Monday 5 January 2015

Paper Players 226

What an exciting challenge to start the year!


If there's one thing a librarian is never short of, it's discarded library books. At my school, I did a long overdue weed a few years ago and I kept a book called The Universe of Galileo and Newton, published in 1964 and not issued since 1997. Not so useful to students any more but as an object, it was still lovely. So it sits in my scrapping drawer and today, I finally found the courage to use it. It's hard for us bookies to deface a book! It's a treasure trove of creamy pages, interesting text and fantastic science drawings and historical pictures.

So, this book provided the background page, and I used a page to make the paper flowers. A wide margin provided space to stamp the sentiment. The cogs I cut with a Spellbinders die out of a piece of corrugated cardboard that came out of a 2015 Calendar I purchased recently. I tried out a technique I saw on a video at Stampin at Monika's Place, by Allison Okimitsu, on faux rusted embellishments this morning. The Elegant Eggplant oval came from the deepest recesses of my second scrap bag for the smallest bits. The green ribbon came from a birthday present and I cut pieces and stitched it into leaves to use around the flower. Apart from tools, the only new thing used was the Very Vanilla cardbase. Even the brads came from the writing desk and pencil case, not the nice ones in my brad jar.






I used the Pansy and Petite Petals punches for the flowers. I wanted them full but not so three- dimensional that the card would never ever fit in an envelope. The Eggplant and Perfect Plum help create a sort of melancholic feel for the card: Eggplant for the large flower, edges of the background paper and to stamp the sentiment; Plum for the small flowers and the edge of the sentiment.

The whole thing is a little more shabby chic than I usually go for in cards but still looks pretty good for a handful of leftovers and a book rescued from the recycling bin. Thanks Paper Players for such a wonderful challenge.

Update: Delighted beyond words that this card was picked Headliner at Paper Players.

Tools used
Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, For the cogs: Soft Suede, Gold, Cajun Craze, Pool Party
Stamp: Sentiment from SU Wetlands
Other: Clear and Gold embossing powder, Pansy Punch, Petite Petals punch, Spellbinder Sprockets dies, Oval framelits, Dimensionals

8 comments:

  1. I have to commend you for the courage to use an old book for your challenge! Wow, as a librarian it must have really been difficult. It was well worth it though because your card is wonderful! I love your details and those flowers would even be acceptable for a masculine card. Thanks for joining The Paper Players this week!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is so very pretty. Love the page you found to use. What fun to have a book like that at your disposal.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your repurposed book page is so stunning and perfect for your card, Jan. I would have been cringing tearing the page out of the book too, LOL! A really beautiful creation full of texture. Thanks for sharing it with us at The Paper Players!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I LOVE your shabby chic creation....I have purchased books for a quarter at thrift shops and I still have trouble tearing into them! But they do make great backgrounds AND flowers! Thanks for playing with the Players this week!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jan, your card is gorgeous! The use of the old book is so clever and I love all the textures! Stunning! Thank you for joining us at The Paper Players this week! XX

    ReplyDelete
  6. Absolutely stunning, Jan! I love the color combo and all of your shabby-licious details. I can't believe you used that book though, I would have had a tough time tearing it up, too. Thanks for joining us at the Paper Players! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was very hard to use the book but once the first punch was made, there was no turning back!

      Delete