i spent a big chunk of sunday doing that thing i have been dreaming of doing for months on end; making for the sake of making. it was a cool crispy day, drizzling rain all morning that opened up into a beautiful autumn afternoon. amazing to think that last week it was 90 degrees. it was as if the seasons shifted exactly on friday. hello autumn!

while i was in the studio i had a few different projects in the making. a few, like this tattered cuckoo clock i had started last spring and then set aside. i decided to do some followup. the cuckoo clock base is from kaiser crafts, something i have had on hand since i used it in a scrap kit for kR about a year ago. i have 3-4 more and i have some plans for those as well. i want to experiment more with the layering.

i thought i’d give you a quick little tutorial on what i did. this is the easy explanation peeps, but feel free to ask any questions in the comments and i’ll answer them there too. ;)

the base was covered with some plaster sheets {you can get this at any craft store}, i’m a big fan of stephanie lee (can’t wait to take her class at artfest next year!) and have wanted to play with some techniques i learned from her book with judy wise plaster studio.

after wrapping the base and gable with the plaster and letting it dry {this was done 5 months ago… lol} i dyed it all with some tattered angels mist in spanish moss. it’s a beautiful color, a soft and muted steel blue with a gorgeous shimmer. i need more. alot. more.

then i started the adorning. lots of vintage tattered laces and linen applied to the gable {see the original pic above}. just cut and layered really simply.

wrapped linen & lace rose with a little 7gypsies brass stud for the center and added it to the front.

i added a brass hanger loop and that gorgeous bee charm.

then the altered clock face made with a large brass 7g’s charm from the display kit. a piece of vintage open weave linen. antique buttons piled in a circle.

add arrow book turn and a large key then i dangled it above the cuckoo opening.

it was a great day, i’m still smiling as i type this out, remembering how relaxed it was to be out there making this. messy. fun. happy time creating. here’s to many, many more of these types of making days.

today i’m working on putting together a little mini halloween kit for the kR shop. it’s cute. and very limited. and hopefully will be listed by wednesday so you have plenty of time to put it together. it’s also making me happy on day 2 of making and exploring.

happy monday!
x0

i made a video tutorial which was posted on the JBS blog yesterday showing how i used paint with the exclusive stamp & stencil from the August JBS Mercantile papercrafting kit, so i wanted to link it up here too. it was really fun to make, and i didn’t realize until these past two months {since the kits have started including the stamp/stencil exclusives} just how these additions have inspired me to create more & experiment with old techniques. funny how that happens, right?

i have a few more video plans that i’ve been working on, including an “anatomy of a page series” {me scrapping from beginning to end} that i’ve been filming this week, i love seeing the process of others i’m inspired by, like this. i’m totally falling in love with video and using our camera and have wanted to do this for so long, so making this one has pushed me a little to get out of my safe zone which is really, really good!

happy wednesday!
x0

i have a stamped embroidery project up on the jbs blog today, head on over and check it out.

schools out and i’m finally starting to feel better after i got the icks from my littles. thank goodness for helpful husbands and being able to rest while they were at school this week.

happy friday!
xo

a few months ago my sweet friend amy asked me to submit a project for the birthday issue for her amazing online magazine, inspired ideas. amy is amazing, as i’m sure most of you know and has inspired me countless times with the sweet little things she makes. and, being a huge lover of previous issues {they are amazing!} as well as knowing her ever since i participated in on of her first club little house swaps i of course i said yes! yes. yes. yes!!

well, the day has finally come and the latest issue, 245 pages of beautiful birthday inspired projects, has been released. you can find it hear and i’m a little amazed that it’s only 3.30, that’s less that my online version of martha and inspired ideas doesn’t have any advertisements!

i know everyone involved put so much love and time & energy into their projects, it’s obvious when you see it {the peek of my birthday bouquet project is above} but i just want to send a HUGE thank you out to amy, and to our sweet friend pamela because i know the work and hours they put in was incredible, and it’s obvious from the beauty of the final pages.

happy friday!
x0

JBS is partnering up with write.click.scrapbook to celebrate minibook’s and I was happy to contribute the gorgeous inspiration journal seen above. Hop on over to the JBS mercantile blog for a mini tut of how to create my book, a giveaway and more inspiration from keisha and doris.

happy thursday!
xo

oh how i love creating with this kit.

doris actually took a pic of the contents for me this weekend and i think it really shows how much you get with it. piles and piles of yumminess. plus, with the new jbs reveal tomorrow you can have it shipped with the main mercantile kit and save some serious shipping fees and that’s always good :)

after i made the project kit for the reveal i still had so much left over and just kept staring at it all, knowing i needed to use it because i loved all of the elements so much. for a few days i kept rifling through the leftovers, trying to decide what i wanted to do, what i wanted to make. i still had the chipboard covers, which i had used for the stencil to create the project kit base. obviously a mini was still calling my name.

super quick and super easy. don’t you just love my little man’s cheeks?

i just covered the cover with pattern paper and created three interior pages with the left over pattern papers. some embellishment piles, some alpha letters, ribbon and chipboard elements and i was done. it’s a little giftie i’m giving to my mom. she’s been dealing with trying to help my grandmother with some health issues this week and through our numerous phone calls, as i have tried to calm her and let her know that she’s doing the right thing i realized that she needed a pick me up. some sunshine that she can pull out of her pocket whenever she needs it.

paper strips because i had some left ;)

i think there’s probably nothing better that a mini book full of pages of your grandbabies to help cheer you up.

clear as day. they love their nonna.

and a layout. because after the mini i still had some pieces left. this one has stretched people. really, really far and i still have a beautiful little pile left and now i want to make some cards. i just can’t bear to let any of it go to waste.

happy wednesday!
xo

Working with JBS over the last few months, planning the release of the deLovely kit, and possibly more {eeks!} has been amazing. It’s the perfect partnership for me & for kR because now i can focus on the creating and putting together of kits with an amazing group of people who are so encouraging and supportive and I have the added help behind the scenes which i so appreciate!

Isn’t it gorgeous? I loved making this, and one of the most amazing things is that there is still so much left of the kit that I still have one more bonus project to share, later this week using everything that’s left. score! ;)

The project kit instructions, which will be available later this week on the JBS site will also includes the three vintage images that I used, available in a down-loadable printable pdf, so you can create the project just as shown, or you can insert your own current or heritage photos.

Thanks JBS! Here’s to a fabulous new partnership.

xo

i adore the new jbs mini tart tins and i was lucky that they were included this month in the his add-on. i could think of a thousand ways to create altered decor pieces with them and wanted to show you a mini tutorial {it’s a quick 15 minute project} using them, the add-on kit and some vintage flatware to create a photo display stand.

here’s a good shot of the back.

To start I took the medium tart tin and turned it upside down. then, using a vintage fruit knife, i pushed a little divot into the tart tin so the knife had a little well to sit in and then i hot glued it into place. then i hot glued the vintage punch-card onto the knife, added the flower and some of the sweet skinny ribbon.

i LOVE these flowers. wish i had more but i’ve used every single one of them. the photo of my grandparents when they got engaged is attached using a little vintage clip. this way i can swap it out if i want.

i hid the small amounts of hot glue that you could see at the base by wrapping an extra little piece of that skinny ribbon and tying it off. of course seam binding would look just as cute.

simple right?

hey, don’t forget that i’m hosting a chat tonight at 8pm pst on the new jbs forum {the chat i believe will be linked right on the front page} for our first ever online crop this weekend.  i hope you’ll come say hi!

happy friday!

sharing | a clock redo tutorial over on the JBS blog
marveling | at the beauty of my bean who turned eight yesterday
revisiting | and remembering that first day of having her with us, eight years ago
plotting | a birthday for the papa tomorrow
finishing | a warm cup of my husband’s handmade latte. mmm
stopping | and remembering to be grateful for the blessings i have in my life
listening | to the hubs playlist of dr.dre, e-40 & drake
queing | usher
feeling | that i need to get back to the gym, asap
loving | that the house is quiet and that the garage is getting closer to being cleaned out
thinking | that I need to get the bean’s birthday party invites out today
reminding | myself to drink more water
making | oscar night invites for my girlfriends
planning | an online class for the end of march ;)

happy tuesday!

these are the projects that i really love working on, the altered ones, where i can really mix and match the 7gypsies lines with alot of my vintage found items & stash. the more texture i can get in there the happier i am with the finished project.

this is that 7gypsies Shadowbox Tray featuring the new Lille collection. this was how the tray looked when i was finished but there are a couple new items that have been added since, like a dangly hook that undermounts inside the divided sections, works like a cup hook, as well as some mini apothecary bottles i believe. these items weren’t in when i created this so some of you who are at the show will see that lace section filled in ;)

products used :
Lille collection papers {abundance, crazy love, beautiful}; Lille acrylic stamps; Printers tray labels, Lille paper tape; Affirmations ATC kit; red crystal ball knob; Gypsy hardware; Hudson valley ribbon; Savannah seam binding.

The embroidery hoop that i in the large interior section measures 5″ in diameter and fits perfectly within the cut opening.

The big feature here is the layered vintage spoon in the far right section. 20 cents at my local thrift. i know!! i placed a piece of the Lille collection paper in the background, layered it with the large Gypsy hardware medallion and then i mounted the vintage spoon in a vintage sewing spool. then i added some crinkled seam binding {just scrunch it up in your hand and the heat from your palm will crinkle it} and a small piece of the Lille “vintage stamp” paper tape as an accent.

A detail shot of the embroidery hoop with the stitched quilt fabric and the sweet girl {some of you will recognize her as exclusive fabric from an old kR kit} with her embroidery floss flower broach. for the brooch i simply stitched “loops” of floss in a circle a few times making sure to not pull the floss all of the way through. then i topped it off with a vintage button.

Just a side view shot of the vintage french sewing bobbins, which i tend to use alot and that big beautiful giant key.

happy tuesday!