Sunflowers In Spring? Why Not?!

Hello Friends! I hope this post will find you well! :). A very warm welcome to my newest readers and the regular followers, too! So happy to see you here!

Can you feel it? Can you smell it? Yes, Spring is finally in the air! Beautiful sunny banks of daffodils, cheerful bunches of tulips, magnolia blooms... aaah, I love this time of year! 

In keeping with the season our Stampendous HQ powers are focusing on all things Spring this week and I wanted to join in, too! Here's a birthday card I made for my Mum and while sunflowers are not normally associated with Spring, I thought these lovely sunny blooms would be a great addition to my delicate springtime lilacs hiding in the background.

I stamped the Lilac and Sunny Vase flowers on the Mixed Media Paper and coloured the images with Inktense pencils. I then die cut the images with the corresponding Sunny Vase and Lilac die sets. I varied the height of the blooms with my trusty 3D Foam Squares from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L.

For my background and vase I used some papers from 7Dots Studio which I stamped with Scrollwork Leaves and which I embossed with the Dreamweaver Metallic Gold Embossing Paste over the Corner Flourishes stencil. The little tag is from the Sunny Vase stamps set.

For the bottom of my vase I sprinkled some flower dust - aka Frantage and (my newly re-discovered loOOOove for) the encrusted jewel technique. I used Bronze Glass Glitter, Spoonful of Rust, Copper Lux Mix and Shabby White Embossing Enamel. 

I finished the card with a little butterfly - because I absolutely looove butterflies and always look for an excuse to add one in lol :).

Also sharing today are:

Stampendous Blog
Pam Bray
Louise Healy

I hope you've enjoyed today's post and thank you for all your lovely comments that you may wish to leave (please do!) :). Have a fabulous day!

Big crafty hugs




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Stampendous and DecoArt - Medialicious Blog Hop Finale!

Hello! And welcome to our Stampendous and DecoArt blog hop finale! We have been hopping (and hoping!) all week to bring you the latest, most awesome products, techniques and inspiration projects! I hope we didn't disappoint and oh boy, I have been drooling over the projects shared by both DTs! If you've missed my Steampunk heart card, that I shared on Monday, you can check it out here. Be sure to check out other projects shared this week as you don't want to miss out on this treat and on the fabulous prizes!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Here's what you need to do to enter into a draw for the Mega Prizes!!!!! Comment to win one of three HUGE prize packages that includes Andy Skinner stamps and DecoArt Media™ Paint plus more! US winners only, please see Stampendous Official Contest Rules here for more details. Want to see all that’s in each prize package? Take a look below:

Stampendous:

ASCRS07 Cling Handle with Care

ASCRS08 Cling Skuldoggery

ASCRS09 Cling Unexplained

DecoArt:

Quinacridone Magenta

Cobalt Turquoise Hue

Cobalt Teal Hue

Primary Magenta

Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide

Paynes Gray

Carbon Black

Titanium White

Prussian Blue Hue

Phthalo Blue

Quinacridone Gold

Diarylide Yellow

Pyrrole Red

Green Gold

Primary Yellow Media Mister

Titanium White Antiquing Cream

Patina Antiquing Cream

8oz Bottle Lamp Black Americana Acrylic Paint

Now, onto my today's make. For the focal point I used my all time favourite butterfly stamp from the Butterfly Trio set which I die cut using Butterfly Die Sets die. I stamped it with Sepia Archival ink and painted it with diluted acrylic paints.

My background was stenciled with paints over the Mandala Stencil and I added some stamping with the Script Lines and Andy Skinner's Unexplained Stamp Set. I distressed my background panels with paints and distressing tool.

The sentiment is from the Bible Promises Perfectly Clear Stamp Set which I heat embossed with Detail Black Embossing Powder.

My butterfly was inspired by this gorgeous canvas from Kirsten Sheridan. The little plastic spoon was painted with acrylic paints before it received a Fran-tage Magic treatment with Copper Lux Mix and Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter. This is how it looked before the paints/Fran-tage make over...

And that's after the make-over...:-)

To finish off my card I added some splatters with Perfect Pearls Mist in Heirloom Gold.

DecoArt paints used: Americana Country Red, Bittersweet Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Island Blue, Golden Straw and Media Fluid Acrylic Quinacridone Gold (perfect for vintage rusty makes).

Other Supplies:
Inks: Spiced Chai StazOn Mini, Sepia Archival, Jet Black Archival, Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Papers: Authentique Latest & Greatest, BazzillBasicsPaper Ambrosia
Adhesives: Multi-Medium Matte, E-Z Runner® Grand Dispenser, 3D Foam Squares - Black, Small

Here's the full line-up of the blogs playing today:

Stampendous Blog

Pam Bray

Jamie Martin

Louise Healy

Asia King

Janelle Stollfus

Lea Fritts

Alison Heikkila

Katy Leitch

Mark Gould

DecoArt Blog

I hope you've enjoyed today's post! Thank you for stopping by and for all your lovely comments. Have a fabulous weekend!

Big crafty hugs



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On A Bed Of Moss And Berries, There Sleep The Woodland Fairies

Morning everyone! A very happy welcome to my newest followers - thank you so much for joining in! :).

Time for another post for Scrapbook Adhesives By 3L® and my today's offering is still very much in an autumnal mode. I really enjoy driving through roads lined up by old trees displaying their full autumnal glory. And I love watching the leaves flirtatiously dancing in the wind :). And the smell of the wood smoke from nearby fields and gardens... hmmm... I always think it's quite a romantic time of year. Would you agree?

Today I have a mixed media wall art for you to enjoy. This project was quite 'involved' so here you will find out more about the medialicious part of it, whereas over at Scrapbook Adhesives By 3L's blog I am focusing on the adhesive side of things :).

This altered shadow box was so much fun to make. It's full of textures, flowers and vintage flavour - I am really happy with the way it turned out :). Despite the fact that it evolved completely from the original plan - but which creative play doesn't? :)

My woodland fairy started its life as a little resin-plaster mask which I was hoping to decorate in a Venetian style with layers of frilly fabrics and lace. I bought this mask ages ago in a charity shop - it had some flourishes painted in bright colours and covered in glitter. But that wasn't the 'look' I was after so I decided to cover it all up with layers of base paint.

The picture above is to show you what the mask looked like before the big make-over :). Inspired by the autumn season I painted the mask yellow. I tried to add some fancy features to the mask with a stenciled butterfly. I also added some stenciling to the background. Click through to read more about the stenciling process and supplies I used.

At that point I thought the mask looked rather tribal and I couldn't find anything else in my stash to help me with my Venetian theme. So I took a different route altogether and decided to go with a woodland theme :).

The mask was going to become my woodland/tree witch. After painting my mask again the texture of the stenciled butterfly still showed through and it looked like little tree bark wrinkles, which I quite liked.

As I wanted the mask to look more like a face, I needed to find eyes for the empty eye sockets. After a long and unsuccessful hunt I decided to try to create the eye lids with my trusty DODZ™-3D. Let me tell you a secret - I can't live without my DODZ™-3D! This stuff is unbeatable in so many ways, waaaaay beyond its primary function of big glue dots :).

With a little help of texture paste to smooth out some parts, the DODZ worked perfectly! That's how my fairy became a sleeping fairy :).

I painted the face with Enchanted Chalky Finish paint (so appropriate for my enchanting fairy! lol) and then gave it a couple of washes with Quinacridone Gold and Dazzling Metallic paints. I rested the fairy's head on a bed of dry flowers, fruits, berries and faux moss (most have been rescued from old charity shop finds) and secured in place with lots of glue.

For the frame I first added heaps of Texture Crackle, layering it quite thick in places and I let it dry overnight. Next I chipped some chunks off, exposing the raw wood of the frame - I wanted to create an old, rough, chipped paint effect. I painted the frame with Enchanted, Coffee Bean, Country Red and Quinacridone Gold, wiping it off in places with a baby wipe. Then I misted it with White Linen and a DIY Gold Mica spray.

Finally I added some gold highlights with a Rub-N-Buff wax.

Supplies:

DODZ™ – 3D; Dodz™ XL; Quick & Easy Dual Tip Glue Pen; Pigment Powders: Gold, Pink, Brown (Donna Salazar with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®), DIY Gold pigment powder mist

Media:

Color Wash ink sprays (Ranger) – Red Pepper, Butterscotch, Lettuce; Dylusions White Linen Ink Spray; Vermillion Archival Ink (Ranger)

DecoArt: Dazzling Metallics: Silver Sage, Oyster Pearl; Americana Acrylics: Country Red, Multi-Surface Satin: Muted Gold, Coffee Bean; Chalky Finish: Enchanted; Media Fluid Acrylic Quinacridone Gold; 
DuraClear Ultra Matte Varnish, Texture Crackle, Fabric Stiffener, Vintage Butterfly stencil

Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste; wooden frame, resin-plaster mask, Gold Rub-N-Buff wax

Stampendous – Cling Vintage Letter; The Crafters Workshop Mini Chickenwire Reversed stencil

The cheese cloth head scarf wrapped around the face and the frame was first inked up and then soaked in the Fabric Stiffener.

I would love to know what you think of my Sleeping Fairy :). Please also check the stenciling and adhesive details over at Scrapbook Adhesives' blog - and I would really appreciate it if you had a comment to leave a comment over there as well :).

Thank you all so much for all your kind words - your comments are always so appreciated! Have a fabulous week my friends!

Big crafty hugs




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Challenges for this project:
Country View Challenges #32 - Add some texture
JUG #316 - Hexagons
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Wrap It Up
Rhedd's Creative Spirit Altered Art Challenge October - Anything Goes
Fashionable Stamping Challenges #104 - Changing Seasons
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Throwback (inspired by Autumn is in the Air challenge)
Try It On Tuesdays - Lots of Layers

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Home Sweet Home Journal Page

Hello my lovelies! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I'm back today to share this cheerful journal page. I've been really busy lately sorting different things for my home. As a result I've kind of lost a bit of mojo and momentum for my normal 'day-to-day' crafting. So I thought I would try some messy paint play in my art journal. And since my home is so much on my mind at the moment I thought I might as well use it as a subject of my page :).

The details on how I made this page are shared today on Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L's blog and you can fond my post here.

Supplies:

3D Foam Pennants, 3D Foam Butterflies, Creative Photo Corners - White, Adhesive Sheets 4x6", DODZ™ - 3D,

Also: E-Z Stars® Refillable Dispenser, Blue Pigment Powder, Gold Pigment Powder (Donna Salazar with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®

Other supplies:

Stampendous Family Home Perfectly Clear stamps

Bloom stencil - PaperArtsy

Media: Inktense pencils; DecoArt Americana Acrylics, Prima Marketing Color Bloom sprays, Black Archival ink (Ranger)

Thank you so much for stopping by today! Have a wonderful Sunday!

Big crafty hugs

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Drawing Inspiration From Stampendous and Faber-Castell - Blog Hop Day 2

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying the arrival of warm weather! :)

This week our fabulous Stampendous team is playing with the talented peeps over at the Faber-Castell! We're showcasing the Art Grip Aquarelles Watercolor Pencils, the PITT Pastel Pencils, and our very special guest Nathalie Kalbach will be featuring the Gelatos! There will be guest-starring roles by the PITT Artist Pens for doodling and drawing! Wait until you see all the colorful inspiration we have for you this week. We’ll be Blogging in Color!

Three Lucky Winners this week will get three sets of the PITT Pastel Pencils (red/yellow, blue/green, neutrals), a jar of Faber-Castell Chalkboard Paint, and $20 http://www.stampendous.com reward card to choose their favorite images to color! WOW… these winners must have a U.S. mailing address (official rules here!)… BUT WAIT - Aussie Fans – The Stencil Specialist has you covered again this time! One Australian Hopper will win a Stampendous Stamp, a Dreamweaver Stencil (LJ size customer choice), and one Dreamweaver Stencils Regular Embossing Paste. Amazing or what? :)

And here is my today's offering :). I created a happy butterfly journal page to write down my happy future (planned) endeavours :).

Supplies I used:

Stampendous: PenPattern Flutter, Journal Lines Perfectly Clear™ Stamps, Cling Marks Set, Creative Palette Rectangles, White Mixed Media Paper

Faber-Castell PITT Artist Big Brush pens: Pink Madder Lake, Dark Chrome Yellow, May Green, Cobalt Green; PITT Pastel Pencils NEUTRALS

Other media: DecoArt acrylic paints or similar (white, gold, black, light yellow, citron green, bubblegum pink); Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts ink refils: Electric Coral, Electric Yellow, Electric Green, Electric Orange, StazOn Mini Emerald City and Cactus Green inks

Plus: Mini Cubist stencil, brayer, water brush, plastic bottle caps (varying sizes), building mega blocks (toys), 

Instructions:
1. Trim the white card to A5 size. Create a background using Creative Palette Rectangles and a brayer, paints, ink refils, building blocks and the stencil.
2. Using Cactus Green ink stamp the square pattern using the stamp included with your Creative Palette.
Stamp PenPattern Flutter butterflies with Emerald City ink.
3. Colour in using PITT pens and a water brush, leaving a large block of 'white' space. Add shading with the PITT pastel pencils.
4. Using paints and bottle caps stamps several circles in white, black and gold as shown and add shading with a chalk pencil.
5. Using Tuxedo Black ink stamp Journal Lines Perfectly Clear™ Stamps in the 'white' space. Add finishing touches to the edges with Cling Marks Set.

Playing today:

Stampendous Impressions Blog

Louise Healy

Asia King

Wendy Price
Amy Hurley-Purdie

Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Blog

Enjoy all the fantastic inspiration on the participating blogs and don't forget to share some commenting love to be in with a chance of winning some amazing crafty goodies! Thank you for stopping by today!

Big crafty hugs



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Fooling Around Making Art - Stampendous And Spectrum Noir Team-Up

Happy April Fools' Day! :). I can't believe it's April already - can you? And I also cannot believe how blessed I am, as so many new readers have chosen to follow my blog and my Instagram shares - thank you soooo much for your kindness and support!

We have the pleasure this week of joining the Spectrum Noir team “Making Art” with great coloring tools and our stamps. And no, it's not an April Fools' Day trick - it's for real! lol.

Spectrum Noir is a range of professional coloring tools. The range includes alcohol markers, blendable colored pencils, inks, Spectrum Aqua watercolor markers, and marker storage.

I am very blessed indeed to have been gifted with the full 168 marker set of Spectrum Noir alcohol markers and that's what I will be playing with this week.  Exciting or what? :)

I hope you will join us this week for fantastic inspirational projects, ideas and amazing prizes! Hang on, did someone say prizes...???

Of course there are prizes!! First, we’ll be giving away a full set of Spectrum Noir Pencils plus accessories to one participant who completes our Rafflecopter giveaway. Click on the Stampendous blog link below to enter!

Amazing, isn't it! I wish I could enter myself - I certainly wouldn't mind adding these fab pencils to my collection! And, of course, we always like to invite you to comment on our Design Team Blogs, so we’ll be offering three prize packages consisting of House-Mouse Designs®Painting Pals, Painted Posies and Making Prints Cling Rubber Stamps by Stampendous PLUS a $30/£30 gift certificate to the Spectrum Noir website. This is open even to our international friends!!

And here is my offering for today - a colourful pastel butterfly card :).

I wanted to see if I could make my own arty-ish background using the markers. I started by liberally drawing horizontal and vertical lines with the chisel tips of the markers on a piece of Mixed Media Paper. I was trying to very the thickness of the lines to create almost a plaid-like effect. I also drew through a DIY stencil with circles in varying sizes which I die cut on a sheet of acetate.

I added some black and white paint splatters, and also some stamping with the Script and Kaffee Klatsch stamps. Some of the 'doily' images were also heat embossed in white.

After stamping a colouring two butterflies, one on the Mixed Media Paper and one on white vellum, I die cut them using the Butterflies Die Set, which made it super quick and easy (rather than heaving to fussy cut them).

Supplies I used:

Stampendous: Mixed Media White Paper, Penned Birthday,  PenPattern Butterflies, Butterflies Die Set, Stack Art Angel Wings (script stamp), NK Studio Kaffee Klatsch, White Detail Embossing Powder

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L: DODZ-Small, DODZ-3D, E-Z Runner Permanent Strips, Creative Photo Corners - White

Spectrum Noir Markers - PP1, CR1, CR2, LY1, LY3 (background); CR1, CR2, LY1, LY3, CT3, BT2, BT4, BT6, PP1, PP3 (butterflies)

Other: Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Liquid Perals, self adhesive pearls, BazzillBasicsPaper Doilies (Ambrosia collection), DCWV Mariposa, cardstock, decorative fibers.

Be sure to visit other designers playing this week as there is heaps of inspiration being shared for your reading pleasure! Playing today are:

Stampendous Blog

Amy Hurley-Purdie

Asia King

Spectrum Noir Blog

Thank you for stopping by and all your wonderful comments. Good luck in the draw and I'll see you again on Friday!

Big crafty hugs




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Challenges for this card:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Pastels

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Stop And Smell The Flowers - Timeless Rose And Other Blooms

“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way. ” 1956 The Walter Hagen Story

What a lovely quote, don't you think? :). And that's exactly what we're doing at Stampendous HQ this week - we're smelling the flowers! And here is my floral offering for today :).

Supplies:

Stampendous: R2183 Timeless Rose,  S5071 PenPattern Butterflies, DCS5071 Butterflies Die Cut Set, EKM01 Pastel Pink Ultra Fine Glitter (Stack Art Elements - Silence Kit)
MEM01 Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink by Tsukineko® SSH57 Jumbo Perfectly Clear™ Acrylic Handle

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®: 3D Foam Squares – White, Regular; E-Z Runner® Permanent Strips; DODZ™ – 3D; DODZ™ – Small; Adhesive Sheets

Plus: Cardstock by Bazill Basics Paper®, patterned papers, old bookpages, vellum, shopping tags,
All A Flutter embossing folder by Couture Creations, ribbon by May Arts, fabric flowers, DIY moulded flowers, gems

Media: STAEDTLER® ergosoft® watercolour pencils, Liquid Pearls (Petal Pink, Buttercup)

Instructions:
1. Prepare a tall card base, cover with patterned paper and add some machine or faux stitching along the edges.
2. Cut two smaller rectangles from cardstock and use as mats for one vellum and one bookpage panels.
3. Emboss vellum with All A Flutter folder and add Liquid Pearls to the raised areas for added dimension.
4. Stamp Timeless Rose onto bookpage panel and colour with pencils.
5. Add both panels to the card as shown and mount over foam squares.
6. Stamp PenPattern Butterfly onto cream cardstock, die cut and cover with Adhesive Sheet.
7. Sprinkle the butterfly with Pastel Pink glitter, add gems and adhere to the card. Add detail with Liquid Pearls.
8. Finish the card with Liquid Pearls, shopping tags, ribbon, gems, flowers and fussy cut butterflies. Adhere with DODZ.

I love flowers - who doesn't? :) And I love floral stamps. That's why I feel so blessed to be part of the Stampendous family as we have 'bucket-loads' of beautiful floral images and I get to play with them all! Pure awesomness!

So why don't you have a quick look at what my DT Sisters have been creating this week with their floral picks!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

And sharing today:

Stampendous Blog

Kristine Reynolds

Jennifer Dove

Janelle Stollfus

I hope my post have inspired you to pick up your favourite floral stamps and create something to make Spring come quicker :). Thank you for stopping by today and your lovely comments letting me know you've been. They are all so much appreciated :).

Big crafty hugs

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Challenges for this card:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Crafting For All Seasons #94 - Things With Wings
The Paper Shelter Challenge Blog #188 - Lots of Layers
Penny's Challenge #212 - Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays #194 - Anything Goes

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Craft And Hobby Association 2015 Project: Mixed Media Dragonflies - Part 2

If you're looking for my Grow Your Blog 2015 Link Party blog post, click HERE.

Hello everyone! Thank you for stopping by today to see the second installment of my Mixed Media Dragonflies CHA ensemble. I'm posting it a little early than originally intended :).

In my first post I shared a Mixed Media Dragonflies Canvas With Adhesive Sheets and today over at Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L I am sharing the remaining items - an altered wooden plaque and an altered mobile phone cover. I would love it, if you found a moment to hop over to the blog to find out all the details how I made these items.

Here are my three pieces together.

 

Here is my altered wooden wall plaque - a shelf for my altered phone cover.

And a couple of close-ups:

Supplies used for the altered wall plaque:

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®: Adhesive Sheets - 6x12", DODZ™ - Small, DODZ™ - 3D, Thin 3D Foam Squares - Mix White, 3D Foam Squares - White Mix, 3D Foam Pennants, 3D Foam Keys & 3D Foam Swirls (Donna Salazar with Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®), 3D Foam Wings, 3D Foam Butterflies

Media: DecoArt Americana Metallic Oyster Pearl and Spa Blue acrylic paints, Prima Color Bloom sprays (Soft Teal, Summer Sky), Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists (Peach Delight, Lemon Zest, Iridescent Gold), texture paste, white gesso 

Other supplies: Tim Holtz Layered Stencil - Gothic, PaperArtsy - Bloom stencil, wooden wall candle holder, printed napkins, various embellishments and findings, paper flowers, buttons. 

Now onto the altered phone cover. I had a used mobile phone cover in my stash and I thought it would make a great notepad, perhaps for keeping phone messages or telephone numbers?

And a few close-ups:

And the inside:

Supplies used for the altered mobile phone case:

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L®: Adhesive Sheets - 4x6", DODZ™ - Small, DODZ™ - 3D, Thin 3D Foam Squares - Mix White, 3D Foam Squares - White Mix, Crafty Foam Tape - White, Keepsake Envelopes

Other Supplies: Stampendous: Vintage Typewriter & Vintage Press Perfectly Clear stamps, Phone Elements Cling Rubber stamp, phone cover, printed napkins, cheese cloth, various embellishments and findings, paper flowers, buttons

Media: Stampendous Boss Gloss, Stampendous Periwinkle and Aqua embossing powders, DecoArt Americana Metallic Oyster Pearl and Spa Blue acrylic paints, Prima Color Bloom sprays (Soft Teal, Summer Sky), Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists (Peach Delight, Lemon Zest, Black Cherry, Iridescent Gold), Tsukineko StazOn (Jet Black, Blue Hawaii, Midnight Blue, Emerald City), white gesso

I hope you enjoyed the second installment of my mixed media project. Thanks for stopping by and for all your heartwarming comments!

Big crafty hugs




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