Monday, February 10, 2014

New Design Team Project for Betty's Creative Studio!

Creating with Graphic 45 Couture and Kaiser Craft!


Woo Hoo!  Back to the kind of crafty goodness that fuels my creativity!! When my favorite LSS, Betty's Creative Studio, put out a design team call it took me about two seconds to decide whether or not I wanted to go for it.  I did have to consider some family responsibilities, going back to school and my Sweet Bellies workload too.  In weighing all of that, I realized I needed an outlet that allowed me to create for pure creating sake.  In my world, that doesn't happen often.  More often than not, I am creating for work purposes.  While that is still a wonderful thing and I am a lucky girl, it sometimes limits my creative mojo.  I knew that Betty wouldn't put any limits on what I could do and would actually encourage the out of the box thinking that really tends to float my boat (she is cool like that :) ).  I jumped on it, submitted my thousands of pictures (no, really) and waited patiently (or not) to hear. 

As you can guess from the title, I made it!!  Betty started me off BIG but I was ready.  The DT has the responsibility of designing with products from the store in a variety of mediums and then returning what we created in approximately 2 weeks.  It has taken me a little bit longer because of the size of the project and because of the weather (snow in North Carolina makes North Carolinians do crazy things and pretty much shuts the state down at the sight of a flake or two).  I was lucky enough to get to work with Graphic 45's Couture collection and Kaiser Craft's Storage Cupboard.  GORGEOUS!!  Betty gave me a lot of the embellishments for Couture as well, but I am bringing most of them back to her.  I ended up using a lot of the 12x12 paper pad and even more of my own treasures that I have collected from junkin'. Keep in mind that I decided to transform my storage cupboard into a jewelry box, so as you look at the pictures you may notice a shelf missing.  I didn't put it in the top shelf in order to give necklaces room to hang from the "ceiling" of the cabinet. Your creative soul may think the cabinet has yet another purpose and that is totally fine.  GO WITH IT!!  It's suggested purposed does not have to be its final one. 

 I am putting a list below of the supplies I used as well as a few pics of the finished project.  I wanted to film my process but I just got a new computer and I haven't (that really should say MY HUSBAND hasn't) had a chance to connect my camera to it (not to mention this thing is pretty high tech and I am pretty low tech...huge learning curve).  Betty's is local for me but she is also online, so if you don't have an LSS as cool as mine, you can always look her up.  She is one of the most knowledgeable peeps I know about anything in the crafting industry and can help with just about anything!!  Her store is undergoing a name change, but you can find her online store here: http://bettysscrapbookroom.com/shopbetty/  and her Facebook page here:    https://www.facebook.com/Stampingbetty

SUPPLIES:
Graphic 45 Couture 12x12 paper pad                     Kaiser Craft storage cupboard
Graphic 45 Couture 12x12 cardstock stickers        Graphic 45 Couture cardstock banners
Graphic 45 Couture cardstock flowers                   Antique white and black paint
Gold metallic paint                                                 Folk Art Crackle Medium (any crackle will do)
Scor Tape                                                                Wood glue (enforces the cabinet joints)
Doily die cuts (choose a favorite from the Silhoutte store-I used doily scalloped lace--Design ID #40129 )
Wrought iron card cut (Silhouette Design ID #13597 )
Frame (grabbed from my stash of Michael's $1.00 spot frames)
3 vintage spools (my stash again)
Lamp shade finial (another stash item--from a yard sale!!)
Junk jewelry (including earrings, pearl strands, pendants, necklaces, and cameos)
Vintage button card (yep, stash)
Various pieces of black ribbon (oh yeah, stash)
Spray Mount (for adhering the doilies but I am sure you could use any liquid glue)
1/2 inch cup hooks (Lowe's/Home Depot)(make sure you get hooks that are small enough in size so that when you are screwing them into the "roof" of the storage cupboard, they don't go all the way through)**These are only necessary if you want to turn your cupboard into a jewelry box like I did.
Glue gun (for attaching the vintage stuff to the top of the cupboard)(Do NOT use a glue gun to put your cabinet together!!!

Ready to see the end result??  Yeah I know my photography skills still ROCK!! 

 
The front

The right side

 The left side

The top with all of my junkin' finds!!

Voila'!  The pretty inside

The left door

The blurry right door (do not attempt to adjust your screen)
 
IF you squint, you might be able to see the gold cup hooks hanging from the top.  These provide a space for hanging necklaces and bracelets.  There are 4 at the top and 2 underneath the second shelf.

It took quite awhile to put this pretty lady together...from the paint drying and crackle layering to the fussy cutting and trial and erroring (have fun with that spell check) of all of my junkin' finds, it was a labor of love that took a little over two weeks to complete. Had I been afforded the time to do nothing but work on it (you know INSTEAD OF THE LAUNDRY and the housework, and the homework, and the child-raising and husband-raising responsibilities), I would have had it done in a few days.  But it was a great way to spend a few hours here and there, letting loose creatively while completely ignoring the toilets that needed scrubbing and, of course, INSTEAD OF THE LAUNDRY!!  Sometimes it is about creating for just that reason that brings us the most inspiration.  Try it and see what happens...if I am wrong, at least you spent a few hours getting down and artsy and discovering what makes YOU tick creatively.  There are much worse things :).  You may discover, like I did, that your authentic self needs/craves/demands/yearns for that peaceful time.  What seems selfish actually becomes selfless because giving into that need to create makes you a better woman, mom, wife, daughter, teacher, Scout leader, astronaut...you get the picture. 
As always, thanks for checking out my blog.  Now go do something totally creative INSTEAD OF THE LAUNDRY!!   xoxoxoxoxox Heather K.