A Colorful Christmas

 Our family Christmas theme this year was 'Color'.  Kind of a tough challenge - each family took a color on the color wheel and then used the colors to each side for their color assignment.  Of course, anything goes and I didn't want to be limited to 3 colors.

Using paint chips from the paint store, a paper punch, a gold paper bow, and my favorite 'Stampin Up' stamp set, I created this color wheel Christmas Wreath card:

The ornaments are cut from felt and layered up before stitched together.  I added little charms with each child's initials on them.  I sewed a gold ring onto the ornament to hold the charm and the eyelash yarn hanger.  I played around with a lot of different ornament hanger ideas and landed on the eyelash yarn.  It gives the ornaments kind of a Dr. Seuss look and feel!

Here is a close up of my favorites (meaning the ones with the most even circles)

I hope everyone had a very Happy Holiday and I know we are looking forward to crafting in a brand new year!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

 

I woke up this past Sunday and felt like making a card - it's been a while since I have been feeling the urge to stamp and create.  The 'Stray Embossing Technique' demo at the Layers of Ink blog captivated me, so I followed the steps and made this birthday card.  Not perfectly executed and I made the happy mistake of using backward text on the background.  Pleased with the result though!

In addition to the white embossing powder, I used some gold in the center of the lotus.  I have a big jar of lace scraps and I loved the way this piece had a translucent quality, yet, added a matte texture.

I am dreaming of happier times for us all.  That is my hearts wish.

Washi Tape - Part 2

A while ago, I made a card out of washi tape.  The project instructions on that card called for painting over the washi tape, and I could not bear to do it.  So on this project, I used black and white washi tape only, painted over the tape, and then sanded the dried paint off in spots.  I really love how this background came out!

I added the butterfly cutouts after I had finished everything else.  The project just needed a little something and I finally settle on the butterflies.  Now they are my favorite part!

Use Your Wings

Oh goodness, how I wish I were at the beach right now!  I can't complain though - me and my husband get along well during isolation together.  I am very happy that I have my creative projects to work with after hours - it does keep the anxiety away.

I have been enjoying this book about collage.  This is my attempt at the first project, which is creating a torn paper collage of the beach using just cloud and sky images.  I caved and used a photo of some ground for the beach itself, and then embellished with a stamped seagull.  Gotta have a focal point!

Ring the Bells Journal Page

The art journal concept has been a new thing for me.  I found that a good warm up exercise is to work on a random page in my 'silva rerum' (aka 'junk journal').  Yet, I had not really finished a page until today - and it still needs flattening out.

My inspiration was a beautiful Leonard Cohen quote that I cut out of a magazine.  These lyrics really resonate with me - allowing the cracks so the light can get in.

I decided to finish the page so I could load it onto the Simon Says Stamp Challenge "Inspired by Music" page.

I layered image transfers of the dahlia flowers onto the sheet music pages and then collaged on some text paper and tissue paper.  Tim Holtz dancer and wings and the lyrics were added on top.  Finally, I stamped a border on some of the corners.

Happy Birthday with Wings

Adding wings again!  I do love these transparent wings from Tim Holtz.  The background is an image transfer of a mushroom onto some graph paper.  I did not remove every bit of the transfer material because the image starting pulling away.  It gives the image a kind of misty look that I don't mind.  Next time I will stick the paper down before sewing - the project got a little 'puckery' when I sewed the elements together.  I had to do a little surgery with an Xacto knife and some glue.

I do love red and white mushrooms.  My Swiss grandfather would make concrete mushroom shapes and paint them red with white polka dots for our garden.  They gave our yard a very magical quality!

Washi Tape Wonderful

One of the mixed media exercises in the latest Somerset Studio Mixed Media magazine was to cover a panel in washi tape and then paint over it with gesso and then add layers of acrylic paint on top.

On my first try, I covered the panel with all of the bright washi tapes I had and found I couldn't bear to cover it with gesso!  I just loved it on it's own and didn't want to tone it down at all.

So I made the panel into a bright and cheerful birthday card for my niece.

Most of the washi tape is from the Mary Engelbreit collection and so the card came together easily with a vibrant red heart and some bright yellow rick-rack for an embellishment.

I am really loving the new format for Somerset Studio's magazine, there are many pages with projects to try on your own.  I am going to do a new panel with subdued washi tapes and then try the gesso and paint.  I'll let you know what happens!