The Crown Journal

15 Saturday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, Gilded Life, handmade books, journals, tutorial

Tags

All Sparkled Up, bookmaking, crafts, crown, handmade book, handmade journal, journals, lace, paper crafts, tutorial

The Crown Journal.

For years I made my own blank journals using a standard codex construction with fabric bound spine and hardcovers. The signatures were sewn onto cords or tapes and then glued into the hard cover. This site, Humblebee & Me, has an excellent tutorial for sewing signatures on tapes.

It’s been a few years since I made a handmade journal so I finally had time to make one a couple months ago. I followed Jeanne Oliver’s video for stitching the signatures together from her wonderful The Journey of Letting Go class online . (I highly recommend the class, not just for the terrific art instruction, but also for the heart-felt inspirational videos. Jeanne, you’re the best!) Jeanne’s stitching process for sewing the pages together was easy and fun.

I didn’t photograph the steps to stitch the text block together but here is how I made the Crown Journal cover if you want to make one. This is an abbreviated tutorial but there’s enough here to give you basic instruction to make the lace crown, which would look great glued to an altered book cover. If you want actual measurements, let me know in the comments and I’ll measure some of the components for you.

It was fun going through my stash of supplies to pull out some pretty options.
The dyed seam binding tape, blue sequin fabric, lace and rhinestone chain were from A Gilded Life.
To make the text block, I cut up a sketch pad.
The linen was purchased from sources online.

Glittery trims, lace and rhinestones to make a handmade journal.

Both front and back covers were assembled the same way. Each cover has a piece of ivory linen and natural color linen, one small and one larger piece of chip board (cut from the back of a water color tablet) and a piece of thin cotton batting for padding under the ivory linen.

The materials used to make the book cover: Ivory linen over batting over chip board, which is then glued to a larger piece of chip board covered with natural linen.

The batting is lightly glued to the small chip board square and then the ivory linen is placed over top of the batting. This piece is turned over and the ivory linen is glued to the back of the board, mitering the corners on the back.
The natural color linen is glued to the larger board without any batting.

Once the cover pieces are covered with linen, then you get to do the fun stuff!
I lay loose pieces of lace and rhinestone chain on the top of the book cover to see what I liked before gluing anything down.
I also tried several different lace pieces before making up my mind about the crown.

Trying out pieces of lace for the crown.

To glue such fine netting, I spread tacky glue on the flat lid of a plastic bin and then laid the blue lace in the glue… then quickly picked up the lace while still wet and smoothed it in position on the padded ivory linen.

Gluing the sequined lace on the journal cover.

There was just enough glue on the thin lace netting to glue all the tiny pieces down securely, with no edges pulling up and no glue squishing up. I want the lace to be durable because this journal will last me at least a year.

The back of this board shows how the edges of the linen and lace are glued down on the back of the padded ivory board.

The back of the top cover piece.

To make a lace crown, choose lace pieces that will look like the points of a crown when placed together. I used three different pieces of lace. To curve the lace, cut small slits between the motifs of the lace as shown.

Here you can see where I snip the lace so it will curve better.

Snipping the lace so the edge can be overlapped so it curves better.

Once the lace is ready, glue the pieces together to form the crown.

The lace crown pieces all glued together.

Tacky glue is thinly spread on a smooth surface and the lace crown is carefully pressed into the glue.

The assembled crown is laid on wet tacky glue.

While the glue is still wet, lift the lace crown piece up and carefully position it on the cover and press it down on the ivory linen. It dried fairly fast when I positioned it but I still pressed down in places to make sure it stuck well on all edges.

The crown is carefully positioned on the book cover and pressed down around all edges.

Cut rhinestone chain to size using jewelry cutters and glue it down with 527 Multi-Use glue or other strong jewelry glue.

Jewelry cutters are used to cut the rhinestone chain to size.

I pressed my needle nose pliers into the book cover to make small indentations so rhinestones would set in deeper and more securely. These were glued with the 527 glue also.

If the gems are large, make a small indentation so they can be set more securely into the book cover.

If the gems are large, make small indentations so they can be set more securely into the book cover.

The crown is complete.

The front of the book cover is ready for the next step.

While the glue was drying, I made the ribbon rose buds for the journal spine. A length of ribbon was tied to make a loose knotted ribbon rose bud. I made three of these.
To make a knotted rose bud, the ribbon is tied as if about to make a knot, but the ribbon is looped over and over 4 times, not just once like a standard knot. Then when the ribbon is slowly pulled tighter, the layers of wrapped ribbon overlap and form a pretty bud shape. If the ribbon is pulled too tightly, the flower shape disappears and turns into a big knot. So you have to stop pulling while the ribbon is still loose. The ribbon “tails” are folded to the back and then stitched together so the ribbon bud doesn’t come apart. I cut off the excess ribbon and gently fringed the short ribbon tail under the bud.

Making the ribbon rose buds.

Three lengths of ribbon were stitched and gathered together.

These longer ribbons were stitched behind the flower buds.

The ribbon loops are sewn to the back of the ribbon rose buds.

I ruffled a long length of seam binding tape to use on the front cover. Here it is pinned down on the larger natural linen-covered board as I adjust the ruffles to fit. But before gluing down the ruffle, I glued on the decorative top of the cover.

Seam binding tape is gathered down the middle and the pinned to the cover to check for size and adjust ruffles.

Seam binding tape is gathered down the middle and then pinned to the cover to check for size and adjust ruffles.

I spread tacky glue generously over the back of the ivory cover piece and pressed it down on the larger board.

Glue is squirted on the inside of the top cover piece. After taking this photo, I spread the clue around using an old credit card and made sure the glue extended all the way to the edges and corners.

Tacky glue is squirted on the inside of the top cover piece. After taking this photo, I spread the glue around using an old credit card and made sure the glue extended all the way to the edges and corners. Tacky glue is great because it sets up fast but you have to work quickly.

Some of the glue squished out around the edge but that was good. I used my fingers and a pallet knife to press the folded ruffle into the glue. I used the ruffle folded in half all the way down the length for extra fullness. It was easy to press the center of the ruffled seam binding tape into the glue and it held well. I squeezed more tacky glue into any spaces that didn’t have enough to hold the ruffle well.

The top of the cover is glued on the larger linen-covered board. Then while the glue is still wet, the ruffled seam binding tape is pushed into glue.

The top of the cover is glued on the larger linen-covered board. Then while the glue is still wet, the ruffled seam binding tape is pushed into wet glue between the two boards.

The back cover was different. Instead of a ruffle all the way around, I just pleated the four corners and let the seam binding tape stay flat on the sides. I glued this down before gluing on the back piece.

I cut a small motif from the blue lace and laid it in glue as for the front cover.

The glued motif was positioned and pressed down carefully, especially around the lace edges. Here is the finished back cover.

I glued a piece of decorative paper inside the front and back covers to cover the edges of the linen and lace. The same kind of paper was used to wrap the front and back signatures so they would match.

Each signature was folded inside a piece of vintage wallpaper or decorative paper. Here you can see the gap between two signatures in the journal.

I accidentally placed this piece of wallpaper upside down during construction of the journal. I don’t mind because mistakes like this make me smile and remind me life isn’t perfect.

Once the book was sewn together, I stitched and glued the bundle of ribbon rose buds into the spine.

Here you can see the stitching along the spine.

The bundle of rose buds in the spine doesn’t interfere with the book opening fully.

I used a decorative paper punch to punch the edges of pages in random places.

One of the ribbons is threaded in between two signatures to be used as a ribbon bookmark.

One of the ribbons at the spine is used as a bookmark.

The finished Crown Journal.

The binding of this book allows it to open fully, even with a ribbon bundle glued and sewn into the spine.

This journal will last me about a year because I tend to write very small. I’ve been using it for two months so far and it has shown no signs of loosening and all the lace and gems are glued down tight, even when I slide the journal between books on a bookshelf.

I have to confess that this is the prettiest journal I’ve had in a long time. It’s quite heavy and the covers are soft and silky to hold. All the prettiness has had an unexpected impact on me. Each night, when I pick it up to write, I noticed that my writings have become more optimistic. I’m really glad about that because I have a couple old journals that are genuine but much too sad to reread. This is the perfect journal for this time in my life, a time of transition and full of good things, all sparkled up.

On my worktable – Leaf and Stone Necklace

11 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, jewelry making, On my Worktable

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Tags

crafts, geode, jewelry, jewelry making, necklace, stone

This will be a gift.
The stones are jasper and peridot and turquoise.
The leaves are Czech glass and vintage pearl.
But the best part is the geode.
On the outside, it is cold and hard.

Leaf and Stone Necklace in progress

But inside is where the treasure is, all glittery and stunning in beauty.

Inside the geode – a secret treasure of stunning light

It makes me wonder how many people I have met that I didn’t take the time to find the treasure inside. And that cold and hard exterior was just there to keep them safe.
Today I’m going to smile more at people, no matter how angry or disconnected they seem. You never know what’s inside. And maybe it’s the kindnesses we give away that actually make those crystal interiors all the more brave and shiny.

The Moss Rose Bracelet is finished

07 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, jewelry making, projects, sparkling, tea time, tutorial

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

beading, beads, crafts, flower beads, jewelry, jewelry making, Moss Rose, moss rose bracelet, tutorial, vintage beads

The Moss Rose Bracelet, inspired by an antique tea set from my Grandma, is finished and I love it! It turned out even better than I expected. ..happy smile…

Moss Rose Bracelet, inspired by a vintage teacup from my Grandma.

Moss Rose Bracelet, inspired by an antique tea set from my Grandma.

There are three things special about this bracelet. First, the colors truly say Moss Rose.
I was working from my stash of beads from French General, A Gilded Life and vintage beads and wasn’t sure I had all the right colors. Without intention, my love of Moss Rose must have influenced my purchase of beads over the years because I just happened to have the right colors. How cool is that! I had dark mossy greens, deep pinks and the perfect little dusty lavender cone flower beads. I was most particular about the white beads, which had to look like old white china. I didn’t have any rose beads but that was ok since all I really needed was the impression of a rose. I used Lucite trumpet flower beads with a bead calyx and that worked well.

Moss Rose Bracelet components

Second was the movement of the bracelet. Necklaces lay fairly still around the neck but bracelets have to move. They need shimmy and jingle, drape and sway, elegant like ballet. Bracelets need movement just distracting enough to be noticed. The Moss Rose Bracelet does exactly what I hoped it would do; the roses and leaves drip down and sway gently against my arm.

I love how loose and draping the leaves are on this bracelet.

Third and best is how much the bracelet makes me think of my Grandma and my mom. Some of the beautiful china-white beads are from a broken necklace that belonged to my mom. So special. ♥

Even though I’m making a few of these bracelets to sell in my Etsy shop, I want to share how I made some of the components. I have not included directions for making the small clusters of purple flowers because some Moss Rose patterns do not have these flowers. But you can see how they were constructed by looking closely at the photos.

Make the “roses”
To make a rose, prepare the wires for the flower centers.
1. Bend 1/4″ at the end of a 2 1/2″ piece of jewelry wire.
2. Hold the bent part of the wire in round nose pliers.
3. Coil the wire using the round nose pliers. As the coil is formed, you will have to move the bent tail out of the way until a full coil is formed. It’s hard to explain but you’ll see what I mean as you bend the wire.
4. The finished coil, ready for seed beads.

Prepare the wires for the rose centers.

Add about 8 seed beads to the wire.

1. Slide the beads onto the wire and into the coil.
2. Make sure all the beads are in the coil and then bend the tail of the wire over.
3. Use needle nose pliers to fold the tail tightly around the wire as shown. Cut off the short tail close to the center wire using flush cutters.

Add beads to the flower center wire loop.

Secure seed beads to the flower center wire loop.

Shown here are all the steps to make a flower center.

Prepare the beaded Calyx wires.
Start with a 1 1/4″ piece of wire.You can use head pins for this but I didn’t have enough so I made my own by tightly folding in 1/16″ of wire at the end. Two calyx wires are used for each rose and one for each rose bud. I varied the length of these to make the mossy roses and buds more realistic and natural looking. The color of green seed beads are placed in a light to dark to light pattern on each wire.
[NOTE: The photos show the way I made the wires first. But I had a few broken seed beads when I twisted the center of each calyx wire after the seed beads had been added. The better way would be to form the center loop first, then slide beads onto each side, and then fold the tip of the wire in to secure the beads. I don’t have photos of bending the wires that way but these photos will give you an idea of the finished product.]

Secure green seed beads on wires to use for the calyx.

The components to make a rose are two calyx wires, a trumpet bead flower and a round beaded wire center.

Components used in making a “rose”.

Insert the flower center into a flower bead. Slide the green beads apart at the center and bend the calyx wires in half.

Insert the flower center into a flower bead. Using round nose pliers, bend the calyx wires in half and then bend until you have a tiny loop.

Two beaded wires ready to place on the flower wire.

Slide the calyx wires one at a time down over the flower. Twist a little tighter to make the calyx secure. That’s ok if they move a little. Remember, if you twist too tight, you might break some of the seed beads. It might be easier to make these directly on the flower wire so as to avoid any seed beads breaking. I will probably try that next time although this worked well enough.

I finished some of the flowers with just a wire wrapped loop. But others I added seed beads to make a slightly longer stem before finishing with a wire wrapped loop.

Make the rose buds
1. Make Calyxes as above, one per rose bud.
2. Slide a pink seed bead and then a 4 mm round pink bead on a 2″ wire with folded end or use a head pin. Then add a dark green seed bead. Slide the prepared beaded calyx wire over the round bead as you did for the flowers.
3. Add more seed beads to the wire and finish with a wire wrapped loop. I slightly spiraled the calyx wires around the 4mm bead.

Make the rose leaf clusters
Oh my goodness, I got so excited the night I figured out how to wire these! I was shutting down for the night and was staring at my work table, not seeing the beads. I was actually praying for some family members in distress and not even thinking of beading. Then all of a sudden I figured out how to wire the leaves together so they would dangle the way I hoped. God is so cool to give us ideas when we least expect it.
1. Prepare the center bead by sliding a seed bead, then a pressed glass leaf bead, then another seed bead on a 2″ wire with folded end or head pin. Finish with a wire-wrapped loop and set aside.
2. Cut a 3″ piece of wire and bend at a 90 degree angle as shown.
Slide the center bead you made down to the angle in the 3″ wire.
Slide a leaf bead on each side of the center bead.
Fold the wires toward the center of the two beads. The wires will cross over. Where the wires cross over, twist the wires together at the top, as in photo 3. Be careful you don’t twist too tight or you may shatter the leaf beads. I didn’t break any but I know that’s a possibility if you make the twist too tight.
3. Cut one of the wires with a flush cutter as shown so you have a single wire remaining. The twist should be tight so that it will fit inside a bead in the next step. Click on the photo and then click the number link at the upper left of the photo to view the original size image to see a close up of the construction.
4. Slide a larger bead with a hole big enough to cover the twisted wires. Add a couple more seed beads on the remaining wire. Finish with a wire wrapped loop.

Gilding
The Moss Rose tea set I have has a delicate border of gold, much of it worn off by age. I duplicated that touch of gold by using Rub n Buff and a stiff brush to add a touch of gold to the some of the white beads and wire findings on the bracelet components.

Here are the beads all ready for assembly. I moved them around on the table a bit until I came up with a design I liked. I ended up not using the little white doughnut beads but it was fun to have options.

The bracelet is finally assembled using jump rings to attach all the pieces together.

Thank you for visiting my blog. I truly appreciate it! Blog readers get just little glimpses into our lives; they see splashes of color, tangles of wire, components lined up but not always connected. I really appreciate your faithfulness as I figure out how to make this blog better for you.

In the beginning of this blog, I didn’t have any readers at all but merrily posted away like a little bird chirping in a forest. Then I went through a rough time after breaking my back and getting major surgery, with its months of medicated pain management. Over the past year my posts weren’t always happy. But I have come to value life and the beautiful people in it more than ever.

This blog is for you. Like tending a garden of roses, I’ve done some weeding and deleting here. What is left are posts I hope have value, and the ones written when I did my best to be brave. I’m learning how important it is to stay true to the sparkling things in life and share the best. I guess we all grow in grace like that. I want to give you something good because your presence here reading my blog is a gift of pure grace. Thank you.

May grace adorn your life, with all the splendor you hoped for.
Love to you, my dear readers!

On my worktable… Moss Rose Bracelet

04 Tuesday Jun 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, beading, crafts, jewelry making, On my Worktable, tea time

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All Sparkled Up, beading, beads, child's tea set, crafts, jewelry making, Moss Rose, Moss Rose china, vintage beads

One of my favorite china patterns is Moss Rose, with its lovely dark pink roses and characteristic mossy ferns and leaves. The Moss Rose pattern has been used to decorate china since the early 1800’s. I wish I knew the history of this child-size Moss Rose tea set that belonged to my grandmother.

The inspiration for the project on my table – a vintage child’s tea set in Moss Rose pattern that belonged to my grandmother.

Inspired by the colors and pattern of the tea set, I gathered beads to make a Moss Rose Bracelet.

Possible beads to use in the bracelet – Czech glass leaves and flowers, seed beads, vintage white glass beads that were from a broken necklace that belonged to my Mom in the 50’s, Mother of Pearl beads, vintage plastica flowers and glass pearl drops, and others.

The greenery is prominent in a Moss Rose pattern so I wanted to feature the greens more than the pink. I didn’t have any rose beads so was able to give the impression of a rose by adding a calyx to pink beads.

The calyx is made of two tiny wires of green beads, twisted around a central wire.

My stock of head pins is limited so I had to make my own. I learned how to make make several styles of head pins by following a terrific Craftsy.com class online – Make Your Own Wirework Findings, taught by Lisa Niven Kelly.

All the completed jewelry components are sorted and ready for assembly.

I played with jewelry components, moving them around on my work surface until I came up with several possible configurations.

One way the Moss Rose bracelet components can be assembled together.

I haven’t finished the bracelet yet because I haven’t decided what to do next. Just placing the leaf clusters on the bracelet looks complete, especially to someone who loves greenery as much as I do. I will probably finish the bracelet as planned but will save this idea to make another bracelet with a profusion of leaves.

The sections of white beads are attached and the leaf clusters have been added. I love the bracelet just the way it is here!

The sections of white beads are attached and the leaf clusters and vintage pearl drops have been added. I love the bracelet just the way it is here!

I will post a photo after the bracelet is complete, perhaps tomorrow.
In the meantime, I’m already gathering supplies to make a vintage all-white and pearl bracelet using the beading techniques I made up for this bracelet.
I have too many bracelet ideas! I’ll just have to make some and sell them in my Etsy shop – All Sparkled Up.

Two Little Princess Dolls

29 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in birthday, crafts, dolls, projects, sewing, sparkling

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cloth dolls, crafts, Princess dolls, removing stains from cloth dolls, sewing, stuffed dolls, tiny dolls

I made these for my granddaughter for her birthday last week – Two Little Princess Dolls, barely 5 1/2″ tall. It was a challenge to make them heavy. I believe doll legs and arms should flop down when you hold them so I filled the bottom part of the legs with sand to give them weight. I also half-filled the arms with sand too. The rest of the body is filled with fiberfill.

I made these dolls to have posable legs so they can sit.

I made these dolls with legs that bend at the knee so they can sit.

Actually, I only made the dresses and tiaras last week and put new hair on them. I created the pattern for these dolls back in 1985, inspired by the work of Joan Russell from the early 60’s. I made about 20 of these little dolls. Most were given away and I don’t even remember who I gave them to. I embroidered my name and date, J A Monroe 1985, on the back of each doll and every one was different, with a different combination of eye and hair color.

Embroidered name and date on the back of the dolls.

Alas, when we moved to North Carolina from Miami in the 90’s, we went through a flood and the five remaining dolls were submerged under flood water for several days. They got badly stained. The original hair was a silky “dry clean only” cord that couldn’t handle water. Here you can see some of the bad staining.

The dolls were badly stained when they went through a flood.

Fortunately, I was able to bleach out the stains using full strength bleach on a cotton swab. You can see how perfectly the bleach is removing the black stain. I removed the ruined hair from two dolls and sewed on hair of embroidery floss. The blond hair doll used to have black hair. What a change!

I used a cotton swab with bleach to remove the black stains. It worked very effectively.

The tiaras were made by first wrapping and gluing wooly nylon thread around a wire frame. Then beads were wired to the frame.

The black hair was removed and replaced with yellow embroidery floss.

The dolls looked much better with new hair and tiaras.

The clothing was so fun to design! It was a challenge to find fabric with the right amount of drape. For such a tiny doll, the fabric had to be thin and soft. The pink dress was made from a vintage silk scarf. The blue, sequined lace was from A Gilded Life. The blue dress has one snap and the pink dress has a hook in back so the dresses can be removed.

Click the photos so see a larger image for detail. Both dolls have heads fully covered with embroidered floss; I figure if little brother ever gets hold of them and pulls off the long hair, they’ll still have embroidered hair, albeit short. The brown haired doll’s hair is left long and can be slightly styled. To make the curls, I wrapped a tendril of floss with glue around a waxed toothpick and let it dry. It slid right off the waxy toothpick. The blond doll’s hair is stitched into a bun.

She loved the dolls! …smile… =) ..heart.. ♥ …happy…

Two tiny princess dolls, ready to begin their adventures.

Little Ribbon Totes and Miniature Purses

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, miniature, sparkling

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bead crafts, crafts, mini, mini purse, miniature, miniature purse, miniature tote, purses, ribbon

Rainy day fun with ribbon and beads making tiny totes and miniature purses.
I started with the Klutz book Ribbon Purses (no longer in print) and made this tiny purse following their directions and using the kit materials.

A tiny ribbon purse made with Klutz book kit materials.

I really wanted to stick with just the kit items but then I thought of this one, using some of the kit supplies and adding my own seed beads and charms.

Tiny ribbon purse with charm dangle.

I didn’t follow the directions on this one but did use the kit supplies plus seed beads.

I used the purple beads from the kit to form the purse bottom.

Then I got a shiny new idea.

Tiny ribbon tote bag supplies: ribbon, chain, metallic trim, square beads, brass beads and eye pins.

Tiny ribbon tote bag supplies: I used the ribbon from the kit but the chain, metallic trim, square beads, brass beads and eye pins are my own.

Tiny ribbon tote bag. This was fun to design!

For the last one, I used the Klutz kit ribbon but added my own embellishment. I would love to make a full size clutch purse like this. The hardest component would be finding large, clear, flat-sided acrylic gems to form the sides of the clutch. I love how the light passes through this purse. I used a tiny turtle from a pierced earring for the decoration on the side.

The light passes through the gems in the sides of this tiny clutch purse.

I used a tiny turtle from a pierced earring to embellish this miniature clutch purse.

Miniature Perfume Bottles

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, miniature, sparkling

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bead bottles, bead crafts, beads, crafts, miniature, miniatures

I was cleaning out old photo files and found these photos from way back in 2003.

All the perfume bottles are made of beads, earring backs and jewelry findings. They are tiny, some less than half an inch. To help the bead “bottles” stand up, I glued the bead on a pierced earring back. If you want to see the most detail in these photos, click on the photo to open a larger image. Then at the upper left of each photo will be a link that says “ORIGINAL SIZE AT (number) “. Click that link to see the largest image.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads and jewelry findings. Please click on the photo to see a larger image.

A small plastic organizer with the lid removed made an elegant faux glass shelf unit for the miniature bead bottles.

A small plastic organizer with the lid removed served as an elegant “glass” shelf unit for the miniature bead bottles.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads.

Miniature perfume bottles made from beads. This dresser tray is a mirror with trim glued around the edge.

To make the tray, I glued seed beads around the edge of a small mirror.

The first two photos were taken in my kitchen window… so many years ago, even before we planted the rose bush which has climbed all the way up to the kitchen window. I don’t remember where I put all the tiny bead bottles. When I find them, I think I’ll put the display case in the bedroom or bathroom window. I love tucking miniatures around the house. Most people never see them but I like knowing that my home has an even smaller story for those who have eyes to catch it.

Rainy May Day French Beading

06 Monday May 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in beading, crafts, flowers, nature, sparkling, sunlight

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beads, crafts, french beaded flowers, French Beading, May, rainy day

It’s been mostly overcast and rainy for at least two weeks now.

A Rainy day in May.

I’m discovering that the weather greatly affects my pain level, ever since having my spine fused. Despite the pain, I shall redeem this time.

Rain in May, drip drip drip, fall the crystal drops …

Today when the sun peeked out briefly, I stood outside even while the rain was still falling, so desperate to feel sun on my face.

Even the trees are becoming mossy from all the dampness this spring.

Then the clouds moved in again and I tucked back in the darkness of my work space. But places don’t have to stay colorless and uncheered. I got out the beads.

Seed beads, mostly size 11, including Aiko and Delicas, fill a bin with color.

Pearl, crystal and glass beads.

They glistened and captured every speck of light. I didn’t want any light to get away.

Beads in a small condiment dish.

I made petals and leaves and flower centers.

Gold and bronze bead flower centers await petals and assembly.

I use children’s teacups and dishes to hold flower components while I work. Here a child’s teacup holds stamens.

A small child’s teacup holds white stamens.

I made a cardboard insert in a bin to hold my bead bottles upside down so I can see the color of the contents better.

These vintage flower centers belonged to my grandmother. I’m looking forward to using them. Thank you so much, dear sister Donna for sending them!

I will use these vintage flower beads in French Beaded flowers and jewelry.

Even though it is dark and rainy outside and there are no flowers blooming in the window, I have flowers blossoming on the table.

French Beaded flowers

French Beaded flowers in a shoebox await stems and leaves.

French Beaded flowers

The Cardboard Letter Art Books

17 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in altered books, art, crafts

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altered book, altered books, art, art books, artist books, crafts, paper arts, scrapbooking, scrapbooks

Years ago I made these art books from hollow 3-D cardboard letters which were readily available back then. I used an X-acto knife and butcher knife to cut the letters in half. Some had strong corrugated cardboard baffles inside to keep the box from collapsing, thus the need for the butcher knife.
The “AT Dot Com” book. Since taking this photo, I have since filled the book with favorite website and email addresses.

The “At Dot Com Book” is made from a cardboard 3-D @ symbol, cut in half, with an accordion page glued inside.

Inside the At Dot Com Book. The accordion page is made of separate sheets of cardstock, cut and glued together to represent elements of the earth – green leafy vegetation, pink floral and blue water. For the water page, I masked off continents (which I cut from paper and taped down) and sponged blue and aqua inks over the paper.

The “C Book” scrapbook was gifted to my daughter-in-law when my granddaughter was born.

The C Book. The colored bits around the edge of the book are actually Light-Brite pegs. I was hoping to add a battery operated light inside the cover but never found one the right size so the book was finished without lighting capability. The word inside says “smitten”, which I still am. -heart-

The C Book shown open.

The “D Book” was for my husband. He works in construction so I made this book with wood tones and brass nails and hinge. It only has two pages inside and will be used as a scrapbook.

The D Book is closed with a clasp and secured at the spine with two hinges. Although there is an accordion page inside, the book opens as a normal book and the accordion page does not fold out because of the hinges at the book’s spine.

To decorate the “J Book”, I covered the cardboard letter halves with green decorative tissue paper and then stitched the plastic flowers on with embroidery floss.

Artist Book – The J Book, made from a 3-D letter J.

The J Book was the most complicated book to create. The photos taken of flowers growing in our yard are all separate, attached together with string and suspended from the book with string. They fold into the book accordion-style. Because of the weight of the photos, I glued rocks into the base of the J book for stability. Some rocks were kept loose inside the J and are used for display when the book is opened. When the book is stored on my library shelf, I keep it wrapped with a green cord to keep it closed and to keep the loose rocks inside.

Thank You – The Graphics Fairy

08 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in art, crafts, mixed media, Uncategorized

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crafts, graphics fairy, old graphics, The Graphics Fairy, vintage clip art, vintage illustrations, vintage pictures

I’m finally getting around to posting Thank You’s to some wonderful people. This one is overdue by six months.

I love vintage graphics and have a collection of old books from the 1800’s and early 1900’s that I use for inspiration. So I was thrilled to stumble upon this awesome website: The Graphics Fairy, run by Karen, a lady of terrific style and creativity.

I’ve collected some of her free graphics over the past couple months with plans to use them in artwork. Karen’s collection is remarkable and vast, with hundreds of graphics of excellent quality to use in your crafts. There are convenient search tools on site so you can search by category or word for specific graphics. I’ve searched for vintage birds, bird cages and Paris drawings.

One graphic that means a lot to me is a gorgeous Eiffel Tower print. It is from an 1890’s advertising card. I included the image in a post last year. Alas, I just discovered that I forgot to credit Graphics Fairy with the image last year. Back when I did the post, I was totally strung out on pain meds and barely made it through typing that post. I edited the post today to include the image credit.

In addition to providing images, Karen also includes creative ways to use them. There are great tutorials and tips for printing and transfering images to make dozens of lovely, vintage-inspired items.

Thank you, Karen of Graphics Fairy fame, for providing such a fantastic resource so generously. You are appreciated so much!