Mini domino books and 1x3 trade cards

Hi all, well I have done a little tidying up from things piling up on my table. I was involved in a private trade and finally got everything done and sent off today. I joined a new swap blog and I will give you links to all the blogs involved in my post as I go along.

This is a little long winded so be warned.

♥

First up I wanted to share this darn cute birdie mini domino book I made. My friend Becky had sent me some mini dominoes late last year and I made some necklaces with them but after doing a few large domino books and I really enjoyed them, I thought, why not do a few minis and then I can send them to swap partners now and again with my trades.

Since signs of spring have been on and off the last week or so with some warmer temps, birds starting to return and the days are lasting a little longer I was inspired to make this mini bird book.

So here is what it looks like, click on the pics for a larger view if you have trouble seeing some of my details. These were fun and so very addicting.

 Below is a regular size domino and the little one is the size I just finished making, cute huh? I alcohol inked them in my fav colour and it reminds me of spring and all it's new growth.

I used scraps of paper, I found a bird charm, how lucky was I, thanks to a past swap partner I think was Smifferoo aka Jan.

I punched out some black paper for the holes and then put a white gel pen to make it a shadow and then used pencil crayon on the outside around the one side to make them pop so the birdies can see their way in.

 A bird eco shape and egg print from Artchix Studio with some burlap

 A sticker word, music paper from a hymnal, a tissue paper bird fussy cut and a chickadee stamp

 Rub ons, Artchix German scrap, love that stuff

 another rub on, an inchie bird stamp cut out and a definition of bird from a dictionary used just for art.

And tied together with some nice gold cord

Next up is another domino book that I made for St. Patrick's day using some free images from Leanne Seeds blog, Fripperies and Butterflies, and as I told you in a previous post, I will be a guest artist come this August for her Gecko Galz digital scrapbooking store.

If you go to the Fripperies and Butterflies blog you can snag up Leanne's free images.

When I saw these I knew immediately I wanted to make a cute mini domino book.

I didn't have any shamrock paper so I made myself a shamrock stamp out of fun foam and stamped my scrap paper with Peeled paint and stamped shamrocks on it. I made shamrock shrinky dinks. I messed them up a bit with my gold paint pen but hey, being that small it's hard to get precise.

I used some known sayings for St. Patrick's day, nothing to long so they would fit on the tiny pages.

This is the front. I had to crop and fussy cut the images so they may look a little different than Leanne's original images on Fripperies and Butterflies.

 And this is the accordion fold out. I even put a little Stickles on the brim of the hats, you can't see it but I just had to make it sparkle. I also added a nice gold sticker border around the outside, it almost looks like it was soldered. I think green and gold just naturally go together. 

Thanks Leanne for making this such a fun project for me. Can't wait to do more.

And last but not least, I found a new swap blog called Tabby"sSwaps, hosted by lovely Kim.

This month they are doing 1x3 cards in the theme of Vintage Children.

These were fun, and quite quick. There isn't a lot of room to play with.

I did do one digital image with Gimp brushes and a cute girl from FlickR.

I added a neat puzzle sticker over one of my cards, you may have to click to see it up close but it is very interesting. Might have to use them a bit more often.

Well thanks for sticking it out and I hope you have a lovely weekend. It snowed today but it won't last long now. We can only hope for warmer days ahead.

TTFN ♥

A new twist to birdcage dies

I am just busting to show you how these turned out. I have had this in my brain for months. While taking a computer break for a couple days and hubs has been getting work I thought I would tinker with these and they came out sooooo cute. I used 2 birdcage dies and cut these out of chipboard (cereal and cracker boxes) in the Cuttlebug. I cut 2 for each and then glued them together to make them stable. I did painting, heat embossing, more paint and sanding and really distressed them. Added the birds and some stamped words, ribbons, bells, I love those bells and all kinds of glitz. I really love the blue one and also the purple one. I couldn't stop at one, I must have 10 or more of these babies. I am going to take them to the Sweet Sentiments sale in a couple weekends and try to sell them and if any left over to the Christian High School sale. I think they are so darn cute.

                                                      

   

                                                                             And here are more mini dominoes and I wasn't sure they would take any drilling but I drilled a small hole in the bottom used a jump ring and added a little jingle bell. Now that turned out cute didn't it? These would also be cute on winter coats for zipper pulls, key chains for the season, necklaces or an altered project or swap.

My painting is dwindling down now and next inchie houses and more goodies.

Thanks for dropping by.

Oh and my car is finally fixed. Who would have thought that your door locks would cause a dead short and drain your battery? Well after all the wiring was checked and 2 weeks later, they found the problem. Now the bill, YIKES. I better sell lots in the next couple weeks or Christmas may be a little lean this year.

Take care all.

Lesley

mini dominoes and a painted canvas

I am winding the painting down and trying to get a few other things added to my stock for the shows.

Here is a hinged canvas from my friend Marie's website where I purchased the pattern. I couldn't find small black hinges so I just used a permanent black marker and covered the gold and made it black, works for me. I even added the hinges, no help from hubs on this one. I can cut wood, drill holes and do a bit of sanding, although I have soft tissue injuries, so, sanding using anything motorized really gets my extremities buzzing, so I do a bit by hand.

I used 2 5x7 canvases. I think it turned out rather cute if I may say so.

And for my birthday my friend Becky sent me 2 packages of these mini dominoes. So.....I added some alcohol inks, the birds are cut from tissue paper and glued on, the insects are rub ons I got a long time ago from Michaels,some of them have glitter on them, they add a nice bling, and the Santa's were resized images I got from the Internet and cut out and glued on. I added a few gems and after I took this picture I put Glossy Accents on the surface so they would have a nice finish to them. They are drying as I type. I found these inexpensive necklaces at the dollar store and will see if I can sell them, or you could easily add them to your key chain. Either way I am quite pleased with how they turned out. I love using the rub ons, they are so quick and easy to do and looks like you may have paid a fortune for them.....NOT.

Click on the picture to get more detail and see them sparkle. I think a couple of these will be nice gifts and maybe include in a couple trades before the holidays.

And thanks to Becky for sending these to me. I wonder if I smile real nice if she could snag me some more.

Thanks for dropping by. Just a few more ornaments and gourds to paint then back into paper, a few ATC's a couple matchboxes for a trade and then before you know it...show time.

Stay creative and be happy.

♥

I am addicted to domino books

Like I really need an addiction right now with painting, and getting ready for the shows, bu,t I stopped over the weekend to take a break and make these 2 domino books. I found this very relaxing and fun.

Laura Carson of Artfully Musings has a great tutorial on accordion domino books and it is much easier than you think.

I made a template for the inside images so I could just print them out then take a small piece of card stock, place it over the image and then cut it so I would have even and exact measured images for the inside pages.

These 2 books are for a trade I am in to come and thought it would be a nice little added feature. I used alcohol inks, 2 sided card stock, images from the internet resized and some gold ric rac I had laying around waiting to be used. I probably will cut my ribbon down a bit since it is way too long now but I always like to have extra so you can make a nice bow on either side.

Well that is it. Today was a busy day and I accomplished a lot. Still no car but it must be ready soon, I can only hope.

Thanks for dropping by.

PS if the link for the tutorial doesn't work just take a peek down the RHS of Laura's blog and you will find the link there.

Lots of scrumptous mail

Yesterdays post I was grumbling but today I am so happy. I love getting nice mail. I love sending mail.
You know when you enter blog land and meet so many like minded peeps, when you receive something from them it is very special.
Well my birthday was back in May but I received 2 birthday pkgs in the mail. First one is from my long time painting friend Becky. She got me Monika Brint's newest paint book. I have my eye on a few projects in there already but like everything else I do, I will put my own take on it and change the colours up a bit. Not crazy on the colour selection of some of the projects. And, some scrabble tiles, a couple Asian scrabble necklaces, some mini dominoes, as you can see I already opened the package to take a peek, Becky got me 2 packages, yippee skippee, how cool are those, can't wait to try them and some brad buttons, and some crocheted scrap embellies to use. I already used  one of each on my sewing canvas I posted yesterday.
Thanks so much Becky.

Next some goodies from Jenxo in Australia. Jen sent me Asian papers, a canvas she made, a brooch some laminated bookmarks she made, and this wonderful shrine. Jenxo asked about a shrine I had posted way back in the beginning of the year so she had some time and was able to make me one. This shrine is incredible. There is a little wire birdcage with a swing inside and a door. I am not sure if Jenxo made this or purchased it but it is incredible and I love the little round flowers with beaded centers. Thanks so much Jenxo. I feel so spoiled by these girls.

And a few months ago I entered a bookmark swap over at the Yahoo group for Gingersnap Creations and the theme was travel the world. As you know we had a postal strike and now that it is over we received our bookmarks. These bookmarks were not marked in the back by the artists so I am not sure who to thank, but they are so lovely and I got an Asian one. Some peeps are really paying attention to my likes.

So I want to thank you very much Jenxo, Becky and the bookmark gals.

Today was filled with happiness and after yesterday, tomorrow truly is another day.

Next post is the Summer of Colour.

Post number 2 to follow.



Gingersnap creations- Gogs Gears and Watch bits

GC110_Spicy Supply Challenge

When this challenge was announced I thought to myself..I know what I can do and I will kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak. I swap dominoes monthly with an online friend and our swap for this month was time so this was meant to be.

I had some chipboard gears that I purchased from Artchix Studios and I painted them gold. I stamped my domino with Stazon  Black with an Inkadinkado watch stamp. I then used Lettuce Alcohol Ink on the background. Applied my little fairy in the corner and that was it.

Oh how time flies doesn't it?

Thanks for dropping by and til next time stay cool in this heat!!!