Wednesday, July 30

Project Life: Week 26

Hello everyone! I'm returning this week with an overdue PL page.  I recently purchased my first PL kit from Stampin' Up! I was NOT disappointed!! I used the 
Everyday Adventure project life card collection including the coordinating accessory pack. The photo pocket page design is "K". The collection is bright and summery. The accessories are adorable. I added some Lawn Fawn sequins - LOVE them and some die cut butterflies I received as a gift. Here's the title card ...
 
 
...and here's the whole page.
 

The coordinating accessory pack includes cardstock stickers, acetate accents sheet, wood accents, epoxy stickers and more! Here's some close-ups of the cards ...



 I love the colors in this collection ...



I used a Stampin' Up! Project Life Photopolymer Stamp Set for this card. I place sentiments on the card and then placed the acrylic block on the stamps. I used coordinating Ranger Distress Ink Minis on the stamps and stamped the card.



Another favorite card is this last one!!



Be sure to stop by Stampin' Up! and check out the new Project Life Collections. Thanks for visiting and I'd love to hear from you!!

Monday, July 28

Creative Blog Hop Tour

Have you heard about this ... "The Creative Blog Hop Tour"? I'm not sure who originated this concept but I love it! Simply, it's on online game of TAG for crafty types! I was tagged by a crafty friend on their blog, a week later I post about my style and arty process, then tag one of my friends for the following week! Fun, right!?! It's such a great way to "meet" new friends.
I was tagged by Tara Nixon Cox on her blog. I have actually met Tara when we attended Ranger U together in April 2012. We have kept in touch ever since. I love how this hobby brings strangers together to become friends!
 
 
Tara is a previous store owner and teacher and has a great knowledge of Ranger products. She has recently moved from British Columbia to North Carolina and has resumed teaching! Since we now live closer, I'm hoping we can get together for an arty day sometime soon! Thank you Tara for tagging me in this Blog Tour!
Since this blog tour was set up to allow readers to get to know a little more about the bloggers, we were given a list of four questions to answer. So here we go:
 
1. What am I working on?
Typically I have several projects going on at once. I started Project Life in August 2013 and have kept up with it all this year as well. I am a few weeks behind because of, well, summer! Below is a pic of my old desk with Project Life going on - a great desk but I have since upgraded to a bigger one, which I still manage to completely fill with stuff!! My helpers are taking a break ... notice who gets the bigger bed!
 
 

I'm also working on design team projects for the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog. You NEED to check out this blog for fun challenges and amazing inspiration. Here's a peek at my project for August's challenge ...

 
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I feel like every mixed media artist has their own style. You can put the same products in front of four crafters and you'll get four entirely different projects, especially with mixed media. It's the way you apply the products, the layering and your perception of the art itself. My style is always evolving as I learn new techniques and new products.
 
 
3. Why do I write/create what I do?
My reason for creating is simple - I L O V E it! It's a wonderful release from the monotony of the daily work routine. It's been a journey learning about myself as I go and gaining confidence in what I'm creating. It's my therapy!  
 
4. How does your writing/creating process work?
I suppose it depends on the project - whether it's for a design team project, class or just for fun. If it's a design team or class project, there's a definite theme which makes the process a bit easier. If it's just for fun I don't really have a process - I just play! I am still relatively new to mixed media so I'm constantly learning what works for me and what doesn't but I enjoy the creative process!


I would like to introduce you to my creatively talented friend Rachel Kleinman! I "met" Rachel online when I joined the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Design Team. Rachel lives in Connecticut Mass. so we live relatively close. We met IRL recently when we attended a loft art retreat and have crafted together since then with a mutual friend at her fabulous arty loft.


Rachel is on several design teams including Unity Stamp Company, DCWV and Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Design Team. She is very talented and you will get a glimpse into her process next Monday on her blog! Be sure to stop by and check out her fabulous work!
Thanks for taking the time to stop by today and thanks again to Tara for including me in this fun Creative Blog Hop Tour!!

Friday, July 25

Christmas in July Blog Hop!!

Hello Bloggers! Happy Friday to you all! I'm hopping on today to share my project for the Christmas in July Blog Hop by the Inspiration Crew! This is my second project with this lovely group of talented Ladies! The "crew" is a group of crafty blog friends creating projects we like with products we like just for fun and for inspiration with a common Holiday theme! Be sure to stop by all the blogs listed below for GREAT ideas for Christmas in July!
You should have arrived here from Jen Cuthbertson's blog.

 
I decided to create a Christmas Tag using Julie Nutting's Doll Stamp. If you know me, you know I LOVE these stamps. It's so much fun to create with these cuties and it brings me back to being a kid playing with paper dolls. I used some older Authentic paper from the "Wonder" collection. The doll stamp is "Jaclyn" and I love her sassy pose...

 
Here's a close up of the banners ...
 
 
I can't get enough of these tags ... as you will soon see!!
Next on the blog hop list is Ardyth Percy-Robb - you will love her project. Be sure to stop by all the blogs as there are some >>prizes<< available!!

Rachel Kleinman
Lalo Ik
Jen Cuthbertson
Lynn Kopas (that's me!)
Ardyth Percy-Robb
Susie Craft Happy
Darnell Knauss
Ceal Pritchett

Thanks for stopping by and we hope we have inspired you to create some Christmas projects a bit early this year!!


Sunday, July 20

Oh Ya, I have a blog ...

WOW! I should be arrested for blog neglect! My excuse is ... S U M M E R !!! I want to be outside, especially after a challenging work day. So my crafty life, including blogging, has taken a back seat. I believe I'm about a month behind on PL - but I have been taking pics and journaling events in a notebook to later translate into PL pages sometime soon. I also have a project due for an upcoming Christmas in July Blog Hop - details coming next week!
Sometimes it's good to back away and then refocus. I have some classes coming up that I'm very excited about - both Mixed Media related! I also finished up a canvas recently that I want to share. This was created for Right at Home Scrapbooking and can be a class if anyone is interested! Just let myself or Right at Home know if you are interested!! 
I wanted to continue with the girl art canvases that I've been creating but change it up a bit. The canvas is 10 x 10 deep edged and will sit nicely on a desk, shelf or bureau. I wanted to use a girl figure from the shoulders up only and focus on adding a mouth, cheeks and lots of hair. I started by sketching out a figure to achieve scale ... she will have hair, don't worry!!
 
 
I then collaged some papers from My Mind's Eye "Now and Then Dorothy" Collection. The background on this canvas is simple, unlike my previous canvases, so your eye will be drawn to the girl. I used text paper to cut out the girl and gave her a sleeveless tank top. I started shading the skin, cheeks and mouth with Faber Castell Design Memory Crafts Pitt pens and Gelatos. The subtle white on the background is a light coat of gesso I scrapped on with a palette knife ...
 
 
 For her hair I used the gorgeous Dash of Red acrylic paint from Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Paints. These paints are fluid acrylics and are easy to use. They are not heavy body paints so the brush strokes are not as easy to achieve but there are ways to add texture once you've applied the paints. Here's the finished canvas ...
 
 
I love how vibrant her hair is! To add some texture to her hair I dragged the handle end of the paint brush through her hair and added some "gesso highlights". I carried the ripped strips of paper to the sides of the canvas for more interest ...
 
 
On the right side of the canvas is a cool textural feature that is hard to see in the photo but is awesome in real life. I used Wendy Vecchi's Translucent Embossing Paste and Tim Holtz Hearts Layering Stencil to create a subtle area of  hearts down the side on the canvas. I added clear glitter to the hearts when they were still wet to add some shimmer to the canvas.
 
 
I added a headband and some beads for a necklace and she was done! Well, I hope you enjoyed some of the process with this canvas! I'm happy with it for my first girl of this size! I learned a lot and made some mistakes along the way - all part of the process!
Enjoy your weekend and I'd love to hear from you. I will TRY to keep up with my blog a bit better, but if the sun's out it's gonna be tough!!! Thanks for stopping by!!!  

Monday, July 7

Project Life: Week 25

Hello Everyone!! Hope you all had a fun Fourth of July (once hurricane Arthur moved on out!!) I had a great weekend and still have Monday and Tuesday off - it will be very hard to go back Wednesday! WE had a cookout Saturday - wings and Italian sausages - YUM!! Sunday was an AWESOME day by the pool - one of the most relaxing days since my vacation last year in Bermuda!! Today will be catching up on blog stuff and some projects and more sunshine!!
On Friday I finished up PL Week 25! I continued with Dear Lizzy's 5th and Frolic collection and page Design A. Here's the whole page followed by close-ups of the cards ...
 
 
Embellishments: washi tape, sequins, cardstock stickers and my date stamp ... Here's the title card.
 


 


 
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a great week! I'll be back soon with more crafty stuff!

Wednesday, July 2

Project Life: Week 24

Hello Everyone! I'm back with my latest Project Life page! For Week 25 I used my Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic core kit, which is available exclusively at Michael's. I used page Design A and printed my photos 2x2. Here's the whole page followed by close-ups of each card ...
 
 
I added washi tape, enamel dots, wood veneer arrows, cardstock stickers and some stamping to the cards. It sounds like a lot  but it's only takes a few touches to dress up the cards a bit. I typed the journaling - mistakes and all!!
 





 
Thanks so much for stopping by and please say hi!! Enjoy the rest of the week!! 

Tuesday, July 1

Hello July!!

Hey - it's July! Summer has blossomed ... school is out, vacations have started, holiday parties are being planned and it's time for a brand new challenge! I'm beyond excited about the great response we received to our first Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!! We had some AMAZING entries in our Spray Inks and Mists challenge, almost 60 total, and it's going to be tough to pick some winners! Thanks to everyone who participated!
July's Challenge is ... Around the House. This means using any household items to apply paint or other mixed media products.
 
 
I decided to create a canvas for this challenge. I wanted to dive into using
Dina Wakley's new paints, brushes and stamps. Dina's paints are heavy body paints and you can see all the GORGEOUS colors on the Ranger Products Page. Here's how I used some items from Around the House. I applied gesso to my canvas using an old credit card ...
 
 
I painted the background with "Sky" paint. Before it was dry, I placed the Speckles Layering Stencil by Tim Holtz over the canvas and rubbed off some paint by using a baby wipe over the stencil.
 
 
I wanted to use Dina's "Face in the Crowd" Media Stamp set for my canvas. One of the faces fit perfectly on my canvas which is 4 x 4 inches. If you don't have an acrylic block handy, you can place your cling stamp on a CD case and it works just fine ...
 
 
After coloring in the face with Dina's paints I cut her out, glued her to the canvas and started adding some painterly touches.
 
 
I love circles on my canvases and art journal pages and I found a cap from a water bottle, dipped it in gesso and added some circles ...
 
 
After I added some "Night" paint to the edges, I took a tissue and blotted some of the dark paint to the sides of the canvas as well as some drips on the upper left corner of the canvas. I also added some glass beads for more texture. I mixed glass beads and gesso and applied it to her hair with bubble wrap. Here's the final result ...
 

 
So, look around the house and see what you can find to apply paint or other mixed media products! Join us in our fun challenge and you could win a fabulous prize from our July sponsor DCWV!!!
 
Thanks for stopping by - please leave me any feedback - I'd love to hear from you! Happy July to everyone!!!


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