Mixed Media Birthday Card

My dear friend Mary will be celebrating a birthday in October.  It will be a surprise to her to actually get a card for her birthday before her birthday.  The shock of that and the mixed media madness in the card may be too much for her to take.

The monthly challenge at Mixed Media Card challenge is Friend with the optional element of ribbon.

The card is just a little under a 6 inch square.  The first layer is brown card stock.  On top of that is a layer of fabric.  The fabric is leftovers from drapes from my Aunt's house.  It has the little flowers on it as you can see in the picture below.  I colored the fabric with a green gelato and wet the color (it was cream originally).  Stamped some brown leaves on it and then added some embossing paste/paint mixture randomly across the fabric.  It was then sewed to the brown card stock.

The focal point on the card is a piece of fabric.  I adhered the fabric to card stock with a lite wonder under product.  A layer of blue and brown card stock are the mats.  I stitched the fabric to the mats.  The bow (ribbon) is fabric.  Different elements were added to the fabric base of the card:  paper doily, couple pieces of brown lace, recycled brown paper bag piece (Panera if you need some) and the green threads in the corner are from tearing the fabric strip for the bow.  The focal point was pop dotted at an angle on the front of the card.  The happy birthday and friend are stickers from SRM Stickers.  They were adhered to a piece of patterned paper.  I added a strip of the paper to the fabric strip at the top.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Everyone have a wonderful Friday and week end.

Hi - Merry Christmas

I am joining the challenge on Merry Monday  -  a weekly Christmas card challenge - I am joining a little late into the year but hopefully will have a few more made when it comes to mail my holiday cards.

Their challenge is to focus on the sentiment.

I used three different sentiments on my card front.  The top one is a $1 stamp from somewhere.  The Merry Christmas is from Paper Smooches and the bottom sentiment is from a very old Hero Arts set.  They were embossed with white embossing powder.  The top sentiment is matted in red and pop dotted.  The snowflakes are from an old Quickutz die.  They worked perfectly for this card.  I splattered some white paint on the card front, tied a red twine bow and added some red enamel dots.  I really like how the white pops on this wood look paper.

Thanks for the challenge.

Apple for the Teacher

I am posting over on the Mixed Media Mojo Blog today but wanted to share the post here on my blog.

 It is not to early to start thinking about gifts for teachers for the upcoming holidays or for just any day.  I don’t think we can say thanks in enough ways to the educators of our youth.

Our challenge this month is back to school with book pages as the added element.  I chose to alter a small recycled jar (the jar could be filled with many different things).  Wash your jar very well and let it dry. 

I covered the jar with strips of book pages which were adhered with gel medium.  After they dried I brushed on a coat of clear gesso.  I was thinking I wanted the words to show through from the page pages.

 I then painted a layer of red paint.  After that dried, I sponged on two different reds to give the color more depth. 

Now to add the finishing touches.  I left the lid the color it was which was a goldy brown.  I colored a piece of wood that looked like a knob dark brown to represent the stem.  I adhered two layers of book pages together; cut out two leaves freehand and colored them with green ink.  A touch of brown ink was added also.  I took a piece of brown twine, doubled it, wet it with gel medium and wrapped it around a pencil so I could get the curl in it.  Once it is dry remove it carefully from the pencil.  I wrapped natural twine under the lid; tied a bow, and added a tag with thanks stamped on it. 

I do have an artistic conflict going on.  Should I leave the jar as it is or should I brush shiny modge podge on it so my apple shines.  What do you think?

 I am going to enter this in the monthly challenge on the Faber Castell blog.  The challenge is to alter something.  

Enjoy your Wednesday.  

Merry Christmas Holly

I am trying to get some Christmas cards made for the upcoming season.  I have been looking for Christmas Challenge blogs to inspire me.

I found two that worked together to bring this card together.  The first challenge is from Happy Little Stampers Christmas Challenge.  Their challenge is Holly.  I happened to find this Holly stamp in my supplies one day while I was searching for something.

The other challenge is from the Monday Simon Says Stamp challenge blog.  Their challenge is "love this technique."  The technique I used is smooshing your color onto your card stock.  You put some ink on a piece of acetate, spray it with water and smoosh the color onto your card stock until you get the color smoosh you want.  Every time you do it it turns out different.  I used Salty Ocean Distress Ink for the color.  If you go through my blog you will find many cards recently using this very difficult (yeah right) technique.  

The berries were a much brighter red (I thought).  I have glossy accents on top of it now so I don't think I can make them any darker.  The sentiment is from Paper Smooches.  In my world, grey or gray is the new black for matting.  I need to buy more grey or gray card stock for matting.  

One more Christmas card made.  Thanks for stopping by.  

Oldie Moldie Monday

It was great to see that the challenge on Jingle Bells along with Shop Your Stash is to make a Christmas card from your supplies that are at least a year old.  It makes Oldie Moldie Monday so much more fun to do when I can do a challenge also.

The paper I chose to use is not a Christmas or Winter paper.  It is patterned paper from Bazzill.  I have had it for years and then a few more on top of it.  I love the challenge of using non holiday paper.  The stamp image and sentiment have been in my supplies for a few years.  I love the Paper Smooches snowmen.

I now have two more holiday cards done.  Yeah.  Thanks for the challenge and yes our old supplies do make beautiful projects.  It just takes our creativity to bring it out.  Show some love for those old supplies.

Happy Birthday Kendall

Yesterday I colored two images of a cupcake.  I made one birthday card yesterday and today I used the other image to make another belated birthday card.  I decided to use the sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

I chose to use a square/rectangle instead of a circle in the sketch.

The paper is from My Mind's Eye.  The stamp is from Whipper Snapper Designs and the sentiment is unknown - it is a floater - floating around the design table/stamp box.  The image was colored with Copics.  The cherry has glossy accents on top of it and all the frosting layers have Wink of Stella on it.

Enjoy what remains of your Sunday.

Happy Birthday Kristin

One of my sweet neighborhood grandchildren turns 14 today - actually two of them turn 14 today.  This is the card for Kristin.  When she was little she called me Bark instead of Barb.  She loved to play with my hair.

She also likes to make cards.  She came over a couple times this summer and made some cards.

I decided to make a card for her.  Luckily I am somewhat stuck in a design rut so I went looking for a sketch to use.  Sketch Saturday had a great sketch to use; it is square and the card is hand delivered so I don't have to worry about extra postage.

On my card the paper is from My Mind's Eye.  The cupcake stamp is from Whipper Snapper Designs colored with Copics.  The cherry has glossy accents on it and all the frosting has Wink of Stella.  The sentiment is homeless so I don't know who makes it.

The paper is My Mind's Eye.  The cupcake stamp is from Whipper Snapper Designs colored with Copics.  The cherry has glossy accents on it and all the frosting has Wink of Stella.  The sentiment is homeless so I don't know who makes it.

I am also entering it on the Wednesday Challenge on Simon Says Stamp which is to use a stamp.  I have used two stamps on this project.  They also have a blog hop with the challenge.  There were some wonderful cards on the blog hop.  They are celebrating Stamptember on Simon Says Stamp.

Enjoy your Saturday.

Oldie Moldie Monday

Monday - time to show some love for your old supplies.  The paper and lace are older - the stamp was bought in the last twelve months.

The card is slightly smaller than an A2 size.  The stamp is from Gourmet Rubber Stamps.  The paper is from Glitz Design and has a 2011 date on it.  The lace is a favorite that I buy at JoAnn Fabrics.  I believe the next time there (and of course I was there yesterday) I need to pick up a couple yards of this for my supplies.

So go - find some old supplies (I know you have some) and make a card, or do a layout.  The paper still works well - it just needs your creative spin to make it wonderful again.  I am thinking I need to make this card for my Ya Ya's.

Holly - Season's Greetings Card

Time to get in gear to get some Christmas cards made.  Now that I am retired maybe I will be able to play along with the challenges for making a holiday card each week.  Plus I have to stay home and have time to create.  This maybe more of a problem - but oh the wonderful freedom to do whatever I want when I want to do it.

I decided to play along with the challenge at Merry Monday which is to use holly.

I found a stamp in a drawer that had holly on it so I decided to play.  After that I found a coordinating stamp and stencil of holly.  Maybe there will be another holly card created this week.

This is smaller than an A2 card and opens from the short side.  I stamped the image in black ink on water color paper and then water colored with water color pencils.  I attempted to get a little shading on the leaves and berries.  The berries also have been brushed with a clear Wink of Stella.  I embossed a piece of white.  Both pieces are matted with a dark gray.  You did know that gray is the new black.  The sticker was found in some things I was going through and fit perfectly in that corner.  The bow is a favorite Offray ribbon.  I added the gold medallion in the corner for a little more interest.

Thanks for stopping by.

Season's Greeting Santa

I am trying to make a few Christmas Cards.  I don't have many done and I know I will need them in December.  If I was really smart, as I finished a card, I should sign it, place it in an addressed envelope - it would be all ready to go.  Unfortunately, I am not that smart.  I also do not like to do duplicates/multiples of cards.  This would make it so much easier if I would do that - but the fun for me in card making, is the creative process.

I am combining two challenges for this card.  The first challenge is a weekly Christmas card challenge (so you are not rushed at the end).  Jingle Bells has a tic tac toe challenge.  I chose to do the diagonal:  Santa, Die Cuts, Gold.  The Santa is a piece of chipboard.  The Die Cut is the Green edging alongside the plaid paper.  The gold is in the embossed sentiment and gold enamel beads.

The second challenge is a monthly challenge from House of Cards.  The challenge for September is to use stitching.  It can be fake or it can be real.  I chose to dig out my sewing machine and do some contrast stitching on several layers of my card.  The main creamish colored layer is stitched all around the edge of the mat.  I stitched the plaid strip also.

The creamish mat of my card is cardstock with a dictionary page adhered to it with gel medium.  A layer of gesso was added on top.  I then dabbed on a creamish color of acrylic paint to just give it more depth of color (of course not much show so why did I go to all this work).  The chipboard was distressed with Brushed Corduroy distress ink to give it an aged look.  The sentiment was gold embossed.  The bow is made from strips of forn muslin that was tea died.  I think this adds a more rustic/antique look to a card especially since the papers and the Santa have an old fashioned flare to them.  As I mentioned above, I stitched some of the layers.  The sentiment is pop dotted for some height.  A couple gold enamel beads were added for a little contrast.  The card is about 6.5 inches by 4.5 inches.

The paper and chipboard are My Mind's Eye and the sentiment is from a very old Hero Arts set (I think).  

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you enjoyed my Christmas card.  One done - too many more to go.  

Happy Birthday

A birthday card for my daughter.  Paper Smooches owl and sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Calling Cards or Artistic Business Cards

I decided I wanted to make some business cards for my arty fun side.  I decided to make them ATC sized.  I bought the Sizzis big die for cutting the shape so I am recycling every box I empty into ATC bases.  I also have multiple dictionaries that are being used as a base on top of the cardboard.

This is my first set of cards.

The recipe for the card is recycled cardboard, dictionary page, gesso, Dylusions Paint, stamping, painting, fussy cutting, gluing, and splattering.  The quote is a new stamp I found at Tuesday Morning.  Once in awhile you get lucky in the store with finding craft supplies.  I am actually looking for a new rug.  No rug but I found stamps and some napkins.

I am entering this in two different challenges.

Simon Says Stamp - Monday Challenge - to use a trio of colors (orange, pink and teal)

The other challenge is Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge blog - the challenge is to use splatters (White paint spatters) or sprays.

Six done - one has already been used - when I sent off a postcard exchange this week.  My contact information is put on the back of the ATC card.

Mixed Media Mojo September Challenge

It is the first of the month and time for a new monthly challenge on Mixed Media Mojo.  The challenge this month is Back to School with the added element of Book Pages.

Yes today is the day our students go back to school.  We can't start school until September 1.  I remember when we started in August.  Of course, the weather is going to be very hot and very muggy for the first days.  The poor teachers with all those smelly bodies in the classroom.

I decided to make a small canvas.

The canvas is covered with book pages.  A layer of gesso was added to the book pages.  The yellow color is a combination of two distress inks.  I love how the color turned out.  I have accumulated many dictionaries so I cut the definition of "teach" out of several of them to place on the canvas.  The A, apple and notebook edge were cut with my Silhouette.  I colored them with paint and then used Brushed Corduroy distress ink to add color/shading to the letter and apple.  I had also used the ink on the yellow.  Everything was adhered to the canvas with gel medium.  Embossing paste was added in two corners for some extra texture.  I then dug out my rub ons and started adding them to the canvas.

 I struggled with this challenge but I am very happy with how the canvas turned out.  I believe it will be a gift to a couple I know who are both teachers.

Please come join us on Mixed Media Mojo with our current challenge.