Thursday, March 17, 2016

A St. Paddy's Day Pocket Letter

Laurie sent me a beautiful Valentine-themed pocket letter last month, and I responded with some St. Patrick's Day creations for her. 


The Graphics Fairy had many great images to choose from so I included several. The velvet bow came from a vintage hat, and had been on my work table for some time waiting for the perfect project.

The first row has a tiny green millinery flower and some vintage buttons with a Graphics Fairy image in the center.





















Row two includes two Graphics Fairy images, plus a bit of bling in the center pocket.














Row three has lace snippets, millinery, a bit of a rhinestone and floral necklace, vintage buttons, and ribbon rosettes.



















This was my first pocket letter and it proved to be a bit addicting. I finished the front and just couldn't stop, so I filled the back side of each pocket, too!


It was too hard to decide between the images of the ladies and I could only use one for the tag, so I included two more for Laurie. Some of the papers were purchased specifically for this project, but it was surprising how many green bits there were in my stash. The flamingo card is a bit out of place, but I knew Laurie would like it and it was a perfect fit.

Laurie was in a recent swap where participants exchanged ribbon dolls and that inspired me to try one on this tag. 


The flower "badge" came from more bits from my table and a fun button I had just received, and I had to include some trim, of course, and a bit of beautiful velvet.


Someday I hope to have more vintage finds to share. I'm a bit flummoxed by the lack of good estate sales so far this year. They've all been too high-end and "new" for this vintage loving soul.

In the meantime, hope you've enjoyed seeing these bits of green. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Fabric Marbling - Possibly Even More Fun Than Paper Marbling!

The talented Chris, who has taught several paper marbling classes at Paper Crown recently, taught a fabric marbling class last month. It's hard to describe just how blown away we've all been with these classes. You splatter paint onto treated water, comb and swirl, lay the paper or fabric onto the water surface, and get something amazing every time. 

Here are Chris and Cindy prepping the water for their next prints.



The printed fabric was placed on newspaper to dry. 





Here are some closeups. 



































I'm not sure who created this next one, but I love it. 


And here are my four. The colors are a bit more vibrant than they look in the photos.






The fabric, a lightweight cotton broadcloth, isn't stiff at all. The fabric can be heat set with an iron, and is then fully washable. It could be used for so many things - if one can bear to cut it up!

Of course, a lot of prep work goes into this process before the class. Chris has to spend several days treating the water, prepping the fabric, mixing paints, and many other things. She does all the hard work, and we have all the fun. Thanks, Chris, and thanks to Cindy at Paper Crown for asking Chris to teach!