Hi Everyone, Once again thank you to everyone who entered our 'Ribbons and Bows' Challenge there were some gorgeous entries and to see if made the top 3 please check the Ooh La La Challenge blog
Our theme this time is ....
Lets Get Krafty
I have to say I loved this challenge, I love working with Kraft card as it is so versatile so decided to try something a little different. So I came up with a note book for all my inspirational jottings. I used the 'Say It With Words' CD for the image on the front cover on my book but as you will see as you read on I used something from every Ooh La La CD in the project. You can Purchase any of the CD's by clicking on the image below
I knew I wanted to incorporate a technique I had seen Sheena Douglass demonstrate on Create and Craft some time ago so after much searching I found her tutorial on making Faux Leather from Kraft card on You tube you can find it here.
A basic summary of the technique is that you use a small mister bottle and put approx 1/4 of the bottles volume of glycerine inside then top it up with water and give it a good shake.
Then take a piece of Kraft card and starting in the centre spray the water and glycerine mix on the card a little at a time rubbing the mixture into the card so that the fibres soak it up. The card will start to soften ( it's also great for making your hands soft too). Keep going until you have covered all the surface area of the card and got it really nice and soft. Once you have got it to this stage start to crumple the piece of card into a ball in your hand. This should be really easy and you should be able to get a really tight ball without the card ripping. Having given it a really good scrunch you very carefully unfold it and you are left with lots of creases in the surface.
using distress inks ink the surface to make the creases stand out - I used 'Frayed Burlap' 'Aged Mahogany' and 'Tea Stain' on my project. Once I was happy with the colour I used a heat tool to dry it, you can just leave it to dry naturally but it takes several hours.
To complete the look of old leather I then passed mine through and embossing folder and sealed it with spray and shine. You don't have to emboss it but you need the spray and shine to seal the surface.
I then used a tiny amount of gilding wax to give it a faded gilt effect in patches on the surface.I had a book I had bought from a local supermarket for my jottings so I decided to use the 'leather' to cover it.
The book had elastic attached to keep it closed so I slit the 'leather' to allow the elastic to pass through. The book is slightly larger than A5 so I had to use two pieces of the 'leather and I covered the front and back and overlapped the pieces on the front just to the left of the spine and covered the join with self adhesive lace. to secure the leather in place on the inside of the book I used wet glue - double sided tape doesn't work as it doesn't stick to the leather very well.
Once I had the book covered I went to town decorating it.I started by using a really appropriate image from the Say it with Words CD and also printed off the matching book mark to place over the ribbon already in the book. I made the tags using the blank tickets that are also included in the CD, and used one of these tags for the title. The flowers are from the embellishments part of the CD and the rest of the embellishments rare from my stash.
The little wooden buttons I have used on mine are also available from Ooh La La creations.
Once I was happy with the cover design I turned my attention to the inside and having found appropriate papers for the front and back inside papers I started to search all my Ooh La La CDs for appropriate bits to add. The page tags are also from Say it With Words.
I found the bookmark on the 'Boys to Men' CD and it had a wonderful quote from John Locke about reading so I then raided the 'Kidiwinks' CD to find the books with the sailing ship on to add to the front page. I made a pocket for useful bits and pieces like my colour wheel. The Kraft tag was in my stash already stamped with the sentiment so I added that.
I love Art Deco and these gift cards on the 'Yesterday's Memories' CD have a really Deco feel to them. I finished the page off with a posy of flowers from the 'All Dressed Up' CD
Whilst searching for suitable elements to include in the decoration of the book, I found a number of beautiful quotations in the various bookmarks folders across the CDs. I grouped three of these together from the 'Fleur D'imagination CD, all are about nature so the de cut leaves and butterflies worked really well with them.
Red is one of my favourite colours and cherries are one of my favourite fruits so the book mark from the 'Shoes in Bloom 2' CD worked really well with the ribbons, bows and jigsaw pieces from the 'Fairies in Bloom CD. I have a sundial in my garden so I added a die cut sundial to make the page really personal to me.
Another 'Shoes in Bloom' image this time from CD 1 featured Poppies one of my favourite flowers and had a wonderful quotation about friendship so I teamed it with the bright red border from the 'Faithful Friends CD'
The book mark from the left hand page is from the 'Boys to Men' CD and it really worked with this border from the 'Teentastique' CD.
The book marks sections of the CDs turned out to be a real inspiration for this project and I used this one from the latest 'Paula Oakley Collection' CD because it was all about leaves I added the die cut branch and leaves to the page.
I really do love my coffee and cake so I used this topper from the 'Everyday Occasions' CD and added the die cut cake stand and coffee pot. It is actually been made into a little pocket so I can keep bits and bobs inside the book.The little ribbon strips are more of the 'Teentastique' ribbons.
I use the 'Shoes in Bloom' CD a lot and this is one of my favourite images from it. Called 'Dance Petticoat' it always makes me think of 1950's rock and roll. The purple border is from 'Teentastique' and the Pink Butterflies are from 'Femme Fatale, The die cut is one I use a lot and the cage is empty but this tiny bird from a Joanna Sheen die set fitted perfectly.
Of course there have been a number of Christmas CDs from Ooh La La and I did wonder how to fit these into the project, without them seeming out of place. It took quite a while but then I thought about what I like about Christmas, being a bit of an ageing hippy it is the ethos of love and peace that most will buy into at Christmas when maybe it seems unfashionable to do so the rest of the time, and certainly since my five grandchildren were born it is that unquestionable magic that is founded in believing. So with this in mind I got out the Christmas CDs, I didn't have Festive Funnies but when I told Wendi the owner of Ooh La La what I was trying to do she generously sent me the images via drop box.The image of Father Christmas is from 'Christmas Presence' I chose this one rather than one of him in a red coat because I prefer him in his traditional Green Coat before he was put into a red suit by cartoonist Thomas Nast for Harpers Weekly in the 1870's.
I took the Believe image from 'Yuletide Wishes' as I love the teddy bears. Peace and Love are from 'Festive Funnies' in the sentiments section. The Peace tag is already to print out but the Love one I adding by adding text to a blank tag in the folder. I love these rosettes as they look really dimensional but are actually printed flat. The little lantern I added is actually a bird house from a collection from dies by x-cut.
The 'Shawn Jenkins' CD is one of my favourites and right from the off I was always going to include this bookmark in the design. I love butterflies and I think the colours are stunning but I also really like the quotation 'If nothing changed there would be no butterflies' It was something I would regularly quote to a former work colleague who didn't handle change at all well and it would always make her smile.
The lovely buttons are from the embellishments section on the CD and the little tag at the top is from a topper in the Christmas section of the CD.
I added another die cut butterfly from my stash.
This page on the right has items from 3 CDs all working together. I printed off a mini envelope from the 'Nursery Times' CD to make a pocket that I could slip items into. As there was a frog on the corner of the envelope I decided to add another of the bookmarks from the 'Fleur D'imagination' CD which I snipped in half and layered both halves onto the envelope. I added another bookmark behind the envelope from 'The Boys to Men CD' and finished off with a die cut feather and a wood pecker - pecking the side of the book mark.
I am not particularly into Astrology but I do know my birth sign is Cancer and I do have several of the typical traits of those born under the same sign, It therefore seemed appropriate to represent this in the book. To enable me to do this I turned to the 'Dreams of Tranquility' CD and printed off the book mark. I made another mini pocket from a mini envelope and added the sunset silhouette and the pink butterfly from the 'Silhouette Magic' CD.Having decorated the pages at the beginning of the various sections of the book all that was left was the inside back cover.
I started by using a striped paper from 'Say it with Words' and then made another pocket for the back cover using paper from 'The Paula Oakley Collection' CD and an off cut of the paper on I had used on the inside front cover.
So all that remains no is for me to fill my little book with things that inspire me. It currently has pride of place in my craft room and looks so much better than it did in its original red plastic cover.
I am entering this project into the following Challenge
http://myshericrafts.blogspot.co.uk/ - Tic Tac Toe - I choose the colour brown - Kraft card to make the faux leather, Metal embellishment - The butterfly and leaf on front cover - and lace both on front cover and indide.
