Mixed Media Mojo December Challenge

The monthly challenge for Mixed Media Mojo December is Winter-Winter Holiday - Twist Ornament.  

Yes it is the time of the year when we are anxiously trying to get things done for the holidays.  Some ornaments made for gifts, handmade cards, buy gifts, cook, ant eat too much.

I made an ornament for the challenge.  I had an idea and looked on Pinterest for some creative help.  This is what I came up with.  It does need some refinement but I think it will look good on my snowman tree.

The shape was cut with my Silhouette.  It consists of two layers of recycled card stock and a layer of  a book page.  The blue color is a combination of gelatos, distress paint and ink.  The snowman was made with embossing paste.  I did color the paste for the nose with orange before I put it on the snowman.  The eyes are a couple of buttons embedded in the embossing paste.  The mouth and eye brows were drawn with a sharpie.  Some snowflakes and the word Peace were rub ons.  The other snowflakes were stamped on the blue.  I used a metallic silver paint around the edge of the heart.  Floral wire made the hanger.

Please join us on the Mixed Media Mojo blog and make an ornament for the holidays.

Thanks for stopping by.

Anything Goes - Get a Head Start on Next Christmas

For some reason I want to get a head start on next year's holiday projects.  I don't want to be making things at the last minute.

Paper Smooches Spark Challenge blog has an "anything goes" challenge this week.

I decided to make an ornament.  I love the Paper Smooches snowmen - I really do want to find my stamps from the last couple years - hmmmmmm - I wonder where I buried them.  I have a project all planned as soon as I find the rest of the snowman family.  The base of the ornament is a paper like form used for starting your seeds.  I believe I bought a package at Home Depot many years ago.  I dabbed gesso all over the shape.  I then dabbed on some Tim Holtz distress paint.  The snowman was stamped on a dictionary page which had been gessoed also.  The sentiment was the same base but it was colored with gelatos and distress paints.  I put three snowman around the ornament using gel medium.  I added the sentiment over the top.  At the top and bottom of the ornament I used a paste product and rubbed some Stickles on top of it.  There is a hanger in the top of the ornament so it can be hung on the tree.  So yes - anything goes today.

If you wish to purchase your own Paper Smooches stamps, you can do it at their web site.  You won't have to wait to unbury them.

One day of work and then two days off.  Yeah!!!  Stay warm.

Mixed Media Christmas Project

Once again it is Mou's November challenge on the Faber-Castell Blog - the challenge is to show what you have been working on.  

This project started as a piece of cardboard that is 4.5 inches by 5.5 inches.  I have been working on this project for a little while.  I think a piece of old dictionary was added to the front of the cardboard with gel medium.  It was then covered with Gesso.  I added a little texture to the Gesso by dabbing at it with a paper towel.  A blue Gelato was used to color the layers.  A baby wipe was used to smooth out the color and rub it into the Gessoed dictionary page.  .  The snowman was stamped on the front.  Pink and teal Gelatoes were used on another Gessoed dictionary page.  The snowman was stamped on the different colors.  I fussy cut out the scarf and hat.  They were added to the snowman.  Polka dots were added to the pink pieces - I used a toothpick and Gesso for the polka dots.  The snowman was colored with a White Big Brush.  A Gesso snowbank was made around the snowman.  My modeling paste was sitting there so I thought I would add some dimension to the snowman.  I used a piece of funky trim that has holes in it.

The sentiment was stamped on another piece of Gessoed and Gelatoed dictionary page.  The sentiment was trimmed apart and added to the piece with gel medium.  Various rub ons were added to the background.

I cut the trim from some recycled cardstock and added a layer of Gesso on the trim.  After it was dry it was added to the piece using gel medium to adhere it.  Stickles were rubbed over the snow and the trim.  Gesso was added to the edge of the final piece.  A ribbon was added for a hanger.

I believe I will be giving my ornament/wall hangings as Christmas cards this year.  Hopefully they will have a little more life in everyone's future holiday trims.

Unity Stamp Company Challenge Goes Mixed Media

Every month Unity Stamp Company has a challenge.  You can do either a color theme, a sketch for a card or a sketch for a scrapbook page.  On this project I chose to do the color theme challenge.

I have been playing with some mixed media projects and had finished up a couple bigger pieces so decided to try my hand at making a small ornament for Christmas using mixed media.  The page of the card is pages from an old book that have been glued together with gel medium.  Other paper has been added to the layers and then gesso, paint, gelatos, etc.  The little penguin is a Unity Stamp.  The words are from some scrapbook paper by Cosmo Cricket that I just cut apart for a verse on the card.  I added rubons (I see one kinda rubbed off).  The loop trim was cut with my Silhouette.  I added gesso around the edge of the ornament to add more dimension.  I wrapped twine around a fine wire to make the hanger.  I added a button and bow to the paper strip to add more dimension.

This was a fun project and this year I may make more of these instead of cards - especially for those who decorate Christmas trees.