Fall Mixed Media Canvas

Wow, it went from almost summery to SNOW in less than a week! Seriously? Gotta love southern Ontario ‘autumn’. So with a chill in the air, I made this super shabby fall decor piece for The Shabby Tea Room this week.

I started with a plain white canvas-covered board. I prefer the look of a wood frame canvas but boards are not only easier to work on but it was all I had in this size! I applied strips of music, text and scrapbook papers along with washi tape and lace with gel medium. Then I went over it all with a light coating of gesso. Next I added watercolour in long thin streaks.  Some overlapped the lace but most was on the canvas itself. For the foliage, I die cut plain ivory cardstock and coloured it in with gilder’s paste using both antique gold and patina which is the mint colour you also see on the canvas.

The chevrons, which I added to help reflect the inspiration photo, were coloured with watercolour then covered in Crackle Accents. Next I went to town embellishing the canvas using Prima flowers, gold berry clusters, buttons, sequins and a big reclaimed sari silk bow. I found quite a few sequins that matched perfectly and I was happy to find I had brown buttons in the perfect sizes for the ‘dotted’ effect I was looking for. I thought they helped by bring in the dots from the inspiration photo.

I really hadn’t planned to bring in the mint colour but I accidentally grabbed the patina (mint) colour of Gilder’s Paste before the antique gold one and I realized it brought a fresh pop to the autumn colours. So I added even more with the buttons! I die cut the ‘blessings’ letters in a more whimsical font but it didn’t work well so I tried this one. It’s way old, from Quickutz back when they had the Squeeze tool! Anyone been die cutting long enough to remember those? Ugh, I can’t tell you how many incomplete cuts I got with that thing; I have weak hands. I really like this font because its like a typewriter font but with some added whimsy. Last but no least I added a bit more texture using some brown ink and a script stamp.

I hope you like the inspiration photo and join us this week! Remember, our name is shabby, you project doesn’t have to be! We accept any type of project and any style! You know you waaaaaanna! But even if you only visit, be sure to leave the girls some love! We all thrive when we get great comments.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Navy and Pink PTI Blog Hop

Welcome to another PTI Blog Hop! My card was made when I was very tired this morning, I got up early because I couldn’t sleep, so please forgive a lack of inspiration. Overall though, I think it’s a pretty card worth posting.

I really wish PTI made a cardstock that was about halfway between blush and hibiscus and not peachy/coral like Melon Berry and Berry sorbet. Then I would have used that for the sentiment panel and the flowers would stand out more. IRL the sponging on the edges of the flowers shows more and they stand out from the background a bit better.

Such a gorgeous inspiration photo right? The flowers were made with a die from Memory Box and I took the time to shape them nicely before adding them to the card. I should have sponged them before shaping them though so I will make a note to myself for next time. Not only did they not sponge very smoothly but the tiny tab used to keep the flower 3-D

I love making lots of types of cards but I find myself using get well and thanks most so I love having lots of choices of sentiment in these two categories. This set, Healing Touch Sentiments, has lots of options. I am dying to get a Get Well die though. Anyone know of one? The only one I can find, from Hero Arts, isn’t in a font I like too well.

I used Cardabilities sketch 121 for this card. Isn’t it awesome? They have the best sketches for all cards but especially shabby chic ones.

Enjoy the rest of the hop! Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: fancy flourishes, Healing Touch sent-PTI
Ink: Paris dusk-Memento, hibiscus burst
Paper: DP-MME, cardstock all PTI
Accessories: Cherry Blossom die-Memory Box, Labels 8-Spellbinders, leaves die-SSS, gem-stash, border die-PTI
Tools: MISTI, Embossing stylus

Balloon Tag and Package

A matching tag and packaging was another PTI challenge. I had just made the tag in the post previous to this one with a set I neglect and thought about stamp sets I don’t use often enough for this tag.

I bought Everyday Button Bits a while ago second-hand and I’ve only used it once. So I decided to use it and use up some of those enormous buttons I don’t use much. I don’t use Vintage Labels a lot either so it made for a good match. I think this would make a good baby gift package.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: as above
Ink: archival black-Ranger, Hawaiian shores-PTI
Paper: white, aqua mist CS-PTI
Accessories: chartreuse, wisteria, spring rain buttons-PTI, labels 1 dies-Spellbinders, cloud dies-PTI, washi tape-stash, baker’s twine-Divine twine

Home Sweet Home Pumpkin Mixed Media Canvas

Creating this was interesting on so many levels. I’m trying to enjoy fall more by decorating my house a bit. These aren’t colours that go with the little I have decorated but it’s still fun.

I hate fall because it brings cold weather right after I’ve enjoyed summer so much and is a forerunner to winter with even more cold. But I really wanted to enter a couple challenges that this theme worked with. I experimented with a new medium, water soluble oil pastels. And I tried out some other new techniques like adding colour to my embossing paste and not the background.

So here’s how it’s made.

1. add crumpled tissue paper to the background. I used one with birds, leaves and bird cages. Use gel medium underneath and on top of the tissue and allow some wrinkles to form.
2. add gesso mixed with water over hte top. Create as much opacity as you like. I often add two layers to make sure I don’t get too much coverage the first time.
3. This step is one I don’t know I’d use again but it was fun experimenting. Add dark brown oil pastel around the edges and over the edge, about 1”. add a lighter brown inside that. Buff with a rag and add gilder’s wax to the outside edge spreading some colour across  into the center of the canvas. (this didn’t end up showing in the end, I’ll explain as I go).
4. add music paper to the bottom of the page with gel medium, colour with alcohol ink.
5. add lace.
6. Die cut ivy tendril and flourishes, sponge and stamp them
7. cut sentiment from paper pack and add gold paint pen to edges in distressed (not perfect) way
8. tear oval shapes from orange paper. I used a die to tear against so my shapes were torn but still smooth-ish on the edges. cut a stem. ink all edges and assemble adding a twine bow .
9. add pumpkin and flourishes to canvas with gel medium. Use layers of scrap paper under upper portion of pumpkin to raise it to the height of the bottom portion which is over the lace. I didn’t make sure it met the edge of the lace.
10. add embossing paste to top of canvas using a stencil. Allow to dry without using heat gun. I found when I used the heat gun, it brought the oil from the oil pastels to the surface and made it shiny. When I buffed it, quite a lot came off and I had to add back more colour. It never looked quite as good as it did in the beginning.
11. when paste is dry, add green and brown ink. the good thing about the oil pastel background is it resists inking so the colour only sticks to the leaves. a nice bonus and something to think about when I use pastels next time.
12. add sentiment using layers of scrap cardstock behind it instead of foam dots. not only was a worried about the foam dots sticking on the oily pastel background, it is more sturdy to use cardstock.
13. add antique linen distress stickles to the pumpkin using a thin layer and to the heart in the sentiment using a thick layer. The moisture from the stickles and the uneven backing to the pumpkin allowed it to warp slightly which is a shabby look I quite like.

I’m entering this in the holiday SSS Wednesday blog challenge Anything Goes, the Mixed Media Colour Challenge to make a holiday themed project, the SSS Monday blog challenge Anything Goes and TSTR 190 to make a project using a pumpkin.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: fancy flourishes-PTI
Ink: artichoke-PTI, Vintage photo Distress
Paper: Simple Stories
Accessories: Portfolio Oil Pastels, homemade embossing paste, Crafter’s workshop stencil, gilder’s paste-?, lace-stash, ivy die-Poppy, flourish dies, twine-PTI, Krylon paint pen, tissue-?, gel medium, gesso-Golden, canvas-Dollarama, nesties ovals (as tearing templates)

Spa Party 2011

Yep, you read that correctly! 2011! I had a spa party for some of my girlfriends and I forgot to blog it! Crazy! I bought some of the stuff I needed and made others. Here are the things I made.

The invite…

Do you have any idea how long and hard I Had to look to find this You’re Invited stamp? OMW! I thought I was going to go crazy looking for it!

Aren’t these cute? I didn’t have that many people so I tailored the designs to suit each person.

Yep, two sets using these older papers. Nice for almost anyone. For a couple people whose favourite colours I didn’t know.

These two were my favourites.

The outside of the tins were decorated with embossed vellum and a die cut topped by a medallion.

Everyone got a pretty beaded pencil too. Also in the bags were a mini lip gloss, a mani kit, a bath scrubbie, a hair band and a bracelet beading kit. I think there were a couple other things too but it was such a long time ago! I wish I had a picture of how I decorated the bags too!

We made the bracelet, did our nails and some of us put on a clay face mask while we watched movies. We ate all manner of goodies as I set up a candy bar, made an enchilada dinner and had cupcakes not only for dessert but also all afternoon. If you are really on the ball you will have figured out that I did all of this while 6 months pregnant!

It would take ages to write a recipe for this so if you have any questions, fee free to email me or leave a comment with your email.

Enjoy, Rebecca

Pretty Green Dress for The Shabby Tea Room

I LOVED this week’s inspiration photo! The colours were amazing, aqua, a slightly peachy pink, silver and a bit of brown which I didn’t really use much. I decided to recreate the dress and add some silver and pink accents.

There are so many details that are hard to see and so much prettier IRL. The rose on the top of the dress form is clay and from some broken jewellery my mom gave me. It had a flaw on it so I covered the petal edges in glitter. No way to see the super fine glitter in the photo. You may be able to see in the  close up that I added the tiniest possible drops of Pearl Pen to the straps and neckline because to me the bodice looked beaded.

The belt ‘buckle’ has tiny flowers on it. The bodice has a vellum overlay to soften it and make it match better with the colour of the skirt with the tulle over it. The mannequin is covered in pretty tone-on-tone floral paper. The music stamped behind the mannequin has small areas which are embossed with silver glittered embossing powder which gives it a bit of vintage, distressed looking sparkle. I really wish you could see those things. They took me ages to add!

The ribbon medallion, which is mimics the one in the inspiration photo, is much pinker IRL and not so orange. More like a deeper version of the Paris postcard colour on the lower part of the card. I tried manipulating my photo every which way but it either made it worse or seriously and disastrously affected the other colours. I didn’t really use the brown  much but there is a touch of it on the Paris postcard in the postmark which you can se below.

This gorgeous embellishment originally had a bright pink crystal dangling at the bottom which didn't suit at all so I swapped it out for a pearl bead. Ah, much better! Since I wasn’t hanging it from anywhere, I added a ribbon to the loop at the top. I love the subtle glitter they embedded in the epoxy when they made it.

Click on either photo to visit the challenge blog posts. One other fun detail. I should have taken an angle shot because you can’t see it but the mannequin is several layers thick. She is made of pretty thick coaster board, 4 layers, so she stands out quite a bit from the background. You can tell a bit by looking at her shadow. much larger than it would be if she was flat or popped up on foam dots.

I’m also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge to use Your Favourites because this music stamp is one of my favourites. I lost it for a while and was THRILLED to have found it! YEAH!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: music-SU!, flourish-PTI
Ink: Antique Linen, Encore silver
Paper: background dp-MME, roses-American Crafts, postcard-Cavalini, blush CS-SU!, coaster board-Ellen Hutson, silver paper, vellum-stash, aqua mist CS-PTI
Accessories: bird charm-Girl’s Paperie, medallion ribbon-American Crafts, white ribbon-May Arts, tulle-Michaels, pearls-Dollarama, rhinestones-TE, lace-Etsy, Tim Holtz mannequin dies, PTI label dies, SU! silver and iridescent ice EP, flower bouquet-Jesse James buttons, foam dots-Jody Morrow, pearl bead-stash, mini scalloped punch-EK Success, Pearl Pen, ribbon slide-stash, sheer white ribbon-stash, Glitter Ritz Warm Highlights

PTI Stamp-a-Faire Challenge–Handmade Embellishments

This DIY badge is for making your own embellishments. I rarely use store-bought bellies that can be handmade. So I had fun choosing which tutorial to try out. But since I was short of time, I went to an easy one, layered butterflies.

I only have two butterfly dies so I had to use one twice but you can barely see it in the photo; look at the top right of the pink butterfly. You will see a tiny bit of moss peeking  out.  Unfortunately, it is really late here and I am hurrying to get to bed so I can’t take another. But it looks cute!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages, Label Basics
Ink: memento toffee crunch
Paper: all PTI
Accessories: berry button, label die, small butterfly die-PTI, large butterfly die-Sizzix

PTI Stamp-a-Faire Challenge–Friendship Bracelet

This was a fun challenge. Amazing that they thought to make a die for paper beads! I didn’t get a change to glaze my beads for durability but I will when I get some clear nail polish.

I actually made a few beads a bit smaller. I put some of the die cuts back through my Cuttlebug with one side over the cutting edge to make the die cut narrower which makes the finished beads shorter. And here is a closeup…

You can see the polka dotted bead is much smaller than the one below it.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: PTI
Findings: all from stash

Mojo and Make It Monday Challenge Card

THIS A SPOILER ALERT! REBECCA, DO NOT READ THIS POST!

I am going to type everything at the top of this post so my BFF Rebecca (yeah, same name, I know!) doesn’t see it before she closes this page.

This card uses the Mojo sketch for this week and also meets the requirements for this week’s PTI Make It Monday to make a shaker card using dies. I hadn’t thought to use dies before and I really had a fun time with it. I think this also qualifies for the JustRite colour challenge if I still have time to enter. ETA Darn, missed it, again!!!

I used Labels 1 Nesties for the outer frame and PTI’s heart die for the inside. I had a sheet of foam dimensional material that I cut instead of fun foam. The acetate sheet comes from stamp packaging. Way to recycle right?

Hopefully this is down far enough on the page that she won’t see it!

Isn’t that ice cream paper the cutest?? I made the heart button with another PTI heart die. The little words inside the shaker box are from Mega Mixed Messages and I hand cut them. Also in the box is clear micro beads and some glitter, a mix of white and gold I think, I bought it like that. The bear is paper pieced and shaded with Copic markers. Actually, I though the paper needed muting so I coloured the whole image with E71.

My girlfriends threw me the best Teddy Bear themed baby shower in honour of my new baby, Theodore, Teddy for short. I love it! Rebecca even bought honey bears for everyone and HANDCUT 30 or 40 bear shaped tags! WOW! So the shaker words say ‘wish’, ‘friend’, ‘merci’ and ‘thanks’. I took a photo of how I layered the shaker box so if you’d like to see, just let me know.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: flourish under shaker box and Mon Amie-SU!, bear-TE, mini words-PTI
Ink: Chocolate, ivory-SU!, memento black, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo Distress
Paper: dark brown-stash, probably Bazzil, kraft-SU!, DP-MME
Accessories: heart dies, square pinked die, button-PTI, black liquid enamel-Ranger, foam dots and dimensionals sheet- Jody Morrow, Nesties labels 1, silk ribbon-May Arts, lace-vintage, EK Success Mini scalloped punch, MS micro beads, Art Institute Glitter, Copic E71,74,77

Happy Mail for the OCC

This week’s challenge is to fussy cut! You can cut out your image, paper piece, hand cut some shapes, anything you like!

I hand cut the little girl, her dress and her pockets. And since I couldn’t get my $%^&* die cutter to work properly, I ended up trimming and hand cutting my mail box template too. GRRR! It sure is cute though isn’t it? I am not going to give a link for the template because it didn’t assemble properly. I’ll try it again and if it works, then I’ll link it.

The cupcake stand is made from…. guess what?…. a ribbon spool from May Arts! Cool right? I wrapped the center with a strip of DP. Then I traced the top onto another piece of DP. I punched a strip of DP (it is coloured on the other side), stamped it, scored it then glued it to the top of the stand. The fold aligns with the top edge of the ribbon spool. When you get to the corners, clip the paper so it will fold neatly. Then glue the top on. I didn’t have a cupcake (though I found a new bakery just today!) so I filled a small tin I had handy with Hershey’s Cherry Cordial Kisses.

Here’s a close up of the mail box showing the interior. You can’t see it but the floor inside is also covered in DP that matches the top of the cupcake stand. It is filled with Hershey’s Mini Chocolates.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: little girl, sentiment-PTI, Sweet-Mixed Messages PTI
Ink: memento black, rose, pretty in pink-SU!
Paper: DP-Bittersweet Basic Grey, white CS-Taylored Expressions, pink, chocolate CS-SU!
Accessories: Spellbinders tag die, lacy circles, Copic Markers R21,81,8385, E00, 11, 21, 31, 33,93, Y21, B14, flower-Prima (I think), dotted ribbon-stash, seam binding ribbon-Masterstroke, brad-Basic Grey, MS punch

Taylored Expressions Blast From The Past Blog Hop–the Beach!

Welcome to another TE Blog Hop. This is my third, you can see my other projects here Blast from the Past 1 and here Blast from the Past 2.

I love the paper from Imaginisce and the stamps from the Hanging Out: Beach set! I finally remembered to use the sketch specially designed for the hop! I wasn’t sure at first because I had planned to do a ‘scene’ much like last month’s card but I don’t want to seem to be a one trick pony (hee hee) so I changed my plan and came up with this. Still a bit of a ‘scene’ with the tree and lanterns but not a full scene.

I hand cut the scalloped border and the waves that overlap the striped paper. I used a TON of foam dots. The top of the tree is up on 3, the middle and left side on 2 and the bottom on 1. The little punch out on the sign is on 1, the middle lantern is on two and the other lantern is on 1 too. SO many I am classifying this as a 3-D project!!

I hope you enjoyed my project and will come back for more! I have subscription thingies on my sidebar! Now, off you go to check out the rest of the hop!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: TE, Hangin’ Out at the Beach
Paper: Bazzil aqua CS, Imaginisce DP, White CS-PTI, kraft CS-SU!
Ink: night of navy, celery, cocoa, baha-SU!, Antique Linen, Worn Lipstick Distress Inks,
Accessories: Foam dots-Jody Morrow, twine-PTI, 1/2” SU! circle punch, Copics R20, YG11,63,67, E35.37,47, G94

Clear Dollar Stamps Sneak Preview – Gone Fishin’

What an awesome set for guys! Perfect for the outdoorsy type! We all know bows and flowers won’t work for the men in our lives.

Nothing too interesting to say that you can’t figure out from the picture. So this is part one of this gift set…

This is part two. I used the tool box template from My Time Made Easy to make this great gift box. Inside is an instant coffee jar repurposed with a covered lid with trail mix inside. I meant to add some other stuff but I didn’t get it done in time. And even though it doesn’t include the images from this stamp set..

Here is part three! A fishing tackle box with…

…a drawer inside! I was going to put gummy worms and candy bugs inside but hubby forgot to buy them on his trip to the store. Bummer! I figure between the tool box and the tackle box you could package so many things for the guys in your life. Both boxes are large enough for a tie (of course!) bath and body products, jewellery, snacks, baked goods or candy, fishing items (not that I know what they are called beyond weights or lures) and CDs or movies would fit in the tool box!

I hope you are inspired to make something great for the guys in your life! Today is the last day for the reveal by Clear Dollar Stamps for June! But there are more posts coming up for two other great guy stamps, so don’t miss them! Be sure to visit Clearly iStamp to see the other team members who are revealing this stamp set on their blogs and to see the full set!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE for card and tool box
Stamps: Gone Fishin’-CDS
Ink: Memento black, Antique Linen and Vintage photo Distress inks, chocolate chip-SU!
Paper: white CS-Taylored Expressions, kraft, artichoke, burgundy CS-SU! DP-CTMH
Accessories: hardware-SU!, hemp twine-stash, foam dots-Jody Morrow, letter stickers-Basic Grey, Nestabilities Labels 3, Copics: W3,5, E00,35,47,49,71, YR04, R59,89, BG96, G94,99, B32,39,45,93,95,97, C3,5,7

for tackle box
Stamps: BG wheel-SU!
Ink: Antique Linen Distress, cocoa, choc chip-SU!
Paper: cocoa, choc chip, ivory CS-SU!
Accessories: ribbon-May Arts, ‘dad’-sticker EK Success, jumbo eyelets-WRMK, hardware-SU!, foam dots and red line tape-Jody Morrow