Life Book 2015 - Joy Jar

Week 2 of Life Book introduces a fun project called the 'joy jar'.  The idea is to keep the jar somewhere prominant and every time something joyous happens write it down on a slip of paper and pop it into the jar.  Continue to fill the jar throughout the year, then on New Years Eve open it up and reminisce about all the joyful things that happened throughout the year.

The tutorial showcased a collaged jar, but I wanted my jar to remain transparent so that you could see the scraps of paper inside as it fills up.  I used copic markers to colour the jar in blues and greens and then spritzed it with isopropyl alcohol to get the mottled effect.  I really loved the bubbly effect this technique created.  The copic markers are alcohol based, once dry they won't smear or smudge.  I also added a sprinkling of fairy dust (glitter).

The 'joy' tag is a wooden ornament I bought at a thrift shop a few years ago, sprayed with ink and then rubbed with iridescent medium to give it some shimmer.  This was a really simple project, but I think the end result was really special!  Have yourselves a joy filled day!

I Have Issues!

 

Hello there!  I hope you had a fabulous weekend :o)

A have a quick little make to share this Monday.  I *gulp* am starting college this Wednesday studying for a Diploma Of Counselling.  I have ordered text books, have my notebooks, laptop, everything all ready to go, and I wanted a book mark that reflected not just my personality but what I am studying.

This fabulous image is called Stella Tidbits - Magazine and you can find her at Bugaboo stamps.  I have coloured her with Copics and used a touch of Glossy Accents on her shoes and her glasses.

The bookmark is simply black card stock, folded at the top just like a regular card, intended to slip over the top pages of the book to mark my place.  I added a few simple office supplies to embellish and I now have a book mark that is completely unique to me!

Sharing this with the folks over at Make It Monday, where it's always anything goes.

Christmas Is Strange

Card Positioning Systems is celebrating their 5th Anniversary by releasing a sketch a day for 15 days. 

This card is my interpretation of the day five sketch. 

The fabulous word art is a freebie that you can download here from Studio Bethany.  In case it isn't clear on the card it reads:

"Christmas is such a strange time. When else do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat fruit and nuts out of your sock."

So true and so funny!  The cute little bear is by Bugaboo Stamps, called Christmas Teddy Stocking.  I've coloured him with Copics and used Polar White Flower Soft for the trim.

When you open the card there is a surprise inside, there's a compartment that houses a full size block of chocolate... fruit and nut chocolate of course! :o)

 

I am also entering this card into the ABC Christmas Challenge.  Then theme this fortnight was B for Bear... Bears with one or more from Bunting, Banners, Brads,Bling, Buttons, Bows & Blooms Challenge.

Purrfectly Delightful Card

Technique:  Papercraft

Materials:
cat with flower digi from Motivet
co-ordinating bazzil
Basic Grey DP
Copics
Fur: E31, E33, E35, E37
Green: YG61, Y63, YG67
Orange: YR02, YR04, YR07, C1
Distress Ink: Bundled Sage
button
warm and natural batting
adhesive

Tools:
Sizzix Big Shot
Tim Holtz Alerations: Tattered Florals die
Spellbinders leaves die
Spellbinders scalloped circles die

My husband's birthday is next week, and with a little help from the youngest, this is the card we made for him.  Our little one picked the image, he has such a fondness for cats.  Usually I would do a fairly smooth rendering of the fur when colouring, but I wanted to join in on the i-Copic challenge this week to colour fur, so I deliberately tried for a textured look.  I was quite pleased with the result and would probably do it again to simulate long fur.

The designer paper is from the Mellow range by Basic Grey, and I chose this before colouring the flower the cat is holding, so that the image would co-ordinate with whatever paper I chose.  I wanted a card and a colour scheme that whilst cute was still decidedly masculine, as it was being given from son to father.

The flower is cut from warm and natural quilt batting, which I left completely untouched as it has a lovely, rustic fleck through it already, and has a vintage leather button in the centre.  The leaves are using a Spellbinder die which is inked with Bundled Sage distress ink along the edges. The scalloped circle is also a Spellbinder nestie.

The sentiment inside reads : "Have a PURR-fectly delightful day".

This card was smaller than I usually make, only 5", whereas most of the other cards I had made 6" square.  The DP was perfect for the image, but pretty busy, I felt it favoured a smaller card.  What is your favourite card size?  I am still experimenting to see which I like best, I think the larger cards favour larger and more flamboyant embellishments.

Challenges:  
i-Copic: Fur
Here Come the Boys: Critters