Happy Birthday

Today I'm sharing a vintage style birthday card made using punches, patterned paper, vintage book pages,  and rubber stamps.  The layout of this card is a personal favorite, because it lends itself to so many different looks; change the floral paper to a more industrial or masculine print, and you have a birthday card for the man in your life.  Change out the ribbon for burlap trim, antique lace, or silk ribbon for a totally different look.

I created the card by layering the different papers, then stamping on both the background and the book page for a different effect.  I also stamped with my stitching stamp on the floral paper; I don't sew, so this stamp is perfect for me!  The checked border is washi tape.  

Thanks for visiting!  

This card is entered in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog Challenge Happy Birthday.

Mixed Media Heart

Hello and thanks for stopping by!  Today's post is a book that I bought from the dollar section at Target and then altered.  I have had the book for quite some time; I tend to buy "blank" items, intending to alter them, and then feel intimidated by the process!

This book was made of a stiff cardboard, so it was simple to cover with gesso in preparation for painting.  After the gesso dried, I used a base coat of sky blue acrylic paint, later sponging in sections with metallic blue acrylic.  Using a heat gun to speed up the process, I dried the base coat so I could use a stencil on 2 of the corners.  Finally I sponged metallic copper acrylic around the edges and the metal parts of the book to add a vintage look.

The heart was created using buttons and flower beads from my stash.  I chose the buttons based on their shape and size; color didn't matter in this project since I was painting over the entire thing.  (mental note here....don't throw out ugly colored buttons!!!)  After gluing the buttons and beads into the heart shape, I covered the whole thing with gesso so it would accept the acrylic paint later.

I added torn pieces of vintage sheet music to the corners of the piece before sponging on a variety of blue, copper, and moss green metallic paints.  I hunt for vintage sheet music books at church rummage sales or estate sales; you can also find them at library bookstores.

The butterfly is from a piece of art paper a friend was getting rid of; I backed it with black cardstock to give it some strength and added black rhinestones.

This post is entered in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Get in Shape and A Vintage Journey's Challenge: All Squared Up

Thanks for visiting!  I welcome your comments!

Vintage Beauty

Hello and thanks for stopping by!  I'm so excited about this technique I'm showcasing today, it is really fun to do and leaves room for lots of creative possibilities.  The backgrounds for both of these below are from napkins.  Be sure and separate the layers of the napkins before adhering to your paper!  Most napkins have at least 2-3 layers, and if you don't separate them, the top layer will peel off while you are working on your piece.

After your napkin layer has dried (which you can speed up with a heat gun or hairdryer), your image comes next.  You can either cut out a face from a magazine page and glue it to your piece, or you can print out faces from your computer...this leads to all kinds of possibilities, from printing a face of a friend or family member, a famous singer or celebrity, or, as I have done, using actresses from the 1940's and 50's.  I confess I don't remember who this actress is, if you recognize her, let me know!  

                                                   After gluing down your face image, it's time to gesso a bit.  I used gesso around her face and her shirt.  Next I painted her face, hair, and shirt. Honestly I pretended to be a make up artist while painting her face!    I added the bottom banner using stickers and patterned paper.     Her hair is accented with clip art (butterfly and flowers) as well as faux flowers.             

Do you recognize this actress?  I completed this piece in pretty much the same way as the other, except I added trim to her sweater and used a stencil on her sweater to add a bit of depth.  

I hope you try this technique if you haven't already.  It was lots of fun and opens the door to using a variety of mediums.  As always, I'd love to hear your comments!  Thanks for visiting!

                                                              

Quick and Easy Card

Hello and welcome!  My card today features a stamp from Sin City Stamps.  A friend of mine, Michelle Frae Cummings, is the inspiration design team leader there and has her own blog as well, Faerie Dust Dreams.  I really like this stamp because of it's simple design.  It's great for making a bunch of quick cards in one sitting.  If you visit Sin City, be sure and check out some of their other stamp designs; there is another dandelion stamp designed by Michelle that is great for backgrounds!

Celebrate Freedom!

Today's post is a journal page I created for my son's favorite holiday, Independence Day.  First I stamped stars along the right edge of the page.  Then I stamped "freedom" and some stars on torn white tissue paper and adhered them to the piece.  I wanted to blur the edges of the tissue after it dried, so I painted blue and red acrylic paint along the edges of the tissue paper.  I used a star stencil with silver Inka Gold to add more dimension, and adhered some blue metallic stars as well. The red polka dots are washi tape.   Let freedom ring!

Romantic Journal

I haven't posted in quite awhile due to taking on a new full time teaching position teaching transitional kindergarten!  Needless to say, the job has required quite a bit of time and energy, leaving me less time to do anything creative in my studio.  Finally I feel like I have a handle on things and can get back to doing something else that I love.

I recently joined an art journal club so I can get inspired and continue on my mixed media journey.  These journal pages were inspired by the word "love." The backgrounds were made using my Gelli plate and a mix of circle stencils and bubble wrap.  I take my journal pages out of the journal to work on them, then adhere them back in the journal when I'm finished.  (then if they don't turn out like I'd like, I can start over easily!)

The floral images along the sides of the journal are napkins.  I love using printed napkins on artwork; there are so many beautiful patterns to choose from.  Just be sure and take off the extra layers (usually 2 or 3) before adhering with modge podge or glue.

The rest of the piece has a variety of items, including washi tapes, vintage sheet music, stamps, patterned paper, and fabric trim.  The "26" refers to the number of years I have been married to my wonderfully understanding husband who is very supportive of my hobby!

Thanks as always for visiting!  Please feel free to comment!  

Make a House a Home

My friend Michelle from Faerie Dust Dreams was recently cleaning out her studio and gave me a bunch of her stash...what a great friend!  You know what they say about one woman's trash being another woman's treasure...  Some of the items were small wood blocks, which I decided to make into little houses.  I started by painting each one with acrylic paint, then accenting with Inka Gold.  Each house is a little different, with either stamping or rub-ons to decorate.   The roof of each house was just a strip of thin cardboard, folded and painted, then embellished with stamping, rub-ons, or punched shapes.

I made a door for each house using thin cardboard (cereal boxes are great for this) then painting with acrylic paint.  The door "handles" are brads and each door is accented with Inka Gold.  Inka Gold is a thick metallic paste/paint that comes in a variety of colors...I use gold and silver the most, but I also have a beautiful lime green, bright metallic blue, and copper. You can apply it with a brush, but I usually use my finger.




The green house door has a heart cut out of the same paper I used to make the crown.  I realized later I should have paid more attention to the words on the heart.  I have no idea what those words are!  Next time I'll cut out the heart so you can actually read a word on it.

Each crown was made out of paper and then accented with Inka Gold and little jewels.  A big dollop of clear glue holds the crowns in place.

After quite a bit of trial and error, I'm finally getting better at taking photos, especially close-ups.  Taking photos was one of the reasons I put off creating a blog for so long.  The technical part of the blog (uploading photos, editing photos, posting, managing) was another reason I put off the blog.  I wanted to share my art, not fuss with my computer!  Again, through some mistakes and lots of practice (and asking my daughter for help, you should see her roll her eyes...) things seem to be coming along nicely.

Thanks as always for stopping by!

Materials:

*wood blocks

*acrylic paint 

*Inka Gold 

*thin cardboard

*brads, stick on jewels

*rubber stamps, rub-ons

*patterned paper for crowns

Altered Treasure Book

Hello and thanks for visiting!  My project today is inspired by my love of old books.  I love the story of Robin Hood and his romance with Maid Marian; one time in college my boyfriend and I dressed as the romantic couple. The author, Howard Pyle, wrote many adventure books for children.   In this book I created a secret compartment to keep a special stash of money (or chocolate!)  away from prying eyes.

I started by deciding how deep I wanted my secret compartment to be.  (I actually could have made it even deeper than I did)  Then I glued the sides of the book pages together with Modge Podge (or you can use slightly watered down white glue).  I put another heavier book on top of this section while it dried overnight.  

I used an exacto knife to cut out the secret compartment.  If you use a ruler with a metal edge, it helps you cut more evenly.  After your compartment is as deep as you'd like, you'll need to Modge Podge the edges and let them dry (just like the outside of the book).

Now the real fun begins!  I covered the entire surface with Vintage Distress Collage Medium and let dry briefly, before painting on some Distress Ink Stain in butterscotch.  I just took off the spray lid and dipped a small paintbrush in the ink to apply it.  I colored in Robin with colored pencils, then added the dictionary word (it says "treasure").  

The die was cut from brown cardstock and inked with Distress Ink in forest moss and accented with Inka Gold.  I sprinkled a bit of bronze glitter while it was still wet.  The "FOUND" was a rub on that I adhered to the printed chipboard, then spritzed with Distress Spray Stain in fossilized amber to add more dimension.  

This would make a fun and unique gift for someone, along with some cash, a gift card, or some dark chocolate tucked inside!

Materials:

Modge Podge in matte

Die'sire Die "Victoriana"

Vintage Distress Collage Medium

Prima chipboard

"Found" rub on by Tim Holtz Idea-ology

Distress Stain: butterscotch

Distress Stain: fossilized amber

Distress Stain: forest moss

vintage measuring tape

dictionary page

This project is entered in Frilly and Funkie's Challenge: Author, Author!

Happy!

 Happy First Week of Fall!  Although it doesn't feel like fall this week in Southern California (it will be in the 90's all week), I'm in the mood for fall colors, soup, and pumpkin bread!

For now, working with fall colors will have to do.  I first created the background of this card on a large piece of neutral patterned cardstock.  I was inspired by Jenny over at Frilly and Funkie and the amazing technique she shared.

After the background dried, I used my circle stencil randomly on the card, as well as stamping my "stitches" stamp along one edge.  I love that stamp because I hate to sew!

The butterfly is a 3 dimensional sticker I picked up at a dollar store!    I layered it with patterned paper, a die cut scalloped circle, and a clear acetate design piece.

The "happy" is made from stickers, and the black background piece is accented with Inka Gold (I just wipe it on with my finger).  Some polka dot washi tape finishes the piece.


I'm also "happy" (sense a theme?) with the next card I made.  It begins with the same background as the butterfly card.

I used my Tim Holtz stencil with some texture paste along the side of this card.  After drying I used the same alcohol inks to add color to the dried paste.  When I added the brown paper doily, it just needed something else...does that ever happen to you?  So I stamped the flower AFTER I had already glued it to the card...does that ever happen to you?  Luckily it stamped perfectly.

The ribbon is actually seam binding, which you can get for next to nothing online.  I bought some "ugly" colors one time that were on sale,  then just inked the ribbon to the desired color. You can directly apply a dye ink pad on both sides of the ribbon to color it.   The jewel is from a child's play ring which I have literally had forever, glad I saved it because it really works on this card!  I rubbed a bit of black ink on it to age it a bit. Thanks as always for visiting!


Materials:

*neutral patterned cardstock
*Ranger Texture Paste
*Adirondack Alcohol Inks in cranberry, citrus, and butterscotch (yum!)
*Inka Gold
*stamps: stitches, Happy Life, and flower
*letter stickers
*seam binding, faux jewel
*polka dot washi tape
*brown paper doily


The butterfly card is entered in the Frilly and Funkie Going Around in Circles Challenge.

Holiday Frame It!

Hello everyone and thanks for visiting!  As a new blogger, I get excited when I check to see how many crafters visited my blog.  I always appreciate your comments as well, it means so much to me!

Now on to today's post.  I know it's only September, but the holidays are coming!  I created this Christmas decoration using a frame that was on clearance at Michael's...just the word "clearance" makes me happy!

I started with the frame: after painting, I used a stencil and texture paste to create some dimension.  I used alcohol inks with a felt pad to apply color.  I love using vintage (or vintage looking!) sheet music on projects.  The holly berries and greenery are cut from Christmas napkins and applied with Modge Podge.  I used Inka Gold in gold and silver to add some aging to the corners of the frame.

The girl is a free image from Maggie Holmes Design. Isn't she sweet?  I printed her on regular copy paper, then backed her with several layers of cardstock to make her more sturdy.  It's difficult to see, but I added Wink of Stella glitter to give her some sparkle.


The tree was created by making a paper cone out of thin cardboard.  I covered it with "vintage" sheet music and painted it using Twinkling H2O's.  I also accented it with jewels and Inka Gold. I was going to use a mini fake tree and either bleach it and dye it some fun color, but every time I put the tree in place it didn't feel right.  I had some paper mache cones I bought last year at Hobby Lobby on clearance (there is my favorite word again!), but the cone had too wide of a base to fit.  So...when you don't have what you need, you make it yourself!

Materials:

*wood frame (I bought mine on clearance at Michael's)
*red & white acrylic paint
*texture paste
*green & red alcohol inks
*holiday napkins
*vintage sheet music
*thin cardboard to make tree (cereal boxes work great for this)
*faux jewels
*Inka Gold in gold and silver
*Twinkling H2O's in green
*Wink of Stella glitter pen
*vintage print out of holiday girl
*stickers for "merry" banner
*circle stamp Tim Holtz
*blue ink

This is entered in A Vintage Journey's Create Within A Frame Challenge

Vintage Garden

Welcome!   Today I'm sharing a project I created with a  Maya Road chipboard house.  I started by base coating the house with blue paint, then dry brushing with white paint here and there.  Next I created some texture with Ranger's Texture Paste.  This was done with a flower stencil which I placed on the corner and side of the house, then using an old plastic club card (one of those cards that rack up points when you use it at that store) to smear on the paste and scrape away the excess.  After this dried, I applied alcohol inks in blue and green to a piece of felt, then dabbed the inks both on the raised flowers and the edges of the house.  

The flowers were from a purchase at Fabric Barn in Long Beach, California.  If you are ever in the area, you have to stop by this place.  It is a deeply discounted craft supply that has literally tons of ribbons and trims, floral items, and party supplies.  Honestly they don't carry much fabric!  Anyway, the flowers were white, so I sprayed them with Perfect Pearls in turquoise and green, then sprinkled on Tumbled Glass Distress Glitter before they dried.

      I wanted a garden theme, but I didn't have a gate die or stamp, so I made a gate out of vintage measuring tape I picked up at a local flea market.  I backed each piece with thin cardboard strips to give it more stability, then sponged on brown ink on the edges.  (I think I splattered some blue in on it accidentally, but it just adds to the vintage look)

I embellished with punched vines, a garden hinge, flower jewels, and the word stickers.  

The photo of the 3 women is one I copied from an actual photo I bought at a flea market.  I chalked the women, then used a Wink of Stella glitter pen to add some sparkle.

                                                                                     

Materials:  

*Ranger Texture Paste

*Adirondack Alcohol Inks in Sail Boat Blue and Citrus    

*light blue and white acrylic paint

*flowers

*Perfect Pearls in blue and green

*Inka Gold 

*flower stencil

*chalks

*Wink of Stella

*Big Chat stickers (word stickers)

*vintage book page, vintage measuring tape

*Distress Glitter in Tumbled Glass

*swirl punch, Tim Holtz hinge die

This Vintage Garden post will be entered in the Anything But Cute Mixed Media Challenge "Shabby Garden Mood Board"  and A Vintage Journey's "Stencil it" Challenge

Upcycled Journal

The other day I went to JC Penny because they were having a great sale with an even greater coupon which I couldn't pass up.  As I entered the store, the employees were handing out little spiral notebooks with the coupons inside.  Free stuff to alter, whoo hoo!

I think they are promoting their new "dollar" section, similar to Target and Michaels.   Anyway,  I used the coupon for a good deal, then thought about how to change out the cover of the notebook.

The cover is made out of that plastic poly vinyl type of flexible material that is difficult to glue anything to unless you prep the surface first.  I applied a coat of gesso so I could then add something and have it stick.

I decided to use some patterned paper that had the same type of colors as the front cover so I wouldn't have to worry about the edge with the spiral binding.  I put the notebook face down on the patterned paper and traced around it, then cut it out and adhered it to the front.

I have a TON of chipboard numbers and letters, so I decided to paint some numbers with acrylic paint.  After drying I added more contrasting paint to each number with a small circle stencil.  I edged the numbers, background black panel, and notebook with Inka Gold in metallic green.  The word at the bottom is a rub on by Tim Holtz.  Although you can't see it well in the photo, I sprayed the entire thing with metallic lime ink spray to finish it.

Materials:

*spiral notebook (even if you don't get one for free, there are really inexpensive ones available right now for back to school)
*chipboard numbers or letters
*acrylic paints in green, orange, and red
*Inka Gold in metallic green
*metallic green ink spray
*rub on

This post is entered in the Things to Alter Challenge: Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting!

Monochromatic Texture

Hello!

Today's post is about using different textures to create interest using a monochromatic color scheme.  What is so funny is I didn't even think I liked yellow!  I often use yellow as a highlight color on a card, but generally NOT as the only color.  I was looking through to see what kind of ink sprays I had and it turned out I had a lot of different shades of yellow.  I wanted to do all one color, but using different values of that color.

I started with a flat piece of canvas on which I used texture paste and a circle stencil to create some raised texture (upper right corner).  This dried overnight.  I then stamped the vintage looking girls on thin copy paper so I could easily decoupage it onto the canvas (glue it on the front and glue on the back of the image as well).  This happens to be one of my all time favorite stamps!  (I really like photo stamps)

  I then glued on the flowers, pearls, and buttons.  After this dried, I added color using a variety of ink sprays, Inka Gold, and markers.  I also sprayed the flowers and added Twinkling H2O's to the rest of the piece.  While it was still wet I sprinkled on chunky gold glitter.

After everything dried I added some daisy stickers and a small piece of vintage measuring tape I picked up at a local flea market.  I embellished with a bit more ink spray here and there to finish.

Materials:

*4x6 flat canvas
*texture paste & circle stencil (or any stencil design you like)
*photo stamp
*spray ink, Inka Gold, markers, Twinkling H2O's, gold glitter
*flowers, buttons, pearls, stickers, measuring tape

This post is entered into two online challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog  (Add Some Texture Challenge)
A Vintage Journey      (Monochromatic Challenge)

Thanks for visiting!

Nautical and By the Sea Challenge

One of the main reasons I started this blog was to challenge and grow myself as an artist.  So, although I don't think this will be the norm, I am doing two posts today for two different blog challenges!

This post is for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog.  I recently attended our local stamp convention in Carson, California.  I'm always looking for photo stamps, and I fell in love with this abandoned boat stamp as soon as I saw it.  My grandfather was a wooden boat builder in Maine, and I spent a lot of time on boats during my summers growing up.

I stamped the boat in black ink on white cardstock, then colored it in using a combination of chalks (for a softer look) and colored pencils.  To create a greater depth of color, I used Twinkling H2O's on the boat, water, and sky.  Twinkling H2O's are little pots of color with a shine to them when applied to your work.  I used Inka Gold in metallic blue to finish off the edges of both the front panel as well as the back panel.  The back panel is stamped in brown ink using a script stamp from Stampin Up.

I knew I wanted to add a word but couldn't come up with a word that felt right.  Finally I decided on "hello," which is the same stamped word on the other post I did today.  These are letter "tile" stickers that I edged with brown ink before applying to the card.

I guess that as well as learning how to post on a blog, I'm going to have to learn how to take better photos!  I took this photo of the 3 fish I don't know how many times and just couldn't seem to get a clean image.  My fish are edged with both Twinkling H2O's as well as blue metallic Inka Gold.

Materials:

*boat stamp, script stamp, fish stamp
*black and brown ink pads
*metallic blue Inka Gold
*twine, embroidery thread for tying fish
*Twinkling H2O's in blue
*chalks
*letter tile stickers

Thank you for visiting!

All Lined Up

Hello!  I'm sharing a card today that I made using one of my favorite tools, my Gelli Plate!  The Gelli Plate is a flexible base for creating prints to use in card making or other mixed media art.  I started by squirting a dime size drop of metallic green, yellow, and blue paint on the surface of the plate, then spreading it to each edge using a brayer.  It doesn't matter if the paint mixes, in fact, you want it to!  After I spread the paint, I gently pressed a honeycomb stencil into the paint to make an impression. After removing the stencil,  I pressed white matte cardstock into the paint and smoothed over the surface before pulling off the paper.  One of the best aspects about using a Gelli Plate is the surprise after you pull off the paper; you never know exactly how it is going to turn out.

After the print dried, I stamped a ruler stamp in black ink on top of the print. Sometimes the ink takes a bit of time to dry; you can speed up the process by using a heat gun. I edged the card with metallic blue Inka Gold.  I usually finish the edges of my cards with either a metallic paint pen, Inka Gold, or just a sponge and some dye ink.   The flowers were embellished with gel medium with little glass beads to give them a bit of dimension, then spritzed with blue and green inks.  The center of the flowers have mini brads.

Materials:

*Gelli Plate
*blue, yellow, green acrylic paints
*ruler background stamp
*hello stamp
*flowers (either purchased or die cut/punched)
*bead gel medium
*Inka Gold in metallic blue
*brads


This card was created to be part of the Frilly and Funky Blog Challenge "All Lined Up."  I love using ruler stamps and have several in my collection.

Frilly and Funky Challenge

My post today is for my very first blog challenge for the Frilly and Funky Challenge Blog! To answer the challenge theme of "All in the Family," I created an upcycled photo display using a wood plaque that was on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  I LOVE turning trash to treasure!

 I tore off the damaged script and painted the entire piece with a base coat of gesso.  Then I used a coat of blue acrylic paint; after that dried I dry brushed brown acrylic paint, allowing some of the blue to show through.  A heat gun helped everything to dry a bit more quickly (for those of us that are impatient).  I adhered some torn pages from an old book, but they honestly don't show much after I put everything else together.  

The background patterned papers were edged with brown ink and a bit of Inka Gold before adhering to the wood.  The flower is made with die cut book pages, edged with ink and glittered using a Wink of Stella glitter pen. I love those pens because they add just a touch of glitter and really let you control the amount you use on a project.   I copied the photo on regular copy paper, then colored it a bit using chalks; I love the soft "colorized" kind of look it gives.  

This photo was taken in the late 1940's; the little girl on the left was my mother, then my grandfather; the taller girl was my aunt.  This photo is special to me as it shows family although no longer with me, they are still alive in my memories.   

Materials used:

*wood plaque (or a plain wood frame)

*gesso (if prepping the surface is needed)

*brown & blue acrylic paint

*Inka Gold (or a gold paint pen would work)

*patterned paper

*letter tiles (mine were stickers)

*lace/trim

*flower die

*book pages

*pearl brad, pearl trim

Today I'm posting some paper crowns that were published in Green Craft Magazine last year.  They are "green" because they have been upcycled from *ahem* toilet paper tubes that I cut into crowns.  I suppose you could easily use paper towel tubes or even just create your own crown out of cardstock. I had fun painting them with metallic paints, then using metallic paint markers or Inka Gold (comes in a variety of colors, not just gold) on the edges.  The floral crown is made by decoupaging (a fancy way to say "gluing") a paper napkin to the crown, then trimming off the excess after it dries.  I used a variety of trims, washi tape, and faux pearls/diamonds as embellishments.  These would be fun to give in lieu of a birthday card or to use as place settings at a party.  

Materials:

paper tubes
metallic paint
Inka Gold (gold, silver, & copper)
dream stamp
washi tape (on middle and far right crown)
floral napkin
trims, pearls, diamonds

     My first post is about transforming an everyday, inexpensive item into something you could give as a gift that is cute and practical!  These are composition books that are often on sale for pennies during the back to school shopping craze (that often begins after the 4th of July, let's be honest). I love sales almost as much as I love paper crafting; I tend to stock up on these types of items and then transform them into something more fun.  

Supplies used:

*washi tape
*star ribbon
*rubber stamps ("hello" and telephone)
*designer chipboard ("wonderful" and fairy)
*stickers ("dream" letters)
*patterned paper 
                             
1. I usually lay the composition book on top of my piece of patterned paper, trace it,  then cut it out. Adhere with your glue preference.

2. Add any trim along the spine of your book, I like washi tape or ribbon, but you could use strips of patterned paper as well.

3. Add any embellishments you wish...have fun!