Zeus and Zoe Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Zeus and Zoe blog hop! If you arrived from Norma Gomez, you're on the right trail!

"The exiting design team at Zeus and Zoe is leaving with a trail of pretty blooms. Of the handmade variety. Come join us for an amazing blog hop where you can learn how to make pretty blooms and win some amazing prizes along the way!

There are 6 fabulous RAKs to be won. All you need to do is leave some love at every stop along the hop. You have until 11.59pm EST on Wednesday 31 July to leave your comments for your chance to win! Winners will be announced on the Zeus and Zoe blog on 2 August."

Your next stop is Yvonne Yam. If you get lost along the way, the whole list can be seen here at Zeus and Zoe blog!

Here's my RAK - you can win it by leaving a comment. The RAK includes some vintage images from 7 Dots Studio, some diecuts from Donna Salazar Designs, ribbons from May Arts and Prima Marketing and random embellishments, like the flowers I created in my tutorial! Good luck!

Here's what you'll need: tulle, vintage buttons and vintage crocheted doilies. You'll also need needle and thread. 

Measure your doily and divide the measurement by two. Cut the tulle to thin strips, about 1 cm (1/2") narrower than your measurement.

I didn't have any doilies left so I used these kinds of half doilies - not sure what they actually are, I've inherited them a long time ago. 

Sew a thread to the other side of the tulle. Use relatively long stitches and then pull the thread tight, making a little tulle rosette. Secure with a knot.

If you're using half doilies like me, this is the time to sew two together to make up a circular one. Use little stiches here and there.

Then it's time to layer all the pieces together. Place your needle at the center of the doily. Add first the tulle rosette on top of the doily and run the needle through the centre of it. Then add either a vintage button or a piece of jewellery on top and sew it in place. Do a few stiches and secure with a knot at the back.

Here they are, all sewn and assembled. They are pretty at their own, but if you want a little extra, you can also add some color, glitter glue or for example gesso.

I colored my flowers with Glimmer Mists. If you use a heat tool to dry the flowers, be careful not to melt the tulle with the heat!

Now it's time to continue hopping to Yvonne Yam! Enjoy the hop!

Zeus and Zoe: Little Gift

Hello everyone! Here's my second project for Zeus and Zoe in June. The DT got some lovely papers from Donna Salazar and dies from Couture Creations and I created my project with those together my Zeus and Zoe kit. The creation has two parts - a little gift box made of two sheets of 6x6" papers and a necklace inside.

The gift box is made using an origami box instruction. I made the top part using the 6x6 sheet as such. To make the bottom part, I trimmed a centimetre of the other sheet. The origami instructions are really simple and you can make a box like this in no time!

To decorate the cover, I used items from my kit together with sponsored goodies. The butterfly is fuzzy cut from a piece of Donna Salazar paper as well as the "Beauty" tag. The little banner is a diecut. The heart underneath is cut with a Couture Creations' die. The lace, the flower and the rhinestones are from my Zeus and Zoe kit.

Inside the box you can find this necklace. The blue heart is cut from transparent shrink plastic with  Couture Creations' die. I don't recommend to use the die for shrink plastic as it can damage it, but I just had to give it a go! After shrinking the piece with a heat tool, I colored the heart pale blue with alcohol inks.

The little rings as well as the chain are from my own stash, but other pieces in the necklace are from my Zeus and Zoe kit. The necklace includes some key charms, a few pearls from an old piece of jewellery and also a sparkling "diamond" chain.

Wishing you a great day! If you haven't already taken part to this month's challenge, there's still a few days time to do so! 

Hei kaikki! Tässä on toinen tämän kuun projektini Zeus and Zoe -kaupalle. Tiimi sai tässä kuussa kauniita papereita Donna Salazarilta ja hienoja stansseja Couture Creations-merkiltä, joten käytin niitä molempia ja tarvikkeita Zeus and Zoe kitistäni. Tässä pienessä lahjassa on kaksi osaa - pieni lahjalaatikko, jonka taittelin sekä kaulakoru sisällä. 

Lahjalaatikko on tehty origami laatikon taitteluohjeella. Kannen tein käyttämällä 6x6" paperia ihan sellaisenaan ja pohjasta trimmasin ensin sentin molemmista suunnista pois. Laatikon teko-ohjeet ovat todella helpot ja tällainen boksi syntyy hetkessä. 

Kannen koristeluun käytin sekä sponsorituotteita että kittiäni. Perhonen on leikattu yhdestä Donnan papersta samoin kuin "Beauty"-tagi. Viiri on diecut-kuvio. Sydän kaiken alla on stanssattu Couture Creations stanssilla. Pitsi, kukka ja tarratimantit ovat Zeus and Zoe kitistäni.

Laatikon sisältä löytyy pieni kaulakoru. Korun sininen sydän on stanssattu kutistemuovista Couture Creationsin stanssilla. En suosittele käyttämään kutistemuoviin näitä ohuita stansseja, mutta oli pakko kokeilla! Kutistin muovin kuumailmapuhaltimella ja värjäsin alkoholimusteilla. 

Pienet renkaat samoin kuin ketju korussa ovat omista kätköistäni, mutta kaikki muu on Zeus and Zoe kitistä. Korussa on avainkoristeita, muutamia helmiä korusta, joka oli kitissäni sekä tuollainen kimalteleva timanttiketju.

Kivaa päivää! Jos et ole vielä osallistunut kuukauden haasteeseen vielä on joitakin päiviä aikaa osallistua! 

Materials: Zeus and Zoe, Couture Creations, Donna Salazar, Ranger, Talens

 

Zeus and Zoe: May 1st minialbum

Today I want to share with you my first project for Zeus and Zoe this month. This one is done for the monthly challenge. The topic is "favourite things" and I wanted to scrapbook a tradition, which is really meaningful to me. One of my favourite things.

Every year on May 1st we visit the local zoo. The tradition started way back, when my husband and I were dating and we didn't realise it even at first. It was only I was going through some photo albums at my computer when I realised we had been to the zoo three years a row on the May 1st. After that we have celebrated the May day with a visit to the zoo.

The album documents the trip of this year. I took a lot of photos, like usual, and then edited just a few of them for this album. To keep the album clean and unified, I used black and white photos. I tried to document the day as well as some of my favourite things at the zoo. For example I love how our daughters always pet the wooden animals on the way to the main gate and I adore the tropical houses that have some beautiful plants, little monkeys and cute frogs. It was also charming that the best show on the zoo was put on a lady cleaning one of the cages. Our girls were mesmerised by her and stood in front of that window longer than any other!

The papers are from this month's sponsor, Donna Salazar. To have my own touch to them, I added some gesso, mists, doodling and stamping here and there. I bound the book using washi tape, taping two papers together and then created the spine using a piece of paper. The embellishments are partly from my Zeus and Zoe kit and partly from my own stash.

I hope you'll join in to the challenge this month! It would be wonderful to discover some of your favourite things! Please scroll down to see the album spread by spread and the detail shots!

Tänään haluan esitellä tämän kuun ensimmäisen projektini Zeus and Zoelle. Tämän olen tehnyt kuukauden haasteeseen, jonka aiheena on lempiasiat. Halusin dokumentoida yhden perinteen, yhden lempiasiani. 

Joka vuosi vapunpäivänä menemme Korkeasaareen. Perinne juontaa juurensa ajalle, jolloin vielä seurustelimme mieheni kanssa. Emme edes heti huomanneet sen syntyä, vaan vasta kun olimme jo kolmesti käyneet samana päivänä eläintarhassa. Järjestelin nimittäin valokuvia tietokoneellani ja huomasin, että Korkeasaari-albumit olivat samalta päivämäärältä kolmen vuoden ajan. Siitä lähtien vapunpäivänä olemme pakanneet eväät autoon ja lähteneet Korkeasaareen.

Minialbumiin on tallennettu tämän vuoden reissu. Otin saaressa paljon kuvia, kuten yleensäkin ja valitsin tähän vain osan. Muokkasin kuvat mustavalkoisiksi, jotta kokonaisuus pysyy yhtenäisenä. Yritin tallentaa koko päivän sekä samalla lempiyksityiskohtani - esimerkiksi se, miten tirpat aina paijaavat eläinpatsaita matkalla pääportille tai miten talot pitävät sisällään kaikkia söpöyksiä. Oli myös mainiota, että mielenkiintoisin häkki oli lasten mielestä se, jossa yksi työntekijä siivosi. 

Minin paperit ovat tämän kuun sponsorin, Donna Salazarin. Saadakseni niihin oman kädenjälkeni, lisäsin niihin gessoa, mistejä, riipustelua ja leimailua. Kokosin albumin washiteipillä, teipaten kaksi sivua yhteen aukeamaksi ja sitten tein selkämyksen palasta paperia. Koristeet ovat osittain Zeus and Zoe -kitistäni ja osittain omista varastoistani. 

Toivottavasti osallistutte tämän kuun haasteeseen! Olisi hienoa löytää teidän lempiasioitanne! Alla löytyy minialbumin aukeamat ja muutama yksityiskohtakuva. 

Materials: Donna Salazar, Zeus and Zoe, Tales, Tattered Angels, MT Masking Tape, American Crafts, Basic Grey, Prima Marketing, Sodalicious, Ranger

Zeus and Zoe - Ribbon flower tutorial

Hello everyone! This is a part of my second project this month to Zeus and Zoe blog. I made a little tutorial together with a brooch and a card. If you want to see how the ribbon flower is created, head over to my post at Zeus and Zoe blog (link)! The card is made with materials from my Zeus and Zoe kit. 

Tervehdys! Tässä postauksessa on kortti, joka on osa postaustani Zeus and Zoe blogiin. Tein sinne pienen tutoriaalin ja samalla rintakorun sekä tämän kortin. Jos haluat nähdä, miten kortin koristeena oleva pitsikukka on tehty, klikkaa tästä itsesi Zeus and Zoe blogiin (linkki)! Kortin materiaalit ovat Zeus and Zoe -kitistäni. 

Materials: Zeus and Zoe kit, May Arts

Zeus and Zoe May Challenge

Here in Finland May really marks the start of sunny weather and warmer days. The nearing summer effects the spirit and the ever increasing amount of light turns people happy and light. May Day is celebrated with balloons and streamers and with a picnic amongst the family. 

Here's the May challenge for Zeus and Zoe - a mood board. I tried to capture the light, happy feeling of May together with some beautiful products from my Zeus and Zoe kit. Check out the challenge here (link).

Tässä on tämän kuun Zeus and Zoe -haaste. Tarkoituksena on inspiroitua tekemästäni ideakollaasista ja luoda jotain mahtavaa. Lisätietoa löytyy (englanniksi) tämän linkin takaa.

Here's my take on the challenge. I've included the textures from the mood board together with the touches of pink, the light color scheme and some beautiful trims. I was also inspired by the "Do not fear the future" frase and wanted to create something connected with it. 

Tässä oma sivuni haasteeseen. Käytin inspiraationa kuvan värejä ja tekstuureja. Halusin myös käyttää kuvasta löytyvää tekstiä "Do not fear the future" ja luoda jotain tulevaisuuteen liittyvää. Käytin pääasiassa Zeus and Zoe kittini materiaaleja, mutta taustapaperi on Primalta.

I tried to capture the light feel of May and spring to this layout. I wanted a lot of texture to the background but wanted to keep it light at the same time, so this paper by Prima Marketing was just perfect. There's a lot of going on there, but the over all appearance of the paper is still light. I added my own touch to the page with stamping, doodling and splashing acrylic paint and mist. I used grid stamp in an angle to reseble the diamond type pattern in one of the pictures in the mood board.

Although I mostly scrap pictures of my children anyway, for this future related page they seemed to work perfectly. Children are the future, after all. I chose to go with this picture of my first born, taken on her 4th birthday.

Almost all of the supplies are from my Zeus and Zoe kit. The butterflies and the large flowers are cut from patterned papers in my kit. The delicate trims and  lace are from my kit, too, as well as the old book page. The pearls are  taken from a jewellery piece and scattered around the page. The little nest embellishment is selfmade and you can find a tutorial for it in here (link). I felt it fitted perfectly to this spring-like layout and to the mood board, too. Behind the nest there's two feathers, inspired by the wings in the mood board.

I hope I have inspired you and showed you a few ways to include the inspiration from the mood board to your creation. I'm really looking forward to see what you have created! Please, join in!

Materials: Zeus and Zoe kit, Prima Marketing, Tattered Angels, 7 Dots Studio, Garn und Mehr

Zeus and Zoe cards

Hello! Today I want to share my second April project for Zeus and Zoe. The monthly challenge asked for buttons and we have a special price by May Arts, so I combined the two to these cards. I used materials from my Zeus and Zoe kit and created two butterfly ladies with old book pages, patterned papers, buttons and ribbons.

I created the backgrounds for the cards by stamping with buttons using gesso as the paint media. The other button repeated the pattern better than the other - the rings are more visible than the other impressions from that rose button. The flat, easy shapes work best for this technique, but I wanted to try what kind of texture the rose would create.

I also used buttons as embellishments for these cards. The other card has a little frame made out of a button and the other has an aged rose. For the frame one I added an epoxy sticker inside the beautiful decorated rim. The rose is made to look old with acrylic paints, alcohol inks and gesso.

Please take part to the challenge, if you already haven't done so! We would love to see your project! I hope that my takes on the buttons have inspired you!

Nämä kortit tein Zeus and Zoe -blogiin kuukauden toisena projektinani. Tämän kuun haaste haastoi käyttämään nappeja ja erikoispalkintona tässä kuussa on nauhoja May Artsilta, joten yhdistin nämä kaksi näihin kortteihini. Käytin materiaaleja Zeus and Zoe kitistäni. 

Korttin tautat on luotu leimailemalla napeilla gessoa käyttäen. Rengas toistui luonnollisesti paljon paremmin kuin ruusu, mutta halusin kokeilla, millaisen kuvion ruusu tuottaisi. Käytin nappeja myös korttien koristeena. Toisesta tein kehyksen ja toisen vanhensin maaleilla ja musteilla.

Jollet ole jo osallistunut haasteeseen, sinulla on vielä noin viikko aikaa! Olisi hienoa nähdä, miten tulkitsette teemaa!

Zeus and Zoe April challenge

Hi there! Today I want to share with you my creation for this months challenge at Zeus and Zoe. The challenge is to create and journal a project about 'life as it is now', about yourself. The additional requirement for the challenge was to use buttons in the creation.

I loved the challenge, because until recently I have done very few pages about myself. Although I'm sure my kids will be interested in the pages I have done about and for them, I'm sure that they will be equally or even more insterested in the pages about me - what I was thinking and feeling. At least I would be tremendously happy to find an old diary of my mum's!  

I was lucky to be able to take a workshop with Finnabair some time ago and used some of the tricks learnt from her to my creation. I used of course the beautiful buttons from my Zeus and Zoe kit, but also some other things from my kit for this minicanvas. I colored the project using for example some Lindy Stamp Gang spray inks from my kit.

The journaling part of the creation is on the back of the canvas, in an envelope as suggested in the challenge text by Sandie. I journaled about my dreams and about the moment I am currently in my life. I'm sure it will be interesting to read it in a few years or by my children in twenty years.

I hope I'll see your creation of this month's challenge soon! Don't forget our great price - the winner 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 and a package of Magicals from Lindy Stamp Gang. 

For detail pictures, please visit Zeus and Zoe blog!

Zeus and Zoe April Challenge

Hello! The start of the new month also marks the start of the new challenges. Yesterday I posted my project for PaperStories sketch challenge and today I share with you a sneak peak of my project for Zeus and Zoe! I guess you can guess what I did with the teachings of Finnabair in my mind. The challenge is about youself and additional requirement is the use of buttons.

Be sure to check out the challenges - the winner of Zeus and Zoe 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. 

Ps. Have you taken part to the Easter hop already? If you are looking for some serious inspiration, I really recommend you start hoppin'!

Tervehdys! Uuden kuun alku tarkoittaa uusia haasteita. Eilen postasin leiskani PaperStories'n luonnoshaasteeseen ja tänään näytän pienen vilautuksen projektistani Zeus and Zoelle! Arvelen, että siitä pystyy jo arvaamaan, mitä tein Finnabairin opetukset mielessäni. Haasteen aiheena on "minä itse" sekä napit.

Kurkkaapa siis haasteet - Zeus and Zoe -haasteen voittaja saa kitin Zeus and Zoe Etsy-kaupasta. Kitissä on kukkia, koristeneuloja, nappeja, leimoja, washiteippejä ja maaleja. 

Ps. Joko olet osallistunut Pääsiäisblogihyppelyyn? Jos on inspiraatio hukassa, suosittelen lämpimästi hyppelyä blogista toiseen! 

Zeus and Zoe: 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 out this post (link)!

Zeus and Zoe: Suomi '12

Great Thursday everyone! Here's another project I did for Zeus and Zoe. It's a fabric covered minialbum about our summer vacation last year. Many of the materials used are from my Zeus and Zoe kit. If you want to see steps how to create the album, come back tomorrow either to Zeus and Zoe blog or to my own.

Iloista torstaita! Tässä on toinen Zeus and Zoelle tehty työ. Se on kangaskantinen minialbumi kesäreissustamme. Jos kiinnostaa, miten albumi on tehty, kurkkaa huomenna joko Zeus and Zoen blogiin tai omaani.

 

I used ink sprays and stamping in the pages together with patterned paper, alphas and embellishments from my Zeus and Zoe kit. There's also masking tape, too and some extra embellishments from my own stash.

Käytin mistejä ja leimailua sisäsivuissa yhdessä Zeus and Zoe -kitissäni olleiden kuviopapereiden, kirjainten ja koristeiden kanssa. Albumissa on myös maalarinteippiä sekä jotain koristeita omasta varastostani.

 

Materials: Zeus and Zoe, Tattered Angels, Sodalicious, Frecled Fawn, Scrap Friends, Ranger, 3rd Eye