ok people, as if adding jewelry to cards wasn't enough.....this weekend I am starting some new techniques with some new homemade do-das and some awesome new images......not gonna say much tho because I believe we all need  a little anticipaion every now and then.  In the meantime, have a look over my blog, tell your friends, and leave a comment or two on it.  If you don't see anything you like yet, you will soon.  Trust me ;)~

Here is a St. Patrick's day card to keep ya busy. The shamrock in the middle is paper I made look like metal.  Wanna know how I did it???

Ok, before we continue the tour of the studio, I want to show you all what I did on a three day trip I had to visit my folks.  Something about feeling like a little girl again really clears the brain.  I'm in the process of expanding my card making horizons, taking the vintage look and pushing it a little further.  So this time, I'm going to show what I came up with and if you wanna know how I did what I did, leave me a comment :)

ok, the studio is done,  huzzah!!!  (yeah, I said huzzah)    Lets begin the tour with the heart of the scrappers' world:  the paper!!  

the fun thing about old bungalows are the wonky nooks and cranies you get in the attic spaces.  This was a closet.  I took the door off.  I had one of those plastic rolling carts.  Took the rollers off and filled the drawers with all my paper pads, papers and scraps.  I also labeled the drawers.  On top of the rolling cart are my good ol', and i do mean old, expandable folders.  One keeps my plain colored scraps in it and the other organizes my plain colored 12x12 and 8 1/2x11.  You notice hanging above it are envelopes.  These are the 12x12 clear plastic envelopes Michael's sells in the scrapbook storage isle.  They are hanging from clear pant/skirt hangers. I have a hanger for each color of the rainbow, the vellum, handmade papers and really special papers.  (It's taken a few extra weeks for me to finish this closet as Meijers doesn't stock many of the hangers at a time, amd Michael;s runs out pretty fast of the folders....needless to say I have been buying every one I can find and depleating the stores' stash lol.  Tucked in against the wall is my color wheel and color chart.  had this since junior highart class but it still works.  Decorating the space above the door are  rolls of vintage crepe paper and the wonderful sign my nieces gave me.  Here's some more photos for a better look:

 

 

 

 

 

 



Studio update.....

ok, back in business.....gave the studio a trial run tonight after stenciling the floors.....made 10 envelopes in 20 minutes-the studio gets an A for efficiency.  Speaking of stenciling the floors....ever wonder how you can use your cricut for home decorating?  Stay tuned for tomorrow night's entry ;)

I'm taking a break from working on finishing the studio to enter the third and final leg of this little journey :)  

So, you got your flower face all dried to a nice, loose cone shape from being pressed wet into the towel.   Now take the flower face and place it upside down on the backside of a mousepad.  Use a rounded, blunt object-I prefer a stylus for dry embossing on a light table.  

Work the rounded end of the stylus into the tips and edges of the flower petals, moving back and forth.  Keep in mind, it's not the pressure you apply that curls the paper, it's the repetitive motion in the same direction that breaks the fibers of the cardstock. So, EASY KILLER!  ;)

When you've done this to all your faces, take a small hole punch or use the tip of your exacto knife to cut a center into each face.   Insert a brad thru the hole in every layer.  Don't set the brad just yet.  If you want to add streamers or ribbons in-between the layers, do it now using clear glue.  Then sandwich them together, open the back end of the brad so it holds them all together and woot woot: vagablooms!    When the glue is dried, flip it over, an, using epoxy, attach a barette clip.   Nice!

Hope you like these.   A great way to use up ugly scraps and leftovers.  xoxo!

Part 2:  Prepare to get messy!   woot woot!


Ok, so you start the vagablooms with punched or die-cut flower shapes.  I also use random shapes that, when piled together also look like flowers.  I hate to be traditional ;)    You want them of varying sizes because when you are done, you will be stacking them on top of each other from biggest on bottom to smallest on top.   Some of them I will run thru an embossing folder for extra texture.   I like to use cream cardstock or the ugliest patterned paper i can find.  This project makes anything look beautiful.   The illusion that makes these "pop" is the layering of textures with complimentary ink colors.  I start with the basic colors of dye based inks and a patterned stamp-yes, even on patterned paper\, and stamp on a pattern.  Then I take pigment based inks and apply them on top of each other with various smearing/smudging methods.   I like using burnt orange with indigos, maroons with dark green-complimentary colors.   The next layer is adding a few shots of pearlized spray inks-easy to make your own, fyi ;)   Or hit them with some pigmented metallic inks.   Now, here's the key:  spray each  flower face with a coat of clear acrylic sealer.  Let them dry.

 

 

When the sealer is dry to the touch, take a folded up towel-you want it really thickly folded.  Set the flower faces on the towel and spray them pretty good with water. 

Don't drown the poor things, you just want to saturate the cardstock fibers so you can press into the middle of each flower face so the petals get pushed up.  

Set these under a lamp and every so often keep pushing in the centers so once the cardstock dries, the fibers will have re-shaped it into  an inverted cone shape.  You can also take the flower face, spritz it a little bit, crumple it up into a ball, unroll it  and them smoosh it into the towel.   Once you get the hang of this procedure you can mass produce these babies for ever.  Tomorrow night, the magic happens!   Stay tuned....

FYI:  This is gonna be a three day blog.     ;)

Part 1:   So here's the thing; I have taken over my family's old homestead.  The house my siblings and I grew up in.  As much as there are memories I wish I didn't have about the place, there are many more that I get to re-live every day just by coming home.  This house has always had my soul I suppose, but never my whole heart. Until now! It has taken me a couple years to get to the point of re-decorating.   The first room I choose to tackle is, of course, the scrap studio :)  priorities huh?  lol.   So, that's where I've been for the last month....holed up in the glorious world of re-decorating.   Well, the room is almost done and at least it is usable now!   I'll give you guys an oldie but a goodie project to try your hand at while I finish the final leg of this journey.   These are very cool, very simple hairpieces.  I got the idea from my other hobby of living history which sucked me into a world ofeverything vintage and somewhat tacky and from the problem of "What the hell do I do with this??" syndrome-you know, when you have a few ugly brads leftover,  some grundgy pieces of glittery  ribbon and a random feather or what not.   What?  You mean not everyone has these things laying around thier house????   lol, Enjoy!

It starts with the Vagablooms.