By the Sea

I created this layout for the July Challenge at Creative Embellishments, where it’s all about Blues with a twist to use clouds or waves.

This was a perfect opportunity to finally scrap one of the photos while on a cruise with stops in Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire last April. I decided on both clouds and waves for the twist, using this view of the coast of Bonaire.

After coating both sides of my paper with clear gesso, I used a Creative Embellishments stencil and white crackle paste to create some texture around the page.

As this was setting, I selected a few chipboard shells from Creative Embellishments and hit them with a coating of mist.

I backed my photo with a piece of packaging to give it dimension and stability and glued it to the page, tucking several small pieces of cheesecloth here and there around the sides.

I decided to leave the Nautical Corner chipboard bare to blend in with the bottom of my photo. I cut it in half and placed the larger piece to the bottom of the image. The remaining piece was glued underneath, creating a dangle.

My shells were now dry. I wanted them to be a little whiter, so I used my applicator to coat them with Distress Ink before placing them around the photo.

I placed a few blooms and several flat back pearls (a gift from my Swap Buddy Dawna) to the “wheel” part of the chipboard.

Next, I glued down a bit of flair (also from Creative Embellishments) to use as my title piece.

To finish my page, I scattered a few Mélange pebbles around the page.

***************************************************

*****Supplies*****

***Paper***

Maja Design – Denim & Girls Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Tough but Sweet #DEN-1023

***Embellishments***

Creative Embellishments – Laser Cut Chipboard – Nautical Corner

Creative Embellishments – Laser Cut Chipboard – Seashells

Creative Embellishments – Flair – By the Sea

Prima – Golden Coast Collection – Flower Embellishments – Malibu Paradise #640019

Kaisercraft – Paper Blooms – Coconut #F627

Bo Bunny – Double Dot Jewels – Blue Hues #11707521

Prima – Art Ingredients – Art Pebbles – Mélange #963323

Cheesecloth

***Mediums***

Prima – Finnabair – Art Basics – Clear Gesso #961466

Prima – Finnabair – Art Extravagance – Texture Paste – White Crackle #961503

Prima – Color Bloom – Spray Mist – Frost #582890

Ranger Ink – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pad – Picket Fence #TIM40781

***Tools***

Creative Embellishments – Stencil – Fishnet

***Other***

Art Institute – Dries Clear Designer Adhesive

***************************************************

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

Art Journaling: Journey

Kim continued to do something different with the June Cards, Tags and More… Kit from Très Jolie; instead of those cards and tags, she went for “more” and supplied us with more supplies for an art journal, featuring Finnabair’s new Journal Daily line.

I decided to use some mediums from earlier Mixed Media kits, as well as a couple of stencils from my stash. (I actually start by creating a pile of “stuff”, picking and choosing from my selections as I go because when it comes to art journaling, I don’t start out with much of a plan.)

I like to coat both sides of my paper with clear gesso. It strengthens the paper and gives it “teeth” that will enable any medium to adhere to it. A few days ago, I spent a little of my down time pretreating several pages, so I was good to go…

I started by applying Granite texture paste (from the June Mixed Media kit) through a Creative Embellishments stencil in the upper left and lower right corners and dried it with my heat tool. This is a nice thick paste with a lot of grit, so it adds a lot of texture to my page.

Using my finger, I applied the Embellishment Mousse through the Prima stencil, allowing it to brush against the texture paste here and there.

I used Distress Ink to stamp an image on my pages. Distress Ink is water soluble, so we’re going to see some bleeding and blurring as we go.

 

I did some more masking, this time with Distress Ink and a stencil from Snip Art. The results weren’t exactly what I expected, but in the end, I like the way it came out.

(Note the stamped image: it’s already starting to bleed.)

<image>kers that came in the March Mixed Media kit, starting with Bratwurst Brown. These powders are very intense, so I used a small amount.

I dipped my paintbrush in water, then spread it around, causing the powder to bleed and applied my heat tool.

Next, I spritzed the area on the left with some water and dried the area, aiming the tool downward to create some dripping.

I repeated these steps with Grab a Guy Gold, then with Alpine Ice Rose, creating layers of color and texture.

By now, the water that I was using for my brush had developed a lot of color. Before throwing it out, I decided to use it to create some splatters around the pages.

I used the backs of a few of the prompt cards that came with the original booklet last month to mat the sticker image on the right and one of the actual prompts under the image on the left.

After adding some stickers from the Sentiments pad, I outlined the edges of everything with a charcoal pencil and softened the lines with water.

To finish, I added a hinge clip from this month’s kit and a bookmark from May.

***************************************************

*****Supplies*****

***Très Jolie May Cards, Tags and More Kit***

Prima – Finnabair – Art Daily Collection – Chipboard Album Cover – 58 Pcs #964771

Prima – Finnabair – Art Daily Planner Collection – Booklet – Creation – 6 x 7.7 #964962

Prima – Finnabair – Art Daily Planner Collection – Sticker Pad – Sentiments #964849

Prima – Finnabair – Art Daily Planner Collection – Victorian Bookmarks #964863

***Très Jolie June Cards, Tags and More Kit***

Tonic Studios – Nuvo – Embellishment Mousse – Mother of Pearl #804N

Prima – Finnabair – Cling Mounted Stamps – Old Paperwork #967031

Prima – Art Daily Planner Collection – Sticker Pad – Vintage Photobooth #964832

Ranger Ink – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pads – Mini – Black Soot #tdp39860

Prima – Stencil Mask – 6 x 9 – Passiflora #966676

Prima – Art Daily Planner Collection – Rusty Metal Clips #964825

***Other Mediums***

Prima – Finnabair – Art Basics – Clear Gesso #961466

Prima – Finnabair – Art Extravagance – Texture Paste – Graphite #961497

Ranger Ink – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink Pad – Mini – Black Soot #TDP39860

Lindy’s Stamp Gang – Magical Shakers – Bratwurst Brown #lin-mshake-04

Lindy’s Stamp Gang – Magical Shakers – Alpine Ice Rose #lin-mshake-11

Lindy’s Stamp Gang – Magical Shakers – Grab a Guy Gold #lin-mshake-14

***Tools***

Creative Embellishments – Stencil – Distress Grid 009

Snip Art – Stencil – Vintage Seamstress

***************************************************

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

Altered Cigar Box Using Stamperia's Provence Collection

I’m participating in a special kind of swap at Scrapbook.com – we’re altering cigar boxes and sending them out to each other, publishing the images after our partners receive them.

Here’s what I created using Stamperia’s gorgeous Provence collection…

…from this...

…and here’s how it all came together.

I began by coating all of the surfaces with gesso. The actual box is pretty dark and I needed a lighter background for the paper that I was going to use. As you can see, the box came with paper that covered the wood bottom. I was going to remove this, but then I realized that it would make a better surface, so I simply glued the loose edges down.

The edges were given a few coats of acrylic paint.

I cut two pieces of the Texture Flowers paper and using matte gel medium, pasted them to the inner sides of the box.

Next, I took a sheet of Provence Flowers rice paper and starting with the top front edge inside the box, adhered the paper in and up, a little at a time, smoothing it out as I went along. The A3 size was a perfect fit, allowing me to fold the top of the paper over the cove.

I decided to cover the back of the cover flap, using a piece of Provence Patchwork rice paper, to avoid the inevitable cracking of paint as the box was opened and closed.

After covering the bottom with Textured Flowers paper, I covered the sides with the matching Textured Wallpaper, starting with the front and back and then the sides.

The top of the box was covered with another piece of Textured Flowers paper.

I took a piece of lace from my stash (I wish I could remember where I bought it…) and adhered it all around the sides, applying glue only to the top of the strip, allowing the rest to hang free.

I started to arrange the flowers, playing around with them until I was satisfied with the placement.

One of the purple flowers was just too large, so I took it apart, saving the bottom for another project.

After gluing the flowers down, I started to add cut apart trim here and there underneath the blooms.

The flowers are from two different collections. I added a few stamens to pull the centers together.

I placed some pearls on the trim pieces to match the other flower centers. To finish my box, I added some of the vines from the flower packages.

A few close-ups:

 

***************************************************

*****Supplies*****

***Paper***

Stamperia – Provence Collection – Rice Paper – A3 – Flowers #DFSA3026

Stamperia – Provence Collection – Rice Paper – A3 –Patchwork #DFSA3025

Stamperia – Provence Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Texture Flowers #SBB594

Stamperia – Provence Collection – 12 x 12 Double Sided Paper – Texture Wallpaper #SBB597

***Embellishments***

Prima – Moon Child Collection – Flower Embellishments – New Moon #636487

Prima – Spring Farmhouse Collection – Flower Embellishments – Simple Things #637972

Prima – Trim – Plumeria #583026

Prima – Memory Hardware – Pearls II #991944

Lace

***Mediums***

Golden – Acrylic Gesso #3550-5

Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Paint – Picket Fence #TDF53170

Liquitex Professional – Gel Medium – Matte Gel #5321

***Tools***

Foam Brush

***Other***

Art Institute – Art Glitter – Dries Clear Designer Adhesive

***************************************************

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