Altered Composition Notebook.

Here is yet another altered Mead Composition Notebook. These are so fun and absorbing to make. For this one I used another image from my collection of Lunagirl Vintage Image CD's. I just loved the spunky pose of this gal. I painted the spine and then covered it with K and Company paper from the Mckenna Collection. I matted the photo and used my Martha Stewart punch to trim out the border in cute little flowers and added a pearl to each flower center.

Then I went crazy with the silk flowers! I initially intended to add a few at the corners as an accent and ended up just adding one after another until I was satisfied. I added a few silk leaves and a satin ribbon (which you can barely see underneath all the flowers...hehe) to the spine.

Here is a closeup of the Martha Stewart Pansy punched photo mat. The closure is made of a plastic vintage button looped through a paper clip on the inside of the book. The back of the notebook has an elastic hair band looped the same way on the back cover allowing it to be pulled forward and secured around the button. For a complete tutorial on this technique see Weezie's Youtube Video on the link.

I cut the chipboard swirl using my Cricut Expression and an empty cereal box of all things. The cricut cuts cereal, cracker and other chipboard boxes excellently and they can be added to any project. I only wish that it would cut the really thick chipboard but the poor machine would probably blow up if I tried it! Anyhow, this will be a gift for a friend and I hope she loves receiving it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Girls Night Out.

Last night our city hosted a local "girls night out" sponsored by all the local shops and little boutiques in our area. It was a great time. The shops chartered stretch limousines to drive everyone around from street to street to visit each shop at no expense to the patrons! My sister, 8 year old niece and I shopped to our hearts content. Below is my sister and niece entering our stretch limo.
All of the boutiques put their best foot forward and offered great merchandise at reduced prices as well as a myriad of wine, food and drink for each customer to enjoy as they browsed the store. My sister and niece pose in a shop window for me as I take their photo.

This little boutique had the most outrageous hats and clothing that I just couldn't resist getting dolled up for a photo. The leopard print jacket was faux-fur and floor length! How fabulous was that!

This boutique had a "Red Carpet" entrance to make you feel like a true VIP! All of the employees were dressed in glitter and glam outfits with sequins and jewels from head to toe. My sister and niece pose for a paparazzi photo on the red carpet below.

My niece asked to have her picture taken with one of the glittery dressed employees of the shop who graciously accepted.

By the end of the night we were all three exhausted! Goodies in hand we headed to the closest possible restaurant for a late dinner. In this photo my sister is just about on her last leg with exhaustion from our shopathon!

My niece and I enjoying a little hug and cuddle time as we decide that we are officially pooped out for the evening.

Although I managed not to spend very much money, I did walk away from our fun filled evening with some gorgeous beaded trim to use in my projects and a beautiful pair of glamorous earrings.

It was great fun and I look forward to doing it again next year.

Bling It On!

Yesterday afternoon I made two very large mistakes. Number one: Thinking that I would have the willpower to just browse around the vintage jewelry and bead shop without needing to buy anything. Number two: Asking my husband to come along with me. Now, of the two mistakes the latter was the most dastardly! Not only did I NOT simply browse the shop, I had the store owner help me load bins and bins of broken jewelry onto the table for me. I then-like a scurvied pirate in search of treasures-proceeded to sort meticulously through each and every piece. On a sort of treasure hunt if you will!

At first my husband was very patient and thought the whole process was interesting but after the first hour it was all downhill. I dug with a fervor trying to stay two steps ahead of his annoyance while also trying not to crack up laughing. Anyhow, I did manage to find some very nice pieces to use in my mini albums and collages despite the conditions....lessons learned.

Changes! Changes!

I was just not liking the way the finished journal cover was appearing so I made a few changes. I ripped off the extra leaves and added more flowers. I removed the extra peacock feather and added seed beads around the image using sticky tape. I like this version much better. :)

Handmade Journal Cover.

Hi friends! I know I've been hit and miss the last few weeks but I just can't seem to get caught up! I am so behind on projects needing to be finished that it has my head spinning. Several of these projects are requiring much more time than I had anticipated with a few of them being given as gifts over the next few weeks.

I did however, finally finish the above journal cover that will be going to a very close friend for her 5 year wedding anniversary next month. She wanted a vintage feel and that was right up my alley. I used a gorgeous vintage image from my LUNAGIRL CD collection and a sheet of the Classic K boxed paper collection from K and Company for the background.

I created the flower embellishments by taking a sheet of aqua blue card stock and glimmer misting it with a pretty blue and then wetting and wrinkling it several times. I did the same thing with a darker shade of handmade paper and trimmed all the layers with stickles. The centers are rhinestone cluster brads from Oriental Trading Company. The cover will go over a coordinating backing attached with binding rings and filled with lined journal paper. I am seriously relieved that it is done and on to the next project as we speak.