Miniature Inchie Notecards

I created some miniature note cards for the Gingersnap Art Exchange participants last week and thought I'd pop them on my blog.


I glued my Vintage Page Inchies onto a piece of c/stock in groups of four and cut them out with a Nestabilities label die.


I mounted the die cut inchies onto black c/stock and then onto 2.5" x 2.5" folded cards.

Very quick and easy, especially when you need to make a large batch of cards and they're a nice size to slip into a package.


Thanks for stopping by!

Ali

Paper Pieced Bird Cage

Monday is Splitcoast's Clean and Simple challenge day - my favorite (non Gingersnaps) challenge! I was in danger of missing it because of an emergency visit to the vet with my friend's dog, who we are looking after. Thankfully, all is well and I finally finished my card at 8pm.


The challenge is to use paper piecing on a clean and simple card. It turned out rather understated, but I like it nonetheless.


The bird cage stamp is from B Line Designs and the sentiment is Amuse. The patterned paper is a 6x6 pad called Queen Bee by Pink Paislee.

That's all for now - off to give the poorly dog his medicine :(

Have a good night!

Ali

Halloween ATC Card

I haven't had a minute to stamp all week, but today I squeezed in a little fun. Well, I say fun because Halloween projects are always a challenge for me. I'm more of a butterflies and flowers kind of gal, not dark and grungy, but I gave it a shot and created a Halloween ATC.

I stamped the Artistic Outpost image (Generation Redux plate) onto a piece of "spooky gothic text" and mounted it onto a piece of pattered paper that must be at least 5 years old :) I stamped some text and numbers on the paper and grunged it up a little bit too.

I gave the ladies gold hats (cut from an old Christmas envelope) and embellished them with black rhinestones. A button here and a sentiment (Vintage Halloween plate) there and it was all done. Not too painful.

But wait, I had to mount it onto a card so that I could send it someone and because I was missing my white space!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ali

Candy Winner & Leaf Card

The winner of my blog candy is.....comment #11, Donna from Paper Crows and Dragonflies! Congratulations, Donna! Send me an email at alimanning@charter.net with your address and I will mail out your prize.

Today's card was made for the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenge, which is to use leaves.

I had just been fooling around with some of that French dictionary paper that was still on my desk from the butterfly card a couple of days ago (yes, can you believe I didn't clean up?!)


I mounted a piece of the dictionary paper onto c/stock because I knew I was going to abuse it. I sponged on various Fall colored dye inks, dry brushed on gesso and once dry, sponged a little more ink around the edges.

I then ran the colored dictionary page through my Big Shot with a leaf die. While I had the Big Shot out, I embossed a square on the card base with a Nestabilities die.

The sentiment is from Amuse. That's it - quick and easy!

What's New & Weekend Inspiration

Blog candy reminder: you have until midnight tonight to enter for a chance to win my blog candy. Just click on this link and scroll down to the end of the post to enter. I'll post the winner tomorrow.

I've been having fun this week making more goodies for my Etsy store, including more of the Music Notebooks and Halloween kits, both of which were featured in several Treasuries! But it's these little babies I'm super excited about today, my mini accordion journals. If you have a chance, stop by the store and check out the other pictures of them.


And of course, they're made with vintage book pages! Talking of old books, here's some jaw dropping weekend inspiration for you. Enjoy!

Isn't Sue Blackwell's art stunning? Check out her more of her amazing book sculptures.


Here is more butterfly inspired art by Louise Richardson. Check out more of her work on Flickr.

I've tried my hand at altered books, but not quite in this league!! This beauty was created by Jennifer Hibbard.

Source: Painted Fish Studio

I came across this amazing piece of couture on Katie's Rose Cottage blog. Ain't it pretty!

And for the girl who has everything - a pair of shoes to match! I really encourage you to visit Jennifer Collier's site and check out everything - you'll be amazed - really!

Source: Jennifer Collier

Enjoy your Sunday!

Ali

Vintage Dictionary Butterflies

Blog candy reminder: you have until midnight tomorrow, September 18, 2011 to enter for a chance to win my blog candy, which includes some of the dictionary pages you'll see below. Just click on this link and scroll down to the end of the post to enter. Thanks :)

Here's a card I made this week using the Vintage French/English dictionary pages from my store. I sponged various shades of Stampin' Up! and Distress inks in blue, green and yellow onto half a sheet and punched out a bunch of butterflies with a Martha Stewart punch. Pretty simple, but it's just the kind of card I like - lots of white space!


Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Fabriano watercolor cards, vintage French/English dictionary, watercolor paper
Ink: Various shades of blue, green and yellow dye inks, black
Embellishments: rhinestones (Stampin' up!)
Tools: Nestabilities, butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), Big Shot, Word Window punch

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ali

Trisha's Challenge

Blog Candy Reminder: There are only a couple of days left to win some blog candy. Check out this post.

I recently participated in a challenge called "What would you make with my stuff?" set Trisha from Easily Amused, Hard to Offend (a fellow Gingersnaps DT member). She sent the participants an envelope full of goodies to play with and we had to incorporate at least three items that she'd given us.

Here's the card I made. I wound up using five of the items, although I'm embarrassed to see that the other participants use way more than I did.



The image is from Altered Pages and the patterned paper from Basic Grey. I added the sentiment, it's a retired SU set called Happy Harmony.

Check out what everyone else made - they look awesome.

Thanks for a great challenge, Trisha!

Inchie Reader

Here's a Splitcoaststampers challenge card I made over the weekend. Chrissy Dickinson, a Technique Junkies Design Team Member, was picked as Featured Stamper a couple of weeks ago and the challenge is to CASE one of her cards. I chose a gorgeous Christmas card she made using the By The Inch technique.


I used the By The Inch (Oct/Nov 10) technique on a background of Antiqued Glimmers (Dec 09/Jan 10). I created the Antiqued Glimmers background by pressing Distress Ink pads onto a non-stick surface, spritzing it with Glimmmer Mist and pressing the cardstock into the wet inky mess. Each one turns out differently and that's why it's such a cool technique. Unfortunately, you can't see the sparkle from the Glimmer Mist in my picture :(

The main image is from the Rogue Redhead plate Relish Reading.

Don't forget to enter to win the blog candy a couple of posts down! I'm drawing the winner on Sunday.

Have a wonderful week,

Ali

Herringbone Card

It's been ages since I took part in one of my favourite challenges, the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple Challenge. But I took advantage of a free half an hour this morning to participate. This week it's a sketch challenge.



To create the panel, I used the Herringbone technique (Technique Junkies newsletter Dec 09/Jan 10) with strips of a retired Stampin' Up! paper cut into 1/4" strips. I love this technique for using up the piles of patterned paper I have, especially SU packs or 6x6 pads from companies, such as Basic Grey. Because all the colors coordinate, it takes the guess work out of choosing different papers from different manufacturers and making sure the colors and patterns look good together.

The sentiment is also Stampin' Up! from the Upsy Daisy set.

Don't forget to enter to win my blog candy in the post below - there are only 6 days left!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ali

Candy, Store & Coupon

I'm really excited to announce that I opened my new Etsy store this week - Vintage Page Designs!


If you follow my blog you'll know that I love to create things with old book pages. I have a real passion for collecting interesting old books, illustrations and ephemera. Trouble is, these things just seem to follow me home from flea markets and thrift stores, and now my house is full :) So, "why not share the love on Etsy?", I asked myself.


I've only just begun to fill the store, but the kinds of items you can expect to find are vintage book pages of all kinds, ephemera, old photographs, kits and pre-made journals and cards. I plan to offer some digital content in the near future. I put new items in every day, so you never know what you might find!

As a thank you to those of you who visit my blog, I'm offering up some blog candy and a special 20% coupon for the store. The code is newenglandstamper and you enter it at check out. It applies to all items in the store, but not on shipping. The code will be valid for one week until midnight on Sunday, September 18th, 2011.

And now to the blog candy.....I'm giving away a selection items from my store and some stamps (because it's all about the stamping, right?)

The package includes: packages of my vintage French and school dictionary pages, vintage botanical illustrations, three Victorian children cabinet cards, some vintage lace and pink buttons plus one my handmade sheet music notebooks.

Plus, two sets of acrylic stamps from Inkadinkadoo and 6 unmounted rubber stamps from Crafty Individuals.


All y0u need to do is visit the Vintage Page Designs store and select your favorite item. Leave a comment here letting me know what your fave item is and you'll be in with a chance to win the blog candy. I'll randomly draw the winner next Sunday and announce it on the blog on Monday, September 19, 2011 . Good luck!

Weekend Inspiration: Memo Boards

On my cyber travels this week I came across some awesome memo boards for the home and craft spaces. And I figured I'd share the inspiration with you!

Quick note before we get started: check out the next post for BLOG CANDY and an exciting announcement.

Check out this budget friendly memo board - a repurposed drawer! A piece of galvanized metal was cut to fit the inside and it was covered with wall paper. I love how it creates a little shelf at the bottom too.

Source: Better Homes & Gardens

Who would think to use a baby's crib to create a memo board? Not me, but Ashley and Jamin over at The Handmade Home did. And they even created a tutorial to show how's it's done.


I love these elegant silver trays used to post reminders and artwork!

Source: Mechant Design

Ashley Ann from Under the Sycamore shows how to make this fun chicken wire memo board in a great tutorial on her blog.


Don't these burlap boards look like expensive pieces from Pottery Barn? They are in fact pieces of cork wrapped in burlap, stapled on the back, then decorated with nail heads.

Source: iVillage

I saved my favorite for last. Rebecca Sower uses the back of a vintage basket as memo or inspiration board in her studio - this makes me swoon :)

Source: Flickr

Happy weekend and remember to sign up for the blog candy in the next post!

Ali

Weekend Inspiration - Ribbon Storage

Happy weekend! I've got some more storage ideas to share with you - this week I've been looking at ribbon.


Personally, I store mine in the jars (above) and in vintage wooden boxes (below).


Here are some more ingenious ribbon and twine storage methods that caught my eye. Enjoy!

Cathe from Just Something I Made created this fantastic storage item from an old yard stick, cup hooks and drapery rings.

Check out this cool way to store a ball of twine - a sugar dispenser!

Source: Whisker Graphics

KraftyBuns wraps her ribbon around manila tags from the office supply store. What a great inexpensive storage method!

Michelle Allen from Close 2 My Heart created this great ribbon holder from an old crate. Check out the step-by-step instructions on her blog.

Here's my favorite: Mamie Jane uses paint sticks and rulers to organize her lace and trim. I love it!

Last but not least, how much fun is this straw dispenser?

Source: All People Quilt

Have you come across an unusual or neat way to store ribbon? Send me an email with a link or leave a comment and I'll include them in next inspiration week's post.

Ali