Pocket Letter Goodies

Today, I had a very much needed crafty day with my pal Kristy. It was good. Srsly good. We finally got a chance to be in the same room, make a mess and create something.  It is always a good time when good pals can do that. For real.

We  also got a chance to exchange our Christmas gifts; just in time for Valentine's day. *snicker* I received this Aiden Julie Nutting doll from Kristy. To be candid, when Julie Nutting came out with these I was intimidated. You have seen me use the girl prima dolls quite a bit but for whatever reason, I was super intimidated to use a male paperdoll. I am so used to frills and girly stuffs...but you know what? I got SUPER inspired after we got going today and had to use him!

I just bought this paper from Crate Paper and it, coupled with my hand carved paper airplane stamp (from a dollar tree eraser, oh yea) created the perfect backdrop for Aiden.

So, at the end of the day I had this fun pocket letter. Going to be tough to choose who to trade with to be honest. Don't want to let this one go. All kinds of sweet little surprises. The color palate was outside of my norm as well, but ended up being very pleasing to work with.

Products? Well, I used Crate Paper designer paper, Julie Nutting's Aiden doll, A  Dina Wakely stamp and past that it was a mish mash of things that I have had for quite awhile and things just kind of fell together.

Some close ups of each pocket.

This is the pocket where the actual letter will ultimately reside. I like to wait until I know who I am swapping with to complete this pocket, but for now, this is it. :)

 WASHI! Why I feel the need to label? No clue. I think it adds to the charm of the goodies. ::Shrug::

 LOVE bingo pages!I use them a lot so thought it would be fun to share a couple with a sweet heart paper clip. D'awe.

 This quote. I think it is so true. WASHI BANNER! Love making them. This pocket was labeled because the stamped images are behind the pocket decor. This way they won't be missed.

 Dude....Kristy can attest to this...I heart twine almost as much or at least as much as washi tape. Oh, man. Bought these two colors today at the dollar tree.

 BINGY BLING!!!Omgosh....how much do you hear this hastag paperclip. I actually took it off because I only had one....but....#bling was so good I had to leave it. Shared some sparklets that matched the color scheme of the page.

 So, they are kind of hidden behind Aiden, but I create paperclip flags too. They are so simple to make and great to use when srapping, card making, etc. Love em. So, I make em and send em.

 DOTS! What they heck are these? They are paper dot/sequins? Not sure, but love em and scattered them all throughout the pocket letter cause, they matched and were cute. The sentiment? Kristy gave me that too. YAY!

Last, but certainly not least, I stamped and cut out some of my paper airplane stamp from this post. Hope that the recipient enjoys them. I find them to be so whimsical! May need to start making some more stamps. 

So, this is it! My pocket letter! I hope it inspires you and also hope that it serves to prove that, just because something is intimidating, it doesn't mean you can't make something amazing! You have nothing to lose! Just jump in and allow the creativity to flow!

Mixed Media Love

For whatever reason, my creativity has been a bit forced recently. I get ideas, but don't feel "inspired" if that makes since.

A couple of weeks ago we were snowed in for close to a week and I forced myself to sit down and create for a few hours. It started off great. I had a great idea for this beautiful mixed paper woman...

It was a lot of fun and I started feeling inspired! I have never done anything like this before. When it came time to do the actual art journal page, however (finally broke into my dyan reaveley Dylusions journal....that is when it became forced. I added a Stampin Up! butterfly and LOVED it...also loved the drippy gelatos...... 

That is when it took a bad turn. Sometimes simple is best and I should have left well enough alone, but I had to keep going....

It isn't terrible, and it has sweet moments....but I was trying too hard to hand write things, and had to "fix" the page several times after failed attempts....I used butterflies from designer paper and some pre made word stickers as well. It isn't terrible, but its not what my mind's eye saw. I see it as a learning experience and I will be making more girls for sure!

Here is hoping this inspires someone to create! Have a great day!

ATC Madness!

Lately I have been loving ATC swapping. For those who don't know, ATC is an artist trading card. I have always loved creating these small pieces of art to share. I joined a group called ATC Swap-a-palooza on facebook and have been swapping like crazy. Thought I would share some of my projects with you from those swaps.

This post will be picture heavy, but that's okay. ;) Right?

This was created using a Dina Wakely stamp, Tim Holtz stencil, Ranger texture paste and gelatos. I LOVE using gelatos. They are like playing with butter! The challenge for this ATC was "anything goes". Loved the bright colors!

I went with a more muted palate for this ATC. The theme was, "found poetry". I cut the words poem and poetry from a dictionary, and cut words from a magazine. I used the same stamp and texture paste, as well as gelatos. The stencil was from Stencil Girl and I added some adhesive pearls. 

So this was a bird ATC challenge, and I have been super excited to use these Tim Holtz birds. I used a Tim holtz stencil and Ranger texture paste, Dylusions and Gelatos from Faber Castell. This one was kind of difficult for me. Not sure why, but LOVE the outcome!

So these cards are for a swap in another group called Papermoon Paper Crafts and More. The theme was to create 3 cards with favorite quotes. I was feeling particularly snarky when I made these and I think they turned out great. The quotes are from Dyane Reavlry . I used all kids of paper, my faber castell gelatos and mixed media. I haven't sent these and hope my partner likes them when I do. I sure did. 

Hope these are inspiring or amusing! It has been fun getting back into swapping. It is very nice to receive something other than bills and junk fliers in the mail from time to time! Have a great week!!

Getting Back Into The Game

It has been entirely too long since I have blogged so it is time to get caught up. The holidays were crazy, as usual, as well as I spent a short time working 40 hours, but now I am back home and doing the SAHM thing in between finding jobs.

I am still sewing and crafting, so I will spend a few posts catching you up.

I have quite the stash of fabric, but still felt the need to go to Joann last week and buy some more. Harry Potter fabric, Doctor Who fabric, Mario fabric....can you really, actually have too much fabric?? Nahhhhh.

However, I didn't want to make just another tote. A lot of you have been asking about cross body bags for a long while and I finally have the skills to create the bag I think everyone will enjoy!

The last year of sewing I  have learned so much about construction, how to create certain elements, and all-together do what I want! Its kind of exciting to know I am not 100% dependent on tutorials and specific patterns now.

So, this Doctor Who fabric caught my eye a long time ago and I finally sprung for it. This bag uses one yard of external fabric, and 1 yard internal fabric. I also use a sturdy interfacing. The strap is 50 inches and it has a magnetic snap closure. Next time I will for sure be doing the pockets different. This time around it was more about construction than the pockets. The finished bag is 14 inches tall by 11 inches wide. The front is pleated. Love the pleated look.

I am very pleased with the outcome. It worked out VERY well for making my own pattern.

I will for sure be making another of these bags this week and really can't wait!  This bag pattern needs a name. Gonna have to think on it. Have a fantastic weekend!