/* */ Beulah Bee

July 08, 2014

Mon Paris

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Artist and designer, Joel Henriques, has devoted himself to making arts and crafts both accessible and meaningful. His website, Made by Joel, encourages everyone, regardless of economic means, skill level or age to participate in the collective, creative process.

When he created Paper City of Paris, I knew I had to make something--I found it irresistible!

And since the Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp is start from scratch, it was just the push I needed.


I started with a 4.5" x 8.25" basswood tray found in the clearance aisle at my local crafts store. I used an online image of an old Paris postcard that I cropped and printed to fit the tray. I cut-out Joel's paper city (the travel-size version) and used craft foam on the back of a few pieces to give it dimension. The garland, bird and border were cut from scrapbook papers.

I encourage you to visit Joel's website (especially if you have young children). If you use this paper city, there's a Facebook page where you can post your creation. Other cities are also available including Sidney and he has future plans for London and Barcelona.

July 04, 2014

Sea Spell


I had so much fun making this tag! Inspired by Tim's tag for July, I can't believe how many products I used to complete it. I dusted off crackle paint, glitter, and embossing powders that haven't been used since Christmas. The background was splattered and spritzed and wiped-off so many times I lost count. I knew getting it right would be a challenge so I coated the tag with gesso beforehand.

It was also the perfect time to use some sea-themed papers that I picked up several year's ago and never used. The sea horse and sand dollars came from a release by Graphic 45 called Botanicabella. The shells and greenery are Calambour decoupage paper bought at a craft fair.

Instead of using a shrink plastic background, I used the Falling Snow stencil by Simon Says Stamp and embossing powder to create a resist. The sandy area is a variety of embossing powders sprinkled onto tissue paper then cut out and pasted to the tag.


There's a bit of clear rock candy Distress glitter over a few shells and leaf edges and I completed the tag with a quote by Jacques Cousteau that was printed and aged with inks.

Tim suggested that if you can't go to the beach then let your creativity take you there. Maybe that's the biggest reason this tag was so appealing to me. I've been land-locked all my life and yet my astrological sign is Cancer the Crab. Every time I've visited the ocean I have had such a connection! Maybe some day I'll make it there again and be part of it's wonder, forever.

July 01, 2014

Miss Henrietta Strong

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I always begin a collage by using an image with strong personal appeal and when I stumbled upon the image that inspired this tag, I was awestruck!

I'm not a youngster (I've been around the block a few times, so to speak), but I had no idea that poppy seed heads could, under the right circumstances, dry to reveal such a mesmerizing, skeleton-like structure.

I also liked this image of Miss Henrietta Strong (found here). Her all-white court costume gives her the eerie (and intentional) look of a living porcelain doll.

The butterfly was cut from a magazine and altered by cutting down it's size and adding some white paint. I liked that it's structure resembled that of the poppy seed head.

The background paper is from Idea-ology (Destinations Paper Stash) and the edges were embellished with a 3D paint called Scribbles.


I'll close by sharing a quick tip when working with collage elements that I find quite helpful--it's called encasing.

To protect your paper elements (like Henrietta or the butterfly), it's a good idea to cover the front and back with a clear medium before adding them to your composition. That way, they are protected from later abuse when using image transfers (poppy seed head) or further tinting. It's also much easier to paste down delicate pieces because the medium strengthens them.

My inspiration came from this week's SSS Monday blog challenge where the theme is white and I'm linking it there.