Wednesday, December 14, 2016

SDC 263 Its CHRISTMAS TIIIIME!!

Oh, goodness. Here we go! Its the CHRISTMAS season guys! You know what that means?? Tons and tons of Christmas DIY projects! So, here's another one. Probably the best one you will see all year! Okay, maybe not. I'm a nerd.

Okay, so when the theme Christmas came up in the Stampotique DT, I didn't want to just make another Christmas card. I wanted to think a bit outside the box. First I had thought about making my own wrapping paper, and that WILL happen, but I couldn't find just white paper so I went with the next best thing: a gift bag!

I created my masterpiece on Bristol smooth surface paper, to later be attached to the bag. Of course, I went with my go-to background technique. Someday, I want to make a line of papers using this technique.
I am not traditional with Christmas colors. I really, mostly, don't like red and green together as a general rule, so, reds and blues and oranges ruled this project. I stamped "ho, ho, ho" all over the tag portion of the bag. For the bag itself I stamped Stampotique circles all over the background and then doodled tops and hooks on them to create ornaments and Holly Wally then took center stage.

I love how this turned out.Such a whimsical take on Christmas. Outside the box (literally?) Maybe this will inspire you to create some gift-wrap options of your own for that special someone (and I don't mean the ELF idea of that special someone hehe)

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's creations! The entire team is participating for the Christmas holiday so there will be a LOT of inspiration! All of the links are to the left side of my page here. <3 Be sure to give them some love! Also, be sure to participate yourselves for a chance to win a 30 dollar shopping spree in the Stampotique shop!

Ingredients:

Circles Cube (Stampotique)
Holly Wally With Sentiment (Stampotique)
Dylusions Ink Sprays
Ranger Archival Ink
Paper Gift Bag
Bristol Smooth Paper
Adhesive Enamel Dots
3L Adhesive, Home and Hobby Adhesives (Extreme Double Sided Tape and E-Z Squares)
Twine

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

SDC 261, Switch It up!

This time around at Stampotique we are switching it up....LITERALLY!

Stampotique has so many amazing creatures and people in their vast stamp collection. This time around we want you to switch it up. Put a human head on a creature, or, put a creature head on a human. This was a really fun challenge! What a great way to mix up and use stamps you already own!

I used Bat Boy's Body and used Goat Monster's head. They actually go very well together! I used my watercolor pencils and colored me new creation. The sentiment is also Stampotique. I  used my watercolor/spray ink technique to create the background and used Hanging Hearts to round it off. A bit of doodling and this card was ready to roll.

Be sure to check out all of the other design team members' creations. This challenge brought out the WILD side in everyone!

Until next time!!

Ingredients:

Bat Boy (Stampotique)
Goat Monster (Stampotique)
Just Keep On (Stampotique)
Hanging Hearts (Stampotique)
Dylusions Ink Sprays
Adhesive Gems
Ranger Archival Black Ink
Watercolor Pencils
Bristol Smooth Surface Paper

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Word Up Weekend, "La De Frickin Dah!"

I am pretty sure that you know how much I love snarky sentiments by now. This post will be no exception. I recently ordered some more stamps from Stampotique and just HAD to create a card using some of my new images.

Over at the Stampotique Facebook page we are working on Word Up Weekends, which, essentially means that since we LOVE our sentiments we are sharing project with you that use just that! Sometimes its hard to come up with sentiments for a project. That is why we took the hard work out of it for you!

I have been drooling over Rudy the seahorse for quite some time and finally had to buy him. I had a watercolor paper already made that just seemed perfect for him. And, of course, a snarky sentiment, also from Stampotique.
I really love the contrast of the brights with the black. makes everything just pop right off the page! You should head over to Stampotique and see how many other wonderfully silly sentiments they have! Seriously! Additionally, you should check out our Facebook page for more inspiration!

Ingredients:

Rudy (Stampotique)
Well, La De Frickin' Dah! (Stampotique)
American Crafts Paper (Target Dollar Spot)
Dylusions Ink Sprays
Ranger Archival Black Ink
Twine
Adhesive Sequins
3L Adhesives/Home and Hobby (foam dots and permanent runner)

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Handmade Holidays Blog Hop, 2016 Mixed Media Ornaments and Clipboard Countdown

Good morning! Welcome to day two of the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop, 2016 edition! If you are here, you are hopping one of the most amazing blog hops of the year! I am thrilled and honored to be a part of this hop! There are so many amazingly talented people and, of course, many prizes to be won!

This post contains affiliate links. I was provided with product from Deco Art, Clearsnap and 3L Adhesives/Scrapbook Adhesives/Home & Hobby to create these projects.

My contribution is a set of handmade ornaments. I am remiss, as I have not even begun to plan for Christmas this year, but here I have made 2 ornaments that can be used how they were intended, but also can be used as decoration on packages. I am notorious for over-doing my packaging.


Items needed for this project include (but are not limited to):

Deco Art Acrylic Paint, Multi-Surface Satin (dolphin, coastal waters, lipstick)
Deco Art Decou Page
Deco Art Glamour Dust Glitter
Deco Art Distressed Harlequin Stencil (12x12)
Gesso
Twigs (yes, like...actual twigs)
Twine (I used black and white and red and cream)
Paint Brushes
Paint/ink applicator 
Blank Chipboard Ornament (s)

The very first thing I do with almost any mixed media project that I approach is to apply an even layer of gesso across the surface and let it dry. This will allow any medium that you use after to remain vibrant as well as it will keep you from needing more of whatever medium you choose because the gesso keeps your mediums from soaking into the surface.
Once I applied my gesso and used my heat tool to speed up the drying process, I applied 2 coats of the desired color to my ornaments. In this case I chose the color, "lipstick" and the color "coastal waters" from Deco Art. They went on like butter and I love how vibrant they stayed. I painted the very edge of each ornament with dolphin.
Again, using my heating tool, I dried the ornaments. If you don't  have a heating tool, don't despair. It really doesn't take too long for the paint to dry on its own, I am just not overly patient with that process.

I used my ink applicator tool to apply color using my Deco Art Distressed Harlequin Stencil. I chose this applicator because if you try to brush color over a stencil it will bleed and smear, so pouncing the paint onto the surface actually works much better and keeps the pattern more crisp.
At this point I used Deco Art Decou Page to coat the edges of the ornament and then use Deco Art Glamour Dust to cover the edges and give it a fantastic glitter-y edging to catch the light of the tree!
You are done with the ornament for the moment. Now, it is time to use those twigs that you gathered. You are going to use the twigs to make a star for your ornament. I used my gesso to lightly paint the twigs. I didn't worry about covering the twigs completely. I was going for a more distressed look. While they were damp I rolled them in my Deco Art Glamour Dust.
Once dry, I messily wrapped the twigs with bakers twine.
Arrange the twigs into a star shape (or whatever shape you happen to choose) and hot glue the twigs together and onto your ornament. Be sure to hold the twigs until they are securely glued.
Lastly, I decided that I wanted a tassle to hang off of each ornament so, using my inkpad I wrapped red and cream twine around until I had the thickness I was looking for. Tie the center of one side securely with a knot of the same (or different, if you choose) twine.
Flip the ink pad over and cut the center of your twine mass and fold in half, being sure the top of the tassel is where you knotted.
Wrap another small piece of twine around and knot about a finger space from the top of the tassel. Tah-daahhh!!! Tassel! Trim the bottom to the desired length. I found that this tassel was a bit longer than I had intended so I trimmed about a half inch off of the bottom, which, also makes sure that your tassel looks tidy.

I am very pleased with how these turned out and I can't wait to add them to my tree....or packaging. I really can't decide which. The non-traditional colors make this project good for winter, not just Christmas, and boy do the ornaments pop on a tree!

I also decided that this year I should make a clipboard Christmas Countdown, but in truth, this could be used for just about anything you want to count down. It really just depends on how many numbers you feel like creating. ;) 

Items needed for this project include (but are not limited to)

Blank Clipboard (new or old)
Gesso
Paint/Ink Applicator Sponge
Twine (shown, gold and khaki)
Metallic Packaging Ribbon
Nail File/Sandpaper
Glitter Washi Tape
Black Micro-Fine Glitter

The very first thing I did, as I almost always do, is I put a layer of gesso onto the clipboard, even on the metal clip part. I wanted to be sure that since my Decou Pages were white that the brown from the clipbard had no chance of showing through once I decoupaged the papers. I used a heating tool to speed up the drying process. 
Next, I broke out some Decou Papers. These are from Deco Art/Americana. I have to say, these papers are for sure the best and easiest papers to work with when thinking about decoupaging anything. They are the perfect weight, and are able to easily be re-positioned if need be. Additionally, I used the Decou Page medium and it really does go on like butter and dries with no streaks from the paint brush! 
I unfolded my Decou Pages and while you do see a few seams, once you are finished using the Decou Page medium those all but disappear. I made sure the paper was pulled all the way to the top of the under-side of the clip on the board. Don't worry about the strip of bare board; we will take care of that in a later step. 
Flip the board over and proceed to trace and cut the paper down to the proper size. You will most likely end up with a bit of over-lap but that is no problem and easy to fix. 
Now comes the magic. Cover the bare board in Decou Page medium and then carefully place your Decou Papers onto the clipboard. If you need to re-position, do it carefully and quickly. I chose to stop part way down the board and add a second coordinating pattern to the bottom to add visual interest. To cover the line between the two patterns I used glitter washi tape. I also used the same tape to cover the top portion of the board that wasn't covered with Decou paper. 
 Now, set the clipboard aside for the time being. We are going to work on a chalkboard piece for the bottom portion of the clipboard. This will allow the countdown to be multi-functional as you only have to change your message and it is good to go for another celebration countdown! Cut a piece of chipboard or thin cardboard down to 4.5 x 7 inches, and, of course, I gesso'd it, tho, I am not sure this step is important in this part of the project. Deco Art's chalkboard medium covers like a dream!!
Cover your dried piece of cardboard with a layer of chalkboard paint, dry, and repeat, covering in the opposite direction as the first layer. The bottle recommends at least 2 coats, and being an over-achiever, I used 3 coats. You can't even see the brush strokes! This is wonderful medium! I see many more chalkboard projects in the near future!
I used Extreme Double-Sided Tape from 3-L Adhesives (scrapbook adhesives) and Home and Hobby to attach the chalkboard to the clipboard. I am pretty sure that this adhesive will still be holding years from now. It is incredible! 
Now, onto the eyesore that is the top of the clipboard. Cover the metal with Decou Page medium and cover liberally with glitter. I used a micro-fine glitter, but any glitter will do. Dry, and add another layer to be sure that nothing is showing through. 
Now, the final touches. Of course, you need numbers and really, the sky is the limit, but for this project, I used 25 for the Christmas Holiday. Cut 25 pieces of black card-stock at 5 inches by 4 inches. 
Using your ink/paint applicator (or sponge) and a stencil (Deco Art, Olde World Numbers shown) and carefully pounce white paint onto the card-stock. Washi tape is very helpful here to hold your stencil in place. While the paint is still wet sprinkle some Glamour Dust over the numbers to give them a delightful shine. 
Finally, add ribbon and twine around the top of the clipboard to bring it all together! I love the way the gold is so warm! And I LOVE the chalkboard piece at the bottom and the chalkboard paint really is amazing! I wish the picture conveyed how neat the glamour dust makes those numbers look, but you will just have to take my word for how neat it really is!

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I hope this gets your creative juices flowing! This project is fun, but goes quickly and really pops on the tree! Be sure to click the next link on the list below to continue the Handmade Holidays blog hop and be sure to comment on each post along the way to be entered to win the really fantastic prize package!

I really cannot thank our list of wonderful sponsors enough! They have really made this blog hop beyond amazing and we couldn't have done this without them!
Our List of Fantastic Sponsors:
Hepp’s Salt Co. (food) https://heppssalt.com/
The Twinery http://thetwinery.com/
Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L https://www.scrapbook-adhesives.com/
Stencil1 http://stencil1.com
Buttons Galore & More http://www.buttonsgaloreandmore.com/
DecoArt, Inc. http://decoart.com
Walnut Hollow http://walnuthollow.com
Iron Orchid Designs http://ironorchiddesigns.com/

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

ATC! Approach With Caution!

OKay, I am back! With more ATCs! Seriously, I never realized how therapeutic creating an ATC could be. When you don't have a lot of time but really have the itch to create, these little cards are just about perfect. 

I love this cactus stamp from Stampotique and had a lot of fun envisioning a sunset, desert sky for the background.

The background orange and pinks were created with dylusions sprays. Love how the colors gradated. The sunburst is a Tim Holtz stencil (rays) that I just love and use quite a bit, with Dina Wakely heavy body acrylic paint and I love how the paint just sticks in place and shows all of the details of the stencil.
 I colored the cactus with my copic markers. I am having fun getting reacquainted with them. I have been using watercolor pencils quite a bit and have really started missing my copics. I mixed the copics with a Prima marker, which, surprisingly I love almost as much as my copic markers. They blend very well!
Annnnd, of course, when around cacti in the desert PLEASE approach with caution. ;) 

Ingredients:

Prickly Pear Cactus (Stampotique)
Approach With Caution (Stampotique)
Tim Holtz Rays Stencil
Dina Wakely Acrylic Paint
Copic Markers
Ranger Black Archival Ink

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Space Out! SDC 260

Its time for another fantastic designers challenge over at Stampotique!

This time around I knew exactly what I was going to create for the space them. I am obsessed with galaxies. Really. Gorgeous. I spent some time learning and trying different things to get the look I wanted and this is what I came up with:


I LOVED creating this and LOVED the outcome. It is perfectly imperfect and a lot easier to create than you might think. I created a video. I am still learning on the video front so bear with me. ;) If it is wonky on Blogger, click the video and it should take you on to Youtube.

Here is the final product. When I thought space and galaxy, this sentiment from Stampotique seemed just about perfect. I stamped the sentiment onto watercolor paper and tried to make it match the galaxy theme. To top it off I used some tiny sequin stars along with some twine, because, twine makes everything better!

Overall, this is a sweet positive card and I am satisfied! I hope you are inspired to create your own galaxy, and if you do don't forget to link it up over at our challenge here for your chance to win a 30 dollar gift card to the fantastic Stampotique shop which has something for literally everyone!

Ingredients:

Master's Touch Watercolors
Ken Oliver Liquid Metals
Dollar Tree Twine
Star Sequins
Ranger Archival Black Ink

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Word Up Weekend

Good morning, from Stampotique!

It is Saturday which means we are going to start hi-lighting the many fantastic sentiments that Stampotique sells! Our artists have sentiments everything from holidays, to inspirational quotes to snark, which, are my faves.

Today I used Sarcasm . Because, it is my language. ;) I really do love all of the sentiments we have. Such a range makes it easy to find something to go with any style and any image. Listen to me. I sound like a walking commercial, but in all seriousness, they have such a great range!!

I feel like I am perfecting my watercoloring technique for my paper and this one really popped for me. Someday I hope to create my own line of papers using this technique. <3 Here is another I created this week:


Okay, I am off, but I hope that all in the path of Hurricane Matthew are safe and warm with the ones they love. You are for sure in my thoughts!

Ingredients:

Dylusions Ink Spray
Twine
Sequins
Doily
Watercolor Pencils
Ranger Archival Ink


Wednesday, October 5, 2016

SDC #258 Favorite Quote

When I was younger, I had a Tigger (yes, tigger) notebook that I used to write down every inspirational quote that meant something to me. I must still have it somewhere. Anyway, I kind of wish I still knew where it was. This week we are continuing our theme at Stampotique, which is, "favorite quote". Luckily, Stampotique has a lot of fun and inspirational quote stamps.

This one, "Color Her Soul" really spoke to me. It needed to be a wall hanging. It is a larger stamp so that worked out well. Moth Fab seemed like the perfect girl to be paired with this sentiment. 

And, of course, Moth Fab got the watercolor pencil treatment as well as a white paint pen to make her pop. Love using mixed colors on her. 

Its no secret that I have really gotten into mixed media over the last couple of years, and this is no exception. For this wall hanging I used Dina Wakely heavy bodied acrylic paint as well as some other acrylic paint. For the texture on the background I used Diane Revealy's "large triangle" stencil and Ranger texture paste. 
Loved how all of these elements came together to tell a story and back up the sentiment. Went a little heavy on the accessories, but I think they work. Even stiffened some bakers twine to create a fun detail behind the flowers.
Be sure to check out all of the other beautiful projects (see the DT on the left bar of this page) and then enter our challenge!!! 

Ingredients:

Stamp: Moth Fab
Dina Wakely Heavy Bodied Acrylic Paint
Prima Handmade Flowers
Ranger Texture Paste
Ranger Archival Ink
Watercolor Pencils
Bakers Twine
Sequins
Adhesive Pearls, Paper Studio
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Chalkboard
Various Washi Tape

Monday, October 3, 2016

Monochromatic Monday

Good Monday evening to you all! It is time for another swap over at Stampotique! Everyone voted and decided that Monochromatic would be an awesome theme. I love monochromatic projects, it is just very difficult for me to create something without a third color to pop.

I decided to go with teal and green. Greens are varied, so I thought this would be my best bet to follow the challenge without cheating. ;) Once the colors were chosen I knew I wanted to use Feathery Monster. He looks so handsome in teals and greens.

I used my watercolor background technique to create a dynamic background. I used Dylusions Ink Sprays and water on my Ken Oliver mat and this was the result. This is my favorite one to date. I wish so hard my scanner was working because I would have scanned this one and saved it for sure! It turned out amazing with all of the little dots hovering perfectly on the paper. 
For the ATC, I decided to go with shakers this time. In order for them to fit into an ATC sleeve I went ahead and cut my foam squares in half (height) in order for the top layer to be smaller but still allow the sequins to shake around. It was tedious. I will be buying a roll of thinner foam tape in the future. I covered the foam outside with some fun green twine, which, this idea I borrowed from someone else. 
 I really like how these guys turned out. Oh! The sentiment is also from Stampotique!! I thought it was just about perfect for his expression.
So, I hope you will hop over and join us at Stampotique for our FaceBook swap! We would love to have you!!

Ingregients:

Feathery Monster (Stampotique)
The Crew (Stampotique, just the sentiment)
Dylusions Ink Sprays
Dollar Tree Twine
Dollar Tree Sequins
Le Pen Black
Ranger Archival Black Ink
Transparency Paper
Adhesive Foam Squares

Saturday, October 1, 2016

ATC DIY Stamping!

Do you ever look at your mixed media projects and wish you had a different way to add pattern or texture? Or, are you on a budget like I am and don't want to spend money on a fancy background stamp? Yeah. Been there.

So....this is what I do....I create something using whatever I have lying around.

For this I used jute twine and bubble wrap. Both subtle, but exactly what I needed to create a fun pattern for my ATCs. I used Americana acrylic paint in lieu of ink.



The houses are Stampotique, of course, and this time I broke out my Copic markers as well as my Prima markers. They blend well together, which is awesome! I love the whimsy of these houses and had a lot of fun imagining a color scheme for them. 


I added some doodled boarders and a couple of cute sentiment stickers to round off the whimsy. I am excited to swap these, but kind of sad to see them go as well. It is always hard to swap away something you like, but if you like it, then you know your partner will appreciate it as well. 

Did you know Stampotique also carries an ATC stamp for the back of all of your ATCs and it is delightful with its webs and skull spiders. Be sure to check it out! 
Ingredients:

Bubble Wrap
Jute Twine
Americana Acrylic Paint
Teresa Collins Sticker Sentiment
Copic Markers