Recent Projects, Reviewing the Past Year, and Plans for the Coming Year

Just as a final tie-up to what I’ve been doing, here are a couple of photos of my 3 recent projects: the Beehive Explosion Box, the Stationery Box, and the Poinsettia Explosion Box.

Here are the three boxes, closed:

and exploded/open:

Only one has got to its destination in time for Christmas – the Stationery Box for my mum. Her response was that she was “overwhelmed” by it!! – she said she was going to take it home and spend some time looking at it properly.

I decided not to risk the Beehive to the post – my friend lives in London, and her sister lives near us, so hopefully she will be able to take it up with her when she next visits. The Poinsettia box is for a local friend who I was hoping to see before Christmas, but it didn’t happen, probably because of the snow, so she will have it in the New Year. The friend we usually spend Christmas with was away this year, and I want to make another Poinsettia one for her, so once I’ve recovered from Christmas, that will be my next, most immediate project – probably a good idea to do it fairly soon, so that I remember the areas which needed improving upon on the first one! I am also still working on my Toilet Roll Mini-Album, of course – after I’ve done the second poinsettia box, that’s next on the list for completion.

Review of the Past Year

Looking back, it’s been quite a productive year for me in the creative department, despite health setbacks, and being the first year that I’ve really got obsessed serious about it (!) I can see how my technique and ability have progressed since I started properly in May. Since then I have made quite a few cards, 3 explosion boxes, some gift boxes, and lots of flowers. I have experimented with different materials and techniques, and collected quite a lot of equipment and materials and embarked on a steep learning curve, getting to grips with Jiminy Cricut, Inkscape, and Sure Cuts A Lot, which I have now largely abandoned in favour of Make The Cut. With the help of my hubby, I have created an ARTHaven that I now really enjoy working in.

This time last year, I had absolutely no idea that all this was going to take place, and I am very excited about this new direction my life has taken, and the opportunities that have opened for channelling my creativity.

I am most grateful to all those in the blogging community and on Youtube who really got me going on all this, from whom I have learnt so much in such a few short months, and I wonder where on earth it is going to take me in the future! It’s very, very exciting.

I am hoping for a productive and stimulating creative year ahead – always more ideas than time and energy to fulfil them!

Then there is my blog itself. Several years ago I toyed with the idea of starting a blog, but didn’t really understand what it was all about and didn’t think I’d really have anything to put on it!! When we went on holiday to Kent in the spring, I wrote up a daily journal of what we’d been doing and posted it on the Brainfog (M.E.) forum and it seemed to go down pretty well, so I decided to adapt what I’d written and put it on a blog, as it seemed a convenient way to save the account of one of the best holidays we’d ever had, complete with photos.

At the time I had no idea what fun blogging would turn out to be, and how many lovely new contacts I would make through it. I have found everyone to be very friendly, and so generous in sharing their ideas and inspirations.

On the health front, it has not had such a good year, but in view of everything else that’s happened, I really don’t mind. I have been so encouraged by the support I’ve had, mostly from my dear hubby who does such a lot to help me, and from the local health team who are always there should I need them – and who have recently supported me through the process of obtaining my new wheelchair.

I look back on a full and productive year with plenty of enjoyment, and many blessings through friendships both local and online.

Plans for Next Year

Plans for next year include making butterflies for the Butterfly Effect project, the usual birthday cards and occasional thank you cards etc. etc., and a special card project for Wonderwoman’s mother. Wonderwoman is my home help and her mum is going to have a special birthday in May, and she asked me if I could make a lovely card for her, and I’ve already got some ideas shifting around in my foggy brain!! I also want to explore the Explosion Box theme a bit further, and have a few ideas for making some on different themes – maybe for me this time, but they will probably get given away like most of my projects! Then there’s the experimental stuff – I am longing to try some more melting, fusing, work with gesso and acrylic gel medium, incorporating fabrics and fibres, and doing more 3-D work.

I’ve got collage on my mind a bit, and the first major project I want to embark on is some really posh spoke guards for my new wheelchair – mixed media, and incorporating some of the new techniques I’ve learnt, with a really 3-D effect and lots of flowers and bling! Should be an interesting project, and there’s nothing like using a wheelchair as a blank canvas for self-expression, and getting out and about, carrying your Art with you! I am also going to put rhinestone swirls down the front frame.

Now I’ve got Jiminy Cricut I’m keen to explore some more things that he will do – I want to do more pop-ups and “origamic architecture” – I downloaded some designs ages ago, which I couldn’t cut at the time because their complexity requires a machine. I would like to explore the possibility of making 3-D paper mobiles and sculptures but these ideas are embryonic at best at present.

As far as other equipment is concerned, I have just ordered a Cinch binding machine, as most of my Art friends seem to think this is the best one – I am sure this will be a very useful addition to my ARTHaven. It will be good to be able to give any album-type projects a really professional finish with this machine. I also have the Cri-Kits embossing kit on order, which will enable me to emboss on Jiminy. It is coming with some embossing metal, and having seen the gorgeous and rich results that others have got with this, I am keen to get going on it myself.

As far as my ARTHaven is concerned, I’ve got my metal pegboards waiting to go up as soon as my hubby’s friend is free to come and help in the New Year, and then I shall start collecting some bits and pieces for those – shelves, hooks, etc. – and get a lot of my equipment up on the wall and hopefully generate a much less cluttered working space.

I need to think about a better way to get my video camera set up – at the moment it’s a perfect pain, trying to get the tripod to do what I want, and trying to get the light right too.  This is an area I’d like to discuss with others who are doing it successfully.

Other plans for giving my creativity an outlet in the coming year include reviving my embroidery again – it’s been quite a while since I did any, and I’d like to make some more 3-D insects as well as the butterflies for the Butterfly Effect project. I’ve got a load of resources from when I belonged to an embroidery group where we used to live, and I am sure there will be people who will enjoy these too, and I hope to do some full tutorials with video and downloadable templates etc.

On the computer front, I’m thinking of formatting the hard drive on my small laptop (not the one I use for Art) because it’s running far too slowly and loads of stuff needs to be cleared off it – and I am considering installing Windows 7 instead of Vista while I’m at it. Purchasing yet another external hard drive? Perhaps… Why is it that one NEVER has enough space for storing/backing stuff up?? (Perhaps I need to take fewer photographs…)

I’m anticipating a fun and busy year ahead, health permitting, and barring disasters!

Wishing all my blog followers and visitors a happy, blessed and productive year ahead, and I look forward with anticipation to seeing what you get up to in the coming year!

Stationery Box

At last I have finished the stationery box I have made for my mum for Christmas. Like most of my projects, it seemed to take me for ever! However, I am pleased with the result, and hope she will be, too.

I found the template and video tutorial for making this most attractive little box on the website Dannie’s Designs:
http://danniesdesigns.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/09/stationery-box.html
and it is quite simple to make; it lends itself very well to decorating in your own style – the only thing to limit you is your imagination!

I used a mixture of cardstock and patterned paper to make mine; the main structure of the box was made with pink cardstock which I stamped with a polka-dot design in a darker shade of pink.

The flower and leaf shapes were cut using Jiminy Cricut, with Shaplie designs from Penny Duncan:
http://pennyduncancreations.blogspot.com/
and these were inked with Tim Holtz Distress Inks in various colours. The flower centres were made with Stickles (glitter glue).
Inside, the box is fitted out with compartments of different sizes, to hold cards and tags, and the front folds down, revealing a flat surface onto which you can attach different items of stationery as you wish. I have put in a notebook and pen, postage stamps and a calendar.

Adding the decorative paper to the inside of the box not only looks attractive, but strengthens the structure of the box as well.

The pen was one of several cheap steel ball-point pens I found on Ebay; I decorated it with alcohol inks to co-ordinate with the colour scheme of the project, and made a holder for it, attached under the note pad.

The note pad was one of several basic plain ones I have had for ages – I can’t remember where they came from, but they have no covers, and a basic plain card back, and each page is perforated along the top. The size was perfect for this project, and with the addition of a decorative cover and rounding the corners, quite satisfactory.

I made a calendar using the calendar tool on my desk-top publishing software (Serif PagePlus X4) and made a cover to match the project. I also made a small folder to hold postage stamps. I used some scraps of the pink cardstock stamped with the polka dot design from the outside of the box, to continue the theme.
The decals with the text on them were cut using Jiminy Cricut, and before cutting, I used the Cri-Kit pens to do the text, adding the highlights by hand afterwards; each one is also inked around the edges, using Spun Sugar Distress Ink.

The upper part of the interior is divided into 3 compartments of varying sizes. The one at the back is to hold some larger cards and envelopes; the medium sized one to hold small square cards and envelopes, and the smallest one, a set of tags.

I made the envelopes for the cards; it’s a bit hard to see in the photo, but I have inked the edges with Spun Sugar Distress Ink to make them a bit more interesting, and I have lined them all with co-ordinating patterned paper.

I was very pleased to find some special envelope glue online; you spread it on with the foam applicator on the top of the bottle and leave it to dry. You can then moisten it to stick the envelopes down, just like on purchased ones; it doesn’t even have a taste! I am very pleased with the way these envelopes have come out, and the fact that you can make professional-looking envelopes. I have created templates for them so that I can cut them on Jiminy whenever I want.

I made 6 small cards (3 x 3 in) with different sentiments; the flowers and leaf trails mirror those on the outside of the box, and are cut using Penny Duncan’s Shaplie files. The backgrounds of these cards were stamped using different background stamps, including a couple of Tim Holtz ones, to add a bit of texture and interest.

Here are some pictures of them in close-up, to show a bit more detail:

Again, on this one, I have done the text with the Cri-Kit pens.

The text on these ones, as well as the flowers and leaves, was cut with Jiminy. I originally used some of the flowers I’d cut for the rest of the project, but being embossed, these proved too thick to go into the compartment in the box, so I had to use flat ones instead; after cutting, I inked them with Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet Distress Inks.

To make the project more interesting and fun, I thought it would be nice to make the larger cards “mix and match” – all the cards and tags in this project co-ordinate, and I have made the larger cards with a small pocket incorporated into the design of each one, to take a tag. The cards themselves have no sentiment on them, and the tag with the sentiment of choice can be slotted into the pocket.
These are the large cards without tags inserted:

and in detail:

In each case I have used a combination of plain cardstock decorated with stamping, and patterned papers, and cut flowers and leaves using Jiminy, from Penny Duncan’s Shaplie files, which were then coloured and decorated with Distress Inks, and embossed by hand. I used clear Pinflair gel adhesive to attach the flowers, because you can apply it with a syringe to “fill” the back of the embossing to prevent it being squashed; it dries clear, and works very well. I used it on the small leaf trails as well, and wasn’t able to do it without making a bit of a mess, I’m afraid – subsequently I discovered I could spray the backs with my photo adhesive and this was a lot better, so this is what I shall do in future.
The centres of the small flowers are done with Stickles and the large ones have a gold brad to fix the layers together.

These are the tags I made, with the sentiments. Each one is cut from patterned paper and inked with distress inks around the edges and on the backs; the tassels are made from mixed fibres and yarns, and the text, flowers and leaves cut with Jiminy and decorated as before.

Here they are in detail:

and here are some of the larger cards with tags inserted:

Finally, here is the video I have made of this project.