Monday, February 17, 2014

Place in Time Easel Calendar - January Page

Place in Time Easel Calendar

Hi Friends,

Today I'm happy to bring you the first page of a beautiful  vintage calendar project that I'll be working on over the next few months.   I love this Graphic 45 paper collection and picked it up last year but haven't had a chance to start on it until recently.   The calendar is 12" x 12" and is attached to a 6 page chipboard easel.   Once all the pages are added (back to back) and put into the easel it really needs to be placed into a large display rack to keep the it secure and upright.  There is a lot of dimension to this page but I still tried to keep things relatively flat so I could get in eleven more pages.
I started this page by cutting out a blue swirly background and added a few silver foil doilies to use as a foundation for this page.  Then I fussy cut the January tags, boarders and post cards and arranged them to my liking.  I added a few sticker boarders across the top, a ornate brass key hole and some swirl bling.  I put a large red rhinestone in the center of the background for a little extra pop!   Then I bow tied the ornate brass key to a matted tag and simply tucked it behind the calender card.   Lastly,  I highlighted the snow in the 'J' with diamond stickles for a little extra dimension and sparkle.   
January Font Detail
This page has been finished for a while but I've been stuck trying to work up the courage to color in the January font gap with a nice vintage red color.  I really think the page needs a bit more red in the upper left corner to balance out the page.   I'm still trying to master my marker coloring skills so I decided I needed more practice before attempting this addition.  I certainly don't want to goof up the page.  I can always come back and color it in when I feel more confident.
Removable Blank Calendar Cards
Right now this is a perpetual calendar that I plan to display as a home decor item.   I may want to change my mind at some point, so I made the months removable by just pinning the undated calendar cards using these cute little 7 Gypsy's hanger clips.  I did scan the blank calender pages so I can date them and print up new ones year over year.

McCall's Magazine Close Up
I love the vintage images in this collection and the magazine cover is a favorite. I really wanted it to stand out on the page so framed it in a beautiful die cut and raised and matted it in vintage red.  I used some Glossy Accents on the 'January' magazine heading and the postal stamp and popped them up as well.  I 'frosted' the snowflakes with lace stickles and popped them up too. 
Memorabilia and Journaling Page Pockets
I put the Place in Time tab along the right side then created a deep pocket and punched it with Martha Stewart's snowflake punch.  I love calendar pages with pockets so I can slip in notes and memorabilia along the way.  I matted several journaling tags, punched holes and secured eyelets for ribbon and slipped them into the main pocket.  I finished off this feature with a boarder of blue snowflakes, a sticker boarder, a Glossy Accents warm wishes tag, a with few pieces of bling, and a scattering of different colored lacy snowflakes with contrasting colored rhinestone centers.
January Little Girl Popup Storage Pocket
This little girl is also a favorite January image so I wanted to do something special with her too.  To achieve this I matted her in red, added the January brass drawer pull, popped her up on three sides so she could be used as a pocket and finished her off with some pretty red rhinestones.  Her pocket holds my two sided January birthday and anniversary list.  Since these dates don't change I thought it would be a nice place to keep this special information and make my decor item more useful.
Well friends I do hope you enjoyed this fun page, that's it from me today.  Thank you for dropping by and if you have any questions or comments, as always I'd love to hear from you.   Have a special day and scrap happy!  Hugs ~ Dawna

Brithday Card Swap - February Collection

Hi Friends,

Here is a collection of birthday cards that I created for my friends in our Birthday Card Swap.   We all had so much fun doing our Christmas Card Swap, we decided we are all "happy mail" addicts and wanted to continue the fun throughout the year.  So here's my collection for February:

First up is my card for Bobbi.  She is such a talented lady and I was in a plaque swap with her last year so I happen to know that she loves fairies and the shabby chic style.  I'm just now learning that style and have only done a few things in it so I haven't quite mastered it yet.

Last month my friend LaRee taught us how to make easel cards with this pretty little fairy card.   It was fun and so easy to make I decided to use it as a base for Bobbi's card. 

LaRee's Fairy Card

I didn't feel like it needed much to gussy it up a bit so I added a few flowers, stickles (glitter glue), some distressing inks, pearls and a pretty stick pin.  Voila!  There you have it: 


Bobbi's Shabby Chic Fairy Card
Close-Up of Sparkly Wings

Inside Sentiment Before Finishing Touches
Bobbi loved her card, so it appears I'm on the right track to learning shabby chic.  Oh happy day!   LaRee thank you for teaching us this great card style.  I'm sure to use it often! 

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Next up is my friend Debbie.  She is the hostess at Brat's Latte Cafe where we hang out between swaps to stay in touch.  Debbie is so sweet and exceptionally talented so I knew I had to dig a bit deeper to make her smile.  She loves pinks and whites and the shabby chic style too. 

Here's the vintage card I created for Debbie:

Shabby Chic Birthday Card for Debbie
 
Stick Pin and Butterfly Close-up
Inside Design and Sentiment
Debbie also loved her card which made me very happy!  :)

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Last but not least is my friend Glenda.  She is a wonderful  artist and I've displayed some of her work on my Art Journal Board on Pinterest.  Glenda also loves pinks, pastels and shabby chic too!  Are you starting to see why I really need to learn this style!  lol 

Here is Glenda's shabby chic card:

Glenda's Shabby Chic Birthday Card
Pearl Stop Under Butterfly Wing Secretly Holds Wings Upright
Victorian Lamp Close Up
Used Silver Foil Paper to Create Mirror Effect
Inside Sentiment
Glenda's loved her card too!  So happy my friends all enjoyed their special gifts this month.  I'm already busy on next months creations. 

Well that's it for me today!  Thank you for stopping by and may I wish you a very special day.  Till next time my friends, scrap happy!  Hugs ~ Dawna