Club Scrap Transformations Blog Hop

Welcome to Club Scrap's September - Transformations Blog Hop!  This month's kit - Transformations is so beautiful.  I love everything from the colors to the stamps right down to the smallest embellishments.  It's just perfect!

So this month I wanted to make something that I have fallen in love with recently...a Pocket Letter!  I just love making these little devils.  The concept behind them is a new way to send notes, quotes and goodies to a friend.  You can save and collect them in any 3 ring binder. Since this kit has such inspiring quotes I thought it would be perfect!

I started off by choosing various papers to use for each block and then I added a bit of stamping, embellishments, quotes and a few other bits to each card.  Everything you see comes with the kit with the exception of the peacock feather, twine and real bamboo pieces. They were in my stash but I thought they fit the theme very well.

Once I had finished up the front side of my pocket letter it was time to fill it up!  I added several embellishments from the kit, a few "cut apart" pieces, some fun woven jute (from my stash), tea and lifesavers.

I then folded and trussed it up so nothing would fall out and my pocket letter is ready to be mailed! 

Who's it going to???  Well, that's to be determined....maybe it'll be in the mail to you.  To be entered to win, simply leave a comment and I'll toss your name in to the hat. Please be sure to leave me some way to contact you in case you don't see your name announced. 

You have until 10-6-15 to enter.

When I was cleaning up I noticed I had lots of smaller left-overs from this and other projects I've made this month so I decided rather than just stuff them in my scrap box I'd make some cards first.

Rock On Dude!

and the inside 

(since many of you have asked to see how I finish the inside of cards)

This is a long skinny card that fits into a standard business size envelope.

and it's inside.  I like these cards because there is so much

space for writing a note inside.

And finally one more...

with just a bit of bamboo stamped on the inside.


Well that's all I have for you this month.
I hope you've been inspired to create...
your next creative stop on the hop is...

Julie - Cape Cod Scrapper

if you get lost along the way you can always find the complete list here - 

Club Scrap Transformations Blog Hop

2015 Mixed Media Technique Calendar - November

Today we're going to work on November's page in the 2015 Mixed Media Technique Calendar.

This technique adds some fun hidden dimension to any mixed media project and the best part it uses trash to do so!!  The following 2 photos show some of the texture not captured in the first photo.

As you can see there is a hidden leaf pattern which I'll show you how to achieve right now!

Now I mentioned that I used garbage to create the hidden texture on the calendar page.  No, I didn't go dumpster diving but I did save some paper headed for the trash bin.  Earlier this month I needed several small leaves for a project I was working on (which you'll see sometime next month).

 And I had all of these strips of paper left over.  I hate throwing this stuff away but I normally do because what are you gonna do with it right?  Well, I trimmed as close as possible to the edge of each strip of cardstock. 

And I glued it down to my Gothic Arch!

I varied the pattern up a bit, flipped some over so the leaves were going in different directions.  Once it had dried I trimmed off the excess from the edges and glued down any little bits that weren't adhered the first time.

Next, a coat of gesso or white acrylic paint just to tone the cardstock down a bit.

To add some color I squirted on a few colors of StazOn Studio Glaze.  It adds dimension, a bit of shine and color all at the same time.

If you don't have Studio Glaze you can use a bit of watered down acrylic paint or watercolor paints for this step.

Next, a bit of stamping...text

Dots (in bronze Delicata ink)

A little inking around the edges and here and there to highlight the leaves.

Next I stamped a fun Stamptangle Pumpkin onto several colors of orange cardstock, cut & pop-dotted it together; used a few of the extra leaves I had left over and added the calendar.  And there you have it!  A fun way to add hidden texture and dimension to virtually any project! Hope you give it a try.

Autumn Mixed Media Frame

Today I wanted to share a fun project with you that incorporates some of my favorite mediums in a nifty frame fit for all of your Autumn memories!

Let's begin!

I am using a frame that I found at Darlington Farms a couple years ago...it had a giant rubber band which was meant to hold the photos to the frame.  I took those off and will use them for another project someday.  So I'm left with a nice white canvas to begin.  Now since I know you can't go back in time to buy a couple of these frames yourself there are lots of alternatives - you could get a piece of MDF cut to size, use a canvas, a piece of book board, chipboard, game board, heck you can even use an old book cover if it's large enough for your needs.  Like I always say - use what you have on hand.

Tear up a couple pages from a book - they can be old, new, or in between.  I am using some pages from a really old book I have that's in a foreign language (no clue which one).  I am using Antique Creative Medium to adhere the pages to the frame making sure I work out any bubbles under the pages.

When I had the pages glued down I smeared a bit extra Creative Medium on the right side of the frame as well to add instant age to the piece.  Be sure to apply it to the sides of your frame as well as they will show once it is on display.  If you're an over achiever you can add it to the back if you'd like.  I'm not that ambitious so I just did the sides ;)

While the frame is drying I embossed a few Stamptangle Leaves with gold embossing powder.

Which I colored with a few different colors of Brusho Colour Crystals - Orange, TerraCotta, Scarlet, and Yellow Ocher. 

As the leaves were drying I tied on a bit of orange raffia.

Then glued on the leaves and added a few sequins.  It was o.k... but it was still a bit plain for my taste ~ you know I have a hard time with white spaces.

Soooo I pulled out my Spiced Chai StazOn and stamped a crackle design here and there; used a Sponge Dauber and added a touch of Ganache StazOn and finished it off with a spritz of Bronze irRESISTible Texture Spray!

And there you have it!

Supplies:

IMAGINE Crafts featuring Tsukineko: Antique Creative Medium; Diamond Trowel; Sponge Daubers; StazOn - Spiced Chai; Ganache; irRESISTible Texture Spray - Bronze; VersaMark Ink; Gold Embossing Powder

Just For Fun Rubber Stamps - Stamptangle Oak Leaf; Stamptangle Maple Leaf; Crackle Background

Brusho Colour Crystals

Watercolor Paper, Vintage Text, Frame, Sequins, Raffia

Farewell to Summer...

Just my own little farewell to summer....

The background was made with Summer Sky (perfect name huh?) Fireworks Shimmer spray.  The fluffy cloud and rainbow were created using various colors of Radiant Neon Amplify! medium and heated to puff.  I love this stuff - it adds such a fun dimension to your projects.  And finally I stamped this lovely sentiment (from Club Scrap) to finish it off.

If you'd like to see step by step instructions they can be found here - Beside You Amplify! Rainbow

Hope you all have a lovely weekend...

remember to take time for you!!

Paint N Sip Creation

Mom is really into the Paint and Sip program in our area, last night Morgan (soon to be DIL) and I went along with her last night and created this....

The instructor called it Three Sisters but I think I'm going to call mine Autumn Meadow.  Hers really didn't have much life in the background (so of course me doing my own thing) I added the wispy vegetation with some of the extra paints we had.   I also went with a more autumn tones while hers were more purple and red.  

The really cool thing was that she had added texture to the canvas ahead of time. Now it's not anything fancy, she just used a roller and a palette knife to apply the medium to the canvas.  

I asked her which medium she used and told me that she took a week long class down in Tenn. and only people who completed the class could purchase the materials.  Hmmm.....that turned me off right there - that's one of my big pet peeves with certain artists.  I don't like it when people act like it's a big secret and won't answer questions about or share information about art.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, that's why I started this blog - to share information about art.

Soooo, anyway, it just looked like a thick body gesso or modeling paste to me which when I mentioned Golden modeling paste she said I could use it instead of her secret medium (amazing since I've already done that).  

Here's Morgan and her painting...

Mom and hers...

And here we all are :)

We all had lots of fun.  

It made Morgan want to go home and dig out her paints and jump in!  Mom of course paints often and is very prolific.  I need to get some nice acrylics and start painting again.  I haven't in ages ~ I forget how much fun it is until I do it again.  

Question of the day....

Do you paint?  

If so how often and what do you paint?

2015 Mixed Media Technique Calendar - October

Ahhh yes, it's been a while since we've worked on the technique calendar for this year but several people had asked for a reprieve...they kept falling further behind and were getting a bit frantic.  Soooo now that October and (shiver) the end of the year is upon us it's time to get busy and finish it up!  Today I am going to share October's calendar page and then we'll resume one per week to finish off the year.

Here is the page we're creating...the texture and dimension is amazing in person - I wish you could feel the lumpy legs of the spiders and the texture of the gauze embedded in the gesso and the shimmer of the Pico irRESISTible Shimmer Spritz...

Let's get started!

First you'll need to cut your gothic arch and prepare a bit of cheese cloth.  If you don't have cheese cloth don't fret, you can use just about anything you might have on hand...medical gauze, burlap, paper towel, tissue paper, mulberry paper, etc.  You are just looking for something to add a bit of texture to your initial layer.

Cut or tear your chosen texture additive into 3" - 5" pieces - just something a bit more convenient to work with than an entire length.

Begin by smearing a bit of gesso into the center of the gothic arch, working towards the edges, embed (smoosh in) pieces of cheese cloth (or other material).  You're not trying to completely cover it up...just push it around until it's securely attached while bits of it still show through here and there.  This really adds a nice tactile appeal to the finished page.

Here's what mine looked like at this point.  I didn't add any gauze in the center of the arch because I knew the calendar page would be there.  Now, the hardest part of the whole project is right now...you have to let it dry completely!  It takes a bit of you've added much gesso like I did but I promise the texture will be worth it in the end.

Now to add a bit of color - I am using Brusho Colour Crystals but you could use any spray inks or powders you'd like.  Shoot you could even use watered down acrylics or watercolor paints.

While the ink/paint is still wet sprinkle on a generous amount of Kosher or Sea Salt and let it dry.

Once the paint/ink has dried, scrape off as much or as little salt as you like.  I rubbed most of it off in the center (where the calendar page will be) but left the rest pretty much intact. 

Ink the edges and elsewhere with a nice dark brown ink.  I am using Spiced Chai StazOn ink.

Add a bit of stamping...

A few flicks of white paint and some highlighting (of the spiders) with a bit of Pico irRESISTible Embellisher (this adds dimension and shine to an other wise flat image!).

Add the calendar and any additional embellishments your heart desires!

September Club Scrap Artist Challenge

Gosh, where has the month gone?  I can't believe we're already verging on the end of September already.  It's time for another fun Artist Challenge at Club Scrap and this month we had a choice of using a sketch for either a scrapbook lay out or a card sketch.  

Of course as you know I LOVE making cards so I chose the card sketch which is shown below and I paired it with kit contents from Septembers kit -  Transformations.

And here are 3 different cards showing my interpretation for this sketch....

Card #1 - Ginkgo Happiness 

And because several people have asked about how I decorate the insides of my cards...here is the inside of this card...

# 2 - Happiness Coins

And this is the inside of the card which was made using a journal block from one of the kit cut-aparts.

Card #3 - Hope your birthday Rocks!

and finally the inside of that card.  The stones were made using the stencil (included in this months kit) using a sponge dauber and a few different colors of Memento Ink.  The sentiment was then colored with Memento markers (to match the card colors) and stamped.

Supplies:

ClubScrap.com - Paper, Stamps, Stencil, Cut-Aparts, Ribbon, Embellishments
IMAGINE Crafts featuring Tsukineko - Memento Dye Inks, Memento Markers
Sharpie - Black Extra Fine Tip