Travel Album - Yes, I Scrapbooked

I have a photo heavy post for you today...sharing a mini album that I created using supplies from a kit club.  I'm not much of a scrapbooker (I've been working on one album for about six years...I don't think it's going to ever be finished! LOL!), but I'm a sucker for mini albums.  They're easy to create and you can finish one up in no time flat!  And I love documenting one moment in time, such as a trip, a holiday, or only travel photos, such as the theme of this album.

This is a fun folded album, which I learned how to make in a Julie Balzer class.  Seriously easy to make, using just a few sheets of 12x12 paper.  The cover is folded in and I opted to create a larger front cover spread that is partially hidden when the album is closed.  Here's the open view:

I just couldn't part with the "life is a daring adventure" sentiment...love that!  This is a tough album to photograph because it accordion folds and is about three feet long when unfolded...it rocks!  One entire side has pockets, which I'll show you below, and the other side is just plain paper, which you could use for journaling or more photos.  Here's a shot of one side...

On the right hand side of the photo, you can see where the cover folds.  Each page is held together with special painted masking tape...another Julie technique.  (If you haven't taken one of her classes...you must!)  I'll keep commentary to a minimum from here on out and just let you enjoy the inside pages.  Most of the embellishments are from the kit and coordinate with the paper collection, all from My Minds Eye.  The stamps you'll see are old Ali Edwards designs that I believe I purchased through Technique Tuesday.  Mini letters seen throughout are sticker sheets from Authentique.  I buy every Authentique letter and word sticker sheet I can get my hands on...they are an amazing tool and I use their stickers in everything from cards to scrapbooking to mixed media projects.  Enjoy the show!  (Leave a comment if you have any other questions!)

Forgive the glare on some of these pages...Photographing pictures in my studio at night is a bear! LOL!

The end of the pocket pages...Here's a look at a completed insert.  Each of the photos were mounted on cardstock.

I adore stamping right on to a photo... (And what's that?  A text circle on almost every page...you better believe it!)

I kept the non-pocket pages pretty simple.  Just mounted the photos and added some decoration and/or text and stamping.  All of my photos are printed to 5"x7".

I have one empty page left in the album and that's where I'll be putting more of the stories of our trips this year.  My plan is to use my old typewriter for the journaling...fabulous!

That's my completed album!  Super fun to make and a great keepsake.  My next album, the one I created in Julie's class, is going to focus on photos of all the amazing designers and teachers I've had met over the past few years.  I can't wait to get started!

 

Guest Post - Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

 

I'm posting on the Sweet 'n Sassy blog today!  Hop on over and check out all the details on the above project!

Mix-Ability Challenge - Artist Inspired

 

This week I'm playing along with the Mix-Ability challenge, posted on SplitcoastStampers.  This week's challenge was...anything goes!  Now that's a fun challenge!  The goal was to look back on past challenges and pick one to follow.  I opted for the Artist Inspired challenge and was blown away by the art of France Papillion.   Oh my...France is so wildly creative.  I was drooling over every single piece of art posted on your blog...stunning!  You won't have to look far to see which one of her art journal pages inspired my canvas. *wink*

When creating my canvas I stuck pretty close to her design, which I don't normally do, but I seriously loved every single bit of her layout....I couldn't even help myself! LOL!  So let's get started with how I created my piece...

 

I started by simply inking the edges of a 8x10 canvas panel with Wendy's Potting Soil Archival Ink.  (I'm in love with those little round blending tools!!)

 

I next used a Tim Holtz stamp and Jet Black Archival Ink to add some text over the bottom portion of the canvas...and just a wee bit on the top.

 

Then I grabbed some Ferro (I love this stuff!  You can see a video I created using this product here) and a stencil to add some great sparkly dimension to the bottom part of the canvas.

 

Check out how fabulous the ferro looks when it's dry...dreamy!  And then...the favorite part of this piece?  Those tiny drops of turquoise paint!  WooHoo!

 

For my main image, I stamped a dragonfly image (from Tim Holz) on to a piece of cardstock (edges inked).  The frame is a Tim Holtz die cut, which I cut from chipboard and added some faux rust.  The faux rust technique is done by embossing a piece with Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder.  Once the powder has cooled, rub off some of the crystals, and then ink over the entire piece with black Archival Ink. (You have to use a light hand when applying the Archival Ink or your entire piece will become too dark.  I found that Black Soot Distress Ink wasn't quite dark enough to get the rusty look)

 

I used a bunch of metal pieces on my canvas.  I laid them all out first, to find the right placement, and then, in order for them to all be the same color, I used Teakwood Alcohol Ink and a felt blending tool to cover each metal embellishment.

 

I used a hot glue gun to add the metal embellishments.  I also added a sentiment, from the Tim Holtz Chit Chat Stickers.

 

And then I added my very favorite piece...This tiny file tab with just a hint of turquoise and cream twill!  Now if someone could please tell me what I did with my tiny attacher...because I really wanted that file tab to be attached to the ribbon with staples!  Arrrghhh...

Check out some other up close photos below:

  Here's a better view of the faux rust look...divine!

 Be sure to check out France's web page (you'll be drooling!) and the SplitcoastStampers Mix-Ability challenge!!

 

 

 

Becoming a Butterfly

 

Hi friends!  I'm back with a new canvas, based upon this month's Mixed Media Challenge from the blog of the same name.  This month's challenge is to use stamps in a mixed media project.  Since stamps are my first love, I thought this challenge was just perfect for me!

Since I can't imagine any canvas without texture, I started by applying embossing paste through a stencil.  (Product links at the end of the post)

 

Notice that I didn't cover the entire canvas with paste...just a few areas.  Once the paste was dry, I used Dylusions Ink Sprays to add color.  The ink sprays are fabulous for creating drips!

  With this canvas I also opted to embrace the white space...a practice that I find difficult.  I love white and I love color, but boy do I have a hard time doing either option half way!  (What does that say about my personality?  Yup, it's all true! LOL!)

Next I added a bit more design using another stencil and more ink spray.  See that tiny bit of bright pink...I love it...

 

Now it was time for a contrast color.  Nothing makes me happier than a burst of color from the opposite side of the color wheel!  I opted for a turquoise color from PaperArtsy.  Now...what do you think happened when I added wet paint on top of Dylusions Ink Sprays?  Yup...the water from the paint activated the ink sprays and I got a decent amount of brown.  No worries...I waited for the paint to dry and applied more paint to intensify the turquoise color.

 

More drips...oh how I love the drips!  At this point, I broke out my stamps!  Nothing finishes off a piece like adding a neutral.  I used a few Dina Wakley stamps and black Archival Ink to add another design element.  (I love that crosshatch design!)

 

And since I can't live without text circles, I added a few and then used a Stabilo pencil to draw circles around the text.  Using a waterbrush activates the Stabilo pencil, allowing me to broader the lines.  Once the pencil is dry...it's permanent.

 

I wanted butterflies to live in my text circles so I stamped a butterfly from Dina Wakley's Scribbly Insects stamp set three times on watercolor paper.  I used Peerless watercolors (have you tried these?  If not, you need them!) to paint each butterfly and then I used the She Script stamp from Christy Tomlinson to stamp, in white paint, on top of the butterflies.  I adore the white script across each butterfly...divine!

 

Each butterfly was fussy cut and attached with a glue dot.  I folded up all of the wings for great movement and dimension.  The last bit was the addition of the sentiment (also stamped and cut apart) and date stamp (ala Donna Downey...I love adding dates!)  And here is the completed canvas...

 

Thanks to the Mixed Media Challenge blog for giving a great prompt to get me creating!  I had a great time making this piece!!  Links to products below:

Supplies:

Canvas Panel

Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste (white)

Hexagons Stencil

Dylusions Ink Sprays

Textures Stamp Set (Dina Wakley)

Scribbly Insects Stamp Set (Dina Wakley)

She Script (Unity, designed by Christy Tomlinson)

Peerless Watercolors

Ranger Collage Glue Stick

Stabilo Pencil

Quatrefoil Stencil

 

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Release Day

 

Hello, sweet friends!   Welcome to Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps  November 2014 Release Day!  It's beginning to feel more and more like winter here on the east coast and with Thanksgiving right around the corner, Christmas cannot be far behind!  Since November is the birthday month for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and December is the month we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, our release this month is perfect for creating birthday projects, Christmas and winter cards, and all season cards that can be created and given all year long!

I'm excited to be back designing with the lovely Sweet 'n Sassy design team!  I've missed my card making!!

Today my cards feature the God's Purpose stamp set and coordinating die (card above) and the Comforting Pines stamp set and die.  Don't you just love having dies to perfectly cut out your images?  Makes creating go so much faster...more time to make more cards!

Please join us today for our release day blog hop featuring our talented DT creations.  You are going to love all of the gorgeous projects that were made for your inspiration! :)  The DT blog links can be found in the Linky Tool at the end of this blog post.

One random commenter from one of the DT blogs will be selected to win a $10 Gift Code to be used at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store.  You have until Thursday, November 20th at midnight EST to leave your comments.  The winner will be posted on the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog on Friday, November 21st!

 One more thing before we let you go...

We can't forget our fun Release Day Challenge!
"Create a Wintery Birthday Card"   

Just a few guidelines to remember as you play:

            

- You don't have to use a Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps image to enter (although we sure love when you do!)
- Please create a NEW card (no back linking)
- We ask that you enter your card in no more than 3 challenges
 - You'll have until Thursday, November 20th at midnight EST to enter
- We'll draw 1 winner from this week's challenge to receive a $10 credit to the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store!  
If there are 25 participants, (not including the DT), we'll draw 2 winners!
- Please use code SNSNOV2014RC when uploading to Splitcoaststampers or other galleries 

To enter simply share a link to your creation below!

Thanks for joining us today!  Be sure to join us again on Friday, November 21st to see if you've won!

Live Beautifully

 

 

  

I had some time to create last night (yeah!) and I made a canvas based upon a piece of artwork I saw a few weeks ago...  I even made a video documenting the process and chatting about finding inspiration.  See below (product links below as well):

Product Links:

Canvas Panel

Four Faces 6x6 Stencil

PaperArtsy Paints

Donna Downey Stencil (Changes)

Prima Stencil (out of stock)

Archival Inks

Distress Inks

Dina Wakley Paint - White

Tiny Circles 6x6 Stencil

Golden Paints (Yellow Ochre)

Fude Ball Pen - Black 

She Had a Dream

 

I know...I'm either posting a few times a week or not at all...I need some consistency!  (What I really need is some free time...LOL!)  I find some of that missing time yesterday afternoon and whipped up a sweet little Wendy Vecchi inspired wall hanging.  I also managed a sweet photo tutorial...Enjoy!

 

I've had this stash of goodies sitting on my desk for months.  Piled up, just like this, a pile of left over bits that I wanted to use to make a tiny burlap canvas.  I've moved these bits about a million times in order to get to some other object and today was the day I sat down and finally make art. (Links to all products at the end of the post).  The main cast of characters were some Art Parts from Wendy, a tiny burlap canvas, and some trinkets from Tim Holtz.

 

I started by applying a few shades of Distress Paint to my burlap canvas.  Just shake the bottle, open it, and start applying paint.  Great way to add just a hint of color.

 

And because nothing I make can be without a text circle...I added a text circle from a vintage book full of poems....swoon...The edges were distressed with Gathered Twigs Ink.

 

Next up were my Art Parts, using Wendy's Archival Inks.  I applied color with a blending tool.

 

Know what I love about Wendy's product line?  Coordinating Art Parts and stamps!!  To perfectly stamp an image on to a coordinating Art Part, apply Archival Ink to the stamp, keeping it stamp side up on your craft sheet.  Then press the Art Part into the ink on the stamp.  Much easier than trying to line up the stamp on top of the Art Part. Make sense? (Don't mind the ink on the back of my Art Part...I colored the wrong side! Doh!)

Here's the stamped Art Part! Isn't that the greatest trick ever!

I used black Enamel Accents to highlight the flower centers and set these pieces aside to dry.

I embossed the little bottle using Wendy's new embossing powders.  Just roll the bottle in Archival Ink and then in the embossing powder.  You will want clips to hold the bottle while you emboss and don't hold the heat gun in one spot for too long...keep it moving!  Hold the bottle while it cools to the touch.  Love how the powder doesn't adhere in every spot...so vintage!

To further decorate the bottle, I inked up a stamp from the Say it with Art stamp set and carefully rolled the bottle over the stamp.  Viola, instant design!  Give the ink a quick heat set before continuing.

And then...I assembled!  I added some twine to my tiny bottle, along with a tiny blackbird.  The two Art Parts were layered, using 3-D glue dots for great dimension.  Lastly, I added the sentiment and a ribbon, attached with brads (just through the ribbon and then glued to the side of the canvas), for hanging.  Now to find the perfect spot in my studio for displaying...

Want to purchase the products I used to create this project?  Follow the links below: (REMINDER - eclectic Paperie is offering a storewide 30% off sale.  Use code EP30 when checking out!)
Burlap Canvas
Distress Paint
Forever Art stamp set
Forever Coordinates (Art Parts)
License Plate Art stamp set
Say it with Art stamp set
Archival Inks
Embossing Powders

Corked Vials