Background Tutorial

Over at Paper Arts Mingles and Challenges I posted a background tutorial tonight. Stop by and check it out.

Hope everyone is having a great night!

Off to watch idol! (GO Adam & Danny!)

Meet Marley

Marley

This is the newest addition to our family :) Marley is one of Honey's puppies. She is 5 weeks old now. She is too adorable. Marley has 3 brothers and 1 sister all of which are the cutest little babies. I love them all but we just decided we wanted to keep Marley. I have gotten too attached to her lol. We are trying very hard to find the other puppies good loving homes and have decided that the last puppy left will be the one we keep along with Marley unless we find them all homes. I just wanted to introduce this precious little girl. She's such a sweetheart :)

Paper Plate Wreaths

Today I decided to try making a few wreaths for our front & back doors. I used paper plates with the centers cut out, rafia and hot glue. I glued the rafia and wrapped it around the paper plate.

Next I cut circles from black cardstock, flowers w/ a flower punch on red cardstock, and hearts from white cardstock and glued them together. I then hot glued those to the wreath. I randomly attached red fabric flowers I had with hot glue. And finally I added the huge red bow, and the adorable wooden lady bug I found from Michaels. It was a fun project to try.

Once I finished the first wreath and sort of knew the process I was going with. I thought I would try an easter wreath :) I created the wreath with a paper plate and rafia like the first time. Next I cut egg shapes from different colored cardstock. Then I used my punches and decorative scissors to decorate each egg. I took crystal glitter glue and decorated the eggs in certain areas as well. After I attached the eggs with hot glue. I took a very old tie dyed shirt that I have had for almost 9 years and finally decided that it was time to retire it. So I tore the shirt into stripes so that I can use it in different projects. Who know's how handy it will be later on. It was handy with this project :) I cut smaller stripes and just tied them on the wreath in different spots. Then I cut 2 longer strips and tied 2 bows layered ontop of one another. The next step was simple. I took a scrap piece of wood that I had in my studio and I wrote out Happy Easter w/ a Sharpee. Then I took different colored paints and outlined the letters, and after the paint was dry I hot glued the sign to the back of the wreath :) It was really fun to make and actually really simple. It only took me about an hour with each wreath. I loved that shirt and Im so glad that I could recycle it into something else. :) I bet my hubby's happy to see it go haha ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Newspaper Flowers @ PAMC

Over at PAMC, its my turn to host the week's challenge. Jeanette a fellow Design Team member at PAMC posted an awesome paper flower tutorial. So I thought we could all incorporate the tutorial in our challenge creations this week. :) I love Gothic arches and so I created a couple of them for the challenge.

The first thing I decided to do after I chose my main images was use another technique (the bandana technique) to create background papers. These are the background papers I created for each arch.

Then for the first arch. I cut out the typical arch shape from my background and added my main image. Then I layered some pretty ribbons and attached them on the left of the arch. I Stamped the cute saying on white paper with black ink (the stamp is from Studio G) and I edged the square with green colored pencil. The next step was to make the newspaper flower from Jeanette's tutorial. I decided to make a large flower. I followed the steps that Jeanette gave us but I also outlined each of the 6 circles with a different colored marker and then assembled the flower and attached to the arch with a gold brad. I just assembled it all together and wha-lah! This is the finished product:

I loved the outcome of this one so much that I decided to make my blog banner with the different embels I used for the arch :)

The second arch was a little different. I used a different arch template, a more decorative one for this arch. Its one of my favorite of the arch templates :) I attached my main image first. Then I decided to try and make a sort of ley (spelling) you know the hawaiian flower necklaces lol. out of the newspaper flowers. so I made 4 different flowers and edged each with a different color. Under the flowers I glued a piece of pink thread, and then attached each flower w/ a bronze brad. I thought the happiness definition would be a fun addition. It came from my ephemera book that I found at Michaels. I cut the words apart and glued them to black cardstock as a sort of border, then just attached to the arch. The final step was cutting a larger arch in black and attaching my finished arch to it to give it a border and make the colors really pop. It was a fun one. It put me in a great summery mood :)

Check out PAMC's Blog or the Group to participate, and to see the other creations from our Design Team Members & all the other participants. I promise you wont be sorry! The Inspiration is unbelievable!

Wishing everyone a great weekend!

"Go Green" from PAMC

Sara, one of the DT members over at PAMC hosted this week's challenge "Go Green".... you can use anything green or recycle items to make new creations. -> I LOVED THIS CHALLENGE! <- To participate you can visit PAMC's Group & Join or Visit PAMC's Blog and link your creations in the comments section like most challenge blogs.

Does anyone remember Bill Nye the Science Guy? I used to looove watching his show and was just amazed at the things I learned. It was so entertaining but so educational! Well the other day while wandering through good ol' Walmart with my hubby by my side. I spotted Bill Nye on a bright blue and orange box. I stopped to look at it... it was an education craft kit on how to make you own paper from recycling paper scraps! AWESOME! So of course I couldn't help myself and decided to purchase the kit. It was only $15. Tim of course thought I was insane and chuckled at me, but I just ignore that .lol. eh, what can you say. lol.

This is the kit that I purchased just incase anyone is interested.

I thought this challenge was the perfect chance for me to use my kit! So I got it out and used some old scrap pieces of paper in green that I had and started the process. I made 3 sheets of green recycled paper with the kit. This is how they looked when I was finished.

They were really wet at this stage... and you are supposed to wait 24 hours before you use the paper so that it can dry.. but i'm impatient lol. So I got out my dryer and went to work drying the paper. .chuckles.

This is how the paper looked when it was dry....

It was really fun to use this kit and it actually did work! Once I had my recycled paper made. I went to work on my ATC for the project. I always try to recycle boxes, like cereal boxes, and other kinds of boxes that food may come in and etc. I cut the boxes up for sturdy backings for my atc's, arches, and other creations. It gives you a sturdy backing, and helps the environment!

Today I used one cut from a popcorn box.

After getting together my vintage image, stamps, needle,thread, button, word stickers, colord pencils,markers, and my homemade background paper I started essembling my ATC..... and... whalah!

There's alot going on with this ATC. I used my colored pencils to color the vintage image I used. She was a boring black and white, so I had to spruce it up a little & attached it to my background. Next I edged the word stickers I chose w/ my green marker & attached them. Next I stamped a heart image with Hunter Green ink & a heart stamp from Studio G onto cardstock. I cut it out and attached it. The next step was really time consuming! On the right hand side of the ATC I took Green floss and stitched down the side. I sewed on my green button with white thread and then sewed french knots into the spots of the heart. I wish you could see the 3d effect it all made a little better w/ the picture. sighs. The final step was edging the entire card w/ green marker.

[Note of advice: if you make homemade paper like I created... ink & markers run through the paper if you do not use plain gelatin in your mix. Not sure why but its a pain to discover @ the end of a project .lol]

Again it was lots of fun to participate. I loved seeing all the other creations from the DT members! Check them out at the group or the blog! They are fantastic! We are really hoping that the group & blog will flourish. We are all having tons of fun!

On another note, I found out this morning that I got the job I interviewed for a few weeks back! Yay! Im super excited and start tomorrow at 10 am! Wish me luck guys! Hoping everyone had a blast on St. Patty's Day!

With love,
Andrea

::sigh:: a bit of annoyance

I discovered this week that I can not use 'Almost Heaven Studios' as my shop name because West Virginia's slogan is 'Almost Heaven West Virginia'... who knew that it would be an issue! ::SIGH:: I'm actually super annoyed with this because I really liked the name and my logo's and everything. So I decided to change the name to Hillside Studios. I think this fits perfectly because my studio and home are on a hillside and its my favorite place to be. With that said...
Yesterday I sat down and created my new logo/sign. I used sharpee's and watercolor paints. :) I actually really enjoy the way it turned out. After alot of research and things I have discovered that this name is available .lol. so it wont be changing .lol *crosses fingers*. Its just such a headache and alot of paperwork and things to go through. BLEH!

Andrea~

Commission: Toddler's Haven Day Care

My little sissy has decided to open her own day care! I'm so excited for her! She is great with kids so I know this is the perfect thing for her! If anyone is living in the Lemoore, CA area and are in need of a daycare... let me know and I'll give you her contact information. She is hoping it will be open by the end of April :) She asked me to create her logo, sign, and exit signs! I am very honored!!!! So I created the sign above and the exit sign below for her. She says she loves it so I am really thrilled about it! This is the exit sign....

Pretty cool, huh? Congrats sissy! I wish you the best of luck!!!! Thanks for including me in your new venture!

~Andrea

B is for Baby painted frame

It seems like a long while since I updated with my creations. I have had so much going on and havent been feeling well either. I hand painted this wooden picture frame last week. The white sparkles. I enjoyed putting this together. I have added it to my shop as well. It was fun to create. I love the fact that it can be used for a girl or a boy.

~andrea

Spring & Summer

Today I finished the spring and summer sides to the Season's wooden tissue box I have been working on. I think they turned out nicely. I still think that fall is my favorite of the 4 but I like the summer one also. :) Now I just need to finish the top and bottom of the box... Get some good shots of it for my shop.. and it'll be up and ready for sell. Fun Fun. Im so tired right now. I think I am going to head to bed early tonight. Good night all!

Painting a tissue box...

Today I began painting a Wooden Tissue box that I found at Michaels. I've decided to paint each side for a season of the year. Then it can be turned to display the proper season as the year goes on. Today I completed Winter and Autumn, so I thought I would share. I hope that tomorrow I can work on Spring and Summer. If the other seasons turn out well then I plan on adding it to my shop. So far Autumn is my favorite of the two, but Im enjoying the bright bold colors and using the cute little girl in each scene :)

I'm exhausted to be honest. My husband has something called Diverticulitis that has been causing him to be very ill for the last week and I have been helping him to get better as best I can. Then at 11 pm on Feb. 28th our dog Honey went into labor. :) She had her first puppy at 12:04 am on March 1st. She had a total of 5 puppies. 3 males and 2 females. They are gorgeous and all healthy :) Honey is a great mom as well! I'm so in love with them already. I suppose being there the entire time she was having them and helping her along the way. Then welcoming the little babies into the world would do that to anyone. :) On top of all of that I have been really busy with Church and our revival starts next week. We also begin our spring fundraiser which includes a spaghetti dinner and easter candy sell. We make Spaghetti Dinners for the Coal miners, and we make homemade easter suckers and chocolate easter eggs every year to help raise money for our church. I think it will be lots of fun, but lots of work .lol.

Thats all for now. I am so sleepy at the moment. night night :)