1 stamp, 2 Cards

Today I am up on the blog for Off The Rails Scrapbooking I have created a tutorial using 1 stamp from Stampin' Up called Swallowtail and creating 2 cards. The colours that I used were from the current challenge on the blog.

Below is our mood palette and I would love to see how you would use it.

All the Products I used are from Stampin' Up

Stamp - Swallowtail

Stamp - Butterfly Basics

Stamp Birthday Blossoms

Ink - Basic Black

Ink - Daffodil Delight

Ink - Soft Suede

Ink - Pool Party

Ink - Cucumber Crush

Cardstock - Whisper White

Cardstock - Basic Black

Re Inker - Cucumber Crush

Re Inker - Daffodil Delight

VersaMark

Clear Embossing Powder

Card Number 1

Card Number 2

 

If you would like to see how I created the above 2 cards then please pop on over to Off The Rails Scrapbooking.

Happy creating

Adventures with Color Bloom Spray Mists

Just recently I finally gave in an brought the Color Bloom Spray Mists from Prima. My will had been strong until I put my name down for a class that is happening in November. In the class the sprays will be used. So me being me I needed to know what they were like and what they did if you would like to read what my ramblings were then please pop on over to Off The Rails Scrapbooking

Products Used: Color Bloom Spray Mist -  Soft Teal, Brush Chrome, Deep Teal, Tangerine, Summer Sky and Cobalt. Mixed Media Paper, TCW Stencil - Mini HalfTone Circles, Clear Crackle Paste, Clear Gesso, Texture Paste, White Gesso, Matte Gel and Gloss Gel.

Clear Crackle Paste

Clear Gesso

Texture Paste

Gesso

Matte Gel

Gel Medium

Gloss Medium

Gloss Medium

I have created some really yummy back grounds that I cannot wait to use for mixed media cards.

Happy Creating

When Things Go Wrong

When you are creating we all have a tendency to compare ourselves with others, and I will put my hand up the quickest as I do it all the time. But you know what, we are all individuals, we all create differently and see things different. We are our own worst critic, well I am here to tell you to be gentle with yourselves and be who you want to be. Believe in the journey and trust where the path leads because you never know where you will end up or what you will discover.

If you want to find out how I went from this

 

To this and my journey along the way please follow the link to Off The Rails Scrapbooking

Happy Creating

Red, Black and Grey

The September Challenge over at Off The Rails Scrapbooking is all about Red, black and grey. An amazing colour combination that can either be moody and dramatic or bright and cheerful. Which one are you?

They say that your mood affects your art work and I can say that yes it does. I have been feeling a bit bleck lately, with no energy or motivation and no creative spark. My journal page ended up being a very dark piece which is not really me but I love it all the same. That's what journaling is all about.

Happy Creating

Playing in my Art Journal

Last month I mentioned that had I purchased 3 bound journals as I could not decide which one I wanted. Yesterday I had the chance to play in one.

  

While at a friends place having a creative day. I packed my journal, now this journal is a RENDR Journal and the description of the journal is "Paper that allows you to use both sides of the paper. Media will not bleed through the paper. Suits markers, spray paint, paint, ink." This is one of the reasons why I purchased this journal in the first place. To be truthful I was a little sceptical but to my surprise my page above did not show on the other side.

Other than being a little tea stain where I spilt my tea and having black paint and a little red crayon on it which was transferred from my fingers, the description was 100% right. 

The products I used on my journal page were NeoColor Aquarelle Crayons, Dylusions Acrylic Paint, Water, Gesso, a white Gelly Roll Pen, KaiserCraft Tiny Alpha Stickers and The Crafters Workshop Mini Harlequin Stencil.

Butterflies and Gold

The challenge this month over at The Mixed Media Card Blog is all about Butterflies with gold as an optional element. Well obviously with my love of butterflies I couldn't go past this challenge.

I am not one to throw things out and in fact if I have left over paint, ink, etc I usually find a journal page or a piece of mixed media paper to use it up on. That's what the background of this card started its life as. I had created another project that used pink paint so I mopped it up with my mixed media paper and in the draw this piece sat until last night.

Pink is not one of my go to colours and I wasn't enthused about using this background but it was there so I used it. To cover up most of the pink I used my palette knife to apply a thin layer of gesso over the surface. I thought to myself this is something that I can now work with.

Just recently I had seen some printed tissue paper that was black with white as the accent colour. I thought it to be quite unusual because normally it is the other way around. To use that as inspiration I found a white doily, cut it in half and painted it with black gesso, I then gently sanded it to give the black paint a distressed look. I added further white detail with my white Gelly Roll pen.

Using my black archival ink and Prima - Old Town stamp, I set about giving the background some depth before I stuck down my embellishments. Deciding this wasn't enough I used some texture paste that I mixed with Viva Precious Metal Colour - Orange Yellow and stencilled it through my The Crafter Workshop - 6x6 Mini Cofffe Splotch. I thought adding the Viva Precious Metal Colour to the texture paste it would come out a pale gold colour. I was mistaken, once dry it was a mustard yellow colour which was not nice at all. By this stage the texture paste was dry and was not going to be removed without destroying what I already had done. So out I pulled my container that held my trusty Faber-Castell Big Brush Pens and coloured the texture paste.

Once I was happy with my background I gave it some more rough treatement by using my distress tool on the edges of the paper. I stuck down my doily, gauze, my stamped and gold heat embossed image from the Prima Rust & Dust Set and finally my butterflies.

My butterflies were created by painting Viva Precious Metal Colour on normal white cardstock then using my Martha Stewart Butterfly punch. To finish of the butterflies I rubbed my Blood Orange Gelato over the top and went around the edge with my big brush pen.

Happy Creating

Collect Beautiful Moments

I am a very quiet crafter, I like the silence around me. I never normally have any music going, the very odd occasion I turn it on but it doesn't last long. So going on retreat was quite an experience with all the noises around me, but in saying that I am very good in tuning it all out. You have to do that when you are a mother to a 7 year girl and 5 year old boy (as I am typing, they are beginning to argue). While taking in all the sounds which included laughter, talking, machines I picked up my art journal to create a page.

Products Used: Art Journal, Black Gesso, White Gesso, Masking Tape, Stampin' Up Butterfly Punch, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Stabilo - All, Faber-Castell Pitt Pen: Big Brush Cobalt Green, Tim Holtz: Idea-ology Small Talk.

The Small Talk from Tim Holtz was just the perfect quote to add to my journal, because that is exactly what I was doing.

Happy Creating

3 Firsts

Did my post title catch your attention, thinking how can you have 3 firsts? Well let me explain.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to attend my First scrapbooking retreat. It was organised and run by Julie from Bella Carta Horsham. Thank you Julie for the most fabulous weekend, and I cannot wait to do it all again. The retreat was held in a beautiful setting at Cave Hill Creek - Beaufort. The food was aplenty and yummy. The rec/dining room had the most amazing view, it looked over the lake, that we were told has a platypus that calls it home. I will share with you some photos I took in another post over the coming weekend.

I shared a table with four very talented ladies. Thank you Fiona, Beck, Julie and Deb for providing so many laughs and friendship. But it wasn't just our table that was full of creativity, the whole room was a buzz. There were card makers, scrapbookers, ladies doing traditional scrapbooking, ladies doing mixed media, some used copics to colour and the table behind me were two ladies quilting. It was just one of those weekends that wont be forgotten but will need to be repeated.

Since I had never been I retreat before I had no idea what to take and my way of creating is that I never know what product I am going to use next. I need all my supplies around me. In the end I took a huge list of supplies that filled the boot of my car and my linen was on the back seat. Did I use all of it not a chance, but I am glad that I was able to take it with me, for that just in case moment.

So what did I actual do while I was away. I started 2 backgrounds on artist boards, I completed an art journal page and 3, yes you did read correctly, I completed 3 scrapbooking pages.

The first layout I completed was a kit that had been designed by Fiona. On this layout I decided to scrap a photo of myself. That is my second First, as I had never ever thought that I would do that but my photo was the right one.

 

My second layout for the weekend was a class that Beck Beattie designed and taught us how to do. I can't show you the whole layout yet as Beck is still to teach it to others and it really wouldn't be fair to them. So I am going to give you a little bit of a sneak peek and then when all the classes are taught I will share my completed layout with you.

 

My third First for the weekend was that I created a layout in an hour. Normally I would struggle with just picking a picture or a theme, usually they take me at least a week. Julie was running a competition over the weekend and you could create anything that you wanted to as long as it had a winter theme.

The last morning of the weekend not only was it freezing cold, but everything was covered in a layer of frost. I was out taking photos not really thinking about the competition and once I went back inside. I though to myself I can do this. I did it for the challenge and what a challenge it was. My hands were shaking, how silly really. Lucky for me Fiona had brought her computer and Beck had brought her selphy printer so I was able to get my photo. Thank you again Fiona and Beck, you two are so amazing xx

   

I always claim that I am not a scrapbooker but I guess after the retreat I can no longer claim that as the truth.

Wow this is a really long post, if you have stuck with me and got this far thank you very much, I will share with you my art journal page in another post.

Happy Creating

Embrace The Journey

This coming weekend I am going to my very first scrapbooking retreat. You would not believe how excited I am. With this excitement comes the Oh No what am I going to take with me. I create by looking at my stash of goodies, I don't plan ahead. Going on retreat is sending me completely out of my comfort zone, which is a good thing. I will be surround by so many talented ladies that I am sure to pick up an idea or two.

So what to take, I have a list as long as my arm, lucky I am driving by myself and will be able to fill the car. On the top of my list are my stencils, gelatos, big brush pens, dylusion paints, mega flakes, stamps, inks, gesso, mixed media paper, texture paste etc etc etc.

After talking to a scrappy friend who is also going I went out and brought a couple of art journals to take with me. I don't normally journal in an actually journal, I usually use loose pieces of mixed media paper. But I decided that I need a journal. Off to the art store I trotted thinking now this will be an easy decision, an hour later I finally walked out with not 1 but 3 art journals.

I had a couple of requirements that needed to be met. The paper needed to be thicker 150 gsm, smaller than A4 size, not spiral bound (as I wanted to be to create a 2 page spread) and not cost an arm and a leg.

To test out one of my journals I decided to create a 2 page spread.

If you would like to see how I created this please pop on over to Off The Rails Scrapbooking where I have done it step by step.

Happy Creating.

The Strength Within

This month over at Off The Rails Scrapbooking there are two mood boards to choose from. 

 

When I first saw the two totally different mood boards I was immediately drawn to the top one as my favourite flower are tulips. But when it actually came down to the creating side of things I was inspired by the pink, grey and white of the second one. Pastel colours are not really my thing so I am not too sure what drew me to it.

I always say that I never know what I am going to create and this time was no exception. I didn't even really thing about what I was doing I just did it. It is way outside of what I normally create. Do I love it unsure, I do like it though.

Happy Creating

Discolouration at Let's Get Arty

This month at Let's Get Arty  they have a challenge that I found a little tricky I really had to put my thinking cap on, but I think I did it justice.

For the challenge you had to use Discolouration. I needed to make a colour strong and then reduce the pigment so it was faded and stained. The perfect product to achieve this look were my distress inks.

The photos above are the start of my process. I first covered my mixed media paper with Vintage Photo ink, using the ink pad straight onto the paper. The second photo is after I have wiped it back. I did this stage a couple of times trying to get the desired result.

The photos below are my final back ground. I did the process in the above photos and rub the ink off but not quite as much and then I splashed water, and added a little bit of archival ink around the edges and then the heat embossed image in the middle.

 

I used a Stampin' Up punch to create the flower which I then coloured with my gelatos and big brush pen. The stem is hand draw again with a big brush pen.

 I never have any idea how my designs are going to turn, this one is simple but effective. The pop of red against the browns really works.

Happy Creating

Winter has Set In

Winter has begun here in Geelong, apparently it is the coldest start to winter since 1949. Gee thanks mother nature, when will summer be back. This cold, wet and rainy weather is the perfect time to spend in my space.

With all this time spent in my creative space I am quick of the mark this month and have created a card to enter into the June Challenge over on the ARTastic Challenge Blog. The art work they have used this month is by  Luka Va titled 'Bird King'

Along with using the art as inspiration you must also include wood veneer and/or birds. Not only was I able to find a bird within my stash but it was made out of wood veneer, could not have more perfect. Now what to do with it. 

The humming bird on the left is what it originally looked like and the one on the right is what I did to it. I pulled out my gelatos and started experimenting. I first used 2 different browns and it just didn't look right, so I added gold to the mixed and still I wasn't thrilled with the look. My next move was a bold one, I found my blueberry gelato and started to colour. The result is this gorgeous teal colour. 

The colours of the art work that stood out to me were the orange of the beak, aqua on the wings and the teal of one of the small birds. The other elements that stood out to me was the wood grain in the back ground and the triangles on the chest of the large bird.

I used all of these elements and turned them into the card below.

Products Used - Dylusions Paint (Vibrant Turquoise & Squeezed Orange), Faber-Castell Gelatos (Chocolate, Cinnamon, Gold Champagne & Blueberry), Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen (Cold Grey) Stampin' Up Ink (Smoky Slate), Stampin' Up Stamp (Hardwood), Stampin' Up Cardstock (Whisper White) Texture Paste, Mixed Media Paper, MME Cut &Paste Enamel Dots.

Happy Creating

Love You To The Moon

There is nothing like leaving it to the last couple of days to enter a challenge, but here I am doing it.

I am entering the current challenge (May) at ARTastic Challenge Blog. For the challenges they provided a piece of art to be used as inspiration and this month it is from Sarah Beetson titled - Return of The Young Prince. The required criteria is that you must use Stars.

I loved the blue of the background and the Prince's eyes, they are what stood out to me most along with the oh so colourful stars. Below is the card that I created using the piece of art as inspiration.

Every night when I kiss my daughter good night I always tell her that I love you to the moon and beyond and she always answers the same

Products Used:

• Stampin' Up Star Stencil
• Texture Paste
• Blue Water Colour Paint
• Sand paper
• Big Brush Pen
• Indigo Blue Mega-Flakes
• Mixed Media Paper
• Stampin' Up Black Cardstock
• White POSCA Paint Pen
• Stampin' Up Stars Framelits Dies

Happy Creating.

Leave Room In Your Garden

The challenge this month at Let's Get Arty is using ACME Label Maker. All you need to do is create a label in ACME Label Maker and attach it to your design. I had a little fun playing with all the different fonts and colours.

For this challenge I combined my two loves of card making and mixed media.

 

I started with a piece of mixed media paper that I had coated with gesso and then I added skelton leaves. Over the top of that I put a piece of tissue paper. When going through my scrap tissue paper box I found this pattern piece. I had planned on adding just plain white but decided on the patterned on as it added another layer and dimension to the card.

 

Next I added a very thin layer of gesso which I put on with my finger, I love getting my fingers messy, they always seem to have some sort of mixed media product on them. To add some colour to the background i pulled out my water colour paints. The last two things I did was draw around the leaves with my POSCA paint pen and used my head gun to create bubbles.

Leave room in your garden for the fairies to dance is the quote I used. I created the label in the ACME Label Maker and I use the Bertinelli font, white lettering and Sienna as the background.

I really love this card and loved using all my new Prima products that I recently purchased.

Happy Creating