Superfluous DVD Case

My husband came home with this DVD one day, which was loaned to him by a friend as a must watch! As I inspected the cover I told Josh, "that guy looks a lot like a young Sam Axe." What? The goofy, tactically helpful, best friend of Michael Weston, on Burn Notice, isn't a household name? Oh.

Look, he autographed it! Turns out that Sam's real name is Bruce Campbell and before I knew about him he was starring in cult classics like The Evil Dead and Army of Darkness. I do like Sam Axe, but I'm not a devoted enough fan to watch something that features a "ghastly army of skeletons," so while Josh watched the movie, I made a box to protect that fancy signature!

One final note, those little guys with the fork and match are pretty cute. I wonder what their story line is.

A Patriotic Gift

A good friend of mine, who was born on the 4th of July, has a special interest in the Presidents of our country.

I always get excited when I come across neat presidential things, because I can squirrel them away for later gift giving! A while ago, I found this little book about the lives of the U.S. Presidents at one of my favorite antique shops, The Butler Did It Antiques in Cannon Beach.

The book is very slim and just has a paper cover, so I thought it deserved a clamshell. Then I decided that it needed my friend's initials on it. Very presidential, don't you think?

Here the book is nestled in its box. It is a Little Blue Book, as can be seen on the front cover. I wonder if it was ever truly blue, that's some serious fading!

It all starts with George! All of the illustrations are pretty great. Another thing you can see in this photo is that the book was printed in the US, but what I didn't realize is that it was published/printed in Girard, KS. Girard is about an hour away from my friend's hometown of Independence, KS. That was a fun discovery!

Custom Keepsake Photo Box

 My friend Lauren of Piper Photography in Alabama always comes up with great projects! She has multiple package options for her clients and offers one that includes a keepsake box filled with photos from their session. There were a couple special features that she was looking for, and the box in these photos is what fit the bill!

The lid, which opens like a book, doubles as a photo frame. One side of the frame is open and allows photos to slide out for easy swapping. A ribbon pull, secure on the bottom of the box, makes it easy to pull photos out for viewing.

BBB for mash handmade

I am so excited to be selling some of my work in a real live shoppe! Especially this one. Lisa took me by mash handmade way back when Josh had his interview here in Kansas City. For me, it's one of those places that you walk into and try to move as slowly as possible because it just feels great to be there! It's a beautifully designed space filled (but not crowded) with delightful handmade creations. A mother and daughter duo own the shoppe and their kindness and enthusiasm for what they do make it an even more enjoyable experience (by the time I got to speak with them you can picture me in slow motion as I delay my inevitable exit!)

These photos are of the first boxes to make their way to mash. I have a set of folding boxes and some small books that will be joining them soon. If you live close by I definitely recommend heading over to Westport for a visit, otherwise enjoy their website! It has a similar effect on me. :)

 I thought it might be nice to make something that could be in a gender neutral gift-giving category. My enthusiasm for milk caps is at an all time high, and I don't see any lows in the forecast. A Burlington County Farms cap is inset on the top, surrounded by silk-like Japanese bookcloth, and complemented with green rayon bookcloth.

 Liberty London's Small Susanna comes together with Japanese and rayon bookcloths for a springtime look. A vintage transfer bumble bee eagerly approaches the sunflower (it must be blueberry flavored!). In person you'll be able to tell that it literally glitters with anticipation.

Here's the original box I shared with the ladies of mash, I've shared it here, too!

 Covered with linen and rayon bookcloth, this one might be my favorite because the ribbon inset on the top is some that I found in a fabric shop in Paris. The red and white buttons were selected from my button jar - that red & white striped button makes me happy all by itself!

A trio of bright rayon bookcloths makes this a cheery box, but a whistling teapot puts it over the top! The teapot and cup illustration is from a sheet of vintage Royaledge shelf paper. A piece of plain paper would have been attached to the top of the design and what you see above would fold over your kitchen shelves. Darling idea, isn't it? This box would still be great for a kitchen, perfect for tea bags, I'd say!

New in the Shop: Folding Box & a Few Words on Stamp Collecting

Another Liberty London infused box! This new box in the shop is covered in burgundy cloth and Liberty London's Small Susanna.

Lately my work has been accompanied by colorful vintage stamps. A few weeks ago I came across a box of stamps and stamp collecting books at the Crown Center antique festival. The gal selling them really wanted to get rid of them so she gave me a deal on the condition that I take the whole box!

 So, now I have a bunch of great stamps, some of which I've set aside to incorporate into projects, and others that I've bundled together in nice color combos to pass on as little gift with purchase treats. Along with the stamps, I now have a bunch of books about stamp collecting, which were fun to look through, but ultimately I'm not a stamp collector*, so I'm giving ebay a whirl. Anybody into stamps?

* I am, however, a major stamp user! I like having a variety of stamps on hand so I can match them with their recipient. That's normal, right? Lately my favorites are the new Love collection and the Pioneers of American Industrial Design stamps. I haven't even used the latter yet, I'm debating about keeping the pane pristine and putting in a frame. Wait a minute...maybe I am stamp collector!

New in the Shop: Trinket Box featuring Liberty London Fabric

I have a new box in the shop and it started out as most of my "for fun" projects do. I sat down with all of my favorite things and started playing. In this case, that button and those charms found their way to each other and I paired them with Liberty London's Fairford pattern for a happy little match.

Here's what happened next! Click on the photo to see a larger version in a new window.

Custom Folding Trinket Boxes

Upon our return from France, my bags were a tad heavier with the weight of souvenirs and trinkets. Among my favorite were beautiful silky cotton prints by Liberty of London. My friend Camille introduced me to the fabric and the Liberty craze that seemed to have taken over all of the shops in Paris. 

I didn't have a specific plan for these treasures, but they just had to come home with me! I spread all of the fabric out for my family this summer and one of my aunts had the idea to have me use some of it to make something for her and my cousins for Christmas. These photos are of the boxes that were under their tree on Christmas morning. The box above uses Liberty's Small Susanna print.

I sent thumbnails of all of my fabric to my aunt and she asked my cousins to pick their favorites, without giving them a reason why. This was a top-secret project! This Liberty print, Mauvey, is the first that caught my eye. I bought a metre of it at the most fabulous store, Merci, also introduced to me by Camille and her friend Cynthia.

This sweet floral print was a JoAnn's find.

For the guy in the brood, Liberty's Pelagia print gave a bit of a masculine touch.

 

I found this print of the Tuileries Gardens at Hearbeat Quilts in Barnstable, MA. You can just see a few details in this shot, but I have a couple of yards of it, so I imagine it'll make its way into a quilt (and more photos) this year.

These boxes were based on a trinket box that I made for my dad to give to my mom a while back, and now that I've gotten back into the groove of making them, I'm thinking I'll have to make a lot more!

Boxed Book Set To Be Auctioned

 

This boxed book set will soon find a new home with the highest bidder! It will be up for auction this Saturday at Our Lady of the Lake in Seattle. OLL is where my mom teaches Kindergarten. The pictured set will be bundled with a set of my handmade cards as well as a little pair of miniature book earrings. The fine Seattle Stationer, Silberman / Brown, donated an elegant boxed pen that fits into the side pen compartment.

 

The box is covered with green and blue Asahi bookcloth while the inside trays are lined with the decorative Japanese paper that also accents the covers of both the box and the coptic book.

  

www.ollauction.org is the very thorough website dedicated to the auction. Last night I spent quite a bit of time drooling over the many items and packages that will be there this weekend! If you're in the Seattle area, head on over to the Yellow Section to bid on item 1091!

Carnival of Love: Stationery Box

On Wednesday I joined Sarah of Orange Blossom Ink at the Carnival of Love at planIT! boutique. I got to see some great friends, like Grace Edmands, and also meet a lot of neat new people. It was a themed bridal event for local brides and grooms so they could get an idea of what area vendors have to offer. I didn't get a chance to visit with everyone, but one of my favorite vendors was Big City Catering, because they had carnival themed food stations set up all over the lovely boutique.  A popcorn station, where guests had their choice of toppings from garlic to chocolate powder, a hot dog station, again with a wide array of toppings, and my favorite, the snow cone station! I lingered for a while with the snow cones because I had a great time talking to the Big City Intern who was manning the station. She is actually preparing for her own wedding!

The box in these photos was my contribution for a joint take-home prize! Lisa and Sarah designed and printed some cute cards that matched the decorative paper on the box. I didn't stay for the whole evening so I'm not sure who ended up with it,  but I might request some of the cards myself,  because they were so cute!

 

Here is a list of all of the great vendors who were present:

Lori Barbely Photography, Big City Catering, planIT! boutique, Peddles Florist,  Kismet’s Arrow, Funfactory Entertainment, Orange Blossom Ink, Harpist Christine MacPhail, Grace Edmands Calligraphy, Cut the Cake, and Anavi Ink

Sixth and Final Handmade Winner: Yarn Box

 

Here is my final giveaway project! I made this yarn box for a friend I met at North Bennet Street. We were there for the same two years, she was down the hall from me studying Piano Technology while I was in the Bookbinding department.

  

From time to time I noticed Emily working on lovely knitting projects and discovered that she is an avid knitter. I found a little bit of inspiration while browsing Etsy one day and immediately thought of making something for my knitting piano tech friend! I found a shop called Darrielles Clay Art filled with beautiful stoneware pottery. Something that caught my eye was this yarn holder. It intrigued me and I ended up searching the web and finding other yarn holders here and there.

  

I thought it would be fun to transform this idea into my own craft. So I wrote to Emily to find out about what size a yarn ball would be at it's largest and got to work.

  

The ball of yarn fits into the box with the end of the yarn threaded through the opening slot. The lid fits snugly into the top of the box if you want the yarn to stay put, or it can pop off if you'd like to take the yarn out!

By the way, if you live in Texas and are looking for an excellent piano technician, Townsend Piano Service is the place to go!