Bella Carta

Earth Day 2010

Okay you crafty people!  Have you thought about making a rain barrel?  This is a great earth friendly project that I think most of you can handle.  If you found me here from the Craft Critique Earth Day Carnival, thank you for stopping by!  In honor of earthday, I've also indexed my projects with the "recycling" tag <--- click to go check them out!

The most challenging part was finding a barrel to use- but you can buy them already assembled at places like Home Depot or Whole Foods.  The idea is to capture rain water and save it for your irrigation uses.  The easiest thing to do is to divert the rainwater from your gutters. Some gardening groups offer workshops, your fee covers materials and they help you assemble it.

An easy guide for where to place these and how to assemble it is here:

http://www.portlandonline.com/shared/cfm/image.cfm?id=182095

http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/rain-barrels/index.html

http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/publications/files/rain_barrels_guide.pdf

Here's mine!  

  

 

an old plate finds a new life!

How many of you have "stuff" that you've accumulated?  I know that I have my share of stuff that I've accumulated over the years. 

You know .... like a vintage plate that you picked up at a yard sale or maybe the plates were part of a set - but all the other pieces are chipped or broken.    And how many of you have candlesticks hiding in your cupboards?  Or glass/crystal candlesticks that might be chipped? Since taper candles have largely gone out of style (largely replaced by glass container candles) or pillars - I know I hardly use my candlesticks.    I kept thinking there has to be a use for some of this "stuff".  And I really like to "re-purpose" things ... find new ways to use stuff that might otherwise not be used.   There are projects out there to combat both!

I was reminded of this project this morning when I saw Mark Montano's facebook post about turning wine glasses into pillar candle holders.  He's got a great book called "The Big Ass Book of Crafts" and "The Big Ass Book of Home Decor"  :-) who doesn't love a title like that???  These aren't your grandma's crafts, these are great projects styled for today!

Anyway .... the concept is super easy!   Just glue A (candlesticks) to B (plate)!  I like to use the wider part of the candlestick for the base and then use E-6000 (or any epoxy like glue situated for glass) to the bottom of the plate, just eyeball the middle of it.  You can use *almost any size candlestick and I recommend to keeping the plate size proportional to the height of the candlestick.  For example .... use a saucer with a short candlestick, a medium sized plate (salad plate) for the bigger candlesticks.  And if you want to use a really big (or heavier) plate, use a wine glass!  

The plate shown below (pink toile = swoon!) is a saucer on a glass candlestick that is about 3 inches in height.   The plate above (with the violets) is approx. 8 inches in diameter on an 8 in. tall candlestick.

One of the things I really like about it  is this works with all styles .... you can use vintage or modern.  They make great holders for candles, more stuff, I keep one on my nightstand for my eyeglasses, or even food service!  I like to use these to serve up hors d'oeuvres like goat cheese or little nibblies.  I recommend hand washing these.   If you don't have anything lurking in your cupboards .... have fun checking out thrift shops and yard sales! 

Interested in the books?  Check out:

the fine print

The folks over at the"Oh, Alice" challenge blog this week bring one of my fav items - TEXT - as this week's challenge. 

I used a piece of an article from a magazine - it was a magazine I had long since read and now tear it up for projects. I wanted it a little "softer" so I sanded it a bit ... strategically to lighten it up - a sanded it lightest right where I wanted to place the rabbit.

I sponged green on the bottom, and stamped in a little grass.  Then I sponged some blue for the sky and some white clouds. 

What do you think??? Chocolate bunnies, anyone???

eta:  This stamp, and several great stamps of vintage chocolate molds, are available at StampFrancisco.com, you can either locate it either by browing the Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers line of stamps or search by keyword.

Pouffy flowers in a snap! {PTI day 13}

Today is the 13th day of Papertrey Ink's BIG third anniversary bash! And tomorrow night party followed by ordering :-) all the new releases!

Today's challenge was to go get inky and make a card, with a set of embellies to be used on cards or scrapbooks or almost anything that might need some embellishment.   These are all set, they're secured onto a piece of acetate ( recycled from a PTI stamp set).  The pouffy flowers are made using Dawn's (My Favorite Things)  tutorial  found here <------ click to go check it out.  I used a german language textbook I found at a thrift shop for the paper flowers - its fun to see these up close with "essets" and "umlauts" - characters in the German alphabet not found in the English language. 

 

Stamps:   Friends Till the End (PTI)
Cardstock:  Kraft, Raspberry Fizz and Dark Chocolate (PTI)
Ink:  Raspberry Fizz and Dark Chocolate (PTI)
Accessories:  Ribbon and Buttons (PTI)
 

is it a pin? is it a card? its both!

I had enough upcycled fabric from my ivory/gold collection to do a single flower - as a pin.   I added a new step to these - I made leaves!   Yes, I took the same concept - cut and singe and did a leaf shape pattern.  I think it adds a whole new element.

This is pinned onto the front of simple card  that features Damask Designs from PTI stamped in Ocean Tides (also PTI) the textured cardstock is from Bazzill.

Verdigris Wishes

This card was inspired by an outfit I bought over the weekend - its in verdigris linen (now I just need to find shoes to match!).  This color, is without a doubt, my favorite color - I just can't get enough of that blue/green copper patina!

It inspired me to dig out my PTI Ocean Tides cardstock and create a card.  I also had some fun hunting in thrift shops this weekend for blouses to turn into flowers - I found some really great shades of ivory and gold.

Cardstock:  PTI Ocean Tides and Bazzill. 

Ink:  Cosmic Copper

EP:  Verdigris

Stamps:  Distressed Dots {Unity} and Sincere Salutations {Stampin' Up!}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Krafty Bird {HHH week of June 12, 2009}

Welcome to Friday! 

Its been a long week for me - but I did get a chance to "play" on thursday evening and made this card for Unity's Krafty challenge (use Kraft cardstock) in your creation.

The bird is cut from a coke zero can using the Big Shot and Sizzix steel ruled die.    If you've missed my previous posts on using soda cans with your steel ruled dies, here's the general instructions:

Wash the coke can out when done, allow to air dry. Use your rubber scissors (I love the non-stick serrated ones from Tim Holtz) but your SU rubber scissors work fine too.  Very carefully, use the tip of the scissors to punch a whole in the top of the can and the bottom of the can, use this as your starting to point to cut the can away from the top and bottom pieces.  Then, cut the cylindrical piece the long way so that you end up with a rectangular piece.  Then gently use that with your two clear cutting plates (one bottom, the die, the can, the clear plate) and run through the Big Shot.

Stamps used:  Distressed dots BG, Unity May 09 KOTM (sentiment was masked from the whole stamp).

GRADUATION - TTIC31

Its always fun to pick the challenge theme and this week I've selected Graduation as the challenge theme for this month!

One of my most favorite scenes in the movie occurs when Edward is showing his home to Bella for the first time.  As they go up the stairs, they pass a huge frame full of graduation caps.  

 Bella asks "Graduation caps?" and Edward replies "Private joke. We matriculate a lot".

Craft portion: Create a project suitable to give as a graduation gift!

Comment portion: Reminisce about your graduation ... or an upcoming graduation for someone in your life (remember to leave your comment on the TwilightTuesday.com blog)

I thought the frame would be *perfect* for either a pic of Bella and Edward in their graduation outfits, or to frame her graduation announcements.  I must be channeling my "inner Alice" again!

Here's my project an altered frame.  The deets:  wood frame from the craft store, its been stained a verdi-gris green.  Its covered in Cosmo Cricket paper from the Halfway Cafe paper line (I LOVE LOVE LOVE this company!), I made some "upcycled" fabric flowers with verdigris beads in the middle.  I took a bit of ivory acrylic paint and swabbed it onto the paper and used that to stamp the sentiment  - its from the February 09 Kit of the Month (KOTM) from Unity Stamp Co.

 

Don't miss out on the design team's fab projects for this week:

Beth~ Dani~ Eve~ Jen~ Julie~ Margie~ Tonya

and check out TwilightTuesday.com for blog candy, sketch challenges, book discussions, everything Twilight forums and much more!

Now join in and play along with us!  Here are a few things that will make it easier for you:

For posting to a blog:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on TwilightTuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.  Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; this week’s keyword is TTIC31. You can also add in more general keywords for SCS (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.).

TTIC30 - The Ballet Studio!

Today’s challenge is all about The Ballet Studio Scene from Twilight, the challenge was picked by the wonderfuly talented Dani of "Count Your Beautiful Blessings".

I thought this room would be visually dramatic for my little film. That’s why I picked this place to meet you. It’s perfect, isn’t it?
James, Twilight, Chapter 22, p.449

Anyways, I have always found this an interesting scene. I am not sure if I like the book version better than the movie version though. I am also not sure if I agree with Edward’s decision to keep Bella from changing into a vampire.

Our challenge was to create a project that shows your favorite part(s) of the Ballet Studio Scene.

On a side note ... I don't think this scene was particularly scary, this was one part of the book where I really questioned the author - I just thought it was not that plausible that Bella would get away from Alice.  I'm sure she saw that coming, didn't she?

I thought, and I thought, and I thought, and I thought, and I thought, and I thought some more about my project.  Geez, this one was really going to be a "stumper" and then decided to go with "less" and pick a simpler theme. 

So I based my card around pink - like ballerina pink toe shoes.  And silver - like the long mirrors that lined the dance studio.  My card features three fabric flowers that have been "upcycled" from blouses at the local good will.  I added a few beads in silver and a little silver charm, it says "love" ~ Edward's love for Bella.

Don't miss out on the design team's fab projects for this week:

Beth~ Dani~ Eve~ Jen~ Julie~ Margie~ Tonya

and check out TwilightTuesday.com for blog candy, sketch challenges, book discussions, everything Twilight forums and much more!

Going GREEN for HHH Friday!

I am one of *those people* who tends to save EVERYTHING mostly in a misguided perception that I can craft something with it!  But recycling products into cards is really fun.  I've been saving up my bottle caps looking for the *right* project to use them on! 

And then while looking at my Big Shot (die cut machine) it hit me!  Why not use my machine to flatten the bottle caps and use them on cards or papercrafting???? So that's exactly what I did!

I flattened the bottle caps using my Big Shot and the multi-platform with both tabs flipped open, a clear plate, the bottle cap, and another clear plate. {that's my sandwich!}.  Then I flipped the multi-platform to Tab 2 (so that the tabs were together and the platform its thickest), the clear plate, bottle cap and the another clear plate.  This two steps flattened 'em right up.  One of the bottlecaps I ran through a steel edged die (the BIGZ dies) in the shape of a flower and it cut right through that like butter!

I used my crop-o-dile to punch a hole in them so they could be adhered with brads.  I used the Bubble Gum Tree from the Unity KOTM (I think it was November's kit) but if you missed this - this will soon be available as a Unity single!

The whole thing is on a coaster I swapped from the local bar after enjoying a black n' tan.  Its 3.5 x 5 - a rather unusual shape for a coaster. Its covered in NEW paper from Stampin Up! which I just adore - its thicker and TEXTURED!  This is from the Parisian Breeze specialty designer series paper pack.

I stamped the tree right onto the paper and used my aqua painter and ink pads to color the trunk and the ground.  I also just quickly watercolored a little green where the tree branches would be. 

I then used brads to attach the bottle caps and a few buttons to the smaller circles.  I used my crop-o-dile (again) to punch the holes and set the SU Jumbo eyelets in pewter.  A little bit of ivory ribbon completes it. 

 

What do you think?  Do you like these recycled projects?  Have I shown you how easy it is to be "green" in your papercrafting?  Does it make you want to run right out to the recycling bin and rescue something from it for your next cards - LOL!