Saturday, August 14, 2010

August Creative Spirit Challenge, Purse Scrapbook


When I heard that Cindy Adkins was having a Creative Spirit Challenge at her blog, Whimsical Musings, I knew exactly what I was going to enter, A Scrapbook Purse, that I have been wanting to start for some time now.

When I went to embellish the front of my purse it was a little bit of a dilemma. I wanted to get crazy and detailed with a bunch of bling, yet I wanted to stay true to myself and my personality. So I got all of my purses out and laid them out on my bed. One thing held true time and time again and that was the black leather handbag. As beautiful as it is alone I still wanted more than that and a little trim, so I went with a cross and another matching jewelry piece.


This coordinating jewelry piece consists of a crown, cross, a few pearls and a leaf. This beautiful hanging embellishment along with the cross signify my love for the king of kings, my lord, Jesus.

To finish it off I put a strip of coordinating crystals that stretch across the purse, toward the bottom. I stood back and knew that this is exactly what I wanted and I still had a lot of bling.


I purchased this purse kit from 7 Gypsies. It came with the hardware for the handles and clasp, but it needed some feet. So, I found these wooden pieces in the wood working craft section. I painted them black and attached them with a wood glue to ensure that they were not going any where. I feel it really added a whole new look to the purse and presentation. I love it!

Well, how about a tour of my scrapbook. There are a total of seven layouts all together. However we will only be seeing four of them and the front page because Glenn is being shy... (eye roll!)
 

So, I guess we should start with the front page. One thing that I loved about doing this book, is although I kept the book cohesive by sticking with the same color palette and paper collection, I played with all kinds of my favorite techniques and embellishments.


One of my favorite techniques these days is to paint grungeboard with crackle paint. This time I rubbed black ink over the top to get in the cracks, stamped on it with a musical background stamp and wiped the ink away so that the ink was light. I then embossed the edge and used distressed embossing powder to grunge it up a little more.


I am not always up to date on what trends are in and out, but I do know what I like and don't like, and I have always been a fan of the over sized letters. Here, I added an S for Sherry. I embellished it with three gems and a golden crown. After I painted the crown gold I added a little coordinating distressed stickles.  I think the crown looks a little more like a jesters hat... but I like it.


I added a journaling tag to the front page that couldn't of been more true. The statement not only states that I was not real sure what the contents were going to hold but that whatever it was it would be something dear to my heart like this project has been since I bought it and the contents I added later. 

You can actually sense my enthusiasm and excitement by my wording and my handwriting. I usually write very small and precise, here my writing is large and hurried. I start off the journaling by stating that I can't believe I am finally putting it together!

Shall we turn the page?


This first layout, like all the layouts has coordinating scrapbook paper. I did however stamp some random images and added cut out patterned paper borders for more interest to the background.

There is a combination of pictures, tags, a quote and a hidden photo and journaling as well. Can you see where the hidden elements are?


This is a picture of  Glenn looking at something. The picture is highlighted using a transparent photo frame. The tag on the side is challenging you to figure out what Glenn is looking at.


If you guessed that the photo above is where the hidden elements are, then you are right. As a fan of hidden elements on a scrapbook page I just love who ever thought of these sturdy hinge stickers. You can see them attached to the decorated cardstock above. The cardstock is decorated using a rub on,  embossing ink and powder on the sides.


What is hidden is the answer to the question that is being asked, "What is Glenn looking at?" It happens
to be his latest obsession, The Claw Machine. I have a closet full of crap toys to prove it!


I was teasing Glenn about this page and how the quote applies to how much patience he has to have in order to play these games. When in all honesty patience is just one of many great virtues that he possesses.

Let's turn the page...


The next layout that we are looking at is a little more simple but actually has more sentimental meaning for me.


I made my own journaling tag this time with my Cricut Machine, some paint and a few stamped images.

Glenn took me on a surprise trip to the beach for my birthday last year. Each and every minute was amazing! He rented me a ocean front suite, complete with a fireplace and jacuzzi tub. It rained for weeks before we went but while we were there we weren't even wearing jackets. The day after we left it flooded so badly there you could not get in or out of the coast. Someone new we needed this trip and blessed it. We fell in love all over again...


Glenn is just hanging out in the room in the photo above. I used a rub on directly on to the photo to make a frame and cut it out. The wording, "always", is also a rub on. I don't know who came up with this idea either, but rub ons are another one of my favorites. Quality rub ons that is.


The key with ribbon and the key hole are just two of the many embellishments that fill the pages of this little album.


Anyone that knows my work knows that I am big on using the layered flowers too.

It is the stuff like these flowers, the key and keyhole and hidden elements just to name a few that keeps me doing scrapbooks the old fashioned way. I have admired many digital layouts, and because I create Custom Scrapbooks, I  have compared the profit margin of scrapbooking my way and the digital way.  I will admit it is hard to argue that point after looking at the figures, but is that what its all about? For some maybe, maybe they have not choice. But for me I would be giving up so much of what I love about scrapbooking and that's all the stuff!

OK, let's move on... shall we?


The patterned paper on the layout is pretty dark. I picked out a light colored paper to make borders from and used white rub ons, paint, and a white  pen for the words, embellishments and background for the date so that it would show up better, and pop off the page.


Because of the size of the pictures, I chose to design this layout on the side rather than crop down the pictures and cut out this great bench we found along a trail while we were doing some hiking on a camping trip.

All the photos have been matted with white mulberry paper to go with all of the other white elements on the page.

I added this grungeboard heart that has been painted red to coordinate with the outfit worn by Glenn in the pictures. It also adds some color to what would of been a black and white layout it.


The "G" is a grungeboard letter that has been painted white and then hand stamped with a handwriting background stamp. As you can see the ink was not dry yet and somehow was smudged a little. My first reaction is that it was ruined and then it grew on me and I kinda liked it.

"so loved" is a rub on, and is what actually started a chain reaction of other white rub ons that were added to the rest of the layout.

We have one more layout. Well, one more that Glenn will let us look at...


For this layout I added a pocket and border made from coordinating patterned paper, that has been embellished with rub ons, black pearls, and a charm w/ fibers.


I made the tag using my Cricut Machine, grungeboard, paint, pattern paper and a rub on. I have added a  heart charm w/ fibers to adorn the corner of the tag like the one that adorns the pocket. I love the quote displayed on this page. It states "Some people make the world a better place just by being in it". I know that my world is a better place with Glenn in it.


The pocket holds these three tags with fibers. Two of them are pictures of Glenn.


The third tag tells us the nature of the pictures and the dates the events took place.

This tag is another example of all the embellishments this book has, with little black pearls that line the bottom, like the ones that line the border on the opposite page. The patterned paper at the top and another heart and coordinating fibers.


Well, that's it for my new Purse Scrapbook. It not only looks like alot of my purses but holds alot of important stuff too!

I think that's it, let me ask Glenn one more time... ... ... Yep, that's it!  

Thank you for coming and sharing my Creative Spirit Challenge entry. I didn't know if  I was going to get it in on time because of some unforeseen circumstances, but I am glad that I did. 

Your comments and questions are always welcomed and enjoyed. Please add them following this post.

Until Next Time... Take Care!

9 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, Sherry, this is totally amazing AND we must be on the same wave-length because I spent all day making a purse!!! How unreal is that? (It is for the October gift for the Creative Spirit Challenge as a gift to one lucky person.)

    I hope you're feeling better!!!
    Hugs,
    Cindy
    xox

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Sherry,

    I looove that purse! Black happens to be my favorite color. And the silver bling is perfect. Love all the pics of Glen too. Hope you are doing great.
    xo
    Janet
    Janet's Creative Pillows

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is absolutely stunning x Leigh x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sherry,
    I just love it. It looks like one I would carry. I really love the cover. It would be a beautiful bible cover if it could work like that too. I love it, the tags,the pages and all. I hope you feel better soon.
    Hugs,
    Kim

    ReplyDelete
  5. very cool and what a lovely birthday surprise!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Sherry, so good to see you! Sorry I haven't gotten back with you yet, not been feeling so good and have had a couple of doctors app. I did however want to stop in real quick to see this purse you made. After you telling me about it I just had to see it, and I'm so glad I did! Wowww Sherry it's fantastic! But really it doesn't surprise me because all of your work amazes me! I hope that you have a wonderful rest of your evening.
    Hugs...
    Bobbi

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wowww this is STUNNING!!
    Blessings Bernie

    ReplyDelete
  8. this is beautiful,your blog is too.
    thank you for your sweet comment.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave me a comment. Each and every one is like finding a gift in my mailbox. ~Sherry

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