Constuct-A-Junk Journal Challenge

Challenge time! The details for this challenge were given on my last stream and posted to Coffee and Art Flickr group, just a fun challenge to use up the junk you have lying around you would not usually use for arting, crafting, journaling, etc.

Shop in your junk drawers, linen closets, recycling bin, junk mail pile, used envelopes...the list is endless and so are the possibilities.  Not alot of rules, nothing that was bought from craft, art, or scrapbook store can be used, nothing bought in those sections of other types of stores and nothing you have to go out and get new. Scraps from crafty supplies are also not allowed.  You can bind your journal any way you like, glue, binder rings, sewn, etc.  Use stuff like junk mail inserts and tags off clothing and other products for interesting pull outs and tags, use little bits and bobs for embellishments. Use old jeans and shirts for some fabric texture, packing foam, sandpaper.  Try to include a min 3 different textured materials, for example, fabric, paper, cardboard.  Try to also include a few different sizes of pages, inserts, pull outs etc.

You can use your paint, inks etc to decorate your journal later, I mean after all it's your journal and it's meant to be used once it's constructed.  Take a before and after picture of the journal, before or while putting it together then afte it's fully constructed.

The challenge ends October 4rth, 2011 and photos can be posted on Coffee and Art Flickr group by or before that date http://www.flickr.com/groups/coffee_and_art/ or you can post the photo on your blog and tweet it and the link also, you can stream your creation as well and just tweet a link when it's all done.  If you are unable to post to any of these, please let me know and you can email me the photos and I can post them for you.  When the challenge is over, I will use Random.org to choose a RAK winner from all those who participated.

I hope you all enjoy this challenge, I know I am having a blast putting together all the found junk I got lol  It's amazing what you can do with ordinary things you would normally not give a second thought to once you have it in your mind to use it.  Have fun and I can not wait to see what you all come up with!!
Below is a photo of the junk pile I got so far

Vintage,metallic tags

On Tuesday during my Ustream show we started a set of four vintage, metallic tags with a holder.  I love the effects of metallic embossing powder over embossed heavy paper!  Colourwashes, inks, rubons and plenty other supplies were used and I think it turned out quite nicely!

Canada Day Winner and Thanks

The winner of the Canada Day mini kit is skrappykat13 (Katie)!! Congratulations Katie!!  Please let me know how you would like to send me your information in the comments on this blog, I am on twitter as well.  Thanks to everyone who participated and left all the lovely comments about Canada, I enjoyed reading why you all love Canada!

Canada Day Mini Giveaway!

You heard right! To celebrate Canada Day I will be giving away an adorable shabby little mini kit!  All you have to do is leave a comment here at The Sugared Elephant telling me how much you love Canada or what you love most about Canada, it's that easy.  I will be giving a sneak peek of the mini kit on my Ustream channel this morning and comments can be left starting after the show @ 11:30 am CST, the deadline will be midnight July 1rst/2011 and a winner will be randomly selected and announced on Twitter and this blog. Here is quick pic of the mini kit :)

Sneak Peek Mini Kit Giveaway on Ustream

It's Canada Day this week, Friday, July 1rst and I will be kicking it off with a little giveaway.  I will post the details on my blog before Friday and will announce it on Twitter when it's up but......tomorrow morning I will be showing a sneak peek of the mini kit and the details of the giveaway on my Ustream channel @ 9:30 am CST!  So if you would like to have a peek at the shabby, frilly bundle, come join us for some product show and tell, a quick project and the giveaway sneak peek.  It's easy and free to sign up.  Hope to see you there!! http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-sugared-elephant

Something New, Something Blue

These two latest projects were so much fun to create and I was quite happy with how they turned out.  I completed the mixed media postcard as a gift live on Ustream, my first ever recorded stream! I had a great time sharing this with the many wonderful ladies who attended, chatted,and inquired about the process! Here is the link if you want to drop by and check my channel out. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-sugared-elephant

Just Playing

Sharing some recent projects that I have been playing around with, trying to get comfortable and happy with things I finish.  What I mean by this and I am sure many of you might feel the same, is I sometimes struggle with myself when creating something, going back and forth---am I done with this? Do I like it, maybe not? Lol Just decided to let it be and if I choose to change it later than so be it!

Some recent cards I did for a challenge

And some shabby fabric and lace flowers which I am very happy with

Recent Craftiness

Just posting some crafty goodness from the last few weeks I did not get a chance to upload until now.  The weather is finally showing signs of spring and the sun has been shining here for the last couple of days, at last yay!!  I am working on some mini books, layout challenges and altered projects and will post em up when I'm done.  I have also decided to join in on a postcard swap with a group of lovely ladies who I frequently visit on Ustream.  Any special spring projects on the go? Would love to see them, feel free to drop by and leave a comment and link!

A recent page in my art journal, I just wanted to play with pencils and colour, colour, colour!

These are a few cards I did for a challenge at LIITD, cards are not my strongest craft but I am happy with how these turned out.

This little house I did up for a thank you gift to my aunt, who's initial is J, I filled it with some sweet little candles and Lindor chocolate balls.

Blogology

Ok so I have been a very bad blogger and I will deffinately make up for it with some projects, blog candy and awesome links so please forgive me, my blog is young  and I'm still feeling my way around. I hope everyone is getting out of the winter blahs, I know the weather has been just total crap pretty much everywhere.  I'm making myself feel better with some arting and crafting, hoping spring will actually show up!  There is so much inspiration out there that I find just so amazing that I want to have an appreciation day on the blog so stay tuned for some eyecandy in the coming week ahead.

I've been doing a little arting and a little scrapping with a few low key projects for some relaxation and down time. 

These two pages start off a small journal just about creativity and art, this is the journal I like to just try out different techniques and stamps in.

This is a page from my faery themed journal, for me this is just some whimsical, playful fun.

A page I don't even have a title for really, I didn't even intend for this page to go the way it did lol but it's all good, I'm ok with it.

And a quick retro layout I squeezed in some time for, I just loved all these different papers so I fit in as much as I could on the page.

Month of Love Online Crop

It was a busy month over at LIITD so many challenges, prizes and games!  It sure helped to get my scrap mojo flowing, used up some much needed old supplies and scraps.  It was the perfect time to get some projects done as it was too flippin cold to do anything outside here, you know the kind of cold that makes the inside of your nostrils freeze in seconds?? Yes, it was that cold!  So it's been a week of alot of hot tea, music, thermostat cranked, layouts, more layouts and cards.

This layout was done for a "recipe" challenge, a monthly DT challenge at LIITD  I love recipe challenges, it's a great way to get a jump start if you feel a little blocked.  I used Lost and Found papers, which I will never tire of, I love that line!  Some Graphic 45 patterned paper, cardstock, the flowers and ticket I made myself using scrap cardstock and patterned paper, homemade shimmer mist, and stick pins.  I also inked some blank tickets, fastened with baker's twin and added some buttons, trinkets, and bling flourish.

I did this for an online crop sketch challenge, I had so much fun with this layout, used some really old stock up. I found this delightful little patterned file folder tucked away in a basket, unfortunately I can not remember where I got it from but I would love to get my hands on more of them, it came with the little journaling cards, which I tucked inside with some old photo booth pictures.  I also used, cardstock, which I misted, miscellaneous chipboard embellishments, ribbon, and stickers.

Another online crop challenge at the LIITD This was for the heart banner challenge.  I've used a minimal amount of scrap materials on this one, plain cardstock, some patterned paper scraps, baker's twine which was from LIITD as well, alpha stickers, Prima flowers, Maya Road journaling ticket and homemade shimmer mist.

This was made for the heart shape challenge for the online crop, this was a scraplift from an old mag about three years back.  I used Pink Paislee patterned paper which I stamped and coloured in with some watercolor pencils and pencil crayons. Seven Gypsies Venice tape is covering the corner chipbaord pieces, and paper scraps are from DCWV, I love their paper stacks, it's an addiction and I think I want them all! I cut some heart shapes out of scrap paper to make my butterflies, a little scrunching, misting and brad fasteners and voila!

"Box of Chocolates" online crop challenge had a list of chocolates which represented scrap products and that's what I had to use, the chocolates I chose----Pink Paislee Paris Anthology patterned paper, Prima Fairy Flora paper, Prima paper flower, satin rose ribbon trim, Maya Road journaling card and these delightful rosette type embellishments from K&C Company.

A very fun challenge indeed, Song title and line from same song, I chose At Last---such a lovely old song.  Bare minimal for this one, Me and My Big Ideas patterned papers, 7 Gypsies Venice tape, Tim Holtz embellishment stickers and I used my Dymo to make the lyric lines.

Falling Behind

Have one of those days? Weeks? Months? It's been this month for me, which is why I have been a bad blogger.  Not for long though, there has been so much happening over at LIITD for the month of love.  A huge online crop which is just wrapping up and the monthly DT challenges have given me tons of inspiration to get some much needed scrapping done. So many wonderful prizes to be won and games to be played!  I've also finally heard of Post Secrets---yes I know, "Where have I been?"  I had just a small taste of those books and already find myself completely hooked. I didn't really think of myself as a voyeur before, I mean, seriously, I hate reality TV.  You seriously gotta check it out!  Now if the drive back from Chapters was as wonderful that would have made my day, bad roads and even worse drivers make it unpleasant to be out and about this weekend.

Recently I went on a quest to surf the net for the simplest of flower tutorials, there are soooo many out there I couldn't have possibly saved them all to my favourites.  I managed to watch a few videos and make myself some awesome flowers.

 Some twisted fabric flowers I made from satin, felt, cotton fabric and some rope type stuff I found in my sewing box. Added a few leaves, bling, and stickles as well.

Different types of rose flowers, which I would like to practice more.  Again I used the same satin as I did for the twisted flowers, crepe paper, tulle, and wired felt ribbon.

Some lacy flowers, which I absolutely adore and can not wait to use them on a layout.  Some of these I did a quick running stitch and others, well I got lazy and used my glue gun.  Both turned I well I think.

This little guy is just seven pieces of punched patterned paper all stacked together, dampened, twisted and scrunched then misted.

I will be posting the layouts I have completed for the online crop before the end of the weekend as well as bringing up something near and dear---Listology---list making, this is something I would be lost without doing and even then I still forget stuff.  I need a list to remember my list!

Cooking and Creating

I've had to catch up on a few things around home, it's been a bit crazy here, car issues, vehicle accident, appointments, repairs, etc etc yadda yadda, I won't bore you with the details.  But it's all good, everything is under control ( my version of control anyway) and I can now catch up on my blog and some projects. 

I came across this recipe for homemade cheese crackers ages ago, it was featured in a Country Living magazine and then variations popped up here and there, this is the one I checked out, I tweaked it here and there to my liking and they came out amazing, they are so yummy it's hard to stop eating them!

1 cup of flour

4 tablespoons of cold butter

1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

 about a tablespoon of cajun spice mix, or italian herbs(really you can use whatever spices you prefer)

4-6 tablespoons of ice water

Mix flour and spices together, then using a pastry blender cut in your butter until it resembles coarse crumbs

Add the cheese a little at a time still using your pastry blender to combine

Add your water a little at a time, stirring until dough is formed, wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour or two.

Once chilled, lightly flour surface to roll dough out, make sure you flour your rolling pin and roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick, cut into whatever shapes you desire

Grease your baking tray, place shapes  so that they are not touching, spread a tiny bit of oil on the tops, sprinkle with salt and pepper

Bake at 325 to 350 degrees depending on your oven for about 15 mins or until golden brown and slightly crispy. 

They puff up a bit and they are slightly crispy not hard and curnchy

I managed to get most of the challenges at LIITD done last month, here are a couple

Quick Easy and Cheap

Yep, that's how I like it, quick, easy, and cheap, decorating that is.  When your time and space are limited and you're on a budget there is no other way to go.  Here are some quick tips to spruce up your home and/or creative space.

I have these ugly utility shelves, I hate them but unfortunately they are a necessity right now, I lined the edges with some of my lace trim from my craft stash, mine are temporary so I just hot glued it on but you can use hook and loop tape if your shelves are more permanent, it actually makes a huge difference, especially if you have several lined up your wall

Apothecary jar --$12 @ Winners
Decorative sand --$1 @ Dollarama
Seashells -- couple bucks @ Walmart

At Christmas time I replace the sand and shells with fake snow, bottle brush trees and glitter

Spruce up an old plain lampshade, hot glue some lace trim to the edges

Old napkin holders are perfect for storing scrap supplies such as packs of embellishments, cards, letters, your mail...I used this one for some watercolor and memory pencils, I think I paid  50cents for this vintage one at a flea market

This is easy if you don't have time to sew, or don't know how and need to cover something up. Last year Alex made some misc pieces in woods which were odd sizes, one was this adorable barstool. I found a topper cloth in the closet, draped it over and just tied the corners into knots and am using it as an accent table to hold a lamp, this also works with just a piece of unhemmed material, cut the material into a square, quite larger than the table top you are covering, then cut about an 8 to 10 inch slit at each corner and tie into knots...you can't even tell it's unfinished material once it's tied up and it looks very homespun if you use linen and other neutral colors.