Graphic 45 Papers - Sample Set

This past week I finally had a chance to experiment with my Graphic 45 paper.
I did a huge blog this past summer showcasing the amazing booth Graphic 45 had at the Craft and Hobby Show. They really stole the show! These cards use some of those amazing papers.

Some of the images I placed in bezels. After pouring resin, these little embellishments really became special. I then sewed them to the cards.
I really enjoyed making this set of cards. The colour palettes varied and I tried to keep the paper as the major embellishment. I could not help but add a little glitter though.

I am sure these butterfly resin embellishments are going to be keepsakes. I punched these images out of the Graphic 45 papers as well.

Several of the Graphic 45 papers have collage elements. I popped out the pre-cut imagery and added a few extra items. The lady looking down in the resin filled bezel was from one of these sheets.

Making the necklace was probably my favorite project. I punched the red circles from one fabulous sheet of 12 x 12 paper. After creating the large pendant I had a great time assembling all the elements together.

The red toned papers in the Graphic 45 line are very rich and wonderful! Here are just a few of the cards I made featuring this lush paper.

This bezel also has an image from a sheet of paper with dozens of tiny pictures. The car driving off into the sunset appealed to me. I was so happy to find a really good home for this embellishment.

I think it is safe to say that I really liked the red papers.

And the vintage colours are just as spectacular.

The first card features a big intricately cut bezel. Even the "time flies" image came from one of these papers.

This large image is a known Graphic 45 image. I decided to use her in a pop out card format. This was hard! Getting everything lined up and the opening cut out took a long time!
There are so many details and ideas that this post could go on for another yard or two!

My Graphic 45 papers have now been used! I am looking forward to the launch of the new papers at my local store this week!

Weekend Projects

I have half dozen fun projects on the go this weekend.
We woke up to another winter wonderland after last nights snow storm. While the storm was quite mild...it is always nice to pretend that you are snowed in for the weekend.

Hope you enjoy this week's bead blogging posts.

A Bead A Day
Expressing her love for daisies, Lisa uses scrapbooking embellishments to make a quick and cheerful bracelet!

About.com Jewelry Making
Winter white can mean bitter cold or a beautiful double strand pearl and matte glass bracelet.

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene gets your creative juices flowing with a treasury inspired by the monthly challenge painting.

Beading Arts
Cyndi is wrapping up a month-long emphasis on education for jewelry and bead artists.

Beading & Books
Do you use buttons in your jewelry? Michelle is hosting a Button Swap. Sign up to get a partner, trade buttons, and create something!

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Do you use any sewing techniques in your jewelry? Come see what Cindy's sewn up!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
A fun find at an antique store uncovers new inspiration with some women's medicinal history and a crazy folk song

Lorelei's Blog: Inside the Studio
After a very busy couple of weeks, Lorelei finally has time to share some pictures from a recent trip to Spain!

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Come and see what the amazing Kim Miles has been up to as Winter turns to Spring--You will love it!

The Bead Dreamer
Inspired by the poet Rumi and a gorgeous pendant from Green Girl Studios, Charlene creates a necklace using beads, fiber, a button - and of course - the pendant.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Want to win some FREE ImpressArt metal stamps from PJ Tool & Supply? Andrew hosts another Thursday Giveaway with a prize valued over $70!

Graphic 45 Gate Fold Card

This gate fold card features Graphic 45 paper. Even the two resin filled bezels feature their paper imagery.

For years I avoided the gate fold card...unless I found it at a rubber stamp convention already pre-scored. I just don't enjoy getting out a pencil and ruler to measure the score lines...and then having to back track to erase the lines.

That has all changed now that I have the Crafter's Companion Ultimate. I can't believe this tool has only been in my studio for a few months. I use it all day and I don't hesitate to make scored cards. See how the measuring has all been done? I scored a perfect gate fold in under 10 seconds.

That gives me all the time I need to work on the card embellishments! I am crafting a group of Graphic 45 samples to share on my blog in the next few days. I love their papers. I used two different sheets with some leaf shaped ribbon to decorate each side of the gate.

For this card I just used double sided tape to attach most of the embellishment.

The resin bezels I sewed into place so that they could be removed and used for another project by the card recipient.

I am in the studio today! Enjoy these crafty blogger links!

About Family Crafts
Discover how you can create your own music crafts and then amaze your friends, your family, and yourself with all of the beautiful music you can make.

Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi creates a circular collage as a memento of her trip to the big Paris cemetery.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there are directions on how to make a hammock, tips on matching paint colors, a cool story about a wind powered knitting machine and a unique calla lily fishbowl flower arrangement.

Crafty Princess Diaries
Have you got a lot of crafting crap? It's time to get organized!

Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Time always seems to get away from us, doesn’t it? Eileen reminds you not to forget to scrap those special moments.

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter
Madge finally reveals her project for the JoAnn Fabrics Spring Press Kit!

Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi was introduced to a book artist's video that will take your breath away!

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
See how to transform a Rubik's cube with inspiration from the book Photojojo!

Work in Progress

My tables are full of half completed samples! I have a big day of assembly ahead of me and then I'll have a great big post!

A Hint of Pink

This is a picture of happy.

While you see a fabulous spool of vintage chiffon ribbon and two spectacular hankies...I see a surprise side trip that took my hubby and I down a street we normally would never have had the time to go down. Traveling off the beaten track is a luxury. You need to be able to put schedules and commitments on hold. This little adventure garnered some very pretty embellishments for my stash. But more important, we managed to take a road less traveled to find them.

Crafter's Companion Flower Fairy

I have a new pretty sample to share with you today!
Everyone needs a little fairy. This is Lavender and she is one of a series of flower fairies in the Crafter's Companion collection.

I had some new supplies I brought home fro the Craft and Hobby show that I was excited to play with. I got the new Claudine Hellmuth Rock-a-Blocks to test too.

Whenever I get a new stamp I test it with several types of inks. I wasn't sure if I wanted to colour in the fairy or emboss it. As you can see, I got amazing stamped impressions using the Rock-A Block.

I thought an embossed fairy might be prettiest. So here is my image completely covered in gold embossing powder.

But in the end I cut up a combination of stamped images. I even had great results embossing the wings on vellum. I thought I would decoupage the fairy since I wanted to use up everything! I laid all my pieces out on various colour papers....and then I remembered this piece of vellum I had in my stash. Perfect for the fairy background.

I sewed the vellum to my card body. I used gold thread for a little bit of embellishment.

Then I built my fairy with all the parts. I even did a little colouring. She got an extra set of wings. At this point, the card was really done. I just needed to add my lavender crocheted hearts.

But then I remembered my gold flakes! I glued some on the dress and along the bouquet of lavender.

She's so pretty and now royally embellished!

No Staples Stapler

Friends, you are looking at a $100+ stapler. Well, it's a stapler with no actual staples included.
It was an impulse buy. So impulsive, that 5 years later I still have not used it. So I am keeping it out on my desk where I can at least admire it's beautiful shape.

There is a tiny stationary store in Paris where you can buy singles of everything. I think you know the type. You select one fabulous piece of paper, one envelope and maybe a new nib for your calligraphy pen. It is all so gorgeous that you linger and look at everything. My friend Edie noticed an interesting paper fold and when she asked the store owner, he pulled out the stapleless stapler. One demo later and we were both pulling out the $50+ Euros needed to pay for this little contraption. We were surprised he had two in the store!

This is what it does. Somehow the tool cuts, tucks and folds a small piece of paper with one punch. Isn't that magical? It does not work with card stock...it really is best with just a few sheets of text weight paper.
Believe it or not I found a less expensive version of the tool in another stationary shop in the US. Not nearly as attractive, this little blue device does the exact same thing. Why I bought a second one I do not know.....perhaps the world will run out of staples and these will really come in handy!

Happy Family Day!

I am so happy to have my own tiny family home for this holiday Monday.
Magnus clearly needed a day off. I hope you all have a wonderful day too!

Baby, It Is Cold Outside!

It is a cold cold weekend!
A good day to stay in with lots of coffee, magazines and a few sewing projects!
Enjoy my beading links for today!

Art Bead Scene
Art Bead Scene loves a wall of beads. Stop by and see if you don't love it too!

A Bead A Day
A 1 minute jewelry project? Lisa shares a swarovski component that can be used to make a SPARKLY ring!

About.com Jewelry Making
For gemstone fanatics, earrings are the perfect way to enjoy fast projects that include all their favorite stones.

Beading Arts
Have you heard of a hair fascinator? Come see what Cyndi put together with a handful of Swarovski crystals and a length of thin gauge wire!

Beads & Books
Michelle shares a behind-the-scenes look at her work doing technical edits on a jewelry magazine.

Carmi's Art/Life World
A new bronze pendant from Artbeads.com inspired this new necklace from Carmi.

Cindy Gimbrone, The Lampwork Diva
Cindy shares her "DO" for the week. Come take a look!

Earthenwood Studio Chronicles
Melanie explores the old craft of paper quilling in an experiment combining the technique with resin for jewelry

Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done!
Jean reviews a comforting and beautiful book for beaders which she herself has often turned to as a "bridge over troubled waters": Beading for the Soul, by Deborah Cannarella

The Bead Dreamer
Book Review: Steel Wire Jewelry. Love alternative materials and modern, whimsical jewelry design? This book is a must have. Project one is an earring wardrobe! Read the review in full.

The Writing and Art of Andrew Thornton
Andrew gets in touch with his inner "Calder" and hammers some wire with Kate McKinnon and Dustin Wedekind.

Manly Cards - Made Digitally

Today I need two cards for men friends. One older and one younger. I never have "men themed" cards in my inventory so I needed to make these individual cards yesterday in order to give them out today.

I made these cards with digital elements I received free with my UK Complete Cardmaking magazine. The CD had a section called "not for girls." Perfect! Just what I needed.

For the first card this is what my screen looked like. There were so many digital files to choose from that my screen was packed with possibilities. I choose one sentiment and then added it to the bottle cap image to make a special button for the card.

For the second card my screen was even busier!
In the end these are the four elements I selected to make that card. Two pieces of back ground paper and two images I tweaked to make 1 1/2 inch buttons for the card. Assembly was quick and easy with the addition of a little ribbon. Working digitally always gives me great ideas for future projects.

Here are my Saturday Crafty Blogger Links

About Family Crafts
Stop by and share your crafty cleaning tips and read other people's tips!
Aileen's Musings
Aileen has repost of a fun shipping tag tutorial, stop by and check it out!
Carmi's Art/Life World
Carmi crafts some pretty flower brooches with a new tool from Clover!
Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world
This week at Craftside there is a free tulip quilt block pattern and tutorial, interviews with Susan Strawn author of Knitting America on NPR, Carla Sonheim author of Drawing Lab with details of her workshop at the Etsy Lab in Brooklyn, and a couple of cool DIY sewing tips.
Crafty Princess Diaries
Tammy's craft club is now slip stitching squares together to make their first baby afghans.
Cross Stitch at About.com
Connie's dedicating a design to some serious stitchers who are gearing up for some HUGE stitching projects. She reminds them to "Begin with the End in Mind".
Eileen - The Artful Crafter
Here are directions for making a double strand charm bracelet from Eileen. She made this one for a real life angel. Choose your charms to suit any occasion you like.
Mixed Media Artist
Cyndi has a brand new copy of the wonderful book "Scraps" to give away this week! It's a mixed media lover's dream...
Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
How to make a recycled color wheel dart board.
The Crochet Dude
Drew gives five good reasons why January was a blur!

The Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Some places that I see in my travels need a more permanent memento. Photos on my computer are not going to be enough. I know that when I get home I will make time to capture my visit in a piece of art.

The Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris was one of those places for me. I only saw it ten months ago for the first time and I think of it often.

It was very easy to get to the cemetery via the Paris Metro. This piece of paper stayed in my pocket all day.

And it became an envelope of sorts. I picked up some metal, a broken piece of a ceramic flower and some dried leaves walking along the paths in the cemetery.

If you go to my Paris blog I posted pictures there of these amazing ceramic flower memorials.

This week I printed some of those pictures on paper I decided to collage them into this odd circular frame.

I added the items I picked up on my travels that day and then contributed a few more dried flowers to my collage. Then I filled the entire frame with resin. This is a very big bezel!

Finding a home for a circular frame...will not be easy!

My last step was to select one of the over 300 pictures to actually place in the frame. This was one of my favorite photos. I feel like I really captured my visit with this piece. You would imagine a cemetery to be dark and sad. But for me it was full of light and flowers.