TE Monthly Calendar Challenge

Hello and welcome! I'm back today with my April entry for the Taylored Expressions Calendar Challenge. Each month we are challenged to make a calendar using one of TE's calendars and any stamps we choose. They offer downloadable and pre-printed calendars and usually I choose the current month from the 2012 6x6 Dated Calendar Download but this month I opted for the 2012 Desktop Calendar Inserts.

I cropped it to fit on my 6x6 dp from Simple Stories Fabulous collection and since the background was stark white I used distress ink to soften it a bit. My calendar came together quickly with supplies from the April Key Ingredient Kit which Taylor offers as a subscription. The paper pad, ribbon and paper flowers were all part of the kit so no need to worry about everything coordinating. The corrugated cardboard butterfly was cut with a TE's Butterflies die  and I applied pearl acrylic paint then dusted it with pink glitter and added three bliss pearls for embellishment. To finish I stamped the sentiment from Garden Party Blooms in Memento's Rich Cocoa ink and added some liquid pearls around the border. Simple & Sweet!

If you'd like to play along you can view the rules here on Taylor's blog and good luck.
Have an awesome weekend , 
Lisa

Additional Supplies:
Ink: Antique Linen Distress Ink (T!m Holtz/Ranger)
Accessories: Adirondack Metallics Pearl Acrylic Paint Dabber & Flamingo Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Valentine twine (Doodlebug); corrugated cardboard (Jillibean Soup); Crystalescent glitter-Pink (Mark Ent.); bliss pearls (Kaisercraft)

She was a daughter of God

I'm back today with my third She Art Girl from the online class, She Art Workshop, that I took earlier this year. In this three week course mixed media artist Christy Tomlinson introduces her students to art products, how to add texture & depth to your canvas, create backgrounds & scenes, and of course her signature She Art Girls. Her relaxed style is infectious and I learned a great deal from her which is why I signed up for the follow up class, She Art Workshop No. 2. This class focuses on details like eyes, noses, mouth, hair, clothing styles, and incorporating She Art in home decor and gifts. I'm using the second class to expand on the first one plus it has led me to other mixed media artists that I want to share with you as well. But more on that in a minute...

This girl {the third in the series}is based off PDF patterns Christy designed and includes in the class. I love her pant-a-loons and the colors are specific to the recipient. ;) I always enjoyed paper dolls as a girl so this has been serious fun and it has led me to branch out in an area that I really love. One of my goals in creating this blog last fall was to find out what I was passionate about and it is mixed media, I could honestly stay here forever! That is why I'd like to share links to some mixed media artists that are popular in the papercrafting world and all of these ladies (except Julie) have their own line of stamps which can be used for cards, scrapbooking, etc.. I like versatility so here's a sampling of a few that have caught my eye with their own distinct style. 

Christy Tomlinson

{be sure to click on the Scarlet Lime badge in my right sidebar for more creativity}

Donna Downey

{totally want to attend one of her inspired weekend workshops}

Donna Salazar

{she offers a free Inky, Painty, Glitzy, Grungy newsletter full of ideas & awesome e-classes}

Claudine Hellmuth

{author, illustrator, papercrafter extraordinaire, collage artist}

Julie Nutting

{discovered her through a mag subscription to Somerset Studios, love her couture girls!}

Dina Wakley

{she loves bright, bold colors and has a signature style all her own}

Stampington & Co. 'The Studio'

{a plethora of creativity and you can view projects demos by Christy, Claudine, Julie & Dina}

In addition I encourage you to visit Etsy and search mixed media artists because there is serious talent to be discovered there as well. The above reflects but a few in this wide pool of creative people and there's no way I could include everyone so from time to time I'll share more of my personal fave's. I also want to share the Design Memory Craft site with you where you'll find more ways to use those fabby Faber-Castell Pitt Pens & Gelatos and the awesome Dick Blick Art Materials site which offers everything an artist needs at great prices.  Here's a quick Top Tip for you: After applying rub-ons to your canvas give them a light coat of Mod Podge to seal them so they don't rub off before you can finish. 

Long post today but hope you have fun exploring and let your creative side go wild, lol. I'm entering this in the Make It Monday #86 Challenge & Tip Top Tuesday #75 Challenge. Thanks for stopping by and a big welcome to my new blog followers. I love it when people join because it gives me an opportunity to visit and enjoy their creativity. Have an awesome day!

Hugs,

Lisa

Supplies Used: 6x12 canvas, Liquitex Professional Acrylic Inks, Faber-Castell Pitt Pens, Caran d' Ache Neocolor II Artists' Crayon-salmon, (Dick Blick Art Materials); sewing pattern from thrift store; various acrylic paints from Wal-Mart; Master's Touch paint brushes (Hobby Lobby); rub-ons (Kaisercraft, MME, Glitz & Christy Tomlinson She Art by Pink Paislee); black Pilot Permaball pen & Zephyr Rollagraph Stamp Wheel (Scarlet Lime); black pearls (Kaisercraft); orange trim (Webster's Pages); paper flower (Taylored Expressions); Saddle Brown Staz On ink

Happy Anniversary

Hi there and welcome! I have another mixed media project to share with you today that I made to give as an anniversary gift. I Google'd love quotes and this one by Jeremy Taylor just seemed to fit the couple who will receive this piece of art. I love it and I truly believe friendship is the basis for a wonderful, happy marriage!

I used an 8x8 canvas and a musical background paper from The Paper Studio to start off. A recent trip to Jo-Ann's yielded a die cut paper with these gorgeous flowers and they were the inspiration for this piece. I fussy cut them and used a Faber Castell Pitt Pen {Dark Sepia} to shade the outline of the flowers and the page tears. My butterflies are cardstock stickers by Kaisercraft and I used Ranger's Perfect Pearls on the wings to add some color and visual interest. The metal key is from Making Memories and the tiny type alpha's are from Cosmo Cricket. I was too impatient to print the author's name so I wrote it out using my Pilot Permaball pen from Scarlet Lime {love that pen}. A trail for my butterflies was created from a bling swirl from Recollections that I disected and I added pearls, snatched from a Prima Say it in Studs embellishment, to my flowers for more dimension. Acrylic paint, more Faber Castell pens, and a few rub-on's completed my project. To ensure everything stays intact I applied a coat of Mod Podge by Plaid  and I have a close up for you. 

I'm entering this in the Tip Top Tuesday Anything But A Card Challenge and the Make It Monday #86 challenge. For now I'm off to run errands but tomorrow I plan to share my third girl from the She Art Workshop by Christy Tomlinson plus links to fabulous mixed media sites and stores. Have a fantastic day everyone and a HUGE thank you for all of the encouraging comments everyone left on my previous post, you really blessed me!!
Hugs,
Lisa

She Lived a Happy Life

Hi there, I'm back today to share a mixed media project with all of you. By now you know I am a huge fan of Christy Tomlinson and She Art, what you might not know is that she owns an online store that carries products for mixed media artists and monthly kits. I decided to give the mixed media kit a go last month and it featured products from her new She Art line by Pink Paislee. Here's a link to her online store, Scarlet Lime, and you can view her working with this kit on You Tube. Just type in her name, look for March Mixed Media Kit and have fun.

I created my canvas using dp's from the 6x6 Petite Paper Pack and the Paper Dolls Bits & Pieces which were part of the kit. The rest is from my stash and I loved creating this 8x8 She Art scene. Next time I think I'll work on two canvases in tandem so I can shift gears and create one "light" and the other "dark." I'm partial to black shading for some reason but I really want to lighten things up a bit so maybe next time, lol. If you've never given mixed media a try I encourage you to do so because there are no errors, just cover-ups. ;) I plan on entering this in the Make It Monday Challenge and I hope you'll check out the wealth of inspiration there!

Thanks for stopping by and a big welcome to my newest follower, Michelle. I also appreciate all of the kind comments and emails that everyone sent my way concerning our son leaving for basic training last Sunday. He arrived in Oklahoma on Monday and we are all looking forward to his graduation in late June, especially his mom. :-) Have a great week and I'll be back with some challenge entries, my pansy project, and more mixed media.
Hugs,
Lisa

CR84FN51 Color Challenge

Hi there, hope all of you had a wonderful Easter! I'm back today to play along in the current CR84FN Color Challenge and the colors we're celebrating are pink, peach and light blue. This card was a snap to make and it's fantastic when things come together so quickly. I used the Mojo Monday Week 142 sketch and I chose it to showcase my homemade flower. I was inspired by Mona Pendleton's  Paper Tissue Flower Tutorial  and it was fun to make which means I'll make a lot more of these. Another great feature of this flower is the fact you can customize the color and the process totally intrigued my furry grandson, Felix. He hopped up on the back of my chair for a closer look and remained there the entire time. We'll be taking care of him while his dad goes to Basic & AIT training and he's a joy to all of us. He actually behaves more like a human than a cat and my craft room is his fave room of the house. :-) Here's the beautiful inspiration photo and I was influenced by the gorgeous flowers, so pretty!

I put this card together with one two-sided dp from Echo Park's Victoria Gardens which featured two of my challenge colors, pink and peach. How handy is that? I brought the third color, blue, in by embossing the base panel and coloring my pearl accents in my punched border with a Phthalo Blue Copic marker to match. To tie everything together I chose Memento's Summer Sky and Stampabilities Baby Blue ink for my tissue flower. I alternated the colors for some variation and placed a blue brad from MME's Portabello Road in the center. The flags were part of the sketch requirement and you can take a quick look here at the sketch to see how I did. I'm also including a close up of my first ever tissue flower.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back soon with a project featuring my favorite flower, the pansy. I appreciate all of your kind comments and hope you're having an awesome day!
Hugs,
Lisa

Stamps: Psalm 46:10 Plain Jane (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Summer Sky, Stampabilities Baby Blue
Paper: Victoria Gardens (Echo Park), Choice Snow White, blue cs
Accessories: Brenda Walton Swirl (EK Success); pearls (PS); neon blue MegaWatz gel pen; brayer & distressing tool (Ranger); brad (MME-Portabello Road); Nested Pennants (Spellbinders); Copic-B23; Swiss Dots embossing folder (C'bug)

Letting go...

I'm back with a card I made for my son who enlisted in the U. S. Army last fall and on the 15th ships out for basic training. I wanted him to know how proud I am and that I am humbled, truly, by his willingness to serve. In fact, I appreciate every man and woman who serves in our armed forces and the families that stand behind them. There's just something about the unpredictability of military life that always has you on the edge of your seat. It has a way of making you appreciate life and the time you have with your loved ones. I will miss him more than I can say but I also want him to be happy and enjoy his life. The selfish part of me wants to keep him close forever but that isn't what is in his best interest and so I pray for the strength to let go gracefully.

On this card I used Verve's American Hero stamp set and it has wonderful patriotic sentiments and accents. I wanted a red, white and blue theme which I carried out with ink, markers, twine, and pearls. I based my card on the CardPositioningSystems 259 sketch and it is my first time to play along with this challenge. They offer inspiring sketches so it won't be my last, that's for sure. To enforce the patriotic theme I embossed the red and blue panel with Taylored Expressions Stars Impression Plate and I distressed the blue panel while the red was outlined with a blue Spica atyou pen. The sentiment was stamped with Memento's Lady Bug ink and the coordinating frame was stamped with Memento's Paris Dusk ink. I used Ranger's Xmas Red Stickles for the center of the stars and a trio of red Kaisercraft pearls accent two of the corners. The arrow was traced from a template and a red Spica atyou marker accents it while the Doodlebug Lady Bug twine ties my colors together in a fun way. This was a fun sketch to work with and here's a photo of sketch #259.

That's all for me today, thanks for stopping by and I hope each of you have a wonderful day!
Lisa