Mixed Media + Layout

I've been playing around with mixed media a bit lately and decided to finely put a bit of it on a layout.

 

 

This page is blue cardstock and on it I've used a Stencil and with it I used an artist's knife to smear Gesso over it.  This has resulted in the unusual yet nice 1/2 circular design in top right and bottom left corners.  Gesso is great for work on pages because it dries so quickly and doesn't warp your paper.  I've then cut a 12" circle using the new Martha Stewart Circle Punch, best product I've purchased in a long time, it takes all the guesswork and measuring out of creating circles and the bonus is that you get gorgeous edges as well.  I then cut another one using the same punch, that is only 6" across.  This punch cutes from 6 - 12 inch circles.  Then got into my flower stash which I can't help doing with my granddaughters pages, and a few other smaller embellishments from my stash, mainly the bird at the top and in the centre at the bottom is a cute little resin embellishment which has a butterfly on it, this was made by an Australian Company called Handmade Halo Designs and I love all there products.  Thank you for looking.

 

 

Using Scrapbook Supplies for Kids' Crafts

Cindy here!  Like many of you, I am an avid scrapbooker and cardmaker.  My scraproom is stuffed with all sorts of papers, stamps, inks, and all the other tools of the trade.  (I recently posted a tour of my scraproom here if you are interested.)  Yet, I use my scrapbook supplies for kids' crafts as often as I do for layouts or cards.  Here's a recent example:

When I came across this project on artsy_T's Flickr page, I knew I wanted to make them with my 6-year old son, Trevor.  Into the craft room we went!  I gathered scissors, glue, some yellow 12x12 cardstock, a few scraps of lace, and my always-bulging containers of cardstock scraps.

First, Trevor and I each drew witch shoes on scraps of black paper. I was able to hold two pieces together and cut them simultaneously in order to get two shoes, but Trevor couldn't do that. So I attached a binder clip to his paper, which made it simple for him to cut the two pieces at once. As he cut a section, I could move the binder clip as necessary.

 

We placed the shoes on the yellow cardstock, then cut a skirt shape from a scrap of black cardstock.  (Nothing was glued at this point.)

Next, we cut legs from a bright color and put them in the correct location.  We used a second bright color to create stripes.

 

Once the stripes were cut, we glued them to the stockings.  Then we glued the shoes over the stockings and glued the legs to the background paper.  Finally, we glued lace to the back of the skirt hem, then glued the skirt in place.  

Here is Trevor's finished witch: 

 

I made two- the one at the top of the post and this one:

Here are all three, now displayed on our wall.  

I am in love with these.  What a fun way to use up cardstock scraps.  Don't forget about using your scrapbook supplies for crafting with the kids in your life!

Distress Stains and Shrinky Dinks

Hi everyone!  Nancy here today to share with you a fun technique using shrink plastic (aka shrinky dinks) and distress stains.  I know I loved playing with shrink plastic when I was a child and couldn't wait to do so again with my children.  Well, needless to say, we know have little bits of plastic all over the place which got me to thinking, why don't I make some things for my paper crafting.

For this project you will need distress stains or inks, a heat gun, shrink plastic and a craft sheet.  I used the Tim Holtz gear die to cut my plastic into a fun shape.

 Apply a bit of the stains to your craft sheet.

 Drag your plastic through the stains.  This will give the plastic a mottled effect.

 Heat plastic to shrink with your heat gun.  I find using the heat gun to shrink plastic much quicker and easier than doing it in the oven.  Plus clean up is a breeze.

When you are done, you will end up with something like these.

So super fun to do.  Try it at your house.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs.

Nancy