TMS #165: Trust Your Crazy Ideas

Hello Friends! I am so excited to share the project I made for today's Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge! As with the mini album I made a couple of weeks ago, I took a simple idea and went crazy with it.



My DT buddy, Theresa, came up with this fab sketch--an oval, two ribbon banners, and four stars, or other embellies. It's a well-balanced design, that, just as it is, would result in a fantastic card. I love that the oval is large enough to be able to accommodate just about any image you'd want to use, too.

That said, however, I don't seem to be able to stick with the plan these days! :)

See what I mean! I altered an inexpensive composition notebook, and all the basic elements are there...but so are LOTS of others!!! Of course, I have a great excuse--I just had to use some of the new goodies I picked up at the stamp convention. ;) Don't you just love that sentiment? Seemed perfect for an art journal.

The dragonfly stamp is from a Stampers Anonymous set called, Classics #1. Beautiful. But, as nice as that is, what I really want to show you is the background. I picked up some Dylusions Ink Sprays, and they are amazing. The colors are SO vivid! It's going to take some practice to get good at combining different colors, but I was pretty pleased with how this one turned out (after 3 previous tries went into the trash). :) Oh, and see that white diamond pattern on the left side? I used a stencil and sponged white ink there. As with most everything I do, I had no idea what it would look like when I did it, but I love the depth it added--it almost looks like a reflection on glass. I just love all the fun surprises I get when I'm crafting!

The "Faith" label, is new, too. It's from a Spellbinders die set called, Girlie Grunge Labels by Donna Salazar. I got lucky--it was in a sale bin for just $10! I've used several of the labels on this project. I cut and embossed them on white cs, and inked the letters while still in the die. I then used a different Distress Ink to color the bg of each one. After gluing the labels to the project, I added Glossy Accents to give them some dimension.

The dragonfly die cut is one I already had, but had never used. I inked it while in the die, but wasn't pleased at all with how it looked, so I spritzed it with Perfect Pearls Mist, and that fixed it right up. It's hard to tell here, but the dragonfly is raised in the center with a foam dot, and the wings are curved up slightly.

I think I'm hooked on stencils! The texts here are all from the same stencil, called Funky Words. I stenciled them, then doodled on them a little bit, with Stickles, a while gel pen, and Sharpie markers. You can also see more of the Girlie Grunge Labels, as well as a couple of the buttons I added. I used waxed linen thread in the buttons, and after attaching them to the front of the project, I separated the strands of the tails to give them a softer look.

I bought several MFT Die-namic Rolled Flower dies awhile back, and now I have some of their felt, too, thanks to Melissa, who visited their brick and mortar store and picked up a few colors for me. 8~D OMGosh, MFT felt cuts beautifully! I had been using some felt from Joann that doesn't have any wool in it, and it was almost impossible to get it to cut cleanly. The two blue flowers were cut out of Joann felt, the other two are from MFT felt. The edges of the MFT felt are noticeably crisp, while the Joann felt is fuzzy on the edges. I definitely need more MFT felt!

In this photo, you can also see a little bit of the spine of the book. Notice the crisp edge--no fraying? From my bookbinding days, I learned to use Heat n Bond on my fabric before applying glue. The Heat n Bond helps prevent fraying and also keeps the glue from seeping through the fabric.

I covered the back of the notebook, too. The paper is so pretty, I decided to let it do most of the work, and just added the one sentiment stamp--another convention find!

Here's one more look at the front, at an angle, so you can see all the dimension.

Now, it's your turn! Head on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge, see what the rest of the DT has to inspire you, then get creative! The prize this week comes from our awesome sponsor, There She Goes Stamps, which has everything from elegant to playful--both stamps and dies! Wouldn't it be great if you won? Well, you can't if you don't play, so get busy!!!

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a wonderful, crafty week!

I'd like to enter this project in the following challenges:
Creative Craft Challenges 2: Anything Goes
Fab & Funky Challenge #139: Things With Wings
Digi Doodle Shop Final Challenge #125: Anything Goes
Do You Stack Up #90: Flags
Fat Pages & Cards With Attitude #23: Anything Goes
Simply Create Too #22: Anything Goes
Stampin' For the Weekend #18: Feeling Floral
Whimsy Inspirations Challenge #51: Anything Goes
MilkCoffee Challenge: At Least 2 Different Shapes
Crafting For All Seasons Challenge #36: Things With Wings
Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: For the Love of Sparkle

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Classics #1, Admit One (Stampers Anonymous); The Right Words (Dylusions)
Paper: Abrianna (K&Co)
Ink: Distress Ink; Memento; Colorbox; white gel pen; Sharpie markers; Dylusions Ink Spray
Dies: Labels Three, Floral Ovals, Marvelous Squares, Girlie Grunge Labels: Donna Salazar, Flying Beauties (Spellbinders); Circle Border (Memory Box); Rolled Daisy, Rolled Mum, Mini Royal Roses, Royal Leaves, Loopy Blooms (My Favorite Things Die-namics Dies)
Accessories: Mini Harlequin stencil (TCW); Funky Words stencil (Wendy Vecchi-Studio 490); Fabric; Heat n Bond; felt (MFT Stamps & Joann); sanding block; Mod Podge; waxed linen thread; Mini Round Gems (Recollections); buttons; foam dots; Glossy Accents; Stickles; Pearl Pen; Perfect Pearls Mist; composition book; Scor-Tape
Size: 7.5" x 9.75" 

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