Let's Catch Up--Shall We?

Hello bloggers:

I've been soooo busy!  The weather is getting milder and I'm loving it.  I'm outside as much as I can so my scrapping has been put to the side.   I can't believe that's it's been two weeks since I last posted so I'll do my best to catch you up on what I've been up to.  

First of all, I've been making samples of flowers for the bouquets for my daughter's wedding.  She's getting married August 17th so I want five bouquets done by the end of July.  I also have to make 7 boutonnaires.   Of course, with a wedding comes a bridal shower and my other daughter, who's the maid of honor, and I have been busy planning that as well.  I'm having a lot of fun with it too.  The shower is set for June 23rd and we're planning on a garden theme.   We'll have a tent set up outside by the pond that her future in-laws have in their back yard and I'll have paper lanterns hanging along with some whimsical flowers and butterflies.  It's going to be pretty.  I just can't wait!

I've also just finished up some swaps:  The "Green with Envy" Junk Journal swap over at Mini Album Scraps and the "Kitschy Flower Kit" swap over at Your Paper Pantry.   My partner for the junk journals was Evelyn Robinson.  I'll be doing a video of the journal she sent me tomorrow and will post on Youtube over the weekend.   Here's a picture of the one I sent to her.  

 

The theme for the Green with Envy Junk Journal swap was obviously green with some accent colors, but I wanted the journal to be about 80 percent green.  The other requirement was that about 50% of the pages had to be envelopes.  From what I've heard, all the swappers were very pleased with their journals they received.  I know I love mine!

The flower swap over at Your Paper Pantry was a lot of fun too.  We had to put together all kinds of items that we could use to make flowers and we could include handmade and store bought flowers as well.  I loved this swap! Here's a sampling of what I sent to Cari:

I also sent along assorted fabrics, doilies, printed napkins, etc.   If you want to see more, you can go to my YouTube channel and watch the video.  Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w22Awy8UPUs    I tried uploading it, but it didn't work.

I also want to share what I bought at the Creating Keepsakes Convention that my daughter and I attended in April in Manchester, NH.  As always, I spent more than my budget allowed.  I just couldn't help it!   I think I'm going to do a separate post for that one.

As I mentioned in the beginning of the post, I've also been making paper flower bouquets for my daughter's wedding.  This is what I've come up with so far:

Sorry about the quality.  I was using my newer camera and I'm still trying to get the 'kinks' out of it.  

Well.....I think that's about it.   I hope you'll stop by soon and check out my purchases at CKC!

Have a wonderful day my blogger friends.

A GIANT Junk Journal to Share!

Let me warn you that this post is very photo heavy.  I hope you will read on and check out the very. big. journal.   

I just finished, a few days ago, a GIANT junk journal for Irene over at MAS, otherwise known as Mini Album Scraps.   She was flaked on by her partner last summer and waited several months to see if her partner would complete the journal and mail it to her.  Well, it didn't happen, so I offered to be an angel and do a journal for her.  The theme was to use your Leftovers and one store bought item.   I definitely used alot of 'leftovers'.  The storebought item(s) are the embellishments on the cover.  Oh, and did I mention that it was BIG!  Yes, it is 9" x 10".    It took me about 7 weeks only because of Christmas and having a horrible head cold and then the flu.   January was not a good month! 

Irene had requested of her partner that she wanted steampunk elements, lots of fold-outs, pockets, dressforms and a vintage look.  She also wanted a CHUNKY journal.  Well, she got it!  LOL.   So, here is the journal:

The journal is made from sturdy corrugated cardboard that's been covered with white cardstock and then overlaid with this almost transparent vintage key paper.   I sprayed the cover with Glimmer Mist--gold and then added all the embellishments:  a wooden dress form from Kaiser Craft, a metal flower from TH, a vintage button, a Recollections flower (brown) and a giant white flower from Recollections.  The paper doily was also glimmer misted.  I also added a bling flourish.  The edges of the book are inked.  I glued on a book mark to hold the journal pen. 

 

To the right are 2  calendar pages from Webster's

 

 

 

The left side is a 6x6 sheet from Webster's that holds a tag.

The other page is stamped wit 'steampunk' images.

 

 

I covered a business size envelope with embossed paper and added a velcro dot as a closure

 

The right side is cut from a 12x12 transparency and is a pocket.  I added butterfly stickers.

 

 

On the right side, a used packaging from a TH package.  I loved the vintage look, so I thought:  "Why not?"  It IS a junk journal!

 

 

I created an 'explosion' element.  Each steampunk balloon is a corner pocket.

 

 

On the left page, I cut off the flaps of smaller envies and covered the inside and the outside.  I then punched a half-circle for ease of pulling out tags if Irene chooses.

One of Irene's wishes was to have steampunk elements in her journal.

 

I created a booklet to add lots of photos or journaling:

 

 

 

I downloaded some images of vintage ladies in corsets and used them as pockets for two tags that have stamped imaged of corsets.  This is also a pocket for two photo mats or journaling blocks.

 

I cut down an ordinary brown bag and glued the sides.  I used the 'cardboard' packaging from K&Co. as an over-sized tag.   (I forgot to cover the back of it---oops).

 

The envelope pocket and tag insert is from Melissa Francis.  I stamped steampunk images on them.

 

 

 

 

I covered a lunch bag with assorted papers and created two pockets for tags

This is the back of the paperbag.

 

I thought this would make a cute pocket as well--it's a CD envie that I glimmer misted.  I also inserted a vintage photo mat.

 

To the left is a photo sleeve that I made into a pocket that holds a vintage image of a lady with a parasol, a library card, a stamped dressform image and a photo mat.

 

This page has four fold-outs that can hold photos, or hidden journaling.  I downloaded vintage images of corsets--thought Irene would like these.

 

 

I added a doily to the top right corner and, again, used packaging (Prima) as a pocket to hold more downloaded vintage images.

 

 

A tri-fold page using paper from Webster's.  It's also a pocket holding 3 cards.

 

 

 

sorry for the blurriness--the left side is a circle piece of paper (not sure where I got it) which is yet another pocket holding two photo mats or journaling blocks.   The opposite is a reproduction vintage post card.

 

 

On this page, I created a 5x7 card and adhered two vintage images of ladies. 

 

 

 

Obviously this is the back cover.  I'm not sure if you can see the 'shine' from the glimmer mist.

And here you can see that it's bound with over-sized binder rings with lots of ribbons.

 

 

 

Thank you for checking out this junk journal.  If you'd like to see the 2 part videos, here are the links:

 

Part One:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcWckwImt8I&list=UUq8sf77B7mk_zahya-lb79Q&index=3 

 

   Part Two:    http://www.youtube.com/user/loridee21?feature=mhee

 

 

As always, thanks for stopping by and checking out my creations!