Burlap Crown in Texas Bluebonnets

I got a text from Bella Jewel Photography last month asking if I could put together a crown with neutrals to coordinate with her daughter's burlap wings. I knew it would need lots of texture since it had to stay neutral so I set off to Michael's and started touching everything and comparing textures.  This is what I came up with -

I sketched the crown onto gold paper and then lined it with thick gold glitter and burlap trim. Then I layered on honey golden flowers and a large creamy layered linen flower, and I added hand-cut butterflies from Graphic 45 paper.

She took her girls out into the bluebonnets to get pictures - one of my favorite Texas traditions and here are a couple pictures of the crown being enjoyed by its tiny owner. :)

Sister kisses. So sweet. I love getting to see where my handmade crafts end up and when they make people smile. :) Enjoy!

DeeDee

Handmade Wedding Veil and Hair Comb

I have a super special and fun project to share with you that I created recently. My friend, Amy, that I have known since I was a teenager got married recently and she asked me to stretch my creative limits and make her a wedding veil. I had thought about making one before. I have a touch of the mad hatter inside of me, but I always dread making something for a wedding because what if something goes wrong? Eek! But she was super sweet and chill and such a dear friend. Her brother was the best man in my wedding, and her mom took some of the only pictures I have from my wedding reception. I also have some of the sweetest memories of spending summer nights hanging out at their house reading a book listening while their family chatter swelled around me. Anyway, when she asked I couldn't say no! So I started digging through my supplies looking for something to match her stark white dress. I found some white tulle that I loved, a white velvet Maya Road flower, and some stamens left over from some long forgotten project, but that was about the extent of it. So that meant shopping! ;) I suffered through it. Haha.

This is what I came up with based off her initial description of what she was looking for - a layered silk flower with a beaded pearl center, vintage lace trim that I oh so carefully shaped with my fabric scissors, iridescent leaves, handmade tulle flowers, beaded stems. I then stitched Russian Tulle to the piece. Big and beautiful to go in her perfectly big and beautiful show stopping red hair. 

 I used my daughter's tiny head with the big curls quite a bit to try to get the sizing. There were a lot of threats "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!" ;)

And here it is on the bride. These pics are shared by a mutual friend and photographer Stephanie Wilson Photography.

Don't you love the look in her eyes?

 

The next thing I found were these vintage velvet millinery flowers. They were pricey, but so beautiful, and I knew right away they'd make a beautiful hair piece. I combined the larger flowers onto a comb with a few of the smaller flowers peeking out like a spray. Here's the piece on the bride. :) 

Anyway, I totally cried at the wedding. I always do, but this time I also grabbed the surprised stranger next to me and squealed "OOOOOOOOh my goodness she's wearing the veil I made!"  I mean, talk about bad timing.. My bad! ;) It was so fun to be part of such a romantic experience. Thanks for taking a peek.

Baby Shower Gifts Paper Bag Albums

I've been spending some recent late nights getting my hands inky and sifting through my ever abounding paper (ribbon, sticker, flower) stash. To that end, I've been enjoying putting together some paper bag albums. :)

 Here's a sweet baby boy album. Navy blues and reds,

 chevron and polka dots, 

 puppies and footprints. 

I also created this matching Welcome Baby Girl album alive with vibrant pinks and greens

 and subtle cream and dusty rose pink

with envelopes and tags for saving those little pictures, mementos and thoughts to journal.

Both are listed in my Etsy shop if you're interested. Thanks for stopping by. :)

DeeDee

Altered Rolodex Cards

It's late March, and the leaves on the tree outside my craft room window have finally begun to sprout. We had a wet stormy weekend, and then today it is a chilly 32 degrees. Oh how I long for Spring! For long walks in warm temperate weather enjoying the singing birds and everything come to life around me.

 

The Paper Cowgirls are doing an Altered Rolodex Swap, and I've decided to dive right in. It feels good to be creating again even in tiny budding amounts. The swap has a nice far away due date so there's little pressure and few restrictions. I'm creating things I like without worrying about whether other people will like them, without wondering if I am displaying enough technique and skill.

 

This is so my life right now - controlled chaos. *sigh* I suppose I must admit I'm not the one in control when it comes right down to it. So many things haven't been going according to my plans and desires, but I'm hanging in there and finding my joy in the Lord.

 It's been lonely, but I've been making better decisions about who to spend time with, and what things I allow in my heart and head. I just don't have energy for negativity and drama.

 I want to get there - that point where I'm not weighed down by the past and present troubles. Changing myself is a slow process. Perhaps like the start of Spring.

Thanks for stopping by, DeeDee

Sugar and Spice ATC Swap

I hosted an ATC swap for February for FB art group I belong to. Actually, I try to host one every Valentine's Day. More specifically I try to host a chance to make anti-Valentine's day art or cards. Even as much as I love romance and PINK they're always more popular, more fitting, somehow more soothing than just plain old love.. This year I had the idea to host a sugar and spice swap so people could make three sweet and three not so sweet cards. Here's what I came up with.



"Don't Kiss and Tell" This is so needed for the social network age. It gets a little messy seeing everyone's business on FB, Twitter, and even blogs. :P

These were painted, stamped, inked, doodled, sanded, and colored with my Gelatos. Then I added a few stickers to tell the story.

"One Delightful Goodbye" A break-up card. Why don't they ever have these in the pack?

 My favorite - "I don't like you." I never really get to say it, but come on. You know there are those people out there. The ones you never really click with. Those people who never click with anyone. This is for them. I'm not mean enough to actually give this to anyone, but it is sitting in the front of my ATC display case right now reminding me to pray for those rotten people in my life that I just don't like and probably never will. *sigh*

And to redeem myself here's something softer and sweeter.

 I used sticky backed canvas and then painted over a stencil with light pink paint, then I stamped over that with the brick stamp using Distress Ink, then I painted over that with a rose stencil and paint, then I stenciled over a plastic doily from Yapping Cat Studio with bronze paint and then inked all the edges until it finally felt done.

  I added some Maya Road trim, Prima Flowers, and stickers and patterned papers to finish the story.

I've traded all, but one of these away and I am enjoying the other artists interpretation of the theme. :) Tiny pieces of art to express myself and then their art in return that stirs me. It's a good trade.

Vintage Birthday Banner

I made this sweet vintage birthday banner for a friend. She's younger than me, but she has a fun vintage vibe. I'll resist feeling old..

She's from Waxahachie. She appreciates antiques. Her daughter is turning one. She had the sweetest photo session of her daughter in a secret garden wearing creamy lace, layered ruffles, and garden roses. The banner is meant to express all that.

Super simple. Let the colors and, patterns, and ribbon tell the story. 

 

Inky ribbons and dyed seam-binding.
Paisley papers.
Garden roses.
Twine cording.

I used my silhouette to knock out the letters. Easy peasy.

Happy Birthday little M. I pray this is a year is just your secret garden - full of untamed beauty, healthy growth, and secret merriment.

 I hope this banner can be used for many people in her family too.

DeeDee

Baby Boy Shower Gift

A sweet little paper bag album I made for a baby shower gift recently. :)

I love custom orders. Makes me happy to think of a new mom being surprised with something I made just for her. :)

Handmade Bookmarks

My daughter celebrated turning seven this January. We had no less than five birthday celebrations - eep!

 Between school and church we went out to dinner. :)

 She was particularly excited about her turn to participate in the class tradition of getting a bracelet and a bookmark from her teacher. Her teacher's birthday was exactly one month later, and my daughter had the idea to hand-make her bookmarks. I set out to teach her the very basic mechanics of using my sewing machine, gave her access to the paper stash, and she was off! ;)

The pictures are a bit awful because I didn't remember until I was walking into the school to drop her off to take a pic..

Her teacher likes charlie brown so she made a little layer of his shirt, and then later added some stickers. Mostly this was fun because she was tickled pink about using the sewing machine. I let her practice straight lines on notebook paper first.

 We made this second one together. We cut the layers from cream and brown wool felt, and took the spine from an old book we bought together at a garage sale.

 Then we stitched the layers together, sewed some ribbons to the top, and I stitched on the button. :)

We tucked the bookmarks into a journal that we inked up a bit. Happiness- making pretty things and spending time with my sweet girl. :)

Valentine's Day Crafts and Pancakes

The last twinkling lights and dark shadows of winter have finally been swept from my craftroom. The ribbons and trims have bloomed pink. New flowers have budded.

I also went through my stash and got out everything pink and frilly. Out came the Prima Flowers, Canvas Corp Canvas (trimmed into a heart shape), vintage pink buttons, a small mountain of pink and cream trims, and little romantic trinkets. *happy sigh*

Here's the first sweet nothing from my desk - made just to set my hands and heart to making something pretty, to finding my inner artist who has been feeling a little beaten up lately.

Turns out she's tiny and sweet.

 "my valentine"

layered patterned papers

tattered edges

crackle paint

distress ink

tulle roses

Here's my other valentine.
He's 3.

It won't be long before he starts school.

It's hard for me to think about.
I adore him,

and while I wouldn't call him spoiled..

 He's the only one I've ever cooked pancakes for,

(chocolate chip-walnut pancakes)

after digging in the dirt
because that's how he wanted to spend the morning.

 He isn't a fan of having his picture taken,
but I'd like a record of our days together for
when he is a teenager and nothing I do is cool
or interesting.

I will remind him of pancakes and playing in the dirt, 

and all the sweet nothings we did to pass the time.

Maya Road Linen Valentine

It's a chilly Friday night *brr*, and my kids and I are still trying to get over varying degrees of the flu. I'm hoping February will bring much sweeter things to my life than this last bitter month. I'm embracing the softness of February.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share a sweet little Valentine I made recently. I love how completely feminine it turned out. My seven-year-old daughter made the perfect "oooh and ahh" noises when I showed her. :)

 I started with a Maya Road canvas heart, and I pulled out the stitching from about half of the heart to make a pocket.

 To the front I added some Maya Road sweet rosette trim that I inked up a bit, and a rosette flower I stitched together with a rusty chipboard lock in the center.

Here you can see what the linen heart looks like with the key and tag pulled out of the heart. To the back of the linen heart I added some crocheted trim, but I wish I'd added it between the pieces. I was originally going somewhere else with this, but you know how it is - sometimes the design leads itself.

 I used VerDay paints to add patina to the lock, and hand cut a little circle from inky old book paper to make the rosette center.

  The inside is stuffed with a Maya Road canvas heart tin which is covered in book paper, and lined with glitter. I stitched this jewel over the front of the heart. It keeps the tin in place, and I figured I could tuck something under it.

Here's a little close-up of the kraft tag and chipboard key tied up with dusty pink seam-binding and embellished with a little pink rhinestone.

If you're like me and you love Maya Road, and have lots of their supplies in your stash - here's a quick and easy valentine idea. 

Thanks for stopping by. :)