Quick Quotes Design Team Entry

Hi there, it's me Monica!!  Today I am going to share my entries for the Quick Quotes Design team. 

My first selection is one of my favorite projects.  I call it  Once Upon A Springtime.  This album features papers from the Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime line.  I love the sweet fairies. On the album front I embellished the flowers using Flower Soft.  I blended the colors for just the right shade.  One of my other favorite things about this album was the use of envelopes and tags.  I also did a lot of detail cutting ;)  either you love cutting or you hate doing it...

Detail cutting and tags some of my favorite things :)



Hand made envelopes with what else tags!



Next is a layout  that features a Quick Quotes  Dogs Rules.  I think it is particularly appropriate if you know our dogs.  They only beg from Roy, never me.  This is a photo I took shortly after Logan joined our family.  We were having a very casual evening after a long days work outside and my husband Roy decided that it was time to explain the Dogs Rules.  I love that he has every ones attention


Yes, when this photo was taken we had 4 dogs.  Sadly, Spanky has since passed over the
rainbow bridge...

                                                                                                                                                                      

My third choice is a bird house I designed and built using foam core and Echo Park paper.

It features a woven roof using May Arts silk ribbon.  The roofs trim and all of the flowers were designed using May Arts ribbon.

                                                                                    

My favorite little addition is the artful sticks (technical term) found in our yard.  I like the way the moss adds more texture to the house.

Last but not least is another Graphic 45 project.  I knew the first time that I saw this line of paper that it had to be a vintage travel case. 

                                                                                                                



I also included a mini album inside of the case, to document my travels.



Places for photos and memorabilia.

I hope you have enjoyed today's preview of a few of my projects.  Tomorrow is another busy day, with a class to teach at the toad. I will post photos next week.  This class features several techniques. Perfect Pearls, Copic Markers and making our own hand textured flowers using   cardstock.                                                                                                                                                                     

Bieko

Yes, I said Bieko as in Stevie Bieko my new foster bird.  I have always had a soft spot for birds, so Stevie Bieko has come to live with us.  She, hence the Stevie, is a Congo African Grey.  Stevie has a large vocabulary and is already talking quite a bit.  One of her favorite things is to tell us to tell us to shoo if we get into her territory (cage).  However she is learning that hands bring good things like food!  I'm in the office and she keeps asking "where are you?"  Now she is calling the dogs.  If things go well hopefully Stevie will become a permant part of our family. 

With a bird theme in mind I am showing a few pics of a project I designed a few month ago.  I used wood paper for the trees and lots of punches for this project.  It was a fun to put together.  This was a class that I taught at the Toad.  Our older granddaughters and our daughter Nicole were visiting and able to take the class.  It was a fun having them in one of my classes.

Well, I am being called.  Bieko keeps asking "where are you?" so I guess I had better go see what she wants.  I also need to leave for work soon.  I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend.  Let's hope the rain is about done!!!  Enjoy...

Hello again...

 

It's been a long week, but it is finally nearing the end.  Yeah!!!  While Stephanie and Carol were in Las Vegas at the EK Success seminars, and I might mention enjoying the sunshine.  I was left behind in wonderful Washington...in the rain!!!  With tons of new products to tend to.  Good news is, I'm finished.  All our new stuff is accounted for and out for sale.  I especially love our new Prima flowers.  Oohhh, I love flowers.  I also have organized all of the Copic markers.  Not the markers that are out and for sale, but the markers under the counter.  The back stock, it looks great if I do say so myself.  Enough patting myself on the back.  This is a project that I created and taught several months ago...

I featured one of my favorite lines of paper
Graphic 45.  I used flower soft on the cover, yes I know it's hard to see in these photos.  I also used May Arts Ribbon.  I love May Arts, you can't beat their quality.  Just a few photos, I hope you like it :)

Well, like I said it's been a long week, or at the least day so I'm off to enjoy the rest of the evening.  Tomorrow is Toadilly Scrappins ATC group so I need to finish my project planning.  Cheers;)   Monica 

                 

Off to Work :)

Well it's friday and I'm off to work...It's funny but I miss it when I don't go to work, although I really enjoy my time off.  Could be that because I have a class tommorow.  I'm just anxious wanting to be sure that everything is ready.  After work I'm off on an expedition with Mom, to the gem show and dinner.  A rare girls afternoon and evening.  Treasure the days !!!  Enjoy...

Spring Bird Cottage





                                                  Spring Bird House 

                                           Featuring May Arts Ribbon
                                                 Paper by Echo Park
                                         Designed by Monica Brickman

Supplies needed:

May Arts Ribbon                                               Zip Dry Paper Glue

Echo Park paper                                               Tombow Dotto Adhesive

Bazzil cardstock                                                Super Tape

Zots dot adhesive                                              Foam Tape

Assorted colors Color Box Chalk                        Foam Core Board

X-acto Knife                                                     Ruler and Pencil

Needle and Thread

House dimensions :

Front and back wall  6 1/4" x 10 1/2" - gable front 4 3/4" on each edge from 6" measurement to the top point.  (See photo)

Side walls  7" x 6"

Roof  16" x 7" overall size  each side should measure 8" x 7"

House bottom  6 1/4" x 6 3/4"

Begin by cutting your foam core board to the above dimensions using an x-acto knife.  Make sure to use a cutting mat under your knife!  When you are ready to cut out the roof portion, only cut partially through the foam core.  This will form a hinge and allow the foam core to fold in the middle.  The roof will still be one piece 16" x 7". Each side or half of the roof should measure 8" x 7".  When folded, the cut edge of the roof should be on the outside of the house. 

Cut your paper to the following dimensions;

Lower front and back  (2) 6" x 6"

Gable top front and back (2)  6" wide, angles 4 3/4" long the roof should measure 4 1/2" in height.  This triangle will cover the peak portion the roof (see photo)

Side Walls (2) 7" x 7"

Roof (4) 8" x 7" pink cardstock

Roof (2) 8" x 3" pink cardstock scored down the center at the 1 1/2" mark.  Select one piece of cardstock and in addition to scoring down the center use a decorative punch to punch a scalloped edge on each 8" side. Lightly chalk the scalloped edges using pink pastel.

Side trim (4) 1" x 6" pink card stock-score  down the center

House bottom  6 1/4" x 6 3/4" blue cardstock (do not attach this cardstock until the house has been assembled.)

Using Zip Dry paper glue,

Adhere the papers onto the fronts and sides of the foam core board. 

Roof :   Adhere (2) 8" x 7"  pieces of pink cardstock onto the top of the roof.  The top is the side of the roof that has a cut center line.

House construction:

Using super tape, tape along the three sides of the left and right side walls.  Do not apply super tape to the bottom of the walls.

House Front:

Remove the super tape covering and fit the left side wall onto the front house wall.   The wall should be placed against the front of the house, so the measurement of the house front does not change.  Make sure the corners are smooth and straight.  Next fit the right side wall in the same manner.

 

House Back:

Repeat the same steps as in house front.

House Bottom:

Fit the foam core board snugly into the bottom of the house.  The foam core fits into the bottom to help the house remain rectangular.  Next using Zip Dry adhere the blue cardstock onto the bottom of the house.  The Zip Dry will hold the bottom of the house onto the sides.  Once dry you may need to sand the cardstock around the edges to assure a smooth fit.

House Corners:

Adhere a 1" x 6" scored piece of pink cardstock onto each of the houses corners. This will cover the raw or unfinished edges where the house is joined together.

You should now have a complete roofless house.

Weave the roof:

I used May Arts 1/4" silk ribbon in the following colors, SK27 yellow, SK05 lavender, SK22 magenta, SK16 mossy green, SK34 light blue and SK17 light pink.

Step 1:

Weave each half of the roof separately.  Using Tombow diamond dot adhesive run a 1/4" adhesive line along the top and bottom (8") of one side of the roof.  (Make sure this is the roof side with the cut center edge showing)  No not apply adhesive to the roofs center.

Onto this adhesive attach 8" pieces of ribbon in the color order described above.  I alternated the magenta and light pink ribbon every 5 rows. It should use 28 pieces of ribbon.  Six 8" pieces of each color, with only three of magenta and three of light pink.  It is important that the ribbon is straight and smooth.  Place each pieces of ribbon tightly against each other.  Gaps in the ribbon will cause gaps in the finished roof.  

Step 2:

Cut 19 pieces of ribbon each 9" long.  Weave these pieces in an over-under method through the ribbon from step 1.  Leave the extra ribbon unattached for the time being.  Again make sure the ribbon is straight, smooth and does not have gaps between the pieces.

Step 3:

Using the diamond dot adhesive apply a 1/4" line of adhesive along the under side of the roof.  (The side without cardstock.)  Wrap the excess ribbon smoothly around the edges of the roof and attach onto the adhesive.  Now using Zip Dry adhere the (2) 8" x 7" pink cardstock pieces onto the underside of the roof covering the excess ribbon.  On the center portion of the roof that was not scored, but is folded adhere the 3" x 8" scored pink cardstock.  Make sure that the scored edge fits tightly into the roofs fold.  This will help reinforce the roof. 

Using Super Tape run it around the narrow edges of the roof.  Weave May Arts Scalloped Trim # 360-38-16 green and 360-38-17 pink together.  You will need approximately 1 1/3 yards.  Remove the plastic covering from the super tape and adhere the woven May Arts ribbon onto the edges of your houses roof. Set the roof and the scalloped pink cardstock aside.

Decorate your house:

On the front and back of the house where the bottom paper and the gable paper meets cover this seam using May Arts 3/4" ribbon #QH17 pink and 7/8" white lace #390-59-09.  Each piece should be 6 1/2" long.  Use diamond dot adhesive to first adhere the pink ribbon, than apply the diamond dot adhesive onto the wrong side of the lace and attach it over the ribbon.

Make Flowers:

Centers for the large flowers were made using May Arts wired fuzzy pom poms #346-27.  Cut the wire mid way between pom poms.  Next fold the wire in half with the pom pom at the center.  Twist the 2 wires together to keep the pom pom from falling off the wire.  Voila, a flower center!!

Fold the 1 1/2" May Arts ribbon in half.  I used a 5" piece of ribbon, sew a running stitch along the 2 long edges.  You will have a 5" tube.  Pull the thread to gather this tube into a circle.  Insert the flower center into the circle.  Pull the thread tight and stitch the 2 unfinished ends together.    

The last step is to stitch across the wrong side (back) of the flower to secure it and keep it from coming apart.  Small flowers were made in the same way.  I used 3/8" ribbon and beads were substituted for the pom pom center.  Ribbons used were May Arts 1 1/2" NR47, NR20, NR22 and May Arts 3/8" KN34, KN46, KN47.

   

You will want 4-5 large flowers and approximately 7 small flowers.  Set the flowers aside.

Hearts and Flourishes:

I cut the decorative hearts and flourishes on my Cricut machine using the Accent Essentials and Home Decor cartridges.  If a Cricut is not available to you you could choose to use other types of decoration such as stickers or chipboard.  Sizes used are as follows;

Gable flourish 3 1/4" Home Decor cartridge  yellow bling cardstock

Parentheses 3 1/2"  Home Decor cartridge     lavender bling cardstock

Hearts 3 1/4"   Accent Essentials cartridge    pink bling cardstock/black cardstock background

Chalk the hearts and flourishes using pink pastel.  Attach the yellow flourish onto the top front gable using foam tape.   Next center and adhere the hearts using diamond dots.  Finish by adhering the parentheses using foam tape.

Flowers: 

Using May Arts BY66 leaf ribbon cut a small portion of stem with several leaves for each flower.  Arrange the flowers and their stems to your liking before adhering them onto the house.  When you are satisfied that you have the proper "look" for your flowers attach the stems and leaves using diamond dot.  The flowers were attached using Zot Dots, larger flowers may require several dots.

Roof:

Using super tape, run the tape along the pointed top edge of the house gable ends.  Now add the roof being careful to have the roof centered with the top point of the front wall matching up to the roofs fold.  Gently lay the roofs sides down onto the super tape.  Press carefully to secure the roof onto the tape.  The tape will hold the roof in place, but do not try to pick the house up by the roof.  It may not hold and could tear the cardstock roof lining. 

Using the scalloped 8" pink cardstock that had been set aside, apply diamond dots to the wrong side.  Place this scalloped piece on the top of the roof.  Press gently to adhere to the ribbon.  This will hide the "Cut" edge of the roof.

Perches:

Your birdhouse will be complete as soon as you have added the perches. 

Find 2 small sticks about 2 1/2" long.  I went out in my yard and looked for "artful sticks" as I like to call them.  Sticks that have a bit of character, tiny branches, a bit of moss or whatever appeals to you. 

Trim the sticks to fit the size of the birdhouse.  When you are satisfied with the look use hot glue to attach these perches onto the bottom of the heart shaped "openings".

Congratulations your birdhouse should be complete.  It's now ready to bring a bit of spring into your home.

I'm Finished!!!

Well, as some of you know I have been working on a challange for the May Arts Ribbon Company.  This was my first attempt at a challange.  I sometimes am my own worst critic, that being said I will wait to see what happens.  Wish me luck :) 
Photos and instructions to follow...

It's Over!!!

Well, it's thursday and that means our visit has come to an end.  I was so sorry to see everyone leave this morning...I do have to admit tho that I'm tired!!!  When you are without small children for so long you forget how busy you used to be when your kids were small.  Where did I get all the energy, and where did it all go???  I want it back!!!
We had a great time at the aquarium in Seattle.  It also included a quick stop at Impress on the way home, just a few new goodies.  We also had several craft days and Nicole made the best layout.  I wish I had pictures to post.  She was'nt quite finished, so no pics.  I worked with my copics and new stamps.  I love my little girls.  I'll post pics when the cards are finished.  My ribbon from May Arts arrived so it's now time to start power crafting.  Time to start the bird house.  As soon as I get home from work.
Have a fun day ;)  Monica