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.