April Showers with CI Paints

Hello! 

Today I'd like to show you a get well card using paints and glitters from Creative Inspiration Paints, because shimmer and glitter are bound to make anyone feel better, right?  I hope it makes my stepdaughter feel better - she had an emergency appendectomy a couple of days ago and isn't feeling very well right now.

I've followed the sketch which was shared by the talented Kristie over at Stamp Nation (here for non-members) except I flipped it on its side.

I've paper pieced the little umbrellas and rain boots using various printed papers.

The rain boots have been glammed up with Resplendence Angel Dust, and the sun behind the sentiment has been painted with Sunshine and Pumpkin Creative Inspirations Paints.

The raindrops were first stamped with grey ink and then again using Sky Blue CI Paint.

I even made a matching envelope, coloring the sun and cloud with Copics and using CI Paints for the raindrops again.

Thank you for joining me today, and don't forget to head on over and check out our Anything Goes challenge.  We'd love to have you play along!

Happy crafting! 

Challenges entered:

Simon Says Monday Challenge - Ode to Sunshine
Pile It On #30 - Anything Goes
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes
613 Ave. Create #30 - Anything Goes (opt. Friendship Day)

Blue Green Mixed Canvas

Hello!

Today's project is yep, another canvas.  Actually I've had this one in the wings for a while waiting for a good time to share it.

There are quite a few types of media and techniques used here as I explore and try to find a style.  Who knows, maybe I don't HAVE a style because I haven't found a particular one yet!  I've used stamping on tissue (the ferns which are mostly covered up), molding paste put through a chicken wire stencil, decoupage and 3-D pieces pressed into more molding paste.  Then everything is painted with one of the most gorgeous paints with which I've ever had the pleasure to work, that being Lumieres Halo Blue Gold.  It goes on blue and green, and the more you brush it, the more gold appears.

Paper roses, smaller paper flowers, glass flower beads, a glass star bead and a metal bee pin are all placed in a mound of molding paste.  Pearls are sprinkled here and there and everything is painted with the blue/green paint.

A chipboard flourish, more glass flower beads and pearls, and a resin flower.  I've used blue Stickles for the bits of sparkle here and there throughout.

The hearts were cut from book pages and shaded with a charcoal pencil.

These letters are outlined with a gold paint pen.

All of the dimensional pieces, once painted with the blue/green metallic paint, were also rubbed with gold Rub 'N' Buff.  It really makes the dimensional pieces stand out further.

Thank you lovely readers for joining me today on my journey to figure out what I want to do with mixed media.  It truly is an exciting art form which encourages one's imagination to let loose!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me #139 - Anything Goes
Pile It On #30 - Anything Goes
Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes
613 Ave. Create #30 - Anything Goes

Birds of a Feather...

Hello!

My project today features something I haven't done before - art journaling.  There are so many wonderful paint/media techniques out there, and I want to try them all, so art journaling is the way to go.  I can try out new techniques and then use them on other future projects, be they canvases, wood panels, etc.

This will fit the current challenge going on over at Frosted Designs well as their theme this time is "The Great Outdoors."

The background is various colors of Dylusions Spray Inks sprayed on a gesso base.  Note to self: do not gesso the base first if I want vivid colors.  It tones them down considerably, thus requiring more spray.  I was wearing all colors by the time I finished.

I used a stencil to remove some of the color, then I stamped the hexagons in blue Archival Ink using Inspired By Stamping's "Hexagons" stamp set.

The sentiment speaks for itself.

The little birdie is from the Tim Holtz die, Birds, and I decided he should wear a party hat.  He is perched on a branch and looking towards the tree, the branches of which have been stamped using the Inspired By Stamping set "Sweet Aviary."  The bird's own branch is from this same stamp set, and both the tree and the branch have been stamped several times to get the proper effect.

The leaves are sticky back canvas painted with several colors of Gelatos, and the pink flowers are actually bits of white tissue paper with gold metallic spots which I sprayed with a homemade pink shimmer spray before tearing up into little pieces.

I drew the tree trunk freehand then applied gold and rust metallic pastes to both the trunk and the branches for texture.

This is an interesting stamp from the Urban Chic set from Stamper's Anonymous on which I applied metallic gel pens and then the date.

And that, lovely readers, is my very first ever art journal spread.  Looking back, it's pretty simple without a lot of background texture, but that will change as I learn this craft.  Baby steps.

Thank you so much for joining me today and I wish you a lovely weekend full of fun and crafting happiness!

Happy crafting!!

Challenges entered:

Frosted Designs - The Great Outdoors
Oozak #18 - Anything Goes w/Texture
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me #139 - Anything Goes
613 Ave. Create #29 - Anything Goes

Open The Door

Hello!

Today's project is another canvas board as I'm a tiny bit obsessed with doing these at the moment, and Oozak is hosting a fun challenge where Anything Goes with Texture.  To me that means altered art.  Yay!

I wanted to use these hinges that I had made several months ago using grungeboard as the base, then painting/embossing with various metallic paints and embossing powders then doing a final rub with black Staz-On ink.  So as I was playing around with ideas on how to make a doorknob, my daughter suggested I use an antique drawer knob that we bought last summer in a small Texas town we visited.  Perfect!

There are various stamps used, but the black ones all come from my favorite set, Paris, which you can find in the Inspired By Stamping store.

The flower is made of sticky back canvas with various treatments including paint, stencils and inks.  A couple of layers of tulle (painted blue and teal) were adhered and then blasted with the heat tool to cause them to partially melt and curl.  A tiny cupid sits on top, having been inked in black to tone down the bright gold.  That's cheesecloth underneath, dyed with Vintage Photo, adhered with matte medium, then rubbed with gold Rub N Buff.

Here's the vintage drawer knob including the rusted hardware inside.

Because we should let it out.

The tiny bits are watch parts which I found on eBay.

The diamond shapes are molding paste applied through a stencil and painted.

A small tassel and tiny key charm.

And that wraps up today's project.  Thank you so much for joining me, and I wish you a lovely day full of crafting goodness if possible!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Oozak #18 - Anything Goes With Texture
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Loves Rubberstamps #62 - How Charming
613 Ave. Create #29 - Anything Goes

Lacy Box and Shimmer Tag

Hello!

Today I want to show you the cute little box and shimmery tag I've made with paints and glitter from the Creative Inspirations store. 

This is a little candy box which I cut on my Silhouette Cameo out of double-sided designer paper, hence the pattern on the inside.

I painted the tag using Sky Blue and Royal Purple CI Paints, then embossed the edges with Deliquesce Gold Crystal.  I didn't love the look as it was a little more gold than I wanted, so I then covered it with Resplendence Angel Dust.  Perfect!

See the pattern on the inside?  I used the same paper for the rose which I then sprinkled with some more Resplendence Angel Dust.  Sparkly!

Some hot pink flourishes finish things off.  Now to put some chocolates into this little box and surprise someone.

Thank you so much for joining me, and don't forget to pop on over to the Creative Inspirations challenge blog and play along.  This fortnight's challenge is Inspired By: Ribbon and Bling.  See you there, and happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Divas By Design - Tags
613 Ave. Create - Anything Goes (opt. matching envelope, which I didn't do here)

Shimmer Tags

Hello!

For today's project I have made a couple of tags and used several products from the Creative Inspirations store.  I never have enough tags but they're so useful to have on hand. 

I've been playing around lately with mixed media projects, and one of the things I've started experimenting with is stenciling.  I LOVE stenciling and find myself doing it more and more, even when I'm making simple projects.  It adds a nice note of depth and interest to a background, plus it's just plain fun.  And the color challenge this week over at The Play Date Cafe just begged to be played with -

Cream, Melon, Cantaloupe.  Yum.

On this card I stenciled the tag using the Rose Builder Stencil from MFT with Peach and Mint paints for a very subtle base image, then I stenciled the diamonds with Mango.   I inked the edges of the tag with a dark peach ink then turned to the die cut using Rose Bouquet Die-Namics die, also from MFT.  I used patterned papers, first painting the pink paper with Peach before embossing both it and the green piece with Deliquesce Metallic Copper.  The stamp is from MFT called Blooming Roses and coordinates wtih the stencil and die.

Here it is at a different angle where you can see the stenciled image a little better.  Very subtle but very shimmery. 

Some hand dyed crinkled seam binding finishes this simple little tag.

I brushed the second tag with Peach and Green Olive, then stenciled the diamonds also using Green Olive.  I applied peach glitter around the edges of the tag and peach and green glitters to the rose diecut after first embossing it with Deliquesce Metallic Copper.  A little stamping and some green hand dyed crinkled seam binding finish this tag off.

Thank you so much for joining me and don't forget to pop on over to the current CI Paints challenge, the theme of which is "Ribbon and Bling."  See you there!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

The Play Date Cafe - Cream, Melon, Cantaloupe
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Good to be Green
Really Reasonable Ribbon #76 - Sizzlin' Summer Colors + Ribbon
Divas By Design - Tags
Crafty Ribbons #53 - Clean and Simple (CAS) + Ribbon
Eclectic Ellapu - Flowers
613 Ave. Create - Anything Goes

Charmed Rosette

Hello!!

Today's project is a special one that's going to be given to my daughter.  Last Christmas I was doodling around in the craft room and made a rosette out of paper cones and decorated it with feathers, a shrink plastic image (colored with Copics), snowflakes and ribbon.  OK, if you insist, here it is.

I joked about how she'd probably keep it hanging until I gave her a summery one.  Well...it's still hanging and I figured I needed to give her a new one more suitable to the season.  This one is a scored and folded rosette.  Sorry for the blurriness, I did my best to sharpen the pics but the light just wasn't cooperative in the living room, and using the flash would have ruined it.  Well, ruined it worse than the slight blurriness.  At any rate, here 'tis.

Hmmm...I think I'm going to fire my living room from having any more photos taken in it.

To start off with, and in keeping with this week's Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge (the theme of which is "Good to be Green"), the chains on both ends are recycled from old necklaces bought at the junk store.

The two little gold-embossed stamps are from Inspired By Stamping's Summer Postcards Add On set. 

A bow using hand-dyed seam binding, and a shimmery butterfly using fantasy film and fantasy fabric melded (or melted?) together.

This is a banner using turquoise crafter's foil and stamped with IBS Vintage Banners and a sentiment from the Arrows set, also from the Inspired By Stamping store.  I swiped on some white gesso then rubbed most of it off, taking some of the turquoise color with it and giving it a more aged appearance.  That little bitty spool of thread came from a real sewing kit I bought at an antiques store last year.

A little golden shoe button, wiped with some black ink to tone down the shine, is perched on the end.

The centerpiece consists of pearls and gems glued to a large button adhered to a rosette of IBS Scallop Border Crochet Trim.  This was placed on top of a shimmery die cut doily on top of a second, and very delicate, doily die cut.

And that about wraps this little gift up.

Oh wait, I almost forgot the charms at the bottom.  I made the circular one using a digital collage image and resin and added the scissors to go with the teeny tiny spool of thread.  A few pearls sprinkled about finish things off.

Thank you for joining me today, and I hope you are gearing up for a lovely, summery, crafty weekend!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Oozak #18 - Anything Goes w/Texture
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Good to Be Green (all chains are recycled from vintage necklaces, small spool is an actual vintage spool of thread)
Oldie But a Goodie - In the Garden (the chains are all from vintage necklaces, the spool of thread is from an antique sewing kit)
Really Reasonable Ribbon #76 - Sizzlin' Summer Colors + Ribbon
Eclectic Ellapu - Flowers
613 Ave. Create - Anything Goes

Faux Washi Feather

Hello!

Today I'm featuring my very first tutorial for Inspired By Stamping's Woo Hoo Wednesday and am pleased to showcase my Faux Washi Feather technique!

You can check out the tutorial here, and I have to say I had such a good time making these feathers using the colors from IBSI Challenge #58.

The stamps used are Background Basics III (for the background behind the sentiment), Just Because, Fancy Labels II and Delicate Doilies, (both for the feather and for the card's background layer).  I also used a Miniature Rose and some Satin Ribbon from the IBS store as well as the Fancy Labels Dies 2.

Glittery wings add a touch of whimsy.

I used the emboss resist method with the largest of the doily stamps.

I hope you pop on over and enjoy the tutorial, then make some feathers of your own!

Happy crafting!

Pretty Pansies

Hello!

Today's project was inspired by the challenge going on at Fussy and Fancy this fortnight which is to use the colors lemon and lavender as per the challenge's name.  

This is not a card, it's an adorable little box that holds the wedding charm I bought for my stepdaughter when she got married 6 weeks ago and which I forgot to take to her in Colorado.  And then forgot to send to her.  Well it'll be a nice surprise, now won't it?

It's not an ordinary box with a removable lid, the lid is all one piece with the body and folds up to cover the center compartment.  It's a Samantha Walker design that I obtained from the Silhouette Store.  Thank goodness I was able to track down the directions on her blog as it's a bit tricky to assemble the first time.

It helps to use double-sided paper so it's as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside.

The little yellow "belly band" covers up the slight gap and holds the pieces together.

I used the pansy images from the Inspired By Stamping Summer Flowers set and fashioned the embellishment using a doily die cut, some pearls, and some ribbon.  I then attached the piece to the belly band so that the whole band could be slid off the box without destroying it.  The flowers were colored with Neocolors and cut out with my Silhouette, thanks to the FREE cut files Joanna includes with many of her stamp sets.

The tag is from the IBS Creative Tags set.

And that is my little project for today.  I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope my stepdaughter enjoys her slightly belated little wedding "happy."

Happy crafting!

Challenge entered:

Fussy and Fancy #93 - Lemon and Lavender
Really Reasonable Ribbon #76 - Sizzlin' Summer Colors + Ribbon
Crafty Ribbons #52 - Anything Goes w/Ribbon
Eclectic Ellapu - Flowers
613 Ave. Create #28 - Anything Goes
Oldie But Goodie - In the Garden (all ribbon and pearls)