Autumn projects

Other than my autumn pumpkins, I had a chance to create a couple of other projects this past fall: an autumn tag, a Halloween pocket letter and an anniversary card for a dear cousin.

I joined an autumn-themed tag swap in September. I had become enamored with Prima’s Pumpkin and Spice collection, so most of the elements were from this line. The chipboard pumpkin at the bottom is a Reneabouquet Beautiful Board cutout. Cut-out butterflies and ephemera pieces helped bring this tag together.

I’ve joined the Halloween pocket letter swap on the Scrapbook.com forums for the past three years. I just can’t say no to Halloween! This year, however, I wanted to go non-traditional with my color scheme. I had a 6×6 pad of pastel/pink Halloween paper from Michaels called “Pinkaboo” that I used to create my pink and gold pocket letter. The center pocket uses a witch’s hat shaker element from Clear Scraps. The witch and vampire on the top row are by Doodlebug, and the witch sitting on the pumpkin in the bottom right is by Reneabouquet.

My final fall project was an anniversary card for one of my cousins in Australia. Mom and I were lucky enough to be able to attend her wedding 10 years ago. Because the card had to be mailed overseas, it needed to be as flat as possible, so I created this card using Distress Oxide inks for my background and silhouette stamps from Marianne Designs.

If you ever have any questions about techniques or products I’ve used, just leave a comment or drop me an email. Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn pumpkins

I know, I know! It’s almost Christmas and here I am, posting about autumn pumpkins and other crafts. Truth is, I’ve been so busy with work, which is currently on a skeleton staff, that I haven’t had much time for crafting, let alone updating my blog! So I thought I’d just showcase all my autumn crafts along with a photo tutorial for an altered pumpkin I created for the Lifestyles section of our local newspaper.

Gold Glitter Pumpkin

Begin by painting your papier-mâché or plastic pumpkin with a black acrylic basecoat paint or black gesso. Make sure every surface is covered.

After the pumpkin has dried, use an iridescent or glittery acrylic topcoat paint such as Dragonfly Glaze. Several coats may be needed. Make sure to dry your pumpkin thoroughly between coats.

Use a metallic gold paint to paint the stem of your pumpkin. For added interest, use some of the same gold paint that has been slightly watered down to flick gold splashes over your pumpkin using a fan brush.

Optional step: Once the paint has completely dried, spray your pumpkin with several coats of triple-thick finishing glaze for a glassy look. For best results, let stand for 24 hours.

Working on one section at a time, apply glue to the top and allow it to drip down the sides. Shake chunky gold glitter, gold microbeads or a mixture of both over the glue and allow to dry.

While waiting for the pumpkin to dry, prepare your leaves. Paint paper leaves with various shades of metallic gold paint on both sides and allow to dry.

Layer the leaves and other embellishments, such as faux berries, acorns or beaded garland, on top of your pumpkin and adhere with hot glue or other quick-drying strong glue. 

I had so much fun creating this pumpkin that I made a couple more for the fall season, including one for the Disney lovers in the household. Bling up your pumpkin Cinderella-style using rhinestone flourish stickers and a miniature tiara.

An not forgetting the spooky season of Halloween, decoupage is an easy way to do up your pumpkins. Add a bejeweled spider for a creepy, yet elegant, focal point.

I hope to have a post featuring my autumn tag and Halloween pocket letter up in a few days before showcasing some Christmas cards I made this year. Thanks for stopping by!

I Put a Spell on You

It’s spooky craft season! From the beginning of August until the end of October (and sometimes even beyond), it’s all Halloween, all the time. It’s by far my favorite holiday, and I do love getting my spook on.

My first Halloween-themed project for this year is a home decor piece… Potion Bottles from Foundations Decor. These are super-easy to alter and a lot of fun to decorate.

Honestly, all I did was paint each individual bottle with a different color Finnabair Sparks paint. I traced both the front and back of each bottle onto some Halloween-themed paper, cut them out and glued them down. I did the same to the “label” pieces of each bottle before inking the edges of both the bottles and labels. As for the little symbols on the bottles (the moon, candy corn and skull) and for the “corks,” I used sparkling embossing powder to color them.

For the base, I painted it with black gesso, glued a strip of Halloween paper down and inked the edges, just like with the bottles. The set comes with a sticker that says, “I Put a Spell on You,” but I wanted the words to stand out a bit more. So I used dimensional stickers to spell out my sentiment instead.

Up next: I’ve been decorating pumpkins for a craft feature page for the newspaper, and I’m eagerly awaiting the new Prima fall collection to arrive. I have so many ideas for that! Thanks for stopping by!

Art Doll: Queen Bee

I’ve been eyeing the art dolls from Retro Cafe Art Gallery for a while. On my last order, I finally decided to give one a try, and I’m pleasantly surprised with the way she turned out!

The art doll comes disassembled, so you can alter the pieces either before you put them together or after. I chose to alter them as I went and glued the finished pieces together afterwards.

My first step was to trace the pieces of the “hive” onto alternating pieces of black and yellow paper. I cut out the pieces, glued them down and sanded the edges to make everything smooth and flush. (I also later stamped some bee-themed stamps onto the yellow pieces, just to tie into the whole bee-theme.)

The the body, I traced and cut a piece of paper from the Nature’s Sketchbook collection from Graphic 45 that was covered in bees. After the edges were sanded, I glued the “hive” pieces on top and set aside to dry.

I did the same to the arm pieces, although I used Tattered Rose Distress paint for the hands instead of paper.

At this point, I was having camera problems and didn’t get step-by-step photos. My apologies! After attaching the arms, I painted a resin face for the Queen Bee’s head using Distress paint and acrylic paint pens. I also heat embossed a chipboard mandala in black and the crown that came with the art doll kit in gold. I glued on some Swarovski crystals for decoration onto the crown and the face. I glued the face to the front of art doll “head,” the crown on top, the black mandala and a large yellow flower to the back of the “head.”

On the torso, I used the Memory Box Honeycomb Corner to die cut a piece of “honeycomb” for decoration. I then used Glossy Accents and bronze microbeads to simulate the “honey.”

For the “hive,” I simply layered and glued some black and yellow flowers onto the doll and base, which had been covered with Vintage Gold Metallique Wax from Prima. A flair button and decorative bee from Reneabouquets were also added, as were some Prima crystals from the Autumn Moon collection.

I decided in the end not to use the wings that came with the art doll, opting instead to use a pair of chipboard wings from my stash. I heat embossed the wings with WOW Embossing Powder Earthtone Honey before gluing them onto the back of the doll.

I wanted to also add some dimensional “bees” to my doll, so I used the Memory Box Itty Bitty Bumblebee dies to make a handful of buzzers. I glued them onto the doll, and added a piece of gold twine around the neck to finish the piece off.

Thanks for stopping by! I had so much fun making this art doll, I ordered a few more. I look forward to working with them when they arrive!

Make a Wish

When the organizer of the monthly pocket letter swap on the forums at Scrapbook.com announced that one of the themes for June was fairies, I knew I wanted to participate this month. I’d had so much fun making my fairy theater shrine, I wanted to keep playing with Graphic 45’s new Fairie Wings collection. So I signed up.

I used both Graphic 45 fairy collections, Fairie Dust and Fairie Wings. Fairie Dust was from last year I believe, and no longer available. But I wanted to have plenty of fairies to make all nine pockets, so I used both.

For my four corner pockets, I used four different Memory Box/Poppystamps dies to cut a woodsy window into a piece of green paper from the collection. I used foam tape to make the scenes more dimensional. Fussy-cut fairies, flowers and toadstools were used to create my little fairy scenes. (Click the images to enlarge.)

For the other four outside pockets, I just layered pieces cut from the paper pads with a few chipboard and ephemera elements. More foam tape gave these pockets some dimension as well.

Finally, for the center, I simply used hot glue to adhere two chipboard pieces as my centerpiece. The center circle was also popped up using foam tape.

Thanks for stopping by! If you have any questions, just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you!

Someday You Will Be Old Enough

Vacations never last long enough. I had nine days off, and only managed to finish one project. Of course, that one project took about three days to complete. It was quite fiddly and involved a lot of fussy cutting. But I do love the way it turned out.

I’ve had this in mind since seeing previews for Graphic 45’s new Fairie Wings collection. I wanted to create a layered tableau, and chose a theater shrine from Retro Cafe Art to decorate.

I began this project by painting the edges of the shrine with Victorian Green Impasto paint. I then carefully measured each piece of the shrine in order to cover both sides with Fairie Wings papers. I used Mod Podge to glue the papers down. After everything was dry, I glued the shrine together except for the front curtain piece.

I used some window dies from Memory Box/Poppystamps to cut leafy windows from several pieces of the Fairie Wings collection, both the 8×8 pad and the Patterns and Solids 12×12 pad. I used pieces of adhesive foam to create the layers. I added fussy cut fairies and flowers to each layer as I went along.

When I was satisfied with my interior layers, I glued on the curtain piece, adding more flowers and fairies along the front. A thin sticker from the sticker sheets was added along the edge of the base. I heat embossed the wooden circle for the top of the shrine with WOW Embossing Powder in Velvet. One of the small chipboard circles from the Fairie Wings collection fit perfectly inside. Finally, I added a few sequins as a finishing touch.

This was such fun to make, but my goodness, it was a lot of fussy cutting! If I could do one thing differently, I would have painted or covered the back of the curtain piece. I may still try to do that later.

I still have plenty of the Fairie Wings collection left. I’ll have to see what else I can come up with. ❤

Look for the Magic

With cold temperatures alternating with highs in the 80s, it seems as if Mother Nature has given spring a miss, going straight from winter to summer. With barely any time to enjoy the blooming of flowers due to fluctuating temperatures, social distancing, and rainy days, why not bring a little spring into your home with flowers made of paper? Guaranteed not to wilt and die, paper flowers can brighten any home year-round. 

I took advantage of the long Memorial Day weekend to sit down and be creative. I have a bunch of MDF shapes in my stash, and I wanted to do something spring-like, so I chose the unicorn. I’d done an MDF unicorn before, but it had more of a cosmos/outer space vibe, and this time I wanted magic and floral.

To begin with, I first painted the edges of the unicorn with Mermaid Sparkle Sparks paint from Prima/Finnabair. 

I then chose a piece of patterned scrapbook paper from my stash of 49 and Market papers to use as my background. The paper I chose is from a discontinued collection, but they have so many gorgeous papers to chose from, it wouldn’t be hard to find a different sheet.

Flipping both the unicorn and the scrapbook paper over, I traced the unicorn shape on the back with a pencil and cut the shape out using a pair of sharp scissors.

I used Mod Podge to glue the paper to the unicorn head, trimming off excess with a sharp craft knife.

Next, I used an embossing ink pad and embossing powder on the unicorn’s horn. For this project, I went with Mulberry Mist from WOW! Embossing Powder. I also used a piece of silver twine from Lawn Fawn to create the illusion of spirals on the horn.

At this point, I felt like the unicorn’s mane could use a little more something-something than just the flowers I was planning to add. So I took the Mystic Swirl stamp from Lavinia Stamps and stamped it several times in Soft Blossom and Soft Purple inks from Hero Arts. 

After that, I began to build my floral mane, using hot glue to attach the flowers from 49 and Market to my project.

I also added some purple crystals and 49 and Market’s dimensional stickers for added interest.

I then added some sentiment stickers from Finnabair’s Art Daily collection, with edges inked in Milled Lavender. 

For my final touch, I added drops of Glossy Accents here and there to the flowers, sprinkling over the top with the Angel Mix sequins from Dress my craft.

Thanks for stopping by! I’ll be on a vacation-staycation next week, so I hope I’ll get a chance to be creative while I’m off. 🙂

Mother’s Day 2020

For someone who has been slow to create this year, I managed to be extra productive the day before Mother’s Day. Nothing like waiting until the very last minute to motivate you!

I wanted to do a clean and simple card for Mother’s Day this year, since my cards in years past had been a little elaborate. I’d finally gotten the Spring Gnome stamp set from Simon Says Stamp, and since Mom loves gnomes and fairies, I though they would be perfect. However, when I was finished with the card, the two gnomes reminded me so much of Mom and Dad together, I gave the card to my Dad to give to Mom. (He’d forgotten too. This year has messed everybody up.)

So, I needed another card for Mom, from me. I ended up using the cute little raccoon stamp from the Mama Elephant Dandelion Wishes stamp set. Turned out way cuter than I was expecting.

I also wanted to make something for Mom, as a keepsake. I’ve done jewelry in the past, but since none of us go out much, she doesn’t wear jewelry as much as she did when she was still working. And I’d been wanting to make something for her using Graphic 45’s Fairie Dust collection for a while, since she is such a fairy fanatic. So I thought I’d create a trapped fairy under glass for her to keep on her knick knack shelf.

Whew, that was a lot of fussy cutting. But I love the dimensional look to it. I may try it again someday!

NSD 2020: Explore

Another (Inter)National Scrapbook Day has come and gone. I usually spend the day making my Mother’s Day card for mom, but for some reason, this completely slipped my mind, so I’m going to have to scramble to get one done tomorrow. Oops. Don’t tell Mom.

Anyway, instead of card making, I decided to do a little mixed media work, as I hadn’t really had much opportunity to play with mixed media thus far this year. I’ve had this cute little seahorse shrine from Retro Cafe Art Gallery for ages, which is what I decided to go with.

The shrine comes unassembled, so first I glued some crumpled up tissue paper to all the pieces with Mod Podge. I carefully cut the paper away from the slots and tabs before gluing the shrine together with a strong, clear glue.

I used a swirl stencil to add more texture to the background with Prima graphite paste. After everything had dried, I painted the whole thing with black gesso. Using several different small sea critter dies from Memory Box/Poppystamps, I glue die cuts to the shrine, trimming off any major overhang. I also added a few small, clear droplets. I then painted the die cuts and drops with black gesso.

In the niche, I glued down some metal embellishments painted with black gesso on top of a chipboard piece of coral. After everything was glued securely, I started painting the whole thing with three colors of Prima Metallique wax in Old Denim, Mint Sparkle and Blue Lagoon. (You can see the gradient effect better in person.) Afterwards, I went over the top of all the texture with Vintage Gold wax on my fingertip. Finally, I added my focal point, a stunning Swarovski jellyfish stone in Bermuda Blue. So, so sparkly!

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Mother’s Day!

Easter Egg Extravaganza

I work for the local newspaper, and since the COVID-19 outbreak shut most things down, we’ve been struggling to fill our Lifestyles section. Which is why my editor asked if I’d do another step-by-step craft page for the week of Easter… because we didn’t really have anything else at the moment. So, I created some Cherry Blossom Easter Eggs, based on some I’d seen on Pinterest, to share with our readers.

Start by painting your eggs white. That way, if there’s a gap in your twine, the color won’t be as visible. (If you use plastic eggs, glue them shut first.)

Squeeze some quick-dry glue onto the top of the egg. Work on a small area at a time so the glue doesn’t dry up before adding your twine.

Using your finger or a pair of tweezers, place the end of your twine into the glue, rolling the twine into a coil around the end.

Carefully begin winding the twine around the egg. Use your fingers or tweezers to keep your alignment straight. Apply glue about 1/4 to 1/2 inch high at a time during the winding.

Once you have completed winding the twine around the egg, allow the glue time to dry so the twine is securely in place. Using a brown or black marker, sketch some branches onto your egg, front and back.

Trace the lines you sketched with a metallic brown acrylic paint using a fine tip brush. After the paint is dry, begin adding flower sequins with glue onto your branches. I used pink flower sequins to create cherry blossoms, but any color would be just as pretty!

 

• • •

I also created some other Easter eggs for the feature, to show different options families could do while stuck at home.

Using the same twine technique as the cherry blossom eggs, decorate your eggs in a shabby chic or vintage style using lace, ribbon and paper flowers.

Decoupage papers come in a variety of colors and patterns you can use to create decorative eggs in your own style.

Create an Easter wreath by gluing painted eggs, paper flowers, Spanish moss and ribbon onto a wreath base. Best for indoor use only.

To jazz up your Easter decor, use push-pins and sequins to add sparkle and bling to your painted eggs.

Have a Happy Easter, however you celebrate. Stay home. Stay safe. We’ll get through this! ❤