Tryptich for a Friend

I wanted to find a way to share a quote with a special friend of mine. I had a beaded wire embellishment that I wanted to use--somehow. I decided to try my hand at making a tryptich which would allow me to use the beaded embellishment as a closure.

I cut the tryptich template out of white cardstock. I then colored the front and back using a pale pink ink pad. Next, I used white ink to stamp the pink background with handwritten script. I printed the quote onto vellum, tore it out and adhered it to the inside of the tryptich. I added a pink dragonfly charm above the quote. To close the typtich, I created to slits through which the beaded embellishment could be threaded. I tied a lavender polka dot ribbon around the tryptich to complete my gift.

To Imagine is Everything

I wasn't quite sure what I would do for this month's spread in Tamara's "Imagine" book. I got to thinking about the power of imagination and all of the wonderful things it can lead to. I brainstormed and came up with a healthy list of things that spring from imagination.

The color palette I envisioned was tiffany blue and antique white, crackle medium--very "shabby chic." I used the tiffany blue as my base color which showed through the "crackled" antique white top coat. Next, I created 36 windows to showcase each of those words. The fun part was rummaging through my embellishment stash to find shabby chic doo-dads to decorate each of the windows.

Mini Fairies for an ATC Swap

By special request, I made 5 mini fairies for an ATC swap. I must admit that making my fairies on this small a scale (2 1/2" x 3 1/2 ") was a bit of a challenge for me, but I love how cute they all turned out. I almost couldn't part with them!

100th Post: Exploring Phobias

What fun I had working in Kathy's book this AB round! Her book is all about PHOBIAs. Seems there is a phobia for just about everything!

Remember I went ziplining for the first time in my life this past summer? Well, part of the exhilaration I felt was because I managed NOT to let my fear of heights stop me from ziplining. It really was a wonderful and liberating feeling. I still have a fear of heights, but I now know that it is not an insurmountable obstacle for me.

Not surprisingly, I decided to do a tribute to my zipline adventure for this spread in Kathy's Phobias book. after all, it was about conquering--at least for my birthday--my acrophobia (fear of heights). I began with a packing tape transfer of two photos taken along the zipline course and secured them to the page for my background. How fortuitous that I located a page in Kathy's book with Dr. Seuss's poem, "Oh! The Places You'll Go."

I always like interactive spreads and thought that a zipline lent itself to a slide mechanism. I re-sized pictures of me "zipping" and created an image slide with them. To do so, you cut out two small circles (ideally, they should be smaller than your image) and secure together with an eyelet. Glue your image to the top of one of the circles. Next, cut a 1/4" slot along the path you want your image to move. Here, I cut the slot along the zipline. Insert the top and bottom edges of the slot between the two circles. Now your image has a track along which it can slide. Fun!!

Erte Fashion

I took a step back in time to complete my spread in Dee's "Victorian Era" book this round. I have always admired Erte, the art deco fashion designer. Over the past five years, I have managed to find an Erte calendar and I save the old ones for their fabulous artwork. They come in handy for spreads like this!

I selected four images which I copied onto cardstock and then cut out. I then embellished each figure with nail polish and nail gems! For my background, I had a fabric sample that had a very art deco feel. It was a loose weave and would fray easily if left unfinished. I took some lovely beaded trim (compliments of my sister-in-law) and sewed it to both sides. I took a different fringe trim for the bottom. The figures themselves are attached through the fabric background onto the pages of the book with various brads. Very simple, yet elegant.

Speaking of birthdays...

My husband surprised me for my birthday with a Big Island getaway! The mystery destination for my birthday weekend--a Volcano hideway!

I woke up in a rainforest on my birthday!

Flowers from my sister-in-law for our room

Little did I know, he had another birthday surprise in store for me. However, my husband needed a co-pilot for the drive. I was only allowed to view the driving directions which he promptly tore out from an e-mail. The suspense was killing me! When we arrived at the "Umauma Experience," I realized my husband was taking me ZIPLINING!

This was the fourth zipline on a 9-zipline course. I was told an episode of "The Bachelor" was filmed at this location (next to the river). Would you be surprised to know that this line is the length of a football field? Our guides clocked speeds of 57 mph on this line (yep, there's an app for that). Look at me go!

Pausing to take in a view of the Umauma Falls while waiting for my turn to ZIP!

STARFISH!

This is the position they tell you to assume if you want to slow down on the zipline. Stretching out your hands and legs increases wind resistance, slowing you down.

CANNONBALL!

You tuck your arms and legs in if you want to INCREASE your speed on the zipline. (I saw no need for this manuever while I was ziplining)

Yet another surprise awaited me when we returned from the Big Island. I came home to this absolutely amazing birthday cake created especially for me by one of my talented birthday sisters, Debbie. It is a vanilla cake with chocolate filling (YUM!) decorated just like a Tiffany little blue box, except this measures about 8" square. Look at the jewelry pouch she made out of fondant. It looks so real! And the piece de resistance--she showered the cake with "diamonds" made out of sugar. How clever! Debbie is the hostess of our Hawaii Altered Book Round Robin and baker extraordinaire! Cake and fondant icing are just a few of the tools she uses to create beautiful works of art--too beautiful to cut! Thank you, Debbie!

July Birthdays

Using the pulled paper background technique I mentioned in my previous post, I created these birthday cards for two dear artist-friends of mine who also happen to be fellow-Cancerians! Happy Birthday to all your July babies!