Friday, January 24, 2014

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Hello All! Donna today, my first post of the New Year, hope you are all having a great start to a great year!
During the holidays the very talented Tonya Gibbs posted a Santa's List Holiday Organizer she made using a small 6 x 9 binder. I immediately thought of my husband using a book like this year round to organize his many notes, phone numbers and such which he gathers during every day life. Using the collection from Pink Paislee, Hope Chest, possibly tucked into one of the great Warehouse Combo boxes available in the Flamingo Scraps online store. Although Hope Chest has many florals, it also has a rustic feel to it, with some masculine graphics mixed into the rust, teal and weathered white ledger papers. Along with the paper, there were journal blocks in this collection and many paper tags and stickers. And very pretty butterfly clips, which I didn't think I needed to include in the hubs book!
I took quite a few photos to show the many elements included in this organizer! I'[ll start with the cover. Added to the Hope Chest paper pack, I had one clear mylar sheet with black graphics that I strategically cut to add, starting with the cover. It added a bit of continuity to the book, along with the one roll of green wood grain washi tape (my first jump into the washi tape world!), and helped transform the florals a little more. The cover sheet was cut to highlight the dog in the Hope Chest papers, as my husband adores our dog, I thought it was a great piece for the cover. In my stash I had some copper alpha/numeric pieces that blended well with the color scheme, used to add 2014. Centered on the cover was also a blank space which one of the stickers from the Hope Chest collection fit into perfectly, bracketed by copper pieces from the same set. The paper is tucked behind the vinyl cover and protected from daily use. The copper numbers and brackets are adhered with matte medium on the outside of the protector




Close up of the sticker sentiment .





This is the inside cover, showing the vinyl pockets, covered by paper, adhered with double sided Scor Tape, available by special order through Suzanne, just contact her by clicking on her name!
This pocket holds his contact info, along with some blank journaling cards to add throughout the book. The inside spine is covered with paper and a piece of the mylar graphic sheet over the top, left open at the sides to add to the blank text space. There are a few kraft journal cards from my stash, added as prompts to "get his book going".




A photo can also be place under the oval in the mylar sheet, or leave the rooster as is.




One additional mylar sheet added to a page protector, which I sliced off 1/8" to allow me to slide a piece of cardstock, then fold over to make an interactive page. Just to the right of the paper clip (from the collection, minus the butterfly) I used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher to hold the paper in place. He can slide a special photo into the page protector.




This is a view of the fold out page and the next pocket page, made easily by scoring a 12 x 12 paper down the center at 6", turn paper, score at 4", fold four inch fold up, then fold in half. Your pockets can be on the inside or the outside, depending on which way you decide to fold. Cutting page protectors to clip onto two rings to use as pockets (shown in another photo), I had a piece of protector let that I used to add as an additional element, adding journal blocks and prompts, this page highlighting Sunny, our dog, and a pocket to store his immunization and registration papers, and vet info.




On the reverse side is a pocket to store a to do list or receipts yet to be filed. I added a tag for interest. The Alphas used for Tim's name, Sunny and to do are from Tim Holtz Alpha elements, another item you could request from Suzanne for special order. Using the dividers made for this notebook, I covered the front and back with patterned paper, it also gave them added strength.




This page shows the cut page protector on the left to use as a pocket or add a photo. A tag made with some newly found mulberry paper tags, found when I moved, and added a little scrap of the same mylar sheet.




The remaining photos are just variations of the above pockets/pages. In the first photo you can see where I added the washi tape on each page, adding strength to the binder holes during use.






Into one of the full sized page protectors I added a 2014 weekly planner he can grab on the go for making future appointments and avoiding conflicting dates. I used the packaging page with the grid of all the papers included in the pack to coordinate with the organizer. For photography purposes, I left the lined notebook paper out, as we all know what that looks like! It allowed me to photograph back and fronts of the dividers without the lined paper interfering. I inserted tabs into the dividers by covering strops of paper with the washi tape, pulling that theme throughout the book further. I titled the tabs House, Doctor, Bank, Family (for addresses and phone numbers he may not have in his phone) and Photos. 



Product list:
Flamingo Scraps
Warehouse combo box
Pink Paislee Hope Chest paper collection
Pink Paislee Journal Cards
Pink Paislee Label Stickers

Special orders from Suzanne
Tim Holtz Alpha Parts, Newsprint
Claudine Hellmuth matte medium adhesive
Scor tape (worked great for adhering paper to vinyl!)

Office Supply store
Avery 6" x  9" three ring binder with front/back view vinyl cover
Avery dividers & page protectors sized to match
Avery lined notebook paper to match (not photographed)

From my stash
Copper numbers and alphas (2014 and brackets)
Kraft Journal prompt cards
12 x 12 mylar sheet with black graphics
roll of green woodgrain washi tape
mulberry paper precut tags



Hope you enjoyed my version of Tonya's Organizer, be sure to check out more of her videos on her YouTube channel, she has some amazing tips and techniques, and is fun to watch. Flamingo Scraps is lucky to have her as their lead educator! Don't miss her December Daily, which had a coordinated (sold out!) kit for sale at Flamingo Scraps, and follow her week by week journey throughout November/December! She has endless energy and loves to share with all of us, special Ustream events 1st Monday of each month, link is always posted on her FB page.

Don't forget to check out the sales going on at the Flamingo Scraps store, and if you do't see what you need, Suzanne with do her best to get what you're looking for!

Scrappy Smiles!!! Donna Sullivan
























Thursday, August 1, 2013

Guest Designer Christmas in July post #2

Magnetic Memo Board and Christmas layout

Donna Sullivan back again for my second Guest Designer project. I can't believe we have had a full month of such awesome projects from the Flamingo Design team already, and again I am honored to have been asked to do a second post! Suzanne asked if I could do an altered item, so I have chosen to make a magnetic memo board, with a December Daily Tag Book, a pocket to store it in and clothespins to hang any special photos or notes you want to add to the book as the month flies by! The tag book consists of over 30 tags, journal spots, recipe cards and lots of spaces for photos and my favorite, one just for Christmas Eve! Our family does a lot of celebrating between Christmas and New Year's so I wanted to be able to have enough tags to cover ALL the days of December, not just until the 25th. I searched pinterest for ideas, and saw a menu board with clothespins for "what's for dinner", I wish I could credit her, but cannot find her photo again. The only part that is similar is the use of the clothespins which were adhered, not magnetic. I also thought about this memo board being used year round, once the December Daily is removed, the memo board can be used during the remainder of the year. All papers used came from the Traditional Christmas kit ON SALE in the Big Pink Bargain Bin. (Original frame before altering will be posted at the bottom of this post) Be sure to scroll all the way down for a bonus 12 x 12 layout!

frame is 16 x 20, front pocket measures 4" x 10" x 1/2" deep
sheet metal (magnetic area), covered in patterned paper, is about 10" x 16"


close up of the pocket (paper has been doubled for added strength)


close up of clothespin, Monday through Friday are magnetic, as are the cute little balls I found while shopping somewhere (?). but they reminded me of little Christmas tree balls.
The Saturday and Sunday clothespins are adhered with glue as they would not stick to the metal through the thicker photo mat around the sheet metal. (learning lesson, there are different strength magnetic strips!)


this is the tag book, turned sideways to read the tag, it opens at the green border measures
 approximately 6" x 4", spine has been reinforced with Tim Holtz grunge paper inside.
All the red dots are done with TH Stickles and each snowflake has a little bling!



as you can see, there are MANY, many tags to add photos and journaling, this is the busy person's answer to a December Daily! Add your tags to the book ring, adorned by hand dyed seam binding, tucked inside it's own book cover shown below. I flipped some to the back and spread them out to show front and back.

BONUS!
Included in this kit is a beautiful sheet of paper just waiting to add your photo, journaling and embellies!



MIA and Grammy visit Santa Claus 2012 and go to shop! (shopping wouldn't fit!)


I love this felt Prima flower, holding it for just the right project, and this was it! The green leaves on the layout are stickers from the sticker sheet included in your kit, as are all the journaling stickers on the page.



Now why would they add a brad, (yes, a pack of those in your kit too!) with just one HO on it? Thought it very strange, until I looked again and noticed it's HO 3! (cubed) I had to add that cute brad, it's adhered to a scalloped circle with a spirelli design, think old spirograph with thread!

I cannot say enough good about the value you get for your money with the purchase of this kit, and I still have more paper left over to do a few more projects!

This is what the frame looked like before I started altering it..Sorry for such a bad photo, it's the only one I had, didn't think to take a pic before starting black frame, white mat board with black inside line, and the bare sheet metal, thinking it looks a lot nicer now! Thanks for looking Hope you all have enjoyed our month of gifts to you with our ideas, and you can do your own spin on them!!! HO cubed!!!


Donna Sullivan/paperfusionarts

Monday, July 15, 2013

Guest Designer for Flamingo Scraps

Welcome to the continuation of Flamingo Scraps Christmas in July!!!
I am honored to hold a Guest Design Team spot twice this month on their blog, 
this being my first post as a designer. 
Today I made a Stationery Box ** (tutorial) with the beautiful Carta Bella "Winter Fun" line (included in the Traditional Kit), available in the Flamingo Scraps online store, and at an AMAZING price! 
I have a thing for hexagons, so it was a fun line to work with! As I started out, wasn't sure how I would make this project my "own", but soon found many ways to highlight the hexagons! 

** I followed all instructions in the tutorial, BUT I added two pieces of chipboard (recycled cereal box), one to the bottom of the main structure, and one, covered in patterned paper to match inside the top of the lid for added stability since I knew I was going to add many photos. The dividers inside the box add additonal stability. 
                                         


This is a view of the box opened up, with it's main components
the little book has post it notes (changed from tutorial's address book)
The little pocket holds stamps at your finger tips. and of course, a color matched pen!



I added one sheet of kraft cardstock to my kit for making the dividers, covering each with a sheet of patterned paper and a coordinating chipboard "tab" (paper covered the back exposed sticky part above the divider)
All the chipboard shapes in this article are from the kit, Echo Park Season's Greetings.
I used almost all shapes included but three, and I have a future project planned for those!


I added 4 x 6 dividers to the box, I have decided to keep photos in this after the holiday card season is over. The two smaller pockets contain small note cards and to/from tags for gift giving. The note cards can also double as journaling cards. I loved the simplicity of the white and teal, with a tiny little bling!


In addition to using my one sheet of kraft cardstock for the dividers, I also used it to mat this layer of hexagons, leaving this card blank, I will stamp a sentiment appropriate for my needs.


 adding a little bakers twine and thin pop dots adds texture, but can still be mailed!


 

This little strip was a scrap left over from the layered hexagon card from above.
I layered sheer ribbon under each partial hexagon in a tag shape, and knotted a longer piece to add on top. Letters were cut from a stamp sentiment "MERRY Christmas", trimming each letter down to size. 



here is a larger  (4 x 6") gift tag, for those larger gifts!
The larger rhinestone brads are also from a package from Echo Park, Holly Jolly Christmas, included in the kit.



since I made my own custom sized cards, having the Envelope Punch Board
helps you create any card size you need, and always an envelope size you need. Matching the paper is always fun, too! I chose a plain white envelope today with just a simple snowflake stamped image to go along with the paper theme

I had fun with tons of fussy cutting around all those hexagons, hexagon heaven! 


This is the box top that holds the stationery set all together in it's self contained box
The MERRY chipboard came in one straight piece, I snipped with pointy scissors a tiny cut, making the straight strip now able to apply in a curve. Chipboard was highlighted with Tim Holtz Rock Candy Stickles, as well as the Martha Stewart snow melt punch.


And voila! It closes up to a 4 x 6 x 2 inch box! 
Folding the front flap upwards, and the side flaps around to the back of the box, place boxtop on and it makes one pretty little package!
I can't tell you how much fun I had with just this paper from my Christmas in July kit, and I still have tons more to play with and create my next project later this month. Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed it as much as I had fun creating and sharing! Oh, and....

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!!!


Donna Sullivan, aka paperfusion/paperfusionarts

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Welcome back to my blog, NEW life and many new posts!

I won't bore you with all the details, but after a four year journey with MANY doctors and surgeries, a definitive diagnosis of celiac disease on June 13, 2013 has changed my life forever. Although life altering, this disease is not life threatening, even reverses damage already done, if you eat the proper foods and stay away from the unsafe foods! The list of what you CAN eat as a celiac is much longer than what you CAN'T eat. Puts it in perspective. There will always come times that certain foods will be hard to resist, but when you know the consequences last for days, it's not worth it, and eating good food has become quite enjoyable! Enough of that, I mentioned how it reversed damage already done, my hand had deformed to a point I was not able to cut with scissors or use a knife in the kitchen, it just wasn't safe. I am proud to announce that two weeks into the gluten free diet, this has actually allowed my hand to straighten my three right fingers, and use a knife and a pair of scissors again. Living proof that gluten free DOES help with inflammation issues, no matter what the cause, mine came from Rheumatoid arthritis. {Celiac information}
This brings me to an honored position as a Guest Designer this month, for two posts, on a very FUN online store/blog/online video instruction. Flamingo Scraps has been a part of my life for many years, as a store, online video instructions with kits available in the store, and best of all, excellent customer service! Look for the post, live on Flamingo Scraps at midnight 7/15, and live here at 6 AM!!! Thanks for reading and I look forward to sharing MANY more posts along the way!