Birthday Books

A possible way to ensure the Bind-It-All I recently bought earns it's keep, is to make and sell Birthday Books or Journals.  Obviously there would need to be careful selection of any images used so as to comply with individual artist's Terms of Use but that's something that has to be considered for any product you intend to sell.

A birthday book, in particular, is a very handy item to have sitting on your desk as a reminder of all the special annual celebrations you would hate to miss ... or maybe that should say daren't miss ... AND unlike a diary or calendar, it doesn't need to be replaced or rewritten every year.

You simply update it whenever there's a new birthday or anniversary to remember ... much simpler don't you think?

Obviously, the nicest thing of all is that they can be personalised to an individual's taste so would make a perfect gift with a practical use.
It's definitely something I will be considering as a possible way of funding my little hobby.

Butterfly Beauty

Just a quick post to show the card I sent to my Bah! Humbugger buddy Ann for her birthday yesterday.  The stamp is a really pretty Butterfly Fairy from a set by the well known artist Ruth Morehead, whose cutesy images are instantly recognisable worldwide.  I had no idea that any of her images were available as stamps so I just had to snap up this set and couldn't wait to get home to have a play.

She was coloured with Promarkers and sprayed with Crafter's Companion Iridescent Spray and Sparkle, before being cut with the largest size Nestablilties Labels One die.  This spray glitter gives the most gorgeous sparkle effect I have seen for minimum effort - just make sure you either go outside or spray it into an old shoebox as it is a little bit whiffy at first and would probably go everywhere if not contained.  If you click the image below for an enlarged view you will see how sparkly she really is.

I had to draw an outline onto textured blue and pink card, around the outside edge of the label one die shape,  to get the larger shapes I needed for matting and these were cut with scissors.   As you see I used scalloped scissors for the pink layer and turned it 90 degrees before adding some adhesive pearls for decoration.
The beautiful pink silk damask background card was placed onto an 8" square card blank and I matched it with some pretty blue floral paper from My Mind's Eye Pretty Please pad.  A couple of clusters of paper roses in diagonally opposite corners, along with a strip of pretty pink ribbon and a stamped sentiment, provide the finishing touches.

The decoration inside uses the last remnants of the silk cardstock matted onto blue textured card and pink ribbon conceals the joins.   
I went on to use my Bind-It-All to make a slim Birthday Book from textured cardstock in similar colours for Ann to keep a track of those all-important dates that come around so quickly.  

I did add a friendship sentiment below the ribbon before posting it as it looked a little bare but unfortunately, I didn't have time to take more photo's.
Now ... I wonder if they are eligible for any challenges.  Had a look at Challenge Mania and they seem to fit the bill for these challenges. 
Flutterby Wednesday - Fluttery Creations 
(just a taster before the official return on 7th July) 
Crafts and Me 7 - Birthdays 
Pollycraft - Pinkalicious


Tomorrow is Bah! Humbug! Challenge Day ... and we have a brand new Guest Designer for you, as well as our Monthly Prize Draw ... so make sure you don't miss it.

*****

Like many other parents of school age children, my posts may be rather infrequent during the School Summer Holidays, especially if the weather is kind, when we will hopefully be out and about having fun and spending time together as a family.   I will keep up with things at Bah! Humbug! if nothing else so I'm not disappearing completely and will be popping by to leave comments as much as possible but everything else will be 'hit'n'miss.
Hope you all understand and thank you in advance for your patience.

*****

Birthday Blessings

Today my good friend and fellow Bah! Humbugger Irene celebrates her birthday.  Happy Birthday Irene!
I really wanted to make her something special as a gift and as she loves vintage,  this was the obvious theme to follow, despite it not being something I feel particularly competent at.
I had some beautiful ivory cardstock with a wonderful pearlescent sheen so that was cut to DL size and used for the base card.   

The vintage lady was a free image downloaded from Craft Stamper website and I simply colourised it in Paint Shop Pro before printing.  This was then trimmed and matted onto cream card before placing over a similar sized piece of vintage paper from a K. & Co. collection.   A narrow strip of paper from the same pack was torn and inked along one edge and then wrapped with brown ribbon, before placing horizontally across the card front. 
The image was then placed at an angle over the top before adding a few prima flowers and a peel off greeting.
Then I got adventurous and went one stage further by making a matching notebook with my recently acquired Bind It All - a fabulous secondhand bargain bundle which included the Zutter DreamKuts.

More of the pearlescent card provided the covers and once they were bound together with the paper pages, I decorated, inside and out, with coordinating K. & Co. papers, embellishments and a vellum friendship quote. 

I really enjoyed putting it all together but kind've wish I'd added some lace for the full vintage effect.   That's definitely something to remember for the next time. 
Hopefully Irene liked her gift and will think of me whenever she uses her wee notebook.   Ooooo'errrr ... How scary is that?
My project fits in with a couple of challenges this week as listed below.
Lots To Do 18 - Friendship
Crafty Cardmakers 20 - Distressing
Creative Card Crew - April Showers Bring May Flowers

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend ... wherever you are and whatever you are doing and thank you for visiting.