Alcohol Ink Play Date

Christmas Card Party

My dear friend K had her annual christmas card making event recently.  The "theme" this year was the little black dress, so that's what i wore!

 Here are some of the goodies she laid out for us on the table.

 we all get into sharing supplies - so here is a little packet of goodies from Z.

 And some embellishments from M.

 Here is my card design for this year.  A teal flocked background paper on an ivory card. On top a swallow die cut stamped with music.  She has a gemstone eye and a pretty wine coloured ribbon bow.  Super simple - but somewhat luxurious. 

 Here is the formal table K set for our luncheon.

 First a savory vegetable soup with garnishes - sauteed mushrooms, herbed goat's cheese, and chives.  The little shoe is K's annual tradition.  I think i have three or 4 already!

 For the main course, roast ham with an orange cranberry glaze, roasted potatoes and asparagus.

 After lunch i started on these smaller cards.  They have a flocked paper background and a felt embellishment.  The trees and deer are embellished with a small gemstone.  hope the post office doesn't chew these up!

M's project was to stamp circles from recycled christmas cards, and fold and glue to make this festive garland.

 Trust me - it is WAY cuter in person!

 This is K's elegant silver and black tree - in keeping with the little black dress theme.

 Z, K and M

 Z, D and K  (S left before i took the pictures)

 Z hard at work embossing vellum.

 So cute.

 K's blue themed gift tags in progress.

 the little floral arrangement in a silvered vase was a gift from S.

We finished off our day of crafting with tea and cake.  yes - it was delicious

 and a great day spent with friends in the warm embrace of our hostess K.

Altered Book Swap Cherry Heaven Teal

I completed two more pages in D's book, as part of our colour themed altered book round robin swap.  With travel schedules, we did not finish by the end of 2014 - but it just makes the fun last longer!  This book has a cherry and teal theme, and is titled Cherry Heaven Teal.  The original title of the book being Cherry Heaven.  When trying to come up with ideas for my spreads, it occurred to me that there were no spreads about either cherries, or heaven!

For my first spread i used some Dove chocolate foil wrappers in teal and green to create cherry shapes. The background was painted with a berry coloured acrylic paint. I created a bowl in cherry colour from another foil wrapper.  I added some painterly swishes to create shadow and shape.  then added the stems which in hindsight are too thick.  I used some letters dyed with teal ink to explain that yes, these are Teal Cherries!

For my second spread, i started with a solid teal paper background.  I cut some classical angels from wrapping paper and glued them on with a glue stick, my adhesive of choice for altered books.  I added some washi tape music notes, and a gold foil doily.  The word heaven was some stick on raised letters with i stained with berry ink.  the final touch was a polymer clay stamping of an angel, which i also coloured with ink.

to see the spreads i did in D's book last year - click HERE.

Deli paper envelopes

I have to thank Phyllis for this cool idea. She took a class with me a while back and learned how to make hand painted deli paper to use in collage. She took this a couple of steps further and made a really artistic envelope for her christmas cards. Gee i really wish she had sent it to me before i sent out my cards in boring plain white envelopes (albeit stamped with blue and silver snowflakes...!)

So i thought i would show you all how it is done. Deli paper is plain thin white paper used to wrap sandwiches at the deli, duh!? You can buy it around here at Smart and Final - try a jumbo store in your neck of the woods, or possible Costco. It is CHEAP - about 1000 sheets for like $8 bucks. I use it to paint with cheap liquid craft paint - it is a lot of fun and absolutly fool proof.
For this project i just used dye ink and some rubber stamps. First i stamped random images in one colour, then another stamp in another colour.

I did about 4 stamps in total. I think Phyllis did 5. My stamps all came from the doller bins at Michaels.

Next take a new piece of deli paper and either paint or use ink pads as i did direct to paper. Just randomly swirl or pounce on the paper. Paint gives a more dramatic effect of course - but i wanted to do this quick and not make a big mess on the computer desk.

My hubby will appreciate that.

Next glue to the two pages together - just use glue stick. Deli paper glues beautifully as i always say. It is great to use inside altered books for that reason.

If you have an envelope template - use that to cut out your envelope shape. if not, just wrap your card with the paper, and glue it where the paper overlaps, being careful not to get glue on your card.

Trim the corners at the bottom and glue the flap shut.
Trim the top and glue shut. The two pages glued together give the envelope a nice weight. And the painting the insides is an added treat for the recipient.
Address the envie right on the paper, or you could use a sticker.Add your return address, a stamp and drop in the mail!