Spring Cleaning

Still haven't made my way to the surface of my work table.  I was talking with Deb this morning (as we do almost every morning) and I told her I can't do any work till I clean up the huge mess I have made of my work space.  I shouldn't complain since I know I am lucky I have a dedicated space for creating.  For many years I lived in a very small condo where I had to clean projects off the kitchen table before dinner.  Now I have a small bedroom to work in.
A few weeks ago I decided to make some changes to streamline and organize my work space.  It all started when I asked my husband to take the closet doors off and build some sheving for me.  That led me to Ikea for more wire baskets and a new desk top.   I am changing the colors to green and blue, totally different from every other room in my house.  It is still a work in progress but I thought you might like to follow along.  Debbie will come to visit the 3rd week of March so I am hoping to be done by then (keeping my fingers crossed) so I can move on to something else less stressfull.

 the new color scheme...these may not all appear in the room but they are the inspiration for what will

the new paint color-moving from butter yellow to a cream 

here's the dh rolling on the new paint

he also put up crown molding

the new drawers

  okay, so the desk top is still a mess.  Sorting all the ephemera took longer than expected.  The new desktop is 96 inches long...that was a challenge getting it home from Ikea (but only $100).  In fact I had to ride in the back seat on the way home because the counter was so long it went all the way to the dashboard. Every so often the dh would say, "are you okay back there?" Oh, and did I mention the closest Ikea to my house is 3 hours away?

Where in the world is Paula and Deb?

Did you think we had abandoned this blog?  Well, no worries we haven't!  I flew to Deb last Tuesday to work on new classes for the year, meet some deadlines for the Australia trip in April and teach 2 classes in Tucson at Making Memories Unforgettable-one of our favorite places to teach.  

Just to prove we we really did teach some classes this past weekend here's the pictures to prove it!

Making Memories Unforgettable

3837 E. Broadway

Tucson, AZ

We loved these big hanging flowers/poofs

We also loved this little lamp with the button shade.  If you are in Tucson area you can take a class to make one on March 15th.  Do you notice the table it is sitting on?

.....and how they changed the walls on one of their fixtures.  Does it look familiar?

This is such a fun group of ladies.  Since we taught her last year, we are now seeing familiar faces and getting caught up with friends.

learning to use the Binderie Punch

Our Tucson visit wouldn't be complete without catching up with this wonderful group of ladies better known as our "stalker friends"

We love visiting Tucson!  Thank you Darcy and Katie for a wonderful time.

A fellow blogger left a comment about the Love Book binding...

Domenico said...

I'm so dense. How did you bind the book? I see the holes on the spine, and I see the holes on the file folders, I'm confused how to thread the ribbon. You've been so kind already I hate to bother you but I want my book to look as good as yours. Hopeless in California.

February 14, 2010 10:37 PM

Domenico, I think I just left out the picture you needed to see!  Sorry about that.

I punched holes in the portfolio for the ribbon like this.

 Then I laid the file folder on top of the holes on the right side, made a pencil mark so my holes would line up and then punched the file folder. Once the portfolio was complete I laid all three file folders into the portfolio and threaded ribbon through the holes, tying on the outside. 

Hope that helps!

paula

Love Book

Today my Love Book was posted on the 7g blog (Feb 12th post) for the design team challenge.  I made the Love Book for my husband as a Valentines Day gift but I guess he will see it a few days before!  The basic instructions for the structure can be found on the 7g post, so I thought I could give a little more detail here on One Lucky Day.

INSIDE

On the left side of the portfolio I stamped the word Love in as many languages as I could fit in and added a little message to my husband. I just Googled, "the word love in many languages" and came up with ton of sites to choose from.  I cut all the little strips of words from an old book I have.  It took me a while to find them but it actually became a game to see what I could find during commercial breaks.

 I sewed hand cut stem decorations on the front side of each file folder and added some hidden meaning (at least until now) on each folder .  First, the stem grows taller on each successive file folder to represent growth throughout the years and then each stem was given a number to represent a certain year in our lives when something big happened or changed.  Here are the finished folders:

 You might notice all the words on the side...they are all song titles and artist of music that has somehow been part of our lives.  Funny, how you can tell your age by typing the words, "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel.  Can't you just see John Cusack standing there in the rain with the boom box over his head?  Oh, 1989 where did you go?
My husband loves music so I knew this would be his favorite part of the book...remembering the song from New Years 1984 (Against All Odds), to dating 1986 (Romance Ideal), and after years of marriage (Push and Chasing Cars).  Do you know what songs would be in your LOVE BOOK?

COVER
Punch holes to tie the folders to the structure.

I cut the two top and bottom flaps off the center of the portfolio. 

I cut a variety of papers into long strips and layered on the cover.  It's a good way to use up a bunch of scraps!

I made an oval template on my computer

Then used it to cut out an oval from Sticky Back Canvas.

Color the Sticky Back Canvas with Distress Ink and a blending tool (remember, circular motion from the edge toward the center):

First layer-

Crushed Olive

Second Layer-

Tumbled Glass

 third layer-

(very light)

Antique Linen

Now to the sewing machine...it least 4 times around

I added the letters that I downloaded from House of 3.  They have such cool stuff to download.  I could spend some serious money on that site!

I used the same oval template to cut an oval slightly larger from polka dot paper.  Peel the backing off the Sticky Back Canvas.  I know, I know I sewed it on but if you work at it you comes off.

Well, I hope between the two tutorials you get the gist of the project.   I think something like this is going to work it's way into our teaching schedule...just gotta figure out to do it without a sewing machine! -paula

Love Jar

 I love Valentines Day, not for the whole lovey dovey thing, but because it brings back good memories of my mother.  Each year when I was small she would write poems (that rhymed) that led me on a treasure hunt throughout the house.  One note lead to another, and that one to another...until I found something in the shape of a heart.  One year it was a heart shaped locket (in the washing machine), then there was the gold heart shaped earrings (in a small box in the fireplace) and another year it was a heart shaped pillow (under my brothers bed).   The hunt was always different, but there was ALWAYS a heart in the end.  I wish I would have saved even one of the little poems! At that young age I was only interested in the final prize, not how I got there.  

Anyway, I thought I might share a little Valentine project celebrating the month of love.  It's not a treasure hunt, but it does contain messages of love...

Print out fortunes, love notes, personal messages.  I found some fortunes here but ended up writing most of my own that had a more personal message.  I used a free font Jobaca at a site I like called Search Free Fonts. 
Remember, these messages will be put into the paper fortune cookie so if you want a short message to show you will need to justify left.  If you do not want a message to show until you open it, then center the message on the paper.  I personally like it when some of the message shows because it give the reader a little hint of what is inside.
Once you print out the messages, cut into strips.  I found that a message about 7" long is almost perfect in the paper cookie.  I just printed on white computer paper but you could use whatever you like.

How to make the paper cookie:
What kind of paper?  I tried with white computer paper (as a test-too thin) and cardstock (almost too thick-I made some, but it really takes a lot to bend).  Standard 12 x 12 scrapbooking paper worked best...but beware, you will see the inside of the cookie so if your paper is two-sided, it will show.

Use a CD for a pattern.  It really is the perfect size and super easy!  You can get 4 circles on a 12 x 12 piece of paper.  Because I wanted to make a lot of cookies to fill the big glass jar I drew the pattern on one piece of paper, then I gathered 2 or 3 more pieces of paper into a stack and cut them all at once.

I did find that once I had the stack of paper it was easier to cut the stack into 4 pieces, then cut out the stack of circles.  You could obviously go to a scrapbook store and use a die cut machine but I don't have a store near me so I just used scissors and it worked just fine (and I got to watch TV with my husband at the same time).

So now you should have all your messages and circles cut.  You will need some double stick tape or super tape for this next step.
Fold your circle in half and pinch at the center.  DO NOT crease the entire fold, you are just marking a center on your circle.

This might be hard to see so I photographed it two ways:
1.  I used double sided tape (about 2" long) right on top of the crease I just made.

2.  Here I used Super Tape from ThermOWeb to mark the crease.  Both tapes work but I found if I did not use enough double stick tape, the cookie would pop open in the jar by the next day.  The cardstock was so sturdy that the double stick tape did not work at all, only the Super Tape.

Now, lightly fold the circle in half (like a taco, no sharp bottom).  The tape strip must be vertical.  Insert the paper message.

Please forgive me on this one...I was home alone when I photographed this, but IF I had two hands (instead of one clicking the picture) my left hand would be lightly holding the left side of the cookie so that the cookie does not fly across the room.  I am not going to mention how I know the cookie will fly that far. 

Now,  just nudge the center of the cookie (that's where the tape is) with your index finger.

 

A little more...

A little more...until it just bends to the shape.  Once you get the hang of it, it goes quite quickly.  Can you see why you need the tape in the center?

 

Stick your fingers into the cookie and pinch so that the tape sticks together.
 

 Here's the finished cookie

I displayed the fortune cookies in a large glass jar so not only family but anyone who comes by in the month of February can have one. 

 

Hope you try making some...even if it's only a few for the kids lunches!
-happy day!
paula