National Foof Day

What is National Foof Day? Well, it is in celebration of a word that came about on Zuzu's Petal and Buds forum, kinda to replace tut...but it grew in its uses...

So, in honor of the wonderfully fun word a swap was proposed and had more participation than any other swap I have been in so far.

What was the swap? Create a piece of art that represents the word Foof to you. So, without further ado, here is my foof.

At first I was going to do a play on words and make a "Fooftastic recipe box" but I got as far as prepping the box...then it sat there waiting for me to finish but it just wasn't quite right.

So, one night I woke up with this idea...

I wanted something a bit cheeky but yet still feminine so i decided on this design...and it took every bit of my paper crafting and sewing skills to pull it off...


The First thing I did was to make the doll...I stamped and colored the face and then attached all the body parts (everything was stamped and or cut out of white cardstock) I attached them using some lovely pearl brads (very feminine) I am not an artist, well, at least not one with painting and drawing...so eluding to the "parts" a woman would have was difficult but I am pleased with the "hidden assets" I gave my doll...

To add some interest to the doll I gave her some stockings made out of a shimmery twaul (I have no idea how to spell that word) and for the garters I used thin ribbon and some fabric flowers.

The last touch on the "inside" of my Foof was to create a mirror for her to hold. I went back and forth as to weather to actually include this part or not...in the end I included it and slipped it in her hands.

The Doll was then glued to the floral background paper which is spritzed with gold Glimmer Mist.

To make the curtains I stamped a decorative background stamp using gold shimmery fabric paint on a green cotton. I sewed the edges under and threaded some pipe cleaners through he top and bottom. I then hand sewed them down... To hide a few of the messier sewing holes and pipe cleaner I added some gold glitter at the top and bottom.

The doors of her dressing room are attached with pink brads and the last touch was pink eyelets with ribbon strung through to keep the doors closed. The inside of the doors are lined with a pink shimmery cardstock.


I finished the piece off with some Gold German scrap along the top and a shear gold ribbon to hand her from.

I hope my Foof recipient enjoys my Foof...I had a lot of fun making her...

Vintage Love

This week over at Make a Moo or Two: It’s takes a while before it’s Valentine but to get in the “mood” this week’s theme is “Vintage love”. Anne made this gorgeous and inspiring example moo.

I am so in love with the new "True Romance" images by Altered by Design exclusively sold by Alpha Stamps. That of course I had to use one...but I did a bad bad thing...I photocopied the image I wanted to use because I also want to use it for an upcoming swap and I don't have the money right now to buy another sheet. So I am very very sorry...at least go look at the real thing...it is so much prettier than my washed out illegal image...

When I formulated my plan of this moo I had all these fabulous plans...rhinestones, lace, diamond glaze, a vintage cameo...and then I got to the stage you see above and I thought it looked perfect...despite the washed out illegal image, which serves me right.

So, all I did was add some pearl ex bronze powder to some decorative paper, affix my image and emboss the word Love and all around the edges...I hope you enjoy!

The Princess Bride

Okay so lets be honest, I read this book because I love the movie.

I must admit that I do not like the book as much as the movie. However there are a number of very interesting things in the book.

First, the bad, I found the sections that were not related to the story, you know where the grandfather is reading in the movie, very slow. The screenplay also changed the narrator in the movie. However, the thing I am most disappointed with, is that Buttercup is totally unbearable on paper...even more sappy than in the movie. I literally wanted to throw the book against the wall when she spoke, which is not often. For a book about her, there is very little with her in it.

Okay onto the fun stuff...the narrator in the book is William Goldman, the author, screenplay writer. It is a running dialog of his thoughts related to the book he is compressing. You get a little bit about his family (not sure if this is true) and a little bit about his job (I looked this up and it was confirmed, so when he talks about Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, well, it is because he wrote it!)

I liked the back story on Fezzik and Inigo, they are after all in my opinion, what makes the story so good.

Here is what I am not sure about...my particular copy of this book has an additional chapter (maybe) called Buttercup's Baby. I really liked the story, could not stand his constant breaking in because it made the last 40 pages much longer than they needed to be...but it gives you a bit of insight into what does happen after "happily ever after"

All in all it was a fun read, I would not call it quick but if you love the movie you will definitely get some more depth from reading the book.

Love and Scandal Cube

Over at One Powerful Hour my good art friend Moira has selected Cubes. Here is her outline: Your cube can be any size; made from any type of material, wood, card etc; it can be made to hang or sit and decorated in whatever manner you choose. Moira has used a Ready to Go Blank Board 3 inch cube which she has painted and collaged and attached beads with which to hang it. HERE you can find an Inchie Ornament Tutorial by Patty Szymkowicz. Shelly Rae Wood has generously shared on her blog The Art and Musings of Shelly Rae Wood a one inch cube template I, using Shelly Rae Wood's one inch cube template as a guide, made a 2 inch cube...I have a really hard time working with the small sizes. Anyway there is a template at the bottom of this post. To start I stamped the definition of tea all over a background paper and colored in the flowers. I then embossed in gold on each side either a tea cup or tea spoons...I alternated...Next I selected 4 images from a Collage Sheet from Alpha Stamps. I dusted them with gold pearl ex and clear embossed them to make the powder stick and to make the images more sturdy. On a separate sheet of card stock I stamped the phrase "Love and Scandal are the best sweeteners of Tea" i dusted it with coordinating ink and cut it out...placing a word or two on each side. I outlined the words in gold pen and added some diamond glaze. the finishing touch was some gold along the edges of each side of the cube and the beads. Oh, I stamped a tea bag on the same paper I used for the box and have that hanging from the bottom of my cube. I had a great time making this little cube and I have a ton more ideas...you may be seeing quite a few cubes in the coming future.

I hope you enjoy my cube, thanks for looking.

Becca's Diva Box

Here is the first diva box for 2009. Of course this is not everything I sent, but this is everything that I made.

This particular box and its contents went all the way to Bahrain! I hope I spelled that right. Becca is our deployed Diva.

The Doddled Bird Cocktail napkins are a combination of hand died fabric and purchased fabric. The center, the light ocher color is hand died the trim is purchased. However the dots on the trim are hand stamped. The image I used for the bird is from Alpha Stamps and the circular dot stamp is from Close to my Heart. This is the first set of napkins I have done with different colored trim and I think it is fabulous.


I have an extra set of these wonderful napkins for sale in my Etsy store. And let me tell you they are a steal! There may not be much money wrapped up in product but time whew...they take almost a week...there is hand sewing involved to make the 45 degree seams on the front and back corners. If this set does not sell I am really considering keeping them...I just don't know yet...every time I make a new set of napkins I think they are the best.

Becca received or purchased a pair of paisley print earrings a while ago and was looking for a necklace to match. I found a seller on Etsy that had one that I thought would match. Becca has told me it is really a perfect match which was a weight off my mind because I was a bit disappointed with it when it arrived.


Anyway I made her a jewelry box to keep it in while she is deployed. I painted the box a solid matt black Stamped the paisley background on gold paper and painted portions of it with Sparkeling H2O. I then stamped the paisley stamp on black paper and cut out two of the paisleys painted them to match and mounted them on the paper with 3D tape. As a finishing touch I ripped the Gold paper in the shape of the box before affixing it. I love how it left a plain gold rim.

On two sides of the box I put matching images. The Collage image is from Jogglers and it is a woman lounging on a sofa, it is a stunning image that I bought quite a whiel ago but have been waiting for the perfect oportunity to use, this was it. All around the image (to hide the cut marks) I clear embossed a number of times adding pearl ex gold powder to each layer so it shimmers.


On the other two sides I sponged on some gold paint and affixed some gold brads and circular rhinestones. The brads are holding the black satin ribbon in place so when you untie the box the ribbon does not compleatly fall off.

I selected the gold and black colors to match the necklace, I wish I had a photo of it. All in all I am fairly pleased with the box...

I hope Becca enjoys her items...I had fun making them.

The Historian Bookmark

A few posts ago I gave a rather disappointed review of The Historian which was the last book for the book club that I am part of. The sad thing is that it was one of my selections. I had heard such good things about it and it had been on my To Be Read pile forever so I thought that the long book (December and January pick) would be the perfect time to read the book. Well, no time was perfect to read this book in my opinion. Please see my review for further information about the book.

Since the book was my selection I am hosting the gathering. The only requirement we have for the host is that they need to have a bookmark as a door prize. We can make dinner or eat out, buy our bookmarks or make them.

I got the idea for this bookmark about 300 pages into the novel. The main character, and some of the minor ones, all receive a book with a woodcutting in the center of a dragon. All the pages are blank and the outsides are various designs and textures. So I decided to make my own representation of the book for the door prize bookmark.


To start I made some Twinkling H2O paper in various shades of browns, a bit of black and some vanilla bean. Once that dried I used a crackle background stamp and glittered the crackles all over the bookmark, using a bronze glitter...it really is a fabulous effect. I was trying to make the bookmark look a bit like leather, and of course leather in my world would be glittery.


For the inside I lined the bookmark with some "old" looking paper, not white in other words, I can't imagine really old books having white paper.

On the extra Twinkling H2O paper I stamped the dragon with dark brown ink and then covered the entire image with clear embossing powder to make it a bit sturdier. I trimmed this closely and mounted it on the inside so that it pops up with you open the bookmark.

As a finishing touch I attached a brown satin ribbon to hold the bookmark closed. There is a gold swirl embellishment that holds the ribbons, but still allows you to open the bookmark. It is a nice addition and it is flat so it will still work as a bookmark.

This is a close up image of the dragon. It was very hard to get a good photograph of him but I thought he was so great and perfect as a representative of the book that I had to include him.

Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Bk 1)

Last year I was introduced to Patricia Briggs Mercedes Thompson books. I was immediately hooked by her writing style and the, new to me, urban fantasy category.

So, when she wrote a spin off from her first Mercedes Thompson book, Moon Called, I had to read it.

First she wrote a short story that appeared in a compilation book called On the Prowl. If you can get a copy of this book, I highly recommend reading the short story before Cry Wolf. However, I did not like any of the other stories in On the Prowl at all. Needless to say I was glad I didn't buy the book.

So, onto Cry Wolf. Well, I was disappointed. I like the main characters, Anna and Charles but the story was boring and slow compared to the Mercedes Thompson series. On top of that half the time it did not feel like it was even about Anna and Charles, the main story line having to do with a 200 year old witch and another werewolf in Charles father's pack. Everything that did take place, romance, deaths, character reactions were all believable.

If you are torn between the Mercy Thompson series and the Alpha and Omega Series (book 2 comes out in August of 2009) I would recommend the Mercy Thompson series.

Buildings

This week over at Make a Moo or Two:

This week Anja is our guest hostess at make a moo. She chose buildings as a theme and made these wonderful examples. Surprise us and show us what you can do with this theme!

I don't have many if any building stamps so I turned to my trusty Paula's Kit club items. A few months ago she had a kit called Viva La France.

I used some old postcards as the main portion of my moo's and cut various words out from other collage sheets. To give the old postcard a bit more pazzas I added a touch of blue pearl ex to the image and then clear embossed it. Added some German scrap and some fun charms.


When I was done with my moo's I remembered this fabulous paper that came in the kit. It is an old map of Paris, so I decided to mount the moo's on that and turned them into a fun card.

I hope you enjoy!

January Book Reviews

I have been reading like a mad woman, mainly because I am in way to many swaps on PBS but also because I have needed a bit of a break from art. Some of the books I have read I really enjoyed, other's not so much, here is a brief summary of what I have read so far in 2009.

If you are looking for an old fashioned mystery with a splash of romance and a new twist then this is it!

I am not a huge mystery fan, normally because they don't have enough romance or the mystery is flawed. But La Vida Vampire did not have these problems. The sexual tension between the two main characters is fantastic and the mystery is well mapped out and very plausible, if you can call anything to do with Vampire's believable.

I thought it was a bit slow to begin with but by the end I realized that Nancy Haddock was laying down the foundation for strong, well developed characters that would carry a series off easily.

What I really liked about this book was the nice neat story line the was wrapped up and the fact that the author gave you just enough insight into what is to come to make you want to read her next book but not want to throttle her for leaving too much of a cliffhanger.

A friend of mine told me this book was a Da Vinci Code esk novel about Dracula. She got one thing right, it is about Dracula but as for being exciting and fast moving. Well it is anything but.

I read a lot of historical fiction so I know that some of it can be a bit dry but this one takes the cake. I might as well have been reading a non fiction book where the author didn't do any research. The manner in which Elizabeth writes is so dry. Yes, there is potential but she misses when she made the decision to write everything as if it was a letter, it drones on and on and on for 700 plus pages I might add.

And the real kicker, after drudging through the 700 pages it just ends. 650 pages of the slowest chase ever written across the world and Kostova wraps everything up in an unbelievable fashion and then leaves it open for a sequel. There is no way if she ever does write one that I will read it.

I can't believe this book got such rave reviews, a total let down in my opinion.

Christi Phillips debut novel is a delight.

At first I was a bit lost in the 1618 story, there were lots of characters and for a while when it switched back to the historical line, the story did not seem to go together. However, this is my only critique of Phillips novel. And after a few trips back in time everything did come together very nicely.

Normally I find the historical story more intriguing but in this book I kept longing to read the present story line. This is not a romance by any means but the undertones of romantic relationships are fabulous. Also, I really liked the fact that the main character was chaperoning a typical teenager, something you don’t see in these types of books.

Phillips characters are very believable and the manner she build her story keeps you enthralled, a very quick and pleasant read. I fully intend to read her next novel.

Betrayed is book 2 in the House of Night Series.

I really enjoyed book 1, Marked, I thought it had some great lessons for teenagers that everyone faces. But what I found really intriguing is that the lessons are written in a manner that does not scream “hey you, this is what you should do” but are couched in a fun fast paced story that teenaged girls will enjoy.

In Betrayed the lessons are continued, I thought the ones in this book were better than in Marked (all about being different and not giving into what the “in crowd when you know they are wrong). This book explores what it feels like to like more than one boy at a time, and how one should appropriately handle it. Once again it does not scream or preach the correct action. Betrayed also lets the reader in on the fact that not everyone is who they appear and how to guard yourself against this.

The hardest lesson this book looks into is the loss of a loved one. This particular story line (lesson) looks like it will be continued into book three which I am very anxious to read.

Repeat Impressions Cards

It's that time again...time to share my latest creations for Repeat Impressions.

Wendy asked us to make at least one Valentine item using the Hugs and Kisses stamp that I have in the background of the Puffin Up card.

Puffin Up is suppose to be a play on the phrase Pucker Up but so far no one has gotten it without an explanation. I wish I had ordered a kiss stamp now but it is too late.

Other stamps used on this card are Puffins, Random Hearts and Legacy Alphabet.

I was trying to do some faster backgrounds this time. Mainly because I was a moron and missed a very important e-mail. Leaving me with a little over a week to get my creations together...i am still kicking myself. Anyway, I used a Tim Holtz technique. I stamped the Hugs and Kisses stamp and clear embossed it onto decorative paper. I then sprayed the paper with some Adirondack Ink and ironed the paper. The Embossing areas lifted off leaving those spots clear of the dark purple ink...pretty cool huh!

It is very hard to see in this sample but i have used the Hugs and Kisses stamp on the background as well as the glittered portions that I cut out. I water marked the paper with the Hugs and Kisses stamp.

Other stamps used on this piece are Fairy Kiss, To My Love..., Random Hearts and Random Swirls.

I used the Random Hearts and Random Swirls to "dress' the two fairy's along with some coordinating rhinestones.

If you visit my blog regularly you have already seen this card. If not take a look at the post below...this one has a story ;)

Wendy asked us to use the Just hatched stamps (little duck/chicken/bird coming out of the egg). Other stamps used include Candy cane (Used the ribbon off of the Candy Cane), Random dots, Wild Daisies, and Squares 3, 13 and 14.

I think this is the card that I am most proud of this time around. When I came up with the idea it was one of those, boy I hope I can pull this off, things.

These flowers are made out of the Quilt or Stained glass window Squares. I black embossed Squares 6, 10, 13 and 14 a number of times and colored them with Twinkling H2O's...it's a good thing I like to color b/c that took a while...very therapeutic :)

Once they were dry I cut them out based on what I thought would make the best shaped flower. I stacked the squares on top of one another and attached them so that you can see both the cut squares. And I curled the edges up to make them more 3D.

To finish it off I cut various shapes out of the remaining parts of the squares and scattered them all along the lower half of the card...it is suppose to resemble petals that have fallen.

I call this card my Frank Loyd Wright card. I once stayed in a hotel that he had designed and I remember lots of Tiffany lamps made with triangles and squares.

The stem is from the Easter lily stamp.

And my last card is a Stained Glass window made from the Quilt/Stained Glass window Squares. I really ended up loving the quilt/stained glass window stamps, when Wendy asked us to use them i was very apprehensive but once I had them in hand I used them and used them...they are wonderful once you let your imagination flow.

To make this window I turned to my trusted drafting and geometry skills. The heavy black lines are black embossed and suppose to resemble leading lines. I wish that I had embossed all the squares also but getting them perfectly lined up was very difficult and it was easier to hide mistakes this way.

Inside my window I used the Bird and Blossoms stamp. I also ordered a Butterfly stamp that I was going to have perched on the window sill but she got a little lost so I left her off.

I hope you enjoy my pieces and are inspired to create your own Repeat Impressions pieces. If you do I would love to see them...just leave a comment.

On my side bar there is a Repeat Impressions icon, just click that and it will take you to Wendy's wonderful site.

In my World...LOL

Because sometimes you just have to wonder about yourself...

Anyone see something wrong with this card? Well, if you don't right off the bat...that makes me feel better. Because not only did I make the mistake when ordering the stamps but I made it when putting the card together...

Need a hint? Probably not...

The last time I checked, in the world that I have to live in everyday, Peter Cottontail is NOT a chick...

I ordered the stamp with full intention of using it just like I did on the card above. I put it together and then, 2 hours later, I realized my mistake...This card took me forever to put together, lots of cutting, and I actually had to draw parts of it, on top of that getting the eggs decorated was not easy either. So realizing my mistake really upset me. But I woke up in the middle of the night with an idea on how to save what I had.


Here is the fixed card, I don't like the shape as much and i couldn't figure out how to put the ribbon on but all in all I think it is a good save without having to re-do the entire card.

All stamps are from Repeat Impressions...

I hope you get a good laugh out of this one...I have been walking around the past few days telling everyone (that knows about the mistake) that they are having a "Peter Cottontail" when they make a silly laughable mistake...It very well could become one of our new household phrases.

Red Pear Scarf

At long last I have finished the Red Pear Scarves that a good friend of mine commissioned me to make. I hope she likes them..

I started this project before Christmas but I had a hard time getting the red to look just like I wanted it too. The first time it was a gorgeous apricot color, but the last time I cheeked, apricot is not red LOL...so I ordered some more paint and it got lost in the mail...it happens...

The picture below is a close up of the stamping I did. I have a new camera and I am not really good with it yet...I'd use my old one...but there is a reason I have a new one...


Anyway...there is a pear stamped in the center of some french script...at least I think it is french. The stamping does not cover the entire scarf, but is randomly stamped all over the scarf.

Once again I love stamping and hand dying fabrics. The patterns that come out are so much fun. To get some added interest on the scarfs I scrunched them all up so the die has a lot of visual interest.

Hope she likes them...

And the Winner is

Carol

Congratulations to Carol who has won a (at least in my opinion) fantastic box of fibers. I hope this brightens up her day and that she can use them in her projects. Carol drop me an e-mail or leave a comment here (I won't post your addi) so that I can mail out your blog candy.

Thanks to all of you that left such nice comments, you really made my day, and my entire 2008...I am looking forward to another amazing year of sharing my art with you.

Hugs to all

Caroline

Fantastic Fiber Give Away

Well...It's been exactly one year since I posted for the very first time...and boy has it been a wild ride.

I thought to mark the one year anniversary of becoming a blogger with a HUGE Fiber give away.

There are close to if not more (I stopped trying to count, DD was giving me a little too much help) 50 different fibers here...yarns, ribbons in all widths and lace to just mention a few. Some of the spools have never been used!

If you would like to be the lucky recipient of this fabulous Fiber give away please leave a comment with a way for me to get in touch with you. I will be randomly selecting a winner on January 6th...tell all your friends...and watch my blog for many more give aways to come in the next few months...I am moving and can't take it all with me...sigh...

Hope you have a GREAT day!