Sneak Peek - Art Journaling with Altered Pages and Pan Pastels

Hello everyone!  Barbara here for Altered Pages, and I am so excited to be working with PanPastels this month.  PanPastels are now available at AlteredPages.com!  So, what are Pan Pastels, you might ask.   Leave a comment on the blog for a chance to win a set of Pan Pastels.  

They are "Ultra Soft Artists’ Painting Pastels for Painting, Drawing & Mixed Media! A revolutionary new way to use color! PanPastel Colors are professional artists’ quality soft pastel colors packed in a unique pan format (cake-like). The special qualities of PanPastel Colors mean that artists can blend and apply dry color like fluid paint for the first time."

Here is a peek at what I made.  You can view the project in its entirety over on the Altered Pages blog. 

Products Used:
Dylusions Small Journal; Vintage Text Pages; Sheet Music Brahams Lullaby collage sheet; Think Pink collage sheet; Mailbox collage sheet; Victorian Beauty Labels collage sheet; Vintage Wings collage sheet; Red White and Blue collage image
Pan Pastels:  Permanent Green Ex. Dark, Magenta Ex. Dark, Yellow Ochre Ex. Dark, Turquoise, Phtalo Blue, Bright Yellow Green; 
Softt Tools
Gel Medium
Stencils
Light Molding paste
Dotto style tape runner

I hope you can take a moment to stop on over at the Altered Pages blog to see more of my project today, where I also shared a few tips along the way.  Each day, the design team will be sharing more and more inspiration with these wonderful Pan Pastels.  I have to tell you that I really enjoyed working with them, and they are going to be one of my go-to art supplies.  

And be sure to comment on the Altered Pages blog each day for a chance to win a set of  Pan Pastels.  A random drawing will take place at the end of the month. So, for each comment you make, you get another chance to win.  The more comments, the more chances of winning. (One comment per day, please).  

Have a wonderful, creative week!  And remember, creativity is contagious, so pass it on!!!

Barbara

Art Journaling with Sin City Stamps and Pan Pastels

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new month of fun and inspiration with Sin City Stamps!  This month, we will be using a fabulous product called Pan Pastels.  Before I begin, let me first tell you a bit about this product.  

Pan Pastels are professional artists’ quality soft pastel colors packed in a unique pan format (cake-like). The special qualities of PanPastel Colors mean that artists can blend and apply dry color like fluid paint for the first time.  All PanPastel Colors are made using a unique manufacturing process requiring minimal binder and fillers, resulting in rich, ultra soft and super-blendable colors.

Each color is loaded with the finest quality artists’ pigments for the most concentrated colors possible. The colors have excellent lightfastness and are fully erasable. Uniquely, for pastel color, they can be mixed together for a complete painting palette.

Now that you know what Pan Pastels are, let me show you what I made with them.  I started out with a blank journal page, and here is my finished piece.

To view my directions in their entirety, I have included a SnapGuide tutorial.  Just click on the Start Here button to view the process and more detailed pictures.  

Check out How to Stamp With Sin City Stamps & Pan Pastels by Barbara Rankin on Snapguide.

Sin City Stamps supplies used:

• Natural Beauty stamp plate
• Bingo stamp plate
• Love of Butterflies stamp plate
• Rose Stencil
• Entangled Stencil

Other Products used:

• Pan Pastels colors:  Burnt Sienna (bricks), Red Tint Magenta, Hansa Yellow Tint, Ultramarine Blue Tint, Permanent Green Tint
• Cottonwood Arts Coldpress Notebook Journal
• Light Molding Paste (Golden)
• Versamark, Memento black, StazOn Midnight Blue ink pads
• Spatula

I hope you enjoyed my project and tutorial today, and be sure to check back for more inspiration from the team.  And while you are exploring the internet, I hope you will visit both the Sin City Stamps and Pan Pastels shops for all the supplies you need to make a journal of your very own. 

Have a wonderful, creative weekend!

Barbara

Craft Hoarders Blog Challenge #15 - All the Pretty Flowers

Hello all you fellow hoarders.  Today, I want to share my very flower-ful card with you and all the craft hoarders out there.  I don't know about you, but I have tons of pre-made flowers, punches, dies, you name it, I've got it!  So, this was the perfect challenge for me to come along and play.  I have a feeling I am not alone, so why not join in the fun.  

Here is what this challenge is all about.

This challenge is for all of you flower hoarders! Maybe you hoard pre-made flowers. Maybe you hoard flower punches or dies. Maybe you hoard flower stamps. "Dig" out those flowers and use them on your project!

Cut pomegranate card stock to 6" x 12", fold in half to make a 6" x 6" side-folded card.  Use single edge border die from Scalloped Borders Two to cut the right edge of the card.  Add a thin strip of printed paper cut using the tiny holes border die on the outer edge, placing the single edge border die approximately 1/2" from the first to form the thin strip.  Adhere beneath card front edge.

Card Front showing edge die used

Card Front on Inside with patterned paper strip

Cut image from Fairy Belle paper using Labels Twenty-Five #3.  Cut pomegranate card stock using Labels Twenty-Five #4.  Trace and cut outer edge of Labels Twenty-Five #4 onto newsprint card stock.  Ink edges and layer all three pieces with foam dots.  This will be the focal image.  See photos below.

Cut light orange card stock using middle frame from Elegant Labels 4.  Leave card stock in die and ink paper through openings with Vintage Photo and blending tool.

Remove from die and adhere to base card.

Then layer focal image on top.

Apply thin gold border sticker along inner embossed edge of card, as shown.

Use edge die to cut the back of the card to match the front.

Both front and back of card are now cut to match

A few close-up photos showing the dimension.

Supplies used:  
Spellbinders S5-077 Labels Twenty-Five
Spellbinders S6-005 5x7 Elegant Labels 4
Spellbinders S5-202 Scalloped Borders Two
306-Gold border stickers (Flower Soft)
Card stock: Pomegranate, Dark Green
My Mind's Eye (MME) 6x6 paper pads:  Butterfly, Blush; 
Prima Fairy Belle paper;  Mini Rose Sunrise; Daisy Mix
Martha Stewart five  leaf punch
Rose Leaf punch (unknown)
Distress Ink:  Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo
Colorbox Lime Pastel chalk ink

I hope you enjoyed my project today.  Please be sure to visit the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Challenge blog for tons more inspiration from their design team.  They are awesome!

Thanks for stopping by, and as always, have a wonderful, creative week!

Barbara

Halloween Mini Album Featuring Altered Pages and Sin City Stamps

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the second half of our monthly partnership with Sin City Stamps.  For the remainder of the month, both design teams will be creating Halloween themed projects using products from both Sin City Stamps and Altered Pages.  So if you love Halloween, like I do, you won't want to miss all the inspiration from both design teams.

For my project today, I went a little crazy.  I decided to make a mini album out of this cool chipboard shrine from Sin City Stamps.

Here are a few pictures of my finished book, front and back.

I took a gazillion photos and because it is a book, there were lots of directions.  So I decided to, hopefully, make it easier for you to read by using Snapguide.  I hope you enjoy my tutorial and pictures of each page.

Check out How to Halloween Mini Album: Do Not Enter by Barbara Rankin on Snapguide.

Supplies Used:

Altered Pages:  AP-288 Happy Halloween collage sheet;  AP-2084 Screaming Skulls; AP-1080 Antique Halloween; AP-1820 Quoth the Raven, Nevermore; AP-562 The Other Side of Halloween;  G45 Steampunk Spells paper; Scor-Tape; Aleene's Tacky Glue; 1" Raven Black Flowers; Stickles glitter glue; Gilder's Paste (Foundry Bronze); Memento Black ink pad; Skull ribbons

Sin City Stamps:  Shrine Chipboard Frame 2; Urban Grunge stamp set; Halloween Bingo stamp set; Halloween Takes Flight stamp set;

Other:  Tyvek scraps; black acrylic paint; Black Soot distress glitter; clear distress crackle paint; grunge board; Black Soot, Peeled Paint, Seedless Preserves, Dried Marigold distress inks; 3D Crystal Lacquer; spider web craft punch; Sizzix Tim Holtz Hardware Finidngs die, Sizzix Tim Holtz bubbles embossing folder, Xyron 850, Xyron 3" sticker maker

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to visit Sin City Stamps and Altered Pages for your crafting needs!

Have a wonderful, creative week!

Barbara

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Challenge #14 - Button It Up!

Hello all!  So glad you stopped by today.  Altered Pages is not only a sponsor of the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog this month, but we are teaming up with their design team for a fabulous and fun blog hop. 

Crafters of every stripe are button hoarders! Buttons are pretty, inexpensive, and extremely versatile. If you are a card maker, quilter, layout artist, or anything in between, you probably have a button hoard!  Buttons come in many sizes, styles, shapes, and colors, plus they are easy to store...usually in cute containers! Pull out those bins of buttons and use some of them for your challenge project!  You can participate in the Craft Hoarders Challenge and win a prize from the blog sponsor... Altered Pages!

So, for their Blog Challenge #14 - Button It Up,  I want to share a card I made.  I found this collection of very regal looking metal buttons, and I love this collage image from the AP-952 Medieval Cards collage sheet, so I knew just how I wanted to put this card together.  

I first used Spellbinders die to cut various layers of card stock, using the teal cardstock as my base.  The next layer is a piece of gold metallic cardstock, then a die cut piece of royal purple suede paper.  I thought this would be so appropriate for royalty.  My next layer was a die cut frame piece of gold metallic card stock which I layered over my collage image.  I actually used colored pencils to color in parts of my collage image to bring out some of the colors to match my papers.  Both were then adhered to the purple suede layer.  

I used white Assorted Flowers and sprayed them first with water, then Tattered Angels Jazz Blue ink spray, and topped off with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mist.  When dry, I layered them, as shown, to the front of my card.  

It is my humble opinion that leaves should always be part of a flower spray, and I didn't have any large enough for these flowers, so I simply used one of the larger flowers, spritzed it with water first, then Lime Dylusions spray, and topped with a spray of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mist.  My flower was laying on a previously sprayed paper towel, and the tips of the flowers picked up some of the color from that.  I didn't mind, but if you want your color to stay pristine, use a clean paper towel for misting. 

Once dry, I simply cut the petals apart and Viola!, five leaves to add to my flower spray.  I then glued my regal buttons to the flower centers for a finishing touch.  I think they make beautiful flower centers, don't you?

Supplies Used:

Altered Pages:  AP-952 Medieval Cards collage sheet; German Scrap; Assorted Flowers; Dylusions Inks; Scor Tape; 

Other:  Purple suede paper, teal card stock, gold metallic card stock, Spellbinders Noble Rectangles die, Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold mist, buttons, Tattered Angel Jazz Blue ink spray

Below is a list of the blog links for your viewing pleasure.

Altered Pages Design Team

Robin Horasanian 

Danie  May

Roni Johnson

Tonya Trantham

Trisha Too

Stephanie Siatta

Barbara Rankin

Debi Tullier

Lyneen Jesse

Craft Hoarders Anonymous Design Team

Amber Milone 

Christy Butters 

Debbie Seyer 

Donna Idlet 

Ginny Nemchak 

Glenda Brooks 

Gloria Stengel 

Jan Marie Ennenga 

Karen Zueger 

Kathy Clement 

Pam Bray

Tammi Bennett

Be sure to leave a comment  to be entered into a random drawing for a fabulous AlteredPages Blog Gift - a Set of Japanese Oil Pastels and a huge Ephemera package.

Thanks for stopping by, and enjoy the hop!

Barbara

Steampunk Soiree Adventure and Blog Hop Announcement

Hello my fellow Steampunkers!  I got back from my Steampunk Soiree adventure a couple of weeks ago, but I had so much fun, it took me all of the first week to recuperate.  While I have a moment, I just wanted to share some of the fun pics from this fabulous time with like-minded arsty crafters!

These were my cohorts for the weekend.  We managed to stay one step ahead of trouble, if you know what I mean.  Although you'd never know it from our attire.  But seriously, everyone seemed to be truly enjoying every moment, and asking when and where the next Soiree will be.  So get yourselves ready for more fun next year, where ever it will be held.  It is sure to be an amazing time once again.

In case you haven't seen the fashion show video, here it is for your viewing pleasure.  It is a trip!



We worked on three projects and they were awesome.  I had to ship mine home, so I stopped way short of finishing so I would not have a lot of embellishments or things that could get broken off in transit.  While others worked through the night and got theirs completed, needless to say, I still have quite a bit to do on mine.  So, some day, I will post my finished pieces right here.  But until then, I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of my adventure.

Before I leave you, I just want to let you know that tomorrow begins a new Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog Hop with Altered Pages, who is sponsoring the hop.  And to win this amazing giveaway, all you have to do is leave comment on each blog.  How easy is that?  So I hope you will join in the fun.  It is sure to be a blast for everyone!

Altered Pages Blog Hop Giveaway with
Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge Blog

Have a wonderful Sunday, and enjoy your week!

Barbara

Mausoleum Card Featuring Altered Pages and Sin City Stamps

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the second half of our monthly partnership with Altered Pages.  For the next two weeks, both design teams will be creating Halloween themed projects using products from both Sin City Stamps and Altered Pages.  So if you love Halloween, like I do, you won't want to miss all the inspiration from both design teams.

I am just sharing a peek at my project here.  You can see this project in its entirety over on the Sin City Stamps blog.  I have a complete step-out and much more detail for you there.

Supplies used:

Sin City Stamps:  Halloween Takes Flight stamp set; Halloween Bingo stamp set; Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2 stamp set;

Altered Pages:  AP-562 The Other Side of Halloween collage sheet; Jet Black StazOn ink pad; Niji Oil Pastels; Scor Tape; Glitz Giant Rhinestones (Raven); Faber-Castell Big Brush Pen (Black); Stickles glitter glue

Other:  Eileen Hull/Sizzix Gift Card Holder-House; chipboard; Cuttlebug rose die, Odorless Mineral Spirits; cotton swab; StazOn Orange Zest

So, please pop on over to see much more of my project, and check out the rest of both of the design team's Halloween themed inspiration for the rest of this month. 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, creative weekend!

Barbara