happy birthday, dear husband

My husband has a significant collection of giraffes, so I'm trying to contribute on various occasions. This year I've made him a card with a stamped image (the stamp itself is also a part of the collection.)

I have also made a new template for the post-it-note purses and here is the prototype, accompanied by two tiny Chinese guys. I wonder where they came from - possibly a gardening show at Navy Pier, several years ago?

I also have tiny little ceramic frogs - perhaps I'll use them to add interest to photos, too!

Starting some Christmas projects

Playing a little bit vith various ideas... like this one, which will be sent instead of a card, with the message written on the back. It's hangable, shiny and... I can make so many versions using the same template! :)

Experiment in the bathroom

This is a very simplified version of paper casting; I placed a few layers of wet toilet paper on an acrylic stamp, patted it really well, waited about 24 hours – and here is the result! A little shell cast.

I think I will see if I can dry-brush a little bit of acrylic paint on it – perhaps gold? Or pearly white? Or pearly-some-other-color?

The next experiment in line is dipping the paper in water colored with watercolors or food dye.

mini-note book

I'm participating in another challenge - this time on a Polish blog at ScrapLab. The challenge was to use the below color scheme for something hand-made - and this is one of my absolutely favorite color combinations! Perhaps even THE most favorite one.

This tiny book is just a little bigger than a matchbox, and I am planning to use it for Spanish words. My next-cubicle neighbor speaks fluent Spanish (it's her first language), and I got jealous. We are planning more trips to Mexico, possibly next year, if the funds allow, so any vocabulary I can attach to my memory will help.

This is a series of items for the challenge on the blog “Simon Says Stamp!” The task was to create anything but a card, so I made a few purses with the little post-it-notes inside. I used my favorite K&Company double-sided papers (it’s easier this way – in the past, I would glue two one-sided papers together, but folding is more tricky then, as it often leads to unexpected wrinklage.)

I have a lot of purse inspiration at work, because one of the ladies has a calendar with a new photo of a gorgeous purse for each day. Yum! (She has a ton of real purses, too.)

new cards

Between yesterday and today's morning I finished a series of four cards - all of them with the fabric and bead florals. I'll need to move on to a different design now - I rather dislike dwelling on one for too long :)
There is a little bit of recycling in these cards - the vase in the second one is made from the corrugated cardboard coffee cup holder that you get at Starbucks. This texture is so pleasant to work with, and quite sturdy.
I have some new stamps that I would LOVE to test - summer, purses, Oriental... Also got a new chandelier at Michael's, from the $1 bin. Yum!

from the crafting table

After the summer break and taking care of a visitor (my brother-in-law spent a month with us) I'm finally spending more time with my crafting materials.
I have started Christmas experiments - as usual, I am drawn to the snowy colors, blue, white and silver. First of all, I put together an origami flower, which may be suitable for the cards that will be handed in. I can't imagine mailing them :)

Then I wanted to try a flatter idea - wintry photos, possibly black and white, with these fabric-and-bead flowers, plus some extra stuff. I'm hunting for a punch that would produce little branches, like this one. I may combine them with the distressed-looking corrugated cardboard.

Last but not least - the big project in progress is the paperbag album hosting the memories from our recent trip to Washington, Oregon and California. It is my first encounter with the brown bags and I absolutely love how you can stuff the pockets with all the extra receipts, postcards and what not - I always run out of space in regular albums!