Create Your Own Sunshine

Howdy friends! For those of you who don't visit my personal blog, I'm sharing a project that I created last week, 

using embossing powders on a project. Here's my finished card and this is how I created it...

I started with a piece of Mixed Media cardstock, perfect for any kind of ink, spray, or paint. I used Distress 

Markers, a water brush and my non-stick craft sheet to add color to the background (and it appears that I'm still a 

bit obsessed with pink and grey).

I scribbled ink from the marker on the non-stick craft sheet and then picked up the ink with the water brush. 

Then I just swiped the brush over the cardstock.

Next I used some of Wendy's stencils to add some background design, using Watering Can Archival Ink

 (my favorite color ever!)

I also used the oval shape from the Spotlight Frames and Mask set to create a mask on my background, which I

 then traced with a black Fude Ball pen. I then used the oval shape frame to act as a mask for my background so 

that I could stencil the Sunburst shape and keep the burst within the border on my frame. I then stamped the 

sentiment and swirl from the Paper Doll Art stamp set.

My card features spot embossing, meaning that instead of embossing a large area I'm only embossing a portion 

of a larger piece. You can see my Watering Can embossed lines at the top and bottom of my card.

Next, I used the new Tiny Shapes Movers & Shakers dies (aren't they the tiniest, cutest dies ever!) to die cut a 

few embossed butterflies. For quick and easy die cut embossing, I first added some Distress Ink to a scrap piece 

of manila tag and then used clear embossing powder. Then I just die cut the shapes out of the already embossed 

tag!

Next, it was time to assemble! And here is my completed card...

You can see that I embossed the butterflies, my gal's apron, gloves, and lips. This was done by first stamping or 

coloring the image and then using a VersaMark pen to color over the area that was embossed, I used clear 

powder for these areas so that the colors would show through the powder.

Hope you enjoyed today's project!!

Sprays, Paint, Baby Wipes and the last Wednesday in May

What do Sprays, Paint, Baby Wipes and the last Wednesday in May all have in common?

My last post as guest designer for May.

Hello again, Ruby Craft here. First thing I want to share is how much I have enjoyed this month on the eP blog. I enjoy challenges, they bring out my crafty, creative side. Kim has given me the opportunity to work with some new products that I have not used before has made this a fun challenge. When I started thinking about my final project, I knew I wanted to make a scrapbook page and try a few things I hadn't tried before. I've seen quite a few designers using baby wipes to apply product and decided it was time to give it a try. I usually don't use sprays and paints on scrapbook pages either, so I wanted to try them too. When I first saw the Alphabet Stamp from Catherine Scanlon Designs,  I thought of my grandson, Jasper, and how much we enjoy reading together. So naturally I wanted to use the stamp again too because that is what my scrapbook page is about. Reading with my grandson, Jasper.

First I started with the Prima Finnabair Elemental Stencil  and Color Bloom Spray. Always shake the spray well. The stencil I used is Weaving. I placed it randomly around the page and sprayed the Vintage Metal Gold Foil Color Bloom Spray through the stencil. This left some spray on the surface of the stencil. So I flipped the stencil over and pressed it down on the page. Then I removed the stencil and randomly spritzed the page. In a few more spots I pointed the sprayer down and just lightly squeezed the trigger repeatedly to get splatters instead of a spray. (You have to be very patent with the splatter part, if you squeeze too hard it sprays instead of splatters.) After the some of the splatters I tilted the page so I would have a few gold drips too.

The next step was to use embossing ink to stamp part of the Catherine Scanlon alphabet stamp in the upper left corner of a cream color piece of 12"x12" cardstock. I used white embossing powder to heat emboss the letters. Then I stamped the letters in the lower right hand corner and heat embossed them too.

By barely dipping a baby wipe in the Dylusions paint I was able to get plenty of paint to make swipes of red across the page. I also place the stencil back on the page and used the baby wipe to make a patterned stripe across the bottom of the page then added two more patterned stripes on the right top of the page. It is amazing how much paint you can get from the baby wipe after just a tiny dip in this full bodied paint.

Working in small areas at a time I used a small pointed paint brush and painted the inside of the letters with Postbox Red Dylussions Paint.  I lightly misted the paint with just enough water to make it start to move on the page. After a few seconds I tilted the page and let the paint drip down the page. Working 3 or 4 letters at a time gave me a little more control.

I matted my photos and wanted to get an idea of where I would place them. Since I was using Red paint I decided that I would go with primary colors, using gold as my yellow that left blue for my mat. I used the gold foil spray again with the same spraying and flipping then printing effect with my stencil on a piece of 12"x12" blue cardstock. My main photo is 5"x7". The smaller photos were cut apart from a collage print. I moved the photos around on the altered cardstock, lining them up with the grid where I thought the pattern worked best, then trimmed out 1/2" from each side of the 5"x7" photo and 1/16" border for each of the smaller photos.  Once the photos were matted, I moved the photos around on my page until I found a layout that worked with the background I created, keeping in mind I would need a space for my title and an area for journaling. I didn't attach them to the page yet but knew where they were going. Now I had an idea of where my Title would go and how much room I had for my journaling.

Hand lettering is a popular trend right now and  Dina Wakely's fine tip applicators made it easy to add a handlettered title to my page. This was the first time I had one of her tips. It screwed right onto her paint tube and allowed me to write with her paints. The first thing I did was practice. I was amazed at how easy it was to get the look I was going for. Large loopy letters. When I drew faster it skipped like stitching. If I drew slower the lines were smooth. By slowing down more and the lines went from thin to thicker. After just a few practice tries I was feeling like a pro, so I went for it and wrote my title on my page. I loved it! After a little drying time I was ready to adhere my photos to my page, add my journaling and put captions under my photos. But I wasn't finished yet.

Where did those adorable little hearts come from?

If you saw my first guest post you might remember a little red flower I made for my journal cover. I had so much fun working with Wendy Vecchi's Clearly For Art Modeling Film, I had made quite a few extra flowers. So I took a large flower and cut it up into hearts. They were already painted with the Postbox Red Dylusions  Paint but I used Dina Wakely's fine tip applicators and paint to add the black outlines for a fun touch. Then I heated the hearts up with my heat tool and shaped them into little waves and sprinkled them around my layout, attaching them with pop dots.


Of course I was having so much fun with Dina's fine tip applicator I had to add a fine line dotted and dashed border around the sides and bottom of my page as a final touch.

Handwritten journaling is always a wonderful personal touch in scrapbooking. Jasper will always know how much I loved reading with him. My journaling reads:

{You and I Love to Read! We always have. Your favorite book right now is "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type" When I point to the words "Moo", you read them for me. "Moo! Moo! Moo!"}

When working on my projects each week, I tried to use mostly what Kim sent me along with things from my stash that she carries in her store. This was for two reasons. First, I know that when you show someone a new product and they like it they want to be able to find it. Second, Kim was very generous and sent me products to use for my guest designer posts. She also encouraged me to create anything I wanted and is she is super easy to work with. So of course, if you don't already shop there, I want to encourage you to check out the eclectic Paperie store. If you like you can use the links above to make it easy to find the products I used.

Thanks Kim for giving me a shot and if you ever want me to be a guest designer again just let me know. It's been fun.

Post Box Red Flowers for May

Hi, Ruby Craft here. I’m so excited that Kim has invited me to be guest designer for May. She asked me to share a little bit about myself. A little over 10 years ago I had taken early retirement but had a little too much time on my hands. I decided I needed a hobby so I started Scrapbooking. Then I took a part time job at a local scrapbook store and a co-worker showed me Tim Holtz and Alcohol Inks. When Tim started his blog with a tour of his workroom and then began posting 12 Tags of Christmas I was hooked on inky fingers and multi media. I began blogging so I could post my tags for Tim’s challenges. I still scrapbook from time to time but enjoy challenges, making tags, cards and the occasional 3 dimensional project. I'll be here every Wednesday this month with something new for you to see.

For my first project I looked through my stash and found a naked spiral book I had bought a while back. I used 3 different stencils along with paints, so I worked on a non-stick craft sheet. It made clean up easy and also made a great pallet. The first thing I did was to carefully open the spiral and take out the covers. I then laid them face up on my work surface and placed the first stencil, Weaving for Prima Finnabair Elementals, on the front cover. I used Prima's Color Bloom Spray Mist in Gold Foil. This was the first time I used it and I loved working with it. It has a trigger sprayer which allows you to get quick solid coverage but also allows you to get a spatter effect if you want. I sprayed through the stencil onto the cover front. Instead of wiping off the beautiful mist that had beaded up on the stencil, I flipped it over and placed it on the back cover. This gave me the same beautiful shimmery gold but a negative of the pattern on the front.

I used a fun stamp from Catherine Scanlon Designs called Catherine's Alphabet. This is a large one piece stamp that has open letters that would be perfect for water coloring. I thought it would make a terrific illustration for my cover. I used a brayer to "inked it up" with some Post Box Red Paint from Dylusions and stamped the front cover. I didn't get a perfect impression but it was perfect for the look I was going for.

I decided I wanted to add a Flower border along the sides and bottom of the front cover and along the bottom of the back one.  Tim Holtz Wildflower Stencil was perfect for this and the second stencil I used. I used a couple of mini blending tools to apply the Post Box Red Paint to the stencil flowers and then Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint for the stems and foliage. Distress Paints have a dauber top but the paint is very fluid and would run under the stencil if you tried to apply it directly from the bottle. The mini blending tool works great with the stencils and paints. The thin stems can be a little tricky with the blending tool. Once I removed the stencil I used a fine detail water brush to pick up some Cracked Pistachio from my craft sheet to touch up the stems. The water brush allow me to keep the color soft.

I also used the water brush to paint the inside of the  letters with Post Box Red at the top and Abandoned Coral Distress Paint from the bottom of the letters fading the color out before reaching the middle of the letters. This allows the Gold Foil Spray to peek through. Another thing I liked that the Gold Foil Spray as a background is that once it was dry it was not disturbed by the water or paint.

Along the very top and bottom of the front cover I used the third stencil, the hearts from the Love set of BoBunny Stickable Stencils. Again using the blending tool and Dylusion's Post Box Red. Once I finished the hearts I felt they needed something else. BoBunny Glitter Paste in Sugar! I used a palette knife and the stencil to apply it. These stencils are sticky and reposition-able making them easy to use. I finished off the edges using the blending tool and some Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I decided I wanted to make a band to hold the book closed. I painted a piece of white elastic with Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint. Using the dauber top made it easy. Distress Paint does not effect the elasticity or stiffen the elastic. Once dry I attached the strip to the back cover with eyelets.

I die cut a flower from Wendy Vecchi's Clearly for Art Modeling Film from Tim Holtz's Tattered Floral die. Clearly for Art Modeling Film is NOT shrink film. When you heat it you can bend it to what ever shape you want and when it cools it will hold the shape. It comes in clear, white or black. Before you mold it you can paint it, stamp on it, or glue paper to it and then stamp on the paper if you like. If you don't like the shape you can reheat it flatten it and start all over again. I used clear and painted one side red by simple spreading the Post Box Red paint on with my fingertips. Once dry I flipped the flower over and used the spatter stamp from Wendy's Faux Graniteware starter kit and some Jet Black Archival ink to stamp the black spots. After the ink dried I attached the flower to the elastic band with a black eyelet. Then I was able to heat the flower with my heat tool and shape it. I just wanted the flower to have some subtle modeling since it was on the cover of the journal. I slipped a pencil under some spots while heating to get a little lift and did the rest of the modeling with my fingers.  You don't have to heat the whole flower, just a small section at a time. Once I had my flower shaped the way I wanted it, my cover was finished and I put everything back together.

I want to thank Kim for inviting me to be the May Guest Designer. She generously sent me quite a few fun products to use and she is wonderful to work with. She has designers for June, July and August, but if you are interested in being a guest designer in the future send her an email. I included a little information about myself and a few links to projects on my blog that I thought she might like and she got right back to me.

Here are a few quick links to some of the products I used from eclectic Paperie.
Dylusion Paint, Distress Paints, Stencils, BoBunny Glitter Paste,  Prima Color Bloom Spray Mist,  Tim Holtz Products,  Wendy Vecchi, Catherine Scanlon Designs 

I Hope you enjoyed seeing how I created my first project as guest designer and that you'll be back next Wednesday.

Be Kind

 

Hi folks!  I'm back with a project created for a paste Wendy Vecchi Make ART Challenge...using hearts.

I started my card by creating all of the individual pieces....(All of the images are from the My Kind of Art stamp set).  The pitcher is embossed with Cornflower Blue embossing powder; Gathered Twigs has been added to the edges.  The heart is a mix of Dina Wakley acrylic paint and Wendy's Crackle Paste.  (Isn't that crackle delish?!)  The flower was stamped twice and colored with watercolors.  I cut out one entire flower and then a portion of the second flower, to create multiple flower layers.  A button with twine finished the flower.

My card background is a piece of vintage book text, covered with a bit of Gathered Twigs ink and Wendy's tiny cross stencil.  I then layered a piece of designer paper, with an oval die cut, on top of the text paper and then added a black frame, created using two Spellbinder oval dies.  Each little scallop on the frame got a silver dot, thanks to a gel pen.  I also added Gathered Twigs over the edge of the entire card and added some faux stitching, from Wendy's Just Sew Artsy stamp set.  Finally, I added the sentiment and a star (from the Little Bits stencil).  Viola!  Hope you enjoyed today's card and be sure to check out Wendy's monthly Make ART Challenge blog!

PS - In other news...we have some guest designers scheduled to start posting each week in May so stay tuned for more weekly art projects!!

Make a Wish

 

Hi folks!  I was so encouraged by the comments you left on last week's post.  Yeah!  I'm glad folks are still interested in seeing some art on this blog.  I'll do my best to share at least one project a week, along with posting our weekly bundle deals.

Today, I'm sharing a project I created last month for Wendy Vecchi's challenge blog, which I'm joyfully managing.  (You can check out all of the details here).  Last months challenge was to use stencils on our project, and boy, oh boy, did I use some stencils!  Grab your favorite cuppa and get cozy because today's post is a long one!  (Step-by-step!)

 

My project started with two pieces of gesso'd chipboard, Wendy's new Spotlight Frames and Mask, embossing paste, and brick stencil.  Using the brick stencil, I added embossing paste to my largest piece of chipboard.  On the smaller piece I knew that I wanted to create a cutout in the middle of the board...that's where the mask comes in handy!

 I placed the mask where I wanted it on my chipboard. 

 Then I layered the brick stencil on top of the mask and adding the embossing paste.

Once the mask was removed, I'm left with a perfectly clean opening!  Yeah!  (How do you like the green tint in my embossing paste?  That's what happens when you never clean your stencils...LOL!  No worries, this baby is getting a healthy dose of paint!)

 

Next came two rounds of paint...Wild Honey and Rusty Hinge Distress Paints.  Dab on and wipe around with a baby wipe...best coverage ever!  (And I like a tiny hint of white showing through...like chipped brick!)

Next...two rounds of Archival Ink..Potting Soil and Watering Can (I'm in love with Watering Can!) These were applied with an ink blending tool.

I used a graphite Stabilo pencil to add some shading to the window frame, Wendy's Mesh background stamp for inside the window, Vines background stamp for...well...vines on the outside of the window and the Little Bits stencil for the flowers.

Now here's where things get complicated...I started dinner, emailed Wendy and told her I had a creative block, cleaned the kitchen, got my kiddies in the shower, checked email, ran to the basement a few times to grab more products (yes, I shop from my own store...too frequently...LOL!), and finished my project...all without taking another photo!

Here's the finished piece!  I used Wendy's new Passion for Art stamp set for the face, and License Plate Art for the wish sentiment.  The bird is from the Vintage Floral stencil and the crown and glasses are both Blossom Bucket embellies.  The butterflies are from a Martha Stewart punch and are punched from some scraps I keep on hand for just such occasions.  I also added some stenciling, using the Classic Words stencil, to the background of my piece.  Oh, and I added a shelf!  You can thank Wendy for that idea...Isn't that fun!  Of course I'm not sure many queens (yes, she's gazing out on her kingdom) store their crowns on a window sill, but perhaps the crow will keep an eye out for thieves and scoundrels who are looking to steal a queen's jewels...

Be sure to check out the Make ART Challenge blog! Our next challenge will be posted on Thursday!  Enjoy!

Hello...

 

 

Tap, tap...is this thing on?  Hello out there...I'm wondering if anyone is still following the eclectic Paperie blog.  If so, guess what?  We're still in business!!  We're now only online (hello, what was I thinking opening a brick and mortar store while trying to raise two children and run a household...right...), and the store format is a bit different, but we're still selling all of your favorite mixed media products.  Only now...they're all discounted 20%!  Yippee!

Going forward, I'm not sure how I'm going to utilize the blog, but for now I'm going to post our weekly specials and some of my art.  In the near future, I may look to add some guest designers.  (You interested in designing for a month?  Drop me a note at kim@eclecticpaperie.com)

So...let's get started with this week's deal!  This week we're offering a bundle deal that includes a brand new product from Wendy Vecchi...Newsprint paper!  The Newsprint paper is the perfect stamping surface...think vintage paper with the delicate antique book pages! 

Use Glue 'n Seal to attach the Newsprint to Clearly for Art, stamp images on Newsprint, color, and cut out. Use a heat tool to soften the Clearly for Art and mold image into desired shape. Just think of all of the beautiful dimensional flowers you can create! The Newsprint is packaged as 50, 8.5" x 11" pieces.

This week's bundle deal includes one package of Newsprint, one package of Clearly for Art, and one jar (1 oz.) of Glue 'n Seal. All for the low, low price of $9.92!

That's not all...We're also offering a bundle deal on Ken Oliver's new Color Burst microfine watercolor powder (this stuff is amazing!) Ken's new powders come in six beautiful colors and our bundle deal includes all of the new colors, for only $23.96...it's like getting product

for free!  Both of these bundles have limited quantities so grab 'em before they're gone!

So if you haven't been by the store in a while, I hope that you stop by the store and check out the changes.  Be sure to read about the changes on our Policies page and as always, please feel free to drop me a line with any questions.

Thank you!!

Layered Bee Sympathy Card

Hello eP land!

There has been a LOT going on in my new office with my new co workers, multiple family members passing away and one co worker left. 

Of course in craft-land this means we make cards. Today I would like to share one of the sympathy cards that I made for my co worker whose uncle passed away. This co worker ahs been paramount in making me feel welcome, so when I found out that he lost someone very close to him I definitely wanted to let him know how sorry I was for his loss.

When I saw this bee, all I could think of were the french bees with the crowns. However, my first project with it turned out nothing like that. Although I used papersoft for the main part of my yellow, I inked a majority of the edge in wild honey and then stenciled my images in ripe persimmon and rusty hinge. I then used my water spritzer to splatter some water on the card and react with the Distress Ink. Then I stamped my brown images using various Stampers Anonymous stamps and a new set of Wendy Vecchi stamps.

I used Distress Glitter in Antique Linen on the wings of the bee to give the card just a touch of glam even though it is for a male. I love the embossing folder on this bee. The brown corrugated piece is from my 7gypsies scrap pack. I ran a nail file over it to distress it a bit. I love the texture with the canvas from the banner. Those Maya Road banners are adorable. 

Hope you enjoyed my masculine sympathy card today. Love my bee. If you haven't tried one of the new Bigz dies with the embossing folder I would DEFINITELY recommend it. 

{{hugs}}

Andiepants

Jumbo Bloom !

Hello, it's Sue C here today and the project I'm sharing with you is a jumbo tag, which is one of my favourite things at the moment !

I started by glueing torn pieces of old book pages and DIY masking tape to the tag.

I then used the Wendy Vecchi Build a Blossom SiSi set with Translucent Embossing paste. When it was dry I then used Limelight and Hey Pesto Fresco Finish paint, blending it with a babywipe.

Using the same SiSi set I stencilled the flowers and then stamped over the top with black Archival ink.

I then took a piece of Grunge Paper and used iron on adhesive, the sort you find in a haberdashery, to stick some fabric to it.

I die cut several flowers using the Tim Holtz Jumbo Tattered Florals die.

I painted all of the flowers using Limelight Fresco Finish paint. I built up the colour around the edges of all the flowers using a piece of cut 'n' dry foam.

I also die cut two leaves using the same die and painted them with Limelight Fresco Finish paint and dabbed Hey Pesto and Green Olives Fresco Finish paint around the edges.

I made the big bow from a piece of cotton fabric that I painted with Limelight Fresco Finish paint. I added a Tim Holtz heart charm to the centre. I used the Tim Holtz Block Talk Lower Case die to cut the letters to make the word 'bloom' from cardboard. I then painted the letters with Fresco Finish paint.

I layered the jumbo flower and added a Tim Holtz number brad to the centre. I also used some Graphic 45 washi tape and added a Prima wooden button.

I hope you've enjoyed today's project, see you again soon !

Sue