NEW from Prima: Garden Fable!

Good morning everyone! Today I'm super excited to share with you a brand NEW release from Prima: Garden Fable. It is a stunning, mixed media, vintage-inspired collection.

And with it I created an art journal that includes a bit of fussy cutting, layering, dimension, and pretty details...

"Garden Fable Art Journal"

An assortment of Prima metals were added and complimented the vintage bird houses quite nicely :).

Here's a look at more from this gorgeous collection...

For more projects featuring this collection, as well as a GIVEAWAY, head on over to the Prima blog today!!

Products used for my art journal:

 

Prima Products: 847203 Garden Fable Collection- Garden Fable, 847234 Garden Fable Collection- Birdhouse, 990343 Memory Hardware- Vincennes Metal Pulls, 990336 Memory Hardware- Montmartre Latches, 579395 The Archivist- SIIC, 580377 Butterflies- Farfalla, 892425 Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Treasures- Metal Door Locks

 

Have a great weekend!!

Let's Catch Up!

Hey everyone! Long time, no see. I know. 

Lots and lots going on in my world...always. That never changes. I've lately withdrawn from social media for various reasons and also from blogging. As many of you know, I also have a homesteading blog where I share a lot of our real life home practices which includes a from-scratch lifestyle, raising a variety of animals for different purposes, and striving to maintain simplicity- all the while raising 3 young kids and being a "stay at home mom" who works multiple part-time jobs both inside and outside of the home. So I've realized the need to disconnect a bit more from my online life and focus more of my available energy toward the everyday demands of my actual life. Get what I mean?

So in an effort to maintain that balance, blogging has become rather secondary. I didn't mean to take this big of a break and I apologize. And I wanted to take the opportunity today to catch up on some Prima projects that I've done in the past couple months. I hope you enjoy :)

"Hello" Tag

This tag was created using my favorite of the new releases from Prima, the "Butterfly" Collection designed by Jodie Lee. To say I love this range would be an understatement.The patterns, images, and color palette are a dream come true. I'm really into purple at the moment, so this one is right up my alley.

I've paired the papers with flowers new and old, as well as some gorgeous embellishments. The frame seen here is from the new "Timeless Memories" trinkets packs.

"Fall in Love" Card

Another new release from Prima is Frank Garcia's "The Archivist" collection. In Frank's true style, you will find lots of neutral colors and awesome patterns. This is one of those collections that you just have to have as it is so versatile. 

I've used one of the new Prima Mixed Media stamps here to create the messy butterfly background. And the brown egg carton flowers are amazing- they are super thick and durable which makes them perfect for mixed media!

"Love is Beauty" Tag

The "Bella Rouge" collection is bold and gorgeous. I've paired the papers here with new flowers and new Finnabair Art Ingredients. Microbeads, glass beads, and new Color Bloom sprays add to the textured mixed media background here.

"Happy Moment" Tag

 Another project featuring the "Butterfly" collection. A bit of fussy cutting here brought this tag to life :).

Bedtime Story Mini Album

If you've got little kids, you've got to have the "Bedtime Story" collection! The vintage children's book theme offers diversity and so much interest to an album like this one. 

Lots of new flowers, brads, wood icons, crystals, and other embellishments helped me out along the way.

There you have it, folks! I hope I didn't overwhelm you too much- I know there's a lot of images in this post today. :)

And as the week enters the weekend, I hope life is treating you well. We've had some unusually nice weather around here- a week ago it was -20 F and now we're in the 40's. Although we have several feet of snow yet and March typically shows us our biggest snow storms, it's a welcome break from our always-too-long winter. I'm starting my seeds inside this weekend and have been anxiously planning for our biggest garden yet with so many dreams and plans to be fulfilled.

I wish you all the best. And I hope to see you soon!

xErin

Some Prima Projects!

Good morning :)

Today I'd like to catch up on a couple of Prima projects!

First up, is a thankful-themed card:

"Thankful for You"

I wanted to create a fun card that would be perfect for your best girlfriend! I have used the beautiful "Princes" collection which I adore for its muted, neutral, soft shabby chic color palette. 

I used one of the new Julie Nutting "Mini Dolls" which are absolutely adorable! 

Also put to use some favorite Prima dies and plenty of new release flowers too.

Prima Products Used:

911041 Julie Nutting Wood Etched Mini-Dolls, 951153  Princess- Collection Kit, 572785  Metal Die- Doily 1, 572822  Metal Die- Flowers, 572846 Metal Die- Flowers 2, 577599 Manhattan Flowers, 577438 London Rose-Crown, 578602 Maduro Flowers, 576097 Say It In Crystals, 578633 Volado Flowers, 578510 Iced Coffee Flower

Next, we have a fall-themed Pin Spin project, where we find an inspiration photo on Pinterest and create a project inspired by that photo!

"Pals"

 I love this photo of my younger two children, who are just 13 months apart. I remember how scared I was to have kids so close together, and many people told me that when they got just a little bit older, they would be like twins. And they are! It truly feels as if there is no age gap at all :)

I was inspired by this beautiful fall photo:

 

Prima Products Used:

846855 Epiphany- Clear as Day

846633 Free Spirit- Hippie

847012 Cigar Box Secrets- A4 Paper Pad

892494 Stamp-n-Add: Angel Wings

573911 Color Bloom- Sultry Shimmer Gilded

569662 Allstar Tickets and Tags Set

578572 Cigar Box Secrets- Havana Nights

578596 Cigar Box Secrets- Humidor

578640 Cigar Box Secrets- Culebra

578633 Cigar Box Secrets- Volado

577544 Melbourne- Reef

577742 Rodanthe- Sandbank

577940 Serasota- Dreamy

Thank-you so much for stopping by and viewing my Prima projects today! I hope your week is off to a pleasant start :) Best wishes,

"Strawberry Fields" Layout for Webster's Pages!

Good morning everyone! Believe it or not, I'm up with a new post today. Things are winding down for me here after 6 long months of canning after continual foraging and harvesting. It's getting colder and winter could arrive at any moment...it's always a mad dash to get everything settled before we find ourselves under snow.

But I have been creating, I have! :)

I had the pleasure of using a gorgeous collection from Webster's Pages which I hadn't yet had the chance. It was released just a little while back and is called "Strawberry Fields". It is just stunning! If you love it too, you can find it {HERE}.

"Do You Suppose She's a Wildflower?"

I love the cheerful colors of this collection and the fabulous country summertime feel of the patterns. I thought they paired nicely with this photo of my daughter feeding the chickens. 

I added a bit of fussy cutting, as well as some strips of the "Woodgrains Vellum" from the collection beneath my cluster here (the yellow patterned piece), as well as the strip directly above my photo. I've also used quite a few gorgeous Prima flowers, many new releases.

The various ATC cards available for cutting out with this collection make for great titles too! I love it when a collection allows me that luxury, rather than having to dig into my letter sticker stash to create my own. And I especially love when I can then use a title that I may not have thought of, yet fits so well, as in this case :)

Webster's Pages Products Used:

Strawberry Fields Collection Paper: Weathered
Strawberry Fields Collection Paper: Dream On
Strawberry Fields Collection Paper: Storyteller Sheet I
Strawberry Fields Collection Paper: Strawberry Patch
Strawberry Fields Collection: Woodgrains Vellum

Thank-you for stopping by today! I appreciate your visit :)

NEW Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Metals from Prima!

Have you seen the new Ingvild Bolme Shabby Chic Metals from Prima yet? Prima made the full, big reveal earlier this week- and you are just going to be in love! Such intricate pieces with moveable parts...amazing. Truly, not a detail was spared in these pieces!

"Grow"

This is a nature-inspired canvas that I created, featuring a couple of these new pieces. 

This shabby metal latch has three different parts to it, complete with a functioning sliding bolt. If you love fine details, you will be truly pleased with these!

This vintage water pump reminds me of one that I have in my own garden. I wanted to give it an aged appeal, and there's just so much texture on the surface that coloring and altering truly has no limits!

Prima Products: 892456 Shabby Chic Treasures Metal Garden Set, Shabby Chic Treasures Metal Door Locks Set, 577148 Chalkboard Paint-Sand, 573829 Worn Leather Color Bloom Spray, 575922 6x6 Stencil, 577650 Manhattan Flowers-Chrysler, 578220 Capri Burlap Flower-Merlot, 577384 Capistrano Flowers-Ginger Ale, 921835 Canvas Banner, 575717 Forever Green 4x6 Journaling Notecards, 578169 Hillsboro Flowers-Recollection, 578084 Hillsboro Leaves-Pumpkin

Check out the blog for more- including Ingvild's new stamp-n-add set and resins!!

Have a great weekend!

"Autumn": Magnifique Mixed Media November Kit~!

Good morning! I really hope you all had a great weekend and are rested up and ready for a new Monday!

A good way to start the week is with a project share, and today I finally get to show you my first creation using the Magnifique Mixed Media November Kit "Autumnal Bliss"~! As I mentioned last week in my sneak post, my sister Kelly Foster and I were given the opportunity to put together a Limited Edition mixed media kit for C'est Magnifique. It sold out in no time- and I'm SO happy to reveal that we will be continuing with a monthly mixed media kit! We've already planned out the next few months and I just know you're going to LOVE what we have in store for you! The great thing about these kits is that they can be used as stand-alone kits, but will also coordinate with the monthly main kit from C'est Magnifique as well! So if you're already a subscriber to the standard kits, this is just an added bonus for you! For non-kit subscribers, you will find everything you need for your mixed media cravings, and if you wish to reserve one for yourself on a monthly basis, you can subscribe at any time!

Here is my first project, an autumn-inspired canvas:

"Autumn"

Where I live, we are so fortunate to have some of the most beautiful Fall colors around! We get the blazing reds, oranges, yellows, etc with the various maple and other trees that are natural to our area. This year we got to enjoy about a week of this valiant display before the winds picked up and the leaves were lost. In this canvas, I wanted to capture the "deadening" of the season with all of the neutrals, browns, and creams- while adding just the splash of color that we get for that short time in Autumn before it is taken from us.

Along the edges of my canvas, I applied both Gelatos, as well as the "Autumn Butternut" Twinkling H2O's.

I combined the "Raspberry Wine" Twinkling H2Os, the "Plum Pudding" Shimmerz Spritz, and just a hint of "African Jade" Twinkling H2Os for the splash of color beneath my photos.

I used modeling paste and the mask to create the stencil details, and pooled the "Autumn Butternut" Twinkling H2Os over top and let them dry on their own to get the thick, rich coloring here. The Blue Fern Studios piece was given texture with embossing powder before I applied the "Raspberry Wine" & "Autumn Butternut" Twinkling H2Os with my fingertip over top. The less diluted the Twinkling H2Os are, the thicker they are which makes them easy to add color in this way.

Here's another look at the kit in its entirety. If you missed out on this one, keep an eye out for the middle of the month when we will be revealing our December Magnifique Mixed Media Kit- it's a GOOD one! If you would like to subscribe the the mixed media kit, see details on how to join HERE.

Thank-you so much for coming by today!

Happy New Year~! January Challenge @ OUAS~!

Good morning and Happy New Year~! 2013 has officially begun and I look forward to many more blessings in the coming year- and wish you all the same :)~!!

And what better way to start off a new month and new year than with a challenge from Once Upon A...Sketch that focuses on "The Start of Something New"! Yep, as always we're motivating you to look a little deeper and get you thinking...what does "the start of something new" mean to you? Are you looking forward to a new baby? Marriage? Home? Career? Or perhaps a whole new you, with a whole new outlook on life? I have a lot of plans ready and written down, which I've recorded on some hidden journaling below my lower photo:

"New Year, New Plan"

I've used the beautiful *NEW* "Secret Admirer" collection from KaiserCraft for this layout. You can find it HERE at the C'est Magnifique store, as well as lots of other new goodies from KaiserCraft HERE~!

**Pink ribbon from Scrapbook Fantasies**

 Here is this month's sketch, created by my dear friend Nadia Cannizzo:

I've rotated the sketch to the left to fit my photos- otherwise followed it very closely!

Here's a closer look:

 My hidden journaling :)

I have an obsession with stamping and using tissue paper...I'm finding I have lots of obsessions...;)

And as always, there are a BOAT LOAD of prizes to be won this month over at Once Upon A...Sketch, with tons of new sponsors and ways to win- so go and see this month's post HERE for full details~!!

Have a wonderful day and Happy New Year to you all~!!