Saturday, August 24, 2013

Mixed Media and Wood

Hey there!

I've got a little wooden plaque to share with you today. It could be used as a wall hanging, or just to sit on my craft desk. It started out as a plain wooden plaque and I used lots of different products to alter it.

I was not sure at all where this would take me - no real plan - just having fun with mixed media supplies.


I used lots of different colors of Gelatos for the background, adding white embossing paste with the Dot Fade Layering Stencil from Tim Holtz around the edges, and a bit on the center piece too.

The leaves were created in the same way with another stencil called, Lovely Leaves from Wendy Vecchi, but this time, after the embossing paste was dry, I colored them in with a mix of Gelatos and water.

The text and music behind my leaves is Tim Holtz's Tissue Wrap - purposely wrinkled to add dimension and texture, and layered on with Studio, Multi-Medium Matte. I then added my big white Thickers - so glad to finally find a use for them! :)

Here's a couple of close-ups:





I had so much fun getting totally inky and sticky! And one of the best things about diving into mixed media is that I learn something new each time I create, not to mention it is a ton of fun!

Thanks for your visit - enjoy the rest of your weekend! :)

Friday, August 23, 2013

Challenge - Gray Plus. . . . .

Hi and Happy weekend!

I'm heading out to work in a bit - it's my last day before a 9-day vacation. I'm not traveling anywhere - just staying home and relaxing and really looking forward to it!

I've been hosting a little challenge over in the Hero Arts Flickr group - to use the color gray with one other color. I'm really enjoying seeing all the gorgeous cards some of the group members have created! Click on the link above to see their fabulous work - such a talented group!

I wanted to share my card with you here on my blog too.


I used a favorite Hero Arts stamp called, Silhouette Grass. First stamping it with Soft Granite Shadow Ink, then white embossing it over the top, and slightly off-set, for a shadow effect. The background was shaded using a metallic gray Gelato and blending that with a damp paper towel.

If you've got some time over the next week or so, hop on over to the group and play along! I'm giving away a little prize package to one randomly chosen winner too! You have until August 31st to play. Here's the link with more information if you're interested. 

I hope you all enjoy your weekend! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Monday, August 19, 2013

Art Journal Page 2 - SUMMER!

Hi there!

I am lucky enough to have two days, IN A ROW, off from work and am making the most of it! It doesn't happen very often and it sure is nice! Although, I do have a week's vacation coming up, so looking forward to that too! Love time off - especially in the summer!

Speaking of summer - my favorite season - I've got an Art Journaling page to share with you about that very subject.

Here it is.


I've had this double page finished for quite some time but didn't like it. I knew it was because of the flower stems I had added. Yup, each flower had a stem and it just did not look right. So, I removed them, covered those areas with some Gesso, added some text paper from an old book over that, and also in a few other spots to make it look more uniform. Then I just added some more ink and splotches and you'd never know they were even there! That's one of the many things I love about Art Journaling - mistakes, or dislikes, are easily covered up!

I used a leaf stencil, lots of different inks, white embossed script from Hero Arts' Old Letter Writing, some of the awesome resist canvas flowers and some black Thickers for the letters.

I have discovered that one of my favorite things to do on these pages is to use my finger with the Distress Inks. Just push your finger onto the ink pad and swipe on some color - looks awesome over the white embossed portions!


Wish you could see it better - looks so cool in real life!


Here's close-ups of each flower:









And a final look at the whole page.


That's it for me today - I'm heading outside - yay! Then later tonight I'm getting together with my three sisters for dinner - can't wait to see them! :)

Hope you all have a fun and crafty week! :)