ART – With Art Anthology and Altered Pages

Art Anthology and Altered Pages teamed up during October to offer some fantastic projects using their products.  Below is a mini canvas series I did for the blog swap.

To get started, I covered three mini canvases with Art Anthology Gesso.

Next, I lightly misted a coat of Sandcastle Colorations.

I then gave two canvases a couple of coats of Lemon Tart and one canvas a couple of coats of Limeade Velvet.  It gave me a nice, grungy look which is what I was going for.

I stamped the A, R, and T stamps from Altered Pages Alphapalooza stamp set, then mixed up a little modeling paste with Desire Velvet and stenciled on some dots using the Dot Matrix Stencil.

I wanted to embellish the canvases a little, go I gesso'd some Hexagon and Triangle Embedibles then gave them a coat of Evergreen Sorbet.

Using a small paintbrush, I painted the "A" with Kona Velvet, the "R" with Desire Velvet, and the "T" with Shamrock Velvet.  I then added the hexagons and triangles to my canvases.

In order for the canvases to hang from each other, I snipped off pieces of an old necklace chain and attached them to my canvases using a mini stapler.  I then added a hanger to the back of the "A" canvas and hung it on my wall over my work table.

Hope you enjoyed this little mini tutorial. 
Until later……………….

To The Moon – Gauche Alchemy Challenge for October

Hi everyone!  The theme for Gauche Alchemy’s October Challenge  involved the moon.  Well, it being the month of October, I just couldn’t resist. I HAD to create a couple of moon-themed Halloween projects. Being an October birthday girl, it’s in my blood. Bwahahahahaha!

For Moon Cat, I started with a black ATC and stamped my images in white ink. I first stamped the stars and the moon (embossing the moon) and then masked over them and stamped the wording. Add a fence from UmWowStudios, a black cat from Retro Cafe Art Gallery, and a pumpkin from Unique Laser Designs and I have a cute little Halloween ATC.

For my Spooky Ghost tag, I once again started with a black base. I used a template to draw my big moon and then some white acrylic paint to color it in. The sayings are stenciled in white ink (from Retro Cafe Art Gallery) and I bordered two sides of the tag with some Halloween themed washi tape. Next I took a bat, tree and several ghosts (from Unique Laser Designs), painted them appropriately, then applied them to my tag. A cute little owl charm with red Stickles eyes sits in the branch of the tree. The jack-o-lanterns along the left side of my stash were some buttons I found hanging out in my stash.

While I went the Halloween route with my project, you don’t have to. Let the moon, stars, lovers, and words guide you to the perfect project. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Until later………

Kick It Home

Hello everyone!  As you know, Gauche Alchemy is now a challenge blog.  This month, we were challenged with the theme Country Rustic (this month’s challenge) and I set about creating a couple of tags.   All the colors and pictures on this month’s board reminded me so much of home and growing up in the country (how about the middle of nowhere?) that I was inspired to create the following two tags:

For “Kick It”, I started off with a background created using Barn Door and Broken China Distress Stain (I iron my tags to get them to go flat after applications of wet medium). I then stamped VLVS’s sunflower stamp in sepia ink at the top and bottom of the tag. Next, I stamped randomly over the entire tag using sepia ink and my Stampotique Design Cube (gotta love a stamp with four sides).

The rusty looking hinges were created with VLVS’s fancy hinge stamp, sepia ink, and Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder. I found the boot image online and the twine is from a roll I had laying around. Last but not least, I stamped “Kick It” onto a piece of paper using my Stampotique Random Acts alphas and Barn Door Distress Ink. I then swiped some Broken China Distress Ink over the saying to help better incorporate it into the tag. The white paper was just too glaring.

For Home Sweet Home, I started our with a fabric sample that was in my Gauche stash. I then stamped a border using VLVS’s barbed wire stamp. I found the white lace in an envelope of goodies a friend sent and promptly ran a piece of it down the middle of the tag. The button at the top is actually a brad I’ve had for a while; the house and the hearts were in a box of scrap goodies that Retro Cafe offers from time to time.

I painted the house with Art Anthology Kona and Desire Velvet, the house with Red Velvet Sorbet, and then glued them down securely over the lace. Last, I stamped out Home Sweet Home onto my trusty white copy paper, embossed it with some red embossing powder, gave it a swipe of color to take care of the glaring white, and then arranged it around my tag.

Hop on over to the Gauche Alchemy blog and get your project entered.   You might win September’s Prize Pack!

Until later,

Guest Designer for Viva Las VegaStamps!

Hey everyone!  I’m the Guest Designer for September over at Viva Las VegasStamps! 

 
This is just one of the three projects I have over on their blog today.  Please stop by and check it out!

Until later……………..

Nourish – Frida Challenge for Gauche Alchemy

Hey there!  I thought I’d share my project I did for the Frida Challenge over at Gauche Alchemy.  I went with an art journal spread I did based on a saying that has been attributed to Frida. It spoke volumes to me.

First, I used three colors of jewel-toned mists to lay down a background. Then using Dina Wakley’s Swirl stencil and a baby wipe, I removed some of the color to give a shadow-effect. I then painted the left side with crackle paint, but it really didn’t take very well. Lesson learned……crackle and mists do not work well together.

Next, I printed out a picture of Frida that I liked and adhered it to my page with matte gel medium. I then stamped the saying using Stampotique’s Type Alphabet, cut it out, adhered it to my pages and outlined with a yellow Sharpie paint pen.

I outlined the pages using Art Anthology Dimensional Crystals in Guava and Red Corvette, then glued on half-pearls. The page is now finished and I liked the way it turned out. I honestly believe whatever doesn’t kill us, does nourish us.

Now it’s your turn! Let’s see what you can come up with for the challenge.

Until later…………..

Art Anthology Summer CHA Release–My Stencil Design

Hello everyone.  Yep, I’ve been MIA for a while.  Just been super busy running the outstanding design team over at Art Anthology and doing a little designing for Gauche Alchemy.

Today, I wanted to shout from the rooftops that “I DESIGNED A STENCIL” and it’s being produced by the awesome Stayce DeWid over at Art Anthology!


I am tickled pink that Stayce gave me this opportunity.  Thanks goes out to her from the bottom of my heart.
Now, if you would like to see the entire catalog with all the new releases (stencils, tools, and embedibles), click HERE.
Until later……………………………

Art is Life–A Project for Basically Bare, featuring Art Anthology and May Arts Ribbon

Good morning everyone!  Just this past week, Basically Bare, Art Anthology, and May Arts held a three-way blog swap.  I decided to cover my 6x6 Artful Binder as my project.

First, I gave the entire binder a good coat of gesso.  Then I painted on Art Anthology Velvets in Kona, Basil, and Terracotta.  Next, I grabbed some Tiger Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Olive Crushed Wire Ribbon, and Antique Gold/Brown Satin Center Ruffle Ribbon and laid them out on the cover, and hand-pleating the Olive Ribbon (the wire running through the top and bottom of the ribbon makes this a snap).  While the glue was drying, I cut out "ART is life" from a piece of cardstock using my Brother Scan and Cut and painted it with Art Anthology Black Leather Jacket Sorbet.  I outlined it with a Uniball White Pen and glued it to my cover.  Some Prima Flowers finish it off.

For the inside, I gesso'd the binder then painted on a couple of coats of Art Anthology Kona Velvet.  Once this dried, I stenciled on leaves using Basil Velvet.  It took a couple of applications of the stencil and paint to cover the entire inside.  Then, I ran Tiger Striped Grosgrain Ribbon along the top and bottom of both sides.

And for the back, I painted on Art Anthology Velvet in Kona, Basil, and Terracotta, blending each color into the others, and left it plain.  The backs of albums seem to get the most wear and tear so I leave them unembellished.

In case you would like to know what supplies I used, here is a list:

Basically Bare:  6x6 Artful Binder
Art Anthology Velvets:  Kona, Basil, Terracotta
Art Anthology Sorbet:  Black Leather Jacket
May Arts Ribbon:  Tiger Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Olive Crushed Wire Ribbon, & Antique Gold/Brown Satin Center Ruffle Ribbon
TCW 6x6 Stencil:  Mini Dancing Leaves
Gesso
Uniball White Pen
Prima Flowers

Until Later……………