Card Tutorial for Wild Orchid Crafts

Hi friends!

How was your weekend? I'm up on the Wild Orchid Crafts blog with a card tutorial which I would like to share with you.

Here's the project I've created, and I've used some really beautiful flowers from their store:

Some close-ups:

I've chosen to keep my background really simple with only layering of some gorgeous papers from the Blue Fern Studios Montage collection. There are some really beautiful designs on these papers and it would be a waste to cover them up. Most of my altering was done on the BFS chipboard and the WOC flowers themselves, and you can check out the video below to see how it was done.




WOC products used:
Large Ivory Wild Roses 40mm QVR-038 
2-toned Mixed Color Wild Roses 30mm QVR-040
Ivory Hip Rosebuds GST-063

And also, before I really forget again... (LOL), I've picked a winner for my mini-tag album giveaway and she is Rose!! Thanks for being such a sport and please email me (sunnyjeli{at}gmail{dot}com) with your mailing address!

That's all I have for now, but I'll be back very soon with more creations to inspire you for the month of February!

love,

The measure of color

Hello friends!

It's me, Jelissa,  on the 13@rts blog today. I have a layout and some tips to share with you, and I've tried to do a few different things after a friend challenged me to go out of my comfort zone.

So what I did differently was to use bright colors instead of my usual mixture of neutral and cool colors. I've used a neutral beige as my base (because it helps to balance your colors and lets your eyes rest from all the excitement), orange and salmon as my secondary colors, and yellow as an accent. This is a general rule I use to decide how much of each color I want to have on my project - 

1) one main color (dominant color - beige)

2) 1 to 2 secondary colors (for movement and mood - orange, salmon)

3) 1 accent color (something to highlight and give it a pop - yellow)

And I use them usually in this proportion, with "Gallon" being the most and "Dollop" being the least:

"Gallon" (dominant color) -> "Quart" (secondary color 1) -> "Pint" (secondary color 2) ->

"Dollop" (accent color)

I also deliberately used a black and white photo to make the colors I have more outstanding, and I didn't count the black I used in my stamping and splatters as a color per se. 

Most of my secondary colors are in the background elements, while my accent color is used in places to highlight my elements eg. photo mat to lead your eyes to the photo of my cute little boy and his long eye lashes, and the balancing cluster with the frame and the pale yellow chrysanthemum.

Another fun thing I tried out was using the Silver Glitter paint as an adhesive. I put small drops of it where I wanted my dew drops and put them on. The result is a beautiful glittery effect inside the plain looking dew drops.

So that's all I have for this month, hope you find the tips on using color useful!

love,

Project Restoration with 13@rts

Happy Thursday friends!

Today I'm up on the 13@rts blog with my first project for them for 2015. For that, I've taken an abandoned altered project and tried to give it a second lease of life.

Here's the art palette I tried to work on about 8 months ago but couldn't find the inspiration to continue with:

Nothing that a (few) layers of gesso can't do. Here's the same palette again and I manage to retain the textures from the stenciled design.

And after some tinkling around (and of course I was inspired by my fabulous team mate Ingrid Gooyer), here is the restored art palette:

I've used a lot of 13@rts mediums here - the modeling paste, acrylic primer, gel medium, and of course their lovely matte paints and mists. My favourite colors for now (which I used here) are Berry (both matte paint and mist), Lilac (chalk mist), Cobalt Blue (matte paint) and Coral (matte paint).

Some close-ups:

I created a little bundle of brushes with two of my own (already destroyed by my constant usage) and the Artist Brush chipboards from Blue Fern Studios. To create the bristles, I used the gold glitter strips from 13arts and sealed them down with gel medium. To create texture on the rest of my palette, I held the microspheres from the 13@rts store with lots of modeling paste, glass beads which I got from the neighbourhood stationary shop, a piece of lace, dry-wall tape and torn canvas strips. 

Suddenly I'm into these twine bundles and I've made another one here to hold my brushes together. They were then given a coat of crackle paint. Underneath all that are the Checker bits and Grunge Frame chipboards, also from BFS. 

Another cluster and a closer look at what I did to the chipboards. White embossing powder was used as a resist for the Checkered Bits while the Frame had random spots of crackle paint. I also used the the Art stencil to add in some sentiments on top of my title piece (Express Yourself, BFS). 

More floral clusters.

That's all I have for today. Thank you for dropping by!

love,

Debut post for Wild Orchid Crafts

Hello lovely folks! How has your Saturday been?

Today I'm presenting my debut post for Wild Orchid Crafts and my project is a sweet shabby mini-tag album embellished with lots of WOC products.

I've used papers from the "Coffee in the Arbor" collection by Maja Design (6x6 paper pad) and trimmed them down to size. Also used are chipboards from Blue Fern Studios, which I absolutely love!

But you would agree with me that the most eye-catching part about the mini-album would be the gorgeous flowers from WOC. I have on my cover chrysanthemums, roses and sweet blossoms, all available from the WOC store.

The clock hands are from the small Roman clock chipboard, but the clock ring is actually a piece of metal embellishment from WOC, which I have altered.

Some inside pages:

My album ended up quite chunky because I just had to use these lovely 3D flowers on every page (well, almost every page).

Keeping the pages simple for photos and sentiments.

And here is my start-to-finish video tutorial:

List of supplies:

WOC products:

Mixed Size Open Roses MKX-599

Mixed Colour Sweetheart Blossom MKX-137

Mixed White Flowers & Rhinestone Embellishment Starter Pack MKX-323

Mixed Colour Chrysanthemums QVR-080

2-Toned Mixed Colour Wild Roses 30mm QVE-040

Mixed Clocks and Time Metal Embellishments GST-158

Vintage Cabochons Copenhagen MKX-195

Others:

Mediums: 13@rts, Luminarte Silks Glaze, Rangers, Lindy's Stamp Gang

Papers: Maja Design (Coffee in the Arbor collection)

Chipboard embellishments: Blue Fern Studios (Memory Frame Set, Roman clock set,

Chipboard tag album: Um Wow Studio

Trim, Twine: own stash

And here's a giveaway special! If you would like to own this mini tag album that I've created, just complete the following steps (international shipping included):

1) Subscribe to my blog and Youtube channel

2) Follow Wild Orchid Crafts on their blog and FB page 

3) Leave a comment below before 14 Jan 2015 (12 noon GMT+8) and I'll pick a winner on the 15th.

That's all I have for today. Have a crafty weekend!

 love,

Debut post for Maja Designs

Good day everyone!

I'm so excited to present to you my very first post as a Maja girl! Still trying to get used to that name because I've never thought of myself as a girly girl despite the romantic shabby style that I love so much and the amount of flowers that I must use on any layout.

For my very first post, I've used some of the gorgeous papers from the Vintage Summer Basics and Vintage Spring Basics. Love how different papers from different collections complement each other so perfectly, not to mention just how much their shabby sweetness appeals to me!

Here is the layout I made of my youngest. I chose to focus on the grey and blue tones with a touch of white washing.

Some close-ups:

I had a lot of fun creating these layers by tucking in bits and pieces in between the papers. The neutral colors of the background paper was also suitable for the mixed media work I wanted to do with my 13arts stash of paints and mists.

My floral cluster and title. Keeping everything toned down and simple. Tucked under is a Blue Fern Studios chipboard (Printer's Desk) which I've lightly altered.

A flair from Um Wow Studio

The Graduated Square chipboard (also from Blue Fern Studios) under all that layers, together with more flowers. I also tucked in leaves die cut out from Vintage Spring Basics.

The other side of the cluster with little cut-outs from Vintage Autumn Basics.

And here is a start-to-finish of how I created this layout. Thank you for dropping by today!

love,

Coming soon....

Hello friends! I'm in today to share some eye candy with you. Are you ready for the newest release from Blue Fern Studios?

I'm not sure about you, my heart skipped not one, but two beats when I saw these new papers designed by Michele! For once, pinks and blacks didn't look awkward together and everything is so beautifully soft and romantic. Keep your eyes peeled for the launch date!

love, 

Maja Design's January Mood Board

Hello friends and happy Sunday!

Today I'm bringing you my entry for Maja Design's January mood board challenge. Other than sketches, mood boards are my go-to whenever I need inspiration and I'm pretty sure one look at this mood board and you will be moved!

Here it is: 

and the quote to go along:

And here are my projects, using papers from the Vintage Spring collection:

This is a matching set of canvas and journal I made for someone. I love the Berry and Lilac colors from 13@rts' matte paints and mists range, so I added those to the soft grays in the mood board and used those mediums for the two projects.

Some close-ups:

I used various pieces of the Rose frame chipboard from Blue Fern Studios to create a consistent pattern between my canvas and journal cover.

I also received some Luminarte acrylic glazes for Christmas and brushed a coat of it over everything for a lovely shimmer.

One of the pages inside the journal where I have a pocket for notes, cards, photos etc.

Papers used are from the Vintage Spring Basics collection 6x6 paper pad.

Don't forget to hop over to the Maja Design blog to find out more about this challenge, and for your chance to win a gorgeous prize from them. 

And that's all for today, thank you for stopping by!

love,

My First Reveal for Scrap Around the World

Hello everyone and welcome to the first weekend of 2015!

I'm so excited today not just because it's a new year with new beginnings, but I have for you today, my first reveal with the challenge blog Scrap Around the World.

Those of you who have visited my blog long enough would know that this is one of the first challenge blogs I took part, and subsequently won and was featured in. And I'm so, so glad that Helen had asked me to join her group of awesomely talented girls.

Here is the mood board :

and the rules of engagement:

This is the layout I've created, using the gorgeously shabby papers from Maja Design, another new team that I'm starting with this year. Love just how perfectly their papers match the shabby romantic mood board Karita has designed.

My inspiration came from the colors, the clocks with Roman numerals, the roses (LOVE those) and the keys. 

Some close-ups:

My floral cluster containing my title, where I lightly altered the flowers with some Shimmerz Inklingz. I die cut the leaves out from Vintage Summer Basics and dabbed gesso randomly for a touch of shabbiness.

Layers and layers of papers. Tucked in between is a piece cut out from the Rose Border chipboard from Blue Fern Studios. I've colored it with a mixture of Inklingz, Ayeeda Matte Paint and Distress Paint.

Another Poppy collage chipboard (also from BFS) altered the same way. For the honeycomb parts, I painted with Pewter Distress Crackle paint, followed by dabs of Patina glaze to achieve more shabbiness.

Some gorgeous fussy cut roses and clocks from Vintage Summer Basics.

From this month onwards, there will be ELEVEN prizes up for grabs so if you have time this weekend, why not put together a little project that might just win you a fabulous pack and a shot at a guest designer spot? Below are the amazing stuff you get to win:

ALL OUR PRIZES ALWAYS INCLUDE FREE INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE!!

1ST PRIZE

OVER $50 worth of product from 7 Dots Studio!
EXACTLY AS SHOWN BELOW

7 Dots Studio was born from dreams & for dreams. 

We are a European scrapbooking manufacturer of high 

quality scrapbooking products – paper, stickers, die-cuts,

 collage sheets, 6x6 pads, collection kits &chipboard.

Our collections are created by amazingly talented artists - 

from clean, graphic designs to mixed-media, grungy collage look. 

What you can always be sure of are high quality & thickness

 of our papers, which makes them perfect for all kinds of media.

 Among our products you will also find clear stamp sets coordinating 

with our collections to make them even more interesting & versatile.

We are amazingly happy & feel very blessed to see how much

 our products are loved by crafters & artists all around the world!

If you would like to see more awesome inspiration from our design team

please visit our blog HERE, our Facebook  page HERE & follow us on

Twitter HERE, Pinterest HERE & Instagram {7DOTSSTUDIO}.

-----------------------------

2ND PRIZE

$35 worth of CHIPBOARD from 2Crafty Chipboard
{not necessarily exactly what is shown below but a GREAT selection!}

2Crafty Chipboard is an Australian owned & operated manufacturer & wholesaler 

of laser cut chipboard products, located in Sydney, Australia.  We have been

 in operation since October 2006 & have more than 1 000 designs on offer.

We pride ourselves on quality products that are versatile & up to date with 

market trends, as well as offering unbeatable customer service, 

with quick turnaround of jobs large & small. Visit our website HERE.

We are happy to quote on personalised jobs, whether it be a single title for a 
customer, or large jobs for retreats, classes etc.  If you are a retail business 

& would like to stock our range of unique products, please contact us

 for more information.  Please see further details on our blog HERE!

--------------------------------

3RD PRIZE

$30 worth of product from 13@rts
{A selection of the products shown below}

13arts is a Polish manufacturer specialising in scrapbook papers, 

embellishments & artistic mediums. See our store HERE where

we ship worldwide!  Our blog HERE is full of inspiration & we

 have a monthly challenge where all our welcome!

Follow us on Instagram HERE, Twitter HERE & Facebook

 HERE & remember to follow us on Pinterest HERE too!!

---------------------------------

4TH PRIZE

$25 gift certificate from Creative Embellishments!

Creative Embellishments is a family owned company created by

Michael & Nicolle Kramer, a husband & wife team who design

 & manufacture unique, high quality chipboard, wood, rubber stamps 

& flair products.  We have been in operation since September 2013. 

It is our mission to offer fun & inspiring products that can be added to

 any project to bring out your inner creativity! In the near future we will 

be expanding into other mediums such as acrylic & stencil embellishments.

 We also custom cut for individual orders & have a wholesale store for 

retailers, kit clubs & classes. Do your shopping HERE!  If you own a 

store register for our wholesale section HERE.  Be inspired by our blog

HERE & follow us on Instagram HERE & Youtube HERE.

----------------------------------

5TH PRIZE

$20 worth of product from UmWowStudio!
{based on a good selection of the goodies below!!}

UmWowStudio is an innovative embellishment company located in

 Las Vegas, Nevada.  With chipboard, flair & stencils currently in

 their product line (& more fun things on the way!) they span across

 all bits of paper crafting, including memory saving, card making,

 tags, stamping, mixed media, art journaling & more!

Shop with us HERE, follow our blog HERE & LIKE us on Facebook

HERE!  Follow our boards on Pinterest HERE & Youtube HERE!!

-------------------------------

6TH PRIZE

15 Euros worth of product from Scrap-Unlimited
{you will receive a surprise selection of BEAUTIFUL goodies!}

Scrap-Unlimited is a craft supplies manufacturer from The Netherlands,

creating  & selling the most amazing selection of embellishments for the

crafting industry.  We offer shabby chic, vintage & steampunk inspired 

embellishments, ribbon, flowers, metals, mini-books & mini novelty items.  

Check out our online store HERE for SO MUCH MORE!  

LIKE us on Facebook HERE & follow our highly

 inspirational blog HERE & our Pinterest board HERE.

-----------------------------------

7TH PRIZE

15 Euros gift voucher from Mixed Media Place

Mixed Media Place is a treasure chest of different media for creative minds,

carrying a wide variety of embellishments & tools to get your projects going. 

The world of mixed media is a place of limitless possibilities - we are here
 to help you to spread your wings & fly! Find our blog HERE, LIKE us on
Facebook HERE, follow our boards on Pinterest HERE & do your shopping HERE!

------------------------------------

8TH PRIZE

17.50 Euros worth of products from Danafix, France. 
{Exactly as shown below}  Ciao 5+1 set “Vampire Knights”.

www.copicmarqueurs.com is an online store 100% dedicated to all 

Copic products. All Copic products made & assembled by the European

 importer are available in stock & we offer fast, international delivery!

--------------------------------

9TH PRIZE

$15 worth of product from Studio75
{Exactly as shown below}

Studio75 is a  Polish manufacturer of scrapbooking papers & items 

such as chipboard albums, notebooks, spiral bindings & magnetic sheets.  

We have our own online store HERE, a bustling Facebook page HERE

 & a highly inspirational blog HERE - come & visit us - let's connect!

---------------------------

10TH PRIZE

Over $15 worth of product!!Courtesy of our design team!
{This month from me - Helen Tilbury}

Prize consists of a full pack of 5 inch doilies, airmail washi, a Prima stamp set,

K & Co. brads, Purple Pumpkin flairs & giant button, embroidered flourish,

Basic Grey bling rub-ons & Wycinanka Chipboard Christmas set. 

-------------------------------

RANDOM PRIZE

Scrapbook kit from SCRAPS OF ELEGANCE KIT CLUB
Random Winner will always receive the previous month's kit
from Scraps of Elegance, valued at a whopping $36.95!!

Scraps of Darkness & Scraps of Elegance are monthly scrapbook kit clubs
 that cater to scrapbookers who are looking for an alternative to what other 
kit clubs offer.  Our kits are designed for artists who wish to take scrapbooking
 to a level beyond.  We strive to include the latest & greatest items on the market
 that will enable you  to create not "just a layout", but a work of art. 

Visit our blog HERE,our Store HERE & sign up for our kits HERE & HERE!

Please LIKE us on Facebook HERE, follow our boards on Pinterest HERE ,

subscribe to our Youtube channel HERE & find our tutorials HERE!!

We would LOVE to connect with you!!!

------------------------------------------

The deadline for this challenge is  SATURDAY 31th JANUARY 2015.

And that's all I have for you today! Thank you for dropping by!

love,