Showstoppers Scrapbook Collage

Hi everyone! Maggi here to share the last project from this month’s guest designer, Lenna Young Andrews. (Actually, we have one more project from Lenna to show you but that’s going in the Gauche Alchemy newsletter so if you don’t already subscribe to our rockin’ newsletter, be sure to sign up today so you don’t miss a thing!)

Today’s project from Lenna is a collage she created with our Showstoppers Kit to go into her new scrapbook…Have at it, Lenna!

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First, I cut out a nice size piece of the paper to lay my photo on and also cut out a number of the sayings.

I arranged all of the papers and the photo in a pleasing manner.

I edged my cut out words with a 14K Gold marker. Then I cut out 2 hearts and some contrasting strips using the same paper but showing the other side.

I glued everything down – this photo shows the reverse of both sides of paper.

A close-up of my collage.

Lastly, I applied my collage to a full size sheet of cardstock (also from the kit) and slipped the whole thing into a new scrapbook I had recently purchased. I am on my way to filling it!!

Fantastic job, Lenna! On behalf of all of us at Gauche Alchemy, we want to thank Lenna for working with our Showstoppers Kit and creating such fabulous projects! Thank you, Lenna!!!

Now go glue something awesome onto some awesome something!

Maggi 😀

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How to Make a Book from Scrapbook Paper

Hi everyone! Maggi here to share another project from this month’s guest designer, Lenna Young Andrews! She created this awesome book using our Showstoppers Kit and the best part is she gave us a step by step so you can create your own!

Take it away, Lenna!

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Here’s a Gauche instant book!

Take a piece of 12×12 double sided cardstock from the Showstoppers Kit. I picked Basic Grey’s Life of the Party: Popcorn Poppin:

Score the paper at 3”, 6” and 9” in 2 directions so you end up with (16) 3” squares:

Cut on the middle score line (the 6” one) just 9” up -so the paper is still intact:

Turn the paper 180 degrees and cut 9” up on both the 3” and 9” score lines:

Start at one corner and fan fold (back and forth) on the scoring lines you made until the paper is all folded up. Watching this video by Tim Holtz may help you to understand how to do it. This is not hard to create, but I think visual instruction will help:

Before you do any gluing or taping, your instant book will look something like this:

There are 3 pages which can be made into pocket pages because they are open on one end:

I used tissue tape to seal the sides and create the pocket pages of this little book:

I also used Tissue tape for the side binding of the book, but any decorative tape will do:

You can see the 3 pocket pages and how I cut an slight opening to make it easier to see the contents of the pocket:

I used the Tim Holtz Ticket stamp from the kit and StazOn permanent ink to decorate the front cover:

From the kit I also enjoyed using the “Admit One” tickets, “Questions” Trivia Card, Groucho Marx patch, the yellow feather (in a pocket!) . . . and I cut a heart out of the sequin fabric that was in the kit to embellish the pages. I used various rubber stamps to decorate the pages and tucked some of my own photos of my husband & I on a date into one of the pockets. I hand wrote a few notes and slyly gave this to my husband before sharing it here with you!

Click for larger view!

Enjoy!

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That is too cool Lenna!!!

Don’t forget to grab your very own Showstoppers Kit in the Gauche Alchemy store! (And throw in some washi tape while you’re at, eh?)

Now go glue something awesome onto some awesome something!

Maggi 😀

Baby, You’re a Star!

Hi everyone! Maggi here to show off the first project Lenna Young Andrews created with our Showstoppers kit!

Take it away, Lenna!

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I looked through the kit to see what would inspire me and really wanted to work with the long ticket album. I liked how there were other things in the kits that coordinated so nicely with the “ticket” theme –actual ticket stubs, a ticket stamp, show theme papers . . .

The funny cartoon included in the old magazine pages caught my eye and I used the actual album page/cover as a template and cut the cartoon to fit the cover.  I included the words from the cartoon, added one of the ticket stubs from the kit and used a Sea Sponge to sponge brown paint around the edges. As I was doing this it came to me that this should become a photo book and the people in the photos would be the stars. My theme was born!

I took the fibers and a shell button from the kit and used household Goop to adhere them to the cover. Using more of the fiber that came with the kit, I tied additional strands on to my original loop. I dabbed a bit of tacky glue onto the ends to prevent it from fraying. I also chose 4 small gold beads from the kit and used tacky glue to add them to the cover round the shell button.

I practiced writing with a white Sakura Glaze pen on some of the cartoon magazine page scrap. It worked fine, so I went ahead and ‘cemented’ my theme by writing “baby you’re a star” on the cover. I sponged on Bright Gold Lumiere paint to  compliment the brown paint and when this was dry, sealed the cover with a Gloss spray finish. When that was dry added the 2 Prima flowers.

I then looked through the nice assortment of scrapbook paper and wallpaper to use to prepare the pages of the album. I cut the pages the same way as the cover with the wooden album page as a guide and used the same paper for both sides of the spread of pages to unify them.  All of the pages are covered with either scrapbook paper or a wallpaper sample from the kit… I used my xyron adhesive to make each page I cut out into a large sticker that I could then place down on the blank album page and burnish it to stick. It worked very well.

I started choosing photos for the pages. My husband had just taken a series of photos of me with my new camera and I thought it would be cute to have a photo of me taking pictures of the “stars” in my life: my dogs & my husband. The little strip of film from the kit was just so appropriate! I used it as a border for the first photo of me taking pictures and was amazed to find there was exactly enough to use it as a border for the other 2 photos of me I included!! The xyron came in handing for attaching the film strip pieces too.

I attached the photos and film strip with my xyron. On the page with the circles, the wallpaper was too dark to show off the film strip nicely so I backed it with a lighter piece (a trimmed photo border) before xyron-ing the whole thing into the book.

I used tacky glue to add a strip of sequins (kit) under 2 photos and my xyron to attach a section of star punchinella to one page. I added journaling about my pups under their photo and used tacky glue to add rubber stamping a feather to their page!

I added a couple of star rubber stamps to the pages to continue the theme and used a micron pen to write a bit.  I also used a sparkly copper Gelly Roll pen to add emphasis to the names and the stars. I knew the word rubber stamps I had chosen would not show up on the darker papers in my album, so I stamped them with white permanent ink on white paper, ran them through my xyron to make stickers, cut them out and placed them where I wanted!

I rubber stamped with permanent ink directly on my photo of my 2 dogs, giving them STAR dog tags! I used a micron pen to draw in collars, made little stickers for their names and added an extra sequin from the kit for a little extra sparkle.

Click for larger view!

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Wonderful album Lenna, the theme you zeroed in on is perfect! Don’t forget to grab your very own Showstoppers Kit in the Gauche Alchemy store!

Now go glue something awesome onto some awesome something!

Maggi 😀

April’s Guest Designer: Lenna Young Andrews

Hi everyone! Maggi here to introduce this month’s guest designer! 😀 I’ve been following her blog and artwork for a while. She’s a fabulous lady and has talent out the wazoo so we were thrilled to have her play with our Showstoppers kit. Help me welcome Lenna Young Andrews!

Lenna Young Andrews has been creative as long as she can remember. Although she never received a bachelor’s degree, her training over the years in both art and dance has definitely shaped her life. Today, Lenna’s mixed media work is most often referred to as “free”, full of feeling, layered, intriguing and inspiring. She works with paper, paint, canvas, fabric, photos, vintage papers, quotes & words, her sewing machine, natural items like shells and feathers, and just about anything within her reach that inspires her. You can keep up with her creative pursuits on her art blog, Creative Lenna.

Lenna has been published over 50 times since 1994 for both her art and her articles in both books and magazines. You’ll find her artwork in various Somerset Studio publications, RubberStampMadness, Vamp Stamp News and Expression Magazine (Cover, 2005). You will also find her published work in these books: 1000 Artist Journal Pages, The Art of Fabric Books, Altered Books 101, and New Techniques for Wearable Art, to name a few. More details can be found here on her original website.

Lenna discovered at the young age of 20 that she enjoyed teaching and she’s been instructing either dance-fitness or art classes since 1977. She found out she has a talent for teaching, whether it is an in-person class or an online workshop. She truly enjoys helping students discover the joy and contentment of being creative and is often noted for her helpful and encouraging instruction. Students most often describe Lenna as a very organized and caring teacher who can take a large project and break it down into more manageable parts. Visit her teaching site or her creative swap blog for more information! You can also visit her daily photo journal on Blip, see her archive of art and class photos or visit Lenna in her Zazzle Gallery and Flickr!

You are going to go nuts over what Lenna did to our Showstoppers kit so be sure to check back next week!

Now go glue something awesome onto some awesome something!

Maggi 😀

Peacock Punchinella wedding? YES, PLEASE!

Good Day!

Michelle here!

Today we have a special post to lead us into Valentine’s Day- a punchinella wedding! Gauche Alchemy customers, Stefanie and Corey Rusch, were kind enough to share images from their outstanding November 2011 wedding. The colors of  a peacock feather were the unifying theme and the resulting details were spectacular!

Stefanie and Corey tied the knot at St. John's the Evangelist Church in Essexville, MI on November 5th 2011. Look at her GOWN! I love how the train resembles a peacock's long tail!

As Stefanie says: ” My entire wedding was centered around peacock feathers. I love the colors! My husband and his family are in the wedding industry and I wanted our wedding to be different.”

The bright and elegant color palette made for some really beautiful textural combinations in the Bridal Party Bouquets.

The Bride, Bridesmaids and Flower Girl all carried co-ordinating bouquets with Peacock punchinella leaves. I find the inclusion of actual feathers with the blue and purple flowers to be quite elegant. The punchinella adds just the right amount of pizzazz.

Stefanie used yards of Peacock Punchinella ribbon for the bouquets and the cake. Co-ordinating colors currently in the shop include: Dark Purple, Cerulean Steel Blue, Aqua Green and Light Blue Stars.

Stefanie's bouquet also included portraits of her deceased grandparents so they could be with her on this very special day.

The groom’s boutonniere:

Groom, Corey, and his perfectly executed boutonniere

And then there’s the absolutely outstanding cake!

Stefanie explains: “I loved my cake! My parents have lived next to “the cake lady” for 27 years.  Over the years, I have helped her make Petit fours and set up wedding cakes.  I always dreamed about what my cake would look like.  I could not have dreamed my cake would turn out so beautiful!! I knew I didn’t want a white cake and when I found the peacock ribbon on the website I just went with it.  I think that is the only thing my husband had an opinion on, the cake.  Otherwise, he pretty much just showed up on the wedding day!”

Peacock color punchinella was layered over teal ribbon. A peacock feather cake topper made for a wonderfully dramatic flourish.

Ready for it's close up! WOW! Drool-worthy in so many ways!!

Gauche Alchemy would like to thank Beth Severn of http://enjoytheviewphotography.com for providing these amazing photos.

I’m officially in the mood to see some more wedding fabulosity!

Do you have photos of unique and/or hand crafted weddings you would like to share? Please link them up to our Flickr group and let us see what you did.

Congratulations to Stefanie and Corey!

Go on- get creative!

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