Birthday: Happy Birthday, Stephanie!

15 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Cardmaking, DIY & Crafting, Lovebug Creations, Papercrafting, Rubber Stamp, Rubber Stamp, Textiles

≈ 2 Comments

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beautiful bloom, birthday card, card making, cardmaking, crossstitch, Cupcake, diy birthday card, doily, floral embellishment, flower, flower embellishment, happy birthday card, hog heaven, how to make a birthday card, LOveBug Creations, make a birthday card, Mama's Mesh, owl, owl wood die cut, pearl, rubber stamp, Rumple Ribbon, sassafras, scrapbook paper, seam binding, stamped card, stamping, stephanie eaken

Happy Birthday, Stephanie!

We’re celebrating a birthday with Stephanie, one of the Lovebug Creations Creative Team members, today. Here’s a card I made for her using some gorgeous Lovebug Creations products.

I used some of the newest Rumple Ribbon to make a pretty bow, this color is Garden Green from the Gardens of Tara collection. Sitting atop the bow is a Beautiful Bloom from the Love in Bloom collection.

I also used some White Mama’s Mesh to give a little texture on top of the yellow heart paper.

Stephanie, from the bottom of my creative heart I wish you a wonderful day full of sweet surprises and a year that brings your heart joy and love. Enjoy today and celebrate all month long! And to my visitors, Thank You for stopping by to see my blog post. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Please leave a Happy Birthday message for Stephanie in the comments!

xo,

Christine Barker

Want to see the cards that the other

Lovebug Creations Creative Team

Members made?

Kimi Cremar & Mama Lovebug

Swap: Sweet and Sinister

25 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, Christmas and Holidays, Collage, DIY & Crafting, Mixed Media, Swap, Vintage

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Tags

apothecary, artist printers tray, artsymama, boxwood cottage, cat lady, cat woman, craft swap, creepy baby, crow, crystal ball, disneyland, halloween, halloween swap, haunted mansion diorama, haunted mansion vignette, haunted mansion wall paper, madame leota, mantel, mantle, mourning cockade, owl, pink in the city, poison, raven, rusty key, Sweet and Sinister, Sweet and Sinister Swap, the junque seeker, vintage, vintage tea towel

Now that my children are older we don’t celebrate Halloween the way we used to. Thankfully my friend, Julie Weller, started hosting a Sweet and Sinister Swap. Our swap has some basic ground rules and some guidelines. The theme is Vintage Black and White or Cream with a splash of orange, green, purple or red.

For the swap we send our partner:

Something Sweet
Something Sinister
Something Handmade
Something Thrifted
Something Home Decor

Once partners are assigned we contact each other and say if there’s any particular aspects of Halloween decor that we don’t like. I’m easy, I like it all! Ok, I don’t like blood and guts, but otherwise I’m good.

Last Halloween my partner was Julie and knowing how much she loves Disneyland I made her a Haunted Mansion Vignette starring Madame Leota for her Something Sinister.

It has an awesome special effect in the roof that flashes lights into the room and makes scary noises. Madame Leota’s glow in the dark head is in a crystal ball and she’s surrounded by floating objects that you would see inside the Haunted Mansion, like a trumpet and a candelabra. The wallpaper is the same as the Haunted Mansion with creepy eyes that glow in the dark.

There’s a bell for ringing, a pile of spooky skulls and one of my favorite details is the picture of the reclining Cat Lady.

I packed up Julie’s goodies in a box that I decorated with a antique-inspired Mourning Cockade.

Luckily for me, the avalanche of presents from Julie was amazing! I love how all of my wrapped prezzies look sitting in my dining room. (Louis, in the back, is totally photo bombing!)

Julie made an incredibly sinister and spooky crow in a cage. I ADORE this guy and all of the weird creepy crawlies that keep him company in his cage.

An adorable owl candle and a frightening artists printers tray decorate my mantel. The printers tray has some phenomenal details, like a creepy baby trapped in a spiders web, pumpkins, poison, a rusty key and an odd, ghoulish looking lady stuck in a spider web. I really hit the partner jackpot when Julie assigned herself to me!

Some licorice in a jar that looks like it’s from an apothecary and a charming skeleton photo holder.

And, knowing how much I love Hello Kitty, Julie found some Hot Chocolate with Halloween Hello Kitty and a fun vintage printed tea towel.

Check out my Sweet and Sinister Swap presents adorning my mantel.

Here are some links to other Sweet & Sinister Swaps, including the one that inspired Julie to launch her own, hosted by ArtsyMama. You can get a great idea of the types of items that are handmade and you can see the love and care that goes into selecting each and every item.

ArtsyMama 2007

ArtsyMama 2008

Boxwood Cottage

The Junque Seeker: Featuring prezzies from Terry Frias

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope that you’re inspired to participate in a Sweet and Sinister Swap of your own!

xo,

Christine Barker

{PS} Don’t miss my FREE Halloween Printable: You’ve Been Boo’d!

The full set of printables plus instructions can be found here!

Would you like some more Halloween Crafting Inspiration? Don’t Miss:

My FREE Printable, You’ve Been Boo’d, to spread some Halloween spirit around your neighborhood.
There’s also the Something Wicked This Way Comes Blog Hop with lots of fun ideas on crafts to make for Halloween.
I also have a FREE Bewitching Hat Tutorial with easy to follow instructions and a free pattern.
And if you need some petite Vintage Halloween Images to decorate with, I’ve got a cute Vintage Halloween Collage Sheet in the Scarlet Calliope Etsy Shop.

Inspiration: The Fairytale World of Mister Finch

14 Friday Jun 2013

Posted by kryztyne2012 in Art and Crafting, DIY & Crafting, Mixed Media, Soft Sculpture, Textiles

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Tags

artist, birds, birds and beasts, british, british folklore, fairytale creatures, fake fur, flowers, fox, hares, insects, making, Mister Finch, mr finch, mr finch textile artist, mushrooms, nature, nests, owl, pinterest, rabbit, soft sculpture, storytelling, studio, textile artist, textile bees, textile moths, united kingdom, velvet curtains, woods

Textile Moths

One of the really wonderful things about Pinterest is that I come across images pinned by other people that speak deeply to my heart and soul. I found this incredible soft sculpture moth on a mixed-media board and learned that it was created by a fantastically creative artist who lives in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, who goes by the name of Mister Finch.

Mister Finch

Mister Finch is described like this: “Scraps of thread, fabric and paper are stitched and pulled into fairytale creatures looking for new owners and worlds to inhabit. They hide in the woods, behind masks, some have died along the way and are buried under spoon lockets. Finch works alone and makes everything himself by hand in a studio full of books, glass jars and naughty cats.”

Textile Bees Made From Fake Fur

Mister Finch explains the source of his creativity: “My main inspirations come from nature and often I return to certain ideas again and again. Flowers, insects and birds really fascinate me with their amazing life cycles and extraordinary nests and behaviour.
British folklore is also so beautifully rich in fabulous stories and warnings and never ceases to be at the heart of what I make. Shape shifting witches, moon gazing hares and a smartly dressed devil ready to invite you to stray from the path. Humanising animals with shoes and clothes is something Ive always done and I imagine them to come alive at night. Getting dressed and helping an elderly shoemaker or the tired housewife.”

Fabric Mushrooms

Mister Finch describes his creative process: “Making things has always been incredibly important to me and is often an amazing release to get it out of my system. Its a joy to hunt for things for my work…the lost, found and forgotten all have places in what I make. Most of my pieces use recycled materials, not only as an ethical statement, but I believe they add more authenticity and charm. A story sewn in, woven in. Velvet curtains from an old hotel, a threadbare wedding dress and a vintage apron become birds and beasts, looking for new owners and adventures to have. Storytelling creatures for people who are also a little lost, found and forgotten…”

Large Textile Swan

I relate to Mister Finch because I share some of these same feelings with him. I often feel a little lost, found and forgotten and viewing Mister Finch’s creations evokes in me a desire to be in the English countryside, traipsing along a lonely country lane, discovering hidden nests, finding a clutch of small eggs and perhaps seeing a spot of parkland that has been forgotten.

Textile Owl

To learn more about Mister Finch, you can find him on Facebook, Pinterest and his Etsy Shop.

Soft Sculpture Fox Heads

Have a lovely weekend being creative, getting lost and found and perhaps escaping, with the mundane details of your life to be forgotten if only for a little while.