Beauty of the Far East - Gecko Galz August 2024 Design Team Projects

Hi there, friends!

Thanks for stopping by Paper Play.  Today is my day to share my August design team projects for Gecko Galz.  Our theme this month was Beauty of the Far East.  Gecko Galz has so many beautiful products that may be used for this theme.  My goal was to use colors and styles inspired by the Far East to bring these projects to life.  Please be sure to let me know how I did!

 

 

 

 

My first project is my favorite for this month.  When I think of the Far East, I think of the beautiful design elements that we in the West have adopted from them.  In particular, I have always loved the Japanese paper screen doors and I wanted to create a frame that incorporates them.  I took a small rectangular wooden box from Michaels and used brown ink to stain it.  I then printed the photo to size, added some grunge to it with Distress Ink, and glued it to the inside of the frame.  Two strips of foam were colored with Distress Inks to look like stone and glued at the top and bottom of the frame.  Their purpose is to support the doors with pin hinges, and those pins stick into the foam to allow them to open and close.  I made the doors by cutting four rectangular pieces of cardboard to size, using an exacto knife to cut out the centers, and then coloring them with black and grey ink.  I printed the images for the doors to size on vellum and let them dry.  Once dry, I cut them to fit between two pieces of the cardboard and glued them into place.  Stick pins were glued to the top left and bottom left corners of one door and then repeated on the right corners for the other door.  I attached small nobs to the front center of each door to allow for easier opening, and then put the doors in place by inserting the pins into the foam and aligning into place.  This is actually a very easy project to create, and I think it adds a beautiful vintage style to any decor.

My second project is a vintage fan, which is really quite easy to create.  I took an 8.5"x11" inch piece of kraft cardstock and glued an 8.5"x11" piece of paper printed from the Asian Botanical Paper Pack to it.  I used Distress Ink and Ink Spray to add some grunge to the front and back of the paper.  I then used my scoring board to score a line at each 1" and then used a bone folder to burnish each line of the fold.  Once folded, I glued twine to the handle, starting at the bottom and working my way up to the point where I wanted it to end.  Some pearl gems were glued and the fan was complete.  I think it would look pretty either hanging or resting on a shelf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My final three projects are greeting cards that I made.  The shadow box card and fun fold frame card were made using dies that I have for each.  I used a variety of Gecko Galz images, Distress Inks, alcohol markers, lace, and paper flowers to create them.

I hope that you enjoyed learning more about my August projects and that I may have inspired you to try one!

Thanks for spending some time with me here on Paper Play today.  Until next time . . . be well!

Creating with the Gecko Galz - December 2023

Happy December, friends!

Thanks for stopping by Paper Play to see what's new.  It's hard to believe that the month is already half-way over and that Christmas is less than two weeks away.  I've been busy crafting design team monthly projects, gifts for friends and family, and Christmas cards.  Speaking of which . . . today I'm sharing my creations for the Gecko Galz design team.

First up is one of two tags that I created for our 25 Tags of Christmas event on the Gecko Galz blog.  Comfort and Joy was made by: shrinking a digital stamp from the Christmas Traditions set of digital stamps, coloring it, adding some grit paste, adding some grunge with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain, framing it with these beautiful gold frames and a sentiment from the Compliments of the Season kit, and adding some ribbon.  I fell in love with this digital stamp as soon as I saw it.  It looks like an idyllic Christmas morning to me.

My second tag will be shared on December 22nd . . . stay tuned!

The next shares are all my creations for the December challenge.  The theme for the month was Winter Elegance.  My interpretation of the theme was focused on finding that elegance in everyday life.  I showcased the products used with bits of sparkle and glitz to add the elegance.

This beautiful Victorian winter shadow box was made with two different Gecko Galz collections.  The background picture is from Merry Little Christmas and the rest of the items are from  Christmas Spirit.  I started by painting the square wood shadow box with some Patina colored chalk paint, applied a coat of crackle medium, and then applied Oatmeal colored chalk paint over it.  This process achieved a crackle look that made it look like it was older and had been painted over a few times.  Once dry, I glued the background image inside of the box.  I then applied grit paste the a piece of styrofoam and glued it to the inside bottom of the box.  I fussy cut the images, glued stick pins to the back of them, and stuck them in place inside of the shadow box.  The sentiment was attached to the top with some double sided foam tape.  I sent this as a gift to my dear friend Kathy and I'm happy to say that she loved it!

My two Christmas cards were made with images and paper from Christmas Spirit and Compliments of the Season.  I love these images so much and wanted to showcase them in a beautiful way.  I aged the photos and background papers by distressing the edges with a plastic knife and then running some Tea Dye Distress Ink around the edges.  I also applied some of the ink to the paper for some added grunge.  The result is vintage Christmas cards that will bring a smile to anyone.

Last, but certainly not least, are my vintage Christmas ornaments made with images from Christmas Spirit.  They are SO easy to make and (now, I may be a little biased!) beautifully elegant.  The hardest part of making them is cutting the hole in the front of the ornament.  The ones that I used were made of a thicker plastic so I used by Dremel tool and the circular cutting blade to cut the shape.  It takes a little bit of a steady hand, but the blade glides through it like butter.  It may take a couple of passes to get the shape as you like it.  I then used the sanding attachment and sanded down the sharp edges.  Note that you may use an exacto knife if you don't have a Dremel tool, but it may take a little longer and require more pressure if the plastic is on the thicker side. It's all smooth sailing once the holes are cut!  I painted a base coat of chalk paint on each (Patina on two, Frost Blue on the other), let it dry, and then applied a coat of crackle medium.  Next, I added some extra fine white glitter to my top coat color, mixed it up, and painted it on.  I did also paint the inside of each ornament with a couple of coats of this glitter paint.  I used super glue to attach a small piece of styrofoam to the inside bottom of the ornament.  Once dry, I glued one of the images to that piece of styrofoam to keep them in place.  I had previously made outside decorative pieces with some moldable foam clay and moulds.  I painted them and attached to the ornaments with glue.  Grit paste was added around the hole to give it a little extra snow effect and dimension.  Here's a tip for you - the grit paste can also hide any imperfections made from cutting the hole!  Made an oopsie?  Cover it with grit paste or glitter glue!  Let's keep that secret between us, okay?!  The last step was to apply some gems (pearls and silver balls) to the ornaments.

I hope that you enjoyed reading about my inaugural projects as a member of the Gecko Glaz design team.  Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about the steps outlined above - I'll be sure to answer them for you!

 I wish you and your loved ones the merriest of holidays and my heartfelt best for 2024!  Until next time . . . be well!

BPM/IBFS: Beware the Bird Man

Hello, friends!

I really enjoy legends and lore of everything from local ghosts to strange creatures.  Today’s creation, a Halloween card, is inspired by this.

This card is inspired by tales from folklore.  It contains quite the warning to watch your p’s and q’s - especially around Halloween!  Mr. Ignatious Crane was a well-to-do member of the village of Maple Falls, located just outside of Salem, MA.  He wasn’t a pleasant man and was known for his temper.  Townsfolk would move out of the way when they saw him coming . . . lest they take a chance on offending him and suffering his verbal abuse.  They all snickered behind his back about the fact that his surname was quite appropriate since he resembled a bird with his long, protuding nose and small dark eyes.  As fate would have it, he encountered the widow Winslow on All Hallow’s Eve in 1792.  The widow was rumored to be a witch, and it was hinted that she killed her husband with witchcraft many years back.  She was carrying home some herbs that she picked in the forrest when Ignatious appeared in front of her on the path back to the village.  Being the bully that he was, Ignatious refused to move out of the widow’s way and let her proceed.  Instead, his acerbic toungue spewed insult after insult at the old woman until she had enough.  She had warned him to move on and he refused the warning.  Old widow Winslow started to yell in what Ignatious could only think was gibberish . . . until he started to feel different.  He could feel something sprouting from his head, and only heard bird chirps as he yelled at the widow.  He left her behind and ran back home, garnering gasps and shrieks of horror from each person he passed.  It wasn’t until he reached for his hand mirror that he understood - and saw a man’s body with a bird’s head staring back at him.  It was said that Ignatious left the village that night and lived in the woods around the town.  He’d return each All Hallow’s Eve to scare the townsfolk - and would run off at just the mention of old widow Winslow’s name.

I hope that you enjoyed my Halloween story inspired the products used to make the card:

• Vintage Style Hybrid Mystical Character Bird Man Art Rubber Stamp
  
• BEWARE Word Art Rubber Stamp
  
• Faded Page Text Words Rubber Stamp
  
• 4”x5” cotton paper panel
• 5”x7” Kraft card base
• Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Tea Stain, Old Photo, Lost Shadow, Hickory Smoke
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains - Old Photo, Antique Linen

Making the card was very easy - just stamping, cutting, and mounting with double sided foam tape.

I added lots of grunge to make it look very old, and the cotton paper helped make it look older, too.

I hope that you enjoyed my card and my story.  May you all have a happy and safe All Hallow’s Eve!

Until next time . . . be well!

Blank Page Muse/I Brake for Stamps - Vintage Note

Hey there, friends!

Thanks for checking out this latest Paper Play post!  I've mentioned before that I have great affinity for vintage designs.  I have a lot of fun thinking about how to take stamps or dies and turn them into something that looks older and aged, and that's exactly what I did for my latest creative team design for Blank Page Muse/I Brake for Stamps.

Here's what I used to make this card:

• Just Messy Floral Sheet from I Brake for Stamps
• Handwriting stamp from Hero Arts Mix Textures Stamp Set
• Spellbinders Deckled Edge Dies
  
• Sizzix Embossing Ink
• Ranger Vintage Pearl Embossing Powder
• Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains: Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet, Bundled Sage

Here's how I made it:

• Brushed baking powder over a piece of ivory card static to prevent embossing powder from sticking to non-inked areas
  
• Stamped the floral sheet stamp onto ivory card stock with embossing ink
• Sprinkled embossing powder over stamped image, tapped away excess, and applied heat to it with heat tool
• Colored the flowers with Tattered Rose spray ink with a small paintbrush, added darker shading using Victorian Velvet spray ink and a paintbrush, and finally colored the leaves with Bundled Sage spray ink and a paintbrush
• Added light grunge over the stamped card panel with Antique Linen ink and an ink blending tool
• Lightly sprayed Antique Linen spray stain over card panel
• Cut the card panel using the deckled edge die
• Applied Tea Dye ink around the edges of the card panel
• Added grunge to an A2 sized kraft (tan) card base
• Adhered card panel to base with double sided tape
• Stamped separate rose with vintage photo ink and colored as described above for the card panel; fussy cut it out
• Stamped the sentiment with Vintage Photo ink, added grunge with Tea Dye ink and Antique Linen spray stain; let it dry and then cut out with deckled edge die
  
• Glued rose to card
• Stamped light background writing onto card panel using Tea Dye ink
  
• Adhered sentiment to card using double sided foam tape

I love the look of the embossed colored roses against the ivory card stock, grunge, and separate rose.

And the light writing adds just a little bit of additional interesting detail.

This card is so versatile and can be used as a thank you, to say hello, or even for a birthday.  You may stamp whatever sentiment on the inside to use it as you'd like.

Want to save 15% off your purchase at Blank Page Muse or I Brake for Stamps?  Use my discount code, BPMWalter, to save!

Thanks for spending some time with me on Paper Play.  Until next time . . . be well!

Vintage Shadowbox Frame Wedding Card with The Gingerbread Prints

Hey there, crafty friends!

Welcome back to Paper Play!  One of my favorite items to use in crafting is vintage prints.  I’m an old soul and feel such a connection to all things from days gone by.  There’s a great short story by Jack Finney called The Third Level.  It’s about this man who finds a mysterious and secret third level in a NYC train station.  He boards a train on that level and it takes him back to about 100 years in the past.  I won’t go into more detail in case you’d like to read it (please do - such a treat!), but I think of that character and how I can understand his nostalgia for a simpler time.  I think that’s one of the reasons why I enjoy vintage prints so much - they’re can escape from all that’s happening today and allow me to think of a story to tell.  I’m lucky enough to be on the design teams for some vintage print designers, and The Gingerbread Prints is one of them.  I saw the image used in today’s share in the Vintage Fashion Journal Printable Kit and was immediately drawn to it.  It’s gorgeous.  The story just started to write itself the more that I stared at the image:

a very fashionable couple of considerable means on their wedding day; the kind of couple who weren’t afraid to break from the rather proper societal norms of the day; no white gown or tuxedo for them, they chose to express their own standard of fashion and beauty; a couple so in love with each other that the groom cannot turn his gaze away from her; a bride so sure of herself and her love that no white gown was needed.

 

I wanted to make something special to showcase them.  An elegant, aged shadowbox to frame their picture came to mind.  Here’s what I used to make it:

• Image from Vintage Fashion Journal Printable Kit from The Gingerbread Prints
• Shadow Frame Creator Die Set by Tonic Studios
  
• Celebration Shadow Die Insert Set by Tonic Studios
  
• Grunge Swirl Bckgeound Stamp by Deep Red Stamps
  
• 2 pieces of 6.25” x 8” Kraft/Tan card stock
• 4 pieces of 6.25” x 8” Cream card stock
• Matte Gold card stock
• Scap piece of black card stock
• Vintage Textiles Paper from Unity Stamps, three pieces
  
• Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Tea Dye, and Old Photo
• Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain: Antique Linen and Lost Shadow
• Prima Marketing Fragrant Roses Silcone Mould
  
• Hot glue gun
• Antique Gold Acryllic Paint

Here’s how I made it:

• Use hot glue gun to fill a rose mould with hot glue and let harden; paint with antique gold acryllic paint and set aside to dry.
• Cut all paper to size and use dies to cut out the frame pieces permdie set instructions.
• Adjust the image of the couple to a smaller size and print it.

• Stamp the front frame piece of the card with the Grunge Swirls stamp and Tea Dye ink.

• Stamp the side of the back frame piece with Grunge Swirl stamp and Tea Dye ink.
• Use Antique Linen, Tea Dye, and Old Photo inks to age and distress image and frame pieces to your liking.

• Assemble frame using craft glue and double sided tape.
• Add gold rose to top of front frame with craft glue.
• Spritz the finished item with Antique Linen and Lost Shadow spray stains to add further distressing.
• The card is finished!

Here are other views of the card and a video:

As you can see, I left blank space on the back of the back of the card where you may write a message to the couple that you give it to. It can be folded down and fit into a 5” x 7” envelope.  I truly love this card and think it’s the best one that I have made to date.

Be inspired by the beautiful digital images, stamps, dies, etc. and don’t be afraid to tell their story!  I hope that you enjoy my story and creation.  Until next time . . . be well!

AECP Level 2 - With a Twist

Welcome back to Paper Play, my crafty friends!

Today’s a bit of an overcast, showery day in the Boston area.  The good thing about it is that it gave me the chance to finish up my cards for my latest AECP Level 2 class, With a Twist.  I really enjoyed this class, which was taught by Therese Calvird.  The course focused on ways to take your favorite card making techniques and use them in a different way to give your cards a little bit of a twist.  Therese gave some really good tips on everything from die cutting, stamping, and inking.  I made two cards, each with a twist, that I’ll walk you through.

Card 1 - My Dear Friend

My first card is a beautiful floral design that has two twists - one is the deckled edge shaped design of the whole card, and the second is the vintage grunge look that I applied to the card.  This card was inspired by my very dear friend, Arleen.  I became friends with Arleen quite a few years ago while sitting at the bar of our favorite local restaurant.  We started to chat and the rest is history.  Arleen is so supportive of the cards and crafts that I make and loves to see pictures of them.  We always enjoy many laughs together, and she is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.  I saw her last week and she was wearing a beautiful purple floral top.  I saw the flowers and inspiration struck.  I even took her picture to share with all of you.  This one is for you, my dear friend!

I used the following products to make this card:

• Altenew Cherry Blossoms Bunch Stamp and Die Set
  
• Altenew Woodless Coloring Pencils: Midnight Violet, Rubellite, Saphire, White, Grassfield, Shadow Creek, Limeade, Lemonade, and Fresh Lemon
  
• Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles Cutting Dies
• Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain
• Sakura Gelly Roll White Gel Pen
• Taylored Expressions Bits & Pieces Clear Drip Drops
• 5” x 7” Wheat card base
• 4.5” x 6.5” Cream card panel

The card was made with the following steps:

• Cut the wheat card stock down to a 5” x 7” card base and run through my die cutting machine using the largest of my deckled edge dies.  I ran it through a few different times to cover the entire size of the card base.  I then applied Vintage Photo Distress Ink around the border of card base with an ink blending tool.  Once that was done, I ran the Walnut Stain Distress Ink pad around the edges of the card base to give that aged paper look to it.
• Cut the cream card stock down to a 4.5” x 6.5” card panel.
• Stamped the panel twice with the Cherry Blossoms Bunch stamp and Walnut Stain Distress ink.  I wanted an uncolored background with a vintage grunge look and thought that a darker brown ink would achieve the best result.  I then blended some Antique Linen Distress Ink over the card panel with a blending brush.  Once that was done, I ran the Vintage Photo Distress Ink pad around the edges of the card panel, and then adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.
• Used a scrap piece of cream card stock and Walnut Stain Distress Ink to stamp another set of cherry blossom flowers and leaves.
• Started to color the stamped image with the woodless coloring pencils.  I started with the leaves, going from lightest green to darkest green.  I then colored the flowers.  I started with the areas where I wanted the darkest color, and then started to blend out from there with the other shades.  I them went over the flower petals with the white coloring pencil to further blend and soften the colors.  I used the two yellows in the flower centers, and then added some white accents with the white gel pen.

• Added the vintage grunge look to the flowers by blending some Antique Linen Distress Ink over them.

• Cut out the flowers using the coordinating die, and ran some Vintage Photo Distress Ink along the edge of the image.  Applied double sided foam tape to the back of the image and adhered it to the card.
• Used a small deckled edge rectangle die to cut a sentiment block from wheat card stock.  Stamped the sentiment onto it with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  Added some grunge to it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, and then ran the ink pad around the edges.  Added some double sided foam tape to the back and adhered it to the card.
• Placed some craft glue onto three spots of the card and adhered three clear drip drops.

Voila, the card is done!  This one means a lot to me since Arleen means a lot to me.  I’m going to print out this Paper Play post, put it inside of the card, and give it to her the next time I see her.  I truly hope that she enjoys it!

Card 2 - With Deepest Sympathy

No one ever enjoys creating a sympathy card.  I always feel the emotion behind it even if I don’t know the person who passed.  That said, it doesn’t mean that you can’t add a little twist to one to make it stand out even more.  That’s just what I did for my second card.  The twist that I used on this one was to use patterned paper for the die cut leaves in the background.

I used the following products in making this card:

• Altenew Calming Reverie Stamp and Die Set
  
• Altenew Inline Leaves Die Set
  
• Altenew Sunrise in the Park Stamp Set (for the sentiment)
  
• Altenew Antique Silver Metallic Ink Spray
  
• Altenew Crisp Dye Inks - Charcoal Suit and Jet Black
• Delicata Silvery Shimmer Pigment Ink
• 5” x 7” black card base
• Scrap piece of black card stock
• 4.5” x 6.5” white card panel
• Recollections Silver Mercury Glass card stock
• Taylored Expressions Bits & Pieces Clear Drip Drops

I did the following to create the card:

• Cut the 5” x 7” black card base.  Then cut the 4.5” x 6.5” white card panel and adhered it to the card base with double sided tape.
• Stamped the sentiment onto a scrap piece of black card stock using the Delicata Silvery Shimmer Pigment ink and set it aside.
• Cut the background leaves from the silver mercury glass paper using the Inline Leaves dies.  Added some craft glue to the back of the leaves and adhered them to the card.
• Cut the flower out of scrap black card stock using the coordinating die from the Calming Reverie set.
• Used a paint brush to apply Altenew Antique Silver Ink to the flower base.  TIP:  I used a paint brush in order to control how much I added to the flower base and where I wanted it more concentrated.  I find it much easier than just spaying it onto the object.
• Dried the flower base with my heat tool.
• Used the detail stamp in the Calming Reverie set and jet black ink to added the detailed shading to the flower.
• Stamped the flower center using each of the center stamps and charcoal suit, silvery shimmer pigment ink, and jet black ink.
• Added double sided foam tape to the back of the flower and adhered it to the card base.

• Added three drops of craft glue to the flower and adhered three drip drops.
• Added double sided foam tape to the back of the sentiment and adhered it to the card.

There you have it - a beautiful sympathy card with just a little bit of extra flair from the silver mercury glass paper.

Two very different cards with very different sentiments - but both made just a little extra special with a twist.  I hope you enjoy them!

Until next time, friends . . . be well!