Snarky Clipboards

Hi Everyone,
I have joined a new design team.  This is my first project for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.  You must check out the blog for some crazy good inspiration.

I created some mini clipboards and they are super easy to make.

I started with my blank clipboard.  They come four to a package and you get the bases, the clips, and the clip cover.

I did a light messy layer of gesso on the base and clip cover.

Once my gesso was dry I started to layer on vintage papers.  I used a whole bunch of random bits.  I can't read dictation, but how perfect is this little bit for this project? I just ripped and layered until I covered the whole board.

I added some scraps of patterned paper, smudged on a bit of acrylic paint, and topped the whole thing off with a layer of collage medium.

Once the collage medium was dried I used Distress Crayons to grunge up the paper.

 The lovely lady was added and her quote.  I stuck these on with collage medium too.

While the collage medium dried I glued my clip to the clip cover.  I painted the clip cover, but decided that wasn't quite working.  Embossing powder was the answer to my problem.
A few scribbles were added around the lady and the quote.  Clipboard complete!

I made a second board using the same technique, but I added some stamps and washi tape to this one.

I hope you enjoyed my first project.  I can't wait to show you what I have up my sleeve for my next post.
Jess

Gypsy Soul Products Used:
mini clipboards

Other Products Used:
Acrylic Paint
Archival Ink-Jet Black
Collage medium
Distress Crayons
Embossing Powder
Gesso
Strong Adhesive
Various patterned papers and vintage papers
Washi Tape

A flashy upgrade

I love the bright and quirky projects that Andrea Ockey Parr creates.  She made some altered flashcards a while back and I was inspired to try it for myself.  It was so fun mixing ink, paint, stamps, and more.  I am not a huge math fan.  These cards made me enjoy math just a tad more.

I'd like to submit these to:

Our Creative Corner Gypsy Fayre

Happy Crafting!

Jess

Tim Tag for March

Hi Everyone,

I followed the techniques just like Tim demoed on his blog. I used my Distress Crayons in Peeled Paint, Chipped Sapphire, Seedless Preserves, Fossilized Amber, Festive Berries, and Rusty Hinge. I added some Perfect Pearls Mist and Picket Fence Paint splatters to the cardboard.  A few tiny tattered florals round out the tag.  

Happy Crafting!

Jess

Don't forget to Fly project reveal

It's no secret that I love anything with wings- butterflies, fairies, birds, you name it.  I decided it was time to make my own feathers and here is the result.  

Ok. Here comes the tutorial.  There are a ton of pictures today.  

 Take your chipboard base and cover it with a couple layers of gesso.  Once the gesso is dry I sanded it a bit to remove the tooth.  I then used white paint and a stencil in random patches all over the chipboard.  While the paint was drying I placed bits of washi tape on the base. 

 When the paint was dry I used several brown distress inks to color the gesso.  The paint acts like a resist and you can easily see the pattern.  

I then used watered down black acrylic paint and flicked it all over using a paint brush.  

I used flower rub ons to finish the base of the background.

To make my feather I used a paper wrapped wire stem typically used for floral design.

 I trimmed the wire to about 13 inches and then folded it almost in half.  I twisted the ends together and then glued it on my Wedding Cut Out Cardstock from the Robin's Nest. 

I cut the paper into 4 even pieces.  I used one piece for the bottom of the feather and the second for the top.  I tried this a couple different ways.  The first time i glued the paper and put the wire on top.  The glue spread too much and made it too difficult to cut correctly(it didn't have he feathery look I was going for).  The second time I put a bit of glue on my fingers and just rubbed it all over the wire.  This kept the glue where I needed it and kept the two pieces of paper together.  I set the feather aside to dry for about an hour. 
Once the feather was dry I traced a rough feather shape out. 

I trimmed the paper and then snipped all the way around the edges right into the center where the wire is. 

I colored the feather using various Distress ink sprays and Perfect Pearl shimmers. 

The bottom exposed wire is wrapped in the same washi tape I used on the chipboard base. 
The feather is topped off with some green jute and a smidgen of Leafy Green Straw.
I printed a quote from JM Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, on plain ivory cardstock. 

I inked and smudged the print a tad.  A tiny Tinkerbell from the Funkie Junkie boutique charm adds a bit of whimsy to the piece. 
Three Forest Brown Mini Dew Drops help draw your eye around the piece. 
A big fluffy bow made out of silk sari ribbon completes the wall hanging. 

I hope you try to make your own feathers.  I made a brightly colored one too using the same technique and it is awesome! 

Frilly and Funkie Things with Wings

Try it on Tuesdays Stencil Challenge

Simon Says Stamp- Tie it Up

What have you been crafting?

Jess

Wedding Bells

One of my managers is getting married.  He asked me not to buy them a gift, so I asked if I could make him something instead.  He had already asked me to make his sister a gift for the wedding(she is the best woman) and said he would love it if I created something for him.
I was a bad crafter and didn't take pictures during the creating process.  So here is the final result.

Congratulations to Anthony and Amy.  I hope you enjoy your gift.

Jess

Mini Affirmations

 I have some altered coasters for you today.  I love to use coasters for the base of my work.  They are light and cheap(bonus points for being absorbent).   They are also great for sending out happy mail since a stamp usually covers the cost of mailing it out.  

Paula Cheney had a great tutorial on her blog using Distress Sprays and the new Micro Glaze that I had to try. 

This was my first attempt and it came out much darker than I had anticipated.  I think the Rusty Hinge Distress Paint on the edges was a tad much.  Not the look I was going for, but I still really like it.  I also love the old paper someone was using for their math homework or figuring out their monthly budget.  I smudged some gesso on the side to brighten it up a tad.  

This is the same background paper I used on the first coaster.  See what I mean about it being darker than I anticipated! I put a sari ribbon bow on this one.  

Here you can see how I colored the photos using either Distress Markers or Distress Ink.  She is totally rocking that resin flower.  

This is the brightest of the bunch.  I used Peacock Feathers to color the modeling paste instead of spraying it after I used the stencil.  The edges on this one are inked using my favorite Pumice Stone Ink. 

This coaster is a tad smaller than the other three.  I used the tiny tattered floral die to make my flowers.  They are so easy to make.  I did a bunch and tossed them in a jar to grab when I need them.  I didn't do modeling paste on here since most of the background is covered.  I still stenciled a bit using Distress Paints in Worn Lipstick and Antiqued Bronze.  

Vintage Journey- Spring Colors

Mixed Media Monthly Spring Flowers

Frilly and Funkie Happy, Happy, Happy

Our Creative Corner April Showers

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog Stencils

Simon Says Stamp Monday X,Y,Z Challenge (I used my X-acto knife to trim my papers, a bunch of Yellow (paper, distress markers to tint the photos, and alcohol ink) and my favorite Zip dry glue).

What have you been crafting?

Jess

Altered Fairy Notebook

If you haven't noticed I love the images from Lisa's Altered Art.  Her images are so fun.  She has a great sense of humor.  

This little girl started out sitting on a pumpkin and wearing a witch hat.  

I fussy cut her out, added the wings, and hat.  I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with her, but I had a plain little notebook I decided to cover.

There are a couple coats of gesso on here to cover the image that was already on the notebook.  Once the gesso was dry I painted it with Distress Paints in Broken China, Weathered Wood, and Bundled Sage.  Once all the paint was dry I used my Lattice work and Hearts Stencils with Pickled Raspberry Distress Ink to add a light pattern.  

 

Inside I lined pages with washi tape and randomly stamped fun sayings.  I also used some Hazel and Ruby washi tape.  This stuff is great.  It's a super easy way to add text to your work.

This is inside the back cover :) 

I had a mop up tag with some Dylusions and some Distress Inks on it.  I added Distress Ink in Shaded Lilac and Pumice Stone to fill in blank spots.  The industrious frame highlights the little fairy perfectly.  The corrugate was ripped up using my Tonic Paper Distresser.  I added gesso around the edges and smudged whatever was left on my fingers on the front.  A little chit chat finishes the cover.  

What have you been crafting?

Jess

Recipes for Art: Robin's Nest Blog Hop

I was challenged by the Robins' Nest to come up with a recipe project.  I love to cook and bake.  The kitchen is covered with cookbooks.  I have at least two cookbook holders.  I pretty much have the food recipe thing covered.

So I made art recipes!  I took some quotes that inspire me and went to town.

I had this awesome, crusty, cracked spindle that I knew would work as a base.  I used a Tim Holtz memo pin and glued it into the top of the spindle.
To make my recipe cards I used an index card for my base and covered them with various papers.

I pretty much threw everything I could at this card.  The base is Saffron Honey Cardstock.  The edges are distressed and inked.  The right side has a smudge of embossing powder.  It's a mixture of black and brown distress powders.  The pen nib has alcohol ink on it to look like it's been used.  A small portion of a card catalog card is on the very bottom.  The tag was stamped with black Archival ink and then sprayed, inked, crumpled, and finally glued to the base.  

This is the back of the first card.  A completely different color scheme.  I used reverse side of the Wedding Cutout cardstock as the base.  I used my Tim Holtz stencil and modeling paste for the bubbles.  Once the paste was dry I smudge on distress paints in many colors.  I took the lid off and made some circles right on the paper.  

I took the paintbrush out of my brush bucket.  I terrible about cleaning my brushes.  Terrible.  I have learned my lesson and just buy cheap ones! I did smudge some extra paint on it to match the card.  

The quote is a sticker that I put an industrious sticker and some straw behind it.  

I stamped this image on watercolor paper and colored it using my kiddie set of watercolors.  The edges are inked with Broken China distress ink.  The background here is Tulip Wheels.  I painted a light layer of gesso on top to mute the color and spritzed it with Black Dylusions.  

This is the Wedding Swirl Glitter cardstock that has been sprayed with Dyslusions.  The glitter resists the spray.  I love how you can take a very dainty cardstock and completely change it with sprays.  This Wendy Vecchi stamp is so pretty.  I love the little fourish on the bottom.  The pattern mimics the pattern on the paper.  

My final card has a piece of dictionary paper as the base.  I used a stencil and distress stains to create the pattern on top.  The wings are a stamp from Finnabair.  I painted them with my distress stains.  I can't resist tiny fairies with giant pointy hats! He is mounted on a journaling ticket that has distressed edges.  The bow is made out of seam binding.  A tiny bit of washi tape finishes this one up.  

Don't forget to stop at the Robin's Nest blog to see the other hop projects.  Leave a comment and I get to pick someone to get a prize too!

Jess