In My Head... {Scrapki-wyzwaniowo challenge}

...are memories of days passed.

There's a new challenge over @ Scrapki-wyzwaniowo "In my head."

and I've based a tag from the prompt.

 

I've really found myself starting out a lot of projects on watercolor paper. It provides such a nice sturdy base for wet mediums. It really holds up well to the demands of my more mixed media style (especially as of late.) I diecut the tag using Sizzix and Tim Holtz's Tag die. It's been colored with Lindy's Stamp Gang magicals. There's a layer of Prima / Finnabair's heavy gesso through the UmWowStudio Damask mask on top.

The next layer consists of cheesecloth plain, and cheesecloth dipped in left over magicals deliciousness. Then a piece of chipboard from the Leaf Stems by UmWowStudio, also covered in Heavy Gesso and Magicals.

There is a Prima / Finnabair bottle cap fill with soft matte gel, glitter and glass glitter, and an Ingvild Bolme junkyard finding. The top of the tag is adorned with Larraine flowers and leaves, and new Prima leaves. There are also a few Prima brads from Engraver :)

And the bottom is where my 7 Dots Studio comes into play! From Finnabair's new Cold Country line I've incorporated die cut pieces to really help inspire and bring in the "in my head" portion of the challenge. Drawn on, distressed, inked, stapled and layered. :)

Move on over to Scrapki-wyzwaniowo and join in to WIN!

Currently {Art Journal Swap | SOD}

The project I'm sharing today is a compilation of things...

1) It's another SoD project utilizing the July Kit : Believe.
2) It's a double page art journal spread in Jen Matott's journal from our swap.
3) It shows some cool new products from some of my favorite companies!

Let's start off with the spread in its entirety:

I started with a couple pages of watercolor paper, gave them a super squirt down and got them very wet, then applied some bright cheerful watercolor paints to the page. Before the paint dried completely I sprinkled some salt around to get a bit of texture. I glued down two giant gorgeous paper doilies and layered my watercolor paper on top.

I finished the right page first, which was a little odd, but really turned out well. The stamp is one of the newer designs @ Viva Las VegaStamps!; the Weathered Tree. I also grabbed the VLVS! Blowing Dandelion and used the extra seed to ad some whimsy. In the top left I stamped the new Happy Moon. On the right is a new SNEAK PEEK item from UmWowStudio -- some SEA BIRDS in a mask ;) -- I've used it with a thick layer of gesso.

In this photo you can really see the base of the tree well. I've adhered a Prima Keyhole that comes in the Scraps of Darkness main kit. Because this IS a journal swap, some journaling was required, and Jen's prompt is "5 things you are currently doing." Currently I am...
1) Laying to rest some demons
2) Soaring with some angels
3) Finding my inner child
4) Satisfying my soul
5) Building an empire

The left page has some of those blowing dandelion seeds, some of the Tim Holtz Rubons from the SoD kit, and an UmWowStudio Vintage Rounded Window that has been altered with thick gesso.

The girl is from Plate 1449 from VLVS!, and the moss comes from the SoD kit.  I may or may not be implying that somewhere inside this body is a sweet little girl just wanting to play in the sun all day. :D I'm really loving having all of these little ... woodsy ethereal embellishments and papers from the SoD Believe kit!

Inside My World

I think enough time has passed that I can share this .. mixed media (Such an OPEN word now) gem I worked up as a submission to RubberStampMadness.

I submitted it as a cover piece, and though I was not chosen as the cover it IS and will ALWAYS be one of my favorite pieces. There's a great writeup on it and myself in the Spring 2014 issue of RSM if you get a chance to pick up a copy :)

Behold: In MY World I dance across the flower tops under moonshine and among winged creatures.

The base is a sheet of 7 Dots Studio that I honestly did not prepare in any way. I just got to stamping and layering! I stamped tons of Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamps down including the Chevron Banner, Mushroom, Tall Mushroom, Sunflowers, Fancy Lace Border, Blowing Dandelion with Extra Seed, Moon Circle and Dancing Lady. All have been stamped in Archival Ink by Ranger.

I conveyed some moonshine by drawing lines of rays using the UmWowStudio Light Bulb Mask. The giant UmWowStudio Cicada has been stamped with the Dictionary Page from Viva Las VegaStamps!.

Because I had to cut down the 12x12 sheet of 7 Dots Studio paper, I had some scraps to do a bit of layering with. I gave one of them a pretty edge with a punch and inked it up. Then I stamped onto it with the Fancy Border. The Dandelion comes in off the left side with the UmWowStudio Spooky Branch.

My Dancing Lady has been colored with Sakura of America oil pastels. 

And last but not least... my banner of stars. I sewed lines of thread down the page and embellished with the Star Confetti Mask and Star Confetti chipboard from UmWowStudio. Add in a few chunky eBeads and it's the perfect bit of glitz!

And there it is! Seriously.. sigh. I forgot how much I loved this piece :) what a treat to get to share it with you!

Oh So Precious {Scrapki 12x12}

There's a new challenge @ Scrapki-wyzwaniowo -- What do you hold "Precious"?

This past Christmas my sister flew to Vegas and spent a week with us. The time she spent with Gabe is oh so precious.

I picked up a piece of Dreamer from Finn by 7 Dots Studio and got to work! I started by using a nice thick gesso by Blick through the UmWowStudio Checker Board Mask. I love having the smaller white squares both mimic and contrast the larger colored squares of the paper. After the gesso was dry I stamped a couple Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamps  (Bingo Card and Spinning Circle) around to build up the background.

I mounted my photos on some watercolor paper and layered up behind them a paper doily, some stickers from the Dreamer collection, and Lace, Silk and Sheer ribbons by May Arts.

My lettering consists of my Dymo Label Maker and some of the awesome alphas from Domestic Goddess. I used my machine to sew black thread around the layout and stamped my Arrow design from Viva Las VegaStamps!.

A closeup shot of the left photo. This sticker from Dreamer has been popped up with a pop dot. I also put a couple of super old BasicGrey rubons on the actual photos. At the top you can see a heart circle sticker.. I used a Lyra Watercolor Crayon to make the heart stand out.

And this final shot is to show off this resin embellishment! For details on this technique you'll want to stop by the Amazing Crafting Products blog and visit Cat Kerr on THIS POST. She pours some Casting resin onto an embossing folder, lets it cure and then has a super cool plastic version of the folder. I chose the Bingo folder by Tim Holtz to compliment the VLVS! Bingo stamp. It's been covered in black distress paint and wiped clean. A few small black sequins finish off this baby.

Figure out what's super precious to you and enter the Scrapki Challenge!

June 2014 Tag {My Version}

It's been A LONG time since I participated in a challenge or a contest of any type... I loved the June Tag challenge of Tim Holtz's so decided to give it a go.

You'll also know that I LOVE making things my own.. and went a little neutral with it :)

I followed Tim's instructions about using distress pads on watercolor paper. Instead of using those bold beautiful colors he did, I grabbed my Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy, and Black Soot pads. I used them on the Star Confetti Mask from UmWowStudio, spritzed with water and stamped. I was pumped to read his tip about burnishing with a paper towel to pick up excess water and ink. Every other time I've tried this, it got a bit outside the lines. What a simple SUPERB solution. 

The paper base is a piece of 7 Dots Studio Cold Country cut with Tim's Sizzix Tag die. It's been distressed with Walnut Stain distress ink. The ribbon is the SK series of Silk from May Arts, and has been run through the same 3 distress inks used on the stencil/mask. Both of the stamps used are 2 I designed from Viva Las VegaStamps! (Butterfly Specimen, Wanderlust) in Archival Ink by Ranger. There's also a tiny piece of UmWowStudio's Layered Hexagons poking through the layers at the bottom.

The final sentiment (Believe in magic) is from Nature Walk by 7 Dots Studio. You can see in this shot I used a couple extra pop dots for more layers... and adore it! Siiiigh. Thanks for the inspiration Tim!

Stop by, get the info and see what everyone is linking up.

May Arts | UmWowStudio | Avery Elle

Today we are hopping with May Arts, Avery Elle and UmWowStudio!

I've put together a tag utilizing the Air Mail Set from Avery Elle, some 7 Dots studio paper, Prima flowers and more.

Here you can see the Damask Mask from UmWowStudio.

Lots of gorgeous May Arts ribbon adorns this tag, including twine, cord and more.

The tag was outlined with a piece of regular cardstock and the two pieces of paper were sewn together.

This is the circle confetti from UmWowStudio which fit the "Just a note" Stamp from Avery Elle PERFECT!

Lots of goodness all week happening on tons of blogs! Be sure to see them all :)

UmWowStudio | May Arts | Avery Elle

Dapper {12x12 : Avery Elle | May Arts | UmWowSTudio}

This week we are swapping between Avery Elle, May Arts and UmWowStudio. I'll be bringing you at least 2 projects using all three, and maybe even 3 projects using all three fabulous companies.

Today I'm kicking of the week on the UmWowStudio blog with Amy Lassiter. If you head over there you can get the skinny on the week including prizes, stops and all the inspiration! {There's also a video over there on altering chipboard with Tim Holtz Distress Paints!}

Let's get to it shall we! For today's post I created this 12x12 called DAPPER:

The base is a super old piece of My Mind's Eye from their Meadowlark collection.

I've layered up bits n pieces of fun things like Chevron Confetti and Arrow Confetti chipboard, catalog cards, paper clips, washi tape, thread, Glimmer Mist, May Arts Baker's Twine and Avery Elle stamps in IMAGINE Crafts Versafine smoky grey.  

This closeup shows you a piece from the Layered Stars set, a reinforcement from the Soar Tags, some bits n pieces from Authentique's Suave line, and a line from the Line of Chevrons Mask by UmWowStudio. There's also some grey thread, a few found pieces, and more of those adorable paper airplanes from Avery Elle. 

SO! Be sure to head over and see what's up! 

Straight out of a Storybook ....

There's a new challenge @ Scrapki-wyzwaniowo inspired by "Books" 

and I automatically thought of this picture; my hubs and kidzilla blowing bubbles in the warm warm sun. So I put together this layout using my Nature Walk collection from 7 Dots Studio. 

disclaimer: I DO have the other new releases from 7 Dots Studio by Anai and Finnabiar, and I VOW to use them!! Stay tuned :)

I stamped the Ornate Corner Left and Ornate Corner Right from Viva Las VegaStamps! in Cloudy Gray StazOn. The gold sequins are from Pink Posh Studio and the gold splatters are iZink. I've also added a little water to some iZink and washed over pieces of chipboard from the Banner Mash set by UmWowStudio. Spray 'em with a little tarnished silver Glimmer Mist and they look like dirty old metal. 

I used some amazing Kroma Crackle through the UmWowStudio Circle Confetti Mask and layered up a bit o' black thread and some stars from the Diecut Elements sheet of Nature Walk.

This portion of the layout is entended for my title... "Straight from a Storybook" but I can't seem to find quite the right lettering yet. So for now it's been left blank and only titled with the date. This gold netting is from May Arts and is so amazing to rip and tear. The two tags layered are from the Diecut Tag sheet from Nature Walk.

And that's it! Super fun layout with some great movement. I love the neutral color with a splash o' gold! ump over and be inspired by some sort of book (or books in general) for Scrapki and enter to win!

Nature Walk + Tunnel Tag Book

Hey friends :) Today I want to share a bit of a sneak peek with you....

... Let me start off by saying I GOT TO USE NATURE WALK BABY!!! I made myself sit down. pull out scissors. and CUT THE friggin' paper! It really was difficult at first, but I'm so glad I did. I used 3 of the 6 sheets of paper, die cut elements, and tags on this book. 

Book you ask? Oh yes.. my little sneak peek. You'll see that this book is a rather unique little beauty... something BRAND NEW coming to UmWowStudio during our #uwsbigbash which will be happening the week after next! We may or may not be bringing ////chipboard mini books//// of a sorts to store! YES! This one happens to be a Tag Tunnel Book. Tags + Tunnels + #Uwschip = AWESOME. 

Anyways... feast your eyes upon said beauty :

 This book uses LOADS of goodness.

The front page in any tunnel book has to be the widest opening.. mine is donned with Songbird, a butterfly from the Tags Die-cut sheet, and Winged Things title from the Words sheet. I also used a Michaels flower, cheesecloth, Miracle Tape from Viva Las VegaStamps!, a piece from the Nature Walk Floral Collection by UmWowStudio, May Arts Ribbons Burlap Twine and some other little sneaky peeky bunting pieces from the upcoming new release.

The second page of my album features Gray Day on its base, A bee cut from one of the Tag Die-cuts, thread, Prima Engraver Brads, Gesso, Corduroy Distress Ink, and more Burlap Twine by May Arts paired with the 1.5 inch Grosgrain with Stripes. There's also a little splattering of Tattered Angels Charcoal.

This page is a little sparse, but I really like it that way. It's made of Cloudy, and has some Tattered Angels Charcoal mist on it, which has also been sprayed onto an UmWowStudio Circle Confetti Mask and stamped down. The memo tag is from the Die-cuts sheet, there's a Michaels flower attached to some beautiful Silky Crush Ribbon by May Arts and my Dymo Label Maker had to make an appearance. :)

This final page is probably my favorite... though I really adore them all. It's also made from Cloudy. I stamped the Viva Las VegaStamps! French Writing in the back with a Memento Gray Flannel pad. Cheesecloth, a paper clip and a frame make an appearance. As well as another piece from that sneaky peeky bunting from UmWowStudio. The Speech Bubble is from the Die-cuts from Nature Walk.

And this little vintage beauty of a Cameo is actually an authentic vintage cameo I molded in Amazing Mold Putty. It's been cast in Amazing Casting Resin and brushed with Bronze Metallic Powder. All available from Amazing Crafting Products. I distressed it with Distress Paint in black soot, and Gesso by Golden.

What do you think of my little book? And all my favorite companies squeezed into such a tiny vessel. ♥

Dear 1 - Prima's Product Pick

Today I'm sharing with you a project inspired by Prima's Product Pick for January.

Glorious in blues and resin, fibers and some metal bits. I sort of went wild with this baby.

Here's my interpretation:

The base is from the North Country Collection my Prima, the flourishes are on the beautiful turquoisy paper. 

Here you can see lots of goodness! The Burlap Twine and Gold Net are both ribbons from May Arts. The Chevrons are from the Chevron Arrow and the Flair is from the brand new Moon Shine Flair, both by UmWowStudio. There's a piece of Prima Canvas torn in the background, accompanies by some Washi Tape from Gauche Alchemy. I've layered up some bits from Prima including a Junkyard Finding water tap, and an Engraver Brad. The { w i t h   l o v e } is by Viva Las VegaStamps! (my design!)

I love adding little details to corners and areas around the layout. I've ripped up this corner and tucked behind it a coordinating sheet of colored corrugated board. More ripped Prima Canvas and another Engraver brad. The stencil markings and splatters around the page are made with Distress Paint in Antique Linen. It's been used with the Checker Board Mask from UmWowStudio.

I love these two deer so much.. they come from one of Prima's Resist Canvas sets. One has been colored with Glimmer Mist in Charcoal and the other with the Antique Linen Distress Paint. Both are outlined in a dusting of Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

And finally the top left corner. Prima's Bark Stars and drips from the Junkyard Findings Taps, Prima Canvas, May Arts Golden Netting, staples and some Washi Tape from Gauche Alchemy.

Well.. that's all the eye candy I have for you today :) Thanks for stopping!