Art from Friends

One of the most fantastic things about this papercrafting experience I have had since 2010 is the fellowship of other crafters!  I have had the pleasure of meeting so many creative, inspiring, and generous people.  I am always amazed at the generous gifts and beautiful cards I receive.  I have received absolute works of art.  These are some of their generous hand-made gifts to me.

This is a work by Sis Patterson.  It is a beautiful card, like a book, made of heavy board and bound with a cloth spine.  St. Francis is an altered figure, derived from a female figure on the Christmas cartridge.  The papers are a combination of purchased stacks and papers printed on the Imagine.  The dimension on this is remarkable.


It arrived in a handmade box...


... and has the Prayer of St. Francis inside. 


Click here to see my original blog post with more pictures and details.  Sis Patterson is a whimsical and clever paper artist-- you can see her other projects when you visit her blog, Paper, Craft, and Scissors.  For a real treat, be sure to visit her project gallery!

Gina Piazza is another incredibly talented, generous, and creative artist.  I was so excited to meet her at a Cricut Circle event.  We had emailed each other, agreeing to trade projects one day.  I wanted to share some of the gorgeous projects she gave to me for my daughter.

This 3D mermaid is covered with pearlescent scales and features a photo of my daughter's face.  Gina achieved a volume with rolled arms and body.  She told me she created this using a Barbie doll as a dress form, splitting the back to remove the doll, and camouflaging the cut by overlapping scales.





I love the implied movement of the tail and the textures! 

My daughter was in love with this artists' sketchbook that Gina created, layered, and bound for her.  I love the magical butterfly decoration on the wire binding.



Gina's foamcore-backed die cuts are her signature technique, making her projects unique and substantial.


She created this Little Mermaid wall art! 


You can see the solid nature in this 3D tabletop fairy that she made for my daughter.  The wings are foamcore and acetate.  The figure is supported on a base.  This is such a beautiful, magical statue.


You can see Gina Piazza's other projects when you visit her site, Ginaballoons-Imagination Arts Blog.  Her fun, clever works are a joy to view and will amaze you!

When I first met Toni Schiesz, I was struck by her style!  She was wearing a shirt she had Yudued with the Circle logo offset at her hip.  The next time I met her, she had manicured nails with typeset print on them.  Her crafts are youthful and stylish.  I was thrilled when she gave me this bracelet she had created with shrink film, jump rings, and the Circle logo!


I was so honored to receive this beautiful accessory!

Another incredibly beautiful gift came from Maile Lei.  My daughter is modeling this gorgeous hand-knotted lei.  Maile included some cultural information about leis and instructed that this is to be worn with the bow on the right side, nearest to one's heart.



This is made from hundreds of yards of rattail cord and uses a loom of sorts fashioned from drinking straws.  After I posted this on the Circle Message Board, everyone was interested to know how it was made and Maile went the extra mile, videoing her instructions.  Maile also shared with us that her avatar picture is of her many years ago when she was a dancer for Don Ho--look for her photo on the Circle message boards.  How cool is that!  I just adored this gift-- I know it took hours to create... and I love that she made it for me.

Next,  is another adorable RAK from Gina Piazza.  It includes an altered wallet and tin, decorated pencil, ribbon she printed herself (how cool is that!!!) and the most intricate calling card ever created.  Just precious!!!



I was sent an incredible RAK of embellishments from Anne Kosonen, a crafter who used the name CriCutcase on the messageboards.  Although I have received lots of supplies and embellishments from message board friends, because I only want to showcase hand-made gifts, I include this one because she combined items she purchased and those that she made.  Crocheted rosettes, stamped tickets, stick pins, and felt flowers were combined with yardages of ribbons, buttons, and charms.  Her embellies were so perfect that it wasn't until a post of hers that I found out that she had made these things!  This was so thoughtful and special to me!


Everyone who went to the Cricut Circle event in Louisville, Kentucky in May 2011 was incredibly impressed with planning and work done by Sandie Oxley.  We were each able to keep these favors that she made for us. 


Sandie had to sand off the glitter from the hot pink and green glitter papers on the seams in making her round boxes for adhesion!  Inside the milk carton box are custom "Cricut Circle" candies!  These boxes took so much work and were done so perfectly!  These exemplify perfectly everything Sandie did for us for that event.  You can see Sandie's other wonderful crafts on her blog, Chic Green Dragonfly!

Jami Larson (CricutFarmer on the messageboards) has a signature bug that you might have noticed from her avatar and some of her projects, like her entry for the necklace challenge last year.  I fell it love with it after she sent me a CricutFarmer pin...


... and this fabulous ornament! 


I also loved this sweet card that she sent-- so perfect with texture and perfect color!


To see her other projects, check out Jami's blog, The Paper Farm.


Next is a card from Elise (also known as Lizzieming on the messageboard).  I love the texture combined with the digi stamp.  I remembered this as one of her challenge entries and was so excited to receive it in the mail to me!


I received the next card by Joy Tracey of the Obsessed with Scrapbooking blog and thought I had been given a gift by a celebrity!   I love how she created this card without welding or a card feature by simply cuting the image three times (one with layers, one adhered to the back of the layered one, and a third attached to the top to form the inside of the card.


Next, is a card from Shana Tackett.  I love frogs and hers is especially fun with its Stickles accents!


The next absolutely adorable card was from Talloma (Scrapinaholic on the message board).  I love the real rickrack and the combination of colors that really pop!  I love the sweet image combined with the geometric. 


I have had the extreme pleasure to be able to take part in several swaps.  What treasures I have been able to receive!  The most unusual and clever swap so far has been a charm swap as part of the Christmas in July on-line swarm hosted by Doxie and Allison!  Each one is just fantastic; this is the whole collection together.


Sadly, I had to miss a Cricut Circle live event at the last minute.  Gina Piazza sent me her challenge entry for the Christmas card and her tag she made for the swap.  Check out the details on these! 


I love how the reindeer have been altered so that their heads turn, making this repeated cut look like individual animals!  Genius!



I was able to see firsthand how fantastic Papertrey Ink card stock really is when Sis Patterson sent gift tags with her kind souvenirs from Awesome Emily's adventures.  (Awesome Emily was a paper invention of my daughter who accompanied Sis -a la Flat Stanley- on her world travels.)  These were perfect, sturdy, textured, and even my little daughter thought they were special enough to hang on the tree!  They are stored now with our ornaments, sure to make an appearance every Christmas!  You can find crafty details about these tags on her blog by clicking here and here.




I received a beautiful art book from Barbara Stewart, a mixed media crafter, who I have only "met" on the message board.  Her projects are like her posts:  witty, kind, and energetic!  This one showed her sense of humor and talent for combining elements masterfully!


You can see all of the pages of this book by clicking here to see the blog post where I featured it!  It is very special and a true work of art!


Sis Patterson sent my daughter, Piper, a card for her First Communion.  It is gorgeous and is made to look just like Piper!  The window is cut from Papertrey Ink's clear cardstock and stamped, revealing a lovely cross!  I love the details, like the tiny rosary!  It is a wonderful and kind keepsake!  You can find my post regarding this card by clicking here.  You can read Sis' post on her blog by clicking here!




The generous and thoughtful Gina Piazza surprised me again when she sent me a functional and dimensional castle!  



"Functional?" you ask-- why yes!  It is actually a box!  And it held treasures!


Inside was an extra packet of paper dolls (all five collections!) from a recent swap on the Circle Message Board.  Collecting these for me meant that Gina had to made double the amount of paperdolls herself!  I was so touched, impressed, astounded!  


Gina also included one of her famous backed figures-- a mermaid!  This was an altered figure from this same cartridge-- painted and perfect!


And to top it off, a handmade card that took my breath away!


You can see my post with more pictures of all these treasures by clicking here.


This is a gorgeous piece of artwork that Barbara Stewart gave to me at Circle Mania.  


This is a multi-media canvas that is signed on the back and features decoupaged papers, wood, lace, and yarn.  To see my post on this gift, please click here.

Autumn 2012 on the Cricut Circle message board was a turbulent place, but the bead swap group paid me a personal compliment by sending me a collection of the chunky bead swap-- and I wasn't even in the group.  It was a surprise they planned and it floored me!  Love those girls!  


Check out the treasures that were sent to me with the artist's message board name:













I received Valentines this year in the mail!  This one was from Linda Wagner (Maile Lei).  I love this design with the suspended heart!


The Valentine below is from Gina Piazza!  She told me she made these with her new Cameo and Copics!


My husband received a cool and creative card from Sis Patterson!


To see Sis' post on how she made this card, check her blog (click here).  She includes links to learn how to make the slider and her sources.  To see my post about receiving this card, click here.

My mailbox was filled with sweet cards and gifts from Colleen McCauley:


The Hello Kitty card was one she made for my daughter!  You can see my post on this blog by clicking here.  To see Colleen's blog post on how she made the Hello Kitty card, click here!


But wait! There's more! Click 'older posts' above!

But wait!  There's more!  Click 'older posts' above!