A Little Art Journaling

Hello Bloglandians! Today I have something new to share - an art journal page I made for the Blog-Formerly-Known-as-Simon-Says-Stamp-and-Show challenge. The theme this week was "celebrate". I had to have a bit of a think on this one because the obvious celebration themes - birthdays, graduations, etc... didn't really appeal to me. Then from some dark corner of my brain came the idea of making an art journal page with a theme about celebrating life. So I set out onto the Interwebs to find an inspiring quote. And I found one I liked:

 I liked the idea of splitting this quote into two halves - since it starts out kind of somber but then ends on a happy note - and emphasizing this change in feel with cool tones vs. warm tones across two pages. The backgrounds of both pages were done with Distress Paints. Weathered Wood, Broken China, Salty Ocean, and Chipped Sapphire on one side, and Spun Sugar, Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet and Picked Raspberry on the other. I used a Crafter's Workshop stencil for the starbursts, with Pearl and Gold Adirondack paint dabbers. The birds are from Dylusions stamp sets. I liked the crows on the darker side, because even though they're wearing party hats they still have a bit of an ominous feel, whereas the other birds look so happy and almost seem to be smiling. All of the stamping, including the words, was done with Archival inks in various coordinating colors.

Now for some close-ups:

Please excuse the clips in the corners...this page did not want to lie flat! 

A crow in a party hat...perfectly sensible, yes? =) 

Also you can see the layers of paint, mist and stamping here. 

Happy birdies! 

I love the texture you get from pouncing the paint dabber onto the stencil.  

I think that's all for today. Thanks so much for looking! =)

*~M~*

Jingle Belles Cardstock Challenge

Just have a quick card share today. I've been following the Jingle Belles challenge blog for a while now, but haven't managed to make time to make a card for any of the challenges. They always look super fun, and I like the idea of making Christmas cards throughout the year so that it doesn't come down to a rush at Christmas time. This week's challenge was to use just cardstock - no patterned paper - to make a card. I was also inspired by this week's materials over at Online Card Classes. I'm taking the Summer Card Camp class right now and it is AWESOME. Their classes are always great but this one is especially packed with inspiration and cool techniques. One of the ideas for this week was to make a circle card, and I've been meaning to get out my nested dies more often, so I combined that idea with the Jingle Belles challenge to make this card:

(Please excuse the dark photos. It was late in the day when I was taking these.)

I used three different dies to make the two circles and the scalloped base, and the top two circles were embossed with embossing folders. It's hard to see, but one of my favorite tricks with this Swiss dots embossing folder is to put some Stickles on all the little dots, which I did on this card to add a little sparkle. The smallest circle also has some shine - I colored it with Distress inks and then sprayed it with Perfect Pearls mist in Mint.

I have to say I was nervous about making a card with no pre-printed patterns whatsoever, but I am actually pretty happy with the result. I will have to try this again! =) 

Thanks for looking! 

*~M~*

Halloween....in April?!??

Hello all! I have a confession to make....I have a problem. It is called Halloween-craft-supply addiction. I absolutely canNOT resist anything with bats and spiders and skulls and orange and black and purple.... (although not necessarily all at once =P) I'm not sure why, because I don't really CELEBRATE Halloween, at least not in the dress-up-and-party sort of way. I put up some decorations, maybe carve a couple pumpkins, and eat some candy corn. That's it! But for some reason, any craft supplies with Halloween motifs are irresistible. I really need to be going to meetings or something...
Also, I have a new, more general obsession, and it is called Pop N' Cuts. After seeing some amazing creations made with these dies (like this....or this) I went to the Sizzix site and watched some videos by Karen Burniston and absolutely fell in love. I immediately decided that I need to get in the business of pop-up cards and purchased a couple of dies. And while shopping, I found...surprise! A SPIDER POP-UP. Are you kidding me?!? At almost 50 percent off?!? YES. MINE. =) And as soon as I got it, I had to try it out and make a card. I dug into my somewhat ridiculous stash of Halloween themed supplies and came up with a very spidery card. =)

The front features some Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers dies I was really excited to get last year (it's a wee spider! And a 31! =P). I accented some of the web on the patterned paper with Stickles...aside from looking glittery and cool, it helped my little spider stand out on the black paper. Both the spider and the 31 were colored with Distress Inks and then covered with Glossy Accents.

And here's the inside, in all it's popped up glory. Isn't it cool?? =) These pop up dies are way too fun.

Hopefully you can see in this close up that my spider is a little bit sparkly. He's covered in Black Soot Distress Stickles. After I edited this photo, I thought maybe it wasn't scary enough, so......

Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!

Also, I had to make a little video to show off the pop up. I took this video with my phone using the Super 8 app, and I had one hand on my phone and one hand on the card, which is why it's a little shaky. Music provided by my iPod. Goofy sound effects provided by me. =P

That's all I have to share today. Thanks so much for looking! Any tips on curing my Halloween addiction would be greatly appreciated.... =) 

*~M~*

First Kit Page Ever!

So, I have to admit, I got a little excited about my Best of My World kit. And I had to make a page with it RIGHT NOW. And since I'm on vacation right now and can do whatever I want (woohoo!), I did. =) I looked through my pile of photos-to-scrap and found these adorable/hilarious/ridiculous photo booth photos of me and my partner-in-crime and thought they would work great with the kit. Here's the page:

 I decided to go straight to the 6x6 pad and make a central area of layered papers for the photos to sit on. And just like that this pad went from being never used to having three sheets used out of it! Woot! (Hooray progress! =P)

I used my pinwheel punch and my scrap of Basic Grey paper to make some pinwheel embellishments. I actually was able to make my own little enamel dots for the center of the pinwheels. I just used a hole punch to punch a tiny circle from white cardstock, glued it on, and then covered it with Ranger's Enamel Accents. They actually looked quite cute with just the cardstock if you don't have Enamel Accents, but I wanted to add a little dimension and shine.

I was super excited to be able to cut into that Dear Lizzy cut apart sheet and use this little camera image for embellishment. It needed a little something at the bottom and lo and behold, a bit from the transparency worked perfectly. I love it when a plan comes together. =) The only things I used that were not already part of the kit were the small letter stickers and some gold Color Shine mist from Heidi Swapp. However, one of the goals Shimelle put forth for this month's kit was to use up some letter stickers that we already have, so I don't feel guilty about those. As for the mist, well......what can I say?? I'm a mist addict. I figured I would be sneaking some of that in. =) Oh and I can't forget that I also snuck in the white cardstock for the background. I meant to mention in my kit post that I would probably be adding either white or kraft cardstock as needed because those are my go-to backgrounds.

I think that's it for today! Thanks for stopping by!

*~M~*

The Best of My World

Hello, all! Here I go, trying once again to get this blog up and running. I'm on vacation from work right now, feeling inspired and productive, so here goes. =)

At the beginning of this year, Shimelle started a new monthly feature on her blog which I was really excited about. It's called the Best of Both Worlds kit, and it's a really cool concept. Here is her blog post with video explaining this awesome idea. Here is April's kit and video. Despite really loving the whole kit concept, I haven't been participating at all because I've been trying not to buy any more stuff! Suddenly, this month, I had an idea. Taking some inspiration from the Counterfeit Kit Challenge, I decided I would try to counterfeit Shimelle's kit, and then try to make pages based on some of her kit posts throughout the month. I will obviously take my cue from the items in her kit, but I really want to focus on using some of the (many!) items in my stash I haven't even touched. So, here is my version of this month's kit, which, in an attempt to be cheeky, I have named the Best of My World kit. =P

First, the paper. I have more paper in my kit than Shimelle does this month, which just sort of happened since I kept pulling out pieces so I could have a choice of colors. Shimelle always has a cut-apart sheet in her kits so I included the Dear Lizzy sheet that I've been wanting to use for ages. I also pulled out the pieces on the right from my scrap basket, since they also matched and I figured if the goal is to use up stash, I should probably make a dent in those scraps as well. Most of the whole sheets are from Studio Calico kits that I never used (!!!).

It seemed that the key part of Shimelle's kit this month was the 6x6 paper pad, so I actually started my kitting process by choosing this Studio Calico pad that I have NEVER USED (sheesh!) and based everything else on the colors and themes in this pad. There was also a cut-apart transparency sheet in the kit and I had this beautiful transparency sheet hanging on my Clip-it-Up (again, never touched. what is wrong with me?!? =P).

Aaaaaand the embellishments. I may have gone a little crazy with these. One of the things that makes me nervous about using kits is I'm afraid I won't have enough embellies. Shimelle has washi, chipboard pieces, a stamp set, and Thickers, which I have replicated here. (Hers are even woodgrain, and I LOOOVE these woodgrain Thickers. I have two sheets!) She also has a sticker sheet, which I don't have, so I chose these Jenni Bowlin stickers and the turquoise labels from my stash. Whatever doesn't get used from these sheets by the end of the month is being given away. They are also from Studio Calico kits and I'm getting tired of looking at them! The butterfly sticker sheets are just there because, honestly, I can't scrap without these. =P I included the feather wood veneers because I found them sitting on my desk, unopened, when I was looking through my stash. I figured I might as well throw them in and get them used! That little box also has some other little odds and ends that need to get used. Shimelle doesn't include tools in her kits, but I put the Jenni Bowlin pinwheel punch with mine because I just got it and reeeeaally want to try it out!

So, that's my kit! Hopefully I will actually *make* something with it. I may have just made a pretty pile of stash. =P But either way, it was fun making the kit and I'm looking forward to some scrapping. Keep an eye on Shimelle's blog this month for her ideas and tips for using this month's kit!

*~M~*

Seeing Stars

Hello again, all! I'm on kind of a roll here with the crafting and actually posting this week. =) Today I have an ATC to share, inspired by this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, which is all about stars. As soon as I saw this challenge I knew I wanted to try and use some of my Studio Calico mistable Thickers stars which I've had sitting on my desk for ages and never opened. I love these mistable shapes but it occured to me that Studio Calico seems to have stopped making these....at least I don't remember seeing any in their upcoming releases. Maybe I'm the only one that loved them. =P Here's a couple of my other favorites, here and here. Anyway, enough gushing about product...on to my creation!

 

I made this cute little ATC using some pre-cut watercolor paper and my probably-should-get-it-patented Distress Inks on watercolor background technique. Although this time I just used plain water to blend rather than Perfect Pearls mist. The colors I used were Squeezed Lemonade, Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, and a touch of Seedless Preserves around the edges. I stamped the stars on the background using a stamp from this MME set. I used Seedless Preserves and then stamped again with gold paint to add a little bling and texture. The ticket was made using Tim's Odds and Ends stamp set, using Plum Archival ink for the outline and Walnut Stain Distress for the sentiment. I misted the stars with some mist I had already made up in a mini mister, first with Squeezed Lemonade mixed with some Perfect Pearls, and then with a tiny little spritz of Vintage Photo so that the yellow wasn't so bright on this slightly grungy tag. A little twine and an Idea-ology file tab finished it off.

 

 

Thanks for looking! =)

 

*~M~*



A Pair of Cards

Hello, all! I've got a couple of cards to share today. Over the weekend I was fairly productive and made a few cards, and these two were inspired by a sketch from Retro Sketches. I've been following their blog for a while and saving their GREAT sketches to my inspiration files, but this is the first time I've actually made a card in time to post them to the site. I loved the simplicity of this week's sketch and couldn't wait to play with it. Here's the original sketch:

And here's my first card:

 

 

I used stamps and bits from the Simon Says Stamp February card kit. The little hanger embellishment was from the kit....I'm sad there was only one, it's so cute! The washi tape is from my stash, so I'm not sure who makes it.

 

Here's my second card:

 

 

 

This one uses stamps from Lawn Fawn's Love and Breakfast set. I just did a little Copic coloring, cut the toast out and adhered it with some foam squares so they would look like they were popping off the card.

 

This sketch was super fun and I'll probably use it to make some more cards in the future. I think I might try a square one next. =)

 

Thanks for looking!

 

*~M~*

 



 

January Tag

Hello all.....or anyone who is still reading this blog after a period of long neglect! I've been a baaaaad blogger. =P Anyway, I finally have a tag to share. I really wanted to have a go at making a tag for this month after seeing the January tag on Tim's blog. I didn't do any of the monthly tags last year (how did that happen?!?!), but this month's seemed easy enough and I have a close approximation of all of the supplies. I was finally getting around to it this week and decided to combine it with this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge, which is "what are you known for". I don't feel like I'm really "known" for anything, but if there's one technique I go to time and time again it's making blended backgrounds using watercolor paper, Distress Inks, and Perfect Pearls mist. So I decided to use Tim's basic design but change up the parts a little to make a tag that is entirely "me". =)

 

 

Here's a shot of the background before I put a bunch of stuff on it. I used a different embossing folder for my tag since the clocks didn't really match the theme I was going for. I used Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks for the background and added a touch of Vintage Photo on the edges to define them a little. I sprayed the whole thing with my beloved Biscotti Perfect Pearls mist, which of course you can't see. Someday someone will devise an ingenious way to photograph Perfect Pearls without washing out the rest of the piece. Alas, that someone will not be me. =)

 

Here's the finished tag:

 

 

 

 

I changed all the gear bits to flowery bits and stamped the ribbon with butterflies, which is another thing I tend to stick on everything. I love my butterflies. =) I kept the film strip because, let's face it, that stuff goes with everything. I didn't have the same sentiment Tim used so I went with this one about dreams, which is why I tried to give the rest of the piece a bit of a dreamy feel.

 

 

 

 

I used the metallic Distress stains on my flowers, leaving out the silvery one since it didn't seem to match. I have to admit I was not overly excited about these stains until I saw them in action - they are AWESOME. Way easier to use than paint and the shimmer is fantastic. I used a little tissue tape and one of Tim's little word stickers in the corner instead of the label since I felt they went with my theme better. Overall a very girly, shiny tag which is very me. =)

 

Thanks so much for looking!

 

*~M~*