12x12 Purse

12x12 Purse, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here's another....um....consequence of my expensive trip to Michael's. ;-)

When the store redesigned the scrapbook section, they included new specialty "papers" in the traditional 12x12 size. Several designs of printed canvas caught my eye. I totally should have bought them ALL when I saw them months ago, but, you know, you have to draw the line somewhere! ;-)

But this past trip I saw the butterfly canvas sheet and loved it. And I made a super simple purse out of it!

I cut one 2-inch strip for the handle and then made the bag part out of the remainder. I chose to make only one handle that stretches from one side to the opposite side because the remaining canvas would have been really too small to hold anything.

This is guerrilla sewing at its best! No lining, no pockets, no zippers. Flipping the handle inside out was the most time consuming part of it.

I love the fabric and the tinted butterflies. I could totally see this tea-dyed too!



Thanks for looking!!

~Cynthia

More Necklaces

More Necklaces, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Here's Round Two of the necklaces I made from the Dollar Bin finds I bought at Michael's. (See this post for the lowdown on how I made them.)

I used a square from one of Reminisce's road construction papers for the necklace on the left. The whole page is filled with yellow signs--I had a hard time choosing just one! ;-)

The middle necklace with the monogrammed N is how they appeared originally.

The super awesome face on the right is from a piece of Graphic 45 paper. I showed that one to my mom and she thought it was weird. I think he's quite hilarious and that's the one I'm rockin' today!! ;-)


Thanks for dropping by!


~Cynthia

OLW--Kind of

OLW--Kind of, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

The challenge for this week's One Layer Wednesday card is to keep your stamped area no larger than 2x2. I'm hoping that does not include the sentiment! ;-)

Soooooo, I decided to punch out a two-inch square shape from a scrap piece of cardstock. Then I brushed in Wild Honey Distress Ink and stamped the crackle background with Tea Stain Distress Ink, using the negative shape as a mask.

Totally shoulda stopped there.

I stamped the tiny flower and the sentiment with Black Soot Distress Ink.

So now it kinda sorta looks like a dead flower in the middle of a dry, sun-baked lake bed in the midst of a killer drought.

*sigh*

Totally not uploading this to the OLW challenge blog. :-/



It's Monday. It's GOTTA get better, right??? ;-)


~Cynthia

What I've Been Up To

What I've Been Up To, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

I hadn't been to Michael's in a while and that meant trouble. Expensive kind of trouble. ;-)

I love perusing the Dollar Bin. LOVE.

I found these cute monogram necklaces for...you know...ONE DOLLAR. All that remained were the letters A, E, O and one N. Odd combo. But as I looked closely, I thought...I can totally do something with those.

So I bought five.

And this is what I did with them.

The top one (the letter O) is the necklace in its original condition.

The silver, blank one on the left is what happens when you use Tim Holtz's pokey tool to pop out the little letter sticker thing from the metal square. And the green inside is what happens when you take the photo outside--nice trees, eh?

Keep the letter sticker to use as a template. The size is roughly 1.5 inches square.

I traced the letter sticker, then roughly cut out the shape from a piece of left over paper. Lay that (the negative shape) over cardstock/designed paper to see if your chosen image will fit in the metal square.

Trace around the letter sticker and cut out the image. I distressed the edges of both my images--Walnut Stain for the Flying Crow and Black Soot on the Skull. This covers up the cut (white) edges. Using the Black Soot gives the image a burnt look.

Next add a smidgen of Glossy Accents to the metal square, spread that around then press the image down.

Then really glop the Glossy Accents on top of the image. Use an old paintbrush or your finger to move the Glossy Accents into the corners. Use enough to seal your image into the metal square.

Let dry overnight and you have an amazing piece of jewelry!

The necklace on the right is from a Memory Box 6x6 packet and the awesome skull is from Tim Holtz's Paper Stash--Lost and Found.

And just for the record, I'm totally rockin that Skull right now!! ;-)



Happy Friday!!! And thanks for stopping by today!


~Cynthia

Bird in the Branches

Bird in the Branches, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Happy Tuesday!! Before I start with today's card, I gotta take a sec and thank everyone for their super awesome comments on my take on Tim's May Tag!!!

WOW.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I appreciate you taking the time to click over here from Tim's blog. Or, if you're a regular visitor, thank you for taking the time to visit me regularly!!!! ;-) I loved all your comments and enjoyed reading each one! Thank you very very much!!! =D

And now...on to today's card.

I made this one for my aunt. I wasn't sure what kind of card to make for her--she is in her 80s and her memory isn't what it used to be....if you know what I mean. :-/

So I just went with a simple, springy, happy, serene card.

I stamped the branches, using a Post-It to mask off the bottom of the panel. Then I stamped the birds. I used the textured side of the cardstock on purpose--that's why there are lines in the birds and the branches aren't crisp. It really does look a lot better in real life. More like linen.

I dotted the birds' eyes with a black pen, then tapped a glitter pen on the eyes to make them sparkle.

I added a strip across the panel that matches the blue cardstock beneath the top ivory panel.

Then I stamped the sentiment on the bottom using the same ink as the birds.

Also--in real life--the blue ink matches the blue cardstock a whole lot better. ;-)

I got the idea from this card by Lisa on her I'm in Haven blog.


Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill (ivory and blue cardstock); Recollections (ivory card blank)
Stamps: Inkadinkado (Delicate Branches set); Endless Creations (birthday sentiment)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Gathered Twigs, Faded Jeans)
ETC: Sakura (glitter pen); American Crafts (Pigment Pro pen)


That's it for me today. I hope you find time to craft happy!!

And...as ALWAYS...thank you SO MUCH for stopping by today!!

~Cynthia

Tim's May Tag

Tim's May Tag, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

No, not Tim's Maytag washing machine! Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2012 for May! ;-)

When I saw Tim's tag this morning, I was initially at a loss. I didn't have any of those stamps or the Melting Pot for the UTEE or those flowers or that tiny wooden spool.

Hmmmm. What to do?

Well, when in doubt, try Step 1.

I found some dress pattern paper and glued that on the tag. I distressed the covered tag with Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap. Then I looked at the tall, length-wise stamps I had.

Ah! The sailboat!! (I love that stamp!!!)

Seriously, after that it just all came together quickly! YAY!

I stamped the seagulls from the same set that includes the sailboat and used Coffee Archival Ink for both. Then I stamped the compass in Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.

I distressed the edges with more Frayed Burlap and with a paper distresser. I grabbed a piece of seam binding and distressed that too--with Antique Linen.

I looked through Tim's paper pads and found a nautical page. I cut an appropriate piece and used that in place of Tim's tape measure.

I made that Sarsaparilla charm with Tim's acrylic charm Fragments, another piece of his paper, a jump ring, some Glossy Accents and a heart paper clip. Then I attached it to the tag. (I did end up moving the charm down the side of the tag a bit.)

Instead of the flowers Tim used, I braided some twine, distressed it, tied a knot and attached that with a glue dot.

I *really* like this tag. I think it's less a copy of what Tim did and more of a creation in the *spirit* of what he did. =D


Supplies:
Paper: Tim Holtz (Lost and Found Paper Stash); tag from scrapbook store
Stamps: Stacy Stamps (sailboat set); Stampabilities (compass)
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap; Aged Mahogany); Ranger Archival Ink (Coffee)
ETC: Tim Holtz Idea-ology (Fragments); The Sewing Place (seam binding); Fiskars (Pop Up Glue Dots); Ranger (Glossy Accents); Making Memories (paper distresser); TomBow (Glue Stick); findings and twine--stash



Are you playing along with Tim?? It's a whole lotta fun!!

Thanks for checking my tag out today! =D


~Cynthia

Amana Birthday

Amana Birthday, a photo by HikerCynthia on Flickr.

Well, I'm at a loss on this one. I've tried 3 times to edit today's photo, using 2 different editing programs, and each time I add it to the new post, the photo changes. Usually the head is cut off. ;-)

Once again, accept my apologies for a crappy photo. :-(

But anyway.

I used the same Amana die cut as the first Mother's Day card--and I used the same method. I die cut the flower from patterned paper, then used the negative of it as a stencil to shade the area under which I adhered the flower.

I layered that on black cardstock, then adhered everything on an ivory card blank. Then I stamped the sentiment off to the side.

In retrospect, I probably should have used a larger sentiment stamp.

Darn good thing I just bought one at my lovely local scrapbook store. ;-)



Supplies:
Paper: Recollections (ivory card blank); Bazzill (black and ivory cardstock); Unknown patterned paper from stash
Stamps: Endless Creations (birthday stamp_
Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Shabby Shutters, Black Soot)
ETC: Memory Box (Amana Circle die cut); Glue Glider Pro; Fiskars (Glue Dots)


Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! And thanks so much for your kind words on my Mother's Day card dilemma!! =D


~Cynthia