Valentine Accordion Mini Album

 Hi everyone, I'm trying to squeeze in all of my Valentine projects to share with you.  Today I wanted to share this awesome little (not little) mini album that I worked on with my mom and our friend Barbara.  What an undertaking!  I found the directions on the Graphic45 site last year and printed them, but sadly their archives don't take you back that far now.  I can scan them to you if you're interested, but don't have a link.  Basically it is three panels that are folded and adhered strategically to create this never ending book!  How fun!

Here's the inside.  Click to enlarge.

And the back and cover.

All of the tags in a sweet lovey pile.

And the tag backs.

Here are some of my favorite sections.  The challenge was to create dynamic areas of interest without any bulk.  So hard to do for a girl like me who believes MORE IS MORE!  Y'all with me?

But this exercise in simplicity was most fun, especially shared with friends.  <3

I was inspired by the G45 Valentine line and am so excited to share with Frilly and Funkie because the frilly side of the team mostly shared G45 projects as inspiration for their Love is in the Air challenge.  Beautiful!

 A few more favorite tags for you.

 Gotta love that vintage baby image.

I tried hard to keep this feminine, but ended up adding some black for contrast.  I did not sponge and grunge this book, which is strange for me, but I am pleased with it just the way it is (for a change.)  ;0

And there she is.  I'm also sharing with the following challenges:

Try it on Tuesday: A Fine Romance

Artistic Inspirations: ATG w/a twist of Valentine

My Time to Craft: Love is All Around

Addicted to Stamps: ATG w/a Stamp

Crafting for All Seasons: Love is in the Air

Fantasy Stampers: Love is in the Air

Simply Create Too: Love or Valentines

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Watercolor and Embossing Journal Page

This page is the beginning of a new mixed media journal I'm working on.  I like the idea of working on my pages separate from a book, so I picked up some heavy watercolor paper and an cutting the pages to size, then will add back to a bound journal.  I'm still in experimentation mode with some new techniques and this time found a great little jewel of an idea in the process.  I added embossing powder over my wet watercolor background.  The areas where the ink had pooled or dripped created the coolest embossing pattern!  Better pic down the way... 

What I enjoyed about embossing this way was the ability to just wipe off excess EP with my hand.

The center of my background has some Tim Holtz stripes stenciled on with texture paste.  Then I added pooled watercolor and let it drip in places, and in other places spritzed it with water to let it bleed.  I stamped my new tiny Prima texture stamps randomly in waterbased inks so the patterns would bleed as well.

OK, so I'm pleased with my background making and would be content to sit and make these types of backgrounds ALL DAY LONG.  Seriously!  It's the grouping of elements that I seem to have trouble with.  I started this grouping by adhering a square crocheted piece that my dear friend Barbara's mom made.  Such a treasured piece, but unfortunately I couldn't build much over it and the square still flow with the inky puddles, so I covered it some with the burlap doily.  I'm still not pleased with it, but it's a journal page and all about experimentation.  I tucked a snippet of white paper doily under to add a little more texture.

I might have gotten a little carried away with the embossing in places, but look at the outlines of those drips!  Be still my heart!

In retrospect adding the brown string was a bad, bad idea.  Ha!  Live and learn...  Anyway, I wanted to share this play time piece to help celebrate the new Creative Cart Blanc blog and their first challenge "Try Something You've Never Done Before."

I'm also playing with these other fun challenges:

Craft Stamper: Text Me

Country View Challenges: Make Your Own Background

Vintage Stamping Challenges: Splatters & Drips

Frilly & Funkie: Enjoy Your Embossing

Love to Create: Anything Goes

SSS: Spritz and Spray

Painting Techniques for a Funky Altered Tag

I am over the moon excited to be this month's mixed media guest designer at Happy Little Stampers.  Even more excited to celebrate this month's theme with you - paint!  Oh how I love to play in paint and hope you'll be inspired to dig out those bottles and join in on this challenge.

 

For my tag background I scraped a heavy layer of white glossy acrylic paint over my tag with a credit card, then used an empty lead pencil to scribe into the paint.  I just love the ability to add journaling into my layers.  I inked my tag with Vintage Photo just to add a little contrast since I was going to use bright colors.  The inks soak into the scribed area whereas the painted areas resist more.  Great effect!

Here's a picture of the tag after I watercolored over the dried paint and ink layer.  I used inexpensive Loew Cornell watercolors.  They are a bit gritty and adhere to almost every surface I've tried.

I added a few more layers of paint drips, white paint stamped with bubble wrap and a toilet paper roll, and some stamping and rub-ons.

I wanted to do an nontraditional Valentine that could roll over all year.

 

I used a Tim Holtz die cut on a scrap of mat board, then watercolored it, pooling in areas to add contrast.

A bundle of embroidery floss and some staples were used for extra embellishment.

A final splatter of watery paint completed the look.

Again, the scribing effect.  Love that texture!

 

Please head on over and visit the talented design team at Happy Little Stampers and let them know what you think of my project.  And don't forget to link up your Paint project.  Leave a link in the comment section here and I will pay you a visit.  

I'm also playing with: 

Emerald Creek Dares: Valentines is NOT in the Air

Love to Create: Anything Goes

Country View Challenges: Make Your Own Background

The Artistic Stamper: heART Art

Anything But Cute: Grungy Love

Live & Love Crafts: Love is in the Air

Character Constructions Paper Doll Valentine Card

I am so pleased to be a guest designer for Try it on Tuesday today!  Thanks so much to this fabulous and talented team for asking me to create for this challenge, which is one of my favorite themes - A Fine Romance/Valentine!  I absolutely love making Valentine cards more than any other type of cards.  One of my big pushes towards Valentines cards has always been my love for making paper dolls.  I really had fun making this one!

I started with a Character Constructions lady and set of arms.  I sponged them to create the color.  Then I took a stamped torso tag (I don't know the maker - I stamped a bunch from a friend's stamp years ago) and cut the top off (the tag part) and curved it in to make a dress.  I covered the torso with an experiment in resist gone bad.  I had stamped and clear embossed a bunch of roses on hymnal paper, but the paper was too thin and the ink bled through to the back of the roses, eliminating the resist effect.  It was still pretty in color and I wanted to use it somehow.  Thus the 'Tover (leftover) part of my entry.  The painted book page is a 'Tover too, as well as the inky paper I stamped the heart onto.

This particular doll has always begged to be used for Valentines because of that heart tear drop.  If you are looking for a source for some paper doll stamps of your own, try Stamp Diva.  I've had most of my dolls for so long, they are actually on wood blocks, but this shop carries all of Catherine Moore's new unmounted collections plus the dies to coordinate.  It is so much fun mixing and matching all of the collections!

I just loved these cool brads and decided a key would be perfect to go with the heart (Prima).  Notice that the arms are articulated.  Those sweet arms can open wide for a Valentine hug...  <3

Rather than giving her legs, I decided to make her into a mannequin.  I traced a grunge board die cut (a latch) onto manila and inked it black.  I stamped a crackle stamp in gold over it to give it a little dimension.  The I Love You sentiment is Inkadinkado and Always is Penny Black.  The gorgeous gold embossed stamp is also Penny Black.

I'm also playing along with:

PaperArtsy - Hearts

The Sisterhood of Crafters: The Word Love

Lynne Forsythe of The Next Best Thing Blog's 'Tovers Challenge 

Mixed Media Mojo: Hearts & Paper Piecing

The Artistic Stamper: HeART Challenge

Live and Love Crafts: Love is in the Air

Mixed Media Vintage Bird Collage

Happy February, what a delightful month!  This means a new challenge at Stamps & Stencils.  Have we got a fun one in store for you!  This month's theme, as chosen by the lovely Sue, our DT leader, is Splatter, Spritz, Smoosh!  We want you to break out your sprays, paints and inks and really get messy!  That's exactly what I've done for my creation.

For my project I mod podged some die cuts and torn hymnal strips onto a watercolor panel, then went to town playing with my Loew Cornell watercolors, creating ink puddles and then spraying them with water to disperse, allowing drips to form and heat setting in between layers.

I used my new Tim Holtz Ornate Oval Frame, which I painted and stamped, to create my focal point.

This awesome image is by Invoke Arts - one of my all time favorites!  I gently watercolored the panel and spritzed and flecked it with the wash.

For extra texture, I added some string into the mod podged layers and sprinkled with some rock candy distress glitter while still wet.

I used a hymn title for my sentiment.  Then I embossed around the edges of the panel.  I rubbed Versamark along the edges and then covered with copper Cloisonne embossing powder and heat set.  This page will be added to my Scrabble mini album after I complete the opposing page.

I'm sharing with 

SSS Monday: Ray of Sunshine

SSS Wednesday: Anything Goes

RRR: Pink

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