilts Journal Week 14
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Another of my endless fabric samples, love this one, and glass leaf charms. I did a bit of machine stitching with rayon thread following the outline of some of the squares in the print.

52 Quilts Journal Week 13

52 Quilts Journal Week 13
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

More fabric sample, rubber stamping on coffee stained cotton scrap, jewelry findings and odd beads, some from my art friend Beth. Check out those legs, should have given her a bit more of a high stepping kick. I did a random meandering line of straight stitch to give the feel of motion and stitched the stamped fabric with rayon thread.

52 Quilts Journal Week 12

52 Quilts Journal Week 12
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Well the weeks are just flying by. What can I say? It's not a good plan to start a project like this when you're about to move and it's taken me awhile to get back into the project on a regular bases, but now I am really into it. This page was not even on my radar until this morning. I've had the idea to use old family photos at some point in the project and since the Created Byhand Tuesday Challenge is to create art with the theme of pets, so the time was right. This one is chenille fabric sample, the photo is an old black and white of my brother, edited to sepia and stitched with brown rayon machine embroidery thread. The photo is printed on regular copy paper and brushed with matt medium and allowed to dry before stitching. The quote and date are stamped on coffee stained cotton fabric. Oh this photos was taken in an orchard and that is a real honest-to-goodness wooden apple box that the boy and dog are siting on.

52 Quilts Journal Week 11

52 Quilts Journal Week 11
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

The background on this page is Silk Jacquard fabric sample. The center square is a small sample and the middle layer is off white cotton, again from my stash of fabric samples. I used bits of silk flower left over from other projects, some are cut apart and then all are stitched in place with odd bits of beads.

Exploring Waves

Exploring Waves
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

It's taking me awhile to finish this bag, not so much knitting while it was so hot, but I'm moving along again. I'm probably about 85% done now. I can't wait to get this one finished, then start on Exploring Swirls bag.

Sewn Illusion Journal Page 4

Sewn Illusion Journal 4
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Page 4 of the Sewn Illusions Journal is scraps from the week 10 quilt, another small fabric sample and some strips of tea dyed cotton which was rubber stamped with funky flowers background stamp and "Spirit" with EK Success Retro ABC stamp set. There is a little strip of paper stitched on to this one as well.

52 Quilts Journal Week 10

52 Quilts Journal Week 10
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

I used a small velvet sample for the center of this quilt and sewed other fabric samples around Log Cabin style. The cross in the middle is another found object that I discovered several months ago while walking on the sidewalk along the Lougheed Highway in Port Coquitlam.

Bicycle In Motion

My son is working on a web page for a college class and wanted me to take some photos for him to use. We picked this nice treed spot and I took my first shots using the sport setting for subject in motion on my camera. I'm pleased with the results of him riding past as I took the photo and he found some to use for the web page too. This is my favourite.

August Card Project 1

August Card Project 1
Originally uploaded by okanagan_spirit

Cherish The Thought first Sat. card project for Aug. uses 3 embossing folders, flowers and Nestablilities. The grey cardstock is grey Core Color and is sanded after embossing. The bird and vine is embossed on foil tag cut with the Nestabilities.