Friday, May 16, 2014

Good Crafternoon!

I first heard the term crafternoon on Julie Balzer's blog years ago, and thought, I need to have one of those myself!  As fun as it is to hole up in the art room and dabble away into the wee hours of the night, I also love the chance to get together with others who appreciate paper and punches and scissors and scraps and glue sticks and...well, you get the picture...as much as I do.

Just recently, Becky (aka, Snail Mailer) visited my art-making space for a crafternoon together.  (We met last year at the Allentown Paper Show.)  She came bearing gifts for me and for my girls, and while my husband kept my daughters mostly out of our hair, we had some paper crafting fun.
Good crafternoon, Snail Mailer!
Becky showed me how to make the amazing never-ending card that she recently featured on her blog, Leaving a Paper Trail.  It only requires four pieces of paper and some adhesive, and when you open it, there are two flaps that open again, and under there are two flaps that open again, and under there are two flaps that open again...and it goes on and on for as long as you are interested in opening flaps.  It's pretty mesmerizing, kind of like those Jacob's Ladder toys.  (Check out Becky's blog for the video on how to put it together.)

Becky also had an idea in her head for a kind of interactive maypole card, and worked out the details at my craft table.  It ended up being a pretty cute design!
Becky's maypole card
She makes a lot of cards for clients as part of her job, and showed me a nice way to make this tri-fold card.  I feel like it stands up in a kind of shrine-effect that I really like:
Here's the card when it's closed.
Here's the card when it's standing up, opened.
Here's the card with a few additional embellishments.
She brought a selection of her paper punches, and I punched out lots of shapes in different patterned paper to work with on future projects.  She used some of my collage scraps to work on a page in her new Smash book.  My daughter took our photo so we could share our day together on the blog:
We enjoyed a fun couple of hours working together, chatting, and enjoying lunch before she had to head home.  She was very productive in our time together; me, not so much!  But a happy side effect of welcoming someone into my craft room is the tidying up I do before she arrives.
Like-items together...stacked, labeled, and ready for action!
Hmmm....it's almost too neat in here...time to get started on a new project to mess things up a bit!

7 comments:

TheSnailMailer said...

It was an awesome day! Glad we made the time to get together!

Janet said...

Andria, it looks like you had a great crafternoon. I love that never-ending card and plan to make one for my friend's birthday. You always have wonderful ideas, and you also share other's wonderful ideas. Thank you!

scrapwordsmom said...

What a wonderful time to spend with a friend!! I rarely get to craft and play with artsy friends...it is so rejuvenating when I do. Thanks for sharing Andria:)

Parabolic Muse said...

Andria, I love coming here. I feel like there's always a surprise. Not only am I tickled that your husband takes care of the kids while you're playing, I also love it that you introduced us to Becky. WHAT great ideas! I love that maypole card. woah!

Carin Winkelman said...

That endless card is fascinating. I have to try that sometime. Looks like a good time was had between the two of you!

Bad Jones Rising said...

Those cards are neat! Also, I agree with the benefits of visitors. I always tidy up the best when I know they are going to want to be nosy and flip through all my sketchbooks! LOL It's a curse and a blessing.

Esmee Lynne said...

Andria, I love your blog and have tried to email you, but the link isn't working on my end. Sorry to contact you this way. However, wanted to let you know that when I get an email about a post on your blog it comes in as from 'Anonymous'. This is very disconcerting to me because I open nothing that says from: anonymous. Not sure who/what this is and if it is legitimate. Just wanted to give you the info.