Friday, February 27, 2015

Unity Friends with Flair Friday - Mini Art Journal Board

I made this mini-art journal board for this week's Friends with Flair Friday at Unity.  The image in the middle is from the January 2014 KOM and the "Believe" is from "inspire" Words.  I stamped the main image with Versamark Ink and I colored it using Pan Pastels. Then I masked the main image and sprayed different green/yellow spray inks on the edges. I stamped Believe in Black Versafine Archival Ink. I also inked the edges with a Prima Chalk Ink Edger. I added some clear Wink of Stella on the flowers to finish it off, but you can't really see it in the picture. Just trying out a few new ideas on this mini art journal board from Faber Castell Design Memory Craft. Happy Friday and thanks for stopping by.


Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Donut Delight

I made this card for the current Curtain Call Challenge - Donut Delight. I used Stamps and Dies from Clearly Besotted Stamps called "With Sprinkles". The inks and papers are from Papertrey Ink - Lavender Moon, Hibiscus Burst and Aqua Mist. Thanks for stopping by!





Monday, February 23, 2015

Maya Road - Thinking of You

I made this card using papers and embellishments from the Maya Road Beautiful You Card Kit. Everything is from the kit including the papers which are from a 6x6 paper pad from Fancy Pants called Me-ology. I really like the Maya Road Card Kits. They are reasonably priced and loaded with goodies. They make 4 a year and they still have some of these left. Here is the link if you want to see everything that was in the kit http://mayaroad.typepad.com/kits/2015/01/february-classic-card-kit-beautiful-you-release.html. I just made this card just to make it. No challenge or any other reason. Thanks for stopping by!!


Sunday, February 22, 2015

Christmas Card Challenges #12

It's time for this week's challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges. This week we have everybody's favorite - Anything Goes.  I hope you will get a head start on your Christmas cards and join us this week. We now pick a weekly winner and honorable mentions! Thanks for stopping by!


I made a collage card using papers and embellishments from the Bo Bunny Candy Cane Lane Collection. Can't wait to see what you make this week!




Saturday, February 21, 2015

Lawnscaping 100th Challenge

I made this card for the current Lawnscaping Challenge. They're celebrating their 100th challenge with a Birthday Theme. I decided to do a little CAS card using my Gelatos. I blended 4 Gelatos on a piece of Watercolor paper to make the background. I wanted to use cheery colors. I colored the dog and his party hat with Copics and added some glittery Wink of Stella to the dots in the hat and dog collar, but you can't really tell from the picture. I stamped the thought bubble with Pink Madder Ranger Archival Ink and adhered all the pieces with foam tape. I also added a tiny pompom to his party hat. The Lawn Fawn stamps I used were Critters in the Burbs, Chit Chat, and Hats Off to You. Thanks for stopping by!!

Here's my card.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Creative Blog Hop

I was to be asked by Alanna from Alanna's Spot in the World to participate in this fun hop. Alanna is the DT Coordinator at Christmas Card Challenges and is a talented paper crafter.

The Creative Blog Hop works in a rather interesting way.  You are nominated to join the blog hop and the only requirements are to nominate two others to follow you on the next Monday and to answer four questions about yourself and your creative process.  Nothing to it!

Here's a card I want to share with you today. I used an Altenew stamp set called Shadow Play. I created the background using Gelatos. I rubbed the watercolor paper with Gelatos and then brushed it with a little water to blend. I colored the sun the same way. Then I stamped using Ranger Black Archival Ink. 



I also decorated my small Dylusions Art Journal Cover today so I thought I would share it with you too. I painted it with PaperArtsy Fresco Paint in Slate, then I stamped the images from the PaperArtsy JOFY 13 stamp set with Black Ranger Archival ink. I colored in the images with Fresco paints in Cherry Red, Turquoise and Chalk and I combined those colors to make the lavender and pink. I used a Stamper's Big Brush pen for the green on the grass and stems. 



There are the four questions those of us who participate are asked as part of the Creative Blog Hop.

1.  What are you working on now? I am the Founder of the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog and I am always working on my nest mixed media project.  I usually have several in progress at one time.  I am also on the Christmas Card Challenges design team so I make Christmas cards frequently. I also normally have several cards and projects that I'm working on to submit for publications.

2.  How does your work differ from others in your genre?  I like to call my card making style colorful CAS. My cards can be simple, but I don't always have a lot of true "white" space. I am not shy with color at all, but I also don't usually pile on layers and tons of embellishments. I love to add layers of paints, stencils, stamps, etc to my mixed media projects, but I don't tend to add a lot of 3D embellishment unless I'm specifically working on a collage. 

3.  Why do you create what you do? I've always enjoyed being creative and making handmade cards. I've made cards for almost 20 years now. I got back into it seriously about 5 years ago. I find creating cards and mixed media pieces to be very relaxing and excellent stress relief. 

4.  How does your creative process work? I usually start with an idea. If I know the direction I want to go it normally doesn't take me too long to make a card. But, sometimes the plan in my head might not work and it takes time to rework my original design or come up with a new one. When I have a block, I usually look for inspiration on Pinterest, Blogs, or Splitcoast Stampers. For my mixed media projects, I usually work on them for days or weeks. I love that I can keep adding layers and textures over time. I almost never know what the final product will look like until I actually get there. 

And, now it's time to share with  you the two people I've nominated to participate in the Creative Blog Hop next Monday, February 23rd. 

First is Karen Crossen from I Just Need More Glue, Pain, Pens, and some Fun Paper.... Karen is an amazing mixed media artist.  I've also nominated Lalo Ik from Nani Wale who is a super creative crafter who makes beautiful creations.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Patchwork Valentine

I had an idea to make a card after watching a video on YouTube last week from PaperArtsy advertising their new products. I thought about how I could do something similar on a card and I remembered I had this very cook background stamp (Large Collage) from Wendy Vecchi that I have never used and it would be perfect for this technique. I also had this heart die from Mixed Media Mixage that I really wanted to use so I've used both for the first time.

I stamped the patchwork twice, once on the card and once on a scrap piece of kraft card stock. I die cut the heart and colored it with Dylusions inks in water brushes and adhered it to the card with foam dots. Finally I  colored around the edges in pink to add a little something more to the card. This card was easy and fun to make. Thanks for stopping by!


Christmas Card Challenge #10

It's time for this week's challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges. This week we have a fun color challenge - white on white. I put a glitter snowflake on white card stock and added a Maya Road piece of flair in the middd. Then I inked the edges with a Prima Black Coal Ink Edger. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

I hope you will get a head start on your Christmas cards and join us this week. We now pick a weekly winner and honorable mentions! Thanks for stopping by!




Saturday, February 7, 2015

Layered Art Journal Page

I made a mini art journal page on  a page from my Faber Castell Mixed Media Mini Journal. I was lucky enough to be given a signed copy of Dina Wakley's new book Art Journal Courage by Dina! Tonight I was reading about how she adds layers to her art journal pages and I was inspired to make a page with as many layers as I could figure out. I'm not sure how many layers it is, but it's a lot. I used tons of different media like Pan Pastels, Gelatos, Dina's Acrylic Paints, Distress spray stains and Dylusions Spray inks, Faber Castell Whipped Spackle and some stencils. One of the stencils was made by Dina.

Finally I stamped the image of the Scribbly flower which is in a  new stamp set by Dina Wakley and I painted it in with her acrylic paints. I stamped in Verasafine in the word Courage. I thought it was appropriate since the name of her book is Art Journal Courage. It's a Unity Stamp Company stamp.  To finish it off I added Faber Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel to the flower.



Friday, February 6, 2015

Unity Friends with Flair Friday

I made this card using a Unity Stamp set called Candy Hearts. I cut out the center of the box stamp to make it look like a Conversation Hearts Box. Then I cut out lots of hearts and stamped sentiments on them with several different Ranger Archival Inks. I love the little sentiments that fit perfectly on the hearts. It's a really cute and fun stamp set. I'm linking this up to Friends with Flair Friday at Unity Stamp Company and I'm entering Virginia's View Shaker Card Challenge. Thanks for stopping by!


Thursday, February 5, 2015

Grunge Hearts Valentine Card

I made this card just for fun. I a sheet of paper I made one night with my Gelli Plate that I used Dina Wakley's Grunge Heart stencil on. I wanted to use them as the background on a card. I got the Maya Road Beautiful You Card Kit and used the kraft tickets and pink letters that came in the kit finish off the card. I just cut the background paper and adhered it to a kraft card base, then added the tickets with foam dots. Thanks for stopping by.


Sunday, February 1, 2015

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #9 - Think Pink

 It's time for the February Mixed Media Monthly Challenge. This month our theme is "Think Pink." Just make any type of mixed media project that has pink on it somewhere. How fun is that?


Our sponsor this month is the awesome online retail store Ellen Hutson. They are giving our lucky random winner a $25 store credit!! You can get so many mixed media art supplies with that. Remember, you must enter to win!

We also have an amazing Guest Designer this month. One of my favorite crafty friends, Teri Anderson. She has made a beautiful mixed media card for this challenge that you will love!!

I ran with that theme and made a 6 x 6 project on thick chipboard with pink on it everywhere!!! I made the background with patterned paper, spray inks, stencils, Gelatos and silver rub-ons. For the edges I colored some Faber Castell Design Memory Craft Whipped Spackle that I colored with Gelatos. I just put some on a palette knife and rubbed it along the edges to make a frame effect. I love to do this. It adds lots of texture to the piece and finished off the edges.


I cut the outline of the heart on burlap using a Maya Road heart mask. Then I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed it with ink sprays and used the heat gun in between to speed up the drying time. I experimented with different ink sprays and the best were the Adirondack Sprays which are made for fabrics. They showed up the most on the burlap. After I got the colors I liked I sprayed the heart one last time with Smooch Spritz. You can't see it in the picture, but it makes the heart sparkle.  Then I used some Cosmo Cricket words finish it off with a sentiment. I outlined the edges of the words with a Distress Marker and adhered the heart to the canvas with a hot glue gun.

Christmas Card Challenges #9

Click for the February Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #9

It's time for this week's challenge over at Christmas Card Challenges. This week we have a color challenge. For my card I used a new Hero Arts Wooden stamp called "Color a Wreath". I love all the circles. I stamped the image on Stampin' Up Very Vanilla cardstock with Watering Can Archival Ink. Then I chose Distress Markers in colors close to the ones in the challenge picture and watercolored  the wreath with my Distress Markers. The sentiment is also a Hero Arts Stamp.

I hope you will get a head start on your Christmas cards and join us this week. We now pick a weekly winner and honorable mentions! Thanks for stopping by!