Blue Fern Frame and Color

My project began with the selection of a Blue Fern Frame and the idea of using color. Here's a peek at my finished project then I show you the steps.

I selected the Blue Fern frame which is an approximate 10" square frame and is all one piece. The frame has beautiful details which you can see in the picture. 

I was so excited to start applying color to the frame and nothing better than using Tim Holtz Distress Paints and Adirondack Acrylic Paint. I plan to use Brushed Pewter, Cloudy Blue and Pearl. We'll come back to the frame in a minute. 

As I took the frame out of 

the package I saw that the package included a piece of printed paper that had a beautiful lattice background. I liked it and again thought I could apply some dabs of paint here and there and give it a little different look. My pictures shows the paper after I dabbed Brushed Pewter Distress Paint, Mustard Seed Distress Paint and the Cloudy Blue Paint. I dried the paint with a heat tool.

Next I started working on the frame with the Brushed Pewter, Cloudy Blue and the Pearl paints. I dabbed the Pewter right on the chipboard frame then dried it a little. Next I dabbed the Cloudy Blue and finally the Pearl with a little drying between each color. I hope you can see the effect of the three paints in the picture.



I used Glue Dots 
to adhere the frame to the paper and only on the sides and bottom. I knew I wanted to add a picture in the frame later. 







Now let's talk about the flowers:

 

I used Prima flowers that were bright purple and lime green colors and toned them down with the Tim Holtz and Adirondack paints. 

They hardly look like the same flowers, it's fascinating to see what the paint can do. Endless possibilities with the paint combos.

The butterfly pieces are Tim Holtz chipboard. 

I applied Mustard Seed Paint, wiped a little off and let it dry plus used the heat tool just a little. Then dabbed a little of the same color on a tissue swiped over the butterfly lightly and hoping the raised swirls on the butterfly would be highlighted. I used a couple pieces of bling for the butterfly body. I made some antennas for the butterfly out of wire but didn't get a picture of them. 

Time to add the flowers and bling to the paper and the frame. 
I just love the look of the flowers with the extra dabs of Pearl paint on the edges.

After I used the Mustard Seed Paint on the butterflies, I dabbed a little more of it on the background paper for a little more emphasis. 

Now you have it all, step-by-step and I can't tell you how happy I am with the finished product. I plan to add a picture and use it in a frame and oh what fun it was to play with color.

I took a pic of the top portion of the project and made a new header with it in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by - Judy.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp & Show: Color Challenge

Spring Tag

I've been working on a Spring tag to share with you.

Because of my love for pastels, I mostly stayed in that color palette. Although I had used Ranger's Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers, it was my first opportunity to work with the Tim Holtz Distress Paints.

I did find that working the paints I wanted to spritz water on my craft sheet before I applied the color to the tag. The Mustard Seed Distress Paint was a little bright for my project so I diluted it with water and applied to the tag again. Next I blotted some additional Ranger Adirondack Cloudy Blue and added a little Dusty Concord Distress Ink to the tag in the spots I knew my stamped background would need.


The background stamp I used is by Inkadinkado and needed the soft colors I was working with. 

I used Ranger Archival Coffee ink to stamp with.





To ensure the details of 
the stamp were visible, I stamped on tissue paper and glued the tissue paper to my tag with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Multi-medium Matte. I used the glue on the bottom of the tissue paper and again on the top of the tissue paper. 

After the tag was dry, I used a tissue to dab on a little more of the Dusty Concord.
The Tim Holtz idea-ology Chitchat Verbiages were inked very lightly with Vintage Photo Distress Stain. 

The butterfly was from a Hero Arts background stamp. I stamped and embossed it, colored with markers and stain, added a gem, cut it out and used foam pads to pop it up on the tag. 

Working with the Distress Paint was so much fun. My flowers were Prima Purple and Prima Lime but with several layers of paint, their bold colors  were soon the pastel shades I was imagining.

It was amazing what a few layers of paint could do to the bright colors of purple and lime. 

I distressed the edges of the tag with the Paper Distresser and painted the edges with Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint. 

This was such a fun project to create and share with you. I can't wait to use the paints again. 

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp and Show: Backgrounds

Fashionable Stamping Challenge: Sentimental

Numbers Valentine Card

The Sizzix Tim Holtz Texture Fades Embossing Bingo Folder was my inspiration for this challenge.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show: By the Numbers

With Love Scrapbooking Layout

The Simon Says Challenge is "the stamp you love (but don't use)...

My entry for the challenge includes two stamps that I never seem to use but worked perfect for my scrapbook layout. Here's the layout then I'll show you closeups of the stamps.

I made the corner embellishment first and yes, I know it looks like a card, but it doesn't open and is simply an embellishment. The tiny stamp "Just for You" is tied to the bow. It is about the size of an A2 card if you wanted to make a similar card. There are lots of layers in this element.

The second stamp was one I found in my container of stamps, it's a Hero Art stamp and perfect for the layout.

You know how you dig through your stash and just seem to find the perfect elements. Guess it pays to dig! I found all the Tim Holtz Grungeboard pieces used on the layout in a sack in my stash. They were then stained with Distress Stains and adhered to the pages. 

Other elements:

·        Spellbinders Nestabilities Decorative Elements Heart Circle and Standard Circle

·        Memory Box Bingham Heart and Grand Heart

Paper is *Authentique 12 x 12 LOVELY Paper & Stickers LOV010

Challenges:
Simon Says Challenge: the stamp you love (but don't use) . . 
Layer it On and Share A Word at Frilly and Funkie
Anything Goes at Simon Says Stamp Challenge

Seeing Stars Scrapbooking Layout

The inspiration for my Seeing Stars theme came from the stars I was using on my grandson's scrapbook layouts for his soccer and T ball pages. 

I used the Sizzix Stars #2 die to cut the large, medium and small stars for the layouts.

The star border was cut using a svg file with the Sure Cuts A Lot program. 

Lots of fun memories were created when this "little star" played soccer and T-ball over the summer.

Challenge:
Simon Says Stamp and Show: Seeing Stars

Les Miserables Papercrafting Project

When I think of France, the famous French novel “Les Misérables” by author Victor Hugo instantly comes to mind. I saw the musical at the Music Hall in Kansas City and truly loved it and of course shed tears throughout, but I am a softy.  Here's my stage and sign for the musical.

The novel is considered to be one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century and follows the lives and interactions of many characters. The character in the novel and musical I am focusing on is Cosette, whose story is quite moving.

I printed a portrait of "Cosette" by Emile Bayard, from the original edition of Les Misérables (1862) on an ink jet printer. Cosette is a fictional character in the novel whose mother, Fantine,  places her under the guardianship of the Thénardiers, where she is severely mistreated.

You may want to read the novel or see the musical to follow the life of Cosette.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ebcosette.jpg

I added some stains to the image for contrast, on the wooden door I used Vintage Photo, on the stones - Pumice Stone; on Colette - a little Barn Door on her hair; and on the water - a little Glossy Accent was added for shine on the water highlights.

I wanted to make a stage and a Honey Maid Graham Cracker box was the beginning of my stage.

I cut the front panel of the box to open it up like a stage and began staining it with Black Soot. It took several coats of the Black Soot.

For stage curtains, I started with white lace ribbons stained then thought I wanted red curtains so stained the lace with Barn Door Distress Stain. 

My first assembly came together pretty well but I wanted a Broadway type sign on top so wanted to add some lighting on the sign. 

I made a a sign for the top of the stage to resemble a Broardway sign and used dew drops for the lighting effect.

Now it was time to create a small sign to sit in front of the stage promoting Les Miserables. I used a Sizzix Nestabilities die to cut the small sign and stamped with a Hero Arts stamp repeatedly, added a fleur de lis, a ticket, some script, Tattered Banner. distress ink and a picture of Cosette from the musical.

There you have it, my stage and signs are complete - Judy.

Challenge:
Simon Says Stamp and Show: Inspiration Francaise

Remembering Family Scrapbook Layout

Today's post is all about family, pearls, flowers, and pastels. So expect to see a lot of each. This page will become part of an album honoring my parents and grandparents. The paper is by K&Company and seems so perfect for a bit of nostalgia. 

 I toned down the white streaming ribbons with a few swipes of Old Paper Distress Ink then tied the ribbon in a bow and trimmed the streamers to fit the space.
The flowers were white and I wanted to make them a shade of pastel pink by first inking them with a tiny bit with Old Paper for a little shading then inking again with Angel Pink Memento Ink.

I also sprayed the flowers with Perfect Pearls - Pearl for some added shine and glimmer.

As I was inking the flowers I remembered some pink ribbon roses  that I used over twenty years ago and thought they were in my sewing chest. I had stitched the three roses together and added the green ribbon stems for a project years ago. 

There was only one issue, the roses were a much brighter shade of pink, too bright for this pastel project. 

To solve the issue, I first dabbed on Picket Fence Distress Stain. Wow, it worked and my roses were a much softer pink! I followed by adding a little Pearl Paint using an Adirondack Paint Dabber and was pleased with my results.

While digging in my sewing chest, I saw some straight pins that had white heads and knew I wanted to add a few to the roses and stems.

Three pins were added to keep it an odd number.

The pearls for the flower centers is White Opal Liquid Pearls by Ranger. I could have used stick on pearls but I enjoy squeezing the bottle and making my own.

I used the same technique for the pearls on the ribbons. Now my project needed to dry for a while since the Liquid Pearls can be smudged very quickly with the slightest touch of a finger.

The K& Company paper had a small vine running around the border which gave me an idea to add pearls along the vine. Here I decided to used stick on pearls so I would not have to worry about smudging the pearls as I was working.

There you have it, this page is complete and ready for the album. Thanks for stopping by - Judy.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge: Just Add Pearl
Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge: Pearls and Flowers