March Craft Month - day 5

"Little album, big mess" would be a better title for this project. I started working on this album about a year ago. It has an interesting binding method that I have seen in several YouTube videos, and seemed easy to do. And it is for the most part. There is a lot of scoring, paper folding and gluing. I did not bother to be precise and I ended up with lopsided pages and hinges that need a lot of embellishment.

 The cover that saved the mini. More embellishments to follow

 One of the pages that is half way there.

 The jewels packaging is to nice to be thrown away. I have a feeling the Bo Bunny team want it to be a tag in the first place.
 And the last page. A small mini album inside a mini album.

 And now for the big mess. I used liquid glue, and glossy accents, and I did not factor the drying time. It run everywhere and soaked into the paper and did not hold them together as well as I wanted. The ink I used for the edges is very nice, with a pearl finish, but with slower drying time than other inks. So I got stains of ink in random places. More to cover up with embellishments. And except for the bits and pieces of paper, lace, ribbon, cutting tools, jewels, templates and other miscellanea that are piling up on my desk and getting stained with glue and ink, everything else went well.

Any crafting challenges? How do you manage the madness?

March Craft Month - day 3

Crafting everyday would be nice. Every other day is nicer because it is possible. Beads do not count. I painted some yesterday, spring inspired patterns for a Romanian tradition: Martisor. It is a celebration for spring. Its trade mark is a little trinket, usually something floral and a red and white thread.

On to more crafty stuff. Some time back I found this video. I shared it with my crafty friend, and she jumped right in and she was impressed. Now was my turn.

The verdict: Easy to do. Great end result. The papers feel more like fabric and I can't wait to use them for some projects.
A few extra suggestions from my experiment.
1. I used a very thin plastic wrap that melted very quick and shrunk. Next time a good 2 inch plastic wrap all around should save me the trouble of patching and remelting the edges.
2. Some napkins are better than others. The blue pattern was intended for dinner table use only. It also had a funny texture and it wrinkled a little.
3. I used parchment/baking paper to protect the iron and it worked perfectly.
4. I used cardstock and regular copy paper. Next time, I will stick to cardstock. The paper warped around the edges.

Any comments, suggestions and questions are welcome. Happy crafting everyone!

March Craft Month - day1

Finally a break from making beads and some spare time for scrapbooks.
Being a little out of shape, I started small with a mini album for a medium size traveling album.
I got the idea from one of the many YouTube videos with mini albums. I wish I had some record keeping going on so I could give credit to the person who came up with this design. It may be called the waterfall design but I am not sure. 

No embellishments for now. I will see how much room will be left after I add the photos. But first I might need to do some traveling
...

Valentine's Day or...

or for all my single friends, "Singles awareness day". Regardless if you are in a romantic relationship or not, somebody, somewhere out there loves you. Even if only as a friend. And that is worth something.
I could go on an on talking about Valentine's day. There is the love, the cards, treats and gifts of all kind.
Here is my treat for you. A bracelet for all the days of this month.

Let it snow!

I was ready for a true winter. Blizzards, snow drifts, more snow, and freezing temperatures are nowhere in this time zone. Yes, it is a serious shortage of snow man and snow flakes. And is January and it feels like November. But not all is forgotten. A snow flake set to make up for the unusually warm weather.

More beans

The MoonBeans were meant to be something I do for fun, for myself. Somehow the colorful beans grew up very fast into these cute things that people want to have. They can take any pattern, color and about three sizes, and they do not mind to look just as their owners want then to. I do not know where this road will take me, but one thing I know: for the next two years I should not worry for Christmas or birthday gifts for my girlfriends.

Here are some more beans:

Fast forward

Somebody has pressed the fast forward button. Another year is over and 2013 was quite a year for me. I started a lot of projects, I rolled over some from past years and I did finish one or two. A big, big thank you to all the crafty ladies on YouTube and their words of wisdom. The MoonBean project kept me busy more than a full time job, and the adventure is not over yet. The Valentines requests are in and I have about a week to make it happen. Add to it some other special requests and I am off to a busy start in the new year. "May the odds be in my favor!"
What happen while I was away from my blog: