Dare to Spread Your Wings - Mixed Media Canvas for Creative Embellishments

Hi Crafty Friends! Today I'm sharing a project I created using the Creative Embellishments Steampunk Dress Form 1 as the centerpiece of my design. I just love this dressform with its gorgeous big angel wings and wanted to show it off - so I dressed it up with a handmade paper skirt and created a fun mixed media background on canvas to showcase it. I've also used sections of the Mini Brick Panel chipboard to decorate the canvas.

The background and skirt were made using Prima Printery collection papers. The colours I chose for this canvas were inspired by the  Lindy's Stamp Gang January 2016 Color Challenge. I love this colour combination so much that this is my second project using it! I've used two different Starburst mists for the colour on the background - Mad Hatter Mint and Tea Pot Purple.

The wings of this piece were actually attached to skirt of the dressform, so I did some fancy trimming to free them so they could rest on top of the handmade paper skirt. To decorate the dressform , I started out with a coat of white gesso. I then painted the wings with Silks Acrylic Glaze in Ice and the dress form body with Silks Acrylic Glaze in Silver Bells. Finally, I added some Finnabair Glass Glitter in Sterling to the wings to give them lots of sparkle. 

For the bits of the brick panel, I first primed the chipboard with a coat of white gesso. Then, I painted the bricks with Silks Acrylic Glaze in Yellow Rose. I wanted the bricks to blend a bit more with the purple and green in the background, so I rubbed sections of the brick pieces with Silks Acrylic Glazes in Pomegranate and Teal Zircon to match the background colour. Finally, I added some Finnabair glass beads in Licorice and some green glass beads from my stash to the brick sections to add extra texture and interest to the canvas.

Here are another couple of angles of the full canvas.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

'Couture' Make-up and Jewelry Tray

This week, I was playing with the Couture Collection by Graphic 45. A while ago, I made a necklace rack using this collection and I decided to make a coordinating Make-up/Jewelry tray to use on my dresser! I wanted someplace to put a few things I use frequently, like a lipstick, my glasses, hand cream and my favourite necklace (when I'm not wearing it) and this was my solution! I used an old photo frame I picked up at a second-hand store and painted/distressed the frame. I used the backing of the frame to build up the decor for my tray. Lots of fussy cutting/layering of images from these gorgeous papers and coordinating roses added to make it extra feminine (though I had to squish the flowers a bit to fit it under the glass)! Here are a couple of different angles of the tray and a close-up (there's a wee bit of glare from the glass top of the tray - its really hard to photograph glass)!

And here is the tray in use on my dresser! So perfect to hold everyday items!

I'm going to enter this in the Graphic 45 January Challenge -  #GetG45Organized! Wish me luck!

Try - Art Journal Page

Here is my first Art Journal page of 2016 - inspired by P!nk's song Try.

I wanted this page to be feminine but still with a grungy/edgy feel - so I used grunged-up lace as the main element on the page. The colours for this page were drawn from the Lindy's Stamp Gang January 2016 Color Challenge.

I've used three different Starburst mists for the colour on the page - Mad Hatter Mint, Bodacious Blush and Open Arms Amethyst. The paper bits layered on the page are from Finnabair's Sunrise/Sunset collection. (I have promised myself that I will use up some of my paper stash this year!) The stamping on the layout is also done with Finnabair stamps and archival ink. Here are some more photos of the page!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

An "Elf-Sized" Mini Album for Creative Embellishments

Hi Crafty Friends!  Today I'm sharing a fun little project with you! I've created an "elf-sized" mini album - the album pages are only 3 in. x 3 in.! I made this album for my son for his Elf on the Shelf pictures from this past December. The Elf on the Shelf is such a fun thing for small children and keeps the "magic" of Christmas alive for the whole month, so there are twenty-four pocket pages in the album to hold a picture for each day from Dec. 1 - Dec. 24. A tiny album like this is also a great way to use up your stash of leftover Christmas papers!

I created a four-sided cover for the album and have decorated three of the four sides with Creative Embellishments chipboard elements. For the outer spine of the album, I've used The Elf on the Shelf title chipboard, which I embossed with Antique Gold embossing powder. I stacked the title so that it was triangular from top to bottom, to reflect the shape of a Christmas tree. I added some sequins as Christmas balls and a CE Chipboard Snowflake (embossed with Winter Wonderland embossing powder) as the 'star' of the tree.

I created a mini-scene on the front cover by fussy cutting some paper trees twice and layering them and added some CE Chipboard Snowflakes and the Santa Flourish Sleigh. I embossed the runners and the railing of the sleigh with Antique Gold embossing powder and painted the sleigh using Silks Acrylic Glaze in Carmen.

On the folding spine, I've used some more Chipboard Snowflakes and a section of the Christmas Light Strand 4 chipboard. I painted the Christmas Lights with Silks Acrylic Glazes and then added Glossy Accents to the bulbs to give them a nice, dimensional shine.

Finally, for the pages inside the album, I have used lots of Chipboard Snowflakes on the pockets to decorate the pages. I also used a tiny chipboard button (painted with Silks Acrylic Glaze and then treated with Glossy Accents) on the inside of the spine to hold the tassels and ornaments I used to add a little more interest to the spine.

Now I just have to add the photos and journalling and my son's Elf on the Shelf Album will be complete!

I hope you enjoyed my fun little Elf album! Happy Crafting!

Imagine - Creative Embellishments January Challenge

Happy New Year Scrappy Friends! I'm so excited to share my first project as part of the Creative Embellishments Design Team! This project is part of the Creative Embellishments January Challenge - using the photo below as inspiration and circular elements on the project.

I was inspired by the Steampunk feeling of the January Challenge image and decided to create a fun Steampunk Canvas featuring my son. 

I've used a whole lot of different Creative Embellishments chipboard elements to create my project: pieces of the Harlequin Panel, the Steampunk Hat Set, Steampunk Wings Set 4, some of the 1-inch Gears, two of the Industrial Hanging Light Bulbs, and the Imagine title. The chipboard pieces were painted with black gesso and then treated with a combination four different colours of Inka Gold rubs, Gold and Copper Dimensional Paints, glossy accents and both holographic and Black Soot Distress embossing powders. I've also used Creative Embellishments Distressed Harlequin Stamp to emboss the pattern on the top hat! Here are some close-ups and different angles of the canvas!

Join us and play along with the Creative Embellishments Challenge this month for a chance to win some fantastic CE Chipboard! 

Challenge Rules:

• Create a NEW project layout, mini album, tag, card, canvas, etc….as of 1st of the challenge month 2016.
• Please add your entry to the  InLinkz box on the Creative Embellishments blog post to be eligible for the prize. You have until the last day of each month 11:55 pm eastern time to enter.
• It is required that you mention in your blog post that you are playing along at Creative Embellishments together with a link back to the CE blog. Please make sure to reference the CE challenge. Please no back linking.
• Combining with other challenges is permitted. 
• We would love to see you USE AT LEAST one CE product on your projects but it isn’t required to play along. However everyone that does use CE products will get and extra chance at winning.
• WINNERS will have TWO weeks to claim their prize. The winners are announced the day after the challenge ends and on the same month’s challenge post.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

I wish you all the best for the year ahead and I hope you'll come back and visit often!

Vintage Santa ATCs

I created this set of ATCs for the November/December ATC exchange at Scraps of Darkness/Scraps of Elegance! I found out today that my exchange partner, Jenny, got them - so now I can share some photos/details about them!

My craft room is currently dis-assembled for redecorating, so I had to use some papers that I had handy - so I used the American Crafts Jack Frost 6x6 papers and some Vintage Santa images from Meg's Garden for the ATCs. I went with a wintery theme and stenciled on some Liquitex Opaque Flakes texture paste and poured Finnabair glitter over the wet paste for some extra shimmer. I made a wreath with some berry vine from my stash and punched out greenery from three different shades of green paper. I added some flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and some winter berries from my stash and then finished the ATCs off with the 'snow' made from heavy gesso sprinkled with glitter. Here is a photo of the set and some close-ups of each ATC.

I really hope Jenny liked her ATC set! Happy Christmas!

Creative Embellishments Design Team!

I'm so excited to announce that I am joining the Creative Embellishments Design Team starting January 1, 2016. Check out the Design Team announcement here!

Pop back on January 1, 2016 to see my first design team project with the fantastic Creative Embellishments products!

Victorian Pillow Box Shaker Ornaments and a Tutorial ~ for Meg's Garden!

Hi Crafty friends! Sarah here to share a set of four Pillow Box Shaker Ornaments I created using the absolutely divine Meg's Garden Vintage Christmas Papercrafter Pack! I've put together a video slideshow tutorial showing how to create one of these easy but beautiful ornaments - I hope you'll give it a try.

Here are a couple of photos from different angles of the set of ornaments - aren't the papers just gorgeous?! And I love those vintage Santa images. I embellished with some flowers and winter berries from my stash and added some heavy gesso and fairy dust as 'snow' to the embellishments and "Noel" cut-out!

And here is the full step-by-step slideshow tutorial!

Video Slideshow Tutorial

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Happy Crafting!

Meg's Garden Products Used:
Vintage Christmas Papercrafter Pack

An Eerie Tale Stacked Coffins and Mini Album - Part 2

Hi Crafty Friends! I'm back with Part 2 of my post of my Graphic 45 An Eerie Tale Stacked Coffins and Mini Album.  In this post, I'll share lots of photos and details of the coffin-shaped mini album that fits in the largest coffin box. And I must tip my hat to Anne Rostad, whose mini-albums and tutorials have been such an inspiration.

This album is an accordian fold album, so I was able to decorate both sides of the pages. I used both the 12x12 papers and the 6x6 paper pad to create this album. I've created lots of pockets and tags and added in a few magnets to hold things in place. I've used lots of fussy-cuts throughout the album and only glued down the outside edges of the fussy-cut elements (in most cases) so that I could tuck tags and things in behind them. All the papers are edged with Distress Ink in Black Soot. *Learning experience - if you ink your fussy cuts before using matte medium to adhere them to cardstock (to add durability/thickness), the distress ink will smear and tint the fussy cuts - I used them anyway in this case since its a Halloween album and the dark-tinted fussy-cuts sort of work in a spooky album.

I provide lots more details for each page in each of the sections below! Enjoy!

Front & Back Covers

The front and back covers are both have the same design - a belly band of the "Once Upon an Eerie Tale" border piece, along with a tag and cut-out tucked in behind the belly band and fussy cutting. I've matted all the tags/cut-outs on black cardstock and then embossed core-dinations papers using Tim Holtz embossing folders, and then sanded and inked the embossed papers to get the dark, distressed look. These will make great photo mats for the album!

 Pages 1 & 2

I created some pockets at the base of these pages and reversed the paper patterns on the opposite pages. I added a belly band to the right page and have tucked in some small tags with fussy-cuts from the 6x6 papers and a larger tag and cut-out from the 12x12 papers.

Pages 3 & 4

"The Beauty" and "The Beast" cut-outs were used to make magnetic flaps that are holding some cut-outs and long tags in place. There is also a small pocket at the bottom of these pages with a couple of extra fussy-cut stamps tucked in them. I thought I woudl use the long "bookmark" tags to mat some 'photo-booth' style photo-strips for these pages!

Pages 5 & 6

This is a simple design with  large pockets to hold the two coffin-shaped tags. The fussy-cut pumpkins are loose on the inside/bottom edges so they can hang over the floral border and have a picture tucked under the pumpkin!

Pages 7 & 8

Here are two more pocket pages similar to Pages 1 & 2, though in this case I created two embossed coffin fold-outs to tuck in the pockets! Lots of fussy cuts inside the fold-out that can hold some photos or journalling! I've already added two small tags that can be used for journalling.

Pages 9 & 10

This was such a fun set of pages to create. The 'pockets' are magnetic and actually fold down to reveal a couple of journalling/photo spots. The two mini tag books are also magnetized to hold them in place. I had lots of fun creating the fussy-cut scene on these pages!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog - I hope you liked my An Eerie Tale Stacked Coffins and Mini Album!
Happy Scrapping!