When the party's over

Hi there!  Today I would like to share with you a journal page that I created this morning!  I started last night, and I ruined the page because I didn't let my inks dry completely.  So, I started fresh this morning, and it just took on a new and exciting look!  I'm glad I messed up last night!  :D

One of the current trends is dripping on your canvases, scrapbook pages and journals.  I had yet to try this, and thought that it would be cool here.  When I sprayed all of the different colors initially, I thought that this could be a fun birthday themed page.  Then, I did the dripping thing, and thought about when the party is over.  You're a little sad when everyone leaves after having such a great time!  Well, I always feel this way!  LOL!

Here's how I made the page:
1.  Prep your page w/ Matte Medium, and let it dry completely. 
2.  W/ several different ink sprays, spray a background, and before it dries, tilt your page up so that the colors drip.
3.  Dry everything and spray a sealant so that the colors don't rub off as you're working.  Let dry.
4.  Taking black gesso and the Mini Tiny Circles stencil, apply in a random pattern on your page.
5.  W/ my party decorations in the top L corner, I used Park Avenue Patterns from SU! w/ Onyx Black ink.  I went back in w/ a silver gel pen to add contrast.
6.  I flipped over my Mini Numbers Collage stencil and sprayed it w/ Black Marble Dylusions Spray.  Then, I pressed it randomly on the page.  This represents that this is a birthday celebration.
7.  I stamped several balloons (ingredients below), and adhered them so it looks like they have lost air and are just dragging by this point. 
8.  I stamped the girl, and paper pieced her.  Colored her w/ copics, and adhered her to the page and that's it!

Ingredients:
Paper: Melissa Frances Hope Chest; white c/s
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Memento Black, black gesso
       Orange balloon: 1. Canteloupe, 2. Tangelo, 3. Potter's Clay, 4. Morocco  (all Memento)
       Yellow balloon: 1. Squeezed Lemonade (T.H. Distress Ink), 2. Dandelion (Memento), 3. Canteloupe 
                                 (Memento), 4. Mustard Seed (T.H. Distress Ink)
        Purple balloon: 1. Lulu Lavender, 2. Grape Jelly, 3. Elderberry (all Memento), 4. Imperial Purple 
                                 (Versafine)
        Blue balloon: 1. Summer Sky, 2. Danube Blue, 3. Majestic Blue (s.o.), 4. Paris Dusk (all Memento)
        Red balloon: 1. Worn Lipstick, 2. Festive Berries, 3. Barn Door, 4. Fired Brick (all T.H. Distress Ink)
        Pink balloon: 1. Spun Sugar (T.H. Distress Ink), 2. Angel Pink (2 x's) (Memento), 3. Picked
                                 Raspberry (T.H. Distress Ink), 4. Rose Bud (Memento)
         Green balloon: 1. Bundled Sage (T.H. Distress Ink), 2. Cottage Ivy (Memento), 3. Mowed Lawn,
                                 4. Pine Needles (both T.H. Distress Ink)

         Sprays used: Dirty Martini, London Blue, Bubblegum Pink, Pure Sunshine, Squeezed Orange, After
                              Midnight, Black Marble & Cherry Pie (all Dylusions sprays)

Copics used: E00 (face/skin); T1 & W-5 (skirt); Y32, E37, E57, & E49 (in that order) (hair)
Stamps:  Riley (Prima); Bunch O' Balloons (Kitchen Sink Stamps); Park Avenue Patterns (SU!)

Here are the links to the products that I used:
Dylusions Ink Sprays - eclecticPaperie
T.H. Distress inks - eclecticPaperie
Riley stamp - eclecticPaperie
Bunch O' Balloons - Kitchen Sink Stamps
Memento Inks (various sizes) - Kitchen Sink Stamps
Versafine Inks - Kitchen Sink Stamps

Have a terrific day!

Visiting Monticello

Hi there!  Wanted to share a scrapbook page that I made for a Swirlydoos challenge!  This one was by VickyA, using 2 new techniques that you've never used before!  This one page took about a week and a half to complete!  I had taken a Claudine Hellmuth class all about techniques, and one really grabbed me.  She created a crackle technique, but used Elmer's Glue and acrylic paint to create the crackle effect!  I couldn't wait to try it!  The other technique that I used, I came up w/ on my own.  I have never sprayed ink on a stencil, and then used it as a stamp.  So, those are my techniques!

You can see the leaf stencil in the background.  The crackle technique is on the circle behind the pictures. 

Ingredients used:
Paper: Splash of Color Cotswolds Coll.; Core'dinations c/s, white c/s
Ink:  Dirty Martini Dylusions spray; Faber-Castell artist pen (to outline all of the leaves); acrylic glaze; Barn Door & Iced Spruce Distress Inks (Ranger)
Embellishments: Prima tiles, Prima packaging as backgrounds for pics; Prima Decorative Wood Embellishment; Prima Vintage Trinkets; corner rounder; Climbing Vines stencil (TCW); PTI Turning A New Leaf die

Thanks for stopping by!  It's a sunny day here!  I hope there's sun wherever you are!

Altered Paint Brush!

Hello there!  Today I would like to share with you an altered challenge!  Alter a paint brush!!!  FUN!  Let me tell you!  I SO enjoyed this challenge that our wonderful team member Tracy chose for us!  Here's an excerpt from the eP blog!

Hello everyone, Tracy here today and I am soooo excited to be hosting the eTeam Picks Challenge this month. After much scratching of my head along with oohing and aaahing . . .  the theme I have chosen for you all is - Get your mixed media on with a Paintbrush as your focal point.

Make sure you go to the eP blog and check out the challenge!  All of the rules are listed there!

I decided to use my new Steampunk Spells paper by Graphic45!  I LOVE this stack!  I am going to have to order more before Halloween's over for sure!!!!  I made a Halloween decoration for my house w/ the paint brush!  Normally I have start to finish pictures, but I was in a zone, so I completely forgot to take pictures!  It was a messy adventure with Gel Medium!  That's all I've got to say!  LOL!

So, here is my paint brush as a whole.  I had SO much fun altering this!  

Here's the top (handle).  I added a chain that I threaded through several times to create different lengths.  I cut out a clock, and I used a square clock embellishment from my stash.  The skeleton was in the G45 stack, and I cut it out and sponged around the edges.  The frame was white, then I painted it w/ black Gesso, and then wiped some of it off w/ a baby wipe.  The nice thing about those is that if you wipe too much gesso off, just keep dabbing and you'll get a marble effect!  I sprayed it to seal it so that the paint doesn't wipe off.

And here the closeup of the bottom of the brush.  The bottles are from Tim Holtz.  The red one signifies hearts (cinnamon cookie decorations) and the white one has Gel Medium in it w/ pearls to signify eyeballs in goo.  I thought the gel medium would clear up, but it's staying white.  Darn it! 

The double double.... is cut from the G45 stack.  I discolored it w/ Wild Honey and Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The bat is a cut out from the G45 stack as well.  The stick was found in my backyard and I sprayed it black.  The flowers are Heidi Swapp and the come uncolored.  I sprayed them w/ Lemon Zest, Dirty Martini & Black Marble Dylusions sprays.  Once dried, I sponged the edges of the petals w/ Black Soot Distress Ink.
The spiderweb was created free hand using String Gel from Liquitex.

That's it!  I hope that you like what you have seen today, and that I have inspired you to find an old paint brush and bring it back to life!  A new life that you would be proud to hang on your wall or door knob!

Have a lovely day!

Smile

Hello!  Today I am sharing a scrapbook page that I created for a Swirlydoos challenge that is now open to the general public!  In the past, it's only been open to kit subscribers.  Why wouldn't you want to be a kit subscriber anyway, though?!  The kits are jam packed with gorgeous papers, amazing embellishments and fabulous inks, stamps, and other goodies!  How are you passing this up each month???!!!

Ok, back to the subject at hand!  In each kit, there is a piece of paper that has the month's sketch listed on it.  That is only one of many challenges on the forum that you can participate in.  I have never really made it my mission to do the sketch challenge until yesterday.  I just always said to myself that I would do it "later" or "another time".  Well, 2 years later, this is the first one I'm participating in!  I think I've waited long enough!  HELLO!

This month's kit is chock full of beautiful papers from IOD and Bo Bunny!  I just want to hoard these papers forever!  Pinks, ivory and green is the color scheme, with some blue tossed in. 
I pulled a bunch of embellishments and chose my paper and picture and got started!  Here's the finished product!

Here are some closeups:

Here are the ingredients for creating this page:
Paper:  IOD Paper - Costwold Manor Coll.; Purely Pomegranate c/s; Old Olive c/s
Ink: Old Olive (SU!); Pistachio (Memento); Peeled Paint (Ranger Distress); Olive Grove (Memento); Northern Pine (Memento); Frost White (Color Box)
Embellishments: white Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen; Petaloo Darjeeling Pink Wild Blossoms; Petaloo
        Textured Moss Green elements; fence from this month's kit; Plum, Lush and a green Kaisercraft Pearls;
        assorted rub-ons; burlap strip (from a previous kit); Kitchen Sink Stamps Ivy; Kitchen Sink Stamps
        Letters From the Past; swirly stencil (TCW); Shabby Chic Prima resin corners; swirl punch; Matte
        Medium for picture - this is cool!  It makes it look kind of instagramish!

Have a lovely day!

Spray Paint Art......kind of!

Hi there!  I have been enamored with spray paint art!  It is SO interesting how they can layer colors, and come out with something absolutely amazing!  Take a look at this video and see what I mean!

So, I know that I don't have spray paints in my arsenal.  I'm shocked too!  LOL!  But, I have a bunch of Dylusions Ink Sprays, so I put them to work!

I created a page in my art journal.  First I prepared the page w/ Iridescent Medium by Liquitex (you can find it at Mike's) and let it dry.  Then I started spraying!  I first used Bubblegum Pink and Vibrant Turquiose.  Then, I put some lids on the page to create circles and kept spraying w/ Crushed Grape, Pure Sunshine, Dirty Martini and I added splashes of White Linen.

I sprayed some Heidi Swapp Tinsel Color Shine just to see how well it would show up.  Eh, not so much.  Bummer!  Then, I took my Faber-Castell Big Brush White Pen and drew around the circle to make it look more 3-D.  I sprayed some more White Linen, but there's something special about spray paint that lets you create 3-D images in crystal clear perfection!  But, if you're just going for blended and bleeding, then, buddy, I have achieved it!  Haha!

You can get the entire collection of Dylusions Ink Sprays by Ranger at eclecticPaperie!  Stop by today!
Have a super weekend!!!

Family Game Time

Hi there!  Today I am sharing my project for eclectic Paperie's Get Altered Challenge!  Here's the deets:

The Get Altered Challenge is held on the first Thursday of each month and each challenge is an opportunity for you to be inspired by one of our eTeam’s creations. Today it's Bonnie's turn to host the challenge and we would love to see you incorporate games in your project. You can use game pieces, game cards, or even use a game board as your substrate, like we did.


What a fun challenge this was!  I looked through my house for games w/ lost pieces, or forgotten games altogether.  Not that we have a lot!  And the games that we have, my kids are still at the playing age, so we have things pretty organized, and no pieces lost.  Bummer for me!  Until I looked under the couch!  Jackpot!  We LOVE to play Disney's Scene It and Scene It 2.  However, we don't play the right way.  We just play the dvd portion of the game!  Not that we don't like boardgames, but we just like to play the dvd part better!  Plus, when I first opened the box, I didn't realize how the boardgame opened, and I broke one of the boards.  So, it was already compromised!

I took the box out, and took everything except the dvd's and went back to my craft room!  A page started to emerge as I laid things out.  Now all I needed were pictures!  I told my kids to get dressed, as they were still in their pajamas!  We are LAZY this summer!  ;D  I put the dvd in and once the game started, began taking pics of the kids answering the questions.  I couldn't leave them once I was satisfied w/ my pics!  So, I sat down and played a few rounds!
THEN I printed my pics and got to work!  Here's the finished result!

Products Used:
Black Soot Distress Ink
Cosmo Cricket: Sweet Disposition 
Tim Holtz Bigz Die: Picture Wheel


Thanks for stopping by!  And definitely check out what the rest of the design team is doing!  Take a chance and create something with your forgotten games and relive those fond memories of sitting around the kitchen table with your family playing games and laughing like crazy!

'Bringing it' in a patriotic way

Hi there!  Today I would like to share with you a page that I created for today's special day, the 4th of July!!!!  Happy Birthday America!!!!!  What a true blessing it is to live in the United States!

The Get Altered Challenge is held on the first Thursday of each month and each challenge is an opportunity for you to be inspired by one our eTeam's creations.  With this month being  Mary-Ann's turn,  she chose to force you mixed media peeps into "Bringing it" (mixed media) to a layout.  WARNING:  this getting dirty thing is kinda addictive and catchy.  This layout girl is still a die-hard scrapper but has started to walk on the wild side! You HAVE to see what she created!!!  Her page ROCKS!

Here's my Mixed Media page for the Get Altered Challenge!

To create this page, I started with a plain piece of 12" x 12" Kraft paper and I painted Gesso to create a foundation.  I chose my pictures from our vacation last year when we visited Yorktown, Annapolis, Williamsburg, and Virginia Beach.  The pictures are from our day at Yorktown.  My husband and I are history fanatics, with Kevin being a former high school History teacher (he's a principal now), so we had a ball on our vacation that year!  Every year we try to go somewhere historical to not only feed our love of history but to teach our children about history and to appreciate our nation's historical events.

I was looking at the cannon picture, and I thought that it would be so cool to make it look like it fired a shot!  I took several of my sprays and created a "firing shot" by spraying at an angle. 

I sponged Tim's Barn Door Distress Ink w/  my Mini Distressed Chevron Stencil  on the opposite corners.  I also took my Mini Damask stencil and with some blue Smooch spray, created more background.

I added some corregated paper to create the flag in the top Left corner, as well as part of the frame around the pictures.  I added red paper from Authentique's Lovely stack to the background,  as well as Cosmo Cricket's letter correspondence paper inside the Sweet Disposition stack.

I sponged Tim Holtz's Distress Ink Walnut Stain around all the edges of the various papers.
I used Tim's 3-D Star Bright Bigz Die using the Sweet Disposition paper to create the star.  I swept a sponge with Tim's Salty Ocean Distress Ink to really make the dimension pop! 

To create the colors of the flag, I used white Gesso for the white layers, and Tim's Barn Door Distress Ink for the red.  I stamped the ink pad on my nonstick craft sheet, and then sprayed with water.  I took my paint brush, and painted in the creases.  I did the same thing with the blue square, which I used the Salty Ocean ink pad.  I used a white gel pen to draw the stars in a circle, which is how the flag looked in 1776.  I couldn't wait for the Salty Ocean paint to dry, so the stars aren't very bright!

Just wanted to show you my patriotic end table in my living room!  I created the American board recently, and still had it sitting out.  Pairing it with today's scrapbook page was genius!

Happy 4th of July to you and your families!

Celebrate!

Hi there!  Today is the first Thursday of the month!  Which means that today is eclectic Paperie's Get Altered Challenge!!!  Our lovely hostess this month is Toni!  She challenged us, and is challenging YOU, to alter a spoon!  What a fun challenge this was!

Here are all the deets on the challenge! 

The Get Altered Challenge is about exploring your creative journey, about stepping outside of your comfort zone, experimenting with new products, and creating altered and mixed media art.  

We want to see your work and hear about your inspiration!  All of those who play along with our challenge will be entered into a prize drawing for a $15.00 gift certificate to the eclectic Paperie store.

So grab your supplies and play along!  Here are a few things to keep in mind for this challenge…

-You do not have to use products sold in the eP store…but we do love it when you do!

-Share a direct link to your creation, not just your blog, using the Linky Tools feature at the end of this post.  If, for any reason, the Linky Tools doesn’t cooperate, please add a link in the Comments section of the blog.

-When uploading to any online galleries, please use any of the following keywords; eP, eclectic Paperie or Get Altered Challenge. Link your creations to the eP blog.

-If you’d like to be considered as one of our featured projects and be entered into our prize drawing, please be sure to add your link before Midnight on the 18th of June.  The winner will be announced right before the eTeam Picks Challenge.

Ok!  Now that we have that important business out of the way, let's see what I came up with!

I was really impressed with Julie Masse's challenge to use gel medium with a photo transfer Visit Link Here, so I wanted to try that same technique on a spoon!   My cousin is an avid collector of all things, and was recently having a sale to get rid of quite a lot of it!  I asked if I could have all of her serving spoons!  I received a whole handful!  YAY!  Future spoon projects!!!  

To get started, I gesso'd my spoons (my original idea was to use 4 spoons, but they all didn't turn out as pretty as the first one did!) first with a paint brush, and then with a sponge for full coverage.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I stamped party stamps from Tim Holtz's Blueprints #4 onto very thin note pad paper.  I cut the images out, and adhered them on each spoon.  I pressed them down, and flattened all the air bubbles and let them dry.

 

Once dry, I took my fingers which I dripped in water, just like Julie shows in her Youtube video, and gently massaged the paper off the spoon.  This is what you are left with!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sprayed them with red and blue sprays, and let them dry.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the final project:

I apologize for the glare!  I don't know what was going on w/ my camera!!!

I had started with this board for Memorial Day, and then my inspiration was sucked dry because I was too busy with school activities.  So, I let it sit in my stamp room until now!  I could finish it now!  I created a piece of cake out of paper using my Cricut, and embossed the blue panels with one of Tim Holtz's embossing folders.  I painted Gel Medium on the panels to make them look more like fondant.  I added a couple rosettes to the top for "whip cream", and I was done!  I made the stars out of Tim's 3-D Star Bright Bigz Die. 

 I cut strips to create a flag and attached them with Tim's little findings.  I die cut a film strip from Tim's Mini Film Strip.  I took pictures from a page in Midway from October Afternoon, previously sold in eP's store, and cut each one and placed inside each frame.

The AMERICA is die cut from Tim's Strip Alphabet Die and adhered w/ glue.

 Here are closeups of each section!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope that I have inspired you to create with us!  I look forward to seeing what fabulous creations you come up with using a spoon!

 

Have a great day!

 

 

eP Picks: Gel Medium!

 Hi there!  Today is an eP Picks Challenge!!!!  Julie is our lovely hostess today!  She challenged us to use Gel Medium!  Head on over to the eP blog to see how SHE used it!  Amazing!

What IS Gel Medium?  Here's what Faber~Castell says: "Gel Medium is great for adding body and dimension to other mediums.  Use it to extend colors, add semi-gloss sheen, decoupage and for creating dimension as it will hold its form when it dries.  Try this semi-gloss, translucent medium with all your paper crafting and mixed media projects."

Well, Julie used it as an image transfer vehicle.  Some fellow eP teammates used it in a variety of ways!  You HAVE to check their blogs out!  Amazing!!!!  All links are at the bottom of Julie's post!

What did I do with Gel Medium?  Well, today I just used it as a sheen, more like a top coat, if you will.
I was inspired by eP's Guest Designer, Lynne Forsythe's post using an ATC.  So, I decided to make one too!  Of course, mine doesn't lie flat, and it's probably the wrong size for an ATC, but that's ok!  I'm not going to be sending it to anyone!

I received a fabulous box of goodies today, which I used in today's creation!  The full listing is at the bottom!

To create this ATC, I first took a piece of plain blueish paper from the Park Bench stack by Fancy Pants.  I took a floral piece of paper as well, and tore a piece to use on here.  I inked my brand spankin' new Tattered Chicken Wire stamp from Unity in Onyx Black ink.

Then, I took from the 50's Diner Gelato Collection: Aqua Dolce and Banana and just scribbled over the chicken wire to color it in a bit.  I colored Squid Ink all around the edges.  W/ a blender that comes in the pack, I blended the colors together so they weren't standing out, but faded into the background.  I also added Squid Ink to the bit of floral paper, and blended that in.

I adhered the floral paper to the chicken wire paper, and painted it with Gel Medium.  When you brush in up and down strokes, once dry, the gel medium takes on the look of wood!

Embellishments are just paper cut out and adhered!

I really tried to get a close up shot of the sheen, but my camera just wasn't going to work with me!

So, that means you need to try it yourself!  You can pick some up Gel Medium HERE!
Park Bench 6" x 6" pad
50's Diner Gelato Collection
Big White Brush Pen 
Chicken Wire Stamp

Have a great day!  Can't wait to see what YOU do with Gel Medium!!!
 

Peeled String

Today I am showing you my abstract side!

It's rather hard for me to create simple pieces.  Take my scrapbook pages for example.  I love to make them 3-D.  Same with my cards!  It's so hard to mail them!  Haha!

So, when I started working on this canvas, and especially when I told myself it was done, it was SO hard to walk away!!!!  I feel like it needs more!

I was at Michaels today, and I wandered back to the art section (my newest favorite part of the store!), and I found String Gel!  It acts like honey when poured gently!  I bought it and couldn't wait to get it home to try it out!

Well, when I painted my canvas with clear gesso, I knew I wanted to incorporate the String Gel in some way.  I started with a few stencils and Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads. Then, I wasn't happy with it, so I took a baby wipe and swiped it to blur everything.  Ok, liked the look, time to add the String Gel!

I grabbed a knife and after gathering a heap, I let it drip off of the knife while moving it across the page.  I continued doing this until I was satisfied with the drippings.  I let it dry (with the help of my embossing gun!  Can we say impatient?!), and actually took a nap (we had to get up super early to go to church this morning w/ my MIL).  Once it was dry, I sponged more Forest Moss Distress Ink over the entire canvas.

Then, I started to peel the String Gel off.  I used my exacto knife, and then after a while, I just used my nails and scraped it off.  That was a whole lot quicker!

I looked at it, and decided it need a LITTLE bit of color.  So, I used my Hexagon stencil from eclectic Paperie, with Dusty Concord Distress Ink.  I took another baby wipe and swiped the corners a bit to make that blur, and then I was done!

What do you think?  Abstract enough?!  LOL!

Have a lovely day!