Mixed Media Monthly - Wrap it Up

Hello friends and welcome (again)!?
Today is a super busy day here on my blog as it is the first of the month and I am part of 3 challenge blog teams all starting a new challenge today, so apologies, as this is my third post of the day...

So this post is for Mixed Media Monthly,  where the theme this month is Wrap it Up....

Though I absolutely loved putting this project together, it was also a sad occasion as this is the very last month our challenge is running, part of the reason for the theme of our challenge.

The other reason is that the wonderful Eileen Hull is both our sponsor and guest designer and each of the team received a wrapped journal diecut to work with. But before I tell you more, here first of all is our graphic for this final month:

Update: I don't know what is going on with blogger at the moment, but this is the third time I am trying to publish this post. My sincere apologies to anyone who has come by to check this post out!

I made 4 inserts for the album, using Tim Holtz papers and used the simplest of bindings, namely elastic string threaded through the precut holes in the die cut. Each insert has 5 pages, but you can easily add more by just slipping them under the elastics.

I will start by describing how I created the cover of this album. The great thing about Eileen's Wrapped die is, that it works perfectly together with the passport die, which you could win if you decide to play in our challenge!

I started by adding some texture to the cover using a stencil, some stencil paste and while the paste was still wet sprinkled on some of Seth Apter's Baked Textures EP in the colour Patina Oxide.

More texture was added with some lace and cheese cloth, making sure I put it where the flap would not cover it. I also added some crackle paste in a few areas.

the flap is the panel on the left in this photo.

Colour was added with Decoart Media Acrylic Paints in Titanium Buff, Burnt- and Raw Umber and when those had dried the textures were highlighted by dry brushing with Gesso.

The inside was lined with Tim Holtz papers

And the inserts were made using  the same papers.

I added some home made charms to the spine and the closure was made with two Ideaology Hitch fasteners and another bit of elastic. This works really easily and well.

Below a few photos of the inserts still and how I altered the papers I used for them.

And finally, here you can see the 4 inserts inside the album:

Well, that's it for now. Do hop over to see what my team mates have made with the wonderful die and of course as this is our very last challenge, we all hope you will join us!

Thanks for taking the time to visit

xxxxx

Steampunk travel, a mid month project for Mixed Media Monthly

Hello friends, thanks for dropping by. Today I am sharing another "rusty" project for Mixed Media Monthly, where as many of you will know, our theme is rust this month and the challenge is sponsored by Emerald Creek, who sent each of us designers some of Seth Apter's wonderful baked textures.

When I started my project, I had no idea where it was going other than that it would include something rusty and I would use my Baked Textures. So I started by rusting up some elements.

The cogs were little chipboard pieces, I covered them with embossing ink, gave them a coat of the Rust powder and then a few sprinkles of Patina Oxide powder.
The large 3 was stamped with a Tim Holtz Numerical stamp,  fussy cut and then embossed with a mixture of first Rust, then Rocky Road, more Rust and finally a little Patina Oxide powders. I wished you could see it in real life, it really looks  like rusted and oxidised metal, - these powders are totally magical.
Anyway, back to my project:

I took a piece of Tim Holtz packaging, rounded a couple of the corners, added a bit of stencilling using Vintage Linen Distress paint, stamped a La Blanche stamp in the center and added some strips of washi and ephemera pieces. I then stamped all round the edges with another La Blanche steampunk type stamp.

Next I took one of the Ideaology Vignette frames, painted it black and then highlighted with Copper Treasure Gold. I arranged the cogs and number under and around the frame and added the word Travel to finish it all off.

The word is a Tim Holtz word sticker, matted on black card and again highlighted with Copper Treasure gold.

It's not often I create masculine projects, but this will come in useful when I need a male card or tag.

Don't forget, you still have two weeks to join in our challenge and if you add our graphic below, you could even be in with a chance to with some of the wonderful Baked Textures!

Thank you for your visit like always and I hope you will have some creative time!!

xxxxx

Just playing, - mixed media journal page

Hello friends, hope you were able to enjoy some fun time this weekend. Here in Scotland we had some glorious sunshine and I spent most of the weekend outside. But on Friday I had great fun playing in my journal, and here is the result:

I decided to try out some of my new stash and as I was too much involved in the process, I forgot to take any step out photos, but will talk you briefly through what I did.

I started by gathering various collage papers, paper serviettes, torn book pages and some scraps of the ideaology worn wall papers. I added them to my pages with fluid matte medium and then added some journalling using a biro with the plan to just have it there as a layer and cover it mostly with gesso, jsy peeping through here and there... BIG MISTAKE!! No matter how many coats of gesso and paint I threw at it, it kept coming through. So in the end I had to add more papers and some of the new Seth Apter baked textures, the Vintage Beeswax one, stamping into it while still hot.

I stamped into it while it was still hot and also added further background stamping, using Seth Apter and AAL &Create stamps.

I added some of Tim's new Washi tape from the Remnants set, which matches the worn wall paper scraps I chose in colour rather well, and added further patches of colour using Paper Artsy paints and Distress Crayon, as well as some dark brown Gelato arround the edges.

The spread was becoming rather busy so I added a paper doll with some butterfly wings to act as a focal point and draw in the eye a bit.

And finished with a couple of sentiments, one stamped in black and the other white embossed on black card, both from the AAL&C stamp set and some splatters finished it all off.

Well that's it for today. Thanks so much for your visit and I hope you'll get some fun playtime this week.

Have a good one!

xxxxx

Rusty, May project for the Miixed Media Monthly challenge #48

Hello lovely visitors and welcome. Hope you are all enjoying some sunshine! This being the first of the month, I have two posts going live today, and here is my one for the Mixed Media Monthly challenge where our theme this month is "Rusty".

I love rust, so this was a joy to create, and even better, our sponsor this month is Emerald Creek

 who are offering a prize package of 3 of Seth Apters Baked Textures and 3 of their other powders, - so what are you waiting for, - do play along!! And remember, do add our graphic, - here it is:

On to my project:

I created a canvas for this challenge and started with an abstract background painting using Golden Fluid Acrylics, Oxide ink and a Distress Crayon.

Next I added interest by using a scrap of the new Tim Holtz Collage papers (Aviary), some washi and ofcourse a couple of the Baked Textures which Emerald Creek had kindly sent the designers. I got Rust and Rocky Road and used them together for my projects. Below a close up of the amazing effect these powders can create:

My next step was to create some rusty embellishments:

This was a chipboard piece from my stash. I covered it in embossing ink and then added first Rust and then Rocky Road to get the effect.

This piece was a stamped image from a stampset designed by Seth Apter (Eclectica ESA08 by Paper Artsy). I stamped it in black archival ink, cut it out, covered it with embossing ink and then triple embossed with the two powders, added some patina effect with the help of a Distress Crayon and voila, a rusty lock.
Well, obviously a lock needs a key, and luckily I found a chipboard one in my stash and it got the same rusty treatment.

Then all I needed to do was add some background stamping, using stamps from the same stamp set by Seth Apter and I was done.

And here the same canvas in a different setting:

I am sure many of you will have played with these Baked Textures already, but having been away on a blog break, this was my first experiment with them, so I named my canvas Experiment (using another stamp from the same set).

Well, that's it for today, - thank you for your visit and do hop over to our challenge blog to see what my talented teamies have created and to get all the details of the challenge. Hope to see you there!

xxxxx

Discovering - Use a Cavas for A Vintage Journey

Hello friends, today is the start of a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey and the lovely and talented Nikki has chosen the theme "Use A Canvas". Here is the canvas that I put together for the challenge:

Our sponsor this month is Shimmerz

One randomly chosen winner will receive a voucher for $25 to spend in their store!

I used a 5 x 7 canvas board, I love these as they can also be used as special cards for friends. I called it Discovering, because of the word from my quote and while using a canvas is hardly a new discovery for me, I discovered several things along the way. Below is the recipe and just a few step out photos:

1: Add some strips of vintage book paper to your canvas.

2: Cover it with a thin layer of watered down gesso.

3. Add some acrylic paint, I used two Paper Artsy Frescos, Vanilla and Buff and painted mostly around the outside of my board, making sure the paper kept showing.

4. Add colour with Distress Oxides, using a blending tool, I used Vintage Photo, Broken China and Cracked Pistachio and several Shimmerz sprays that match these colours to perfection:I Vibez\ Green Acres and Jeni B Bleu.

5. Add the tiniest bit of Infusions, I used "A Bit Jaded", plus a couple of sprays of Distress Spray in Ground Espresso.

6. Add some stenciling using a Distress Crayon, Vintage photo used here and Cracked Pistachio with some Tim Layering stencils.Follow with some background background stamping. Stamps used here are by Seth Apter and Wendy Vecchi.

7. Select some embellishments, mine came either from my scrapbox or were stamped, using Tim Holtz stamps. The gent is one of his paper dolls.

8. Arrange them until you are happy with the result and add some shadow around you focal image, - done :o). As you can see a couple of Ideaology pieces also found their way onto the canvas for a finishing touch. Below a few close ups still:

I added colour to the wander charm using a Distress crayon, - this works much better for me than using paint the way Tim shows, I always mess that up...

The sentiment was stamped on a piece of coffee stained paper left over from a previous project.

And that was pretty much it. Make sure you check out the wonderful canvasses my teamies have created over on A Vintage Journey, - and hopefully you will decide to play along, you can read all the details over on the blog there, and trust me, working on a canvas is great fun!

Thanks for your visit like always and have a wonderful month!!

xxxxx