The Documeted Life Project- Week Sixteen (& a bonus project)

Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope you are having a lovely day!  This week's challenge from the ladies at the Documented Life Project was to use find a creative way to use a food box on our page.  Since I seriously overhauled my eating habits early last summer, I don't really eat much that comes in cardboard boxes.  I do eat a LOT of salads, though, and the lettuces I like come in nice plastic boxes.  Here is how I added one to my journal:

I found this photo in my collection of scans from my parents' attic.  I used my favorite transfer technique to make a skin, and then attached it to the plastic with matte medium.  To finish the page, I added borders of washi tape and some simple lettering.  All of the elements are somewhat transparent, and in real life, you can see my writing from the page showing through the tip-in, in a really cool way.  I love this photo, of me (in red) and my sister Sue, and am very pleased  to have it in my journal. 

To make a photo transfer, print your photo on plain printer paper with a laser printer.  Paint a generous layer of gloss gel medium onto a sheet of smooth metal, (I use aluminum from All That Jazz Supplies) and adhere your photo face down onto it.  Make sure there is enough gel so that your entire photo is adhered.  Let this dry for several hours or overnight.  Spray the back of the paper generously with water, and let it sit for a few minutes to soak in.  Using your fingers, gently rub the wet paper, removing it as you go.  Add more water as necessary.  When you have removed all the paper, allow the piece to dry well again.  When dry, you can carefully lift the gel "skin" from the metal. 

I found time last night to make some incredibly cute hair accessories to tuck into my daughters' Easter Baskets. 

This idea came from the always inspiring Penny Duncan.  Check out her Blog, Penny Duncan Creations for the cutting files and video instructions to make these adorable flowers.

I used my Silver Bullet Professional cutter to cut plastic template material.  Penny has generously shared six different template files.  These pony tail holders represent just two of the possibilities.  I guessed, and sized my templates at 2 inches for my first two flowers.  The finished flowers came out just the right size.  I was totally amazed by how precisely my Silver Bullet handled the intricate cuts.  Some of the pieces were tiny! 

I loved using fabrics from my stash of quilting fabrics, and buttons from my tobacco can of vintage buttons (more booty from an attic scavenger hunt!)  If you don't have a large stash of fabrics, you can double it by using both the right and wrong sides of the fabric, as I did for the purple flower. 

I can't wait to make more of these flowers.  They are so easy and fun and will be a perfect car project for me as I travel with my family this summer.  Thank you, Penny Duncan!!

Have a wonderful week, all!

Elizabth

Paper Pieced Easter Cards

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Earlier this week, I worked on some paper pieced Easter Cards.  I love the look of paper piecing, but I admit that I don't really enjoy the process of gluing lots of tiny pieces.  So I tend to look for simple designs.  

 

 

 

This is a fun My Scrap Chick design.  I altered it just a bit to fit an A2 sized card base.  With only four pieces to attach, this is a super simple card to assemble.  I couldn't resist adding some quick details with embossing and Distress Ink. 

This little "bunny butt" is another super cute My Scrap Chick Design.  Again, I made good use of my embossing folders and Inks to highlight the details.  I used some Picket Fence Distress Stain to make the tail look fluffier. I built up the layers with foam tape.  (Actually, being my thrifty self, instead of foam tape, I used the foam leftover after using up all the dots on a sheet of foam dots.)

 

I just love this sweet little bunny!  Again, liberal use of my Distress inks and embossing make him come alive.  This file is also from My Scrap Chick. 

 

 

This one couldn't be simpler!  Just two traced and cut elements, some embossing, and a bit of reclaimed foam tape to pop the egg. 

 

As always, I used my wonderful Silver Bullet Pro cutter to cut all of my shapes.  I am still in awe of the speed and accuracy of this machine.  It took about 10 times longer to pick the scraps for these cards than it did to cut them!

 

Speaking of scraps, I have made my last 10 or so cards without using any whole sheets of paper.  It's not that I don't have whole sheets.  Believe me, I've got plenty!  But I get a ton of satisfaction from using papers from my scrap drawers.  Because I cut any A2 sized pieces from leftovers and store them in a special drawer, I even had enough bases for all of these cards without using fresh paper. 

 

I wish you all a very joyful Easter!

 

Elizabeth



Happy Hump Day!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all are having a terrific mid-week!  I love Wednesdays.  At work, Wednesdays are my Fridays, because I work a three day week.  It is also "date" night with my Hubs.  That's code for grocery night, but I like to pretend it's more fancy than that!

Today, I am going to share five more cards. 

 

With this card, I made use of some of my "inky leftovers".  The background and the heart are both cut from index cards that I used to soak up Distress Inks, paints and stains as I worked on other projects.  

The inside has the other half of the background index card from the front, and some matching layers.  I am making lots of these cheery cards to send off to my DD at college.  I am also working hard to increase my stash so that I can continue the tradition of mailing a card each week when both DDs are away.  That's a total of six school years worth of weekly cards!

 For this card, I cut the elements with my Silver Bullet Digital Die Cutter (man I LOVE this machine
!)  The files are all from random SVG Cuts files.  The label is printed and cut using my Bullet and SCAL (Sure Cuts A lot) software. 

I used coordinating layers on the inside.  I think I'll leave it blank for a handwritten note.

 This card was inspired by Pinterest, as so many of my cards are.  As always, I couldn't have done it without my Silver Bullet and SCAL software.  The papers are from a pretty little six inch stack that I picked up at Tuesday Morning.  I'm sorry I don't know whose collection it is. 

If it ever warms up here in New England, I will mail this card! The inside co-ordinates nicely with the front, as I echoed both the papers and the shapes.  I like how this card opens a bit differently from a typical card.

 This is such a quick card to make, especially if you use double sided designer paper.  The angled "off cuts" are flipped and adhered to the card for a really easy and frugal accent.

I used Archival Ink to color some white sequins to add a simple embellishment to the front and inside of this card. 

 This card is made with a freebie file from SVG Cuts.  Mary and Leo are very generous with free files.  They often give release a sample that coordinates with the kits they offer for sale. 

This is a fun little card, with lots of  possibilities for changing things up.  I have another on my work desk, and will likely make enough of these to add to each of the kids' Easter baskets. 

Thanks for spending a few minutes with me today.  I hope to be back later in the week to catch you up on my Christmas cards.  I am keeping up pretty well with my "one per week" goal. 

Elizabeth

The one with the Easter Baskets...

Happy Easter, Everyone!

Because DH is working, and we are putting off the Easter festivities for later in the day, I have time to post one last Easter project.  I made these baskets for my girls yesterday.  I know, I know, last minute as usual! 

This the Tulip Basket from the SVG Cuts Egg Hunt collection. I cut two baskets, and used the petals of one color on the base of the opposite color.   I couldn't resist making some button brads.  I just made a flat backed button and glued it to a large brad.  Easy Peasy!  Other than that, I kept things simple, with some embossing and a subtle print for the handles. 

Here is the other one:

 



I made my own grass with my electronic cutter.  I just cut lots of evenly spaced parallel lines into a piece of ugly paper from my scrap bin.  It was super easy and quick, and saves me from having to deal with that awful plastic grass that never seems to go away!

Here is the file I made, in case any of you might want to use it.  I plan on using it as packing material in gift boxes throughout the year. 

Easter Grass SVG

The file has the vertical cut lines.  I find it easier to remove it fromt the mat and use a manual cutter to cut off either end to get the individual blades of grass. 

Wishing you all a joyous Easter Holiday,

Elizabeth

The one with the Bunny Hats...

Happy Sunday Evening, Friends!

I have had fun in my craft room today, making these Easter Bunny hat boxes:

 

 

I made these little cuties using files from SVG cuts.  The hat is from the New Year's Eve set, (which was a lovely Christmas gift from my Forum friend Glynnis.  Thanks, Whizzy!)  The tulip is from the Poplar Street Tulips set, and the little sunflower and leaf is from the Pick a Pumpkin set, and the banner is from the Happy Thanks set.  I sure had fun mixing and matching sets today! 

 

The leaves behind the tulip are from Penny Duncan Designs.  I almost never have to design my own leaves, because I purchased all of Penny's design CDs.  I can always find a leaf I like in her collection!  The bunny ears are my own creation. 

 

I used lots of embossing folders and Distress inks to add dimension.  I intentionally stayed away from my brown Distress Inks, because I wanted these to have a really Springy feel.  I chose inks that were just a bit darker than the papers I was using, which were all pulled from my stash.  Most of them are from Recollections.    

The terrific polka dot ribon is from the same collection that I told you about a couple of posts ago, from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

The ears are glued to the box base underneath the cylinder that makes the box.  I added dots of Alene's Tack it Over and Over glue to the inside tops of the ears, and let it dry.  This holds them in place against the box top, while allowing them to be removed to open the box, which will be filled with goodies, and mailed to both sets of parents. 

Here is one more photo, a close up of the embellishments. 

Hope your weekend was as fun as mine was.  I witnessed my very first flash mob yesterday, while on a college tour with the family.  It was pretty cool! It appeared to be an entire class, including the professor.  We were checking out the cafeteria, and couldn't have had a better seat to watch the whole event unfold. 

TTYL,

Elizabeth

The one with the beak

Hello All,

Hope you all have had a fun and productive weekend.  I spent a lot of time this weekend with my girls.  I helped my older daughter sew a dress, and I taught my younger daughter how to drive a stick shift!  It is pretty exciting to have a new driver in the house.

I did find some time to work on my own projects as well.  I made two projects from the new Egg Hunt set from SVG Cuts.  Here is the original little chick box:

 

 

 

It is pretty cute, but I think it is kind of plain.  I was a bit confused, as Mary's files usually have decorative panels to embellish, but this one didn't.  I went to the SVG Cuts website, and watched the video, and then I understood.  Mary designed this box to be very little, and it doesn't really need embellishments at its tiny original size. 

 

Because I want to fill it with lots of Easter treats, and I want it to be a bit more interesting, I created my own panels to jazz it up a bit.  Here is my alternative solution:

 

 

Now this is better!  I especially like the little "feathers" that are standing up on his head.  I just used papers from my stash for this one.  I think I will go shopping for some special papers for this cutie!

 

 

I also made the petal basket from the same set:

 

 

This was really quick and easy to cut and assemble.  I added some embossing on the outer petals.  I think I will be making more of these.  I guess my girls are going to get lots of treats this year!

 

 

Have a terrific week, everyone!

 

Elizabeth