Tuesday, June 11, 2013

A Nautical Craft Challenge Hosted by May Art's Ribbon



Here is my latest creation...
A Victorian Seaport Themed Journal
Inspired by our beautiful little seaport town of Port Townsend, WA. 

Recently, I entered into a challenged hosted by May Art's Ribbon
I was one of their selected 20 participants chosen to partake in the challenge.
We were giving the opportunity to submit a project design, 
they selected their top 20 ideas to participate, mine was one of the lucky ones selected.

My idea was to create a hand crafted journal with a Victorian Seaport theme.
Living in the quaint town of Port Townsend, WA;  I have many inspirations to draw from 
 with all the Victorian Queen Ann  style vintage homes that surround our small little community, along with the surrounding boat harbors and havens (places where boats are put to rest, or get restored) that house some of the most amazing wooden boats I've ever seen in real life; then there's an abundance of  antique shops, old fashioned restaurants and malt shops, traditional bakeries and cheese shops nestled in the most incredible and amazing early 1800's Architectural masterpieces...  Living here is an artist's dream. 

I love incorporating little parts of all our little gems into a multimedia collage, 
choosing to do a journal was fun and exciting. 
The hardest part I had was limiting myself to a ten page spread.

 I enjoy utilizing all elements from my surrounds, re-purposing found treasures found at local thrift shops or the many garage sales and estate sales you'll find each weekend throughout the year. 
I especially love all the old papers, maps, and ephemera (pronounced... e·phem·er·a which is a class of collectible items not originally intended to last for more than a short time, 
such as tickets, posters, postcards, labels, etc... ),  You just never know what treasures you'll find tucked away here in Port Townsend.... It's bound to spark your creative juices flowing and set you off on a creative adventure for sure!

I see art and inspiration in everything...  highlighting May Art's beautiful ribbons was easy.
We were given the choice of 4 ribbons from the 7 offered. 

I chose the red and white  Solid Stripes 365-2-14;
the blue and white  Solid with Diagonal Stripes 424-18-03;
the gold Metallic Chain Cord 348-14-30;
and the navy blue Grosgrain with Satin Edge 376-1-03; 
 
 Other May Arts Ribbon Used:  Burlap Cord SP10; Twill QN14; Woven Chevron Stripes 443-58-01
I was lucky enough to have several May Art's ribbons in my small collection shown below.



Our only parameters for the challenge were that it had to be a nautical theme, 
and we had to use the ribbon's sent to us in the project, I used all of mine and then some!

Here is a video I've produced showcasing my latest creation... 
I hope you enjoy it!