Valentine's Day was celebrated just this past week, and it was sweet to see the photos sent from our kids of all four Grandbabies opening their packages! I'm usually late in just about everything I do, but the Florida Postal Service caught me off guard by getting them up north early! (Shocking, I know!) So now we're on to the next 'thing' barreling right down on St Patrick's Day. Whilst doing my daily 5 miles one Saturday, I happened upon our city's Mardi Gras Parade- well before Valentine's Day-where they were tossing out hundreds of necklaces. Toddlers and kids walking away looked like tiny "Mr. T"s with many layers of gold, purple, and green beaded necklaces around their little necks. One little girl came up to me saying "They told us EVERYONE needed to wear the colors," and handed me 3 necklaces...all of which were black. Do I really look that old?! Must, because I was just getting over the confusion of having Thanksgiving (Canadian) before Halloween. lol! No, I am not one of those who can keep up with every "National Day of --- ", when I can barely keep track of the normal 7 days a week GOD created. I can see the draw of wanting to celebrate days that lift up others & especially ones that generate care/acknowledge a need to be met. Of all the holidays that are counted as Federal Holidays, my favorite of all would be July 4th. It's smack in the middle of summer, and celebrates the USA where we are "lucky" to live in. I use italics with the word "lucky" because while I do use the word now and then, I really mean BLESSED. My belief is that everything is planned out and happens for a reason; GOD is in control while still giving each of us free will to decide.
But we're talking about "the luck o' the Irish" here for this one, and my own family doesn't need to wear green for St Patrick's Day: we have green running in our Irish blood on both sides- my ChiefHubby's and my own. The way it worked out ... his (late) Mom's maiden name was Dougherty, and my own maiden name is Daugherty. From what information I could gather- both sides came from Ireland at some point. One- or even both- changed the spelling of their name since both (spelled with o or a) is acceptable and related. It's kind of cool to think that Dougherty married a Larimore, producing a son who was Larimore and married a Daughtery. We did get questions when we filed for our marriage license back in 1984, And it's really cool to think that however it worked out; from wherever, and whomever it was that came to America, chose to embrace this country as their own and become AMERICAN. They did the work, filled out the papers, met the legal requirements, paid their way and chose to make this their place to stay and make a life/future for themselves, I find myself both blessed- and yes- even "lucky"- that I may be Irish, but I can claim myself to be American descended from all that. And even more so that here in this country... I can freely be CHRISTIAN and freely worship my LORD JESUS!
"Aren't We Lucky?" is the theme for this round of makes at The Funkie Junkie Boutique's Inspiration Ave, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the Design Team comes up with on this one! There are so many ways to answer that in crafting! My first thoughts were of the color green, Irish folk, and cloverleaf/shamrocks. If you're game...I'll take you for a scroll and show you what I did!
You can use any favorite adhesive you'd like, but for me, I'm sticking with
TH Multi Medium Matte, or Mod Podge Matte.
The TH Accordion Folio is SO fun and easy decorate that it's hard to stop, lol!
The Accordion Folio consists of a folder and an inside accordion fold out.
Both pieces are generous with space and folds to create your own kind of booklet,
and complete it with ribbon included for a closure.
The price is SPOT ON in VALUE, so I keep a couple on hand now.
I'll give you a list of products at the end of this tutorial, but I'm choosing an older
TH Collage Tissue roll for just the outside folio.
The Funkie Junkie Boutique has some brand-new choices coming in!
I coated the folio with Mod Podge and then gently rolled the tissue onto it.
After smoothing it out to where I wanted it to reach, I gave it a topcoat of Mod Podge,
covering both sides for my project to look even.
After doing both the Folio folder and the Accordion page, I changed
my mind- too much world map- set this Accordion aside and got out another.
That's the advantage of always keeping more than one on hand,
as well as having another plan in mind for the one set aside. ;)
While getting out the new Accordion,
I 'ran into' some old paper leftover from a 2021 Christmas gift make and
just knew it was perfect for what I wanted.
Again, I Mod-Podged, placed, trimmed, Mod-Podged
and came up with a totally different Accordion for the inside
that was sure to pop how I wanted it to, I used up every bit of that scrap leftover.
I left both to dry overnight before adding anything more to it.
During that time, I went ahead and finished up the other Folio
to be used for a future project.
Only after it's completely dry, can you fold it back and forth
to help crease the paper/Folio.
Folding it up before it has completely dried may cause
the paper to stick together and tear apart from the Folio
when you go to unfold it to finish embellishing.
So, this is a 24 hr process if you're using Mod Podge like this.
The next day, I got out my sewing machine and a new spool of
bright green thread... and went to town sewing all around, inside,
and outside of both pieces. I left cut threads just for the green pop of color.
Here's where I finally got the chance to try out a suggestion
from Paula Cheney on her blog, One Lucky Day.
(CLICK HERE if you'd like to see her Accordion Folio.)
In fact, I tried out more than one thing:
swiping Distress Oxide Ink Pad (Vintage Photo) onto my Craft Sheet,
spritzing it with water, then swiping all my chosen
TH Ephemera items through it then heat dried all pieces.
And Paula was right- aging the ephemera in this way was EASY!
I did the swiping process to every piece I wanted to use in my book,
and also used my Blending Tool to pounce on more darker spots
onto the middle of the pieces, as well as all around edges.
I heat dried each piece and it was all ready to go!
And... another "Paula idea" I finally got to try:
using my Distress Mica Spray (Christmas Set: Fresh Balsam)
on a TH Stencil Card.
I've had my pkg of Stencil Cards for some time now,
but up to now, just haven't found the perfect thing I wanted to pair it with.
This one was just right for my booklet's front cover!
Making the inside cards, tags, and embellishments was like playing in
Tim Holtz Land: I had a good assortment in my stash of everything!
For this particular element:
I added a trimmed TH Snapshot, (all pieces 'aged' as stated previously)
then adhered it to an aged piece of cardstock, adding other little TH Ephemera
as well as TH Clippings Sticker Book words.
I used a piece of plastic trash, trimming it to the same size
as my piece of cardstock shown here, sewed some TH Ephemera
to the plastic and stapling it together at the top.
No shamrocks around?
Not a problem if you've got some TH Alcohol Ink in Patina,
a pkg of Prima Flowers...
...and some green thread twisted with a touch of Glossy Accents
to keep it together, and adhered to the backside of the Prima Flower.
Here's your helpful list of links to find what you'll need to make this:
Here's the final result...
FRONT
The D is for both Dougherty and Daugherty
The TH Found Relative photos often match with my own family:
these look like they could be ancestors of my Grandbabies.
BACK
Main Inside Pages/Pockets
I've sewn in several ribbons that act as holders for elements.
Pullouts of Main Inside Pages
One of the TH Ephemera pieces acts as a pocket sewn around, but
adhered with Glossy Accents. to hold that TH Found Relative card.
The wording shows only when you lift the plastic.
The mini booklet has space for journaling.
Backsides of Pullouts
They needed a map and a calendar for those early days here in the USA.
Accordion unfolded with Pockets and Ephemera PullOuts
Each band can hold two photos, tags, etc., separately yet together on the same page.
Another Shamrock on the top of the pullout tag.
Pullout items and that precious TH Found Relative!
I can just picture her being one of my own!
Backside of Accordion foldout... looking like a stamped postcard for home.
this Inspiration Ave theme to join us in some crafting fun of your own.
You don't have to be Irish to be lucky!
Be sure to come back often so you can see all the awesome makes
following this one from my wonderful Design Teammates!
And don't forget to pop over to
and check out the new products you
can be sure will add color and life to your project!
Until next time...
Stay Safe &
HAPPY BLOGGING!!
