bell flowers

Hi friends.  I think maybe my mojo is sneaking back.  I sat down to create this morning and it happened!

Robyn over at OWSE Yahoo group presented us with a quick fire challenge this morning to create something with either birds or bees.  I decided to make another page to go in the journal I started in January (21 cards) for Motley Soul Mixed Media Art. 

The page is 4"x6" made from cereal box chipboard, covered with coffee filters, gesso and paint.  The background was already done, and I chose to just work with it as is. 

I found the chipboard vine (Sizzix) in my stash and covered it with vintage photo distress ink. 

Then I die cut a bunch of the tiniest flower on the tattered florals die (Tim Holtz) from a blue card stock and sponged the petals with seedless preserves distress ink.  I snipped into the center between two of the petals and then used a stylus and my fingers to form the flowers into a bell shape.  I glued them onto the vine and added some highlights on the petals with a white gel pen.  A black sharpie was used to make the stamen.  The flowers look really flat in the photo, but they are actually very dimensional and stand out about 1/4" from the page. 

The bird from caged bird (Tim Holtz) was die cut from the same blue card stock, embossed with tiny mosaic embossing folder and sponged with seedless preserves.  I attached the bird with dimensional tape. 

The sentiment was hand written with a sharpie marker. 

I'm also entering this in the mix-ability challenge #13 and the free for all challenge #166 on SCS. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a great week. 

21 cards - #34

Hello friends.  You would think I can't count!  LOL   The numbers just don't seem to correlate because the 21 cards have TWO sides.  I think that means I have four more cards, but both sides, to go.  But, I know that I remade one, so my total will be 43 instead of 42.  Are you totally confused yet?

These are pages I'm making, which started as a challenge in January at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  I was one of the winners of a handmade book by Mika, and it came in the mail today.  Very, very cool.  I'm not sure what I'll put in it yet.  Maybe I'll just sit and admire all her wonderful pages.  By clicking on the link above, you can see some of them that she has made.  This is my Friday Feature on the OWSE blog. 

I decided to double up on this card, so I used the mix-ability challenge today on SCS for a start to my page. I started with my base (made previously) of cereal box chipboard, covered with reused coffee filters and coated with gesso.  Then I tore some newspaper and glued it on with matte Mod Podge.  When that was dry, I brushed some gesso over it.

I was being impatient, so I used my heat gun a lot to dry each layer.

Next I used some distress ink sprays, made with reinkers and water, and sprayed my page.  I used mustard seed, barn door, and faded jeans.  Some I blotted away with paper towel.

Next I did some stamping with Nature's Moments (Tim Holtz/Stamper's Anonymous).  Flowers were colored with distress markers and stains, and the bird and sentiment were stamped with jet black archival.

I added some washi/tissue tape from Tim Holtz & 7 Gypsies, as well as some that I made myself with coffee filters and scor-tape.  A couple of them were brighter than I wanted, so I rubbed some gesso wash over them with my finger.

Finally, I added a couple of black mini flourishes (Sizzix), but I again decided there was too much contrast, so I blotted some more gesso wash over the flourishes with a cotton ball. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

21 cards - #33

Hello friends.  Well, I'm still working on some of those cards from January's challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art, since I need to fill the extra space in my book. This one is also inspired by a March challenge at OWSE Yahoo group, to make something with flowers on it.  I never have a problem doing that, since I love flowers and have a multitude of floral stamps.  I'm also adding this to the mix-ability challenge #4 on SCS. 

My card base is cereal box chipboard covered with recycled coffee filters and coated with gesso.  I covered the base with blue and purple acrylic paint, just spreading the paint on with my fingers.

I then used a Crafter's Workshop stencil and a cosmetic sponge with white paint to add some contrast.

The flower (Local King Rubber Stamps) is stamped with jet black stazon on white card stock and colored with distress markers with a little water to blend the colors.  I then cut it out and glued it to the card.

The Hero Arts butterfly is stamped with tuxedo black memento ink and colored with Copic markers, cut out and attached.  The wings are raised with dimensional foam tape.

I printed the sentiment, cut the words apart and attached them. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. 

21 cards - #32

Hello friends.  I started to put the cards I made for the January challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art, and when I designed the piece for holding the pages, I miscalculated and made it too wide.  Rather than rip things apart, I just decided to add more pages to fill the extra space.  Using a challenge from the OWSE Yahoo group, I made another one page today.  The challenge is to use song lyrics on your piece of art.  This is a February challenge, so today is the last day to get it finished to be eligible for a prize. 

I chose a chorus that we sang a lot when we were young. 

My background is painted and stenciled with acrylic paints.  I printed the words on my computer and die cut them with a Spellbinders labels die.  I inked the edges with vintage photo distress ink. 

At the bottom, I cut some strips of patterned paper and glued that down. 

This is actually my second attempt on this page.  I really did not like the first one and completely ripped off the front and started over. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Have a blessed day. 

21 cards - #31 and a new challenge

Happy Saturday, friends.  Yesterday was the first day for the NEW Mix-Ability challenge on Splitcoaststampers, all about mixed media.  Yay!  I know I'm going to love it. 

The first challenge is Yin Yang.  So I used this challenge to create another card for January's monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  There is a new challenge for February, but I haven't started on that one yet.  It's all hearts - need to think on that for a bit. 

This post shows how I made the base for my cards with cereal box chipboard and coffee filters.

I started by painting my base with celery green acrylic paint.  Then I used a butterfly stencil, the solid part sponged with gesso, and the detailed part sponged with pearl turquoise and pearl blue lumiere paints for a bit of shimmer.  I also outlined the butterfly with a Pitt pen.  Since the body of the butterfly was white, I cut a new one from black card stock and glued that on. 

Nothing like going backwards, but then I decided to add some stamping to the background, so I carefully added some texture type images from Donna Salazar and Tim Holtz in jet black archival ink.  

While playing around with some additions, but not sure what to add, I decided to leave it overnight and look at it again this morning.  I knew right away that I wanted to change up the background some more, so I applied some buttermilk acrylic paint with my finger, so it just brings out the texture of the coffee filter without covering up the stamping. 

Then I added bits of torn card stock and pattern paper. 

The sentiment is from Nostalgics Attic Collection (Image Tree), punched out with a 1/2" circle punch and raised on dimensionals. 

Then I attached a piece of burlap, some raffia, a hand crocheted flower and a button. 

I love it!  How can I not?  It has lots of texture and lots of BLUE!  LOL

Thanks so much for spending some time with me today.  Enjoy your weekend.

21 cards - #30

Hi friends.  I just can't stop!  But I guess that's a good thing.  This is another page to add to the cards I've been making for January's monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  This post shows how I made the base for my cards.

Today I happened across an old Take Ten magazine from 2008, and while browsing through it, I found a fun technique that uses spray starch and pearl ex, so I decided to use it on my background.  I used super russet pearl ex.  The one thing I did differently is not start with black card stock.  It was a very cool background, but it just wasn't working for me - way too much shimmery stuff.  I'm just not a girl who likes a lot of glitz.  So, I pulled out my gesso wash and went over it with that, leaving the color without the shimmer. 

I also came across this Irish blessing that I liked, so I decided to use that.  I printed it out, die cut and embossed it with spellbinders labels seventeen and then sponged creamy caramel ink over the edges while the paper was still in the die.  I also stamped a bird (birds galore - Inkadinkado) in creamy caramel right over the words. 

I die cut another of the same shape in black and just cut strips from the edges to use as an accent.  I used a white gel pen to add dots. 

I wanted some flowers in the corner, but didn't want to hunt for some paper the right color, so I brushed some dusty rose acrylic paint over a scrap of card stock, let it dry, and punched out a bunch of flowers.  I sponged vintage photo distress ink on the petals and glued two flowers together, plus a smaller one in black and then added white gel pen dots in the centers.  The leaves are punched from certainly celery card stock. 

Thank you for stopping by. 

21 cards - #29

Hello my friends.  I think I've posted more times this month than any since I started my blog.  I don't expect that to continue, since I tend to create in spurts. 

Here is another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  This post shows how I made the base for my cards.

My inspiration jar words were text, splatter, and hot.

I started by painting my background and then flicking different colors of paint on for a splatter effect.

I really wasn't sure what to use for the word hot, when I finally realized that a hot drink would work, so I pulled out my tea cup die from spellbinders.  I was digging through some scraps when I came across this brightly colored piece of glossy card stock.  It was one I made when I was playing with alcohol inks and compressed air.  I thought it would look pretty as a tea cup.  After die cutting, I stamped a flower stamp from toile blossoms (SU).  I just now realized that the technique used on this piece is called alcohol ink splatter, so I actually utilized that word twice. 

It was hard to get a photo that didn't have a glare from the glossy paper.  This 2nd photo is a little blurry, but doesn't have as much glare.  

I used a sizzix die, doily lace medallion, for the doily, with some black card stock behind it to make it stand out. 

The computer generated quote is my text.  I love being able to search for quotes and verses on line.  I can't imagine not having that capability.  Whatever did we do before computers?

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit today. 

21 cards - #28

Hi friends.  I'm getting closer to 21 on two sides, but I don't think I'm going to get them all done before the month is over.  But I am really loving the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  This post shows how I made the base for my cards.

My inspiration jar gave me some words that just didn't speak to me, so I dumped them back in the jar and pulled out some new ones -- circles, coffee, and sponge.

The background has two colors of blue paint dry-brushed on sparingly, so that some of the white still showed through.  Then I stamped coffee beans (SU espress yourself) all over the background with vintage photo distress ink.

The brown strip is a torn piece of paper bag, wrinkled up, then flattened out and sponged with vintage photo ink to darken.  

The coffee cup (Rubbernecker) is stamped with jet black stazon on white, colored with watercolor crayons and blender pen.  Then I traced around a circle and cut it out so that the steam extended beyond the circle.  The outer edge of the circle is sponged with vintage photo ink. 

I printed out the sentiment, sponged the edges and glued it down. 

I appreciate you stopping by for a visit today. 

21 cards - #27

Hi friends.  January is almost over, but I feel I've really accomplished something with this monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  This post shows how I made the base for my cards.

My inspiration jar gave me the words:  sun, white, and seeds. 

White space is a lot like silence.  We think we need to fill it with something.  But we need both white space and silence.  They allow our eyes - and minds - to rest and focus.  So I gave my background a coat of white paint and left it. 

I die cut a picot edge circle (spellbinders) in white and another circle that just fit the inside.  I used the negative piece from the circle as a mask to stamp the flower and to sponge summer sun ink.  I also just touched the edges with the same ink.  The flower was colored with markers.  Then I painted matte mod podge in the center and added mustard seeds, with another coat of mod podge over the top.  When that was dry, I added brown paint with my finger over the seeds. 

The sentiment was computer generated, cut apart and sponged with summer sun. 

I love this card and hope you do too.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

21 cards - #26

Hello, my friends.  Here I am with another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  This post shows how I made the base for my cards.

My inspiration jar words were:  wood, masking, and two. 

I started by dripping some acrylic paint on the surface and spreading it with an old gift card. 

I put some masking tape on cereal box chipboard and then ran it through my cuttlebug with my Tim Holtz/Sizzix heart wings die, so I have two wings.  The heart is wood - found in my stash from a long time ago.  I played around with colors on the wings and heart and wasn't too happy with them, so I coated over with gesso, which picked up some of the color and left them a dull rose color.  I stamped a Donna Salazar script on the wings and some Dylusions flowers on the heart.  I used distress markers to color in the flowers and then gently (so as not to smudge the ink) brushed on matte gel medium. 

The colored strips along the bottom are faux washi tape made with scor-tape and coffee filters.  I think I colored them with distress stains and stamped with various stamps and jet black archival ink. 

I printed out the sentiment and added a bunch of doodles. 

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit. 

21 cards - #25

Happy Sunday.  I just can't stop making cards for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  This post shows how I made the base for my cards.

My inspiration jar words were: cut, orange, and fruit. 

I started with a cherry blossom stencil (that works for fruit, right?) and sponged on orange paint.  Then I used some ink sprays made from distress inks, mustard seed and barn door.  I blotted the ink with a paper towel, so I didn't have to wait for it to dry.  Then I used a Pitt pen to outline the stenciled images.  I also added pink passion in the center of the flowers. 

I die cut a memory box bird, sponged the edges with vintage photo distress ink and attached that. 

I printed the sentiment from my computer, cut apart the words and sponged the edges.  I also sponged around the edge of the card. 

This one went together really fast. 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope your week is filled with experience to savor and cherish. 

21 cards - #24

Hello again.  Here's another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  This post shows how I made the base for my cards. 

My inspiration jar words were: rainbow, flowers, and leaves.

Since the coffee filter is somewhat translucent and doesn't completely cover the words on the boxes I used for the base, I painted on a coat of white acrylic paint.  Then I used watercolor crayons and a water brush to make a rainbow background. 

I stamped the flower (which does have a couple of leaves kind of hidden in there) from Local King Rubber Stamps with tuxedo black Memento ink on white card stock and colored it with Copic markers.  Then I cut it out, using a craft knife to cut out the inner portions. 

The lace borders, from Gina K, were stamped with jet black archival ink on white. Then I sponged ruby red ink all over them to match the flowers.  I cut along the scallops. 

I have this sentiment on a stamp from Endless Creations, but it was too big to fit on the card, so I typed it up on the computer and printed it.  I cut apart the words so they would fit bordering alongside the flower. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. 

21 cards - #23

Hi friends.  I'm still going.  I have now done 23 cards for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art. 

My inspiration jar words were:  waves, doily, and stitching. 

For the waves, I cut a wavy edge on a piece of scrap paper and used it as a mask to apply several different blue acrylic paints, tilting it sometimes, so the waves were uneven and overlapped in places.  I didn't completely cover over the white base. 

I recently learned a tip from Dina Wakely on how to get a good stamp impression on a rough surface.  This is done by stamping first on tissue paper and then applying the tissue paper to the rough surface with matte gel medium.  I added the doilies (SU delicate doilies) using this method.  This is so much better than an incomplete image. 

I printed the sentiment on my computer, cut it apart, sponged the edges with ballet blue ink and set the pieces down on my card.  But as I looked at it, I knew that I needed to add a little bit of something bright, so I pulled out an old SU set called the art of life.  I colored the flower stamp with markers, misted with water, and then stamped on white card stock.  Now I'm sure it would have been better to cut close to the image, but I'm really not into fussy cutting, so I left some of the white around it.  After attaching it, I used a Pitt pen to add some details.  Then I glued on the sentiment.  The red flower really added some life to this piece. 

Then I added some faux stitching around the edge of the card.  

Thank you for stopping by today. 

21 cards - #22

Hello my friends.  It's another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Even though my title says card #22, this is actually a makeover of card #10.  I really didn't like that one, so I covered it completely with gesso and started over. 

My daughter wanted to draw words again from my inspiration jar, so the words are: happy, quilt, and background stamps.  I think she just wants to see if I'm up to the challenge. 

I went for my fabric and found some 2 inch squares, which worked perfectly.  I chose blue and brown and attached them to the card with matte Mod Podge.

I cut the house free hand and used a burlap background (Cornish Heritage Farms) with salty ocean distress ink, and a crackle background (Judikins) with jet black archival ink for the roof.  Then I sponged vintage photo distress ink over the roof and along the edges of both pieces.  The windows and door were cut from navy card stock.

I printed the sentiment on my computer, cut the words apart and edged the pieces with vintage photo.

I used a white gel pen and black Sharpie marker to add quilting stitches on the house and fabric squares.

Since quilts make me happy, I used all three words, and I really love this card.

Thank you so much for spending time here with me today.  Have a great weekend.

21 cards - #21

Hello my friends.  Wow!  I've done 21!  This is my 21st card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Please check this post to see how I made the base for my cards.

I used my Inspiration Jar again -- this time my three words were:  stencil, black, and chipboard.

I started by painting the surface black.  This is a something different for me in working with mixed media.  I had no idea if what I wanted to try was even going to work.  The stencil I used was mini bricks by Crafter's Workshop.  I didn't use chipboard on the front of the card, but the card base is chipboard, so I think I'm OK there.

 

I really hate to do this to you, but for the rest of my explanation on how I created this card, please see my Friday Feature post on the Crafting with OWSE blog.

I really like how this card turned out.

Thanks so much for spending time here with me today.

21 cards - #20

Hello again.  Here's another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Please check this post to see how I made the base for my cards.


I used my Inspiration Jar again -- my three words are: pink, tea, and seeds.  I used the first two. 

I started by painting the background cream and then stamping a Cornish Heritage Farms background stamp in tea dye ink.  It's not very dark, so I highlighted some of the lines with a brown marker. 

I die cut a piece of white card stock with my Tim Holtz baroque die.  Now if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that pink is not one of my favorite colors.  In fact, it's one I tend to avoid.  But, I put some of that type of word in my jar, because it makes me go beyond my comfort zone.  So I pulled out Tea Shoppe from SU, and stamped the tea cup on the die cut with victorian velvet distress ink, which is a nice soft rose color.  The die cut was too wide for my card, so I trimmed off the sides to make it fit.  Then I sponged victorian velvet and vintage photo distress inks along the edges.  I added the tiny circles with a brown marker.  The idea was for it to resemble lace, but I don't really think it does. 

The sentiment is computer generated and was also edged with the same two inks. 

All in all, this was a pretty easy card. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. 

21 cards - #19

Hello my friends.  So, from the number, you would think that I'm almost finished with this challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  But, since I'm doing mine two-sided, I just plan to keep going.  We'll see how many I finish before month's end. 

Please check this post to see how I made the base for my cards.

I pulled three words from my Inspiration Jar -- chalk, folds, and distressing, but only ended up using one -- chalk.

I used Color Box petal point chalk inks with a direct to paper technique to color my background.  I hadn't used these inks in a long time, and found that several had come apart - the sponge was detached from the base.  I used gel medium to put them back together.  I need to check if it is holding.  If it isn't, I'm probably going to have to rinse out the sponge, dry it out, glue it and then refill with ink.  I'm not sure if I have refills for all the colors.

I added just a little bit of vintage photo distress ink around the edges of my card.

Then I stamped a flower from Rubbernecker several times with jet black archival ink.  I also stamped just the blossom on white card stock.  I colored them all with watercolor pencils and used a blender pen to blend the color.  The extra blossoms were then cut out and glued over the flowers on the card. 

I printed the sentiment from my computer. 

The colors on this card make me happy.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today.  Enjoy your day.

21 cards - #18

Hello, my friends.  Here I am again with another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Please check this post to see how I made the base for my cards.

My daughter has been wanting to pull words from my Inspiration Jar for me, so these are the words she pulled -- grunge, freedom, and clock. 

I sponged several distress inks over the background and stamped several of the stamps from Tim Holtz sets, ultimate grunge and urban tapestry, in jet black archival ink.  

I had the perfect die, the Tim Holtz weathered clock, which I cut from kraft card stock and sponged with vintage photo and walnut stain distress inks.  Then I spritzed it with some perfect pearl mist, heat set it, and sponged on some rusty hinge and black soot distress inks.  Since I wasn't planning ahead, the clock hands were also cut from kraft, so I just used a black soot distress marker to color them.  I put an aged copper brad in the center. 

For the bird, I die cut the bird and wing from caged bird die and sponged on some distress inks. 

The words were printed from my computer, cut apart, and sponged with vintage photo distress ink. 

I love the bright bird against the grungy clock. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today. 

21 cards - #17

Hello, my friends.  Here I am with another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Please see this post to see how I made the base for my cards.

I used my Inspiration Jar again and pulled out the words -- envelope, die cut, and leaves. 

I had a card that I had already painted green, but wanted a little more on the background, so I used a stencil from Crafter's Workshop - art is - and sponged some burnt umber acrylic paint over the card. 

Next, I die cut leaves from Basic Grey Indian Summer paper with Autumn Accents die from SU/Sizzix.  I added faux stitching around all the edges. 

For my envelope, I used a very old mini envelope template and another piece of the same paper. 

I printed the quote and cut it into a tag shape.  Using the same leaf die, I made a stencil from scrap paper and sponged some creamy caramel ink over the words and outlined the leaf.  The edges of the tag are sponged with vintage photo distress ink.  A piece of hemp twine makes the tie. 

Here is a picture with the tag out of the envelope. 

I hope you are enjoying my cards.  I appreciate that you stopped by for a visit. 

21 cards - #16

Hi my friends.  Here I am again with another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Please see this post to see how I made the base for my cards.

I used my Inspiration Jar again and pulled out the words - music, torn paper, and button. 

So I started by tearing some strips of patterned paper, which included one with music.  I used gel medium to glue them to my card.  I also put another coat of gel medium over the top. 

I made some faux buttons from card stock.  For each button, I punched five 7/8" circles, glued them together and used my crop-a-dile to punch the small holes.   I sanded the edges a little bit to give them a smoother edge, but I think I could have done a little more sanding.  Then I painted them with pearl white Lumiere paint.  When that was dry, I stamped a music stamp on them with jet black stazon ink.  The 'thread' in each button is a very narrow strip of black card stock. 

I looked on line and found a quote about music that I liked and printed it.  I did some faux stitching and doodling (to cover up a boo-boo I made with my marker) around the edge.  And if I hadn't told you that, you would never know.  Ha!

For the corners, I punched fancy photo corners. 

Thank you so much for spending some time with me today.