WOYWW August 28

It's that time of the week where we get to show What's on Our Work desks Wednesdays.  Thanks to Julia over at The Stamping Ground for organizing this EVERY week.

My day is starting just now, I am behind today... I woke up to this incredible fog outside, very eerie!  I had to force myself out of bed, hmm maybe some putting around my studio will wake me up.  So here is a pic of what I left my desk looking like yesterday following a crazy two day crafting one project.  Some times what seems like a quick project ends up taking a lot more time.

Frankly, this does not look impressive.  I tend to clean up as I go making piles of the same left overs and crap.  I then put away and toss.  I am keeping those used baby wipes for some other project, not sure what , but if anyone has any suggestions please share.  Those are wipes I used to clean the inks off my hands, nothing nasty.  Now that they are dry they look so sheer and pretty, seems like a waste to just throw them out.  The card stock on the left can be saved too, I will cut those up into same size swatches and have them ready for other projects that require a small piece.  The balls of yarn will go back into my stash they are already left over from some ancient knitting projects and happened to be the right colour for my project.  There is my tall latte and breakfast cookie, very much needed.  The rest of the clutter on my desk is the organized mess I uses constantly.  :)  So what was I making, you might ask?  I  made a Happy Birthday banner.  Of course I can not show you the entire thing as it is waiting to be published next week or so.  I can tell you though it is BIG.

Here is a really bad picture of it, just to give you an idea.

Well, thanks for stopping by and I lok forward to peeking into the other WOYWWers later today and tomorrow.

Mixed Media Monday: Flower from my Garden cards

It's Mixed Media Monday time once again. Here and at the All That Stickles Blog where there is still the Great Outdoors and Nature Linky Party happening.  For this week I am sharing one part of a multi part project I am working on.  Here is one of the cards I made for the said project.

For the project one needs:

A pre folded card (or make one from plain card stock)

A sheet of water colour paper larger than the card.(Canson)

Gelatos; pinks, blues, mauves (Faber Castell)

Pitt pens: red, blue(Faber Castell)

Stamps (I used the clear acrylic stamps that came with the gelato sets) and acrylic block(s)

Double sided tape(3M)

Ribbons (long enough to place width wise on card)

Dried flower (this one came from my garden)

Lavender Stickles (Ranger)

Modge Podge

A sponge

A scrap of white card stock

A stamp with a sentiment (this one is from Michaels) 

A large circle punch (Recollections)

A tag punch (Stampin' Up!)

A spray bottle filled with water

1. Spritz the watercolour paper with the water, just so it is wet but not soggy.

2. Randomly add spots of colour with the gelatos directly to the wet paper.  Spritz more water and with your hand or hands get messy and cover the paper with colour.  You can also use a brush and more water.

3. Be patient, or not and use a heat gun or hair dryer to dry this background.

4. Prepare your stamp(s), and colour it or them with the Pitt Pens.

5. Stamp randomly or in a pattern.  I also made ghost images from the same stamps by misting the stamps with water after the initial stamping was made and stamped again.

6.On a piece of white card stock, stamp using the sentiment stamp coloured with a Pitt Pen.

7. Once everything is dry, measure and cut the watercolour background to fit the front of the card.

8. Using a large circle punch or an exacto and mat and a glass, cut out a large circle opening close to the edge of the background panel.  

9.  Temporarily place the watercolour paper over the card base and use it as a stencil to mark and colour in with a Pitt Pen the inner circle on the face of the pre folded card.

10. Using a Pitt Pen flick or blow on the end to make tiny splatters of colour onto the circle .  Using Modge Podge and your finger delicately glue down the flower.  Go over the whole (blue) circle with flower with a sponge and some more Modge Podge (do this delicately)  This should leave behind some bubbles that will imitate rain drops.

11. Let dry, meanwhile adhere the ribbon(s) to the front of the water colour panel with double sided tape or any adhesive.

12. Punch out the sentiment with a tag punch or cut with scissors, ink up the sides of the tag with a Pitt Pen.  Glue tag over ribbon.

13. Glue down watercolour panel to the front of the card making sure the blue circle lines up with the opening.

14.  As a final touch use some Stickles (glitter glue) in a complimentary colour to bling up one side of the circle window.

                                        1,2

3,4,5

6,7

9,10

    8 

Thanks for stopping by!

Fake It Friday #7: Make Your Own Antique Book Pages

Hello, it's Friday and here is how I make some faux vintage book pages if I have run out of actual vintage paper.

First off I go to the Dollar Store and purchase an inexpensive book, usually a dictionary, that has a lot of words and thin paper.  Back at home I spread open the book and place it inside a large bowl.  I boil some water and add it to yesterday's forgotten tea pot,  I will also pour in the morning coffee that has gone cold.  After I have made my book soup I set the bowl outside in the sun and let it "cook" for the day.  The next day I pour out the liquid, squeeze out as much as possible and let the book dry out in the sun.  Of course this works better during a few hot summer days.

As the book is of a cheaper quality paperback it falls apart easily.  The pages are brownish in colour and look like they have been around for a long time.

So what to make with these vintage pages? Anything you want!  The colour and print make any shape look interesting.  In the example below I cut some sea shells out of real vintage pages and added them to my art journal page.

I hope you enjoyed your visit.  Thanks for stopping by.

WOYWW August 21, 2013

Time for another What's on Your Work Desk Wednesday, thanks to Julia over at The Stamping Ground.

Here goes:

I am working on a birthday card for my son.  It is also going to hold a gift card.  I don't want to show off the finished project because he hasn't gotten it yet.  It is always challenging to come up with cards for the men in my life.  I m glad that I have this set now from Get Inky! stamps because it is perfect for my guys.  It is called "Geeky Fun" and has 21 sentiments and 11 icons all with that Geeky feel.  I can also use it for its plain sentiments for anybody.  I have these stamps because I am on the Design Team for Get Inky!, but I would definitely buy these even if I weren't, as they are such a great deal.  If you are interested in checking these out for yourselves go here.

Well now off to buy the ingredients to bake a Lemon White Chocolate Cake.

Thanks for stopping by.

Mixed Media Monday: Bird on a Branch

Another Monday!  Another Mixed Media by me!  

Hi everyone, thanks for stoping by to see what I have been up to.  I designed this 12"x12" canvas wall hanging for the All That Stickles Blog Linky Party: Nature/Outdoors.  I have fun every week coming up with art works that incorporate those lovely Stickles, and the Nature theme turns out to be perfect.  I really love nature especially living where we do, I would be so miserable if I were more of a city girl!  Here, we have many varieties of birds mostly woodland but we also have some bigger fouls, some wetlands and of course the open air birds because of all the farms around.  We live close to one of the only remaining untouched bogs in the world where there are even more rare and unusual varieties.

On this piece I couldn't tell you with certainty what bird this is as there was no description with the stamp.  It appears to be a type of Warbler, perhaps even a Swallow.  I went with the Warbler.  I have both here so it was a toss up.  Funny thing about the branches I used, they are actually over grown Dill Stems, and not tree branches.  The light weight of them makes them a perfect material for wall hangings.

I used raw and unprimed canvas to make the background which I painted with Golden Fluids and Acrylics.  When it was dry I stamped on some music notes.
 I made the bird appliqué from a smaller piece of raw canvas that I first prepared with clear gesso, used a permanent pigment ink with a bird stamp and applied another coat of clear gesso before applying the colours with Gelatos.
 When I used the gelatos I spritzed water on to my non stick craft mat, coloured with a Gelatos and made a little soup spot, and used a brush to apply some colour to the bird.  I used Silver on its legs, Yellow on its belly and head, and Brown on its back.
 I machine sewed the bird onto the canvas leaving a small opening so I could stuff it with some leftover batting and I hand stitched to close that opening.
   Finally I applied some stickles: a drop of Walnut stain for his eye, some brushed on Walnut stain on the back, Goldenrod on the belly and beak, Scattered Straw on the branch,  and the Eucalyptus, and Waterfall on the background.

I made holes in the top of the canvas and installed some very large eyelets and hooked up some shower curtain rings.



Supplies:
Raw canvas (Frederix)
Acrylic Paints:  Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Hansa Yellow Light, Titanium White, Cerulean Blue Deep,  Cobalt Blue (Golden)
Bird Stamp (Magenta)
Music Notes Stamp (Michaels)
Ink: Black (Staz-On)
Gelatos: Brown, Silver, Lemon (Faber Castell)
Branches (my garden)
Large brass eyelets (Dollar store)
Shower curtain rings (Dollarama)
Batting (Fabricland)
Thread  (Coats)
Clear Gesso (Liquitex)
Heavy Gel Medium (Golden)
Glue (Weldbond)
Black pen (Sharpie)
Stickles used:  Golden Rod, Eucalyptus, Waterfall (Ranger)
Distress stickles:  Scattered straw, Walnut Stain. (Ranger)

I hope that this entices you to look at nature and be inspired.  Thanks for viewing.

Back To School Blog Hop

Welcome to the 1 + 2 = Stickles Blog Hop brought to you by the All that Stickles design team!

Back to school is just around the corner, and what better way to start off the school year then with a bit of sparkle?! Today the design team is showcasing all sorts of glittery back to school projects that kiddos and teachers will love!

If you've come from Tonya's blog, you're in the right place! If you have just come across the hop and would like to start from the beginning, please visit All that Stickles.

For my project, I made a binder for mom (or whomever) to keep by the front door or command central where the kids can slide in all those papers that parents have to read, or sign.  I did this for years when my kids attended public school, as they would bring home so much bureaucratic paper work, notices and calendars.  By filling the binder with plastic page protectors I was able to insert all those papers into the pages where they would stay dry and relatively clean for the rest of the school year.  Oh yes, some papers had to be referred to later in the year and other parents knew of my system and would often call me and ask "Do you still have that paper about...that lil' Johhnny got at school way back in September?  "  Yup, I sure did! And I would make them a copy.
Having some pens and pencils near by is always and was useful to quickly sign off those forms in a mad dash before everyone had to get out the door in the morning.  Now, if only I could have made a home version of an ATM, I would have stickled that too!

Supplies:  one  1" plastic binder (Jean Coutu)
2 big googly eyes (Dollarama)
Glittered Sticker letters (Dollarama)
one plastic pencil/pen holder cup (Dollarama)
Lepage Super Gel glue (Lepage)
Stickles: Green, Midnight Blue, Xmas Red, Gold

Putting these together is a simple decorating project that even the kids can participate in.  Plus, it is so fun!

We have blog candy for those who are a follower of All that Stickles and leave a comment on every stop of the hop! Winners will be announced Wednesday August 21st at All that Stickles.

Having said that, I know that there have been issues with commenting on my posts.  I have surrendered in a frustrating defeat after my battle with; Blogger, Google, and even Facebook, in trying to fix this situation for EVERYBODY.  Sorry, some of you may still have issues, if after trying the many places on my own blog to post comments or emails you are unsuccessful, please just go back to Tonya's and let her know I sent you.  Thanks for your understanding.

Fresh Brewed Designs

$15 Gift Certificate

The Paper Parade

$25 Gift Certificate

Bugaboo Stamps

10 Digis of Winner's Choice

Your next stop is 
Karen's blog.

Here's the complete lineup:

All that Stickles

Ashley

Tonya

Ann

Karen N.

Chas

Cathy

Sonia

Angeline

Cathie

Laura

Karen S. 

Thanks for hopping! :) Don't forget to check out our Nature/Outdoors Linky Party!

Fake it Friday: Gel plate printed flowers

Hello, and welcome to another instalment of Fake it Fridays.  Today I am sharing something new to me.  Making my own prints with a gel based printing plate that I made from scratch literally.  I got the original recipe and instructions from "Lindsay The Frugal Crafter".  I thought that it looked so neat that I had to try it for myself. Here is my version:

As you can see from the picture I keep my gel plate in a re sealable plastic container that I bought at the Dollar store (Dollarama), it is a perfect size for printing on 8 1/2" x11" paper. Those are some of the prints I made to the side of the gel plate . To use the gel plate I slide it out of the container onto a glass cutting board (also from the Dollar store), when I m done I clean the gel plate with some water before returning it to the container and putting the lid back on to keep the dust off until the next time I want to use it.  What is really fun about this gel plate is that if it tears or gets damaged in any way I just need to pop it (while in the container) in the microwave for one minute let it melt, take it out and let it reset.

This is my recipe:

8  envelopes (envelopes contain about 1 TBSP each ) of Knox Gelatin powder (Jello with no colour or flavour, available at the grocery store in the baking isle)
1 1/2 cups glycerin (available at the drugstore/pharmacy even Walmart).
1/2 cup of rubbing alcohol (70 or 90% will do)
1/2 cup boiling water (this is really just to help dissolve the gelatin powder.
* by the way this makes a pretty big and thick plate.

I pour the gelatin right into the container stir in the boiled water briskly to dissolve all the powder, add the other ingredients, sitr and let set.  To use the gel plate I use a knife or cake spatula to help dislodge it from the sides and slide it out onto a flat surface such as a piece of glass or non stick type board.  Just to make it easier to carry to the sink if I need to clean it off.  I pour paints onto the surface, make marks or use stencils, a brayer, and then pat down the paper.  I try to get more than one print from each.  Set the prints aside to dry and keep playing.  The gel plate can be easily wiped clean with a wet rag or if your sink is large enough it can even be rinsed ever so gently in the sink while still on the glass.  Pat it dry and return by sliding it gently back into the container.  A lot of people just use an inverted plastic photo frame (the deep kind) or a a cookie sheet.  Just remember to keep your plate covered when not in use because dust does stick to its surface and renders it icky.  Because of the alcohol and the glycerin this plate should be permanent to semi permanent.  If you can not find the commercial gel plates and want to give this a try it won't cost much.  Please remember that this is absolutely inedible.

Some of the prints I made using acrylic paints and found objects.

Paper flowers I made with some of the new papers.

Mixed Media Canvas I made and used the paper flowers I made out of my prints.

I hope that this inspires you to try something new as well.  Thanks for viewing.