Midnight circus altered book

I never had a favourite book, except the book I was reading at the time, and could not understand why you would need one, until I read " The Midnight Circus" by Erin Morgenstern. Until then I didn't even read Fantasy style books, except all the Harry Potter books of course but a girl on the Art journal caravan journalled about it and I had a new Kindle so I gave the sample a go. Well I didn't even get to the end of the sample before I just had to read it all and have done twice so far and have to stop my self just just turning back to the first page again at the end of each read, so I thin I have found my favourite book!! If you haven't read it do give it a go its a wonderful story, set in a magical place, a circus that doesn't open till sun down and is full of magic and mystery that will draw you in from page one. Not a vampire or werewolf in sight!

   So when my favourite shop did a whole collection of Midnight Circus themed digi kits after all the designers read the book I just had to have them and of course couldn't wait to create a project with them all. Here it is, my homage to " The Midnight Circus"  an altered book and what fun I had making it just for me!!

Tiddley Wink card

I made this card originally for an Altered Pages blog post last week but everyone appeared to love it so much you can now buy the kit at Altered Pages to make it for yourself. Just use the link over on the right and you will find this and other kits for sale in the kit section.

Back to school journal

The Fruit Pixie has some great paper collections and it is always so difficult to choose but I thought the new Nostalgia collection by Ruby Rocket was so bright and fun it was ideal for this back to school journal. 

As the base for the album I used one of the Kanban mini albums, they are sturdy and come with the book rings, I just cut some copy paper to fit for pages. I used the Eco Friendly inks to colour  the tabs. The Fruit Pixie has 3 tabbed style Kanban mini albums to choose from and they are great value for money.

The Fruit Pixie does wonderful button collections for £1, you never know what you will get but they are always lovely buttons. I hot glued some of them onto colourful paper clips and popped them in the pocket. 

You can add anything you like to make it personal to the person you are giving it to.I used the collection pack, there are wonderful bright papers, all double sided, two of each design and 2 sheets of the collage elements as well as stickers and chipboard pieces. I only used 2 pieces of the paper and a sheet of collage elements so have lots left for other projects.

Who ever you make this for, whether they are back to school or starting collage or sixth form I am sure this will brighten up their day.

House and Garden card

I had seen this idea on the internet somewhere and loved the idea of doing a 3d card with out the fuss of making the pop out bits or the fan fold sides, if you have made 3d cards before you will know what I mean. This was such a lot of fun to make and I could of gone on all day cutting out things to go in the garden. I am sure I will make more. The apples on the tree are jems and I used the Ranger black enamel for the bicycle tyres and seat.

Rocking birthday card

I have been playing with my Imagine machine for a change. I have wanted to try the rocking cards, made with a circular base and thought this would be the ideal time to try. This was made using the beautiful Loris Garden cartridge.

Back to school project

The summer hols are almost over so I have used the School is Silly collage sheet from Altered Pages to make a timetable folder. You can print off your child's timetable and add it to the folder so you always know what they will need and when. For full instructions pop over to the Altered Pages blog.

Alice in wonderland cards

 I have been playing with the lovely Alice in Wonderland stamps by IndigoBlu sold by The Fruit Pixie. I have also tried the Cosmic shimmer chalk misters for the first and really liked them. If you are not so keen on the mica mists then give these a try. Here is what I came up with. For full instructions visit the Fruit Pixie on Facebook or their blog. For the stamps and many other wonderful things visit http://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk

Olympic medal booklet

As England win their first Gold medal I have just added my blog post for Altered Pages, a little booklet to keep tally of all your countries medals and a keepsake for this Olympics here in London. Its a quick and easy book to make and used the lovely vintage Olympic collage sheet from Altered Pages. Full instructions can be found on the Altered Pages blog.

Enchanted family album

As soon as I saw the new papers from the Craft time Enchanted line I knew they would go well with the beautiful cabinet cards I have of my family. I made the album from scratch using a binding method I have recently come across called "Stack the deck". The inventor of the book binding used envelopes for her pages but I thought of using the Woodware Cd sleeves The fruit Pixie sales instead. They made nice sturdy pages and were the perfect colour too. If you would like to make this album the you can find all the information on the Fruit Pixie blog.

Magic never ending card

Its my nephews birthday this week and he loves his magic, dose amazing card tricks and now he wants to learn more. Part of his present was a how to DVD for new tricks  so to continue the theme I have made him a magic never ending card, magic themed gift bag and have covered a notebook for him to use to take notes whilst learning his new tricks. All the images come from a digi kit from Tangie.

Dr Who card

 I made this card for a young friend of the family's birthday who likes Dr Who. It was such a fun card to make and was made so easy with Tangies  Love of the doctor digi kit, just love those daleks!!

Travel the world mini book kit

 I have a new kit available from Altered Pages. This time a mini book I have designed to incorporable windows to show a sneaky peek of the pages to come. The kit includes the book, papers and plenty of travel themed collage sheets you can use to tell of your travel dreams or use to embellish your own travel photos. The kit also comes with my step by step photo instruction which will take you step by step through cutting your windows to photos of every page in my book to give you inspiration for creating your own. If you would like to Travel the world with me pop over to Altered Pages and you can find my kit in the kit section.

Catching butterflies art journal page

It feels like ages since I could create in my Art Journal with the caravan, just too many things to create and too little time to create in! Tangie gives us such wonderful words each week to inspire us, along with lots of other things but its the words I love. This one - apolaustic which means addicted to enjoyment was perfect for me to get back on the caravan with. I loved creating this background just done with acrylic paint and my fave stencil. The images are from a Tangie digi kit and just fitted perfectly. Great to be back with the caravan again!!

Olympic record book

Now for all those who are visiting from another planet you might not know the Olympics are only a few weeks away now. I must admit to say I am not that bothered about sport is an understatement, except downhill skiing of course, but I am trying to get into the Olympic spirit. One big problem with getting into a crafting Olympic spirit is the very strict and over the top copyright that is on absolutely everything you could possibly think of to do with the Olympics but as this is NOT for sale and is just to give the lovely customers of The Fruit Pixie an idea of the sort of thing they can do, I hope I am OK.

  So here is my Olympic record book for the 2012 Olympics. It was made from a bare chipboard tab album and used the Ruby Rock it Vintedge collection paper pack all available from the Fruit Pixie. For full instructions go to the Fruit Pixie blog and Facebook page.

  The plan is to write down the main medals, there are so many sports, on the Gold, silver and bronze pages

  Then a pocket at the back to store any keepsakes I pick up along the way. If you are going to watch a sport at the Olympics why not use this as your diary of the big day.

Paris mini book

Altered Pages have so many wonderful collage sheets that sometimes us designers get carried away and use several  in one project. For my blog post this week I decided to just use one collage sheet to make a project to prove how you only need 1. So here is my little Paris accordion book. For full instructions just go to the Altered Pages blog.

Dads Birthday card

I have been itching to play with my Expression 2 machine for ages so took the chance to have a play to make Dad a birthday card. Images are from the Art Deco cartridge.