Valentine's Day Cards

Hi Bloggers. During the storm this past Monday, not the Blizzard, just a smaller storm which dumped over 1 foot of MORE snow, I hunkered down in my studio - in between shoveling and re-shoveling a path for my Simba. I kitted for some upcoming classes and I created two Valentine's day cards with my Simon Says Stamp February Card Kit. I recently joined this club because I'm attempting to create more handmade cards and the kit looked like a good deal! February's kit is awesome! It includes a stamp set, embossing powder, rub-ons and lots of paper to play with. I'm still kinda new at homemade cards and this kit makes it easy. Here's what I've created so far ...

 

Included in this month's kit was Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock, SSS White Embossing Powder, SSS "Paper Hug" Stamp Set and a Gold Champagne Gelato all of which I used on this card. I heat embossed the sentiment and scribbled the gold gelato over the sentiment. I water brushed the gelato over the sentiment to give it a watercolor look...

 

Here's my second card ...

 

 

 

 

I used the gelatos again on this card but in a different way. I scribbled some gelato on a craft sheet, added water and then flicked it onto the card. I also painted in the hearts with the watered gelato ...

 

 So, if you are looking for a good card kit I recommend Simon Says Stamp!!
Have a good weekend and I'd love your feedback on my cards! See you soon!!

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!!!  

Valentine's Blog Hop!

Hello Everyone and Happy February!! I have to say, I'm glad January is behind us! It was way too cold last month - the coldest it's been in a while around here in New England. Walking the dog becomes a task which involves many layers of winter gear and the walks are business only!  I know that it's not a good idea to wish the time away, but I am so looking forward to Spring!!

The plus side to colder weather is studio time!! I keep saying this but I can't get enough time in my crafty space. In addition to my Project Life pages, layouts and my monthly ATC's,  I have been wanting to create a tag a month. So, I was wicked psyched when Jenn Shurkus asked me to participate in her Valentine's blog hop!

 

 

From February 1 -14th we will be hopping around to several blogs to check out

 some adorable Valentine's Projects.

 You have arrived here from  Elena's Blog. How cute is her cookie packaging?! Thanks for the share Elena!!

For my project I created a Valentine's Doll Tag! I have created several doll tags in the past and they are so much fun! They remind me of paper dolls we created as kids! Julie Nutting's Doll Stamps for Prima are ADORABLE. I used the "Bolero Sweater" Doll Stamp for my tag. For the papers I used Echo Park's "Love Story" collection. The size of the tag is 8.25 x 3.5" and would be a great addition to a special Valentine's gift! Here she is ...

 

 

I wanted to add some texture to the background of the tag so I scraped some modeling paste through a stencil. The small clear hearts in front of the smaller tags are Heidi Swapp Ghost acetate clear hearts. I wanted to add texture on the hearts as well so I added some white rub-ons directly to them ...

 

To add shading to her legs, face and arms I scrapped some flesh colored Faber Castell Gelato on a craft sheet and painted it on with a water brush. I gave her cheeks some blush with a pink colored gelato. The small red hearts are sequins I've had in my stash for awhile.

 

 

I topped her off with a heart shaped pearl in her hair, a stickpin and flowers near the smaller tags and some pretty pink and red ribbon.

 

"Sharing the LOVE! Since this is the season of L-O-V-E be sure to leave me a little love and my hop participants a little love as well throughout this series. (hint: we LOVE comments) You can share the link on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest. The more times you share, and the more days you share the better your odds of winning! Jenn will be randomly picking some sharers and posting them and the prizes at the end of this series. This will be so much fun and may give you some inspiration to create some Valentine's projects as well!!

Next stop on the Valentine's hop is Lizzy's blog. Head on over and share some love! Thanks again to Jenn Shurkus for asking me to join this creatively fun two weeks of Valentine's creations! Thanks for stopping by and hope we have inspired you to create something

"L-O-V-E-L-Y".

I'm a Happy Girl!!!

I am so happy this weekend to be cropping with a GREAT group of extremely creative friends! A few friends I haven't seen in a while and it warms my heart to reconnect with them! I'm off in a few to head back for more creative fun, more yummy food, more heavenly coffee, more delicious chocolate and more much needed time with friends who are always there for me in good times and not so great times!!

This past week and next Creative Imaginations is teaming up with Faber-Castell and Xyron for a Holiday Gift Giving blog Hop. Please stop by and see all the fun projects the teams have created. Here's one of my handmade paper ornaments ...

For more ornaments and some details please stop by HERE and check them out! Leave a comment and you'll have a shot at some great prizes! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Fall Fun!!

This past weekend I taught a canvas class at Right at Home Scrapbooking and had a wonderful group that didn't mind getting inky, painty and messy! We used TONS of mixed media products and here's what we created - a 10 x 10 canvas perfect for Fall decor ... 

We used UTEE, modeling paste, stencils, sewing patterns, paint ...

... stamps, ink, multi-medium, brushes, bubble wrap, punchinella ...

glass beads, book paper, Faber-Castell Pitt Pens, rub-ons ...

Here's a group shot of everyone's project ...

Thanks to everyone that attended - you all were so awesome to work with!  I so LOVE mixed media and love sharing my joy creating with these amazing products. Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back soon!

I {heart} Fall!

Happy Sunday! This weather is perfect ... warm, sunny days, cool nights for better sleeping ... Love it!!

I keeping with the season, I taught a Fall canvas class yesterday at Right at Home Scrapbooking and we had so much fun! I had a GREAT group of crafters, most of whom haven't created with mixed media products and they all did an amazing job!! We used acrylic paints, inks, stamps, glass beads, gesso, markers, gelatos, gel medium, punchinella, dabbers and lots of wet wipes!! Thanks to all that attended!! Thanks also to my great friend Kathy (aka Vanna) who helped make the class run smoothly! Hope you all didn't get too messy!! Here's a look at what we created and the group shot with everyone's completed project will be coming soon!

I will be teaching a Winter Girl Canvas class October 27th 12:00pm at Right at Home. The canvas is on display at the store and she's a cutie! We plan on Spring and Summer Girl Canvas classes so you'll have all four seasons to display!! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the weekend!!

Creative Imaginations and Faber-Castell Blog Hop!!

Creative Imaginations and Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft designers have teamed up for a fabulous blog hop from August 27-31st! Hop with us today for craft ideas, inspiration and tutorials!

 

 
Don’t forget to leave a comment on each blog for a chance to win! Creative Imaginations and Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft will each be giving away a $50 prize pack! The blog hop will end at midnight on August 31st. The two winners will be announced on the companies blogs on September 4th.

Here's a sneak peek of my project which includes a tutorial and is featured on the Creative Imaginations Blog TODAY!!

 

Where to join the fun?

Next Stop on the Hop: Mou Saha: Click HERE

Here's the full hop list:

START AT:  Faber-Castell   

Tanisha Long      

Rita Barakat    

Shelley Hamilton

Jill Foster      

Lynne Forsythe

Tiffany Johnson  

Alicia Giess    

Jen Matott  

Donna Bryant 

Colleen McGinty

Lynn Kopas   ***YOU ARE HERE***

Mou Saha  

Jules Eickmeier

END AT: Creative Imaginations    

 

Have FUN!!