Ornate Easter Egg with ColourArte Silks Acrylic Glazes ~ Tutorial

Hi There Crafty Friends! Easter was last weekend and I was feeling inspired to create! So, I have a gorgeous, ornate Easter Egg to share with you today. I've used six different colours of ColourArte Silks Acrylic Glazes on the egg, including: Fuzzy Peach, Pink Anthurium, Mediterranean Blue, Bolivian Blue, Forest Green, and Solar Gold. I also put together a Snapguide tutorial to show the step-by-step process of turning a plain wooden egg into something you'd be proud to display each year at Easter.

Check out How to Create an Ornate Easter Egg With ColourArte Silks by Sarah R on Snapguide.

Here are some photos I took around the circumference of the egg so you can see all the gorgeous colours and details!

Front

Right Side

Left Side

Back

Ornate Easter Egg with ColourArte Silks Acrylic Glazes

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today - I hope you found a little inspiration and will give my tutorial a try and create your own Ornate Easter Egg!  Happy Crafting!

"Art is the Answer" - Grungy, Mixed Media Art Journal Cover ~ Creative Embellishments

I have a fun new mixed media Art Journal cover to show you today. This  large 9x12 journal by Strathmore has a plain cover that is pretty uninspiring, so it definitely needed a facelift.

First, I added some lace and pieces of torn corrugated cardboard to the front cover to add lots of beautiful texture. Next, I primed both the front and back covers with several coats of Heavy White Gesso. Once the gesso was dry, I used The Crafter's Workshop 6x6 Art Is Stencil and stenciled on the front and back covers. I primed the Creative Embellishments Art Palette with heavy black gesso and also used the stencil on it, smearing some of the stenciling purposely to make it look like the Art Palette was in use. I added some inexpensive paintbrushes to the palette and layered a Creative Embellishments Mini Frame on top of the brushes. I attached the decorated palette to the journal cover and began misting using Lindy's Stamp Gang Moonshadow Mists in Buccaneer Bay Blue and Tawny Turquoise, as well as a little Starburst Mist in Jack in the Pulpit Teal and then splattered the cover with the Moonshadow Mists. I also heavily inked the edges of the journal cover with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Here are a couple of close-ups and angles of the front and back covers.

I continued embellishing the front cover by adding some Creative Embellishments Gears and 1 1/2-inch Gears. I embossed all the gears with Vintage Photo Distress Embossing Powder and then added a little extra colour to them with Art Alchemy Acrylic Paints in Steampunk Copper, Light Patina, and Opal Magic Blue Gold. I also dry brushed some the paints on the Mini-Frame and the paint brushes. I added a Creative Embellishments Wind Me Up Clock Key on the right side of the cover to help with opening the journal - I painted the clock key with the Copper and Blue Gold paints. Finally, I used two of Finnabair's new Mechanicals - Tin Hearts and Rustic Washers - and layered them in the centre of the Mini Frame. I lightly painted the washer with the copper paint and then wiped it away so it would stay in the recessed words. Here are some more close-ups!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope you were a bit inspired by my journal cover facelift!

Hoppy Easter! 3D Bunny Using the Silhouette Cameo

Happy Easter! I have a fun project to share today - created exclusively from Silhouette Cameo Cut Files! My son saw this 3D Bunny in the Silhouette Design Store and begged me to make it for him - so how could I refuse?! It was quite a bit of work to assemble, but it turned out so cute!!!

The 3D Bunny itself is two huge cut files (File 1 & File 2) designed by Jodi G. Warner that I had to break into a bunch of different cut pages for all the different colours. Then, because the Bunny needed somewhere to sit, I cut out the box shape and added some die-cut grass all around it - it is full of chocolate eggs now! Finally, what's a Bunny without a carrot? - so I cut out a 3D carrot treat box! Here's are some photos of all the different sides and a few close-ups!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today - Happy Easter and Happy Crafting!

Unusual Alice ~ Julie Nutting Doll Tags

I have a new Alice in Wonderland-inspired project to share today! I'm playing along with a Doll Tag Exchange over at Scraps of Darkness/Scraps of Elegance and decided to turn my doll into an "Unusual Alice"! I loved the tag I made for my exchange partner so much that I decided to make a second one for myself!

I stamped the Julie Nutting Doll using Black Archival Ink, I added the stripes to the legs and a little belt at the waist using a black fine-tip sharpie and then coloured the image using Prismacolor coloured pencils. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out a large black keyhole and fussy cut lots of images from Marion Smith Designs Mad Tea Party collection (6x6) to decorate the tag. I added white roses that I intentionally painted red sloppily (remember the guards 'painting the white roses red' in Alice in Wonderland?) Finally, I added a seam binding bow and some charms to the tag, including a tiny box (cut on my Silhouette Cameo) with a tag that says "Eat Me"; a small glass bottle with a tag that says "Drink Me"; and a metal key - all inspired by Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland. Here are some close-ups and a couple of different angles of the tags so you can see all the details!

I hope my exchange partner, Monica, likes her tag! I had so much fun making it!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Happy Scrapping!

Monochromatic Layered Cards ~ Meg's Garden

Hi There! Today, I'm sharing a set of simple, monochromatic, layered cards I created using the beautiful Chantilly Cream paper collection and some lace and ribbon from the Meg's Garden store!

I used the square pages from the Chantilly Cream Papercraft Pack as the base to build up the cards and cut the rectangular strips from the Papercraft Pack into tags, which I embellished with some lace and ribbon. I added pieces cut from other pages in the 12x12 and Papercraft Pack along with a doily from my stash to create the layers and finished off the layering with cut-outs from the Cut & Create Page and the Papercraft Pack. Finally, I splattered the cards with some white gesso and watered down Distress Reinker in Vintage Photo. Here are a few close-ups!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Happy Crafting!

Meg's Garden Products Used:
Chantilly Cream Paper Collection - 12x12 papers 04, 06 and Cut & Create and Papercraft Pack
Ribbon and Lace

Graphic 45 'Couture' Pocket ATCs - with Tutorial

ATCs are so much fun to make and a great way of using up those leftover pieces of beautiful paper that you just can't bear to get rid of! I've created a new project using some bits and pieces left in my stash from the absolutely gorgeous Graphic 45 Couture Collection. I decided to create a pair of Pocket ATCs and have put together a step-by-step tutorial using Snapguide to demonstrate how to make one of these little gems!  I've included some photos of the finished Pocket ATCs below. For full details about how I created these, check out my Snapguide Tutorial.

Check out How to Create a Pocket ATC With Graphic 45 Couture Papers by Sarah Routledge on Snapguide.

Pocket ATCs - Front

Pocket ATCs - Front. Tickets removed.

Pocket ATCs - Back

Pocket ATCs - Back. Stamps and Tags removed.

Pocket ATCs - Back. Showing back side of tag insert.

 Thanks so much for popping by my blog today. Be sure to leave me a link in the comments if you try out the tutorial - I'd love to see YOUR creations!

Upcycled Jewelry Box using Graphic 45's Gilded Lily Collection

I was at a local thrift store and found a wooden jewelry box - it had a beautiful shape and black velvet lining, but the wood was terribly scratched - so I decided it was a perfect upcycling project! I took the box apart and primed all the wood sections with gesso and then added white crackle paste. After the crackle paste had dried, I rubbed the box with Distress Ink in Tattered Rose, making sure to get as much in the cracks as I could. Then, I sealed it with Soft Matte Gel so the Distress Ink wouldn't rub off when the box was used. Next came the really fun part - fussy cutting the Gorgeous Gilded Lily papers by Graphic 45 to embellish the jewelry box. For the lid, I have used two gorgeous ladies cut from the Ephemera Cards and the Gilded Lily title from the 8x8 paper. I also used the "Keep Calm and Adjust Your Tiara" tag from the Tags and Pockets. All the papers are edged with the Tattered Rose Distress Ink. I embellished the lid with a floral spray I created using gorgeous paper lilies (of course) and other flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. I finished the embellishing with some flat-back pink pearls and pearl sprays.

Inside the lid was a perfect little recess to allow some more decorating - so I have fussy cut some figures from the 12x12 paper and surrounded them with an abundance of flowers and pearls. I've added in the side pieces from the 8x8 title page above and below the recess and included the "Let Them Eat Cake" quote and a tag from The Tags and Pockets inside it. 

Finally, I used a sheet of 12x12 paper and cut it to fit the bottom of the box and then put the feet back on, adding just a little more beauty to this upcycled jewelry box.

Oh, and in case you're curious - here are some "before" pictures of the jewelry box!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today - hope you enjoyed my upcycle of this jewelry box. It is so much fun to take something old and give it new life!  Happy Crafting!