Nancy Wethington

Graphic 45 Mini-Book Pages . . .

You've seen this cover before:

It's from a 4 part series of workshops I taught using

Graphic 45's Botanicabella

and

Mixed Media Album

Thought I'd show you some of the inside pages.

I adore inter-active pages of any kind

and filled this book with them.

The page below uses magnets (yep, love those too)

as a closure

and once opened, more pockets:

Another magnet keeps this mini-booklet in it's pocket

until the flap lifts up:

A belly band holds mini-cards in place

while the chipboard piece keeps them from falling out of the book.

This page is a flap and closes with a magnet until the inside is revealed

with more pockets:

Open this page to a surprise pop-up:

We also stamped on vellum to create a 2-sided design.

On this page we created a belly band

that holds a booklet.

The booklet stays in place with magnets.

Thanks for viewing some of the pages of my

Graphic 45 Botanicabella mini-book.

A wonderful Prima Educator Day . . .

Spent the best day yesterday at Checkered Cottage, Kirkwood MO

We got together to create this mini-book.

It's a Frank Garcia Memory Hardware Chipboard Album (Square).

We all loved using this album with a 6x6 paper pad.

Frank's trick of painting the edges of the album in your favorite color

makes putting this together a snap!

The classroom is ready and filled with gorgeous Prima Marketing products.

We were using Prima's Butterfly 6x6 paper pad

with a theme of butterflies, birds and fairies for our books.

Then we got down to busy-ness:

We started with 4x6 Pocket Paintable Cards

and used

Prima's creamy Oil Pastels.

They easily mix with water and have the most delicious colors.

They are, by far, the easiest to blend I have ever worked with.

The girls agreed!

Each of the girls picked out an intricately cut butterfly from

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

We first painted with a layer of 

Prima's Altered Alchemy Light Patina,

let that dry and then added

a layer of 

Altered Alchemy Opal Magic Blue.

Why is it called Magic?

The color is brilliant when painted on white or cream.

Paint it on black and the color magically changes.

(You'll see in a bit.)

We finished the inside pages and 

then started layering the cover:

Since each of the gals chose their own image for the cover,

each book was uniquely their own. 

Here are a few samples of what they completed:

Notice the butterflies!

The doily on the front cover was cut using

Prima's Die - Parisian Lace.

Of course Prima flowers were everywhere

as well as 

Prima's Butterfly Matchboxes.

Butterfly Tags & Tickets

were used on the cover and throughout the book.

We were finished creating at 2 pm

(I thought)

but the gals kept fussing, adding flowers, leaves, embellishments and fussy cutting.

It was so much fun!

Thank you to all those who participated.

I loved every minute of it and hope you did too.

 

 

A Great Time with beautiful Graphic 45 . . .

Yesterday at Checkered Cottage I enjoyed a full days class with wonderful ladies.

We made the Bird on a Box

from

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

and beautiful

Graphic 45 papers.

Fussy cutting those gorgeous papers.

We used Graphic 45's Botanical Tea.

 

Finished Bird on a Box

and the houses inside

What a great fun day!

Thank you so much to a wonderful group of gals!

PS: To those taking my workshop next Saturday,

you do not need a palette knife.

(I'm losing it!)

See what to bring on my class list here:

http://art-from-the-heart.typepad.com/art_from_the_heart_class_/

Saturday, March 12: 10:30 am

Bird In A Box Spring @ Checkered Cottage, Kirkwood MO

You will need to bring:

Craft Mat

Paper Trimmer (12" recommended)

Scissors: precision tips for fussy cutting and stamp edge scissors

Adhesive: both wet & dry

Crafty Foam Tape (dimensional pop-ups)

Crop-a-Dile

Paper Piercer

Pencil & Ruler (recommend Tim Holtz ruler)

Edge Distresser

Ink and applicators to match project papers

Scor-Board

small paint brush (flat)

Ink Pads Used: Distress Black Soot and Vintage Photo

Baby wipes or something for paint clean-up.

IMPORTANT: Would you consider bringing your lunch? 

We have tons of work to do today and would love to see you finish the project.

Bringing your lunch would save lots of time.

See you there!

Celebrate Spring 4x4 Altered Canvas Corp . . .

As part of the Canvas Corp Creative Crew

we were challenged to create a 4x4 canvas using Canvas Corp products.

I love using the backs of canvas. Here's one I created at least 10 years ago:

So, naturally, my first thought was turn the canvas over.

Birds are a favorite subject of mine so I turned to these beautiful papers from Canvas Corp for my design:

I cut a piece of 4x4 Blue & Ivory Mini Reverse Dot paper,

turned it around to the back

and used a centering ruler and pencil to mark off the frame.

After cutting the square on the measured lines, I had the two pieces needed

for both the outside frame and the nook.

Now to the painting.

 I used Tattered Angels Naturally Aged Paint System.

It contains both sprays and paints and had the perfect colors for my project.

First I sprayed with this:

and then I painted with that:

The color combinations in the Tattered Angels kit gave me exactly the 

blue and browns I wanted for this project

with no guessing required on my part.

Once the paint was dry,

I slid in the blue dot paper into the background nook.

Then I fussy cut images from the Birds & Bees on Ivory paper

and painted with Tattered Angels Naturally Aged Paint System.

In this photo, you can see that little bit of sparkle the paint displays

(and it doesn't rub off!).

The assembly in full:

I added excelsior, a couple of feathers and some miscellaneous corners

from my stash

and the mini canvas is complete.

To see more from my Team Mates click the links below and be inspired to create your own 4x4 mini masterpiece:

Dana Tatar's 4x4 from 2015

Dana Tatar's 4x4 from 2016

Mandy Leever-Koel

Michelle Mitchell

Marie Heiderscheit

Virag Reti

Alison Osborn 

A Soul's Heartbeat

Suzz's Stamping Spot

Art At Home

Patti Senter

Canvas Corp/7Gypsies Stitched Mini-Book . . .

It's no secret that I have loved and collected 7 Gypsies goodies for years.

To use the word *hoard* is putting it mildly.

For this project, I combined new and old (and somewhat vintage)

7 Gypsies and Canvas Corp products

The base of this book is a vintage 7 Gypsies chipboard book.

The book came with 3 signatures and holes pre-punched in the spine of the book.

I decided to combine the signatures with a current collection

to create a

Route 66 Foodie Recipe Book.

Using 7 Gypsies Epicurean Collection,

I wallpapered the pages and created pockets for the Epicurean Recipe cards.

Torn pockets, side pockets, top pockets, envelope pockets - always pockets!

Notice on the left side of the page,

I  used a former 7 Gypsies acrylic piece to cover an old photo.

These mini-round hangers make great pull tabs!

Love the tiny kitchen charms!

The file folders made a perfect center for each signature.

They are adorable and come in many styles.

You can find them here:

Canvas Corp Brands File Folders

 

Sometimes, it's fun to use the back of the 7 Gypsies packaging

and add tiny images to  pages.

Another overlay from a former 7 Gypsies collection.

This one was supposed to be used on the 7 Gypsies carousel.

Thus the holes on the left side.

Ribbon threaded thru the holes dresses it up a bit.

The right side of this page is a fold out with more pockets.

Panel #1 on the right side with a chipboard belly band to hold in ephemera.

Fold out panel #2 with a belly band made out of laser cut chipboard from

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Fold-out #3 with pockets on the far left to hold recipe cards.

For this page, I wanted to hang some of these adorable

mini recipe cards.

I took a 7 Gypsies mini round hanger,

twisted the top to make a hook,

added the recipe cards

and to make sure they stayed on, glued a bead on the end of the hook.

Some collectible envelopes from 7 Gypsies (yes, part of my hoard)

and back of 7 Gypsies packaging in that tiny sailboat.

More pockets thanks to ephemera and 7 Gypsies tape used as a tab.

Hope you enjoyed my photo-torial

See you next time!

 

Monday, January 4 with 7 Gypsies . . .

Monday's workshop at Checkered Cottage - Kirkwood MO

begins at

10:30 am and will probably last most of the day.

Please bring to class:

• Paper Trimmer (12" recommended)
• Scissors: precision tips for fussy cutting and stamp edge scissors
• Adhesive: both wet & dry and please bring a wet glue that is heavy duty (similar to Beacon 3-in-1)
• Craft Mat
• Crafty Foam Tape (dimensional pop-ups)
• Crop-a-Dile
• Paper Piercer
• Pencil & Ruler (recommend Tim Holtz ruler)
• Edge Distresser
• Ink and applicators to match project papers (I used Vintage Photo)
• Marvy Uchida Snow Pen (or similar)
• Red & Green (XMAS colors) colored pencils or markers or Copics
• 2 shades of brown (light and dark) colored pencils (Copics won't work)
• 2" circle punch (if you have one)
• Edge punch (your favorite decorative edge punch)
• Score Board
• Long reach Crop-a-Dile (not the regular crop-a-dile) if you have one
• Gold leaf pen
• Black acrylic paint, sponge brush and paper plate to hold paint
• Baby wipes (it will be somewhat of a messy morning)

See you at Checkered Cottage!

2015 Year in Review . . .

January found a new class idea: Graphic 45 tags each month of the year.

February workshops featured Graphic 45 book-in-a-box.

March travel workshop with another Graphic 45 book-in-a-box.

 

Every now and then I make a mini-book for myself.

This one was a really fun April project:

May: One of Laura Denison's brilliant patterns with Prima papers.

Getting ready for travel plans with a June workshop and 7 Gypsies travel papers.

A July workshop teaching a 2 page 12x12 layout at Checkered Cottage in Kirkwood MO

August plans for workshops at Checkered Cottage, Kirkwood MO

and

a group of great gals in Memphis TN

featuring Graphic 45's A Christmas Story.

A group of us began a 4 part series in September

with one of my all-time favorite collections:

Graphic 45's Botanicabella

There's something about October's colors that pull me in every Fall.

November's project features 7 Gypsies Christmas collection

and

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Houses in a Box

created especially for my workshop.

Thanks Gina!

(PS: Not teaching this class until January so don't panic please.

And for those of you who didn't get into this class, I will be teaching

another one featuring birds and nests in the Spring.)

December upcoming Junque Journal workshop with 7 Gypsies Ordre du Jour

Thank you to all who attend my workshops.

Very grateful you enjoy my classes and keep coming back for more.

I appreciate each and every one of you.

Here's to another creative year in 2016!

7 Gypsies Farmhouse Christmas complete . . .

This was so much fun to put together.

The box and houses were designed by me and perfectly cut by

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts (formerly Gina's Designs).

The paper is from 7 Gypsies Farmhouse Christmas collection.

Here are some close-ups of the house panels:

Lots of snow with a Marvy Uchida Snow Pen.

The door is from 

Farmhouse Christmas Holiday Door Tags.

The roof of panel #2 used 1/2 circles from the

Tags on Ivory paper.

The truck was cut from the Stripe on Ivory paper,

colored with Copics, inked with Distress ink

and then made into a pocket

to hold some of the Tags on Ivory paper cut-outs.

Panels 4 & 5:

Cut-outs from 

Better Not Pout Tags on Kraft,

Tags on Ivory

&

Stripe on Ivory

Panels 6 & 7:

Merry & Bright as a side pocket with tags from

Tags on Ivory.

Wreaths from Stripes on Ivory

painted with Copics and Stickles.

Tree from

Farmhouse Christmas on Ivory.

Snowman from Stripe on Ivory.

and it all fits in the Christmas Farmhouse box perfectly.

 

A 7 Gypsies kind of Christmas . . .

I received the most amazing products from 7 Gypsies.

It's called Farmhouse Christmas and it is filled with vintage Christmas images.

I adore this collection!

I had an idea for a book-in-a-box and turned to

Gina at Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts (formerly Gina's Designs)

and asked Gina if she would design this for me.

Thankfully, she cut to my specifications and came up with

the perfect box with houses inside.

I'm calling them houses because that's what I had in mind

but

you could easily turn these upside down and create

a banner in a box.

Here's what I have completed so far:

This was so much fun - and easy!

I adore these little stockings from the 7 Gypsies line.

After coloring with Copics and inking with Distress ink,

the stockings were hung with tiny nail head brads.

The door is also from the 7 Gypsies paper.

I added the top from a Sizzix die cut

as well as the trees.

Tiny crystals were placed in the center of each snowflake.

The trees were double layered:

the first layer with kraft corrugated paper

and the top layer with some green & gold paper I had in my stash.

The wreath was *painted* with Stickles.

And then snow with a Marvy Snow Pen - 

and lots of it!

I found this knob at Hobby Lobby and had to have it.

The keyhole was perfect and the red distressed color 

looked great with the 7 Gypsies paper.

And, of course Santa needs a key to enter the house.

I hinged the houses to create a village.

Next, I'll use the rest of the paper to create vintage looking houses.

If I have images left, I'll add them to the sides of the box.

Stay tuned for more on another day!

Thanks for looking.