blessed 35

Happy April! There's a new challenge up on The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog! This month we are asking you to create a project featuring dimension:

Here's a trio of close ups of my multi-dimensional project:

I altered and upcycled a mini burlap covered canvas. I started by removing the burlap then applied Wendy Vecchi crackled texture paste. Once the paste worked it's magic, I sponged on Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I added lots of texture to the little wooden house using a Stamper's Anonymous brick stencil along with texture paste followed with various Distress Stains and the roof was coated with an application of embossing enamel:

The die cut heart was covered with a generous application of Distress Crackle Paint followed with Vintage Photo Distress Stain then embellished with a trio of flowers and die cut foliage:

Speaking of texture, while my daughter and I were treasure shopping for her vintage market, she spotted this shabbified vintage trunk for me. It found a new home next to the fireplace in our family room :)

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you enjoyed my project! Please be sure to visit The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge site for loads of awesome inspiration from the DT and for complete details on how to share your mixed media creativity with us! Remember, this month we have a sponsor who is offering a fantastic prize to one lucky player! Like the lottery, you have to play to win!
Be Sweet ;)

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REMEMBER and a tutorial 13

Hi there! Today it's my turn to share a project on the Prima blog featuring Finnabair art basics Mixed Media Essentials Kit.

In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, I was inspired to alter a picture frame Finnabair style. I featured a photo of my sweet daughter in law and her Mom celebrating their Irish heritage while performing a traditional Irish dance. I created a mosaic like shamrock using fun geo shapes, various Finnabair mediums from the Mixed Media Essentials Kit and mica powders.

In case you were curious about how I made this project, I took several step shots along the way sharing my creative process:
Step 1: Apply white gesso to all geo shapes, metal embellishments, shamrock and photo frame. 

Step 2: Apply white sand texture paste around geo shapes.

Step 3: Randomly apply texture and design to photo frame using stencil and modeling paste.

Step 4: Randomly adhere glass beads to photo frame using gel paste.

Step 5: Mix mica powders with water, randomly apply to photo frame and shamrock until desired look is achieved. 

Step 6: Adhere shamrock to photo frame, highlight areas using white gesso then randomly splatter with white acrylic paint.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my projects. Please be sure to visit the Prima blog for loads of awesome inspiration!
Be Sweet ;)

Prima products used: 584542-Geo Shapes Ombre Crush, 963002-Finnabair art Extravagance Texture Paste White Sand, 962951-Finnabair art Extravagance Heavy Gesso White, 962982-Finnabair art basics 3D Gloss Gel Transparent, 962975-Finnabair art basics Modeling Paste Opaque Matte, 961398-Finnabair art basics 3D Matte Gel Transparent, 961671-Finnabair art ingredients Glass Beads Crystal, 962500-Finnabair art ingredients Mica Powder Green, 962524-Finnabair art ingredients Mica Powder Gold, 962479-Finnabair art ingredients Mica Powder Purple, 963361-Finnabair Mechanicals Metal Embellishments Tin Hearts, 572167-12 x 12 Stencil Mask Rattan, 960322-Finnabair Vintage Trinkets, Mini Flowers, 892210-Ingvild Bolme Jean Plates

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BLISS 19

Happy March! It's time for a new More Than Words Challenge! This month's challenge is all about:

Word: Bliss

                                                         Creative Challenge: Gesso

Here are some close ups of my canvas:

When I'm painting, life is BLISS! I was inspired to create a "Finnabair" inspired canvas featuring an upcycled paintbrush reflecting my passion along with a metal plate tag reading BLISS as the title. The entire canvas was covered with black gesso as the base coat then white gesso was applied at the end for a highlight:

 

In case you were curious, here is how my canvas looked like before I applied the colorful paints:

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please be sure to visit the More Than Words Challenge blog to see what the entire design team has created and for complete details on how to join along in the fun!
Be Sweet ;)

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LOVE 19

Hi! Love is in the air! Today it's my turn to share a home decor project on the Prima blog. Please feel free to stop by and say hi HERE :)

I enjoy creating various home decor projects featuring Finnabair Mechanicals year round. I altered a wooden table top decoration simply by layering and adhering an assortment of Finnabair Mechanicals followed with an application of white gesso and random clear crackle texture paste. Once dry, for a touch of shimmer and shine, I randomly applied the following colors of art ingredients Mica Powders: Frozen Lake, Teal, Purple and Blue.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my projects. Please be sure to visit the Prima blog for loads of awesome inspiration!

Be Sweet ;)

Prima product used: 962821-Finnabair art ingredients Mica Powder- Frozen Lake, 962470-Finnabair art ingredients Mica Powder- Purple, 962487-Finnabair art ingredients Mica Powder- Teal, 962494-Finnabair art ingredients Mica Powder- Blue, 961541-Finnabair art Extravagance Texture Paste-Clear Crackle, 962951-Finnabair art basics Heavy Gesso White, 961428-Finnabair art basics Soft Matte Gel, 963408-Finnabair Vintage Mechanicals Grungy Butterflies, 960339-Finnabair Vintage Mechanicals: Roses, 960322-Finnabair Vintage Mechanicals: Mini Flowers, 963361-Finnabair Mechanicals Tin Hearts, 960407-Finnabair Vintage Mechanicals Flowers: Small,  960315-Finnabair Vintage Mechanicals Flowers: Medium

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A Prima style heart 17

Hi! Today I have a Prima style heart ornament to share. The Prima DT was asked to create an ornament of any kind non-Christmas, any style to be used to help decorate the Prima CHA booth. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I had LOVE on my mind and ran with it ;)
In a nutshell, I started with a beautiful Archival Cast Collection~Relics and Artifacts heart, covered it with a generous application of art alchemy Acrylic Paint-Metallique Vintage Rose paint followed with a little art Extravagance-Snowflake Paste. Once dry, I embellished with a Resin Embellishments Keys and a Junkyard Findings-Keyhole which were both painted using art ingredients-Mica Powder Gold. I topped it off with a beautiful Prima flower.

Thanks so much for visiting ~ I hope you have enjoyed my project!

PLEASE take a moment to read the following. As a designer, this can impact my opportunities in the crafting world. 

I appreciate all the support and kind comments that are left on my blog. I'm over joyed with the wonderful people that I've made friends with through crafting and hope to continue to do so. I've never required anyone to sign up as a follower and I'm really proud of that BUT it is what it is and manufacturers take into consideration a crafters blog and other social media venues participation. I enjoy seeing other designers artwork as well as sharing my own and I wish there was more time in the day to do it all! With that being said, will you please take a moment to see if these changes effect you?

FROM GOOGLE:

Changes to Blogger's Google Friend Connect

Blogger has made some big changes to
how we follow blogs
so read on to see
if these new rules will affect you!

From Google: We announced the retirement of Google Friend Connect for all non-Blogger sites. We made an exception for Blogger to give readers an easy way to follow blogs using a variety of accounts. Yet over time, we’ve seen that most people sign into Friend Connect with a Google Account. So, in an effort to streamline, in the next few weeks we’ll be making some changes that will eventually require readers to have a Google Account to sign into Friend Connect and follow blogs.

As part of the plan starting the week of Jan.11th, 2016 we’ll remove the ability for people with Twitter, Yahoo, Orkut or other OpenId providers to sign in to Google Friend Connect and follow blogs. At the same time, we’ll remove non-Google Account profiles so you may see a decrease in your blog follower count.

We encourage you to tell affected readers (perhaps via a blog post), that if they use a non-Google account to follow your blog, they need to sign up for a Google Account, and re-follow your blog. With a Google Account, they’ll get blogs added to their Reading List, making it easier for them to see the latest posts and activity of the blogs they follow.

We know how important followers are to all bloggers, but we believe this change will improve the experience for both you and your readers.

Prima product list: 941734-Archival Cast Collection~Relics and Artifacts-Rising Spirit 111, 963200-Finnabair art alchemy Acrylic Paint-Metallique Vintage Rose, 962999-Finnabair art basics Soft Gloss Gel Transparent, 962906-Finnabair art Extravagance-Snowflake Paste, 962524-Finnabair art ingredients-Mica Powder Gold, 586539-Prima flowers, 570002-Ingvild Bolme-Resin Embellishments Keys, 892227-Ingvild Bolme-Junkyard Findings-Keyholes, 961374-Finnabair art Basics-Heavy White Gesso

Be Sweet ;)

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Vintage Decor 23

Hi there! In case you didn't know, this week is the annual Craft and Hobby Association Mega Trade Show where many manufacturers in the business will be revealing their latest and greatest products. Today I have a project to share featuring one of Prima's new products: Iron Orchid Decor Designs Vintage Art Decor Moulds. Please feel free to stop by the Prima blog HERE and say hi! :)

I altered the small jewelry box shown below that I purchased from a thrift store for a couple of dollars:

Using the Iron Orchid Decor Designs Vintage Art Decor Moulds along with some clay, I created the beautiful ornate pieces. Once dry, I removed them from the moulds, adhered to the top of the jewelry box, painted with Americana Decor Chalky Finish Vintage paint then applied both Annie Sloan Dark Wax and Martha Stewart Clear Wax:

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please be sure to visit the Prima blog to see many more inspiring projects!
Be Sweet ;)

Prima Product list:
814786-Iron Orchid Decor Designs Vintage Art Decor Moulds-Baroque 2, 814793-Iron Orchid Decor Designs Vintage Art Decor Moulds-Baroque 3

Other: found jewelry box, Americana Decor Chalky Finish Vintage, Annie Sloan Dark Wax, Martha Stewart Clear Wax

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