Sketchabilities #128….Smile like no other

Another sketch has been released over on the 

Sketchabilities blog.

This is an awesome sketch just begging for a mixed media background.

Disclaimer

the layout I am sharing is the 2nd one I created with the sketch,

The 1st one was completely ruined when I was putting finishing touches on it and knocked over a brand new top off bottle of Dylusions mist…I'll pause while you all take a moment to groan lol.

Yet in the end I am far happier with version 2.

Meant to be I guess.

Anyway,

here is the sketch.

This is my take on it.

The background paper is from 

Blue Fern Studios.

I've worked with lots of their embellishments before but never the paper.

It holds up amazing to all the wet elements I put on.

I first added pattern with a Crafter's Workshop stencil and 

Distress Ink in Faded Jeans.

My foam pad on the blending tool wasn't clean so I unintentionally got some cool shading.

Then did some stamping using several background stamps and StazOn in black.

My title is made of letter stickers and Tim Holtz word stickers.

I used Modeling Paste with a Prima large stencil for the roses & vine.

When it was dry I added some Pan Pastel in Turquoise for color.

Wanting to highlight a bit more I added some color from a Spectrum Noir marker

and then with a q-tip dipped in blending solution took most of it off.

Some light misting with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

in Slate.

Then more blobs of the same mist by flicking the tube.

Some Dresden foil trim, Tim Holtz rub ons, thread remnants and Prima gems finished it off.

Make sure to check out the 

Sketchabilities blog 

and see how others are interpreting the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Craft Hoarders Anonymous…Challenge 21

Hey Everyone!

It's December 1st and time for another challenge at

Craft Hoarders Anonymous.

Challenge 21

                                                        Celebrate the Season 
Raise your hands if you hoard Christmas or other winter holiday items! Who has a drawer full of "retired" holiday papers and embellishments? Who goes crazy over the candy cane ribbons or the sparkly embellishments? Share a winter or seasonal holiday project with us. We would love to see your Christmas projects, but you may also enter Hanukkah, Kwanza, New Year's, other holiday celebration projects, or any winter-themed projects. Celebrate the season with us!

This is the layout I created for the challenge.

You may not guess but this is a Christmas themed layout.

Last year the little one received a new hat, cowboy boots and walkie talkies.

She spent the entire day with the items on or in her hands.

Watching their joy brings me joy.

I used several Spellbinder dies here;

 Mix n Match Ornaments and Superellipse.

The ornaments created a fun garland across my page.

To bring extra sparkle I painted all of them with Distress Stickles in Tattered Rose.

My title was handwritten and then cut out.

The garland again.

Love my little elf :)

Supplies:

Paper: Crate Paper, American Crafts, & LilyBee Design

Tattered Angels mist

Spellbinders dies

Elles Studio & Pink Paislee die cuts

Tim Holtz Stamp & Distress Stickles

My Mind's Eye Enamel Dots

Gesso

This month our challenge is sponsored by

Spellbinders® Paper Arts LLC entered the craft and hobby market in 2003 with the introduction of the Spellbinders Wizard™ Universal Craft Tool and a unique, patented collection of dies unlike any introduced before - or since. Always on the cutting edge in introducing innovative tools to the market, the Spellbinders Artisan X-plorer™ machine is the company's latest offering for paper crafters, jewelry artists, mixed media creators and more . In addition, the Spellbinders Grand Calibur® machine is perfect for large format die cutting and embossing. Known worldwide for its game changing products, the company brings revolutionary technology with its Imperial Gold die templates that cut, emboss, deboss and stencil. Spellbinders product lines include more than 250 patented and patent-pending products, allowing crafters, hobbyists, artists and teachers to create one-of-a-kind; beautiful projects across a different variety of craft genres.

One person who links up their project before the deadline has a chance to win 

this awesome pack of dies.

So head on over to the rest of the design team 

and see what they have created.

Amber Milone
Christy Butters
Debbie Seyer
Donna Idlet
Ginny Nemchak

Glenda Brooks
Gloria Stengel
Jan Marie Ennenga
Karen Zueger

Kathy Clement

Pam Bray
Wendi Robinson

Then head on back to 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous 

and link up your project.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Happy Thanksgiving….

Today in the 

United States is Thanksgiving.

A day for all of us to gather with our families and friends,

and give thanks for all we have.

I wanted to share an Art Journal

page I did a while back.

The quote seems especially appropriate right now.

We are supposed to be thankful on this day,

we sit at our tables and bow our heads praising all that we have.

We are lucky.

Yet my personal philosophy.

We need to be thankful EVERY day

Each new day is a day to count your blessings.

So today enjoy your friends, family, food, football

and maybe even shopping.

Be thankful for who you are and what you have.

And when you wake up tomorrow morning….

Count your blessings again.

Wishing you all a special day.

Selfie Nation

Sharing a layout done today using the

November kit Beloved

from Swirlydoos.

Every kit comes with a sketch and challenge based on that sketch.

This is this month's sketch designed by the very talented 

Beggahuna.

This is the layout I created using it.

Almost everything on the page came from the November kit

which is featuring the fabulous Rustic Harmony collection by Kaisercraft.

The sketch was a wee bit tricky

and I did change it up slightly to work for me

but in the end I was happy.

I have lots of teenagers roaming my house,

and anyone with them knows their love for their phones, their cameras, and taking photos of themselves with their camera phones.

I caught this in action on July 4, 2014 and too me it just epitomized the age & times.

Their is a large piece of Blue Fern Studios chipboard covered with 

Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powder in

Geranium Coral Blush.

The flowers are Prima and the pearls are Kaisercraft.

Lots of little die cuts also from 

Kaisercraft tucked in and around the photo.

Doilies popping up here and there.

So that's my take on the sketch.

Make sure to stop by the forum and see how others have worked with it.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Sketch 127 at Sketchabilities…Live a Beautiful Life

Sharing a layout today that was created using the

new sketch from 

Sketchabilities.

This is sketch 127...

and this is what I created...

The background was an old piece of scrapbook paper covered with Gesso 

and Modeling Paste spread through a 

Crafter's Workshop stencil.

When it was dry pieces of drywall tape were added for even more texture.

Color was added first in the form of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists

(Antique Brass, Crushed Shell & Latte)

Once the mists were dry 

Liquitex Acrylic ink in Turquoise Deep was dripped on then misted with water.

Tipping and tilting the paper allowed the color to go all over.

Dry again and then randomly swipe the paper / paste with VersaMark embossing ink, cover with 

Byzantine Bronze embossing powder from 

Lindy's Stamp Gang and melt.

The leaves are all Kaisercraft wood pieces covered with the

same Byzantine Bronze powder as what is on the background.

The little sparkly blue balls are from Petaloo pull apart clusters.

I went one step further, pulled apart and then cut.

Here you can see the texture from the paste, tape and embossing powder.

I am in love with how the acrylic ink is playing with the raised texture of the background.

Might need to do this in my art journal next!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Make a Mess..an art journal page.

It's another day of playing without and end result in mind.

This page was inspired by Song Li on 

the Flying Unicorn forum.

She created such a fun bold piece that immediately caught my eye and had me wanting to create.

This is what I created today.

I covered my page with Gesso and let dry.

Then using a spatula I spread Gel Medium through a Crafter's Workshop

diamond stencil.

The medium will act as a resist for the water based mists I was planing on using once it is dry.

I used 3 coloring mediums here:

First I randomly misted with Heidi Swapp's ColorShine in Georgia Peach.

I love how the mist looks on the Gesso, almost mottled in appearance redder in some places, orange in others.

Making sure to dry the page completely before the addition of more color.

Then I dripped Ayeeda Ink in Sky Blue onto the page & misted with water.

The Ayeeda Ink is water based so the addition of more water caused it to drip and pool in places.

LOVE IT.

You can also see in spots where it traveled around the Gel Medium texture.

After drying the piece completely again I misted in spots with Tattered Angels Plain Jane Baseboard mist in

Plain Daffodil.

The yellow added an extra pop of color as well as mixing with the previously applied colors.

I used my heat gun before the last mist could reactivate the others too much.

Some stamping with a check stamp and StazOn ink.

The title was created by placing stickers down, tracing with a Sharpie marker, and then removing the stickers.

Using a fine tip paintbrush and Gesso I colored in the letters.

I had to go with this title, as I was playing I definitely made a mess, 

but it was oh so fun.

So go ahead…make a mess :)

That's it for today.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge 20…BOX IT UP!

Welcome back!

It's half way through November (and 5 1/2 weeks until Christmas EEEKKKK)

and time for another challenge at 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous.

Challenge 20:

BOX IT UP

Create some sort of altered box.

You can create a box from scratch or alter a pre-made one.

Your box can be made of paper, wood, chipboard, plastic or metal.

As long as you dig into your hoard to decorate your box you meet the requirements.

The box may be a decoration, a gift, a gift holder…whatever you decide, just

BOX IT UP!

This challenge the Design Team was given wonderful boxes by

Eileen Hull

          Eileen is a Designer member of the Craft and Hobby Association and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Designer Council. Eileen is from the Washington, D.C. area where she and her husband live in their empty nest. The newest member her family is a vintage camper, which she is driving cross-country, teaching and crafting all the way.
      Eileen has designed a signature line of ScoreBoards™ Sizzix dies, which includes the every popular Artist Trading Blocks dies.
     Her tenth Sizzix collection was released in February. 2014!

This is the box I created using one of Eileen's boxes.

All sides are covered with art, hearts and little inspirational phrases.

I even dug into my hoarded stash of Gelli Print scraps to finish it off.

I can rotate it on a whim, always changing what I am sharing.

Feel free to scroll as I have tried to share photos from almost all sides…

Supplies:

Eileen Hull 3x3x3 box

Liquitex acrylic paint

Washii tape

Book text

Gelli Prints

BoBunny stamp

Solvent ink

Distress marker

Word stickers

This month we are also sponsored by

Heather Hudson.

One lucky winner will receive this

If you haven't checked out Heather's store, make sure to do so.

Her collage sheets are awesome!

Last but most definitely not least, make sure to visit the rest of the

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Design Team

to see what they have done with the challenge.

Amber Milone
Christy Butters
Debbie Seyer
Donna Idlet
Ginny Nemchak (on vacation)

                                                                      Glenda Brooks
                                                                     Gloria Stengel 
                                                    Jan Marie Ennenga (on vacation)
                                                                    Karen Zueger

                                                          Kathy Clement (on vacation)

Pam Bray
Wendi Robinson

After you have visited everyone head back to the Craft Hoarders Anonymous blog

and link up your box creation.

You have 2 weeks.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!