Thursday, May 18, 2017

Dreaming with Emerald Creek


 
 This month our theme for the Emerald Creek Dares is Dreams.  Poor Sheena has hair like mine, it's big and curly and hates humidity(mine is not green though).   Sheena needs to live in Arizona, we have almost no humidity here.  My hair loves it. 

Her hair is made from the Oak Tree Stamp.  I stamped it using Mowed Lawn Distress Ink and then used the Green Pearl powder to emboss it.  There is a bit of distress ink on top of the embossing powder to take the sheen down a bit.  I cut the trunk off and trimmed it so her wig fit properly.  Vintage flowers complete her do.  


The flourishes are embossed with Charred Gold.  I used Distress Oxide in Vintage Photo to make it look aged.  
At least Sheena is rocking her big hair with flowers!
I just realized that this is my third music inspired post in a row.  The Ramones inspired the name. 
Have you entered the dare
Jess

Mix It Up Challenge Blog- anything goes(embossing twist)



Monday, May 15, 2017

Make a Little Birdhouse in your Soul


Hi Everyone, 
Today's post comes to you from a mistake.  Yep, I know it's hard to believe, I mean I never make mistakes(I hope that was read in a sarcastic tone)! I thought I might try doing something cute.  I painted my bitty birdhouse with little bitty flowers and then it sat on my desk.  It sat on my desk for almost two months.  I finally decided that if it had sat there for that long I needed to change it to make it more my style. 
Can we just talk about how stinkin' cute these birdhouses are?!  They are so tiny.  I covered mine with Charred Gold Embossing Powder.  Before it made it's way to the final project I did paint the front edge of the roof black.  

Once I had the house covered I was inspired by the They Might Be Giants song "Birdhouse in your Soul."  
My little dude has his birdhouse and the little soul sticker from the Tim Holtz clippings set
The Bird (my blue canary) got a very light layer of  Broken China Distress Paint that I just rubbed on with my finger.  

He was then coated with Blue Pearl Embossing Powder. 
He got some Distress Oxide in Vintage Photo and Faded Jeans smooshed on him before he was placed on the music flashcard.  
The corner needed something to balance the piece and this Art Deco Corner was perfect.  I covered it with  Charred Gold Embossing Powder and while it was still hot I pushed my art rag on it.  When I pulled it off it lifted some of the powder right off some areas and smushed it in other areas. It looks awesome and gives a great aged look to your pieces.  A bit of Faded Jeans Oxide ink finished the corner. 

I hope this makes you as happy as it makes me.  Remember don't ever toss something you think you might have messed up.  You can always repaint, emboss, stamp, or use more paper to fix your experiments.
Jess.








Bird 
Birdhouse
Art Deco Corner

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

The Sound of Music

Hi Everyone,
I am so excited to be sharing this project with you today.  I am the guest designer over at Frilly and Funkie today.  I was so happy to hear that the challenge theme is the Sound of Music. I am a huge music fan. When I am home there is almost always music on.  My taste is pretty varied too.  You never know what song might pop on the iPod next!

My first concert was Madonna back in the 80's. I was ten.  It was out in Foxboro Massachusetts, where the Patriots play.  We had nose bleed seats.  She looked like an ant.  I still know all of the words to her songs.  Ok, enough about me, let's get to the project.

I started by covering my canvas with Collage Medium and Melange Tissue Wrap.  I like bumps and wrinkles, so I squashed it around a bit.  I added a layer of Collage Medium to the top and some bits got Crazing added.

Once the canvas was dry I added texture paste through my mini stencil from set 25. Then I layered on my color using Broken China and Faded Jeans Oxides inks on the base.   I went Distress Crayon crazy using every shade of blue.  Once all of the blues were on I added some walnut stain to random edges.


I took some old sheet music and added it to the back if the canvas using Collage Medium and Crazing Medium.

 While the sheet music dried I worked on my interior piece.  I cut a piece of matboard, added a piece of paper from the 8x8 Etcetera pad, and inked the edges in Pumice Stone.

I cut heavy chipboard using the Crescent Moon and Stars die.  The moon was covered with Antique Linen Distress Glitter.

The various stars are covered with different things, some are covered with Pumice Stone Distress Glitter, some with Emerald Creek Hammered Metal Embossing Powder, and some with Emerald Creek Charred Gold Embossing Powder.  The moon and the stars covered with Distress Glitter were grunged up a bit using Distress Ink in Pumice Stone, Ground Espresso, and Vintage Photo.

My little paper doll is colored using Worn Lipstick Distress Marker on her dress. I used the same color for her bow, but I used my Oxide ink to color it.  I love how it is a bit darker.  


When the back was dry I colored it using Hickory Smoke, Walnut Stain, and Vintage Photo Distress Crayons.  I sliced it up like a very uneven pizza and colored the edges again.
I have to admit when I turned my canvas around and saw this I was pretty nervous.  I used my glue gun and glued the curls to the edge of the canvas.

I added in my moon and stars.  I used foam tape to adhere them to the background.  I then added my little girl and her clipping sentiment(there's that Madonna reference).

I stepped back to look at the canvas and something just wasn't right.  It didn't look finished.  I took out my girl and added a mask to the moon.  I splattered in Black Soot, Picket Fence, and Tarnished Brass  Distress Paints.  I added Dina Wakley Sterling for some heavier splats.  I popped my girl back in and added her wand.

I cut the Quote Chip using my Tonic scissors and added Tarnished Brass Paint to the edges.

The finishing touch was using metallic gel pens and my black Fude ball to add scribbles all over.
Here are a few more detail shots.


I hope you like here and thank you so much for stopping by!

Jess


Mix It Up Challenge Blog- Embossing( some of my stars are embossed)
Love to Create Challenge- Anything Goes Mixed Media





Monday, May 1, 2017

Spring Flower Fairy Shrine

Hi Everyone,
I'm up on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today.  I love that you can take one piece from GSL and make it lovely.  

Spring is here and the flower fairies have been busy.  Here is one hard at work placing flowers. 
I started with my ATC shrine covering it with a mixed media canvas paper from Canvas Corp on the outside.  The canvas paper is awesome because you can really abuse it with a lot of media.  
 The inside is covered with Tim Holtz Wildflower scrapbook paper.  The inside and the outside were both inked the same way.  I used Distress Oxide inks to get all of the yummy layers. I didn't cover the bottom since I will be gluing moss in there.
The front edges were hit with a tiny bit of Mowed Lawn Distress paint. I added a thin layer of gold paint to the entire shrine.When the paint was dry I hot glued a chunk of moss to the bottom.  

I have a thing for tiny ballerina cake toppers.  I buy them whenever I can find them.  

 I painted the candle holder part using the Mowed Lawn paint and added a tiny paper flower.
I glued the ballerina in the box and then added flowers all over.  My trusty glue gun held them on nicely.  




The little clipping text finishes off the shrine.  I can see this easily being adapted for all four seasons
I am entering this into the Country View Craft Challenge May Flowers
Happy Crafting! 



Disclaimer Notice

I've received products/compensation as part of the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Design teams. My projects, however, are 100% my own.