'Grace'ful Daisy

In November, we lost our beloved Saint Bernard, Daisy, to stomach cancer. Many of you may recognize Daisy - she has been featured in some projects here for Authentique Paper.

And she frequently tried to art direct me while making them.

When it came time to set her free, the staff at the hospital made a cast of her paw. I've wanted to do something with it, to create some way to remember my special girl. I finally was ready this month, and I chose Authentique's new "Grace" line.

Daisy was not graceful by any means. But her personality was sunny and warm and lovely. 

I love the color combinations in this collection. Lots of pinks and greens and an awesome carmel - or Saint Bernard - brown. Look closely and you'll see the edges of the papers are all torn and inked to enhance the distressed look of the paper - the paper has a great weight to it that stands up to all kinds of tearing, sanding and inking.

Look even closer, and you'll see the letter "D" is covered with a piece of "Grace". Creating your own coordinating chipboard letters is an easy trick! - See my step-by-step below.

Our girl's pawprint sits nicely along with my favorite photo of her. Paper grass edging reminds me of her love of a good roll on the lawn. The tattered rose reminds me of how she would always insist on laying under "her" rose bush, regardless of thorns. The daisies remind me of her sunny, spunky personality, and her weird habit of smelling flowers in the garden!

In January we adopted Loki, a two year old Saint Bernard. He's fitting in quite nicely and is already trying to "help" me in my crafting corner. I'm sure he'll be featured on something very soon. 

In the meantime, I thought I'd share how to make your own coordinating chipboard letters so you can enjoy customizing your projects and layouts, and find a great way to use up those odds and ends!

~

Custom Letters in 4 Easy Steps!

I have tons of chipboard letters for paper collections that have been completely used up. So I started turning them into matchable letters to go along with whatever papers I'm using.

It's so easy, are you ready?

Step 1 - Assemble your papers, letters, Glue N Seal, and Xacto knife.

Step 2 - Apply a thin coat of Glue N Seal to the front of each letter and set onto your paper. Remember that the letter's "front" needs to go face-down so you get the paper you want on the front of the letter.

Step 3 - Cut out the letters. I use scissors to do most of the cutting, then use the Xacto knife for the intricate cutting. Don't worry if it's not perfect, because...

Step 4 - Sand the edges of the letters. I use a sanding block, and also an emory board for the tighter spots. 

And there you go! 'Grace'ful letters to go along with the whole collection.

~ Materials Used ~

"Grace" collection from Authentique Paper

"Spun Sugar" and "Victorian Velvet" Distress Inks - Ranger

Glue N Seal - Inkssentials

so knotty tutorial - xmas tag

welcome back gypsies! it's beginning to look a lot like xmas, so what better way to celebrate that to get our hands dirty and make a xmas tag!

this tag has lots of different techniques going on, and using twine is just the icing on the cake. so are you ready gypsies? then hold onto your sleigh bells and away we go!

 so let's start by making our holly and berries. i used tim holtz's "tattered leaves" die and a piece of authentique's "free bird" paper to make the leaves, and chose the twinery's "marachinno cherry" twine, which is an awesome xmas red.

to make the berries, i put a dab of "glue n seal" on a piece of scrap paper, then used my burnisher to hold the twine in the center while i coiled around until i got a berry that i liked. you might need to sculpt a little and flatten a little to get the shape. remember to stay small.

you'll need three berries for the tag. while the berries dried i shaped the leaves by misting them with water and crumpling them up. then i flattened them out and folded each in half, to get the "vein" down the center, and curled the edges a little for a more natural look.

next came the green layer. i took a piece of authentique's "free bird" paper and ran it through my sizzix using an "alterations" texture fold. using ranger ink's acrylic dabber in "pearl", i lightly painted the embossed paper, giving it a metallic look.

next i glued down the leaves and berries to the edge of the card - i like to use a glue gun because i can't stand waiting for glue to dry. once glued in place, i tipped the edges of the leaves and bits of each berry with glossy accent, and then sugared them with twinklets "diamond dust".

while the diamond dust dried, i prepared the tag. cutting a 3 1/2"x6" tag from a piece of authentique's "gathering" collection, i sanded the heck out of the edges, then edged it heavily with both "festive berries" and "evergreen bough" distress inks. lots of blending and layering gave me the vintage color.

once all the pieces were dried and ready, i glued down the green card onto the tag, added a strip of crumpled and inked craft paper, and hand stitched down the card with twine. i used my biggest paper needle and sewed a back stitch.

then it was time for the fun stuff. i took a chipboard scrap and used tim holtz's "fleurish" die to cut a fleurish. i coated the whole with the pearl dabber and glued onto the edge of the tag., the pom-pom trim is from my treasure drawer, and the xmas quote and "to" tag are elements from authentique's "wonder" collection. red stickles adds sparkle to the tree, and of course the edges are all sanded. i used "iced spruce" distress ink on the edges of the xmas quote. a punched hole and some more twine, and the tag is ready to give.

i hope you have been enjoying my "so knotty" tutorials as much as i've enjoyed making them. don't forget to leave your comment below for your chance to win this fabulous prize.

have great journeys this week, and come back to the caravan for the final "so knotty" on nov 26 - "sweater letters"!

so knotty tutorial - faux spiral notebook card

hello gypsies and welcome to the first "so knotty" tutorial. today i'm showing how to make a faux spiral binding. the project i used this for was a card, but this can also be used in page layouts - think "back to school" - and smaller minibooks as binding instead a coil binding.

so are you ready? well here we go!

 

first i chose something rosey and bright - it's been grey and rainy for days here, and i needed some bloominess. i chose authentique's "uncommon" papers and the twinery's "stone" twine - perfectly matched!

now if you're new to my caravan you should know that i hate clean untouched edges. so after choosing a paper and cutting it to 4"x6", step one is sanding! i sanded down the edges of the papers and the "unique" element. don't be intimidated by sanding - authentique papers are very thick and take a lot of abuse so grind away. {i use a mat to protect my table.}

 

next i pierced a row of holes along one edge of the card. tim holtz's acrylic ruler is great for this - did you know it has a line of holes along one edge just for this kind of work? i didn't until he told me! for the spiral binding look you'll want to pierce at 1/8" increments.

next i used my biggest paper needle and threaded the twine through, and sewed. i kept the twine very loose, and occasionally adjusted the loops as i went. you can also use a pencil for this part - lay the pencil along the card's edge and sew around it to maintain your "coil".

 

now that the spiral binding is done, it's time to build the card. i lightly inked the edges of the "unique" element and all of the card papers with "worn lipstick" distress ink.

i selected 2 more pieces of paper for the card's base - one striped piece cut to 4 1/4" x 6", so a little piece of striping shows below the top layer, and one piece 8"x6" folded in half to make the 4"x6" card base. i layered all the papers then set the "unique" element with a double stack of pop-squares for extra height.

 

final touches are stamps - these are cut from a 12"x12" sheet from the "uncommon" collection, with the edges sanded and inked, of course!

i hope you've been inspired by today's "so knotty" tutorial. make sure to leave a comment below and come back for the next "knottiness" on november 16 - the "loop-d-loop" card. remember, every time you visit and leave a comment, you're entered in the drawing for this fabulous prize!

so enjoy your journeys this week, and see you back at the caravan!

spooky treat bags

halloween is my very favorite time of year. it's spooky, and creaky, and it's not just for kids. adults can get into the spirit of things too. saturday is oct 1, and at our house it means the count down to halloween begins. 31 days of tricks, treats, creaks and groans. witches and bats, and ghosties and cats. and what better way to start the season than with a "glowing" treat bag!

using the Glowing collection of papers and trinkets, i created three treat bags that anyone would howl for. the Haunted House bag features a rickety fence and hand-knotted bag closure.

the Boney Head bag is gathered and tucked, decorated with tags and of course, a boney head. there are a couple of paper scrunch rib bones as well. i spritzed the paper, crumpled and then twirled it into spooky bones that sculpt and hold their new shape wonderfully.

paper curls, cobweb punches, and a cheery Jack make this bag my personal fav. i love that the paper takes to curling so well! fabulous corkscrews and spirals make for extra seasonal swag.

i'm really looking forward to more spirited projects this month and hope you are too!

Product List
Papers, trims and tags - Glowing Collection
Die cuts - Tim Holtz for Sizzix
Inks - Distress Inks in "Black Soot" and "Rip Persimmon"
Cobweb punch - Martha Stewart

freckle face

hello fellow gypsies!
today marks my first official authentique post. yes i posted in september, but that wasn't a sparkly brand new project like today's!

i was asked to design either a layout or a minibook, and after some pondering i thought "hey! why not do both?"

so here we go!

i have this wonderful picture of my daughter that inspired this layout. her freckle face and impish smile were a perfect match for some of the "blissful" collection. the "prosperity" sheet is full of great rulers, which is what i used to make the hand-curled ruler border. i added scraps of other rulers and related trims, and started to get a real "school time" feel going. i added the the top border by trimming some "distinct" paper from the "uncommon" collection. the deep pink is a perfect match and a great example of mixing the authentique collections a bit.

and surprise! there's a minibook! tucked into a paper lunch bag, to go along with our school feel. this is a tiny book made from one of the "blissful" tags and paper pieces. i used some of the collection's "icons" and "noteables" to embellish it, as well as to create the tag dangles.

some random elements - paper flowers and vintage buttons, baker's twine and distress ink, finish off the layout and minibook as well.

thank you for stopping by the blog, and i hope i made your freckle face smile! - janeen shember

product list
"blissful" collection - papers, "icons", "noteables"
"uncommon" collection - "distinct" paper
"diction" word stickers
ranger ink - "frayed burlap" distress ink
random flowers and vintage buttons
assorted ruler trim
tiny piece of baker's twine

for more smiles visit my blog at www.suburbngypsy.blogspot.comf