Mixed Media Shabby Chic Meets LSG Color Challenge...

Hello again, friends! Blog-worthy projects are happening less than usual lately while I play with a few new (to me) mediums and practice some new (to me) techniques, but now and then I like to take time out to go back to what I know and create something from start to finish.

I love combining a bit of the shabby-chic style with mixed media, and this month, Lindy's Stamp Gang has a beautiful palette of colors in their monthly color challenge. So out came my sprays and the fun started. Here's the finished result...

And here's the color board the card is based on. The fun part is that this color palette lends itself to soft pastel colors, as well as bright sassy colors. I chose a little of both - a little softer with the background, and a little sassier with the flower colors. :)

I created the background paper by spraying 4 colors of Lindy's sprays onto a piece of mixed media paper. For this background, I used Bonjour Butter Flat Fabio, Aloha Avocado Flat Fabio, Queen of Hearts Red Flat Fabio, and Blue Hawaiian Blue Starburst sprays. 

I started randomly spritzing a little of each of the colors around the page, using a small mask to cover part of the page. Then I removed the mask, and filled in the white space left with more of the same colors, but this time, dropping the color in using the wand portion of the sprayer, and spritzing with water to spread them out. Here and there I dabbed excess color off the page with a paper towel, so you can still see some of the original lines from the stencils in parts of the background.

When that was dry, I applied some molding paste through a stencil for some subtle texture...

I added a large floral cluster over some twine and lace strips run vertically down the left side of the front.  I began with the pale yellow flowers, then added the medium blue roses, and finally the bright red lilies - a little potpourri of color intensities ...

The large yellow rose in the center is made using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies-it was a little too bright, so I toned it down with cream colored craft paint to blend with the soft yellow of the lilies...

Supplies:

Color Mediums:   Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays

Stencil:   Prima "flourish"          Dies:   My Favorite Things "Wild Greenery";   Spellbinders "Rose Creations"

Lace:   Tim Holtz idea-ology            Small flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy            Pearls:   Recollections

Miscellaneous:   twine,  Golden molding paste

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week started with a smile!

Shabby All Occasion - Cardabilities #125...

Twice in recent weeks, a peek at the current Cardabilities sketch has been just what I needed to get my mojo working. Today's card is a bright, but shabby, all occasion card based on the current sketch - with one change - I turned the sketch upside down for fun!

Here's the finished card...

and here's the right-side-up current sketch that it's based on :) ...

The flowers in the cluster are all handmade using Spellbinders' Rose Creation dies - only this time, I didn't make them into roses. I used the three smallest dies in the set to color and form "generic" flowers, and used clusters of little pearl stamens in the centers. 

I added white cheesecloth, and cheesecloth dyed to match the orchid purple flowers, to add texture under the flower cluster...

In this detail shot, you can see the teal embossing powder that I scattered along the edge of the doily diecut  - I used the same powder in the left corners of the background paper...

I love embellishing stick pins with pearls and spacers. In this case, a Maya Road leaf pin with my last pink jeweled spacer (now on a hunt to find more of these at a bead store somewhere!) and a couple pearls...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Prima "Zephyr" collection;   Authentique "Cherish" collection

Dies:   Prima "Pineapple Doily";  Spellbinders "Rose Creations";  My Favorite Things "Royal Leaves"

Sweetheart blossoms:   Wild Orchid Crafts             Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Leaf stick pin:   Maya Road             Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy

Embossing powder:   Lindy's Stamp Gang "Tilt a Wheel Teal"           

Miscellaneous:   ""Broken China" and "Seedless Preserves" Distress Inks,  cheesecloth

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Grateful - Cardabilities #124

Hello, again! I was feeling in the mood to make a layered, softly-colored, shabby-chic card, and when I ran across the current sketch at Cardabilities, I knew it was a perfect inspiration that would be so much fun to play with.

Here's the finished card...

(and here's the inspiration sketch...)

This time, for a floral cluster, I used a couple mini gardenias, next to a small lily, and just a couple mini roses, all sitting inside a twine wreath (inspired by all those threads inside the circle on the sketch)...

and atop a chipboard heart and heart circle frame that are inked and coated with clear German glass glitter for a slightly sparkly, sugared look...

The sentiment, perfect for either a thank you card or friendship card, (because I like to leave my options open when I'm not making a card for a specific use at the time) is a Tim Holtz "Big Chat" sticker backed with chipboard for stability...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   My Minds Eye Lost & Found "Heirloom"

Chipboard heart and frame:   Maya Road            Dies:   Sizzix "Flowers Branches & Leaves"

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts              Pearls:   Recollections              Sentiment:   Tim Holtz "Big Chat"

Lace and pearl stem:   local craft store

Miscellaneous:   clear medium German glass glitter,  twine,  Liquitex Ink! acrylic inks - Carbon Black & Titanium White

Thanks for visiting today!

          

Watercolor Blog Hop - You Are Fabulous...

I know what you're thinking...what's she doing here today? :)  Well....Pretty Pink Posh is having a fun...and I mean fun...watercolor blog hop through tomorrow evening, and I had to join in!

If you like watercolor cards, you need to follow that link I just gave you above and take a look at the entries so far. There are already over 300 beautiful cards to feast your eyes on!

Here's my humble addition to the hop...a clean and simple friendship card...

And a few detail shots, starting with the little glittery butterfly in the corner...

And finishing with the glittered heart at the bottom...

Supplies:

Stamps:   Stampendous "Ranunculus Field";   Altenew "Super Script" ("you are")

Color Mediums:   Sakura Koi watercolors;   "Stardust" Stickles

Dies:   Papertrey Ink "Heart Prints";   Technique Tuesday "fabulous"            Punch:   Martha Stewart "3-in-1 Butterfly"

Miscellaneous:   Ranger Distress Glitter  "Rock Candy,"  colored gem,  twine,  cheesecloth

Thanks for visiting - I'll be back tomorrow with a Mixed Media Monday share!

Mixed Media - With Brave Wings Color Challenge...

Hello, again! I know I've been gone more than a week, but I've got a fun Mixed Media Monday canvas to share today with LOTS of photos, so I hope that makes up a bit for my unscheduled absence. :)

At the start of the month I made note of this month's color challenge over at Lindy's Stamp Gang. But then I got distracted by life, and this became a project completed in small bits of time, with many starts and stops, and I lost track of the fact I was following a color board inspiration! Thankfully, when I finished, I realized I still had the ingredients of the color challenge board front and center.

Here's the finished 12 x 12 canvas...there's lot of glittery bling on this one, so I tilted the camera down a bit to capture more of the details and less of the reflection...

And here's the LSG color board with this month's challenge colors - I picked the minty-aqua, fuchsia pink, and golden tan as the three colors I would play with:

You might be able to see by the edges that I started with a piece of vellum with torn edges as the base of everything - gluing the vellum unevenly gave me the horizontal texture lines that I wanted to build into the background - you know I'm a big fan of texture! So it started like this...

A little hint: to "iron" down the vellum creases to make them flat, I turned the canvas over and used my brayer on the back side...

The next step was to apply a coat of white gesso over the vellum and canvas - now you can really see the horizontal creasing...

Then I added crackle paste through a Prima Netting stencil, and more in the upper right corner using the Tim Holtz Speckles stencil (as always, you can click on any of these photo to see it larger and, in this case, see the crackle detailing better)...

And finally to the step where it all comes together - COLOR! :)  The background colors are Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals - Autumn Maple Crimson, Merci Beaucoup Mint, Bonjour Butter darkened with Cafe au Lait and for shading and darkening, Sandra Dee Sepia ...

Once I placed all my larger elements on the canvas and had an idea how the layout was going to look, I stamped a criss-cross stamp with brown ink randomly around the open areas...

Then it was time to start gluing down elements and bling to get to the final finished product. Here are some closeup shots around the canvas, starting with the beautiful fabric and bead Prima butterfly in the upper left corner...

I painted the brick chipboard piece with both the Red Hot Poker Orange and the Autumn Maple Crimson colors so it had a beautiful soft iridescent glow beneath all the beads and flowers and buttons and pearls...

The metal lock piece was gessoed and painted and stained to look old and rustic, so it would blend with the painted chipboard chain...

Under the mulberry rose and metal leaf is a double-layer diecut heart from one of the newer Tim Holtz mixed media dies...

To make the chipboard words stand out from the rest of the embellishments, I first coated the piece with black gesso, then painted it with Aqua Stickles. When that dried, I accented some of the letters with a white Uni Posca paint pen. The final coat was with some of the Merci Beaucoup Mint Magical, to blend it all together and tone down the glitter just a bit...

Love this "hope" charm! I didn't have a chipboard piece that worked beneath the circles...a flourish just didn't look right, but I felt it needed something beneath the embellishments and beads. So I handcut a few strips of chipboard and painted them with the Red Hot Poker Orange Magical. I wanted to mimic the look of the thinner pieces of the circle above it, and the strips were the perfect balance for the embellishments beneath the circles...

And last but not least, the little group of goodies in the lower right corner...painted wooden angel wings, a painted wooden birdcage, a painted urn button, another word stone, and lots of bling and flowers with another little snippet of lace...

Supplies:

Color mediums:   Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals - Cafe au Lait + Bonjour Butter,  Autumn Maple Crimson, Merci Beaucoup Mint, Sandra Dee Sepia

Art mediums:   Liquitex white gesso;  Darice Studio 71 black gesso;  Golden crackle paste;  Aqua Stickles;  Coffee Archival Ink,  Viva Inka Gold metallic paints (rose quartz, hematite, and violet)

Chipboard:  Dusty Attic "Mini Chains";   ScrapFX Wordlets ("with brave wings...");   Blue Fern Studios "Shabby Brick Bits" and "Graduated Circles"

Wood Accents:   Kaisercraft "Wooden Flourishes/Wings";   local craft store (birdcage with bird)

Stencils:   Prima "netting";   Tim Holtz "speckles"            Dies:   Tim Holtz "Scribbles & Splat" (heart)

"Hope" charm, metal door lock, fabric butterfly:   Prima            Metal leaves & corner scrolls:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Stamps:   Unity Stamp Co. "she remained true" and "distressed criss-cross"

Pearls:   Recollections                     Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          

Background vellum:  Tim Holtz "Wallflower" collection

Miscellaneous:   word stones,  seed beads, urn button, spiral clip, cheesecloth, lace pieces

Thanks very much for stopping by for a visit...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

Color Challenge All Occasion...

It's been too long since I participated in a blog challenge, and when I saw this month's color challenge at Lindy's Stamp Gang I knew it was the perfect one to break me out of the "pastel" streak that I've been on with cards lately.

So put on your sunglasses, 'cause today's card is a fully-loaded explosion of color! :)

Here's the beautiful colorboard that got me inspired and ready to break out of my pastel mood...

I was in the mood to play and create my own background paper, so I began with a piece of mixed media paper, and pulled out my LSG Magicals. I used Pink Ladies Pink and Summer Lovin' Sun from the Beauty School Dropout set, and Tilt-a-Wheel Teal from the Under the Boardwalk set to watercolor the three colors onto the paper (you can see I played with adding sea salt to the paints while they were wet for a fun texture, but it was covered with stenciled modeling paste in the end)...

Then I added some modeling paste through a stencil for a pretty overall pattern...

And that's when I thought it was still too pastel-y (a made-up word, I know, but you know what I mean, right?), so I went back with more of the Magicals and deepened the colors to the intensity I was looking for...

I backed this piece with cream, purple and blue solid papers before adding them to the card base...I wanted to play with shabby-ing up the edges and wanted color there, too. Then it was time to add embellishments, and I decided to keep all the embellishments neutral except for a center flower and a few tiny touches of dyed cheesecloth peeking out here and there.

Here are some detail photos...

This center flower is made using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies, cut from white cardstock colored with Lindy's Stamp Gang Sprays - Sweet Violet Purple Teal and Tea Pot Purple.  I had a couple pretty aqua Prima leaves in my stash, so I dipped the edges in some of the Sweet Violet Purple Teal sprayed onto my craft sheet...you can really see both the teal and purple on these leaf edges!

The frame nestled down under the flowers is made with white air-dry clay and a Martha Stewart silicone mold. Once the clay dried and cured (overnight), it was colored with Hematite and Old Silver Inka Gold metal paints...

Supplies:

Color Mediums:  Lindys Stamp Gang Magicals:  Pink Ladies Pink,  Summer Lovin' Sun,  Tilt-a-Wheel Teal

Lindys Stamp Gang sprays:  Tea Pot Purple,  Sweet Violet Purple Teal

Dies:   Spellbinders "Rose Creations";  Sizzix "Flowers Branches & Leaves";   Cottage Cutz  "Tea Time Doily"

Stencil:   Prima "Flourish"            Frame:   Martha Stewart (silicone mold)            Leaves:   Prima

Small Cream Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts            Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy            

Pearls:   Recollections            Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com            

Miscellaneous:   air dry clay,   Viva Inka Gold metal paints,   twine,   cheesecloth,   Golden modeling paste

Thanks for visiting today!