I'm Back!!

Hi there,

Have you have wondered what happened to me? No, I did not fall off the face of the earth and I have been feeling just fine albeit tired of this pandemic as I am sure most of you are too.

My post back in March for The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog was my last one as a Design Team member for them since I chose not to continue on after 13 years. In the time since that last post I came to realize just how much work editing photos was so I took a long break from my blog. I have been creating though and I think it is time to start sharing what I have been up to. I won't go into a lot of details for each project since I have purposely not taken a pile of photos but will give you a little synopsis of each project.

The project I am showing you today is a mixed media art book about leaves and was inspired by an online course I took from Roxanne Evans Stout. It is about 5" x 7" and each of the seven double-sided pages features a different leaf and lots of texture, collage, paint and stenciling.

I will be back with more of my latest creations so stay tuned.

2018 - The Year Of - - - - Delight

It is time for the next challenge at Frilly and Funkie called 2018 - The Year Of.  This time, the talented Suzz is our hostess and here is how she describes it:

Welcome to a brand new year! I am not very good at New Year Resolutions but I do like to think about what I want to focus on in the New Year. To help me do this, I pick a word that is my word for the year and try to use that word to keep me focused on what is important. The challenge to you is to pick a word that will be your inspiration for 2018. Create a vintage or shabby chic project that includes your word of 2018. The word can be part of a sentiment, phrase or stand alone on your project as long as it is featured somewhere in your art.

After a lot of consideration I have chosen the word "delight". There is so much negativity in the world today and I can blame myself for some of it because I am my own worst critic so I decided that it is time to find delight in myself and what I do every day and to take delight in the positive actions, words and accomplishments of others. I can't say that I will be delighted with cleaning but when I am finished I can take delight in the fact that I have a lovely clean house - at least until the dust bunnies breed again. 😉

I have created a simple shabby chic card with some layers.  The card started with some Recollections card stock for the blank and then I used papers from the Coffee in the Arbour pad (Maja Designs).

I added some texture paste (Ranger) through a Flourish stencil (Tim Holtz) to the background panel and distressed the edges before I adhered it to my blank.

Then I tore a couple more narrow panels on the diagonal and added some lace to the top of each before I distressed the edges of them.  Using double-sided tape (Scor), I ruffled some tulle across the top back of each panel and then added them to the background panel.

I cut some leaves from scraps of white card using the Garden Greens die (Tim Holtz).

I found the quote online and created some word art with it using Photoshop.  Once it was printed on the computer, I die cut it using the Fleur de Lis Squares die (Spellbinders) and then inked the edges with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink (Tim Holtz).

I added a simple bow from white sheer ribbon and then created a floral spray with the leaves and a bunch of flowers (Wild Orchid Crafts).

Next, I punched a butterfly from a scrap of white card using a Martha Stewart punch.  It was coated with Perfect Pearl Perfect Pearls (Ranger.  Some adhesive pearls (Kaisercraft) were added to the body.  Finally I scattered a few teeny pink gems (Dollarama) around the card.

This card was not difficult to make and I must say I find it quite delightful.

Believe Canvas

Another month has rolled around and that means it is time for a new challenge at Stamps and Stencils.  Rachel, our hostess this month, wants us to create with Texture, Crackle and Paint. She describes it this way:

"This month I would love to see what you come up with using texture, crackle and paint! Anything goes using stamps and/or stencils - make it mixed media please. Can't wait to get started - hope you'll join us!"

I have made a canvas with lots of texture. If any of you have read my blog lately you will know that I lost some files recently and a few of the process files for this one were part of that accident but I will explain what I did.

I started by making a template for a heart as shown on the left. Then I cut one out of chipboard and gave it a coat of Liquitex Gesso as shown on the right.

The next step was to coat it with Golden Light Molding Paste using a credit card to smear it on. I wasn't too careful to make it smooth and actually went in afterwards and roughed it up a bit. Once the paste was dry I painted it with a bit of Fresco Finish Haystack and Blood Orange Chalk Acrylic leaving bits white. I sealed the heart with a watered down coat of Mod Podge.

Next I grabbed a 6" square canvas, gave it a coat of Liquitex Gesso and then added some stenciling with the Light Molding Paste and a TCW stencil called Mini Pattern Stripes and a Prima Zig-Zag stencil.

At this point I added some strips of Recollections Washi tape, some Tim Holtz Tissue tape and bits of Tim Holtz Postale Tissue Wrap.  I gave everything another light coat of Gesso.

The next photos are a bit confusing because I had to recreate them after the accident but the narrative below will explain what I did in what order.

I added some colour with IndigoBlu Townhouse Teal Acrylic Paint and Fresco Finish Haystack and Blood Orange along with some Ceramcoat White.

Next I did some stamping with a stamp from an IndigoBlu set called Tasty Textures along with some stenciling with a TCW stencil called Mini Geometric Art Layers.  In both cases I used Jet Black Archival Ink.  I also decided to add some Wendy Vecchi Crackled Texture Paste through the stencil.

I also added a heart made from Tim Holtz Frosted Film on the bottom right corner that I painted with Blood Orange and I stenciled another heart on the top left corner with a Hearts stencil from Heidi Swapp.

Once everything was dry I sealed the canvas with watered down Mod Podge, added the large heart and a piece of wooden text that I painted with IndigoBlu Raven Black Metallic Paint.

This canvas is a bit of a departure for me but was lots of fun to make and is quite cheerful.  I hope you will join us for this challenge and show us lots of texture.