#100happydays

well i am trying something new .... i usually like paper related challenges ... something i can scrapbook or paint or ink or just get messy with.

Today (well 2 days ago actually) I am joining the #100happydays movement.  I have started an instagram account and I will be posting daily ... for 100 days ... things or bits or something that makes me happy in the day ....

in all actually there are tons of happy moments in my days ... i usually just don't pay attention to them ... maybe this way i will.

So check it out if you have time ... my instagram name is paper_play ...  come see what makes me happy! and if you dare .... join the fun ... all you do is post your happy moments for 100 days to your favourite social media sign.  Just click on this link to join!

a tisket, a tasket .... a little peat pot basket swap ...

it's true, it's been a while .... and i have learned a lot lately .... about life, about death and about how truly miraculous it is that we are even here at all ... we are stardust ... having a very human experience ...

but enough about that ...

I recently did a spring peat moss basket swap over at Vintage Dragonfly's swap group ... I must admit, i do love this little group of swappers, I have received some fabulous swaps with the people there ... It is a lovely group!  do check it out next time JoAnne posts a swap.

I was oh so lucky to have Sandi as a swap partner ... she sent me this fabulous little basket ... look at all of the vintage goodies, like the doily and the embroidery piece that covers the peat pot ...

 love the fluffy shiny stuffing, the vintage flowers, and those adorable eggs ... i love this little basket!

and in return I sent Sandi this little peat pot basket.

 I love making this basket ... total fun ....

So I thought maybe I should make one for my parents ....

 here's a little close up of the actual pot

 I was luck enough to find these little ceramic chicks at Michaels and a great discount .... oh how i wish there had been more then three, i was totally inspired by them ... This is the little basket I made for myself.

 and my daughter and I enjoyed it  ...

the bird crowns???  just a wee bit of Graphic45 paper, from the Sweet Sentiments line ... just used a border bunch on some scrap and added a wee bit of glitter ....

Thanks so much for visiting, 

I hope to catch up on your blogs very very soon!

peace, love and paper

Jo

seeing red ....

okay, once again i am a day late on a' lilhoohaa's photo blog challenge ... but I am here just the same ...
the theme for February was "red" .... here are my contributions to the challenge

although the title of this tile installation in a sidewalk is called "yellow dog" it is the bright red eyes that got my attention.  This is located just outside of the Firehall Theatre.

I love these red doors ... and there are many more ... this is part of the Firehall Theatre ... the building was originally a firehall built in 1906 and it is now a theatre and arts centre.  It is located on the downtown eastside of vancouver in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country (canada) ...

This used to be quite the grand firehall ... it has been put to a wonderful purpose

Next to the theatre sits the Vancouver Police Museum ... and right on the corner of that building this fabulous red fire sprinkler

and at the intersection ... a red light ...

Everything is from the same little corner and bit of street, it was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon ...

Thanks you so much for stopping by ... if you want to see more red just hop on over to PJ's blog.

peace love and paper
Jo

Another challenge!

Over at Simon Says, the Monday challenge was to create either with a cameo or use something that would make a cameo appearance in your project ...

So I kind of did both, but in doing both I also kind of did neither ... yeah ... one of those ....

I decided to use a vintage silhouette image from the Graphics Fairy .... I printed it out and then sat with it for a few days ... i decided to flip the page over and cover it with strips cut from a magazine ... I used a very victorian wall image as the main portion of her head, then a sea image and finally an image of an ancient brick wall ... Once i had glued the strips down, i let it dry (well almost dry) and then i cut out the silhouette image and adhered it to my background ...  I then added a lovely Jane Austen quote.

But then ...



...



...


I blew the quote ... i wrote down that it was from Sense and Sensibility  when .... *gasp* ...... it is actually from Pride and Prejudice ....

making a cameo appearance on my art journal page is the glaring quote error .... sheesh, i have lost all of my  street cred here with that error!

Thanks for stopping by ....
Peace love and paper
Jo

Simon Says - We Love Stamps Challenge

Today I am participating in the Simon Says challenge ... I do love stamps .... and I think that almost everything i do has stamping on it in some way ...

For this challenge i did stamping that is not very obvious ... but it adds texture and interest to the project as a whole ... I also used my two all time favourite stamps on this project, the French Script background stamp by Stampin Up, and the french script stamps that comes in the French Market stamp set by Tim Holtz ....

I started by stamping a piece of white cardstock with the spun sugar distress ink, I only used a small portion of this paper in a die cut,  but i have saved the rest for future projects.

 I also stamped an old piece of chipboard that has been painted and inked ... i stamped the image while the ink on the heart was still wet, and it all kind of smudged ... which was what i was going for ...

 and here we are!  the white paper is die cut into a snowflake rosette shape (this is one of my fave dies of all times) and i attached a little cherub that i printed, fussy cut, then glittered ... i then attached the whole thing to a lovely set of wings!

Not all stamping needs to be close up and in your face ... I love how this subtle stamping took the "whiteness" out of the white cardstock, and added some extra visual interest!

Once again, thanks so much for stopping by!  and make sure you stop by the Simon Says Monday Challenge to see all of the wonderful stamping art!

Peace, love and paper!

Jo

Grow Your Blog - my giveaway!

Hello everyone and a happy day to you!  I did a little random.org thing today, and the lucky winner of my GYB party giveaway is .....

....

....

... (so much drama)

... Tanya at Bead and Needle!!!!

You won this lovely set of vintage styled cards (found here) made by my wee little hands.

Please email me your details and i will get them off in the mail to you as quickly as possible.

Thank you to everyone who left a lovely comment and entered!

peace love and paper
Jo

What's my style?

arrrrg, if you follow my blog then you know that my style is a tad bit undefined ... I like bright, colourful, happy, textural, muted, layered, simple, easy, grungy, vintagey and kind of white .... yeah ...

so when i decided to join the "what's your style" challenge at Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog  ... i grabbed an old battered bright pink heart shaped box and decided to let "my heart" do the picking ....

This is what happened ....

I covered the box top in patterned paper and layered it with doilies an image from Graphic 45 paper and some hand made flowers, and all things pretty!

This box wax actually quite high ... to get the texture i wanted i painted the box in clay paint (which is very similar to chalk paint) in an old white colour.  I trimmed the side of the box top with satin ribbon and then layered it with vintage white lace.

Just a wee close up of the top ... i like a lot of depth so the flowers  much higher than the surface heart box top.

So, apparently my style is layered, textural, vintage and kind of white .... or at least my heart said so in this challenge ....

I can only wonder what my style will be on my next project!
Thanks so much for stopping by
Peace, love and paper
jo