Dreamer of Dreams

 

Très Jolie’s Mixed Media kit for October contained an assortment of Dina Wakley acrylics, a bottle of Sparkle Spray from Nuvo and – best of all – a wooden dreamcatcher kit from Kaisercraft’s Lucky Dip collection. Here’s what I came up with:

I didn’t receive the string that came with the kit, so I went into my stash and pulled out several spools of jute twine, one an all-purpose packaging item that I’ve had forever and another “craftier” spool from May Arts. While deciding which one to use to dangle the “feathers”, I had an “aha” moment and began to envision a rustic look.

I began by painting the dreamcatcher itself, starting with Tangerine in the center, then Lemon, then Peacock and ending with Eggplant at the edges, allowing each color to dry before going on to the next. I used light strokes and a minimum of paint, so this process went very quickly.

I wanted my “feathers” to look like feathers, so I applied thick layers of each color, using a texture tool to spread the paint diagonally from the center to the edge. This process took a few days because these layers took a long time to air dry.

Meanwhile, I began to wind the thicker all-purpose twine around the edge of the circle, using glue dots ever inch or so to make sure that it would stay put.

I applied the mica-rich Sparkle Spray on all the surfaces, then rubbed most of it off with a paper towel to allow the colors to show through while toning down the very bright hues.

 I especially love the results that I got with the feathers; the mica settled in the grooves and bought out the textured look that I was going for.

I used more of the twine to attach my feathers and to create a hanging loop at the top. I couldn’t make up my mind as to whether to treat these lengths to match the wrapped edge; at the end, I decided to let them be.

I used several blooms from Prima to create my embellishment in the center and surrounded them with a few bark flowers given to me by my good friend, Heather Thompson. The title is a Tim Holtz Quote Chip, covered with Sparkle Spray and rubbed with a paper towel.

The best part of this cluster must be the feather bunch. It’s one of two that I’ve been hoarding for a long, long time; I do wish I could remember where it came from… It’s all of one piece; I simply added a few twists of the May Arts jute to the bottom before tucking it under and gluing it down.

Here are a few more closeups:

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 *****Supplies*****

***Très Jolie Mixed Media Kit***

Kaisercraft – Lucky Dip – Decor Flourish – Dreamcatcher – Large #LDB1092

Nuvo – Sparkle Spray – Cocoa Powder #1665N

Ranger Ink – Dina Wakley Media – Heavy Body Acrylic Paint – Lemon #MDQ54023

Ranger Ink – Dina Wakley Media – Heavy Body Acrylic Paint – Tangerine #MDQ54092

Ranger Ink – Dina Wakley Media – Heavy Body Acrylic Paint – Eggplant #MDQ59813

Ranger Ink – Dina Wakley Media – Heavy Body Acrylic Paint – Peacock #MDQ59851

 ***Other***

Prima – Amber Moon Collection – Flower Embellishments – Pumpkin #596989

Prima – Autumn Sunset – Flower Embellishments – Gourds and Pumpkins #642815

Bark Flowers

T W Evans Cordage Co – Jute Twine – 2-Ply – Brown #13-205

May Arts – Jute Burlap String – 1mm – Natural #SM-10

Advantus – Tim Holtz – Idea-Ology Collection – Quote Chips #TH93563

Feather Bunch

***Tools***

Ranger – Texture Tools Pack 1 #INK44567

Glue Dots – Mini Dots – 3/16 Inch

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As always, I want to thank you for peeking into my blog; your visits mean a lot to me.

 

Let's Make Today Beautiful

I was inspired by Très Jolie’s November Mood Board to create this layout featuring a photo that my Daughter-In-Law took a year ago.

Lots of layering and a bit of fussy cutting, along with plenty of flowers and other embellishments all came together to achieve this rustic look.

I love the papers that came in the kit with the jewel-like colors and touches of gold foil; there are several sheets of cut-aparts to make this a very versatile collection. (Luckily, Kim loaded our kits with two of each design so it was a lot easier to pick and choose just which papers to use!)

I decided to use one of the “B” sides for my background. Not only did it allow me to load my layout with a lot of details, but the ledger design captured part of the Mood Board perfectly.

I lightly distressed all of the edges before inking them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The edges of the photo were treated with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide Ink.

The typewriter was fussy cut out, inked and backed with packaging before I tucked it behind the photo.

I altered the Rose Flourish chipboard from Creative Embellishments to match the foil in my layers above the photo. After cutting the vine in two, I painted the stems and leaves with Metallique paint. Once it had dried, I colored the roses with the Prima Chalk Edger from the kit that I watered down and applied with a paint brush. 

After selecting a few of the wood embellishments from Kaisercraft, I colored them with more of the Chalk Edger and tucked them under my flowers.

I tucked another piece under my title card and then attached that gorgeous butterfly that came in the package of flowers.

I treated one of the Melissa Frances keys and one more wood embellishment with the same Metallique paint that I used on the chipboard vine.

I added some excelsior here and there to fill some gaps and called my layout “done”.

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*****Supplies*****

***Très Jolie November Kit***

Prima – Darcelle Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – The Biggest Step of Your Life with Foil Accents #849450

Prima – Darcelle Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Plot Twist with Foil Accents #849429

Prima – Darcelle Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Just Wing It with Foil Accents #849443

Prima – Darcelle Collection – Flower Embellishments – Glamorous Moment #644413

Prima – Darcelle Collection – Flower Embellishments – Sweet Notes #644444

Creative Embellishments – Laser Cut Chipboard – Rose Flourishes

Kaisercraft – Lucky Dip Collection – Wooden Flourish Pack – Bollywood #FL601

Melissa Frances – Vintage Resin Appliqué – The Key to My Heart #CX881

7 Gypsies – Architextures Findings Adhesive Embellishments – Iron Fence #7G25024

Très Jolie – 5” Doily

Prima – Ingvild Bolme – Chalk Fluid Edger – Blossom Bud #891350

***Other Embellishments***

Michael’s – Excelsior

***Other Mediums***

Ranger Ink – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pad – Mini – Vintage Photo #TDP40262

Ranger Ink – Tim Holtz – Distress Oxide Ink Pad – Faded Jeans #TDO55945

Prima – Finnabair – Art Alchemy – Acrylic Paint – Metallique – Gold Rush

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As always, I want to thank you for peeking into my blog; your visits mean a lot to me.

A Couple of Firsts

The title refers to the photo of a six-year-old me proudly showing off the gap left by the loss of my two front teeth. I created this page for the April Childhood Challenge at Scrapbook.com, where one of the topics is “Firsts”

This photo, taken by my father, brings back such wonderful memories of our living room as it was then. That’s a cherry drop-leaf table in front of the window facing the side of the house. Next to it, you can see the arm of the smaller sofa; the larger one is against the other wall. They were upholstered in a velvety fabric; one in rose, the other in a soft teal. In the corner, you can see our radio: a Zenith in a gorgeous wood cabinet. Back then, there was AM and there was shortwave, and we had both, hence that complex looking dial. The antenna, located in the bottom, was incredible. I lived in Western New York, so of course, we could pick Rochester and Buffalo (WKBW was the best during my teen years!) and Canada, but we could usually pick up the stronger stations from New York City (think WABC and WMCA, both Top 40 stations at the time). In the summer, we could pick up WLS out of Chicago at night and it came in as clear as a bell. And the speaker was even more awesome. When the volume was turned up full blast, the windows literally shook. (This was only tried when my parents weren’t home, of course.)

The other day, I came across an old layout of mine – “Washtub Fun” that was created for a Round Robin, following the incredible Nike’s “Underwater Fun” and wanted to create a redo. I’ve followed the basic design without a lot of the detail in my original.

I loved the monotone color scheme and so I altered my photo to print out sepia. The Weathered Clock die cut was used as a mask as I was inking it and I do like the result.

There are actually a few more layers of paper matting, starting with the top layer that was punched all around. That’s all the punching that I did. I have replicated the look by using a strip of lace, topped with part of a border piece underneath.

The embellishments were kept simple: a few flowers and leaves and metals from my stash down the side and a wood clock and a bit of Washi tape on top.

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*****Supplies*****

***Paper***

Kaisercraft – Story Book Collection – Borrow #P2063

Kaisercraft – Time Machine Collection – Ironclad #P1921

Kaisercraft – Antique Bazaar Collection – Recycle #P1799

The Paper Loft – Easy Breezy Collection – Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy #EB103

The Paper Loft – Easy Breezy Collection – Made in the Shade #EB109

***Embellishments***

Prima – Cartographer Collection – Vagabond #574550

Prima – Jute Collection – Joyous #574826

Prima – French Riviera Collection – Boulevard de la Croisette #586218

Prima – Wood Embellishments – Decorative Clocks #554613

Leaves

Metal Leaves

Lace

***Mediums***

Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pad – Vintage Photo

***Tools***

Sizzix – Bigz – Tim Holtz – Weathered Clock #657190

Martha Stewart – Punch Around the Page – Loops #ms42-60034

***Other***

Aleen’s Original Tacky Glue

Scotch – Advanced Tape Glider

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As always, I want to thank you for peeking into my blog; your visits mean a lot to me.