June 25, 2013 by Born To Organize

Craft it Forward: Three’s a Charm

I dubbed this month’s Craft it Forward: Three’s a Charm. I incorporated three loves (photo manipulation, paper and cats) to create my third craft it forward: a series of greeting cards. If you’re new to the concept of Craft it Forward, you can read about it here. Links to the first and second project are at the end of this post.

I’m trying a little something different with each craft, stretching the old comfort zone if you will. It’s good challenging myself.

This set of cards is for Sheila. She’s an animal lover, photographer and all-around nice person. She fosters cats and nurtures children and is always quick with support or a compliment. She’s guiding and supporting a young woman through a difficult time now. I hope these cards serve as a little pick-me-up.

At my request, Sheila sent a digital photo of one of her cats, a stunner named Rodent. I altered the photo using Picasa software, creating three different images. Sheila loves purple and robin’s egg blue, so I applied colored filters to the photo to achieve the effect you see below. The third photo is in its original form. After manipulating the image, I printed the photo on heavy-duty watercolor paper. The paper absorbs some of the color, creating a mat finish. Let me know what you think.

Included with Three’s a Charm:

Twelve, 5 x 7 greeting cards, 4 of each design
Twelve ‘Secret Garden’ envelope seals
A small, faux birdcage.

The small faux cage currently houses the cards. Once empty, she can reuse it to hold a small house plant or fill it with laundry lint and other soft materials for nesting birds.

Birdhouse of Cards

Lovely Lavender

Kitty in the Garden

Shades of Blue

Cards in a cage

Craft it Forward:

craft it forward button Here’s how it works. The first five people to comment on the original post receive a handmade item with the gardening nirvana touch. In return, they agree to pay it forward, crafting their own unique item for the first five people on their list. Craft it Forward encourages community, creative spirit and camaraderie. It also encourages flexibility, so I expanded my list from five to seven based on interest in the project. Isn’t it fun making your own rules?

Further, in the era of the internet, who doesn’t like ‘real’ mail? If you haven’t started your own Craft it Forward, today is a good day to get one going.

Craft it Forward #1: Living Journal
Craft it Forward #2: Flowers and Oscar Wilde
What is Craft it Forward?

May 29, 2013 by Born To Organize

My Secret Garden

secret garden girl The Secret Garden, published in 1910 by Frances Hodgson Burnett, is noted as ‘one of the best children’s books of the twentieth century.’ I don’t know if I actually read it as a child, but the idea of a secret garden has stayed with me always. Who doesn’t like a good mystery? Throw in a secret key and a beautiful garden and you’ve got the makings of a rich childhood fantasy.

Earlier this year I discovered a beautiful line of crafting paper by graphic 45 based on Burnett’s book. While I was purchasing my own sheaf of paper in California, Boomdee was doing the same in Edmonton, Canada. I just know they were thinking of us when they designed this nostalgic product line.

Secret Garden

Paper intended for scrapbooks doesn’t usually end up in the garden. For a variety of reasons (well one really) paper and water don’t mix. I decided to buck the trend, however, and figure out a way to combine my love of tiny gardens, secret gardens, crafting paper and children’s lit.

Using a plastic tray and a generous amount of cello-tape, I waterproofed the paper for the background as well as the sign. I purchased a small wooden frame for a dollar at our local craft store and painted it a soothing garden green. Touches of moss and dirt gave it a woodsy touch, as well as the Sedum and petrified wood nearby. A small gravel path leads to the heart-shaped entrance. Stairs (made from leftover tile pieces) sit on small wooden blocks. Just follow the colorful path.

Secret Garden Entrance

Please follow the path

Garden Steps

Please come this way…

Paper design by graphic 45

You’ll be seeing more of this lovely paper in a craft-it-forward project later this year.

For additional inspiration, check out the links below:

April 28, 2013 by Born To Organize

Craft it Forward: Living Journal

Craft it Forward Button: Grab it for your own blog

In early February, I launched my first Craft it Forward. Here’s how it works. The first five people to comment on the original post receive something handmade with the gardening nirvana touch. In return, they agree to pay it forward, crafting their own unique item for the first five people on their list. Craft it Forward encourages community, creative spirit and camaraderie. It also encourages flexibility, so I expanded my list from five to seven based on interest in the project. Isn’t it fun making your own rules?

Further, in the era of the internet, who doesn’t like ‘real’ mail? If you haven’t started your own Craft it Forward, today is a good day to get one going.

First up: A Living Journal

This manilla-covered journal has heavy-duty art paper, appropriate for ink, paint and pencil. You can see the original, unadorned journal here. Recipient #1 is a talented artist in her own right. She paints, sketches, sculpts fabric ‘dolls,’ along with myriad other projects. I’ve been on the receiving end of her own talents, including a set of tie-dye tea towels and a hand-felted, one-of-a kind, purse.

I crafted the cover, using as assortment of ribbon in rainbow order, with some peace signs thrown in (her favorite) for additional interest.

Peace and a rainbow of ribbons

Closeup

An attached, expandable envelope lines the inside cover, great for collecting bits of inspiration. For now, I’ve tucked in a few seeds she can plant in her garden.

A Peak Inside…

The journal came wrapped in a sleeve of silky-strong paper too nice to toss, so I fashioned it into a simple bookmark, using other scraps on the face of the envelope.

Creative Journal by Dyan Reaveien of dylusions

I trimmed the wrapper and used it as a bookmark

Personalization, gardeningnirvana style

Finishing touches include her first initial made from a balsa wood letter, then covered in paper and inked along the edges. It’s embellished with flowers (of course)!

I hope she enjoys filling it as much as I enjoyed crafting it. Perhaps a year from now she’ll let us take a peak into a few pages and I can feature her work on gardeningnirvana.