Art Journal: Christmas Butterflies with ColourArte

Hi all!  Barbara here with another project for the ColourArte design team.  I thought I would work in my art journal today.  I love quotes, and sometimes, well, most of the time, that is my inspiration for a project.  Today's inspiration is...

"Snowflakes are Winter's butterflies!"

Spread white crackle paste through holly stencil on lower right and lower left of each art journal page.   Let dry.

Spread light molding paste through festive stencil at top right of page.  

Reverse stencil and do the same at top left.  Use post-it notes (or tape) to cover areas of the stencil you do not want to use.  Let dry.

Your pages should look something like this.  I later added another holly berry stem at the lower center of the page for balance.

Spread light molding paste through flurries stencil randomly in the open areas of the pages.  Let dry.

Randomly paint splotches of white gesso over background, let dry.

Dab Radiant Rains Daubers in Mediterranean Blue and Nutmeg over journal pages.  

Spritz with water and move colors around with a paint brush, adding and blending colors until you like the background.  I used a heat tool to dry the colors as I worked.

Paint stenciled fir branches, holly, and berries with Silks Moss Green, Emerald, and Coral Berry, respectively.  Paint pinecones, branches and stems with Silks Chestnut Brown, let dry.  I realigned the stencil over the paste to help keep the paint where I wanted it.

I painted the holly, berries and stems with the same colors as used above.  

These pages look lighter than the photos of the finished project because I continued to dab the Radiant Rains Daubers in Mediterranean Blue and Nutmeg with lots of water over the background as I worked in the book. The Radiant Rains daubers are waterbased, highly pigmented colors and make beautiful watercolor washes.   The Silks Acrylic Glazes dry permanent, so I can continue to add water based washes over my background without disturbing the botanicals that I painstakingly (not really) colored. 

Stamp script stamp around page with black archival ink so it would dry permanently and allow be to continue adding washes of color.

I added white gesso over the stenciled snowflakes to bring them out more and give a bit of a shabby chic look.

I also wanted to bring more of the coral color used on the berries into the background, so I simply used my finger to dab the Silks Coral Berry onto a clear stamp and randomly stamped around the background.  

In the photo below, you can see the snowflakes coming to life, and the bits of coral color showing up.

Die cut three butterflies from grunge paper, emboss each with matching embossing folder.  

Paint both sides of each butterfly with white gesso, let dry.  Paint both sides of each butterfly with Silks Oyster, let dry.

Add Silks Coral Berry to a makeup sponge and color each butterfly.  Do not blend the color.  Add Radiant Rains Egyptian Gold dabber to makeup sponge and blend over the butterflies, let dry.  

Use Tree Branch archival ink to highlight the embossing on each butterfly, then use a makeup sponge to pick up black archival ink and add shading around the edges.  You can see how this effect turned out in the close up photos below.

Use fingertip to dab Silks Coral Berry over Prima clear stamp and stamp image randomly over background.  This will help solidify the colors on the butterflies.

Glue centers of butterflies to the pages, with a pop dot beneath each wing to give them a proper lift.

Glue a plastic snowflake button to the center of each butterfly and add a bit of the Radiant Rains Dauber color in Mediterranean Blue and Nutmeg, just enough to knock down the bright white.

Print sentiment onto parchment paper.  Cut words apart, distress edges, and adhere to journal pages.

And here are a few closeups of the finished pages.

ColourArte Supplies used:  

Radiant Rains Daubers:  Mediterranean Blue, Nutmeg, Egyptian Gold

Silks Acrylic Glaze:  Moss Green, Emerald, Coral Berry, Chestnut Brown

Other Supplies used:

The Crafter's Workshop TCW164s mini Flurries

Tim Holtz THS029 Festive Layering Stencil

Tim Holtz THS015 Holly Bough Layering Stencil

Tim Holtz grunge paper

Cuttlebug Cut & Emboss die:  Butterfly 

Paper Artsy (Ink the Dog) Clocks 1 Rubber Stamp set (script)

Prima 960902 clear stamp

Golden Light Molding Paste

DecoArt White Crackle Paste

Liquitex white gesso

Ranger Archival black ink 

Thanks so much for hanging in there with me.  I do hope you enjoyed the project, and that you are inspired by how easy the ColourArte paints are to use.  They blend beautifully, and rather than making "mud", they simply make another color.  How cool is that?

One more thing before I sign off, and that is to let you know that today is SCAVENGER HUNT DAY!  Be sure to check the ColourArte Facebook page for more information and your chance to win some fabulous ColourArte products!

Have a wonderful  and creative week!

Barbara

Recycled Christmas Ornament with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Hi everyone!  Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you all are enjoying your holiday and time with family and friends.  Today I want to share a pretty quick and easy Christmas ornament using a recycled tuna can and some Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts (formerly known as Gina's Designs Lasercuts) chippies to make it extra special.

Cut away Santa's sleigh and one reindeer from the border.  Save remaining border for another project.

Use Intense blocks and water brush to color Santa, his sleigh, and reindeer.

Add Crystal Stickles to the sleigh and reindeer antlers and nose.  Use silver pearl pen to add a metallic look to the bottom of the sleigh.  Set aside to dry.

 Cut two circles, one larger than the printed circle, to fit inside the tuna can.

 Adhere the two circles together and glue to the inside bottom of the can.

 Add a bit of snowflake paste to the bottom of the can, just beneath the printed scene.

 Coat bottom and part of sides with white gesso to prepare it to accept paint.  Use an awl to punch a hole in the top of the can to insert a dyed to match piece of ribbon for hanging.  (See photo of finished ornament above).

 Mix the Radiant Gels together with some clear glaze medium, paint bottom and sides of can.  Paint smallest circle from the Fanciful Elements set with the same color mixture. as well as two small snowflakes.  Splatter white paint over the back of the can and the circular frame.

 Distress the edges of the circular frame and snowflakes with the brown ink pad.  Stack the two snowflakes and add a small metal embellishment and diamond gem to the center of the snowflake.

 Paint the lace border with white gesso and while wet, sprinkle stardust glitter over it.  

 Cut a coordinating strip of paper from the Pion paper collection and glue around side of can.   Adhere the lace border around the sides, aligning it with the upper lip of the can.

Run of line of glue around top lip of can and adhere the circular frame.  Then adhere Santa's sleigh and reindeer, above the scene inside the can.

 A few closeups.

Supplies used:

GSL Snowflake Shape Set
GSL Santa's Sleigh Border
GSL Lace Border Sticks
GSL Fanciful Elements
Derwent Inktense Blocks
Waterbrush
ColourArte Radiant Gels: Twilight, Guatemalan Green
ColourArte Primary Elements Clear Glaze Medium
Liquitex white gesso
Viva Decor Silver Pearl Pen
Pion Design Glistening Season II scrapbook papers
Circle dies
Prima Branch Bark ink pad
Stardust glitter
Stickles Crystal glitter glue
Finnabair Snowflake Paste

I hope you enjoyed this sweet Christmas ornament and that inspiration strikes you to try making one, or two, or three, for your own tree, or gift giving.  You could also attach it to a gift package for an extra gift.  Be sure to visit Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts for more laser cut chipboard to inspire you.

Thanks for stopping by, and once again, have a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving!

Barbara

Mixed Media Christmas Canvas: It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Hi everyone.  I am here today to share my Altered Pages DT post using these adorable wooden spoons.  I decided to go out of my comfort zone, i.e., think outside of the box.  My first thoughts were to decorate the spoons as just that, spoons, but then I decided to use them as architectural elements instead.  I must say, I am quite happy that I did.  

Cover an 8x10 Canvas Panel with Burlap using Aleene's Tacky Glue.  Spread gold crackle paste through a stencil, keeping edges uneven for that artsy look.

Allow the paste to dry and crackle naturally on the canvas.  

Mix one drop of Blue Splash Inks into an Ultra Fine Mist Sprayer, fill sprayer with water, and randomly mist the light blue color over the canvas, concentrating on the gold stenciled areas for contrast.

Paint three Wood Spoons with Timeless Cream chalk paint and let dry.  Use a spatula to spread white crackle paste over one side of the spoons and allow to dry naturally to form the best crackling effect.

 Mix one drop of each Blue and Magenta Splash Inks onto craft sheet, mix with water and brush over the crackled spoons.  Dry with heat tool.

Use a waterbrush to mix some gold from the Mica Paint Palette (Metallic) and paint over each spoon. See closeup photos at end of post.

Print and cut out children with umbrella image from the Snow Days in Europe collage sheet.  Die cut a frame that will show off the image, moving it around to reveal the portion of the image you like most.  Trim off excess collage paper and adhere frame to image.    (TIP:  Before removing frame from metal die, use your Ranger Blending Tool to add shading with Peanut Brittle Memento Luxe Ink Pad.

Trim a piece of 6x6 Black Mat Board to fit beneath framed collage image and adhere to back.  This will not only give it a nice, strong backing, but also pop it off the canvas for added dimension.

Add some beautiful glitter effects to the image and frame with the Wink of Stella clear glitter pen.  It really adds a vintage feel.

Die cut music notes from cream card stock, use your Ranger Blending Tool to add shading with Peanut Brittle Memento Luxe Ink Pad, and Stardust Stickles glitter glue for extra sparkle.  See closeup photos at end of post.

Cover some chipboard snowflakes with White Gesso and let dry.  Coat three snowflakes with one of each color Pigment Metallic Ink Cubes (Silver, Shimmer Pink, Shimmer Blue), let dry.  Use a heat tool to speed the drying time.

Mix two drops of Blue Splash Inks into an Ultra Fine Mist Sprayer, fill sprayer with water, and mist approximately one yard of Dyeable Seam Binding to add color.  Use heat tool to speed up drying time.

 Use a water brush to mix gold metallic mica paint from the Mica Paint Palette (Metallic) and add it to the wet seam binding.

 Dry with heat tool, leaving it in a clump so it will crinkle for a nice, vintage effect.

Cover holly berry gold German Scrap with Niji Oil Pastels, cut into thirds and adhere beneath flowers.  Altered Pages has a nice selection of German Scrap.

 

Add all the pieces to the canvas, as shown in the finished photo below.  

 Adhere the collage image over the tops of the spoons, and layer Petaloo flowers on either side.  The pieces of cut up holly berry German scrap was placed around the flowers.  

 "It's the most wonderful time of the year" sticker was cut apart and adhered to the left side, as shown.  The spoons were adhered slightly beneath the framed image.  The seam binding was tied into a bow at the base of each spoon, and a hole was punched through each snowflake so that a lightbulb safety pin could go through it and hang from the bows.

 You can see the pretty gold mica paint on the spoons now.  Metal embellishments were added to the snowflakes and spoons.  The music notes die cut was also adhered just above the bows and attached to the spoons.

Place canvas inside a frame.  I found this one at the Dollar Store, so I wanted to change the color a bit, using Gilder's Paste (Foundry Bronze) and Patina.  Three sides were rubbed with the Patina, while the fourth (left) side was left plain for you to see the difference in the photo.

Altered Pages Supplies:

Collage sheets:  Snow Days in Europe
Wood Spoons (5)
Canvas Panel (8x10)
6x6 Black Mat Board
Burlap
Aleene's Tacky Glue
White Gesso
Snowflakes 6 pieces
Dyeable Seam Binding

Mica Paint Palette (Metallic)
Waterbrushes

Ranger Blending Tools

Memento Luxe Ink Pads (Peanut Brittle)

Pigment Metallic Ink Cubes (Silver, Shimmer Pink, Shimmer Blue)

Wink of Stella Glitter Pens

Chalk Paint (Timeless Cream)

Splash Inks
Ultra Fine Mist Sprayer
Gilder's Paste (Foundry Bronze)
Niji Oil Pastels
Assorted Flowers
Stickles (Stardust)
Light bulb safety pins

Other supplies used:

Gold crackle paste

White crackle paste

Stencil
Dies:  Decorative Frame, Music Notes
Metal embellishments
Word stickers

I hope you enjoyed my project today and are inspired to get creating for the holidays, whether for home decor or gift giving.  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Barbara