Vintage Carnival Book

Hello friends!  Today I'll be showing you a lovely vintage circus themed book that was a class at a local art studio.  The minute I saw this book I thought "I HAVE TO DO IT!"  I had been saving some special circus pieces and I still had photos from 2010 when I went to Barnum & Bailey. 

In the class we did the following:

• distressed pages using coffee infused water to age the paper
• distressed pages using Tattered Angels Mists and Ranger Distress Sprays in various colors
• cut out vintage circus photos and ephemera to use in the book
• cut out tags to decorate
• assembled the monstrous book

 

These are the tags we made for the book --each one is unique, no two alike in the entire class.  I'm basically a "give me the tools and get out of my way" kinda girl.

I referred to the book as monstrous, but I'm not joking!  There's 50+ pages in this book!  Although we were given ephemera, stock photos, and I had a small collection of my own items to use, it just wasn't enough for this huge book.  I opted to purchase digital vintage circus backgrounds and other ephemera from Etsy --at very reasonable prices too.  When you purchase digital downloads, you instantly receive the files.  I was then able to resize them and print them for my book.  Once you download the files, they are yours and you can print as many copies as you need.

Rather than post a photo of each page, I made a video to show you the completed book.  I hope you love it as much as I do.  Thanks for stopping in...take flight! 

xoxo

Ms. Ruin

Altered Gift Bag

Hello friends --here are a couple of quick ideas to alter gift bags.  I went to the store and had a bag in hand and then I thought, "What am I doing?  I have all sorts of stuff at home to decorate a bag AND I have bags."  So this is what I made...

The bag in the back was stamped with a vintage baby buggy and then I adhered a flower to it.  The bag in the front took a little more work and a 3rd degree hot glue burn, it was worth it though!  I basically made a little chalkboard that they can remove and keep and then write their own messages.  Here are the steps for the second bag...

• Paint a piece of chipboard (size of your choice) using at least two coats of Chalkboard Paint.  Allow chipboard to dry.  (Tip:  the chipboard will curl but when the paint dries all the way through, the chipboard will flatten).  If you don't have chipboard, try using a thin wooden board.
• Adhere Maya Road Vintage Lace Tape around chalkboard.
• Wrap hemp cord around chalkboard and secure in the back with a knot.  I also used hot glue to reinforce the position of the cord.
• Glue chalkboard gift bag.
• Embellish hemp cord.  I used Basic Grey, Maya Road, Recollections, Tim Holtz and Prima.

TA-DA!

The bags were a big hit and the best part is that my friend and her hubby now have a little chalkboard to use in their baby boy's nursery.

Until next time, peace, love, and extra special gift bags!

Happy June!

Hello bloggers!  I know that my posts are few and far between lately.  To say that my life has been a little bit of a whirlwind is an understatement.  I've been jet setting and just trying to keep a handle on everything that life throws my way.  Nothing too overwhelming, just crazy busy.  But honestly, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if my life didn't require a safety belt even when not driving.  

Although I have been doing a significant amount of shooting (for someone who doesn't advertise), I decided that it's time to refocus my time on my art.  At least for the summer.  I miss it.  It's just that simple.  It's tough when you have two things that you are very passionate about --for me it's my art and my photography.  I haven't mastered juggling both successfully.  One of them always ends up overwhelming me and not in a good way.  Do you juggle too?  How do you do it?

Anyway, in an effort to kick start my creativity in mixed media I decided to host a tag swap for the month of June at Artsy Fartsy.  Yeah, I said June.  I can't believe we're almost half way through the year of 2013.  But anyway --back to me kick starting my creativity.  Uhhhhhhh...::crickets::  So it didn't jump start quite as quickly as I thought it would but nevertheless I got some tags done.  Woot, woot!  And that's a lot to be happy about.  So let me show you what I made this morning...

Remember you can click on the images to view them larger.

I just love this little guy --he is so cryptic and mystical and well, there's just a whole lot going on with this little fella.  But I can't help but feel sadness when I see him.  The technical stuff:  Mustard Seed Distress Ink all over tag then I cut out a mask of the little guy and positioned it where I was going to stamp him.  Then I covered the entire tag with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.  I stamped the vines from the Dylusions line and then I removed the mask and stamped my little Creep.  Yep, this one inspired by Radiohead's "Creep".  I also shaded the edge of the tag using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I made three pretty identical tags for my swap --they all basically look like this one.  I first covered the entire tag with Peacock Feather Distress Ink and then shaded the edges of the tag with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I wish I could remember who makes the stamp I used for this tag but I don't have that in front of me so I will update it when I have an opportunity.  The hardware is from the Ideaology line and the "journey in time" stamps are from Maya Road's art journaling stamp set.

I love, love, love, love, LOVE the gold stars!  The stars are courtesy of a new stencil by Heidi Swapp.  I positioned the stencil on the tag and then covered the stencil with gold embossing paste by the fabulous Wendy Vecchi.  I actually took one of Wendy's classes last weekend!  But more about that later.  Anyway, I think these stars are the bees knees.  ::big smile::  The final step in these tags was misting perfect pearls innnnnnnn...oh crap, I don't remember the color.  I want to say Sunflower Sparkle but I think that may be incorrect.  Again, will get back to everyone on this.  But I do want to say that the mist and stars added a whole lot of magic to these tags!

This one is oh so pretty --I used my favorite distress ink color, Mustard Seed.  I shaded the edges using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and all other steps mimic the ones already mentioned above.  Pretty neat, eh?

As I mentioned a second ago, I had an opportunity to take a class with the fabulous Wendy Vecchi.  It was a technique class and I'll admit that I knew 75% of what she taught that day but the class was still interesting and I walked away with a bunch of tips and some new techniques.

Alright, I will do my best to not be a stranger.  I will post photos soon from some of my recent shoots and adventures.  Until then...peace, love, and never truly losing your creative spirit.  :)

Uncaged

My very latest "completed" Design Team Project is a decorated Maya Road linen heart.  We were each asked to embellish the heart with our own "style".  The goal is to describe who we are and what we like to use in our day to day projects.  Of course this was a no-brainer for me.  I used some of my all time favorite products from Maya Road, Tim Holtz, Ranger, and Prima (product list at end of post).  But we'll get into that in just a sec.

So why "Uncaged"?  Well, it's simple.  I have always been a creative person.  I can thank my very talented mother for this.  She can draw.  I cannot.  But I did inherit other artistic traits from her.  Thanks, mamacita!  Back to "uncaged"...well, as most of you know I was in a marriage many years ago that was riddled with domestic abuse.  I was not allowed to create anything, to keep journals, to write poetry...nothing.  This is devastating to someone like me who needs to express herself with words, with art!  I can remember keeping a spiral notebook hidden in the back panel of my nightstand.  On the nights that were the most traumatic, I would pull it out after he was asleep and I would write in it...in the dark.  I couldn't see lines, but so long as I could feel the paper, well, that was enough for me.  That notebook was my only friend for several years.  When I visited the notebook, I was free!  But any other time, I was a prisoner.  ::exhale::  But that is over now!  And guess what?  I can create whatever the heck I want too!  Try and stop me.  I use a lot of birds in my work because I wanted so badly to be like a bird.  I wanted the courage to fly away, to escape, to break the confines of my cage.  Although that time of my life is now over, I still can't fly.  Well, at least not physically.  But every other part of me has the freedom to soar!  

"Most birds were created to fly.  Being grounded for them is a limitation within their ability to fly, not the other way around.  You were created to be loved.  So for you to live as if you were unloved is a limitation, not the other way around.  Living unloved is like clipping a bird's wings and removing its ability to fly.  A bird is defined not by being grounded but by his ability to fly.  Remember this, humans are defined not by their limitations, but by the intentions I have for them; not by what they seem to be, but by everything it means to be created in my image.  Love is not the limitation; love is the flying.  I am love."  -William P. Young, The Shack

Alright --are you ready to see the entire project?!  Here we goooooooo...

Lets work from the bottom up...this wooden cage is by Maya Road.  I dabbed it with gold adirondack paint by Ranger.  Then I journaled the word "uncaged" on a piece of scrapbook paper and adhered it to the cage.  I decided to add a pink flower to soften the idea.  The wing is also by Maya Road and it is actually acrylic!  I lathered one side of the wing with glossy accents, also by Ranger, and then adhered it directly onto vintage music paper.  Once it was dry I simply tore away the excess paper.  This was easy to do as the paper was very old and brittle.  If you are using newer paper you may need to use scissors.  

I have been playing with polymer clay lately.  I'm new to the clay world but I can only imagine possibilities!  I was looking for a bird mold but didn't have any luck in that department.  But hey, craft people are resourceful so instead I pressed a Maya Road wooden bird into to the clay and used it as a stencil.  I popped him in the oven for 15 minutes --I guess you can say I had a bird in the oven.  ;)  Anyway, once he was cooled off I dabbed him with various alcohol inks.  I don't recall which ones I used, I tried about 4 different shades and finally got this pretty iridescent look.  I definitely used Raisin and Gold but after that I don't recall.  If you decide to use alcohol ink on clay and you don't have an extra piece of clay but don't want to commit to a color --ink the backside of your project for testing purposes.  ;)  My last steps were stamping the word "soar" and outlining my little fella with a black pen.  Oh!  Quick note about the "soar" stamp.  That word, plus the ones I used on the heart are from a new art journaling stamp set by Maya Road.  GET.THESE.STAMPS.  I promise, you will love them and you will use them often.     

Another medium I LOVE to use is cardboard.  And it's free!  In this piece I cut out a heart from corrugated cardboard and then painted here and there with Mahogony Crackle Paint by Ranger.  The keyhole is from the Idea-ology line by Tim Holtz.  I also used alcohol inks on it.  The crown is chipboard by Maya Road, painted with Gold Adirondack Paint by Ranger.

So there you have it!  I hope you enjoyed my project.  I am shipping it off to The Crafty Scrapper today.  I almost can't wait to get it back so that I can hang it in my studio.  In my next blog post owl feature a couple of fellas that are quite the hoot!  You'll have to come back and meet my new friends.  ;)  I will leave you now with the product list for this project.  Peace, love, and taking flight!

Product List (Click image at beginning of post to see large view of most products used):

• Maya Road Linen Heart
• Prima Paper Flowers (the best!!!)
• Maya Road Wooden Bird
• Black Sculpey Polymer Clay
• Maya Road Chipboard Crown
• Maya Road Art Journaling Stamp Set (LOVE!!!!)
• Ranger Distress Crackle Paint
• Maya Road Acrylic Wing
• Maya Road Wooden Birdcage 
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Keyhole
• Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks
• Ranger Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber in Gold
• Vintage Piano Music Sheets

Layout Madness

One of the perks of being on a design team is that you get to play with the latest lines of paper and embellishments before they arrive in store.  In the next few posts you will see some of the new paper lines from BoBunny and American Crafts as well as flowers by Prima, and lots of loveliness from Maya Road.  All of the material used in these layouts is/will be available at The Crafty Scrapper.  

This first layout features my very handsome five year old nephew, Anthony.  He’s a looker, isn’t he?  In this layout I used the following papers by Bo Bunny:  Weekend Market Dot, Weekend Market Vintage Labels, and Weekend Market Stripe (shown below from left to right).

So here is the layout...

I used the Weekend Market Vintage Labels backside as the base –leaving it at 12x12.  I then  used Weekend Market Dot as an oversized mat.  Since Anthony’s photo is an 8x10, I wanted a large mat, otherwise the picture would swallow the entire layout –a large mat diffuses attention from the size of the picture.

I’m sort of an intricate cutter, you will see in my layouts that I cut a lot of paper in detail and use it to embellish.  That’s exactly what I did with the Weekend Market Stripe Paper.  I used the backside which had a beautiful edge on it with all sorts of delicate looking flowers and scroll work.  I cut that portion out of the paper and used it as an edge on my layout.  To give it some dimension, I used pop dots rather than just adhering it down flat. 

Here’s a close up of the embellishments.  The great thing about Maya Road is that they have so much “tiny” stuff that you can cluster together and make beautiful little islands of loveliness on your projects.  That’s what I did here.  The piece of chipboard on the edge of the envelope was distressed using Broken China distress ink and then I stamped over it with a script stamp by Tim Holtz.

Thanks for looking –lots more to come!

Fearless

Each Design Team Member was given a few items and asked to create something that defines their "style".  I decided to incorporate vintage elements because as you know by now, it's my thing.  My theme is Fearless.  I think even when I am fearful; I have to show the world that deep within myself I can muster up courage to propel myself forward.  When the going gets tough, I may cower down for a second but before you know it I am back up on my two feet and kicking some serious ass.  :)  So this is a tribute to my style and my attitude.

A little bit about this piece...I love old books.  Not so much to read them but I love to incorporate them into my work.  So I pulled the cover off of an old geography book from the early 1900's to use as a base for my work.

I purchased this little frame for a dollar at Michael's a while back.  I love vintage looking frames.  I just peeled off the back side and adhered it to the book cover with hot glue.  The paper inside of the frame is from the new kraft paper line by Tim Holtz.  The stamp is also Tim's --it reads "What if your FEARS and DREAMS exist in the same place, would you still go there?  The dangling chandelier piece (can't be seen below but can be seen above) is brand new from Maya Road.

The chipboard scroll is by Maya Road.  Like any other chipboard it is sold bare.  I dabbed "Vintage Photo" distress ink by Ranger/Tim Holtz.  Then I outlined the scroll using a black pen.  The cream colored calendar sheer is by Maya Road and it's one of the elements that was sent to me by the store.  The word "FEARLESS" was made with stickers by October Afternoon.  The black bird is a stamp by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous.  I first stamped the bird on the sheer using "Staz-On" in black.  Then I stamped the same image on kraft paper.  I cut the image out and positioned a pop-dot behind it and then adhered it over the samped image.  I did not bother to cut the legs out of the image on the kraft paper --that's too much detailed work.  That's why I first stamped it on the sheer.  Make sense?  The photo is on a mat that I made using Kraft paper as well.   

For those of you that have never worked with chipboard, it looks like this:

You can dress it up in so many ways...with paint, paper, mists, inks, etc.  What I did with the chipboard flower shown here is 1) Inked it up with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, 2) I stamped over it, and 3) I embossed it with clear Ultra Thick Embossing powder (UTE).  Doing that will make your embellishment look like a neat epoxy sticker.  :)  As far as the flower on top of the chipboard - I think it's probably by Prima.  Again, I dabbed Vintage Photo Distress Ink then I filled the center with Glossy Accents and then dropped the mini ---hmmm, whatever those are in the center.

As far as the little goodies here...well, the calendar, license plates, and numbers are by Tim Holtz.  The buttons are chipboard and those are by Graphic 45.  The trinket star is by Maya Road.  And the flowers are by Prima.  Notice that I used the same technique on the smaller chipboard flower that I used on the larger chipboard flower (distress ink, stamp, and emboss with UTE).  A little bit about the significance of some of these items.  First of all I was born on Wednesday, January 26 1977 (hence the two 7's).  The word "Yes!" is the answer to the question in the frame.  The Texas plate is self explanatory, I'm a Texas Girl!  Texas born, Texas Raised, Texas Proud, Texas till I die!  The Tennessee plate is a testament to so much of who I am today.  I moved to TN years ago --away from my family to a place I had never been, where I knew no one but my ex-husband.  Was I scared?  Yes.  But I did it anyway with all of the confidence that I had in me.  I endured two years of hell away from my family being married to an abusive man but as I walked away from TN, I was braver than I had ever been. 

Thanks for looking, my friends. 

New Playthings

Hello bloggers!  As you know, I have admitted to having a problem with buying scrapbooking/art supplies in the past.  I have really become better about it and only shop BIG a couple times a year.  In the interim I stock up on supplies such as adhesive and whatnot.  However, there is an exception my rule of big shopping only a few times a year and that exception is stamps!  I am quite the stamp freak.

Anyway, I did have a bit of a shopping spree in the last few days at The Crafty Scrapper.  Carolyn and company always stock the latest and greatest.  I will make another post of some of the new stuff in the store but for now, let me show you what floats my boat.

As most of you know, I LOVE TIM HOLTZ, anything Ranger, anything Stampers Anonymous, anything - well, you get the point!  So I definitely stocked up on the latest Tim toys.  :D

Love the pocket clock!

 STAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo hoo - new paper!

WOO HOO HOO HOO - NEW KRAFT PAPER!!!!!!!

Big fan of the lightbulbs! 

Another favorite of mine is 7gypsies.  I picked up a few of their stuff as well...

I love these bottles!  I don't know that I'll use them in my projects.  I bought them to display in my apothecary style studio.

One of my New Years resolutions was to be better about remembering birthdays and other special events.  So I finally broke down and bought this drawer.  My plan is to make cards ahead of time and then file them away until it is time to give to someone.  I am REALLY going to try to keep up with this.

Graphic 45 is probably my newest most favorite company.  They truly speak to my heart, just like Ranger and Stampers Anonymous.  Although I'm a little creeped out by clowns, I absolutely love their Le Cirque line.  Being afraid intrigues me.  I am a huge fan of vintage witches, so the witch on the broomstick is definitely my favorite graphic!  My intention is to make a mini album about our evening at the circus.  Intention --such a funny word!  Anyway, check out this awesome paper --front and back shown.

This is not from the Le Cirque line, but it is Graphic 45.  Cannot wait to use it!

I really try NOT to buy much scrapbook paper because I have TONS and I don't think I'll use it all in my lifetime.  But I do like to pick up random pieces that catch my eye.  Like these...

This one is by Webster's pages.  I tend to like just about anything vintage, especially if the theme is school houses or children.  I think I was born in the wrong era.  :)

This is probably one of the first times I have bought products by "The Girls' Paperie".  I didn't buy much, embellishments, some chipboard letters and acrylic stamps --oh, and I couldn't help myself to this paper - hello - birdcages!



 

And as if the Graphic 45 Le Cirque line wasn't enough, I couldn't help myself to these circus/carnival themed items by Glitz Design --these are from their Afternoon Muse line.  Sorry, I forgot to photograph the clear stamps so here is a graphic.

And now for the random portion of my post.  These are other little treasures I picked up...

Not sure who makes these beautiful wings --but you know me, I am a flight fanatic.

You can never have too many alphabets...these are by October Afternoon.

BIRDCAGES!!!!!  These are by Prima.

And finally...some goodies from Pinkpaislee.  These two packs are from the Daily Junque line.

PHEW!!!  Is your brain on overload?  My pocketbook sure is!  LOL.  Hope you enjoyed all of my new playthings. 

Peace, love, and playthings,

Ms. Ruin