Being 13!

So, after almost a year in the works, I finally finished the "all about me" album I made for my niece who turned 13 last April.  It's made using the Basic Grey round chipboard album (though I added an extra page).  Each page has a place for her to journal, add a photo or add momentos about her thirteenth year.  There are pages about her, her family, friends, pets, school, hobbies.  There is a page for the things she loves, her hopes for next year and what she is into now.  This book took an enormous amount of effort and time.  I really hope she uses it and treasures it for years to come.  Below is a slide show of the pages in the book.  You can pause and skip around in the book by clicking the controls.  Enjoy.

Red Puff Hat

My first hat!!  I don't know why I can't ever do anything simple!  This hat only took me a few hours to finish off, and I was so proud of myself since I had to make the hat shrink from an adult to a child size with out any direction.  I did this by eliminating one of the increase steps and for decreasing the amount of rows of puffs.  I learned how to do this hat thanks to Teresa at Crochet Geek on YouTube.  I altered the design a tad to make it my own (I wanted the band to be wider to cover my daughters ears) and I added a nice little rosette (that I learned how to make on this blog, my first written pattern project!) and a pearl button for accent.  You can see the Puff Stitch Hat video here.

Butterfly Headband

I've decided to teach myself to crochet.  Crazy, the things you can learn on YouTube!!  I have officially learned how to crochet on YouTube, thanks mostly to the Crochet Geek.  I started out with Barbie blankets, and got lucky with a few mistakes that turned into a Barbie hat and a Barbie shawl.  I then profected the art of a simple Wrister set for myself and my daughter (thanks to this video) using the same yarn that I used in this headband.  Then I had to make a matching headband to go with the wristers...of course!  After I finished I added a fun little butterfly that I learned to make using this video on YouTube.  I am quite proud of my first real accomplishment!!

Tags (Set of 4)

This is a set of four tags that I made the other day when I was in a scrapping mood, but didn't really have enough time to put together a layout. I figure I'll put these out of Etsy and see if I get a bite. I used these little chipboard "Technique Tiles Rectagles" from Technique Tuesday as the base, then decoupaged some scrap paper for the backgrounds. The titles are chipboard sentiments from K & Company and then of course I added ink, ribbons, buckles, flowers, pearls and rhinestones followed by another coat of decoupage for sealing the titles.

A is for Aubrey

This LO is of a photo I had taken on my DD's 3rd birthday. These days she's been all about saying "A is for Aubrey!" so I thought it would be a fun title for this page. The background paper has lots of endearments written in different fonts and colors, this is where I pulled my accent colors from. The quote tag says "You make me realize how beautiful my life is." Its a clear sticker that I placed on some accent paper and made a tag out of using Making Memories' tag maker. I then added pearl halves and an eyelet through which I ran a ribbon and a dangling tag fastener and adhered the ribbon to the photo. The "A" and its background are made from a chipboard die cut that I overlayed with accent paper and embellished with flocking and rhinestones. I used puffy tape to elevate the actual "A" above the background. I also added a pink feather to the side and then of course a few paper flowers with an enamel brad topped with another half pearl (this one in a wine color). The rest of the letters in the title are made from weathered looking copper-like colored metal tags. They are attached to the page using rhinestone snaps. I have left a location for a journaling tag should I decide to add one in the future. It is located behind the photo and will be attached using an embellished paper clip.

Are You My Mother?

This LO is of our very first studio photo together. This photo was taken on my DD 3rd birthday last month. The title of the page 'Are You My Mother?' is the name of a popular book by P. D. Eastman about a just hatched baby bird in search of his Mother, whom is off fetching food for her new baby. This was my favorite book as a child, and is quickly become one for my daughter also. We read the book several times a week. Ironically I also call my DD little bird, and have since she was very young. She used to have her mouth open real wide during feeding time and it reminded me of a baby bird.

The title was fun. I used a journaling page from a journaling book (that's the scalloped edged red and white piece) for the base of my title and then built it up using tons of different rub-ons. I used two blank chip board rectangles that I inked up and printed the title on using a Glitter Gel Pen (that I got from the dollar store!!) and ink/stamps, along with a few more rub-ons. DO you see the tiny bird? The title is very dimensional IRL and is one of my favorite titles ever.

The background paper was "Bohemia" and double sided coordinating prints. I put two sheets together and folded down the top right corner to create a pocket are for my journaling. There I decorated the space using more rub-ons (Basic Grey here I think), a bedazzeled brad and a flower shaped grommet. The large red bird and its branches were preprinted on the background paper. The pink part of the journaling tag is a die cut from a journaling book, and then I cut around it with the red paper (that has "love" written in different languages).

Here is a close up of the top right corner of the photo, and of the journaling pocket. The photo corner was embellished with several layers of rub-ons (clearly I love rub-ons), ribbon, flowers, a large brad and what used to be a bird lapel pin. I pulled the pin part off and glued it on. Obviously the bird theme is big on this LO. I also tried really hard, and was surprised to see I succeeded, to pull in polka-dots along with lots of reds, pinks and browns into this LO. I think the little bird pin near the photo just completes the LO. I really had a good time with this page, and maybe I went a tad overboard since it ended up looking a little busy. But in the end, I love it and I think its one of my best pages.

3 Years

This page is in honor of my daughter's third birthday. The background has silver writing in the paper itself, which was so cool! The writing says "You are a blessing beyond compare". I used silver ribbon, stickles, a silver gel pen (which was such a cool pen and added some real glam!) and pink crystals to accent the page. The black silhouette of the branch and bird were cut out using the Silhouette Machine. I often call her my "little bird" and enjoy putting birds on her layouts. I used silver ribbon in the birds wing, and pink Stickles in the flowers and as the eye of the bird. This picture was taken at the studio on her 3rd birthday. The journaling is about this past year and how she has changed and who she has become.

U Name It! - Lucas

This is a fun little U Name It! project I did for a friend of mine. I had such a great time making this a cowboy theme with a rope, a boot and a hat! I used polymer clay to create the letters and embellishments, and painted it with a glaze.

U Name It! - Eve

This is the latest U Name It! 3D Name I sold from my shop on Etsy. The name is Eve. I used pearlized polymer clay for the flowers to give them a bit of a sparkle and mixed two contrasting colors of clay to give it the swirl look.

U Name It!!

These are part of my latest creation that I have in my Etsy Store. I call them “U Name It” Custom made 3D Polymer Clay OOAK Names. U Name It…I can write it, in Clay! Have your child's name sculpted to match his/her room decor. Your name (or any word) with a photo/note holder, on a magnet, as a wall hanging...you name it! Each name (or word) is custom made. These are a few examples of the names I have already completed. If you’d like to order a custom name or word for yourself, click here.

This one is the one I did for my daughter. She has a garden themed bedroom in these colors. I even added wire antennae to the butterfly!

I had a lot of fun with "Amanda". This is a princess theme. There is a crown on the top of the "A" and a "frog prince" at the end who is also wearing a crown and a pucker! The flower that dangles from the letter "d" is a charm with a rhinestone. Each letter is made with pearlized polymer clay that gives it a fun sparkle and makes each letter look very girly.

This name was done with a love theme in mind. The dot over the letter "i" is a heart that is attached by a wire, making the heart appear suspended in air. The purple hearts on the letter "J" are in glitter clay and pearlized clay (though their sparkle is heard to see here).

"Andrew" was a challenge, and a lot of fun. A Nintendo Mario Bros. theme was requested here. I was very pleased with the finished product even after the challenge it presented! The turtle on the "A" is a Kooka Turtle that's been pounced on once and is waiting to be kicked. The letters "n" and "w" are bricks, with a coin jumping out of the letter "n" and attached via a looped wire to show motion as well as being made of a gold pearlized clay (as is the letter "E"). The letter "d" turns into a warp tube that has Mario's hat on top (showing that he's going down the tube of course!). The letter "E" is a mystery box with an invincibility star leaping out (also via a wire), and then of course the signature "grow up" mushroom at the end of the name. My husband thought it resembled Mario quite well.

The "B" in "Becca" as well as the letter "a" are made of glitter clay. Its too bad that the photo doesn't show the detail better. They are quite sparkly. The other letters are all made of a pearlized and swirled clay. This name comes with a very large dragonfly made of the same pearlized clays. The dragonfly also has wire antennae.

This is probably my favorite one. "Elyssa" is a baby bug/garden theme. The colors are not displayed well here and are more of a soft princess pink and a pearl color. Each letter and embellishment is made of pearlized clay and shimmers softly. The butterfly and the tiny bug atop the mushroom both have wire antennae. There is also a snail and a tiny inch worm, as well as the flower and then of course the mushroom I mentioned. This one is just so soft and girly. But I think I am especially fond of the bugs.

I can do one for you too! I charge just $2 for a letter and $1 for each embellishments (large ones are $2). If you'd like to read more about the U Name It's, just click right here.

Doodlies

This is my latest creation, a Doodlie! I will have him up on Etsy very soon. This particular one is an odd bird picture/note holder. He is less than 2" tall, made from polymer clay and sealed with a satin too coat. He even sparkles a bit! My plan is to do a whole line of these. Let me know what you think. What would you change? What would you pay?
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Altered Boxes for Brides, Newlyweds and Mommy-to-Be's in my shop on Etsy.com

These are a few altered boxes that I have for sale in my shop on Etsy.com at the moment. There is also a nice little "Baby Firsts" Altered Lunchbox in the shop that is a wonderful gift for a new mom or mom-to-be (think baby shower). I also do custom orders on my tins and boxes, cards, invitations for all occasions, as well as any scrapbook page (want a duplicate of one I made for myself?) all you have to do is ask!

The above two boxes are Bridal Guests and Gifts Keepsake Ledgers that are designed to hold Guest info for before the wedding. A wonderful way to keep your records organized. Did you send a Thank You Note, what is their email address? Check. Did they RSVP? Check. How many guests are they bringing? It truly is a nice idea. And I'm not just saying that because I made it. ;)

This altered box is titled "Advice for the New Mother!" and would make a wonderful Pre-Baby Shower Gift. Pre-shower because the purpose of this box is to have each guest fill out a card with advice for the new mom, weather it be on surviving motherhood or even a cute anecdote. No shower? You can have visiting friends and family members fill out a card instead. This is a must have item for any new mommy!

This box is similar to the one above except its meant for a newlywed couple. Titled "Advice for the Newlyweds" the box is meant for the couple to have each guest fill out a card with advice for the new couple. No shower? You can have each guest at the reception or even visiting friends and family members fill out a card instead. This is a must have item for any new couple!

*I am aware that I misspelled "Newlywed" on the box and it is currently being fixed.

Be sure to check out my shop on Etsy

for new Altered By West items.

1st Birthday

This LO is of my daughter's first Birthday. I was trying to make the one picture the main focus of the LO with out distracting from it with the ten or so photo's I wanted to use. Now that I am done, I think I would have preferred the same background paper on both sides. Anyhow, I had fun adding some elements to the page that came from the actual day, such as the ribbons and the cupcake.

The huge "1" is something I think that was originally intended for use on a quilt. It is fuzzy and made of fabric. The title is a rub on that I embellished with Stickles (I love my Stickles) and attached a plastic "button" to that which says "Sparkle". The button on the top of the hat is a fabric covered button, and the ribbons are ribbons that came from Aubrey's actual birthday dress, as did the Cupcake applique. I added the green "pearl" to the top. The large "27" rub-on is from Gin-X Express-ons, and "Jan" are foil letters. The background paper is from Imaginisce from the All Kinds of Happy line called Tied up with Strings

There are several photo's on this page that are under peek-a-boo flaps (see below photo). The background paper and the two upper "gifts" are also from the All Kinds of Happy line. I used Parfait Par-tay for the background, Chatty Cake, Chatty Cake on the pink gift and Oooo, You Shouldn't Have... on the gift bag. The gift bag has a few pictures in it with pull-up tabs made from Vellum to resemble tissue paper. The Vellum is from Paper Pizazz. I cut the edges using decorative scissors and the ribbon is also from Aubrey's birthday dress. The brown and pink "Happy Birthday" ribbon is Martha Stewart Crafts. Each flap (other than the gift bag) opens or rotates to reveal several pictures beneath. I embellished with ribbons, charms and rhinestones. The small purple envelope at the top was made using the Cricut Cartridge called Wild Card. I added stickles for depth and pizazz and used a Zig Millennium Pen to add her name. The envelope is secured to the page using the tiny white clip at the top and is easily removable. Inside the envelope is a card with the journaling of the day on it.

This photo displays how the peek-a-boo flaps open to reveal the photo's. There are a few photo's under every flap. I really enjoyed how this LO took on a mind of its own and revealed a nice new idea for me to add several pictures to one page without making the page feel overwhelming. And now, 4 days shy of her 2nd birthday...I have finished! :s I really need to pick up the pace.

Trick-or-Treat

Here is what the LO looks like together. It's a double page LO. This page gave me a lot of grief, but in the end I am very pleased with the way it turned out. Thanks to some .svg files I used (for the title and the monkey) on my SCAL, and some pretty great embellishments I picked up in the weeks I was working on this LO. It seemed so plain brown to me, and blah. And it took me forever to find a Monkey that I liked. This monkey wasn't my favorite, but it was cute enough. I got the Monkey .svg file from Southern Belle and I got the title .svg file from http://www.svgcuts.com/ (who had some really great ones!!).

So the title and monkey are cuts I did on the Cricut. The title paper is by American Crafts, The Goods Collection in Pumpkin Pie. I used the stripes on the front and the back is a coordinating color that I used for the shadow of the title. Then I used a few sticky pearls from Recollections, along with several of the stickers. The spiders body is one such pearl, and then I used black Stickles on the spiders legs, and some little doodads here and there through out the LO. I put two photo's on tags that are hidden beneath the top three photo's. I had a lot of photo's I wanted to use for this LO, being that it was my daughters first "real" Trick-or-Treating experience.

My favorite part of this LO is the journaling tag. I found this cute little .bmp in Microsoft Word. I inserted the picture, enlarged it and then wrote on it using a text box, printed and then cut out the image by hand. A daunting task, there are 7 pages. Hey, I'm a wordy gal! The top flap opens up to reveal the other 6 journaling flaps, telling the story of the day. The font I used is called Dilate. I used foam tape behind the upper part of the bag to give it a 3D effect, and to also allow room for the thickness of the other 6 pages of journaling. I used black Stickles on the ghosts eyes and highlighted them with blue pearls from Recollections. The Happy Halloween Stickers, tag and candy are also from Recollections. The black dots around the large photo are "brads" that I made using black Stickles. I later added two small ghost stickers. I really recommend clicking on the images to get a closer look, I really am proud of the details in this LO. And happy to be moving on...

Journaling says:

" We went all over town today for Halloween fun! I think the fun was more for Momma's sake than any one else's. First thing this morning we went to a little costume parade on Grosse Ile, and Grandma joined us. I was dressed up in a little monkey costume and thirteen layers of clothes because it was so cold and the wind was whipping. Later that day we went to a little Boo Bash that had Pony Rides. I got to sit on one of the Ponies, my first time ever!! Then we went to visit Great Grandma and Auntie Maddie. Who just think I'm the cutest thing EVER!! Later that day we were off Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood. I went last year, when I was only 9 months old, In Niles with Momma’s Family. This year I got to walk around and carry a little pumpkin and beg for my own candy (which Momma has already confiscated and probably eaten). We took Kaida too! Daddy walked Kaida, but I tried my hardest to get him to let me do it. In the end I let him “help” me. I had so much fun! We crunched through the leaves up and down my street. I even put some in my pumpkin. Daddy threatened people not to scare me, I got tons of candy, chips and cookies, went for a nice walk in a fun costume and saw lots of little kids and even dogs that were dressed in funny costumes. Then we went back to our home and passed out candy for a little while before I had to go to bed. I loved seeing all of the kids dressed up and coming to the door saying "Trick or Treat". Every time Momma said, "Muffin, someone’s coming!!" I ran to the door to see. Kaida did too! It was such a fun day, but when we were all done I was pooped!! I think Momma and Daddy had as much fun as I did, if not more. It is possible that they were also more excited than I was, especially Momma. I think she may have been holding back tears while we were Trick-or-Treating!! I am 21 months old. 2009"

Monster Card

I loved making this card. I made this card for my young cousin, using the Cricut cartridge Wild Card. It was the first card I've made from that cartridge. All of the elements are from the cartridge. I added Stickles for depth and flair. The little monster lifts up and the card is written on there. The card is about 5" square. I am so excited to get started making all sorts of new cards using this cartridge!!