Apple Picking Fun

Autumn is always a favorite time of the year with the changing of the Season: cooler temps, pretty colors and being able to go out enjoy all of nature with its bounty and beauty. There’s also nothing better than freshly picked apples from the orchid too! It’s something that I love to do with my husband every year at our local orchid.

So, when Lawn Fawn came out with this adorable set along with a free craft-a-long class, I knew I wanted to participate!

This is the first card we created using the LF Apple-solutely Awesome stamp set and dies. For the class, we actually stamped, colored and cut out all of the images that we would be using for both of these cards. I think the fun thing about this set is arranging the images to figure out where you want to place them for your scene. Since it was a class and I didn’t have to think too much, I decided to just follow along with what I had and just enjoy the process.

I didn’t have the stencil set that they used for the class, so I had this Pink & Main Leafy Stencil that I thought would work out fine and I just blended different colors with some Oxide inks. The white panel was cut with the LF Small Stitched Rectangle dies, popped up over the stenciled leaf panel and the sentiment was stamped at the bottom before attaching the images.

I’ve already sent this card to someone that gifted us some homemade applesauce…YUM! (Already gone!)

And here’s the second card we created for the class using the same stamp set and stitched rectangle dies. I had fun with that “cider jug” and adding a bit of sparkle to the contents inside with my glitter brush pen.

For the sentiment, I die cut it out with some LF Woodgrain Cardstock and ink blended some brown Oxide ink at the bottom of the die cut. I used some foam strips to pop it up over the panel. The white panel was done the same as the above card. I used the same stencil as the above card as well but only kept the yellow tones for this one as it seemed too busy with all that was going on with the card.

So, although this was a class that I mainly followed along with except for a few minor changes, I had fun making these while getting into the Fall spirit! I hope you’ve enjoyed them as well! Thanks for stopping in!

Challenges:

Four Seasons – Anything Goes Fall
Crafty Friends – Use More Than One Die
Happy Little Stampers Stencils – Anything Goes + stencil
Stamping Sensations – All Things Autumn
We Love Stamping – Autumn Colors
Addicted to Stamps & More – Die Cuts & Stencils

Time to Get Your Grumpy On!

Hey there friends! Hope you’re having a wonderful week so far! We’re getting closer and closer to Halloween already!🎃 I haven’t made as many Halloween makes as I usually do, but as the day gets closer I’ve been more in the mood to pull out some things to have fun with my stash and my thoughts turned to “Grumpy”.

If you’re not familiar with “Grumpy”, this is the Big Grumpy Cat from Taylored Expressions. I absolutely love the “Grumpy” and “Grumplings” line and I don’t pull them out as much as I’d like to. Since it’s closer to Halloween, I’ve also pulled out the Big Grumpy-Halloween accessory set to go along with him too! (The only thing I used from this set was the witch hat and the sentiment.) I’ve stamped, colored and cut out each of these items for my card.

The #TEMakerChallenge has the theme this month of using Oreo & Sugar Cube with the option of adding any other pop of color. I’ve decided to pop in an orange color for mine. The theme was also “Sparkle & Shine” through foiling, heat-embossing, glitter paste or sparkly cardstock.

So, for the “Sparkle & Shine” I’ve taken a Foil-It Spiderweb panel and foiled some orange Deco Foil over it. I then took one of the Frame in Frame 3 dies to cut out the middle of this panel, added some acetate over the opening and made it into a shaker panel. I die cut the same frame as well as the Little Bits-Spiders die from some black Glitter Cardstock. I attached these pieces onto the web panel along with adding the Grumpy Cat with his hat string and extra spider attached to him over the acetate. I attached double-sided foam around the opening and added some “shaker stars” in the colors orange, black and silver. And lastly, I thought it would be fun to pop up a left-over ghost I had from a previous project at the top! (I think the ghost is in fear of the “witch switch”!) 😂

I also have another “grumpy” card to share…

So this card was made to send a smile to a friend. I’ve used a cat for this one as well from the Taylored Expressions “Grouchy Grumplings” set which I don’t believe is available in the store any longer.

I kept it a simple card by stamping, coloring and cutting out the grumpy. I ink blended a circle that fit him with blue ink, white heat embossed the sentiment and cut it out from the TE Stitched Banner Stacklets. I popped grumpy with foam tape over the sentiment banner and circle. I also used some TE decorative papers from my stash and cut out a banner with it using my scissors. A corner chomper was used to round the top left corner of the card to finish it off.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my “Grumpy” projects today and have been inspired in some way! Really appreciate you stopping in!

Challenges: (Top card only)

Country View – Halloween or Harvest
Craft Rocket – Autumn/Halloween
Crafting Happiness – Halloween
Aud Sentiments – Halloween/Fall + Sentiment
Crafty Gals Corner – Halloween Colors
Colour Crazy Craft – Anything Goes + coloring
Allsorts – Add a Sentiment
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – Anything Goes
Double D – Orange & Black

Friendly SWAPs

Hello friends! The weather has been really nice over my way so I’ve been taking advantage of it by enjoying the outdoors before it starts changing into more chilly temperatures. All of the prize winners have contacted me and the packages have all been sent out. I have received notice that the U.S. winners have gotten their packages and hopefully the overseas will be arriving soon. My thoughts are also with those that were affected from Storm Ian and hope for healing and recovery as soon as possible.

Although it’s been a while since I last posted, I have been working on some things for SWAPs and a few other cards that I had created as well to share with you.

please click on the photos below to see them close-up

Within a FB Group that I’m in, we could choose to join an ATC SWAP with the theme of “Friendship” and these are the cards that I had created. I swapped with two others and then kept one set of three for myself. I was excited because this is the first ATCs I’ve sent overseas and really enjoyed making the collection. I thought the butterfly theme with similar colors would work keeping the “Friendship” in mind…

And then below are the set of ATCs I’ve received from my SWAP partners in return. The first lady sent her ATCs from Australia and the other lady was from the UK I believe. Love them and was excited to receive them to add to my book.

I was also involved in another “Stamped Sampler SWAP” making those squares like I had done with my Summer one if you remember that with my friends Patti, Shirley and Donna. This time our squares were the theme of Autumn/Fall using the Stampin’ Up! colors Pumpkin Pie and Mossy Meadow. It’s so fun to see them come in and then put it all together in the frame! Here’s how mine finished out:

For my Sampler frame, I used some different colored woodgrain pattern paper to attach the squares to and this frame is a bit different than my Summer Sampler (Check it out in THIS POST if you want to see that one.) It can stand on a table surface or you can hang it up. I also decided to add a burlap bow at the top of the frame using a hot glue gun.

This is the Sampler Square that I had made using the adorable fox from the Taylored Expressions Woodland Squad Die & Clear Stamp Combo set. The background was stamped with the TE Four Seasons Stamp & Stencil Combo set using ONLY the background stamp in one color. I then using some gold acrylic paint to splatter over it. I also added a twine bow to the fox. I believe we’re going to be doing another one for Winter too…stay tuned!

My friend Patti had also sent me an extra card kit from one of her classes along with her SWAP square, which I thought was so nice…so I had some fun putting it together as I don’t have this set which I believe is a Stampin’ Up! one.

The card kit had all of the pieces in it along with the stamped birds cut out, the stamped branches and sentiments (even on the included envelope) along with cut glitter clouds and flowers! There was a sheet with photo and instructions so I just followed along except I die cut some leaves for the branches from a piece of scrap green paper I had. Now I have a cute little birthday card ready to send out, so thank you for the fun Patti!😉

And speaking of birds and Stampin’ Up!, I had to make a sympathy card for someone that lost their pet bird. I was looking through my stash and found an older Stampin’ Up! set with a bird silhouette which I thought would be good for a sympathy card like this. I was inspired to pull out more of my older Stampin’ Up! stash to use so I used some old punches, ribbon and paper for my card as well.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the inspiration today and I thank you so much for stopping in! If you have any questions about my post, please let me know. Have a great day and see you soon!

Challenges:

Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes (Bird sympathy card)
The Corrosive – Anything Goes (Butterfly ATCs)
Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal (Fox Square and/or Bird sympathy card)
Fab ‘N’ Funky – Embossing wet/dry (Bird sympathy card)
Creative Knockouts – Anything Goes (Butterfly ATCs)
Sweet Stampin’ – Anything Goes EXCEPT birthday (Bird sympathy card)
Ally’s Angels – Anything Goes (Butterfly ATCs)

September AJ Page-Embrace Change

Hello friends! As of Thursday, Fall has begun! It actually really does feel like Fall with the cooler temps settling in on exactly that same day too! I’m looking forward to all of the wonderful changes it brings with it! I enjoy going out in nature and seeing the trees change into their colors.

It’s also that time for a monthly Art Journal page and collaboration with my crafty friend, Carol (from Crafty-Stamper), so please check out her blog for more inspiration too! We’re trying to get creative by using up our never-ending stash piles! So here’s my Art Journal inspiration with the “SMASH OUR STASH” September prompt of “ANY kind(s) of scrap papers!” :

Like many crafters out there, I’m sure we all have those never-ending piles of papers! I especially have a very extensive collection of pattern papers and MANY within those piles of little left-over pieces that never seem to get used and just thrown back into the package! I not only have packages, but I also have several card kits that ALSO have packages of papers in them too…so I pulled out a past kit and was happy that I’ve used pretty much all of the left-over scraps from it! One down and a trillion to go!!😅

For the Background: The page is a 6″ x 9″ Canson 140# cold-pressed paper with the holes prepared at the top for later book binding. I’ve used Distress Oxide Sprays and used the left-over spray on my glass mat with water until I soaked up all the ink. I’ve also splattered some Gold and Ivory acrylic paints over top once dry. I stamped a couple of the tiny leaves with green ink for a bit of depth in the background.

For the Image Elements: I used the Simon Says Stamp “Woodland Whimsy” stamp set to paper piece all of the image elements with the tall trees on the right, the leaves, the bear, the bear’s belly and ears, also with the berry and leaf branches next to him. The trees were fussy cut with scissors and the other images were cut with coordinating dies. I’ve used Copic markers to add a bit of depth and dimension to some of it. Some were glued down while some were popped up with foam squares. I’ve also taken the Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Leaves dies to cut out a few extra and sponged around them to add to the scene. I’ve also used the same papers I’ve used to cut those leaves out and added it as a layer behind the two sentiment quote squares. The quote was printed out from my computer and the “Autumn” sentiment was cut out from pattern papers using the Lawn Fawn henry’s ABCs dies along with more papers to make an “off-set” shadow behind them.

The “ground” was just fussy cut with scissors and ink sponged around the edges. Lastly, I’ve taken some gold Stickles to create “berries” on the leaf branches and randomly over the page.

I really enjoyed creating this page as it has inspired me to go out in nature for a walk! I sure hope you’ve enjoyed it as well! Thanks for stopping in today!

Challenges:

Art Journal Journey – Fur or Feathers (I went with fur, but love both!)
Country View – Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness
Creative Artiste – Anything Goes Mixed Media
Ally’s Angels – Anything Goes
Love to Craft – Anything Goes
Snippets Playground – Anything Goes using snippets (Happy to use up “snippets” of my pattern papers for the paper pieced images!) YES PLEASE!

Gettin’ My Halloween On + GIVE AWAY!

Hello friends! It’s been a minute or two since my last posting as I had been sick and then totally lost my “MOJO” during that point! So I was trying to get it going again with a few Halloween projects! I have been playing with some new Taylored Expressions goodies and I thought it would be fun to give away some TE stuff as well!😀 Stay tuned to the end of this post!

click on the photos below to enlarge them if you’re on my website:

Now how cute are all of these critters, ghouls and creeps?! As you may remember from my last post, I had been having so much fun creating with the Taylored Expressions Create-in-Quads stencils, so I had my play with the Halloween Create-in-Quads with the makes above! I stenciled some black, candy corn, plum punch and lime zest colors, plus I went over the lime zest with some glow-in-the-dark glitter paste. The stencil quads make two A2 sized backgrounds as well as the cat and witch cauldron too! There is also coordinating dies to cut out the cat and witch that I used to cut out for the second set of cards. For all of the cards, I’ve used the TE Frame in Frame 3 dies (free from an order a while back) that was cut with some black cardstock. I’ve also used the TE Simple Strips-Halloween stamped and heat embossed with some black glitter EP and cut out with the TE Asymmetrical Simple Strips Die for each card.

The set of cards on the left were created with the stenciled backgrounds and then with the black frames, I’ve added a character from a “free with purchase” Gus & Gertie Halloween stamp set. The bird saying “boo” is in a bat costume. 😅 I popped up the sentiment strip, bird and dog with foam tape. I die cut the “boo” sentiment with a speech bubble die from my stash. The ghoul card was made with the awesome TE Monster Squad die set. I placed a piece of vellum behind the black frame, so the ghoul stood out a bit more, die cut my pieces as I wanted and attached it right above the sentiment strip. I added a green googly eye as well as a few die cut stars from silver metallic cardstock.

The set of cards on the right was put together with a couple of different unique backgrounds. On the black cat card, I used the TE Superstar Rotating Stencil and stenciled once with candy corn and only rotated once using the glow-in-the-dark glitter paste again. I finished it by splattering black and white paint over it. Topped it off with the black frame, the kitty and sentiment strip. I also used some Cosmic Drip Drops for kitty’s eyes. (These were also used on the bows of the witch’s shoes too!) For the witch background, I silver foiled one of the TE Foil It-Spiderweb panels and then ink blended some grey ink over a couple of the webs. I then added the black frame, the witch and the sentiment strip. Lastly, I added a couple of spiders cut out with the TE Little Bits-Spiders die set.

These ghosts make me smile every time I see them with those faces! 👻 For these set of cards, I pulled out the TE G-G-G-Ghost Stamp & Stencil Combo. I didn’t used any TE inks but pulled out my oxide inks for an ombre looking color to make these different backgrounds. The stencil was used for the faces by heat embossing some black glitter EP over VersaMark ink through the stencil. The purple is A2 sized and the set of cards on the right as mini slim cards. I continued using my sentiment strips that were previously used on the card sets above, but with these I’ve added a black layer that I just cut from cardstock. I’ve also used TE Ghost Gang Die & Clear Combo set to cut out the ghosts popped up around the sentiments and stamped their faces.

For the purple ghost card, I used the silver foil negative from the “witch spiderweb background” card and foiled a cut out TE On the Block-Boo Shadow die which was popped up with several layers of die cut black ones. I popped up the die cut ghost over the foiled “boo” as well as the sentiment strips.

For the set of mini slim cards, I did pretty much the same style as the purple, but for the “boo” sentiment I used the TE Boo Script + Backer and die cut 2 of the sentiments with black cardstock and then heat embossed it with the black glitter EP. I placed it over the vellum die cut backer and attached to the card front. I popped up the ghosts and the sentiment strips with foam tape.

GIVE AWAY!!!

(CLOSED)

So, because I’ve placed some TE orders, I have gotten multiple sets (duplicates) of goodies!! If you or someone you know would like to get one of these stamp sets, please let me know in the comments below! (Which one(s) you want!) I have FOUR large rubber stamps to give away!! Check it out….

Click on each photo below to enlarge if you’re on my website!

These are all background A2 sized rubber stamps. The last stamp photographed is “Winter Village Background” which measures approx. 6.25″ x 2.5″ in size. I have TWO of the “Daises for Days” to give out. (See the photo where it shows the clear stamp set included for stamping the flower centers.) The “Good Hearted Background” stamp is perfect for almost any occasion just by adding a quick sentiment with it! I also have a little “extra” to go along with each one of these to accompany the package too!

If you click on the names in orange above, you can see some examples using them on the TE website for ideas!

Just leave me a comment below if you’re interested in my give away and tell me which one(s) you’re interested in by September 22nd, 2022 which is the first day of Fall for us here in the U.S. This will give everyone time to see the post and tell a friend that might be interested too! – CLOSED!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your support and inspiration with me as it helps keep me going! 😉

Challenges:

This is Halloween – Anything Goes Halloween/Gothic
Two Old Bats – Anything Goes Halloween
Crafty Animals – Anything Goes + animal
Show Us Your Pussycats – Anything with kitty
613 Avenue Create – Anything Goes
Through the Craftroom Door – Anything Goes
Lil’ Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes
The Corrosive – Anything Goes
Arty Divas – Anything Goes

Some Summer Session Sets

Happy August friends! This Summer has really flown right by me this year, how about you? Before you know it we’ll be getting ready for all things Fall…which is my favorite time of the year!🍂 I haven’t been feeling well for the last several days and haven’t done much crafting, but I do have some sets of cards that I’ve made sometime during these Summer months, but haven’t posted, so I’d like to share them with you today.

Taylored Expression had released an adorable collection of fish themed products this Summer that I thought would be so fun for several different occasions, and not just for those that like to fish, but for anyone for any occasion too!

The first white background card on the left was created with the TE Hook, Line & Sinker Stamp & Stencil Combo. The stencil is really nice to create different effects in an easy way without lots of coloring. I like that the TE Hook, Line & Sinker Dies cut out some of the mass-produced stenciled fish background too! (I saved one for the other card as well and still had a few more left over for another project.) After I created a couple of the stenciled fish backgrounds, I cut out a panel with a wonky stitched rectangle die and placed it over a Kraft A2 card base. I added some TE Drip Drops for the “bubbles” on the extra fish and you can see that I’ve covered the body of this fish with a glitter brush pen.

The second card on the right was created with the TE Just Keep Swimming Stencil with Toffee Ink color for a watermark look. I splattered some white and black paint over the background. The fishing pool as well as the sentiments for both cards came from the TE Reely Great Stamp & Die Combo. (It includes the fishing pool die cut with it.) You will also notice the tiny little sparkly fish on both of the cards which were cut from the TE Little Bits-Fish die with some blue and turquoise glitter cardstock. The ‘frame’ around the sentiment on the first card as well as the green frame for the second card were extra pieces in my stash previously cut out with the TE A2 Thin Frame Cutting Plate. (I save the extras to use for other projects.)

Of course, I didn’t “invent the wheel” on these as it was simple by following along with the TE “Hugs & Fishes Craft-a-Long Class” which I got for free with my stamp/combo purchase when it came out. I tweaked it slightly, but sometimes it’s nice to just create and follow along without having to think about what to do with it. 😁

This next set of cards was actually pretty fun and easy to put together:

Continuing on with more Taylored Expressions products, I’ve used the TE Create-in-Quads Hexagon Layering Stencil Set. Taylor had recently come with this series sometime last year I believe, and they seem to go over pretty well. (I think I had previously made Christmas cards and some Mother’s Day type of cards earlier this Spring with other “Create-in-Quads” sets.) It seems like a lot, but when you see how easy it is to knock out four cards at once…which I did with Christmas last year…it’s such a time saver with wonderful results!

All of these cards were finished off with the TE Oh No You Didn’t stamp set & dies (love this set)! A couple of the cards use the TE Simple Strips-Snarky stamp set that were white heat embossed and cut out. The other cards have sentiments that were foiled from the TE Simple Strips In Reverse-Everyday Occasions and die cut. And of course, I didn’t want to waste too much of the foiled panels, so I again took my TE A2 Thin Frame Cutting Plate to cut a couple of the frames with it. I also stamped out a couple of extra stars here and there from another TE stamp set, but I can’t remember which one I used. (I think it was from a previous card kit I have that’s no longer available…but any star will do!)

And again, no need to reinvent the wheel as I believe this was another class I received for free from a purchase. You can check out the Create-in-Quads Hexagon Craft-a-Long Class if you’re interested in it. I think I changed up the colors and details a bit for mine, but very similar in style.

**👀 Be on the look-out for another TE project set from me using another Create-in-Quads I recently got and can’t wait to use! I’m also going to have some things to give away too! STAY TUNED!!!

I had also attended a class from Riley and Company sometime this Summer as well:

I have loved that little Riley moose character for years, but Tanya (owner) does several of these on-line class events and she comes out with some really cute class kits. This kit had everything you need to make the projects and this one also included the sentiment die as well as a full 6×6 packet of papers in the coordinating theme.

For my projects, the giraffe was the only pre-cut image to color. All of the other bee images came from the papers that were included with the kit that you were to fussy cut from. Since the sentiment die was also included, I die cut all of those pieces for my card too. I decided to step-up my cards with some glitter cardstock along the edge of the giraffe card and then I die cut the “gold glitter honey drip” on that card from the Riley and Company Corner Goo Die. I also added little details like the “flying trail” of the bee with a marker and using a glitter brush pen on the bee wings.

Hope you’ve enjoyed my Summer Session Sets today and have been inspired or brought a smile! Thank you so kindly for your time to stop in and have a look! I really appreciate it!

Challenges:

Pearly Sparkles – Anything Goes
Moving Along With the Times – Anything Goes
Pammie’s Inky Pinkies – Anything Goes
Addicted to Stamps & More – Die Cuts and/or Stencils (I’ve used both!)
Happy Little Stampers – Anything Goes With Dies challenge
Crafty Calendar – Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations – Anything Goes

Lawn Fawn Fever!

Hello friends! I have LOTS to catch up on with all of the blogging of projects that I’ve been working on over the last few months, so I will probably share several projects within one post until I can get caught up!

I know that Christmas in July is going on everywhere right now, so I thought I’d share that along with a few other projects I had going on during my “Lawn Fawn Fever” episode! I have loved their cute little critters for so long and hope you enjoy what I’ve made:

It’s been a while since I even played along with a Lawn Fawnatics challenge, so I decided to join this one which is asking to see your Lawn Fawn “Fun with Food” challenge projects. What could be more fun than sharing Christmas cookies?! I’m not sure I’d share any with mice…but these guys are too cute and add some more fun to the scene. They’re a bit older and I know I’ve had the set for several years as it was one of the STAMPtember sets called “Merry Christmouse“.

I used some older Lawn Fawn papers from my stash to create the table and backdrop setting and then cut it out with the Lawn Fawn Outside In Rectangle dies. I used the following sets which include the one mentioned above for my scene: How You Bean?, How You Bean? Christmas Cookie Add On, and Thanks a latte. I Copic colored them and even added a few stamped images over the cookies including some Chunky Glitter.

For the mouse hanging over the hot cocoa cup, I cut around his arms to fit over the cup. I popped up the candy cane as well at the mouse next to the jar for depth on the scene. I added some touches of glitter and then on the mouse Santa hat, I took some liquid applique and heated it up until it was puffy. The sentiment was white heat embossed over the dark chocolate cardstock and then I just used my scissors to cut it out and attach at the top. Really fun scene to create!

I also took part on Friday with the “Hive Five Kit” class they did using the adorable new Hive Five card kit they came out with recently.

For the first card, I made my sentiment too high, so I had to “arrange it” how it worked for me, and I wanted it to be a birthday card instead. The other project was just the hexagon tag. I changed mine into a shaker and then added to a card. I also added the speech bubble on this one.

The products included with the card kit were really fun and I’m glad I got it!

The majority of this card came from a fun little kit that my sweet blog friend Shirley gifted me included with a SWAP that I was in with her. (Details of that are below.) Really love that she included the backdrop for the sky which worked out perfectly! I actually already purchased this awesome Lawn Fawn Platform Pop-Up die along with the Platform Pop-Up Add-on and the Upon a Star stamp set and dies, but she was so very kind to have all of these pieces already stamped and cut out for me! I just colored in the critters and the stars, added a few more here and there along with some glitter, white heat embossed the sentiment over the navy cardstock and put it together.

I hadn’t even broken out my Platform die at the time, so this was my first time putting one together! It looks a little more intimidating than what it really is, so I had lots of fun with it! Thanks so much for sharing the fun with me my friend! I can’t wait to attempt another one soon! (Thanks for helping me with my addiction! 😁)

And as I had mentioned above, I was asked if I’d be interested in joining this “Summer Sampler SWAP” with my wonderful blog friends Patti, Shirley and Donna along with a few other ladies to take part with! When it was described to me, I quickly realized that I had seen these 12″ x 12″ sized papercraft stamped samplers all over Pinterest. Of course, I had thought to myself that would be fun to create and never did.

Each square is 3-1/4″ and we each were to use the same color for the back layer so it was all similar for the finished project to coordinate well. So 9 of us created 9 squares, kept one for ourselves and then mailed out the others to each person in the swap. Really fun to see everyone’s idea here with the theme of “SUMMER” too! I love them all and thought how fun that each one is so different from the others!

This is my finished 12″ x 12″ shadow box framed piece with everyone’s squares that I’ve attached to a wood panel background paper. I have it hanging on the wall. I think this would be so fun for each season or even gifts! Hope we can do another one!😉

And here’s the square that I did for the swap. I zoomed in to take the photo and it’s behind the glass, so it’s not a real great look at it, but as you see, I’ve used Lawn Fawn again! LOL

I had some fun 4th of July papers and thought it would be neat to make somewhat of a shaker element with confetti stars. I’ve used the Lawn Fawn Dandy Day Flip Flop set along with a mouse from the Bubbles of Joy set for the front of my square. I was trying to give the impression that the mouse had a sparkler, and the sparks were flying while the other mouse was enjoying the show. I used glitter and die cut a star from silver glitter cardstock for the center of the dandelion. I added a red bow at the top. I thought with using a shadow box frame that the dimension wouldn’t be an issue and it wasn’t.

There’s always something fun to keep me hopping, so I know you’ll see more soon including the wedding & painting class projects! I promise I’ll get there! Thanks for dropping by!!

Challenges:

Lawn Fawnatics – Fun with Food (first card)
Crafty Gals Corner – Christmas in July (first card)
Krafty Chicks – Christmas (first card)
CRAFT – Christmas (first card)
Jingle Belles – BLING on the Holidays! (first card)
Double Trouble – Christmas in July Thing 1, Thing 2 & Thing 3 (I’ve used old stamp sets, papers and added some fun bling on my cookies -plus added to the partner challenge in first card!)
Alphabet – ‘H’ is for Holidays (first card)
My Time to Craft – Christmas in July (first card)
Papercraft – Christmas in July

Creative Artiste July Guest Designer with Mixed Media Birdhouse

Hello friends! I hope that you’ve had a wonderful week so far and looking forward to the up-coming July 4th weekend for those of us celebrating in the U.S.! Just came back a few days ago from my son’s wedding which was really beautiful and a remarkable time celebrating with all the family! (I will share on that in the future here.)

Today I’m very excited to share my mixed media project as the July guest designer over at the Creative Artiste Challenge Blog! So if you enjoy creating with mixed media, please check out the blog and have some fun playing along with us this month!

I wasn’t required to create anything specific for this challenge as it’s always an “Anything Goes Mixed Media” theme. So I thought this would be a great time to share the project that I made and taught recently for a crafty friends retreat. (I will share more on my completed projects in the future here too!)😉

Vicki-MixedMediaBirdhouse

I have made a mixed media birdhouse with a “stand” that is approximately 14″ tall with a width of about 6″ across the birdhouse roof edges.

I purchased a paper mache birdhouse that came without the square layer underneath it or the “perch”. I added those using my own chipboard and craft stick from my stash. The “tree stand” was constructed from an old stairway post from my house that had been stored in our shed out back. We had no use for it, so I had my husband cut down the length that I wanted for the birdhouse, attached the square chipboard piece to it and glued the birdhouse on top of that. The very bottom was created with my husband’s saw and pieces of left over wood he had which was then screwed to the stairway post. Here’s what the items looked like unassembled…

For the “tree bark” look on my post, I covered the entire post with some crackle paste and let it dry along with all of the glue and white gesso to prime everything. For the “roof” of the birdhouse, I took a couple of pieces of regular cardboard that you would throw away from a box. I cut it to size for the roof, ripped off the layer to expose the corrugated texture underneath and glued it to the roof. This was primed with black gesso.

Here’s a closer view of the roof. To get that “rusty” texture look, I used the Finnebair Rust Affect Pastes. Not only does it give that look, it also gives the texture too. The class seemed to enjoy that part. I’ve also added some more textures with the art stones, wax and moss. You will also notice that I’ve used this same method with the “perch” too.

The other side of the roof also has added texture with art stones as well as a tin mechanical butterfly that was painted up with some Sparks sparkle paints.

For the “tree post” I added some paint(s) mixed with touches of water to make the texture stand out to get that “tree” look to it. It was wrapped with a vine ribbon and flowers that were painted to coordinate with the project and then attached to the vine. The centers of the flowers were made with beads, painted and waxed over them.

And here’s a closer view of not only the post and flowers, but the fence which was also painted with watered down paint as well as painted mushrooms that were actually a bright red color. I wanted to customize it to coordinate with the project. I’ve attached some decorative rock and a little crystal ball at the bottom of the platform along with the green moss which covered up the rest of the areas.

As for the birdhouse areas, I ripped up pieces of printed vellum and randomly attached those pieces as desired. I also took some texture paste and a brick stencil to go over areas of the birdhouse being careful where I wanted to place my different clay molds. I made all of the clay molds shown and enough for everyone in class too. This is where all of the art stones were attached too. At this point is where the clear gesso comes in because of the printed vellum that you don’t want to get covered up with the white. Once attached glue pieces and paint dried, this is where I painted with watered down blue Pasto Paint so that the vellum is still visible through it. I also painted a very light washing of white paint to go over the brick areas for highlights.

And lastly, to create the “runny rust” colors around the clay and textured areas, I used a couple of different paints that were sprayed with water to let them drip down over the areas. This gives shadows to the texture and the illusion of your rusty roof affecting the sides of the birdhouse.

All of the textures were lastly highlighted with silver wax paste and the rest was just adding the green moss and the Spanish moss in the hole of the birdhouse. I have a photo of the class finished pieces that I will share in an up-coming post along with other projects I made for my classes during the retreat.

**Really hope you’ve enjoyed my mixed media birdhouse project and given you some inspiration in some way! Please be sure to stop in at the Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge for more inspiration by the team…hope you can join in the fun with us this month!**

Thanks so much for stopping in and I’ll be seeing you soon!

Challenges:

Love to Scrap – #156 Anything Goes
Love to Craft – #69 Anything Goes
Arty Divas – Anything Goes

Your Own Sparkle AJ Page

*This is a scheduled post as I’m away for my son’s wedding and don’t have access to Internet at this time*

Hello friends! Here we are towards the end of June already and in full Summer mode now! Time has went by so fast! I do hope you’re all doing well, staying safe and enjoying your time however you’re spending it.

The end of the month also brings the monthly AJ page collaboration with my crafty friend, Carol (from Crafty-Stamper), so please check out her blog for more inspiration too! We’re trying to get creative by using up our never-ending stash piles! So here’s my Art Journal inspiration with the “SMASH OUR STASH” June prompt of: “buttons/sequins/gems.“

So who doesn’t have oodles of sequins in their stash? (I probably had enough to cover the entire page, but left it strictly for the fish scales and “bubbles”.😄) I was inspired by the Art Journal Journey challenge prompt this month of “FISH” and with the stash prompt in mind, it had me thinking of a book I had gotten for the kids years ago, perhaps you’re familiar with “The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister?

In the book, the fish’s scales were very shimmery, and it made me think to add the sequins to a fish, so I actually found a fun and free “coloring page” fish image to print out and color for my page! I used Copic markers to color that fish and the sequins are a glittery silver sequin that were topped with some silver Stickles as well as the “lines” on his fins. I also added some clear iridescent sequins for the “bubbles” above him.

For my background – Since the goal is to use my stash, I pulled out my set of gelatos that I’ve had for a few years to create my background. I found it fun to blend them and smudge them with my finger. I also used a piece of punchella trim for stenciling with them too. Of course, since they’re water soluble, I needed to cover it with some matte medium using a spatula rather than a brush. Once the matte medium dried, I added some printed vellum pieces ripped up over it and then used some white and silver paint for splatters and stamping an empty roll circle. I also went around the edges a bit with the silver paint for shimmer. For a little bit more texture, I took some Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) and heated up a few “piles” of the crystals and melted them…I haven’t used that in a long time either! I needed to be VERY careful with my heat gun because of the matte medium…it started to smoke a bit! 😮

For the background fish – I had a few extra cut out fish pieces from a previous project I made using the Taylored Expressions Hook, Line & Sinker Stamp & Stencil Combo with dies and adding them to the scene. I also added some sparkly fish that was die cut from the TE Little Bits-Fish dies. (I haven’t posted this project yet, but I will later on!) I took a micron pen to add a fishing line coming down from the top with a hook.

Here’s a closer view of the fish as well as some of the details in the background.

For the sentiment – it was printed out along with the fish and then I just ripped around it and then using the same ink colors as the background fish, I blended over this piece. I also used the same UTEE on it as the background. I took a white Big Brush marker to highlight the letters and underline. I also used it for highlights on the fish. I used different colors of the Big Brush markers to add some shading details around the fish.

All of the sequins and silver Stickles were added very last to the page.

Challenges:

Art Journal Journey – Fish (will have to link later when I get back!)

Challenge Up Your Life-Fun in the Sun

Happy June 1st friends! This month will bring us into the Summer months which means it’s time for all of those fun outdoor activities! I’m also getting ready for lots of things going on this month including my son’s wedding! So I know I’ll be busy! How about you?

This is my last time to be joining the “Challenge Up Your Life” challenge blog as a guest designer. I’ve had a great time with them as a guest for the past three challenges and appreciate being asked! Today their new monthly challenge for June is “Fun in the Sun“. Hope you can share your lovely creations with us this month! (Check out the challenge blog for details and inspiration!) And here’s my take on this theme:

What could be more fun than a cute little fairy sipping a drink floating on a lily pad?! Love those shades too!

There happened to be a good sale on a few digital stamps from LOTV recently and so I snatched a few and this was one of them that I fell in love with. This one is called Water Lily, of course. (The sentiment also came from the same company.) She looked like she was having some “fun in the sun” for sure, so I colored her up with my Copic markers and die cut the panel out with a stitched rectangle die. I’ve also used a scalloped stitched die to cut out a piece of pink cardstock to go with some of the colors in the image.

For the background papers, I’ve found some great *yellow rainbow paper from Lawn Fawn and then I used a *sun die from My Favorite Things and cut out with some yellow glitter cardstock. (*These items have retired) I took a wave die from Lawn Fawn and cut out a strip from vellum and used my blue marker to add some color towards the top of the waves. To attach the strip, I wrapped it around the layers and glued it from behind. I then added the ribbon with the bow and attached these layers to an A2 top folding white card base.

Here’s a closer look at the image with the coloring I’ve done. I’ve used a gold gel pen to color in her head band and then a silver one to color in the little “dots” on the ends of her glasses. I used a glitter brush pen over her sunglass lenses as well as her wings.

I finished the card off with a few colorful sequins.

So does that look like something you’d be having some “Fun in the Sun” with?! I know I sure would!😎

I sure hope to see you playing along with us this month with your creations! I also hope that you’ve enjoyed my inspiration as guest designer for these challenges the last few months. Thanks for your support friends!

Challenges: