Alcohol Inks

Playing Around with Alcohol

This past weekend, I took a class at Piecemaker's Country Store in Costa Mesa, CA with Danna Phelan.

We were given a couple of piece of Yupo paper to practice on before we got started on our tiles.  Then we were set free to play and create to our hearts content.  These are regular tiles that you get at Home Depot.

Here are the first four tiles I created.   The flowers in the lower right hand corner was the first tile I made.  To me they look like little baby cabbages.  Next was the landscape in the upper right hand corner.  The forest in the lower left hand corner was next and last, but not least, the fuchsia flower in the upper left hand corner.

You have to understand, Alcohol Inks do not like to be controlled.  Creating with them is a hit and miss. They like to flow and go where "they" want, but with a little bit of coaxing, you can manage them into submission.

Here are some additional tiles we got to experiment and play with.  The two outer tiles were about 2" X 2" and smaller tiles were about 1" X 1".  The one on the right is a mini landscape the small 1" X 1" tile on the left is a mini, mini landscape.  I had fun experimenting and seeing how small I could go.  Pretty small I would say.

If you have never played around with Alcohol Inks, you are surely missing out.

Paper Flowers

Beautiful!

A couple of weeks ago, I took a class at Hobby Lobby on how to make paper flowers.

The one on the left measures about 18" across and the one on the right measures about 14" across.  

The instructor who taught, made the class so much fun and the flowers were not hard to make.

A few weeks back I posted a paper quilt using my painted papers.  

I used some of the those papers to make this flower.

This flower was made with the supplies the instructor had for us.  The class included everything to make the white flowers; templates, paper, and even glue sticks.  I brought my painted papers to use for the other flower.  

Wouldn't these flowers be so much fun to make for a DIY wedding or prom?  

How about a backdrop for photos?  So many possibilities for these flowers.  

How do you think you would use these flowers?

Calendars 2017

March

Did you know that March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian Calendars?

Did you know the name of March comes from the Latin Martius, the first month of the earliest Roman calendar?

Did you know it was named for Mars, the Roman god of War?

Did you know that it is the second month to have a length of 31 days?

Did you know that on the 20th or 21st (depending) marks the beginning of Spring?

Did you know March's birthstones are the "aquamarine and bloodstone?"

Did you know the birth flower is the daffodil?

Did you know the signs for the month of March are Pisces (until March 20)?

Did you know March is Women's History Month?

Did you know March is National Celery, Frozen Food and National Reading Awareness Month?

Did you know March 1st is National Peanut Butter Day and National Pig Day?

Did you know March 2nd is National Banana Creme Pie Day?

Did you know March 9th is National Crabmeat Day, National Meatball Day and in the United Kingdom it is No Smoking day?

Did you know March 11th is Johnny Appleseed Day? 

Did you know March 17th is St. Patrick's Day?  Of course you did.

Did you know March 20th is Extraterrestrial Abduction Day?

Did you know March 26th is Pretzel Sunday in Luxembourg?

Did you know March 30th is National Doctors' Day?

Did you know that March is my Birth Month?  Well it is.

Dos-A-Dos Baby Book

It's A Boy!

A member of our family had twin boys.  My gift to her was to make two identical photo books to put the babies pictures into and display.  However, as I was going to start making the books, a thought came into my head.  Why not make a "Dos-A-Dos" book instead?  So, that is what I did.

Here is the front of the book or the back of the book depending on how you look at it or want it.

Here is the other side or back side, depending on your version.

This is how the book is put together.  

Both books are connect by sharing one back cover of the book.  The photo pages are made from sheet protectors and are all tied together at the spine.  The pages measure 4" X 6" and book is 5" X 7".

And there you have it.  One book made for two.  If she wants to carry the pictures with her, she does not have to haul around two separate books.

So, tell me what you think?

ATC Swap

February ATC Swap

Valentine

The history of Valentine's Day and the story of its patron saint is shrouded in mystery.  We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman traditions.  

Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 and is a festival of romantic love, which is just around the corner. As a matter of fact, if you do not already know, it's tomorrow.  

I belong to an ATC Club, which I attend once a month at "This N That" in Chino Hills, CA.  This month's ATC swap was a Valentine theme and you had to have a heart on it.  This is what I came up with for my ATC swap. ATC stands for Artist Trading Card and measures 3-1/3" X 2-1/2", usually.  They are miniature works of art and can be simple or elaborate.  It's up to the maker.  

For my ATC I added text pages, some paint, a bit of scrapbook paper, burlap, a doily and a heart made from corrugated cardboard.  I added a little paint to the heart, an arrow tied on with hemp cord and a note of "Love".  

My first ATC

Paper Quilts

Cathedral Windows

Here is another quilt made entirely out of paper.

I used scrapbook paper and painted, stencil, sprayed, etc. to make painted papers.  These are a sample of some of the painted papers.  However, these are not the ones I used for this particular project.  These papers will be used in a future project.

I punched out 1-1/2" circles and cut some 1" squares.  I also used regular scrapbook paper that I did not paint.  You place a 1" square in the middle of the circle and fold over the sides, thus creating the quarter circle shapes.  I cut another piece of paper to the size I wanted and glued down the shapes onto the paper.

Here is a close-up of the quilt.  I also went along the edges of the circles with a gold pen to add more dimension to each piece.

The quilt is not yet finished.  The flap on top will be folded over to the backside and glued down to make a sleeve.  I am thinking of painting a color around the edges to make it look like a border.  Have not decided  yet if that is what I will do and if I do for certain, or what color I will painted around the edges.

I had fun making this quilt, but the most fun was painting the papers for the quilt.

Calendars 2017

February

Did you know, the roman month Februarius was named after the Latin term "februum, which means purification?

Did you know, the birth flower of February is the Violet, the birthstone is Amethyst and the Zodiac sings are Aquarius and Pisces?

Did you know, February was one the the last two month to be added to the Roman calendar? January was the other month.

Did you know, that because February has only 28 days in common years, it is the only month of the year that can pass without a single full moon?   The last one happened in 1999 and will again happen in 2018.

Did you know, Leap Days are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with Earth's revolutions around the Sun?  It takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days (a tropical year) to circle once around the Sun,  If we did not add a day on February 29, nearly every 4 years, we would lose almost six hours every year.

Did you know, February 6th is Ice Cream for breakfast day, February 9th is National Pizza day (in the United States)?  Of course, we all know February 14th is St. Valentine's Day.

Did you know, you can all this information on Wikipedia?  Well, you can.