Challenge #96 - Material Girls

We are living in a Material world, and we are

MATERIAL GIRLS.

Well, sort of. We are talking the fabric sort of material. Yup, we want you to use fabric in your project this week.

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Rosemary here and I was having such issues with this challenge, it seemed like every idea that I had was fraught with issues.  So be gentle to yourself if an idea doesn't immediately spring to mind.  It happens to us all.
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I just knew I wanted something with flowers.  That's a start!

I also wanted to make a guest book for our home, something to let our family and friends leave memories of their visit. So, I had the journal, just needed a pretty fabric.  Check and check. This started well - just some fusible web and fabric to cover the journal.

Then, I found this neat idea for making fluffy, realistic flowers - trouble was that this involved flame and synthetic fabric - several burns later I decided that was not going to work.

Hmmmm....okay, let's try the power of the Internet again.  Another flower tutorial here and this time there were no open flames, just cutting fabric and running stitches, some buttons and glue...and here it finally is! 

 (It didn't photograph well because it looks like I have orange and yellow flowers on a pink background - and actually there is a lot of orange too (see photo above).)

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Jana here: I love fabric. I am a tactile person. I LOVE to touch things and feel the textures. I have made quilts, and the odd piece of clothing. And I do mean ODD. LOL. This time I decided to try sewing a zipper. I have NEVER done that before. I saw some pictures of these wonderful little BOX BAGS made from a quarter of a yard of fabric. And had one of those dangerous "I can make that!" thoughts. So I looked up some tutorials, and made a couple.

The first one was made without much patience. I had looked at the tutorials, and kinda knew what to do. I forgot to take the time to add the little tabs at the ends of the zipper and didn't add a handle. It's a cute little bag, and I'll use it, but this one, the second one, is much more user friendly with the tabs and the handle.

It was made as a pen/pencil pouch for my middle daughter. She is quite happy with it. The pens used in the photo are props and were not included in the bag when I wrestled her for gave it over to her.

You can see the first attempt and find out a little more about Box Bags on my blog HERE.

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I went a little material crazy, and ALSO made some fabric postcards and bookmarks. I made a few of the postcards, each one getting better. (lessons were learned)
Here is the best one of the 3:

And the bookmarks:

You can see the other 2 postcards on my blog HERE.


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Now show us your MATERIAL GIRL side...

Challenge #95 - Springtime in Paris

Where has this year gone????

It's already SPRING.

And in honor of this time of renewal, we are challenging you to show us your SPRINGTIME IN PARIS projects.
Be inspired by whatever the phrase means to you.  Spring, Paris, literally Springtime in Paris, whatever, mon ami.

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Rosemary here finally, sorry, am not feeling myself right now.

For me Springtime means soft, gentle colors, almost as if Nature knows that going from the stark, almost colorless Winter to the vibrancy of Summer shades would be too much for us to take in all at once.  So we gently add colors to our landscape - soft greens, pale yellows, pinks, and lavenders. 

I made two cards for this to share with you.  Both seem to speak Springtime to me.

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Jana here: SPRING brings to my mind flowers. (I chose to neglect the Paris part. LOL.) Lots and lots of bright, cheery flowers. AND birds and butterflies. So my project is loaded with 'em.

My girls really liked the Valentines banner I made, so I decided to make a SPRING banner.

Some more pictures can be found at my blog HERE.

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Now it's time for you to share your

SPRINGTIME in PARIS

inspired project:

Challenge #94 - Reach Out and Get a Handful

We ALL do it. We get excited about a new project and somehow we "forget" to put things away from the last project. OR we think that we "might" just use this little doo-dad on the next project. Come on, fess up. I know you do it too.

This week we want you to sit down at your workdesk, reach out to those bits and bobs that are still sitting there from your last project (or 2 or 3) and make something. It's that simple. If it's in reach, it's fair game.

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Rosemary here and I chose from the pile of shame (all the unfinished projects I've come across and contemplated throwing in the trash).  But Jana mentioned, in one of our MANY conversations which help to keep me sane, that she wanted to take on some of her unfinished projects (UFOs) and I thought, nyah - I'll just get rid of them. 

 

But her words stuck with me and so I reached into the pile, pulled out an acetate bag and here we go - the acrylic album from the class we took at least three years ago from The Button Farm.

 

It looked well...dated and boring to me...but I gave it a chance; adding ribbons, flower punches, a little more bling and then I put in the photos and my random musings.  Now, I am happy.  Happy to have completed something and happy for what it contains - honest and heartfelt words about my home and family.

 

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Jana here: When we came up with this challenge I wasn't at all sure that I would have anything to work with. I had just decided that I was going to turn over a new leaf, and start clearing up after myself. ROFLMAO at myself on that one. As it turns out, while I was in the process of cleaning, I found a little thingy that inspired me to make a whats-it... And next thing you know. I have another mess. Right on top of the one I had started out clearing up.

SO, when I sat down to actually DO this challenge, I had quite a nice selection of items with which to work. I decided that I would use a piece of cardstock that I had out.

Hmmm. What to make? No, not a card. Bookmarks have been done to death by me recently, so, no bookmarks. And then, it hit me. ATC's. I made a set of ten. See:

Those little white pieces on the top are all that is left from the 8.5 by 11 piece of cardstock I used for the base. I'll use that middle piece to make some inchies. (Rosemary sneaking in here - I LOVE THESE, JANA)

I have pictures galore on my blog here. Along with a little more detail on the birdcage ATC. (which has a surprise element)

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Now it's your turn to show us how you used up some of those odd bits you had lying about....

Challenge #93 - Show Us Some New Tricks

Care to show us some new tricks?
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We always love to learn something new

and this week we are asking you to

show us something new to you

(a new technique, craft, style, whatever)
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Who knows what we might discover!

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Rosemary here and I want to show you two new things I've been playing with - both with paper but uniquely different.

My first project is a new type of card (well, new to me) called a sidestep card.  There are loads of tutorials to be seen (personally, I recommend going to YouTube and watching some of the tutorials).  I'm not copping out, honest, they are just better at demonstrating (really).

and this is why it's a sidestep card.  LOL

My next project is a continuation of my UTEE obsession - won't you join me?

Let's make pins!

Once you get all the pieces together it is SUPER easy and fun!

For more details, see my blog

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Jana here: I have been LOVING my art journal adventures. So many possibilities. One of the joys that I am experiencing is the gazillions of different techniques that are possible. This week I am playing with texture.

I used a thick, opaque gesso. I spread it on two pages.

One plain white and one that I had colored with watercolor crayons. I then used the tip of a paint brush handle to doodle some designs into the wet gesso. And now the hard part. I had to WAIT for it to dry.  (Waiting is hard if you are impatient, like me.)  Once the gesso was dry, I painted over the top of the pages.

On the plain white doodled page I used watercolor crayons to add the background color of blue and green. (I didn't take pictures during this creation. Sorry.) I didn't like the stark white of the circles, so I traced over them with paint pens. Same with the zig-zags. Then added some randome curlies and dots.

I really like the colors on this page, but there just isn't enough depth to it for what I want. I love that I can experiment.

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For the next one,  I used acrylic paints on top of the gesso. I just love how you can see the watercolor peeking through the doodles I made in the gesso. And I love how the ridges created by the doodling caught and held the colors I painted.

And here is the whole page.

I am really looking forward to finishing this page. I love the color, the depth and the texture.

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Okay, now it's your turn to show us what you discovered this week.