Creative Embellishments June Challenge

Hello Friends - I hope you're all well and safe where you are. Today I wanted to share a creation I made for the Creative Embellishments June 2020 Challenge.

This is the inspiration photo for the challenge. Beautiful isn't she? For some reason at the moment I seem to be enchanted with faeries and mermaids so this really appealed to me.  I decided to give it a go and this is what I came up with....

I started off by using Marabu's new Metallic Alcohol Inks as well as Neon Blue and some of their glittery blends. to create the background. The clouds were made in layers. Initially I inked them on with Club Scraps White Pigment ink to which I added a bit of Fairy Hug Powder glitter (by Lavinia World).  I then sprinkled with Clear Embossing Powder and heated to set.  This process created a lovely texture.  To bump the color back up I added another layer of the white pigment ink and even more glitter.  A quick blast with the heat tool to set the ink.  

I then set to work on the dragon and fairy.  The dragon was painted with Blue Lagoon acrylic paint from DecoArt.  He was then colored with a variety of colored pencils to add depth and dimension. He also got a bit of white and black paint pen for details.  I painted the fairy black using Americana Lamp Black acrylic paint. Her wings were then coated with more of the Fairy Hug Powder....yes, I do love glitter!!  Once both of these elements were dry I glued the fairy to the dragons back and mounted them on the canvas using foam tape to really give them dimension.   The canvas still needed something so I stamped dandelion bits and the sentiment WISH using StazOn Black ink and a bit of white paint pen work.

Have a lovely day my friends!!

Supplies:

Creative Embellishments - Tiny Fairies, Dragon Set 2

Marabu Alcohol Inks

Club Scrap - White Pigment Ink

Lavinia World - Fairy Hug Powder (glitter)

DecoArt - Lamp Black, Blue Lagoon

Imagine - Jet Black StazOn ink, Clear Embossing Powder

Unity - Wish set

Colored Pencils

Black & White Paint Pens

Sparkle Blends June Blog Hop

Its time for the June Sparkle Blends Release Inspiration Hop! Together with the rest of the Design Team, I will be showcasing some of the 7 new Sparkle Blends from this month’s release! We’ve got everything from 80’s Neon to a glow in the dark alien blend in this release, so if you haven’t see them yet, make sure you hop over to the Sparkle Blends Shop and check out Broken Glass, Extraterrestrial, I Love the 80’s, Pawsome Pals, She Sells Seashells, Stars & Stripes and You’re Pand-tastic! If you act quickly, there even a couple of discounted release bundles left for order!

Want a chance to win one of 3 fantastic prize packs, each valued at approximately $15.00 each? Make sure you leave comments as you hop & you’ll earn one entry for each blog you comment on! See the Doodles Paper Playground Hop Post for giveaway prizes and entry details. Comments must be posted no later than 11:59pm EST on Sunday, June 28th, 2020 to be eligible to win. Open to US residents only who are at least 18 years old. Winners will be drawn Monday, June 29th & posted on the Doodles Paper Playground blog, Facebook page and in the Sparkle Blends Fan Club on FB.

Who loves Blog Candy?? We’ve got some in the form of a Discount Code worth 15% off your total order in the shop--some exclusions apply!

Use Coupon Code: JUNE15OFF (Excludes June Release Bundle. Can not be combined with other coupons or offers. Can not be applied to previous Purchases. Valid June 26th through June 30th, 2020)

My first card was made using the Stars & Stripes blend. I LOVE this set - it is perfect for all sorts of cards but with the 4th of July coming quickly I wanted to go all patriotic. I started off by creating a red, white and blue mat using Rinea Foiled Papers in Ruby/Ruby Starstruck, Arctic/Arctic Starstruck and Sapphire/Sapphire Starstruck. I die-cut a frame from white cardstock and created a see through shaker (acetate both on the front and back of the shaker) filled with the sequins. I affixed the R/W/B hearts to the shaker frame. 

To finish off the card I applied Pinecone VersaFine Clair ink to the edges of the USA country/flag from the Creative Embellishments set - USA Love to give the card a vintage feel.

For a change of pace...we're heading to the outer reaches with the Sparkle Blends - Extraterrestrial!!

OMGOSH!! This set is so cool - not only does it have really fun printed and plain sequins it also has tiny little Fimo alien heads AND glow in the dark stars and moons!!!! What fun huh? Absolutely LOVE this set.

So what else could I do but make a fun little spaceship beaming up this fun sequins mix.  I started off by printing the darling little alien spaceship by Graphic Adventure twice. I used one as the shaker top which I colored using Chameleon alcohol markers. I carefully cut out the center of the spaceship ray of light to create the window for the shaker.  

Next I colored the ray of light on the second copy. I added foam tape, acetate and the sequins blend to the shaker and covered it with the first image. Shaker done!  I used a black card base which I flicked with Gold, Silver and Green metallic Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolor paints to make it look like outer space.  Finally I affixed the shaker to the card and it's ready to soar off to a galaxy far far away...or at least to a friend across the country - LOL!! 

Hope you've enjoyed these cards and stop back again sometime...

Have a great day!

Oh Go Fly a Kite....

Hey, that's a good thing.... Today I wanted to share a couple cards I made using Rubber Stamp Tapestry's new stamp set - Go Fly A Kite.

My first card is fairly simple but it's so much fun. I wanted to do something a bit monochromatic so I started off by stamping the kits using Paradise (blue) VersaFine Clair ink and their tails with Nocturne (black). Next I stamped the sentiment with Blue Belle VFC. After the inks I had dried I sponged on Cotton White ink to create clouds - this was so much fun because there is no right or wrong.  Finally I drew long kite strings with a gel pen.

I went a little wild for with this card....I just stamped and stamped and stamped! Of course the sentiment says it all. 

See, I told you - Go Fly A Kite is a GOOD thing!

Have a lovely day friends!

Creatively Curious Steampunk Blog Hop

Hello Friends!! I am so excited to share my creation for the Creatively Curious Steampunk Blog Hop!! Just to let you know there are loads of prizes (for commenting) and lots of interestingly inspiring steamy stops along the way. You will be amazed at the variety of Steam inspired projects created by some amazing artists. I hope you grab a cup of your favorite beverage, kick back and enjoy. (warning...this is a long post)

When Cathy invited me to participate in the hop I knew I wanted to create something different, something out of the ordinary when you think about Steampunk.  I wanted to make something that you you just don't see everyday. A spark of an idea grew and grew into a 45+ hour project of Steamy love....

This is what I created.... 

Whew!  My thought was to make a steampunk carousel. I thought it would be fun to use various forms of  Steam inspired transportation instead of the usual animals/horses. I did however include a pair of octopus...a pink and green one.  The double seat swing and stationary seat were original to the kit, I just steampunked them up a bit.

This was the original carousel kit I used. It had over 800 die-cut chipboard pieces which you had to glue, assemble and glue some more. I altered it quite a bit from the original using paint, embossing powders, LOADS of chipboard pieces from Creative Embellishments and a bit of imagination. I will share some "in the process" photos tomorrow so you can see a few of the steps this carousel went through to get to this point.

Originally I was going to keep track because the kit said it took 30-35 hours to assemble but lost count somewhere around 32 hours.  At that point I started painting the various modes of transportation and got lost in the process...I was painting a layer after layer, letting things dry and rotating them around that time just seemed to slip away. I estimate that it took between 45 - 50 hours in total. The painting and embossing all of the extra parts and gears is what took the longest.

I wanted to make the canopy look like it was made of metal and had rusted from years of use. Each panel was painted with a base coat of black acrylic paint, a layer of Golden's Iron Oxide paint and then embossed with a combo of VersaMark embossing ink and Seth Apter/Emerald Creek's Chunky Rust Baked Texture Embossing Powder.  LOVE THIS STUFF!!!  It really looks like rust and has such an amazing texture that you just have to touch it to believe it. After I was satisfied with the look of each panel I added various chipboard gears and steampunk clocks by Creative Embellishments which had been painted beforehand with metallic paints.

The upper canopy was originally red, blue and the creamy vintage white you see here. I painted the red and blue stripes black to give it the feel I was going for.

I finished it off with this darling steampunk inspired weather vain from Creative Embellishments. It was the perfect finishing touch don't you think?

And it's lighted!!!

I hope you've enjoyed checking out my steampunk carousel!! Have fun viewing the rest of the amazing steampunk creations.  Don't forget to check out the prize details below.

Supplies:

The Enchanted Carousel Kit

Creative Embellishments - Octopus set, Hot Air Balloon Set 2, Gear Set 2 Medium, Steampunk Timepieces, Loose parts, Gear Set 2 Large, Gear Cluster Set 2, Steampunk Artist Trading Coins, Airship 2, Airship 3, Airship Weathervane, Gear 1 1/2", Tiny Lights 1 FT, Gears 1", Mini Gears 3/4", Steampunk Car 4, Steampunk Car 3

Golden Fluid Acrylics - Iridescent Copper, Iridescent Bronze, Micaceous Iron Oxide

DecoArt - Americana Lamp Black, White;  Dazzling Metallics - Shimmering Silver, Splendid Gold, Glorious Gold; Extreme Sheen - Bronze

Rinea - Silver/Silver Starstruck; Copper/Copper Starstruck Foiled Papers

Emerald Creek - Seth Apter Baked Texture - Chunky Rust

Artfully Musing - Steampunk Elements, Steampunk Explorer Books & Magazines

Beacon Adhesives - 3 in 1 Glue

The Steamy List of Hoppers...

1. It's Oddly Appealing 
2. Ink Stained Roni - You Are Here :)
3. Electric Pandemonim
4. Crafts From The Fairy Den 
5. Chaitali Dekhtawala 
6. Nellys Artistic Creations 
7. Jane Austin 
8. Priya Mishra
9. Archana Sehgal 
10. Bhavani Balaji - 
11. Cassandra - Scrap Savvy Creations
12. Monica Longard - MonDo Creations 
13. Shraddha 
14. Amy Love's Designs 
15. Kanika Jain
16. Empire of the Cat 
17. Shwetha's Art 
18. Sonika Agarwal 
19. In Search of my Creative Side 
20. The Journey is the Start  
21. Crea-Red
22. A Vintage Girl
23. Orquide'art 
24. Juli Loves Paper 
25. Kim Slade-Fuller 
26. Leslie Lineberry
27. Linda Simpson
28. Jessica Larios
29. Riddhi Jani
30. Lynne Joncas
31. Zoe Bateman
32. Pooja Sharma
33. Nicole Palos

On to the prizes.....

We have 16 prize sponsors for our Steampunk Hop - we're proud to say these are small businesses run by artists. Let's show them some love! 

1) A Vintage Girl - $20 prize package

2) Angel Dream Crafts - $20 gift certificate (shipping not included)

3) Linda Israel Art - $50 gift certificate (shipping not included)

4) A Matter of Crafts - $20 gift certificate (shipping not included)

5) Expressions Craft - $25 gift certificate (shipping not included)

6) Nellys Artistic Creations - original artwork (see link for examples of her work)

7) Gecko Galz - $25 in digital products

8) Creative Embellishments - $50 (shipping not included) 

9) Emerald Creek - $25 gift certificate 

10) Electric Pandemonium - choose a $45 original artwork piece (shipping not included) 

11) Thompson's Craft Supplies - £20 (approx $25)  (shipping not included) 

12) It's Oddly Appealing - original artwork (see link for examples of her work) 

13) The Funkie Junkie Boutique - $25 gift certificate 

14) Hobbilicious - £15 (approx $19) (UK shipping free) 

15) ITD - prize package worth £25

16) Stamperia - a pizza box prize pack

To have a chance of winning one of the 16 coveted prizes, leave a comment on this post, along with your email address or social media contact (IG, FB, etc) and what country you're from, from now through Monday, 22 June. Sixteen winners will be picked randomly from all comments left from all of the artist's participating! The winners will be contacted via email/social media so it's important you leave your address/social media contact! Good luck and enjoy the hop!

And before you leave I thought you might like to know that there is a new Steampunk themed challenge on the way...

Coming in September!!

Cherry Blossom Peg Stamped Cards

Good Afternoon Friends! Today I wanted to share a couple cards I made using some fun new stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry. 

Cherry Tree in Blossom

While this set only has two stamps they pack a lot of punch. The branch can be used as a tree branch but when stamped in green it looks like the newly opened leaves of the branch. The three little flowers are beautiful as cherry blossoms but can be used in meadows, potted plants, bouquets, etc. Really so very versatile.

I used VersaFine Clair inks to stamp both cards as well as around the edges. 

For my first card I had planned on just stamping in the upper corners but I was having so much fun I just kept going until almost the entire panel was filled with my cherry tree! It's very addictive stamping the crooked, ambling branches and then of course you have to fill them out with leaves and flowers.  I used a sentiment from Unity Stamp Co. to finish off the card.

Since I when hog wild on the first card I decided to make a second card trying to stick with a more minimal set of branches. To help keep myself in line I started by stamping the sentiment - that way I had to stop stamping when I got close to the center. It worked and this was my finished card. The sentiment is again from Unity Stamp Co.

Hope you've enjoyed viewing these card...more to come!!

Coming this Friday....Steampunk Blog Hop!!!

LCD Celebrate Challenge #100!!!

Lost Coast Designs/Carmen's Veranda is celebrating their 100th challenge with the current challenge - Celebrate It!  You still have today and tomorrow to enter your creation. I wanted to share this card with you...

It was made using the Many Dogs background stamp....after it was stamped I noticed a little fellow in there that looked just like our Cecil bug. I colored him with Primsacolor colored pencils to make him stand out a bit. I then stamped the heart from the Doodle ATC set of stamps, fussy cut both the inside of the heart and outside. I mounted it so it would frame Cecil. I then stamped and added the sentiment from the Party Words set of stamps.

Such a fun way to celebrate LCD/CV 100th challenge don't you think?

Hope you join in the fun....

Origami Sea Life...Whales!

Hello Friends - Recently Rinea added a new color of foiled paper - Cobalt! You all know how much I love blue.  Well that color sparked an idea...actually several. The color reminded me of some lovely photos of whales that I had seen recently so I thought it might be fun to try and make a few of my own. So I set about searching YouTube for some origami whales and this is what I came up with...

These were so much fun to make!

Just a note - you can make any of these whales in a variety of sizes - all you have to do is change the size of the square of foiled paper that you begin with. The large flat whale was made using an 8x8" square, the two smaller 3D whales were made using a 6x6" piece of foiled paper.

The first big guy is a flat whale that would work great on cards, in scrapbooks, on signs or banners, etc.  The video to create this whale can be found here - Whale #1

The next origami whale reminds me a bit of a humpback whale. The great part about using foiled paper is that you can actually pose your creations with ease. I bent the flippers around so that they held the whale off the table just a bit.  Another benefit of using the foiled paper for origami is that you don't have to work so hard at creases and making the paper hold it's shape. The nature of foiled paper takes care of that with little effort.  This whale can be found here - Whale #2. 

The final whale I have to share with you looks like a sperm whale - imo.  It is different from most origami that I have made as it actually cuts the tail apart to create this look. The foil has again allowed me to pose him just so.  The video for making this origami whale is here - Whale #3.  You will notice if you watch the video that I positioned his tail and flippers a bit differently than what he did in the video.  I wanted mine to stand on it's own and look more 3D than his.

Just a note about using the foiled paper for origami. Many times in origami some folds are opened and closed quite often. This may expose the white paper center of the foil in the form of tiny cracks. When this happens, once you have finished all of the folding simply run a marker over the creases to hide the cracking. Works like a charm.

Rinea Foiled Paper - Cobalt Blue

Rinea Foiled TP Roll Owls - Upcycled Kids Craft!

Hello Friends!

I hope you're doing well and are safe from the wicked storms rolling through the central part of the states courtesy of Hurricane Cristobal. Today I wanted to share a fun craft to make with your children...my Foiled TP Roll Owls! Aren't they darling? I had so much fun making them and with a little prep work you will have a parliament of owls in no time at all!

All you need is a 4x6" piece to wrap around the toilet paper roll, several circles cut from your favorite color(s) of Rinea Foiled Paper, a 3"x3" piece to cut out some wings (not shown) and circles cut for the eyes.  That's it! Easy peasy!

I made this owl using the Peacock Foiled Variety Pack...I just LOVE these colors. They are beautiful together and I rather like my Peacock Owl.

This cutie was made using two of the colors from the Floral Variety Foiled Paper Pack - Violet and Fuchsia.  I also used a scallop circle die to cut these circles...I thought it was a fun way to add a bit of texture to her feathers.

And my final traditional little guy was made using Mocha/Gold Glossy and Mocha/Mocha Starstruck foiled papers. I used the reverse side of the Mocha/Gold Glossy for his chest feathers.

If you'd like to give these little critters a go, you can find complete details here: Rinea Foiled Paper Owls with Roni.

Have a lovely day my friends!!!