"Crafting, Birthdays and Frozen"?!

Hey Everyone!! Happy T.G.I.F!! Woo Hoo!! So glad that Friday is finally here!
First off, let me start this post off by apologizing for being away from my blog this week. I have been busy working on Design Team projects, getting ready for my daughter's upcoming birthday and trying to take some time for me to recharge the creative juices. Phew! I've also been working on a Top Secret project for my baby, who'll be turning 6 (omg!!) next week. Let's just say I've been a busy crafter.
Thank goodness, we opted to take her out for her birthday instead of a party. We went all out for her princess themed party last year but it did involve a lot of late night crafting. So at least the pressure is of there. It's hard for me to believe that my baby is turning 6 already! Seeing your child grow up is one of the saddest and happiest times of your life. Sigh!

 Anyway, let's get back to this mysterious Top Secret project I mentioned earlier.
My mission: Create Paper Doll canvasses featuring the stars of Disney's Frozen Anna & Elsa.
Objective: Use a variety of techniques and materials to bring these characters to life.
Goal: To have these canvasses done before Friday.

Now, you may be asking yourself, "Where did the idea for this project come from?"
My answer: YouTube!
I recently came across some Doll Canvas tutorials featuring a talented artist by the name of Julie Nutting, who designs stamps and papers for Prima.
I loved how she used her stamps to create paper dolls to add to canvas and use as a wall hanging.
It was during the watching of her tutorial that the Aha! moment struck me.
My daughter loves the Frozen movie and I took both my girls to see a while back.
Now, she has a princess themed bedroom with a castle door facade as a headboard and wall stickers featuring the princesses. I thought the paper doll canvasses featuring Queen Elsa and Princess Anna would make a nice addition.
With my mind made up, I set to work on finding a good image to work from.
First stop of course was Pinterest!

Here"s the pic of Elsa I found to make my doll from:

disney.com/style

And here is the doll I created based on this pic:

To create it, I first divided the pic into sections that I could cut and piece out of different colors of cardstock.

I traced the head, neck and hands onto white cardstock using the stencils I created.

I used acrylic paints to color them in, inked the edges with a light brown inkpad and used a brown marker to cover up the white that was showing.

I traced her hair and braid in the same manner and pieced it together to give it dimension.

A few extra strands to frame the face and a few snowflakes in the braid completes the look.

For her dress, I used a blue metallic cardstock from ColorBok.

I cut the bodice and the skirt separately from the cardstock.

I used an embossing folder to create the pattern in the bodice and a stylus to create the folds and pleating in the skirt.

I used Glossy Accents to put the two pieces together.

I cut a scrap of vellum to create the sheer sleeves you see from the pic.

All that was left to do was put it all together.

And ta-da!! Doll complete!

I hope you enjoyed this project for today.

Enjoy your T.G.I.F and have a great weekend!! 

Peace!! :)

  

"Ceramic Tile Stamping" :)

Hey Everyone!! Happy T.G.I.F!! I hope your Friday is off to a great start!
I wanted to share this quick project I just finished.
Hubby went to a local home improvement store last week and brought back these awesome 6 x 7 3/4" ceramic tiles.
I took one look and the gears in my head started turning.
I have made coasters before using smaller 4 x 4" tiles and I knew I wanted to try something a little different with these bigger ones.
Then it hit me. Aha! I can trying stamping these.
The problem: I wasn't sure what ink would work best? and can I use my alcohol markers?
To find the answers to these questions, as for most of my crafting conundrums, was YouTube.
I was able to find some helpful videos that answered my questions.
So with answers in hand, I set about giving this latest project a try.
I think it turned out nice but as always I'll let you come to that decision.
Here's the pic for your perusal:

From start to finish, this project took about 45 minutes to create.
I began by masking off a 1/2" border around the perimeter of the tile using washi tape.
I grabbed my Staz On Jet Black ink, which is the best ink to use for this sort of project, and stamped a floral design in the corners.
My washi tape border came in handy for lining up my stamp.
I then stamped a decorative border along the top and bottom edge.
To fill in the area around the floral design, I stamped some butterflies and a bird.
I added a small spiral and dot background stamp to give the tile some added interest.
 I also stamped the sentiment " Experience is not what happens to you, it's what you do with what happens to you." in the middle of the tile.
This sentiment came from a Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous set.

Once my stamping was dry, I used my Ranger Adirondack inks in Butterscotch and Wild Plum to add splashes of color.
I used a wet baby wipe to wipe off some of the color in certain areas, where the color was too concentrated.
I dried the ink using my heat tool and added a coat of homemade mod podge over the top.
Once the mod podge dried, I removed the tape and cleaned up the edges where some of the ink bleed through.

And voila! tile complete!!

Now, here are a few quick tips: 

Staz On is the only ink that will work for this.

It's a solvent based ink, which allows you to use it on all kinds of materials, such as plastic, laminate, metal, etc.

 If you make a mistake while stamping, a wet baby wipe can be used to wipe it off and start again.

You could set your tile by puttin it in the oven to cure but I'm inpatient so I went with mod podge instead.

I would recommend using the alcohol inks to color the tile before stamping.

As you can see from my pic, some spots where I stamped were wiped off a little when I added color to it.

Other than that, this is definitely a project I would try again.

I had fun creating this look.

I hope you all enjoyed the project for today.

I'll end this post here, so you can get back to enjoying the rest of your T.G.I.F.

Peace!! :)

Handmade Harbour "Spring" Challenge!!

Hey Everyone!! Happy "Hump" Day!! For today's post, I have a project I created for the Handmade Harbour Design Team's "Spring" Challenge.
I decorated a shadow box and used the latest images from the Handmade Harbour store to be the stars.
I used "Cute Bunny with Flowers"  #531 and "Cute Easter Chick" #532. 
These images can be found in the store: www.handmadeharbour.co.uk/‎. under the New Digital Stamps heading.
I think this project turned out nice but I'll let you decide.
Here are the pics for your perusal:

I used a 6 1/2 x 8" shadow box.

 I painted the frame with Valspar indoor paint in "Bright White".

 I then set it aside to dry.

I took the backer board from the frame and began added layers of cardstock to create a scene.

I added a leftover piece of blue polks dot from "Strawberry Picnic" collection as the sky.

I then cut hills from a sheet of green cardstock and attached it my ATG gun.

I grabbed a 6 x 6" sheet of patterned light green cardstock and cut it down to 2 1/2".

Using my scissors, I cut a grass pattern into the cardstock, inked the edges with a green inkpad and adhered it down.

To complete my scene, I cut some smaller hills out of a light green cardstock, inked the edges, and added it towards the bottom.

With the background finished, I set to work on the images.

For the bunny, I colored him in using my Bic Mark It markers in Pink Flamingo and Peach Parfait, for the ears and nose.

I traced along the edges of the image with a grey watercolor pencil to add shading.

For the bouquet of flowers he's holding, I used my markers in Oceanview Blue, Blue Skies Blue, Petal Pink, Desert Rose, Pink Flamingo and Fandango Pink.

I went with a teal watercolor pencil to fill in the tissue paper wrapping and added Glossy Accents to the ears and nose.

For the chick, I colored him in with my Bic markers in Tiki Hut Tan, Yellow Blaze, Summer Melon, and Sunset Orange.

I added some shading to the egg with my grey watercolor pencil and used Glossy Accents on the egg, beak and legs of the chick.

I colored in the little "Hello" sign he's holding in Tiki Hut Tan, Honey Brown, Woodsy Brown, Summer Melon and Pink Flamingo.

Once I was done coloring the images, I set them aside to allow the Glossy Accents to dry and set to work on the rest of the frame.

Since I was using a shadow box, I wanted to add a layer of dimension to this project.

I cut a few strips of green cardstock @ 1", 1 1/2" and 2".

I traced a grass pattern onto each strip making sure to elongate the blades of grass to create a 3D effect.

After all my strips were cut, I folded the bottom edge, attached it to the interior of the box with Glossy Accents.

I kept the taller 2" strip towards the back and used the smaller strips to fill in towards the front.

All that was left to do now was add my images and put the shadow box together.

I used foam tape to attach my bunny to the background, slid the backer board into the frame and added the chick using my ATG gun.

For the embellishments, I used my Cricut and Paper Lace 2 cartridge for the sentiment "Spring" and the flowers.

I cut the sentiment out of pink cardstock @ 2", inked the edges and attached it to the top of the frame.

The flowers were cut @ 1" out of yellow, pink and purple cardstock.

I added pearls to the centers and used Glossy Accents to glue them down.

I stamped some butterflies from an Inkadinkado set in Pink Passion from Stampin Up, cut them out, added detail with a white gel pen and added them throughout the project.

And ta-da! shadow box complete!!

I hope you all enjoyed this project for today.

I had fun creating it!

Make sure to stop by the Handmade Harbour blog: handmadeharbour.blogspot.com 

to play along and check out the awesome projects the other DT members have created.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Peace!! :)

Feeling Sketchy Card Sketch #84!!

Hey Everyone!! Happy Saturday!! I hope your weekend is off to a good start. For today's post, I have another project for the Feeling Sketchy Design team. I created a card using Card Sketch #84 which is up and running now on the Feeling Sketchy blog: feeling-sketchy.blogspot.com through March 31.
Our sponsors for this month, Molossi is offering a $30 Chipboard and Bling package and Trinket Track is offering a $15 Gift Certificate to spend in their store.
So make sure you stop by, link up and check out the beautiful cards made by the other DT members.
Here is the pic of Card Sketch #84:


                                        

And here is the card I created using this sketch:

This is a standard A2 size card.

I used white cardstock as the card base.

I drew the top note design to mimic the one found in the sketch and cut it out using my scissors.

I cut a sheet of patterned vellum to 3 x 5 1/2" and attached it to the top note design with Glossy Accents.

 For the center of the card, I cut a 2" strip of white cardstock, colored it using a silver inkpad from Encore, and embossed it using a CuttleBug "Ironworks "embossing folder.  

I attached the strip to the card base using my ATG gun.

The open frame trinket I used in the center of the strip was made using a silicone mold and polymer clay.

I added my polymer clay to fill in the mold, put it in the oven to cure and popped it out of the mold.

I added color to the frame using the same silver inkpad but I added Micropearl Luster Pigment from Jacquard to make it shine.

As a final touch, I added some pearls from Recollections.

Finally, I stamped my sentiment "Thank You" from an Inkadinkado set in a grey ink and added it to the bottom of the card.

And voila! the card is complete!!

I hope you all enjoyed this project for today.

I look forward to seeing what you create using this wonderful sketch.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and Peace!! :)

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"Distressed Wood Plaque!! "

Hey Everyone!! Happy "Hump" Day!! I hope your day is off to a great start! For today's post, I have a project to share using a wood plaque.

It's been a while since I did an actual "craft" project,.

But when hubby brought home this plaque, I knew I had to use it for something.

Well, this plaque has been sitting on my craft desk for two months.

That's two months of trying to figure out what I actually wanted to do.

Last month, I was able to paint, distress and mod podge a tissue paper text on top.

But that was as far as I got.

It's funny but the night before an idea popped into my head on how I wanted this plaque to look.

And yesterday I was able to put it all together for the final result you see here.

This vintage style of crafting is certainly outside of my comfort zone.

 But every once and in awhile, you have to try different techniques and styles to challenge yourself.

I think this plaque came out nice but I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Here's the pic for your perusing pleasure:

This is a 3 x 5" wood plaque.

I painted it using two shades of blue acrylic paints in Ocean Cruise and China Blue.

I sanded the edges of the plaque to give it a distressed look.

I then mod podged a piece of printed text tissue paper on top.

I smoothed out the wrinkles being careful not to tear the paper.

I set it aside and let it dry overnight.

For the little girl image, I printed a vintage postcard from thegraphicsfairy.com.

I cut the image out and added some Creamy Caramel ink from Stampin Up to the sides and top.

I wanted to give the image a more distressed, vintage look.

I took a white heart doily, cut out sections of it, inked it with the Creamy Caramel ink and added it to my image.

I dressed up the edge using some pearls from Recollections.

I also added a few pearls to her hair and used linen thread to give the appearance that she is wearing a headband.

I used foam tape to attach the image to the plaque.

For the top of the plaque, I used another doily section I cut, inked it with Creamy Caramel and used Glossy Accents to adhere it down.

I cut a few 1" strips of light pink cardstock to create the flowers.

The butterflies were cut from a patterned paper I found in the "Rosewood" ColorBok 12 x 12" pack.

I glued the middles of the butterflies down and propped the wings for a 3D effect.

For the stems and leaves, I used some green crepe paper and a leaf punch to create this look.

Finally, I scattered a few pearls here and there to finish it off.

And voila! plaque complete!!

I hope you all enjoyed this project for today!

I had a lot of fun creating it.

I decided to enter this project into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Distress Challenge: simonsaysstampblog.com.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day!

Peace!! :)

"Feeling Sketchy Layout Sketch #83!!"

Hey Everyone!! Happy Tuesday!! I hope you all had a great day!  For today's project,  I have a layout I created for the Feeling  Sketchy Design Team. 

This page is based on the latest Feeling Sketchy Layout Sketch #83.

 feeling-sketchy.blogspot.com

This challenge is up and running now through March 31.

Be sure to stop by, play along and link up your creations.

And check out the wonderful layouts the other DT members have created using this sketch.

For this page, I flipped the sketch so that the squares were lined up in a diagonal pattern from one corner to the other.

I think it turned out nice but I'll let you decide. 

Here are the pics for your perusal:

I went with a light blue patterned paper from a DCWV paper pack called "Stack 8"as my background.

I added a 6 x 12" darker blue patterned strip from the same pack to the middle of the page.

I cut two 1/2" strips of white cardstock to add to the top and bottom of the darker blue strip.

For my squares, I took cues from the colors in my photo to chose the papers.

I went with green patterned and yellow papers from the DCWV pack.

And an orange patterned paper from a ColorBok pack.

I used my Cricut to die cut the squares in various sizes ranging from 2 - 3 1/2".

Once I had my squares cut, I stamped around the edges using a stitched stamp from a Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous set.

I had originally stamped it in white pigment ink but it didn't show up well against the patterned papers.

So I used a Staedtler permanent marker in black to trace the stitch lines along the edges.

I arranged my squares on the page and used my ATG gun to directly adhere them to the layout.

For my photo, I trimmed it down to a 4 x 4" square and matted it using the same green patterned paper and white cardstock.

I used two thicknesses of foam tape to attach my photo.to the layout.

For embellishments, I used some die cut stars in various sizes, some black washi measuring tape from thememorynest.com (Thank You Leslie!!), navy blue buttons and pearls.

The title "SuperStar" was cut from my Paper Lace 2 Cricut cartridge at 2 1/2".

To finish off the layout, I added a few arrows I cut and Glossy Accents to the stars.

And ta-da! page is complete!!

I hope you all enjoyed this project for today!

I look forward to seeing what you create with this sketch.

Enjoy the rest of your evening and Peace!! :)

"First Easter Card of 2014"!!

Hey Everyone!! I hope you all had a great weekend!! My weekend was OK and I wanted to apologize for being off the radar this past week. I took time off to take care of some personal issues. I have been on an emotional roller coaster since then but everything is ok for now.

But I will say that I'm ready to get back to blogging and creating projects to share with you all.

And speaking of projects, for today's post I have my first Easter Card I created using a bunny stamp and patterned paper from Handmade Harbour: www.handmadeharbour.co.uk/‎

I created this card a week ago as part of the Handmade Harbour Design Team but didn't get a chance to post it with all that was going on.

I think the card came out pretty nice but as always I leave that up to you to decide.

Here's the pics for your perusal:

This is a standard A2 size card using white cardstock as my base.

For my card layer, I used a Blue Polka Dot paper from the new Handmade Harbour A4 printable craft paper set "Strawberry Picnic".

This set has a lot of pretty patterns in blue and pink and they print out beautifully.

 I chose the blue polka dot to act as my background to create my scene.

I trimmed my patterned paper to 4 x 5 1/4" and directly adhered it to my base using my ATG gun.

For the front of my card, I chose this "Cute Bunny with Gift" digital stamp to be the star.

This is one of a handful of new stamp images that can be purchased from the Handmade Harbour store.

You can find this particular image in the store under the new digital stamps heading and it's #533.

I printed my image onto white cardstock.

I used a grey watercolor pencil to add some shadows to the bunny.

I used my Bic MarkIt markers in: Fandango Pink, Pink Flamingo, and Peach Parfait to color in the bunny's ears and nose.

I added Glossy Accents to the ears and a highlight on the nose with my white gel pen.

For the gift, I used the same pink markers to color in the ribbon, bow and hearts.

I added color to the gift with my Bic Mark It markers in Yellow Blaze and Tiki Hut Tan.

I used a blue watercolor pencil to add some shading to the "With Love" tag on the front.

I cut my image and set it aside to work on the rest of the card.

To create a scene for the front of the card, 

I cut two strips of green cardstock at 1/2" and 1" to create grassy layers on the bottom.

I adhered the 1" piece directly to the card front.

I used foam tape on the bunny image and layered the 1/2" strip on top to give it a 3D effect.

I drew, colored, and cut out a few eggs to add to my grass.

I used Glossy Accents on the eggs to make them shine.

To finish off the card, I drew a few clouds, added some shading with a grey watercolor pencil and attached them to the blue polka dot layer.

And voila!! the card is complete!!

I hope you enjoyed this project for today.

Enjoy the rest of your evening!!

Peace!! :)

"Social Media Sunday"!!!

Hey Everyone! Happy Saturday!! I hope your weekend is off to a good start. As for me, I couldn't be more excited! Why? You may ask? I'm guest hosting this week's "Social Media Sunday"!! This is my first time hosting an online party of any kind!! But if you want to meet new friends, find new followers and link up your social media sites, then this is the place to be. Thanks to Amber and the ladies for letting me guest host with them this week.