Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Frilly and Funkie - Spruce it Up!

Hi Everyone! I'm here with my project for the Frilly and Funkie challenge hosted by Rebecca.  The theme for this challenge is Spruce it Up!  Rebecca's challenge to you is to take a look around your desk, or work space, and the things on it that you use to organize, communicate and run your life.  Think of calendars, birthday/anniversary planners, writing implements, checkbooks, iPads, index card files, cell phones, file folders, etc.  Then set yourself a challenge of making one of those Plain Jane items into something that makes you smile every time you use it!

I like to write things down.  I know that might be unusual in this hi-tech age we live in.  I have an iPhone 4S and I don't talk to Siri!  I don't dictate my shopping list to her!  I write it down.  Along with my craft ideas, craft supplies that I want to buy eventually, blog sites I want to visit, etc.  Because of this I end up using a lot of notepads and notebooks.  So I decided to personalize a composition book that I purchased at the dollar store.  I also found a package of 3 mini composition books at the dollar store.  Both sizes are perfect for this project!


I started with Ranger Inkssentials Manila cardstock.  I placed a sheet of cardstock on my craft sheet and misted it with water using the Ranger Mister.  Then I sprayed Dylusions in Squeezed Orange, Bubblegum Pink, Pure Sunshine and Lemon Zest.  I rolled the paper with a "kitchen roll" as Dyan would call it!  Then dried the paper with my heat tool.  Then I repeated the same steps with the second piece of cardstock.  You can use any method to create your background paper or even use printed scrapbook paper.

Next, open the composition book and place it over one piece of the paper you want to use as your background.  Line the edge of the paper up with the edge of the black spine and trace around the composition book with a pencil.  Repeat this step for the back cover.


I planned my stamp layout as I wanted to use Tim Holtz word stamps and wanted to be able to see all of the images.  You can also randomly stamp the background, going outside of the lines you've traced, and you'll end up with a collage background when the papers are trimmed to fit the book.  I laid out the cling stamps in an arrangement that I was pleased with.


The beauty of the cling stamps is that you can leave them all in place while you're stamping the layout.  I positioned each stamp in the corner of the stamping block so that I could stamp the image without removing the other stamps.


I stamped each image using Pitch Black Ranger Archival Ink.  Once the front cover was completely stamped I repeated the same step for the back cover.  Then I used a paper trimmer to trim the sheets along the pencil lines made when I traced each cover of the composition book.  Then I applied cold laminate to each sheet to protect the cover from spills and make it more durable.  Use scissors to hand trim the rounded corners along the pencil lines.


I like to add a decorative paper to the spine of the book.  You can leave it black, if that's your preference, but I used Ranger Inkssentials Matte Glue N Seal to add a piece of coordinating marble paper to the spine of my book.  Prior to gluing the paper to the spine I sanded the spine, and the cover of the book, with the Idea-ology Sanding Grip to remove the glossy finish.  This will help the papers fully adhere when I glue them to the book.





Allow the spine to dry.  Once dry use Glue N Seal to glue the front and back covers you created to the book.  Place a stack of larger heavier books on the book and leave it to dry.


And there you have it!  A super easy way to personalize an inexpensive composition book.  You can even take it a step further and put decorative paper on the inside of the front and back covers, add a pocket or envelope to the inside of the covers and even add an eyelet and ribbon for a closure.  Do anything you want to make it yours!



Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you'll play along with us at Frilly and Funkie by showing us what you spruced up!  

The following items that I used on my project can be found at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!  The boutique offers it's merchandise at a 20% discount from the typical retail price!  That's a great deal and you should check it out!!




Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Frilly and Funkie - Follow Your Muse

Hi Everyone!  Welcome to my first challenge post for Frilly and Funkie!  This is the second week of the Follow Your Muse challenge hosted by Sue.  Sue has asked us to let our 'muse' wander free and see where it takes us.  My muse took me to my journal!  I've never created a journal page before so I decided that the start of a new year should bring the start of a new journal!  I used lots of yummy Dylusions sprays and stamps on my page!


I started off by spraying the page on the right side with a mister bottle.  Then I sprayed the page with Fresh Lime, Lemon Zest and Vibrant Turquoise.  I closed the journal and pressed the pages together so that the inks blended and transferred to the other page and then dried both page swith my heat gun.

I placed the large Luscious Leaves stencil on the page and misted it with water to create the ink resist background on both pages.  Once that was dry I used the small Chequered Dots stencil across the bottom with the pitch black paint dabber.  I stamped the leaves around the sides and top with black archival ink.  The top border was stamped on white paper and sprayed with London Blue and Crushed Grape.  Once dry it was cut out and adhered to the journal pages over the leaf stamping.  I added more elements to the background with additional stencils and stamps and then doodled on the leaves using a white pen.  The page elements were stamped and colored with a combination of distress markers and colored pencils.  The sentiment is one of my favorites by Tim Holtz!  Below are close-up photos of each page.




I hope you like what I created!  Hop on over and play along with us at Frilly and Funkie!  You might win a gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique!

The following products that I used can be found at The Funkie Junkie Boutique!!


Sunday, January 6, 2013

Mad Tea Party Cupcake Stand

I'm back again with my entry for the Simon Says Stamp & Show weekly challenge.  The theme is a Totally Mad Tea Party.  I used my Eileen Hull Sizzix Scoreboards XL Cupcake Stand die to create a tea party cupcake stand!


Yes, the cupcake on the stand is actually a candle holder!  I wanted to get a real cupcake for it but then someone (me!) would have had to eat that cupcake and someone (me!) doesn't need to eat a cupcake!!  However I made that decision a couple of hours ago and I really wish I had that cupcake now!!!







I covered the chipboard with the paper before die cutting.  The paper is Graphic 45 Hallowe'en in Neverland.  I have lots of this paper for a project that I never seem to get around to doing.  I figured I could sacrifice a sheet or two for this project!  I put sticky gems around the edge of the cupcake stand to add some sparkle.  The stamps are Tweety Jill and were colored with Tim Holtz Distress Markers.  Everything was distressed with Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy.

Thanks for stopping by!