Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Use Up Your Stash Layout Challenge

Today, I thought I would share a layout I completed for another one of the September Challenges over at Scrapjazz.  This particular challenge was a Use up Your Stash Challenge, and can be seen Here.  The challenge required that we use:
  • a Die Cut
  • a Stamp
  • a Sticker
  • a Border of some kind
  • Ribbon
 Following this, this is what I came up with:

 It is a terrible picture of me, just absolutely horrible.  And I have not scrapped this photo for a very long time because it was such a terrible photo.  However, while looking through photos recently, I noticed something about this photo, i'm looking at the camera and hubby is looking at me.  I thought this would be the perfect photo to scrap because of that.  I have not added the journaling yet as that is very personal and I don't like to share that as much, but you get the idea from the photo!

Supplies:  Pink Paislee Office Lingo, Pink Paislee Christy Tomlinson She Art, Basic Grey (Pattern Paper); Bazzill (Cardstock); Tim Holtz Visual Artistry (Stamps); Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder; EK Success Water Lily Punch; Pink Paislee, Making Memories (Letter Stickers)

Monday, September 24, 2012

Imperfect Photos, and Reused Layout, and Creative Awesomeness

A while back I pulled a layout from a book the reason being is that I had found more photos that belonged together and originally thought when I had done the layout the first time.  As that was the case, I had to redo the layout.  I don't normally do this, but I have been working on preserving the memories of my mother's photos - and well this occasion called for it in the name of posterity!  As a result, I was left with a layout and supplies that I did not want to discard - there was nothing wrong with them, the photos had just been lifted off of it.  So I saved the layout with no photos.  And it sat and sat.  One day, while flipping through photos of me and hubby, I found some we took for Valentines day a while back.  And I thought of the discarded layout sitting somewhere in my crafty mess.  So I went and found it.  The original title was "Valentines Day Art" just as it is now - without the art part.  It had been a simple layout with only 2 4x6 photos.  I have more than 2 photos in varying sizes.  After a bit of playing around, this is what I came up with:

The original layout how the title the same as above.  I covered the Art part with the flower.  The journaling spot in addition to the red flower and the embellishment cluster were also part of the original layout.  I added the pattern paper, new photos, the date banner and the flower clusters.  I was so excited how this turned out, and the fact that I was able to recycle something that would have just been thrown out.

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty filled day!

Supplies:  Bazzill Cardstock; Prima Hydrangeas, I am Roses (Flowers); Stampin' Up Banner Punch, McGill Heart Punch (Punches); Glimmer Mist

Saturday, September 22, 2012

More Monster Jam Fun

Today, I thought that I would share another fun layout about the Monster Truck Rally that I attended (almost two years ago, eep!).  I did this layout as part of a Scrapjazz Layout Challenge - the challenge was to use the provided Ad for inspiration. The original post can be found here.  And this is what I came up with:

 I had so much fun with this layout.  The best part, is the Monster Jam title, which I fashioned after the actual Monster Jam logo.  The best part about the logo was I was able to use my new Tim Holtz Diamond Plate and Riveted Metal embossing folders, and that was so much fun!

I hope you have a crafty inspired day!

Supplies:  Stampin' Up! Well Worn (Pattern Paper); Bazzill (Cardstock); Monster Trucks Cut File (Designs on Cloud 9); Making Memories (stickers); Tim Holtz Rivet Metal and Diamond Plate embossing folders






Thursday, September 20, 2012

Christmas Junk Journal

I know, it is WAY to early to be thinking about Christmas.  But, today I will be posting about christmas nonetheless.  Recently, I did a "swap" with a friend of mine who really really loves all things Christmas and Winter.  She does very many nice things for many, and I thought it would be nice for her to have a fun little junk journal for her own, and because Christmas is her favorite, it would of course have a Christmas theme.  So keeping the writing short and the photos flowing, here are the photos!













I cannot tell you had much fun I had making this little guy.  Trying different techniques, throwing things together, spilling bottles of glimmer mist........  And if you would like to see the whole thing you can check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV04oWkNN8E&feature=g-u-u

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty filled day!

Supplies:  Stampin' Up! Medallion, Stampin' Up! Christmas Collage, Stampin' Up! Bingo Card Background, Stampin' Up! Jolly Bingo Bits, Hero Arts Spirit of the Season, Inkadinkado Winter Silhouettes, Inkadinkado Ornate Snowman, (Stamps); Lindy's Stamp Gang Fuzzy Navel Peach, Tattered Angels English Ivy, Tattered Angels Cranberry, Tattered Angels Coffee (Ink); Martha Stewart Florentine Gold, Lindy's Stamp Gang Reindeer Green (Embossing Powder); Spellbiners Poinsettias, Paper Trey Ink Library Pocket (Die Cuts); Die Cuts With a View, Project Imagination (Pattern Paper);

Monday, September 3, 2012

Upcycled Goodness

So several months ago (meaning December 2011) I started this SUPER AWESOME brain child of an idea.  As some of you know, I unmount all of my stamps if they are not already cling mounted.  I don't like wood mounted stamps, they take up tons of space.  But at the same time, I am a huge upcycle, use everything you can for whatever you can kind of girl.  So even though I unmount my stamps, I save the blocks.  Yep, I save the blocks.  And this is what I have done with two of the numerous blocks I have (a future post will share more of what I have done with my blocks).

 This was the original idea, that actually blossomed into two different creations.  I cannot tell you how long this little wood canvas/stamp block sat with gesso, glitter, and the flowers in the corner before the rest of the stuff got added.  Nonetheless, I can say that I am SO GLAD I took the time to let my ideas fully grow to ripeness.  Midway through the process of finishing this guy, I came up with the idea for the next one.  The "Create" was cut with my cricut using SCAL and is a welding of two different fonts.





This guy I have to say came together much faster than the first one, and I think I like a little better.  For both of these, I took some of the Unity Stamp Blocks - they're wood mounts come with the image of the stamp screen printed onto the wood (such a nice feature) - and added a thin translucent color of gesso and Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam to the wood.  Once that was dried, I colored some sand molding paste with some acrylic paint and then put it onto the wood with a Crafters Workshop stencil.  The butterflies in both pieces had several layers of UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) placed on them, and then I stamped an image with ink of it into the hot UTEE.  For the red butterfly, I put glitter between one of the layers of UTEE and the last layer once it had been stamped and set, I rubbed some acrylic paint into the recesses and wiped off the excess.  The fringey looking flower, I made by cutting out a TONE of circles and then using my Martha Stewart Fringe scissors on.  I then folded the circles into quarters,  glued  them down, fluffed and DONE.

This project was so much fun to make and clear off my desk I cannot tell you!  And the awesome part is I now have to beautiful pieces that are inspiring, home decorating, and conversation starters.

Have a fun and crafty inspired filled day, and create something beautiful!
 
Supplies:  Wood Stamp Blocks (Unity Stamp Co.); Fine Grit Gel Medium (Golden); Brown and Cream Acrylic Paint (Americana); Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam, Studio G Glitter Glue (Glitter); Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Up! Baja Breeze, Stampin' Up! Wild Wasabi, Stampin' Up! Regal Rose (Ink); Stampin' Up! Vintage Vogue, Stampin' Up! Freshly Vintage, Stampin' Up! Broadsheet Alaphbet, Unknown (Stamps); Stampin' Up Butterfly Punch - Retired, Stampin' Up! Beautiful Butterflies Die, Stampin' Up! Bird Builder Punch (Butterflies, Leaves);  Tim Holtz Alteractions Tattered Florals Die, Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors, Mon Ami Gabby (Flowers); Metal Alphabets (Joann's Craft and Fabric);  Stampin' Up! Color Spritzer Tool; Crafters Workshop Template

Saturday, September 1, 2012

A Mixed Media Canvas - a first!

I am sure that many of you are already well versed in the mixed media/art journaling world.  This is a new adventure for me to be totally honest - and all began as a way to use up my scraps.  A few days ago while poking around on YouTube and watching some of the Christy Tomlinson videos, I got an idea.  Christy was using all that beautiful paper as a base for her art work, and I thought, "well I have TONS or beautiful pieces of paper left over from other stuff!"  So I broke out my box of scraps pulled out EVERY SINGLE bit of pattern paper in my boxes and then went to work.  I have created 3 canvases and an art journal page (the other two canvases I will show a bit later).  This was the last of the creations and serves a very special purpose.
 
It is a mixed media canvas AND a key holder.  I lose my keys, my husband loses his keys.  This is an awesome way to have a beautiful and crafty place to store our keys! And for your viewing pleasure, just a few closeups of this bit of tasty goodness.

The base, before paint, was made using stamped tissue paper for the sky and green pieces of pattern paper.  I then painted the scene with some watered down acrylic paint - so that the detail could still show through.  I then added texture by stamping in acrylic paint with some of my stamps from various companies.  The scene was then pieced and layed out.  I used my NeoColor watercolor pastels in order to create the shading, along with a Fabercastell Pitt Pen.    The doodling was also done with a Fabercastell Pitt Pen and the white doodles with an American Crafts Galaxy white marker.  I finished by stamping some more texture with my stamps and black Archival Ink.

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty filled day of inspiration!

Supplies:  Scrapbox Paper Scraps; Fabercastell Pitt Pen, American Crafts Galaxy Pen (Doodles); NeoColor Watercolor Pastels (Highlighting); Unity Stamp Co Kit of the Month (cloud stamp, ruffle stamp, harlequin border stamp, dot background stamp); Stampin' Up! (canvas texture stamp); Acrylic Paint; Golden Gel Medium; Fiskars Border Punch