"Mother" Altered Book - SEI

Our library always has free books in the lobby, books that are too old to keep on the shelves for borrowing. I sift through them every time we go in, looking for beautiful colors, covers with vintage patina, and pages with pretty text or pictures. I recently found a small, yellow book that I decided to alter.

I used my favorite papers by SEI, gold leaf stickers and metallic gold paint by Martha Stewart, washi tape, mist, vellum, and even antiqued paper from an old fashioned mercantile store that I picked up on a field trip a few weeks ago.

I decided on the theme of "motherhood" because Mother's Day was approaching as I made the book. I typed up several of my favorite quotations about mothers in my favorite font - Traveling Typewriter. I also used my Silhouette to cut the words "mother" and "mom" several times. I love that font, too - Grand Hotel. While looking around the Silhouette store for some flower files, I came across several that SEI made. I downloaded them at once and you can find them all throughout this book.

I edited about 50 photos of this book and just couldn't narrow down my favorites for this post. So, I made a slideshow:

You can find more details about the book at the SEI blog today, here. Also, I'm adding all the photos of the book to my flickr photostream, here. I hope your Mother's Day was lovely :). Have a good one! Tessa

Vintage Giveaway!

Good morning! I am a little sad to see the Vintage Series over at Amanda Jones' blog end today. There has been so much inspiration! I have two projects up today and I'd love for you to take a look. First, a tutorial for making a fabric flower using vintage fabric (or any fabric, really):

And second, a fabric garland:

You can read all about these projects here. Amanda is doing a giveaway at her blog (go enter, quick!), but I thought I would do one here, too :). If you would like to win this collection of vintage and new/handmade items, just leave a comment:

Prize includes:
♥ a mini fabric garland
♥ a string of vintage, yellow pearl beads
♥ a vintage match box
♥ a vintage game token
♥ a vintage stamp
♥ two yellow Petaloo flowers
♥ five Precocious Paper flowers

I will choose and announce a winner next Friday. I will ship worldwide, except for Italy. I will be back a little bit later with a new Sampler to reveal! Thanks for stopping by :). Tessa

Vintage Napkin Holder, Smash

Hello! Amanda Jones' Vintage Series has been a delight to follow this past week and I have a few more contributions of mine to share with you today! A few days ago, Amanda posted about my vintage napkin holder:

My grandmother gave this to me a few years ago and I just recently incorporated it into my scrapbook room storage. I love using it to hold tags and ephemera. You can read more about it in this post.  Today, Amanda is sharing how I put my napkin holder to use to create this Smash Book page:

Remember the vintage fabrics I shared last week? I used a swatch of one of my favorites on this Smash Book page:

I love using fabric as an alternative to patterned paper, especially when I want some texture. The other contributors to the Vintage Series have some fabulous ideas, too, so head on over and check them out. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day! Tessa

Vintage Fabric Love

Happy Wednesday, all! I am up on Amanda Jones' blog today as part of her Vintage Series, sharing one of my favorite vintage materials to craft with - fabric! Here's a peek, but for the rest, you'll have to visit the post.

Read more here. I'm off to celebrate my oldest's birthday :). I can't believe I've been a mother for nine years! Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Out and About

Hello! In the past week or so I have made 13 layouts and several other bits and pieces, but I can't share any of it yet. So, while I patiently wait to prove that I have been creatively busy, I thought I would let you know of some fabulous stuff going on out there. First up, Miss Art's Papercrafting School is having a free class weekend! Here are the details:

The headmistress at Miss Art's would like to invite you to our biggest free class event yet!  Beginning on Friday,  March 23rd, you will have 3 days to check out three of our most popular classes for free, no subscription needed.  

Three of our 201 class have nearly completed their 12 months of availability, and each of these amazing classes deserves a farewell party!  The Secret Garden with Stacy Cohen, B. You! with Heidi Kelley, and All About Me with Bethany Kartchner have all been around for nearly a year, and will soon be removed from our class schedule to make room for some amazing new classes.  That means that this weekend is your chance to check them out one last time, for FREE!  If you've been thinking about joining our student body, consider this your campus tour, led by three amazing teachers. When you visit us on Friday, head to the "Classes" page to view this weekend's free classes.  We'll see you there!

missartspapercrafting.com/classes

Also, Amanda Jones' Vintage Series began yesterday and I am finding myself more and more envious of the ephemera/vintage collections some people have! If you want more information on where to find vintage goodies, how to store them and what to do with them, you must follow along.

I hope you've been happily busy, too! Enjoy your day! Tessa

Smash Sunday

Hello! I am back after a week-long blogging hiatus with a new weekly post: Smash Sunday! Each Sunday I will be sharing a page or two from one of my Smash books. If you are unfamiliar with the Smash Book concept, here is a great place to check it out. You can find my first Smash book, Summer 2011, here. I started a new one with the theme of "everyday" - bits and pieces of daily life, hopes and wishes, and little moments. This is the first two-page spread in the book:

This is actually just the first printed page in the book (on the right), but I embellished the left hand side, too, covering up the book information printed at the bottom. Just the other night I asked my husband how we should redecorate our bedroom. I had found this image in a magazine several months before and was kinda hoping he would give me permission to do something this bright. I'm still working on it :).

One of my favorite materials for Smashing is die-cuts. I have lots that haven't made it onto scrapbook pages, and the Smash book is an ideal place for those homeless cutouts. I love these butterflies :). Also, notice the "love" on the left and the "love my life" on the right? I am using an SRM Sticker sentiment on just about every page. With the variety of stickers and sayings, there is always something just perfect :).

I will be sharing more pages, including my title page, in the coming days during a special event at my friend, Amanda's blog:

I LOVE mixing vintage finds into my work and this series gave me the opportunity to do just that. I'll be sharing Smash book pages, a tutorial, and some well-loved vintage gifts from my grandmother. The other artists on board for the series are amazing, so you really MUST tune in. I'm truly honored to be a part of it!

Well, that's it! I hope you will enjoy this new series on my blog :). Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa