Art is Joy and Joy is Art Book

You all know how much I love making books!  Well today I am going to share one of my favorite ones with you.  I call it my Art is Joy Book.

I started out by by die cutting the scalloped squares.  To do this I first covered chipboard with Basic Grey papers.  This way when I cut them I wouldn't have to trim them afterwards. It gives a clean and finished look.  You may not have dies to cut these but you may want to visit your local scrapbook store. They usually have dies like this that you can use.  The dimensions of my little book are 4 inches x 4 inches.

 After I cut out all the pages, I lined them up and put them together so that I would be working on the two facing pages at the same time.  This way I could coordinate the designs across both pages.  I love making shaker boxes.  The two on the left have seashells in them.

I like to add different media to my little books. On the pages below I added a pair of angel wings that I made from melted UTEE and a mould.

I used the same rubber stamp on both pages but I used different colored inks.  I really love this page because of the cut outs I added. Again these were just designs from a larger piece of scrapbook paper. I used design scissors to cut them out. I love the stamped edge one. I covered them in glue and added clear glass beads.  It's hard to see in this picture but they look like sugared fruit does.

On this page I made a buddha mould out of paper.  I added clear plastic squares on the right and a purple tassel.

On the back I have a ribbon with a brass ribbon slide.  I had a postcard and cut out the image and added the letters for ART to it.  I foiled the letters.

I punched holes in the left side with a Zutter binding machine and bound my book pages with o-wire.

The Muse - A Collage Card

Hi everyone and Happy Friday.  I know that for some of you it's not Friday so Happy day wherever you are!

Today's card is a collage card.  I used Graphic 45 papers.  I love their old style look.


I started out with ivory card stock for my card base.  Then I used patterned paper for the mat. You will notice that I edged the mat in gold.  I cut out one of the images from the Graphic 45 paper and colored the edge with walnut stain dye ink. 
7 Gypsies makes ATC supplies. One of the ones they did was clear plastic holders to put over the ATCs. They had a set you could buy with designs on them.  What you are seeing below (the black flower to the left of the woman's face) is one of those ATC folders.  I trimmed off the one end and placed it on top of the picture.  It looks really good and is a nice accent.
Then I took a medium tag and stamped and colored the edges with walnut stain dye ink.  I took a silver ball chain and colored it red with alcohol ink.  I punched out four small tags and embossed the letters M-U-S-E on them and strung them through the chain.  I attached the medium tag with mounting tape.
As a final touch I punched out two Fleur De Li's in gold glossy and added them to the card.

This card is a feast for the eyes.  I really love the woman's face and the way the flower stems curl.  I like the little tags and the chain because I like things that swing and move.

I hope you enjoyed today's card.

Asian Panel Card

Hi eveyrone!  One of my many favorite styles of card is asian themed.  I love the washi papers that are available and the many different stamps with kimonos, geisha and asian themed images.

I used a piece of washi paper and cut out four strips, matted them on black, edged them in gold and added them to my card.  It's a simple, clean look.

I used mizuhiki cord to make the knot.  Mizuhiki is very popular and is used to make elaborate knots.  Its an art form in Japan.  The cords come in a number of colors.