Some Anthology and a crafty preview

I am knee deep in what has turned out to be a very challenging crafty assignment. Challenging in ways I hadn't expected. There was a thread on the message board at Studio Calico about what tool or technique you could not do without, and I have been tested with this assignment with restrictions that have really challenged me as a papercrafter in ways I hadn't expected. Perhaps I will come out the other side with a new look on crafting in general, but for right now....

I want to pull my hair out.

I'd rather:

clean the toilets

listen to kids fighting (who are we kidding. That's actually not true)

fold the laundry

declaw the cats

than look at this assignment any longer.

So today, I pushed it aside. It may have been more of a shove, but aside it went, and I broke out some of my favorite products and tools and techniques and had a lot of fun.

I needed to get in an Anthology layout for the month, so this was a great opportunity to do so.

For this layout, I decided to mix some Anthology with one of my new favorite lines from CHAW10, Crate Paper's Brook line. They work really well together. It was fun to mix floral prints with Studio Calico's more clean and modern designs.

Remember that post before CHA about the crazy sewing I was trying to do? Pleating? Well, where the pleating didn't work for my outfit, it does work on a layout. I love the imperfect pleating here. I just trimmed a random strip of fabric, sewed two straight lines down the middle, grabbed hold of the ends of the understitching, and tugged, gathering here and there. When it got to the width I wanted, I tied the ends. Voila! Perfect accessory to any layout, if I do say so myself.

It just occurred to me that this technique would have been great for the challenge that was this week on the Studio Calico blog, ruffles. Maybe it was a bit of ESP that inspired me to do this here. Funny how it works sometimes.

This flower was made with a great big chipboard shape from Crate Paper's Brook line (the package comes with 49 pieces!), and a brad I made using the new I Top tool , the medium brad daddies, and a small fabrip circle. I tried this tool at CHA and it looked like a fun way to add dimension in the color I want, so when April added it to the shop at Studio Calico I quickly snatched it up. You can also pick up the small brad daddies, as well as the punches and template needed to make these brads. I didn't see the punches when the tool was first added to the shop, but I might pick up one anyway because it would also be a fun punch to add to my stash in general. You don't need one though. You can either trace and trim out your shape using the template, or you can also get away with a small scallop punch. I used one from Stampin' Up that looks to be about 1 3/4" for the medium brad.

So there's my layout!

Before I go I did want to share a sneaky peek at a project I have been busy working on.

Why yes, that would be some misting. In Hydrangea, to be exact. And some canvas. There's also a wee peek at a piece of fabric from a line I may have referenced earlier in this post.

I can't wait to share the finished project! I've been having a lot of fun with it.

Have a great day! Davinie