Necklace from Buttons...(lots and lots of them) by NellieBellie

Hello Zeus and Zoe readers! NellieBellie here and I’m so glad to be back with another project for you! This month’s theme is “About Me” and I’ve decided to loosely interpret that to make something for me personally. Something that I love and represents me. And I hope that you love it too!



A necklace made from gold buttons is my project this month. I love to wear simple t-shirts and jeans with a statement necklace. It fits well into my busy life and still manages to keep me looking chic. Best of all…you can easily make it in an hour or so!
 

To make this necklace I used some fabulous gold buttons from Zeus and Zoe and hotglued them to a piece of felt. A bit of Zeus and Zoe trim hotglued on makes the “chain”. This necklace was simple to make but still looks intricate, interesting, and fabulous! Best of all it’s easy to customize to your tastes and colors. Just switch up the button colors, trim pieces, even the shape of the necklace to create one of a kind pieces.

 

I had to include a real life picture of me wearing it. Doesn’t it look so chic and trendy! Love it! (that’s a whole lot of exclamation marks!)

40, It's Just A Number - April Challenge

Hello & Thanks so much for joining me today for an extra special layout!  Why is it extra special you ask, well because it's about me (heheheehe).  This month we have a REALLY fun challenge for you to play along with!!  We are challenging you to create a project with you front and center.  That's right, the theme is "Life As It Is Now" (for you).  So I hope you're up for the challenge because I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you better.  The only requirement you have is to mix some buttons into your design, easy peasy right!  

Ah...but wait, there's more!!!!  

To sweeten the deal, one lucky participant will be chosen by the design team and will win this fabulous prize pack sponsored by the Zeus and Zoe Esty Shop plus full bragging rights!!

Isn't that a sweet prize pack?!  (Sorry Macaroons not included, lol)  This generous kit includes:

a package of flowers, stick pins, buttons, ephemera items, a La Blanche Stamp, Washi tapes and a package of Magicals from Lindy Stamp Gang

AND

A random participant will also be chosen to win these beautiful ribbons from May Arts:

Okay so I know what your thinking, where is this extra special layout right?!  LOL, ready.........here it is!!

Tada!!  As you can tell, I'm having so much fun with this month's challenge (see you should join so you can have fun too, lol).  I rarely scrap about myself or even take pics of myself for that matter.  I always joke that my family is gonna look back and think I was never there.  That's the big problem with being the family paparazzo, right!  Well, for this layout I turned the camera over to my youngest son and had a mini photo shoot.  Luckily I found one that would work out of the gazillon he took, lol.

 I knew I wanted my focus to be on turning 40 because I reached my milestone birthday yesterday.  So that's the inspiration for my title and I wanted the layout to reflect my very favorite design elements and colors.  So with that in mind, I began working on my design.

My background paper is called Cupids Arrow from Kaisercraft's Sweet Nothings Collection and I added texture with molding paste and a Crafters Workshop chicken wire stencil.  Next I added in my very favorite blue soft body acrylic and magenta gouache paints.

To create layers, I added painted chipboard, an ink stained/doodled/stamped banner and some roses fussy cut from the Manor House flower packaging.

When I saw the beautiful Banana Boat paper by The ScrapCake in my kit, I immediately thought the grouping of circles looked like clouds.  So I fussy cut them out and added a couple here and there.  I feel like my head is always lost in the clouds day dreaming so I wanted to add them to symbolize the dreamer in me.

I tucked in some hidden journaling for my family using the ScrapFX tags from my Zeus and Zoe kit.  I colored them with various Dylusions inks and doodled around the edges.

To bring my design to life, I mixed beautiful vibrant flowers by Manor House, Prima, Recollections and my stash.  Since part of the challenge is to incorporate buttons, I added some of the gorgeous buttons from my kit to the big beautiful Manor Hour flower and then tucked in here and there.

I mixed in a couple of crocheted dollies, beautiful charms and stick pins from Zeus and Zoe kit.  I also created flourishes and loops with some jute twine and added a Prima light bulb from the Junkyard Findings line.

Here's a closer look at some of the layering, stenciling and paint.

Well friends, I hope I've inspired you play along with us.  This really is a great opportunity to have a little fun and express yourself through the colors of your soul.  So I encourage you to turn the camera over to someone else, take some pics and start creating!!  If you'd like some of the gorgeous items I used from Zeus and Zoe, just visit the online store.   Marivic can also put together a custom kit just for you, all you have to do is let her know what you're looking for or what your creative style is and she'll work her magic.

Thanks again for stopping by and Have a Beautiful Inspired Day!!

March "New Beginnings" Challenge winners!

Thank you to all who took time to play along with us last month in the March "New Beginnings" challenge. Your entries were spectacular, making it really hard for the DT to pick the winners! 

The winning layout is by Taniko who won this prize package courtesy of our sponsor DecoArt.

And our random winner is Amy Voorthius who won herself this prize courtesy of our sponsor DecoArt.

Congratulations to Taniko and Amy! Please send your mailing addresses to Marivic at berry71bleu@gmail.com so that we can send your prizes out to you!

Come join us for our April challenge "Life as it is now". This challenge is all about you as an individual. Don't forget to include buttons on your project!

April Challenge - Hopeless Romanitc Layout

Thanks for stopping by today!  Dana here sharing my layout for the April Challenge. The main aim of scrapbooking is to turn photographed memories into stories that can be passed down through the generations. Those recording the stories of the photographs are often the photographers, and are therefore not in many pictures themselves. I know I am one of those people. Even though I scrap about my childhood, I rarely scrap about myself as the person I am today, who I am now.

The challenge this month is to create and journal a project about "life as it is now," the subject being "you as an individual."  This challenge is open to interpretation and you can add as much detail as you wish, and share whatever you wish to share about yourself. Hidden journaling for personal information is fine. There is one additional requirement for the challenge, and that is to incorporate the use of buttons into your creation.

I'm a hopeless romantic. Some of my favorite writers are Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and Virginia Woolf. I am very lucky enough to have my own Mr. Darcy in my life to keep me happy! When I saw the vintage fashion pages, jewelry and book pages in my Zeus and Zoe kit I was thrilled and included various pieces in this embellishment cluster.

I stitched together four pieces of beautiful May Arts ribbons to create this decorative border.

In addition to the gorgeous vintage buttons that I received in my Zeus and Zoe kit, there were also several packages of Ruby Violet embellishments like this button.

I hope you can find the time to enter this challenge!

The winner of April's challenge will receive a kit from the Zeus and Zoe Etsy Shop! The kit includes a package of flowers, stick pins, buttons, ephemera, a La Blanche Stamp, washi tapes, and a package of Magicals from Lindy's Stamp Gang!

Our main sponsor for May was kind enough to send some extra trim for a random winner this month!

The random winner will receive a beautiful selection of ribbon from May Arts!

Here are the rules: 

1. Projects must be linked up to our linky tool in the side bar, using the URL of the ACTUAL POST, not your entire blog. 
2. You may submit as many entries as you would like and combine your entry with up to 2 other challenges. 
3. Post this challenge to your blog and mention, in your post, that you are playing along at Zeus and Zoe TOGETHER with a link back to our Zeus and Zoe blog. 
4. All entries must be received by MIDNIGHT EST on the 31st of March. 
5. Entries to be submitted via the linky tool at the top of the sidebar ONLY, not by email and not by linking up in the comments section please. 

Information about our challenges: 
1. Zeus and Zoe Challenges are open to anyone, anywhere in the world. 
2. Our DT do their best to comment on all entries, you can make their job easier by turning off your word verification. 
3. Challenges are held monthly and each month TWO winners are chosen. One winner is chosen by our DT and the other is chosen by random draw. 
4. Challenge winners will always be announced within a week of the challenge closing and winners are then required to contact Marivic. 
5. Prizes not claimed within two weeks will be forfeited. 
6. The Merit winner will have an image of their project featured in the winners post, together with a link back to the homepage of their blog. 
7. Winners will be awarded a Winner's Badge to post on their blog...full bragging rights included! 

We can't wait to see your entries for this challenge! Thank you for your visit!

Life As It Is Now - April Challenge

Life as it is now.... April Challenge

Thanks for calling in and checking out the new challenge for Zeus and Zoe for April!

The main aim of scrapbooking is to turn out photographed memories, into stories that can be passed down through generations.  Often, those creating the stories of the photographs, are also the photographers, and more often than not, are not in many photographs themselves. I know I am one of those people, and even though I scrap about my childhood, I rarely scrap about myself as the person I am today and who I am.

The challenge this month will be to create and journal a project about 'life as it is now', the subject being 'you as an individual'.  There is much interpretation in the depth of how you can create, whether it is a canvas, a mini album, or a scrapbook page.  You can add as much detail as you wish, and about what topics you wish to share about yourself - this is totally up to you.  Hidden journaling for personal information is fine - quite often I will write my journaling, add to an envelope and adhere this to the back of my project creation. 

There is one additional requirement for the challenge, and that is to incorporate the use of buttons into your creation.  Everyone has a button stash, and in our DT kits from Marivic were some truly amazing, vintage buttons I have been just itching to work with....

I have created a paper bag, mini album. The post was going to be extremely graphic intensive, so I created a video to show all of the album.  This project is a work in progress, and still has a fair way to go for completion.

I really hope that my mini album inspires others to take part in this months challenge....
Sandie

   

The winner of April's challenge will receive a kit from Zeus and Zoe Etsy...The kit includes a package of flower, pin sticks, buttons, ephemera items, La Blanche Stamp, Washi tapes, A package of Magicals from Lindy Stamp Gang. Unfortunately NO Macaroons included...They're just there for decoration. This is what you will normally get as a part of a custom kit if you order from Zeus and Zoe.

Our main sponsor for May is kind enough to send some extra trim for a random winner this month..

The random winner will get trims from May Arts.

Here are the rules: 

1. Projects must be linked up to our linky tool in the side bar, using the URL of the ACTUAL POST, not your entire blog.
2. You may submit as many entries as you would like and combine your entry with up to 2 other challenges.
3. Post this challenge to your blog and mention, in your post, that you are playing along at Zeus and Zoe TOGETHER with a link back to our Zeus and Zoe blog.
4. All entries must be received by MIDNIGHT EST on the 28th. February 
5. Entries to be submitted via the linky tool at the top of the sidebar ONLY, not by email and not by linking up in the comments section please.

Information about our challenges:
1. Zeus and Zoe Challenges are open to anyone, anywhere in the world.
2. Our DT do their best to comment on all entries, you can make their job easier by turning off your word verification.
3. Challenges are held monthly and each month TWO winners are chosen. One winner is chosen by our DT and the other is chosen by random draw.
4. Challenge winners will always be announced within a week of the challenge closing and winners are then required to contact Marivic.
5. Prizes not claimed within two weeks will be forfeited.
6. The Merit winner will have an image of their project featured in the winners post, together with a link back to the homepage of their blog.
7. Winners will be awarded a Winner's Badge to post on their blog...full bragging rights included!

We can't wait to see your entries for this challenge! 
Thank you for your visit! 

Crepe Paper Flower Tutorial

Thanks for stopping by today! I always look forward to Spring when things begin to turn green and flowers begin to bloom! I created these beautiful flowers, a variation of a flower by Melissa Frances, with Crepe Paper, DecoArt Glamour Dust Glitter Paint and some fabulous buttons from my Zeus and Zoe kit.

Step One: Cut 5 pieces of crepe paper to measure 1-inch x 1.5-inchs, making sure the longer length runs with the lines on the crepe paper. These 5 pieces will form the inner petals of the flower. Cut 7 pieces of crepe paper to measure 1-inch x 2- inches, making sure the longer length runs with the lines on the crepe paper. Using scissors, round the corners on one end of each of the pieces to make a petal shape.

Step Two: Use your thumbnail and a finger to smooth out the crinkled  lines on the rounded end of each of the petals.

Step Three: Dip the tip of each rounded petal into DecoArt Glamour Dust Glitter Paint. Let dry.

Step Four: Use the 5 smaller petals to form the inner layer of the flower. Pinch the straight end of each petal to form a teardrop shape. Use hot glue to adhere the petals together.

Step Five: Layer and adhere the 7 larger petals onto the backside of the 5-petal flower you just formed.

Step Six: Glue a button to the center of the flower to finish.

In addition to the elegant pink flowers, I also created some fun colored blooms.

Remember, there is still time to enter the March Challenge. Link up your challenge by the end of the month for your chance to win a prize! Like the Zeus and Zoe Facebook Page to receive up-to-date information about challenges, upcoming sponsors and contests.

Until next time,
Dana

Fabric covered minialbum tutorial

Hi there! I made this fabric covered minialbum the other day and thought I'd share with you the steps how to create it. 

It's really easy to put together. All you need is some patterned or plain paper, piece of fabric and a sewing machine. For the closing you'll need a piece of elastic band and also a button. Almost all the materials I used for this album are from my Zeus and Zoe kit.

Firstly, gather your supplies for the pages. Cut them to 6" by 12" in size. I used one sheet of 12x12" paper and a brown paper bag from my kit and threw another piece of patterned paper from my own stash.

Then, grab a piece of fabric slightly larger than the pages - about 14" by 13" in size and fold it in half. Now your fabric piece is 7" by 13". You can of course use two different fabrics, too. 

Sew the fabric pieces together from their edges. Sew a few times round the piece and then let the edge fray a little. The stitched line shall keep the piece fraying too much. Then mark the center of the cover part as well as the pages and stitch the pages to the cover with the sewing machine.

You can leave the album in the previous stage, but you can also add a little something to the cover by using mixed media. I used a stencil to make a chevron pattern to the cover with gesso. Then I colored the covers with Tattered Angels mists. The gesso will resist the mists.

Then sew some details to the front cover and a piece of elastic band to the back cover. I used some great doilies and lace form my Zeus and Zoe kit as decorations!

Finish the album by sewing a button to the front cover for the closing. I also added a strip of paper to which I stamped the title. To keep the look of the album cohesive, I stitched the title in place.

If you want to see the finished album from inside, please check my blog!