Mixed Media Sweet Memories

Mixed Media Sweet Memories

Thought some of you might be interested in this memory box I made for my mom with several photos from our family’s cottage on the Chesapeake Bay.

I had NO idea how this was going to come together, so I just started by picking a small white 7 Gypsies shadowbox (stash).  I printed three copies of each photo because I knew I would mess up and it’s a good thing, especially the boat pic.  That took many tries because I had to cut four people out of the photo to make it just my mom & me 🙂 Getting the acetate positioned for the boat windshield was no picnic either!

hand made mixed media shadowbox top close up

The boat needed a background, so I took a piece of textured cardstock, masked off some clouds (MFT Cloud Trio & Simon Says Stamp Talk Bubbles) and lightly sponged some Distress ink over the background.  Since the photo didn’t show the entire boat, I needed something to cover up the bottom.  Head to my ScrapRack’s “Summer” section for some inspiration!  I pulled quite a few items that didn’t make the cut, but did find a use for the sand and waves border stickers, “Gone to the Beach” embellishment, the flip flops and a small container of teeny tiny seashells I bought my daughter on a field trip long ago.  I rescued it from a give-away pile when she was cleaning out her room.  Good thing, huh?

hand made mixed media shadowbox right before

Before surgery…

hand made mixed media shadowbox right after

…and after surgery!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The embellishment in the right opening lost more petals every time I touched it, so I replaced the flower with a tiny starfish and shell.  The middle section has an actual shell from our beach, one of maybe 20 I’ve saved all these years.  Instead of stamping the date and place, I ran the vellum through my printer and carefully placed the adhesive under the flip flops and shell.

hand made mixed media shadowbox left boxhand made mixed media shadowbox center box

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the left-hand section I took a second copy of the photo and cut just the inner tube & feet portion to place over the full picture, using foam tape for dimension.  The larger shells are also from our beach and the tiny one is from that rescued container 🙂

The last thing I did was print out the sentiment onto vellum and die-cut one of the same clouds from it.  I placed it over but slightly offset from the masked cloud on the top right.  I did a lot of agonizing over all the details of this project, but in the end both my mom & I loved it!

Hope you enjoy!!  Signature for blog posts

Sending Love to Mom

Sending Love to Mom

Hi, everyone!  Here’s another card origin story for you!

Often my card ideas come from seeing a sentiment, some patterned paper, an embellishment (like the previous “Believe” card), or even just a particularly pleasing color combination.  And very often, a new card will emerge from the scraps of a previous card with new elements added to round it out.

This idea came from the backdrop papers I used to photograph the last card. They looked really pretty together as they were from the same DCWV stack I used for that card.  Hmmm…my mom likes pretty cards, she’d really like that floral paper & I could use another one of those words from the Color Splash pack!!  A card idea is born 🙂

I double matted (DCWV) the blue floral to cover the entire cardbase (Neenah Solar White 80 lb.) and used the red dotted paper as an accent.  I chose a darker red for contrast (Recollections Vintage Collector) and cut both with different sizes of the Spellbinders Labels One dies, positioning them so that the word would be about 2/3 of the way down the card. This time I used Faded Jeans Distress ink to color the chipboard word instead of Zig markers and it blended much better 🙂

hand made hello card summer dream close up WM RS

I grabbed some textured light blue & vellum scraps (from the bits & pieces dishes that are overflowing onto my desk) to layer under the ‘Love’ word for contrast. Then I went to the color section of my ScrapRack for some red embellishments. Most everything in the ScrapRack is unlabeled and as old as the hills but still quite usable! I found the flower & the postage cancellation mark there–YAY! Using my stash!!

hand made hello card summer dream detail WM RS

Finishing touches included some DMC floss that I wrapped around the ‘L’ and tied into a bow as well as a few coordinating enamel dots (MME Lost & Found Christmas) from my stash. Inside I stamped the Technique Tuesday Ali Edwards sentiment you can see test-stamped in the first picture. Looking back, I’m not totally pleased with the placement of that postage circle, but it is a handmade card and I’m pretty sure my 97 year old mom is not going to be critiquing her card! Have a great weekend!!

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Cleaning for a Cause–Donations from my Craft Room

Cleaning for a Cause–Donations from my Craft Room

I know what you’re thinking…she sure doesn’t have very good organization in her craft room!  And I agree, throwing stamps, stickers, alphas, trims, washi tape, bling, paper & ephemera all in one canvas bin wouldn’t be the ideal organization.  These items, though, will soon be in some flat rate boxes on their way to Colorado.

I recently learned from this video that a public high school teacher in Denver will be teaching a scrapbooking course in her science-oriented school and is asking for donations.  They will be doing scrapbook layouts, mini-albums and cards, but only have a small budget from the school for some tools and a few other items. Many of the students come from low-income families and can’t afford to buy supplies themselves.

I had already started a small reorganization project and had set aside some punches, stamps and other items when I found out about this donation opportunity.  Once I knew, I decided it would be the perfect time for a full-on craft room purge.  I went through all my Iris cases of patterned paper & cardstock as well as about eight large paper pads and came up with this six inches of paper to donate.

craft room items being donated paper

I’m about halfway through my ScrapRack and to my shame I am still finding things I’ve never used or haven’t touched in years.

Craft room items being donated stamps etc

Someone may as well be using these crafty goodies and I’m glad I ran across Nicole’s video to show me a place where they can all find a good home!!

If you are looking for a good excuse to purge old items and make room for the new, please check out the video or just send scrappy donations to:  DSST Stapleton High School, ATTN: Angie Turek, 2000 Valentia St, Denver, CO 80238.  Angie is asking for your return address as well so the class can send you a thank you 🙂 All for now, new card post coming soon!  Signature for blog posts