Strength Grows

Hello there on this Wednesday!!  The weather is not too bad for winter here in south central Iowa but that will change tomorrow.  The temps will drop more than 20 degrees and then on the weekend we are supposed to get snow.  

I have used a whole lot of Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 products (stamps, stencils, Archival inks, enamel accents) on this card... pretty much everything except the background color.  That was done with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paints when I was working on This project.  I brushed extra paint on this paper while working.. quite liked what I had at the end and wanted to use it.  

I stamped the circle collage with Potting Soil ink.  I did use the stamp platform and stamped it twice so the ink was very wet.  Then embossed the image with Potting Soil Embossing Powder.  I used two stencils to add pattern around the outside of the circle, Add A Stencil and Lots of Dots.  Inked through Add A Stencil with Orange Blossom and through Lots of Dots with Red Geranium.  In the area on the left side and down around the bottom of the circle that leaves a gap I used the white Distress Crayon to lighten that area.  I used Wendy's Enamel Accents, Carnation Red and Sunflower, for the red and yellow dots.  The flower and leaves are the Stamp-it Stencil-it set In Full Bloom, stamped with Jet Black and colored with Distress Inks.  The matching stencil makes it so easy to add the color!!!  A white gel pen was used to add the white dots near the center.  The quote is from Set SCS145, Artful Thoughts, stamped with Jet Black and a white gel pen used on the open letters.  The butterfly is a Mat Mini, colored with Distress Inks and stamped with one of the squares in the Large Collage background image (WVBG011) using Fern Green.

This was fun to do.  I really need play with my Wendy stuff more often!!  

Thanks for following along!!

Hugs, Wanda

Friendship is a Million Little Things

As with a lot of people recently, I had to try the new Tim Holtz technique using Distress Oxide Inks on Ranger's Glossy Paper and then MicroGlaze.  Tim used Distress Glaze but I still have MicroGlaze from years past and used that.  I did 3 layers of Oxides on my paper.  The first layer used the colors Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, and Wild Honey.  My second layer used Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, and Wilted Violet.  The third layer is Cracked Pistachio and Fossilized Amber.  Then the magic, pulling all the oxidation off with Glaze.  A really, I mean REALLY, cool technique.  

I stamped the quote from Quietfire Design, Friendship Isn't A Big Thing, embossed it with white powder, die cut the oval using a Stitched Oval die (Sizzix, Tim Holtz), edged the oval with Distress Paint Brushed Pewter, put foam mounting tape on the back and set it aside.  

Next I worked on the rest of the paper.  I set the Tim Holtz Flourish stencil across the panel lining up the edge along the top of the panel.  I put Ranger's Texture Paste Transparent Gloss through the stencil, removed the stencil, covered the paste with Distress Dry Glitter Rock Candy, dumped off the excess and let it dry.  Once dry I brushed off the rest of the excess that didn't stay attached to the paste, attached it to a white cardstock panel, and attached the oval right over the opening.  

I added a strip of flowery sheer ribbon as shown and 2 die cuts (Elizabeth Craft Designs Dandelion Fluff die set) and then attached everything to a folded purple card.  

This card is so soft and pretty.  I really love how it came out.  

Thanks for following along!!!

Hugs, Wanda

Eileen Hull's Mini Album Die

I was totally blessed to win Eileen Hulls' Mini Album die in a random draw.  It came in the mail while I was sick.  The first day I was up I opened it and, of course, needed to cut it right away.  The closest thing large enough to cut was the plastic packaging it came in.  At that moment I just wanted to see how it cut....  

After cutting it, I immediately remembered an old technique people use to do on acetate.  I'm pretty sure the technique was called Caught in Crystal.  I covered one side of the die cut plastic with Glossy Accents, dripped on some Distress Re-inker, used my finger to blend the color around in the glue, sprinkled on some glitter, and then covered it all with crumpled, white tissue paper.  If there were an spots that didn't seem wet enough, I added more glue pressing it in with my finger.  At this point it's best to let it air dry completely and then once dry, trim off the excess tissue paper.

Here it is flipped over so you are looking through the plastic.  Beautiful, huh!!!

I had time to finish making the album yesterday.  I decided I would decorate the cover, fill it with watercolor paper, and use it for art journaling.  I'm thinking another scripture journal either to use along with the one I've got started or to use once that one is full. 

With the bright colors I thought black silhouette flowers would look fabulous.  I cut an assortment using the Tim Holtz Wildflower dies by Sizzix.  I thought about stamping the scripture right on the front but decided I really needed to stamp and layer, just in case, as I did not want to mess up what I already had.  I also wanted all that fabulous color to show so I stamped the scripture (Our Daily Bread Designs) onto acetate and then die cut a tag shape using an Elizabeth Craft Designs Tags & More Die set trimming the bottom to be a short tag.  I've edged the piece with gold and added a black, sparkly brad to the hole.  I trimmed the prongs short enough that after pressing them out, they were still hidden by the brad.  I attached all the flowers using Glossy Accents. 

I cut all the pages from 140# watercolor paper using the die and then tied them into the album using Tim Holtz's Craft Thread.  This way, if need be, the pages can be pulled out to work on and then re-inserted. 

This picture is taken with the book open looking at the inside of the cover.

I'm entering this into the Mini Album Makers Challenge for January.

And I'm also entering the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Tag It.

Created and Loved

Happy Saturday to you!!!  So last year my daughter, Krista, and I decided we would try to participate in a challenge blog throughout the year.  No pressure, just as we could.  We chose the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge and had a good time playing along but also missed a lot of weeks.  This year we've gone with a monthly challenge.  I sent her the links to some options and she chose the More Than Words Challenge for a couple of reasons.  She has really gotten into art journaling and usually either creates in her journal or does a canvas so this fit really well for her.  She also said that this forces me to do more journaling (or canvases) and she's looking forward to seeing what I do.  I do really like art journaling and it's usually time (and maybe procratinating, lol) that has me making cards more.  Overall I think this is going to be fun.  

January's word inspiration is "birthday".  This had me thinking about not just celebrating birthdays but actually being born and even more our Creator who knew us even before we were born.  I chose to do a spread in my Scripture Art Journal using some verses from Psalm 139.  The little girl is a collage image I got years ago from a company called Paper Imagery Designs.

January's element is tags and the requirement is a minimum of two tags in our project.  The book I'm working in is a Dylusions small journal.  I glued some small tags onto the pages with Distress Collage Medium Matte also covering the entire pages with the medium.  Over this I've stenciled using the Tim Holtz flourish stencil and Ranger's Texture Paste.  

Once that was dry I sprinkled on some PaperArtsy Infusions (Violetta, Sleight Blue, A Bit Jaded), sprayed them with plenty of water and mostly dried them with a heat tool doing some blotting as they dried.  I then softened all that by painting PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint Nougat over the pages keeping my strokes horizontal and letting the colors blend just a little by not overworking the brush strokes.  

There is some light stamping with Ranger's Archival Ink.. a text image and a leafy image.  Nuvo Embellishment Mousse was added over the textured areas and around the edges.  That's that shine you can see with the book tipped just so in the light.

I printed out the scriptures and attached the paper to a tag adding a bit of color with Distress Inks and distressing the edges of the tag.  I forgot to include the scripture reference so took a small metal rimmed tag, added color and wrote the reference.  

A bunch of paper flowers were glued on.  Nuvo Glitter Drops in Honey Gold was added to the centers.  Splattering was done with Fresco Finish Paint, in both Plum and Pansy colors.  

This was fun to do and I hope you like it!!

Hugs, Wanda

I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Monday Challenge - Tag It and the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Layer It Up.

The Destination

Hello!!!  Overall I'm feeling better and stronger but I can't seem to shake the cough which makes my throat sore and greatly interferes with my sleep.  If I don't talk much or do much it's not too bad until I lie down and then it rears it's ugly head.  I do Praise God, though, that the fever and aches are gone.  I'm sure the rest will improve soon.

In my last post I mentioned getting painty.  I've finished that project and am sharing it today.  I even took a bunch of pictures and you can follow most everything just by looking at them therefore I won't state the obvious but will make notes where they are needed.

I started with black cardstock and I apply Fresco Finish Paints using Seth Apters monoprinting technique where you brush the paint onto a piece of cardstock and then press it onto your substrate.  I had seen this shown a long time ago but wasn't sure I was remembering exactly how it was done but then yesterday Leandra of PaperArtsy shared a Facebook Live showing Seth demoing in their booth at Creativation and that technique was part of it.  I've shared it to my timeline on Facebook and if possible you should check it out.  

I used all Seth Apter stamps from his first PaperArtsy set when creating my background.

I have lots of old embossing powders and I pulled out one called Celedon

from the Powder Keg.

I took some Tango, which is a translucent, and mixed one drop of Chalk with it so it would be more opaque and used a junk card to add marks.

I decided to top that grungy background with a bright, Tracy Scott flower (set #9).

I cut the stem and leaves from a scrap of white cardstock.  As you can see, I've been using the sewing machine again.  I seem to go through streaks using it all the time or not at all, lol. 

I was fun to play!!!  I didn't allow myself to overthink and second guess my choices (yes, I do that A LOT) but to just go with them as they happened. 

Thanks for following along!!!

Hugs, Wanda 

Seek

Hello!!!  Yep, it's gotten quieter on the blog... for two reasons.... as of last week I'm back out welding in the shop most days except that wasn't actually the case this week because I've been sick.  How sad is it to be in the house and not even have enough energy to do something fun, lol.  I'm feeling a bit better today and even got a little painty (not too much and then I was exhausted).  

I made this scripture card a couple of weeks ago.  It is 4" x 6".  I started by cutting a panel from a gel print.  That would be the rectangle blocks you see in the background.  I laid a mask on top and sprayed Distress Spray Stain over it.  Dried it.  Added stenciling along the left and right - the blue flowery images.  The blue is a metallic acrylic paint.  Yellow ink was added around the edges and then stamping with a small leafy image.  I printed the scripture onto plain Tissue Wrap (Tim Holtz Idea-ology) and tore it out carefully.  I thought the background might be too dark so added some white paint lightly in the center area.  I attached the scripture with Distress Collage Medium Matte under and over the tissue wrap.  I actually got it on slightly crooked, which completely bugged me so I trimmed the panel a little to straighten it, attached it to black cardstock and sewed it.  Finally I underlined some words I thought were important with a black permanent pen.  Over time I'm going to be doing more of these cards.  I'm thinking I'll maybe bind them into a book but not sure about that yet.

Mixed Media Valentine's Card

Hello to you on this cold, windy Monday morning!!  The actual temperature here in Southern Iowa is currently above zero but it will be falling all day to below zero by this evening.  However, the wind chills are already in the double digits below zero and will also be getting colder.  Brrrr!!!

On to more pleasant things :-)  I have a tutorial over on the Quietfire Creations Blog today for this card.  Pictures don't pick up the bits of glitter that are part of the embossing powder mix.  Every time I sit at my desk, I pick up this card and tip it side-to-side to see those bits catch the light.  It is so pretty!!!  I hope you have time to pop on over there and see the step-by-step pictures.

Sympathy Card

Hello.  We are one week into 2018... only 51 weeks left :-)  

I'm sharing a sympathy card today.  I started with a copy of hymn.  Color was added using paint, the center area is just a wash and then heavier color on the edges.  The "rays" are done with paint and a stencil.  The flower and oval shape are die cut with Tim Holtz dies.  The sentiment is a stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs.  

This is a wonderful hymn!!!  Truly.. what a day that will be!!!  

The words to the hymn are:

There is coming a day,
When no heart aches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky,
No more tears to dim the eye,
All is peace forever more,
On that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

There'll be no sorrow there,
No more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain,
No more parting over there;
And forever I will be,
With the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be