jane's apron

altered twilight

 

I don't participate in a lot of swaps but this is now my third year in Kari's Sweet & Sinister Swap.   One of my favorite things is to mix colors and patterns and I find working with shades of black & white a bit of a challenge. The items I created took on a vampire theme...a Park Avenue, turn-of-the-century vampire vibe.  And all vampire roads lead to...

 

I altered a thrifted copy of Twilight with coordinating papers, pretty scalloped papers for each chapter, lots of torn pages, and some shiny silver touches.  It's altered but still completely readable.  I added the vintage pin because the two hearts seemed to be the right fit for a sinister but sweet story.  

 

I always have so much fun putting swap kits together and, this time, I created a similar kit for my etsy shop...lots of pretty items to make your own Halloween decor just slightly scary.

taller children kits

I've been wanting to put together kits of my favorite supplies but, like anything else, I have to wait for inspiration to strike.  Or some sort of procrastination (hmmm...inspiration and procrastination sound a little similar).   Before I sat down for an afternoon of studying yesterday, I put three kits together using newly thrifted packets of seam binding as my starting point.  It didn't take long to find lots of goodies to go with them.  

I don't know much about marketing but I know that giving something a cute name helps (it certainly works on me). So...I decided to call these kits "Taller Children".  It's my favorite song this week and, though it doesn't exactly fit the meaning of the lyrics, I think we are all just taller children...that love to make stuff from paper, glue, and pretties.  

 

old century vampires

I started working on my Sweet & Sinister (black & white) swap goodies this weekend and am happy with how one of them turned out.  I gathered black & white items to spark some inspiration and ended up going in a direction completely different than I thought...but that's the fun of the process.  

I had a few oval masonite boards with pre-drilled holes and a paper stack (both from Michaels).  I also had a thrifted Time-Life book about 1900-1900 America.  The book was sitting in my pile to take back to the thrift store because the whole turn-of-the-century thing is just not me.  I glanced through it one more time for anything I could use and found a few pages of portraits (and they were cropped into ovals).   These kind of photos are always scary to me...something about the eyes.  I could do something with scary ovals. 

I started by making bat-wing masks for the women.  Didn't work.  How about a bat necklace?  I stamped a small bat on vellum, cut it out and glued it on the photo (this is a good way to get an image in the exact place you want it). I used a white gel pen to create the pearl strand and finished the bat with a touch of glitter.   I edged the oval with a piece of golden-orange ribbon, finished the back with vintage sheet music, and added vintage buttons tied with seam binding.

At first glance, it seems like a formal, stuffy portrait.  The bat necklace is a small surprise.  I like small surprises.  

altered gift box

This is an idea I had for A Year of Color but didn't quite get to in June.  It's a gift box/jewelery box that works as a shadowbox frame...a total "use what you have" project.  

I created the main collage on a 4x6 postcard and added a couple of embellishments to it.  I love the "SUGGESTED FABRICS: Gingham" text. 

 

For the box, I cut scrapbook papers to fit the sides and back and glued them to the outside and inside edges of the box.  I used a page from a vintage sewing book for the inside of the box.  I sanded the edges and then washed with an eggshell paint.

Almost done... I punched two holes at the top of the box and threaded a pretty seem binding ribbon as a hanger.  I added the collage inside the box with pieces of thick foam to give it a little dimension.  

I love the possibilities of a simple box like this.  Instead of the collage, you could add a favorite photo and/or dimensional mementos...ticket stubs, button cards, invitations, postcards.

marcy playground + the raconteurs

I said earlier this summer that I would try to overcome my art journal aversion.  I didn't really do a journal as much as an ATC...and it's a little big at 4x6...but that's not the point. The point is I tried to add words to a collage.  

I've done a ton of driving the kids around this summer and we seem to hear Blackbird (Marcy Playground) a lot...enough that we can all sing along to it.  And who doesn't love a blackbird?  

The other came from a song that I've had on my iPod for a while...Old Enough (The Raconteurs).

To make these, I layered a scrapbook paper on one of my 4x6 postcards (and sanded the edges).  I decided to use images from my stack of Anthropologie catalogs because they seemed to fit with the words.  Other than that, I stamped the bird, added a tiny bit of dimension with the ticket and "24" paper, and wrote the words.  

I have to admit that I'm still not loving it (seems a little too teen angst to me) but I did like placing the text...trying to see it as just another element in the collage.  And that's something.  

all-star

We are sports fans...if we are all watching TV, it's usually a game.  Ellen tolerates this only to a point but we are working on her.  This is why it was so cute when she purchased a photo of Albert Pujols at her school auction (using her "good behavior" tickets).  She is really trying to fit in. 

I use clothespins to keep stuff handy in my kitchen window and, when Ellen brought home this picture, I slid it into a pin with a new notecard (which I'll get in my shop later today).  They looked so good together that they've been there all summer...a bit of a "red" inspiration board.

Tonight is the All-Star Game and we'll be watching (as soon as we get back from baseball camp and soccer practice).  Everybody knows that St. Louis is a baseball town but today the city gets to show off a little...hope you get a chance to watch!

color love

Just one look at my swap partner Becky's blog banner (miesmama) and I knew what to do...definitely a flower.  A flower using the bright heather-bailey-ish colors she loves.  

I wanted to make the flower petals out of patchwork and tried something new...

  

I cut lots of 1.5 in. squares of paper and glued them to cardstock.  I then traced petal shapes on the back and cut them out...pretty easy and full of color.  I wanted to put faux stitching around the flower petals using a needle to punch the holes and a white pen but it didn't work...so I stitched the petals for real.  

I added one final touch to make it just for Becky...

art journal aversion

The final week of June at A Year of Color was about inspiration and journaling.  This made me slightly panicky. Picture me sitting in a classroom and the teacher calling for someone to create an art journal.  It's not that I'd run from the room but more that I would sit there with my eyes down, maybe pretending to be busy on something else, hoping that I wouldn't be called on.  That kind of panic. But I was called on anyway...

So, with very little time and an aversion to journaling, I created a digital collage.  I don't love this collage at all. But I did it anyway and it got me thinking about a few things.   Why don't I like journaling or making art journals? The answer to that question turns out to be pretty simple.

1. By nature, I'm kind of sarcastic and that doesn't mix so well with inspirational phrases.  2.  I'm not all that reflective...more of a "just the facts" girl...love the graphics of symbols, numbers, and letters...just not the words.   I have to ask...is this just me?

I was still thinking of this last week (maybe I am a little reflective) while walking with my ipod and heard one of the song lyrics in a whole new way.  Maybe I could use that. Maybe I'll try it before the inspiration goes away.  Maybe I'll still not like it.  Either way, I'll share it here.

summer sewing

I set a few sewing patterns aside to make some summer clipboards and finally had a chance to put them together this week.  Sometimes when I make a bunch of things (like clipboards), I can get a little tired of the process.  It's been so long since I've made them though that I had fun with these.  Rather than focus on the finished clipboard, I took these pictures to focus on the patterns.  Summer sewing seems to be the best kind...cute blouses, skirts, swim suits....and sunglasses. 

 

This one is a little out of my usual era but I loved the hat along with all of the notes written carefully on the envelope.

Summer arrived here in full force this week.  It's supposed to be 97 today (and we're in St. Louis so there's no such thing a "dry" heat).   I know it's hot when our black cat wants back inside in the middle of the day.  He's passed out on the couch under the ceiling fan.   Sounds like a good idea to me.  

yellow dot paper dress

Just hoppin' online for a minute to share a little something I made this week.  The paper dress was inspired by a cute dress in a Boden catalog I got in the mail a month or so ago.   Yellow is still going on at A Year of Color and I'm trying as much yellow as I can.

Keep sending comments to the "zipper idiot" post...believe me, I'm laughing with you, not at you (and so happy that I'm not the only one).  I'll pick a winner on Friday.

And what's with the "summer of independence" button to the left?   I started something with my kids that might resonate with others too...back with that later this week.