an unexpected present

When I came to work yesterday, there was a big Panera bag on my desk, which housed a sizeable vintage fruit cake tin... don't you just love this image?

Inside there was something even better than fruit cake (especially if it were to be the original one :D) - namely, several pounds of old buttons.

Yay! Last night I touched every single one of them, threw out a few that were old the unpleasant way, and the vast remaining bunch will be washed and dried soon. So much fun!

I also have a little bag of buttons from Poland which my Mom gave to me, but I'm too attached to them to use the them for anything and potentially part with these beauties. I start thinking, "Oh, this was my dress, and that was my Mom's apron" - and I'm done, can't even think of anything beyond just touching them and bringing back memories.

And then there is the button jar which i got from the Kids last Christmas... these I can use, no problem. There is just so much joy in those little colorful pieces of plastic!

Floral experiments continue

This morning I experimented with a crepe paper flower based on this recipe - I just changed the button in the center to a little felt circle with some beads. And yes, there is glitter on the edges...

I'm wondering how to incorporate this flower into a card, where it will most likely end up - I've tried some felt components, but I'm not satisfied with this arrangement. Incidentally - the background is the guidebook about Canada, since we are going there next week (hoping to see a lot of nature, including some wildlife encounters, and some man-made highlights, like perhaps the Royal Mint in Winnipeg?)

And here is the whole family of recent experimental florals - the two smallest ones are made from used dryer sheets :) I think they need a little more umph, maybe a bead or at least some stitches.

An experimental flower

Earlier this week I found a tutorial for a cute little flower, so yesterday I brought paper, thread and buttons to work to do some crafting during lunchtime. Here is the result:

It turned out quite decent, except these beautifully yellowed pages from an old book (another Second Chance Store find) are a tad too fragile and when folded like this, they become brittle and tear easily. I shall experiment with some more stable materials (hm, I wonder if fabric would work as well? without the folds maybe, and with some stitching...)

I did not make these...

...I received them in an exchange where we swapped clothespins. My present is all decoupaged, which is exciting, because I don't think I've ever had a decoupaged item in my hands! And it's also cool that when clipped onto something together, they form one whole flower image, so it's like a little puzzler.

Mine were all different - I covered one with tissue paper, one with a napkin, one was painted purple with nail polish (!) and had some glitter glued on, and the navy blue was decorated with heat-embossed letters saying "I'm keeping it for you", which is a play on words in Polish, since it also means "keeping my fingers crossed for you".

The blue background in the first photo is Fiskars' texture plates - I found them last night, while organizing the craft room closet. I guess they would be great with clay, but maybe I can use them for cold embossing with a stylus? Hm, will need to test this idea.

And, last but not least, I'm ordering a mountain of sticky notes to convert them into little purses. A couple of stores I've visited didn't have any in larger bunches, and the smaller sets tend to be pricey. So, I'll be pursing right after I return from Canada!

post-show post

The show yesterday was fun - talked to a bunch of very nice people (met a lady who is going to Poland in a couple weeks, happy travels!), played with paper, craft-babysat sweet little Amanda (we used some heat-embossing MAGIC to make Mrs. Cat, Mr Snowman and some bookmarks) - and also made a little money :)

This is what the setup looked like...

...and the table...

...and the purses, my biggest hit - will be making more soon!

So - thank you to the folks that stopped by my table, and and even bigger THANK YOU to those who made a purchase!

navigare necesse est, or the joy of discovering new stamps

The theme of the other stamp set brought from Poland is Sea Voyage, and it's been a little voyage in itself to use them! The first couple ideas didn't work out, so then some adjustments were made, and below are a few cards in progress:

Even though you can see exactly what image is on the stamp, there is always a little surprise in seeing how it actually comes out on paper, how it looks in this or that color of ink, on lighter or darker background; will it need more color (painting? chalk?), or maybe it will be nice just on its own. Maybe as the focal image, maybe as the background.

Changing the subject - a few more Christmas cards, with backgrounds that were originally included in a fall paper pack, but I like how they look with the old-fashioned illustrations and burlap.

Also, preparing the necessities for the craft show - the money box and some business cards:

One more night... and that's it! Gotta pack and go!

Christmas photo-cards

Three wintry photo-cards were born this morning, and as soon as the glue dried, they went to the balcony for some morning light + easel experiments.

This first picture was taken by my husband in the nearby Starved Rock State Park - plenty of inspiration there in their canyons, streams and forests!

The second one is from my kitchen window - I have a little picture there painted on glass and one winter subtle frost appeared around the contours:

The third one was taken in my town in Poland a couple years ago:

The photos are printed on thick glossy stock (I think I used Kinko's services - the whole printed page has been sitting in my stash for a while) and then I sandpapered the edges for a more interesting, sort-of-antique look:

Tonight's session in the craft room must start with some cleaning and organizing. There will still be piles, of course, but I'm beginning to have problems finding stuff, so I need to apply some method to this madness.

preparations for Saturday continue

Strawberries are done...

... and so are the elephants:

Christmas trees are almost ready...

...and charming Christmas paper is waiting in line:

As a crafty warm-up, I stamped some bags for potential customers last night - used big foam stamps acquired at a Second Chance Store a while ago, because one day they would of course find their use, and they did!

So many ideas are churning, but one must be reasonable and also do what NEEDS to be done. Oh well.

baubles, berries and big animals

Four more cards are finished: while in Poland, I visited Tuluz - a hobby store in Krakow and acquired a set of stamps with Indian designs. One of them was a mandala-like circle, which fit perfectly on my Christmas bauble template:

There are two new mini-series on my desk currently - one will feature elephants from the above Indian set, and the other - tasty strawberries, to remember the summer on a rainy day.

And just to show that not every idea works out - this was going to be  the background for one of the baubles, but it just didn't look right. Oh well - NEVER throw anything away, as it may turn out to be perfect some other day!

busy weekend

I got to play with sooooo much paper last weekend - I don't recall the previous instance of so much time spent in my craftroom (which looks like a tornado has passed through). It's all in preparation for a craft show this Saturday, so the marathon is no over yet.

Product one - post-it note purses, one of my fave crafts to make. And a way to use up some of the scraps from the Tiny Scrap Box.

Notepads big and small - a friend who works at a printing press has brought me neatly trimmed stacks of leftover paper a while ago, and they have been converted to notepads:

Some Christmas cards, using components left over from last year...

...and autumn-colored cards from lovely papers produced by my favorite supplier - K& Company.

The close-up shows the special coating on this paper, and the three-dimensionality of the embellishment (store-bought this time, gotta use up the box).

More to come... Christmas stars and cards; also need to make some business cards and bags to package the goodies. Oh, and the table setup - which has been already invented and piled up on the bed, but needs finalizing.Yay for Teapot Creations!

resurrecting this blog...

...after almost two years.