I'm a bad girl...

Hi Everyone,
I'm up on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today.

Well, I didn't plan to do two reading themed items this month for them, but it happened.  I'm a huge reader.  It's not often that I am not in the middle of a book.  Any reader will tell you that they always need bookmarks.  Yes, I've used napkins, receipts, post it notes, and other random bits of paper to mark my pages.  I wanted to make a little something nice to actually mark my page.

I covered one of the Extra Large Chipboard Tags using vintage card catalog cards.  The edges were embossed using Emerald Creek's Salted Raven just to add a little bit extra. 

I painted my Medium Circle Border using Distress Paints in Picked Raspberry, Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, Black Soot, and Spiced Marmalade and glued it on my tag.  

I added the vintage image and verbiage using foam tape.  Since the circles make the background uneven I used different layers of tape to make the image flush.  

Easy and now I can mark my book nicely! 

Jess

Snarky New Year!

Happy New Year from this party animal!
If you made it until midnight, then you stayed up later than me.  I never make it until midnight.  I have a little project for you today that shows you that I really know how to party.

I used the Tiny Matchbox Theatre from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts to make my party animal box. 

 I covered the box with old book paper.

I used Dina Wakley Paints to add some pops of color.  The edges have some Distress Crayon in Hickory Smoke and Black Soot. 

The image inside is from Lisa's Altered Art and it is popped up using foam tape.  I added the little party hat and book.  There's some fun washi tape behind her just for visual interest.  

I hope you have an amazing 2018! 

Jess

Take Note

I don't typically craft using bold and bright colors, so when I saw this was my inspiration photo I had to think long and hard about what to create.

Stop by Unruly PaperArts to see what finally inspired me. 

What have you been crafting?

Jess

Bibliophile take 2

Ok confession time.  I had this blog post ready to go for a long time.  I worked on this project forever and just had it stashed in my file for a far off future date.  Guess what? That date came and I totally forgot to move it forward so it posted.  Boo.  So now I am reposting it and entering it into the  CC#3 challenge 23.  I was so bummed it posted before this challenge came around.  I knew it would be since it is in the book.  If you don't have a copy of Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities you need to order it ASAP.  And if you haven't been participating in Linda's challenge you need to jump on the bandwagon now.  It is so much fun.  There are fabulous prizes to be won from Tim and from The Inspiration Emporium.Without further ado here is my take on the folio.


I am a huge reader.  I have worked in a bookstore for almost 15 years.  When I bought this Tim Holtz folio I knew I had to make it all about books and reading.  This was a huge project.  It took me way longer than I thought it would.  I wanted to be sure each page was just right. 
Here come the photos!

This is the front cover.  A while back I bought a card catalog.  It is chock full of cards and I knew I had to use some on here.  

This is what happens when you remove the elastic band.  Books!

Pardon my hand.  I couldn't get the tab to stay open without it.  

That glasses sticker kills me! I would wear those glasses if I could find a pair.  

Tiny handmade books.

This image is from Graphic 45.  I painted it using watercolors. 

Another catalog card.  

The library card is a German flashcard.  

Here are some close ups of the flaps.  Both of the small top and bottom flaps have a card catalog paper as the background and a bookshelf as the foreground.  I cut out a few extra books and popped them up to add dimension.  

The back cover. 

I love how this tuned out.