Showing posts with label Lessology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lessology. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

My Layout With Seemingly Not So Disparate Elements


So... recently I was creating some card or other piece at some time and I pulled out a baggy of stuff that Yvonne Yam had sent me after we had the final Lessology challenge (which I miss terribly by the way).  And it made me realize I had not been to her blog in way too long.  I don't know why... I LOVE visiting her blog... along with Mitra and Julie and Tracey, Yvonne has some of the yummiest layouts I ever see.

The post that was at the top was all about making layouts with seemingly disparate elements and making them beautifully "parate"..lol... yeah I know... I made it up... you can use it.  She had some really great tips on how to accomplish this and it made me want to create a scrapbook layout which I hadn't done in FOREVER!  So I told her I was going to make one the very next day... and of course I didn't... but wonderful Yvonne called me on it!  She actually came to check out this wonderful layout I had done and found some card or other and said... HEY!  Which prompted me to promise that the very next day I would create said layout... and I DID!  And here it is!


So... It's no Yvonne, Create More With Less, Yam, but I'm pretty happy with it.  And I cheated a bit... as a lot of my items are quite "parate" because they came together with the CTMH Falling For You Workshop... so I really didn't have to work too hard to put them all together... BUT!...

I did so love her tip about having cut out characters looking at your pics.. so I did that here with these cute little pheasants from the Falling For You Complements.


I did use up lots of scraps.. I really only cut one full piece of paper.. the white one with the flowers.. all of the rest were cut from scraps leftover from previous projects so that was pretty good!


And I kind of made a rule that although it was an Autumn themed page, I was not allowed to put ANY leaves on it... well... as you can see I broke down.. but I used only one because I needed something in the very plain center, but nothing too big or bulky and this leaf was perfect.

I also used some items I've had in my stash and never used.. the beautiful Happy laser cut chipboard from Make It Crafty (all the way from Australia); the wood pieces, like this circle with a heart cut out of the center, the other little hearts floating around and maybe an arrow.. and best of all, I dug into that baggy of items from Yvonne and pulled out that pretty bejeweled flower and the two stars that match it (all the way from Singapore!).


There is one of those cute little stars right there!  

My kids and I used to go to either Chestnut Ridge in Hamburg, NY or Letchworth State Park in Castile, NY every autumn and take pics... as they got older and had jobs, it kind of waned, but now when I go back to visit in the Fall, Corey will suggest a trip out to Letchworth (my favorite) which makes me very happy.  Maybe I'll use some of those pics next!


And yes, every once in a while I'd get in the picture... here Ryan wanted to play photographer so here I am striking a pose... not so photogenic as my kids...lol!

So if you like these types of layouts, please do visit Yvonne's post here!  I made mine with her post in front of me so I could scroll through it for inspiration.  And I will definitely be doing this again.

Come back soon!  We've got something special planned for the Cutting Cafe on the 7th!  There is going to be a Blog Hop with a chance to win a file at every stop!

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Lessology Challenge #64-Let's Get Organized


This month at Lessology it's all about getting organized.  I'm dedicating my project to Mitra.  After all... she's the one that put that first can of spray paint in my hands!

This is what I started with:


I got these pieces at a local church run second hand store.  I sent these pictures to Mitra for some advice... and she gave it freely.. and then they sat... for many months.... two candlesticks and plates from a tiered stand with no ... well... stand... so when this challenge came up I knew right away what I was going to do:


Some black chalkboard, turquoise, and gold spray paint... some Inka Gold and some epoxy and I gave the plates back their tiers.


I added to the top... in Mitra fashion, an old faucet knob and a pretty metal rose (I bought this in Cave Creek in a little Mexican Import shop).

So, here it is with some stuff on it... probably not necessarily the stuff that I will keep on it, but it's one option...


So there are a few more items on here that I altered a bit... some canisters that I saved from the garbage and modge podged some paper on them, an old salsa jar that I modge podged some washi tape and glitter on and my favorite... a little jar that I bought at Hobby Lobby... it was a clear blue jar and Mitra and I sprayed the inside with some mirror paint and oh man oh man... I'm gonna make some more of these!


So thanks for taking a look at my project... I think I'll be wielding a spray paint can more often now... although I think I better invest in a good mask because I do think I inhaled a little too much in the way of fumes... please do play along with us this month-I can't wait to see what you make!  And be sure to check out the Lessology Blog again tomorrow for some more organizing awesomeness!







Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Lessology Challenge #63 Musical Chairs


Welcome to the October Lessology Challenge, Musical Chairs!  I was excited about this one because I love the wispiness of music notes... the feelings they stir up.  I decided to create a card that I've now decided may end up in a frame just 'cause I like looking at it.


I got this music note paper from a friend that was cleaning out her room... and as a rescuer of unwanted craft supplies, I happily brought it home.  I also knew that this bird, sentiment and music notes from my Skipping Stones Best of Birds set would be perfect!  I embossed them with gold in the corner and then I proceeded to treat the edges of my card with some Inka Gold... love that stuff!


So... have I told you how awesome the little inserts from the Tim Holtz stencil packages are to use for die cuts?  They are such pretty brown colors and I will never throw another one in the garbage!  I used some for my embossed sentiment and I used it for my heart doily.  And I had a few of these white Petaloo flowers waiting for their turn to be glued down on something so I smeared some Inka Gold all over them too and added them.

And do you see this purple flower?  So, I had this card all done... it was all white and gold and brown with a tiny touch of SeaGlass... and I loved it.  And then I found this poor little bunch of purple hydrangea flowers that I had previously picked up from my front porch.  They had apparently fallen off of my wreath on my front door, made their way into my kitchen and sat there waiting to move up to my craft room and onto some project.  And then Sunday morning there they were still sitting and I picked them up, lifted up the garbage can lid and just before I tossed them in I thought of this card.  Ran upstairs and decided that purple was just what this card needed! 


So I added the petals from my wreath and then dug out these purple resin flowers I've had forever in my stash because I don't use purple a lot  (yet somehow twice this past weekend) and added them.  And I loved it even more!  So this just proves that my habit of saving everything because I might just use it on a project is sound and practical.  Now if only I could convince my husband of this.  


Isn't this bird with its music notes perfect?

Thanks so much for looking today!  I can't wait to see what you create using beautiful music notes!

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Lessology Handmade Invitation Challenge September 2016


Welcome to the September Lessology Challenge to create a Handmade Invitation.  Although I didn't actually create an invitation.... but I made this using an invitation:


Well... this was not my plan for this challenge.  My plan was to cut out the floral part from this invite and use it on a card... and when I went to actually cut it I decided the entire invite was so pretty and had an idea for a gift for the Bride & Groom.  So I pulled out one of my handy dandy canvases and went to town.  I prepared my canvas by painting it with white gesso.  When that was dry, I modge podged the invite onto the canvas.  After that dried, I dry brushed some more white gesso over the edges of the invite.  Next, I took some of my gold glitter paint and painted over the whole thing... I love that paint because it's clear and just leaves a trail of glitter.  I kind of let it be heavier in some areas then others.


My final treatment on the canvas was to use some clear texture past and my new favorite Tim Holtz Lace stencil over the parts of the canvas and since it was clear I was able to also have it go over the invite... I will do this again for sure... love the way it looks!




I then used many other parts of the invite, such as the card with location and hotel information and the strip that held it all together.  I used these for the leaves (with my new favorite leaf dies from MFT) and my plan was to have the back show because it was plain, but when I flipped them over and saw the printing on the other side I decided that was perfect because after all... it was part of the invite and that's the whole point, right?  And the "D" was over the part of the strip that held it together.



I cut out the flowers from the response card (which I obviously did not send back... slapping myself on the hand) and added some more lacy texture paste to that as well.  And my new best friend?  Inka Gold...smooshed it all over those pretty flowers and really enjoyed looking at my gold fingertips for a while...  yup... LOVE!


So... I can't wait to see what you make for this invite challenge!  Hope you play along with us this month!

I'm playing along with the Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge and it's Anything Goes this month!  Check it out and play along!

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Lessology Challenge #61: Bag Collector


This month's Lessology Challenge was a no brainer for me!  A few months ago my sons were visiting and we stopped into a second hand store.  As they were bagging up the many treasures we picked out, they used this once loved bag leftover from someone's vacation to bag up some of our items.  It was in slightly better shape than this as I had started cutting it apart before I thought to take a pic but it was mostly torn and in pretty rough shape.


I hung onto it because I had this idea to make it into a wall hanging because I thought the design on it was interesting and then along came this month's Lessology Challenge.  So here's what I did with it:

 

I washed the bag and then let it air dry as it's made of a burlap material.  Then I cut it apart... I cut the front to use for this project and saved the back piece for later... I mean... who can't use some extra burlap??  Originally I was planning on stapling it onto the 12x12 canvas but it turns out the doublesided redline tape works very well and allowed me to stretch the material around the canvas where I wanted it and then I can hide a few well placed staples on the back.


I used some white acrylic paint to pull the skull and Ace of Spades to the front so the rest of the decorations wouldn't overpower them as much.  I also colored in the leaves that were printed on the bag in green with my previously purchased Neon Sharpie.


I almost covered up most of the flowers on the bag, but then I decided I liked the depth it added to treat them as if they were another layer of flowers.  Side note my adhesive for a lot of these items was liquid glass... LOVE that stuff!



And then I embellished away with some paper flowers and leaves I cut with the new CTMH Flower Market Cricut Cartridge (the larger tropical looking ones)... this one is a beauty and you are going to want it for sure!  I used two of the new colors available this month, the deeper color is Raspberry and the lighter color is called Blossom... so pretty.   I also used some premade paper flowers I had in my stash (the rose looking ones).   I added the Jack of Hearts from my previously purchased Tim Holtz ephemera, a feather I got from Hobby Lobby, the cute little die that I have no idea where they came from and then my Sis-in-Law gave me a little baggy of rusty keys she found at her house-everyone always brings me their "garbage" and I LOVE it!  And of course I added a few of my favorite gold bling gems which sadly are gone away... but don't think I didn't stock up!


I wanted to pretty up the edges of the frame since there were lots of tears and holes in that part of the bag so I used some more redline tape and wrapped some gold ribbon around the edges and I love it.  I'm thinking about going on the search for some decorative tacks to add to the edges ... so maybe it's not done quite yet... hmmmm.... I'm not above tearing something off the wall to tweak it.


My second favorite cluster is this one with those two perfect feathers at the top and that pretty metal butterfly I got from The Funky Junkie... such a great place to shop for some really wonderfully different things.


So I'm pretty happy with my new wall art that I'll put on the wall in one of our guest bedrooms and see if the boys notice it when they come for their next visit... after all... they did roll their eyes when I told them I had plans for the ratty old thing.

I sure do hope you can play along this month over at Lessology and I can't wait to see what you create!  And be sure to stop over at the blog and check out what the rest of the Design Team has made and ooh and aaah over some of the previous challenges and artwork... you'll find some really awesome upcycling ideas and beautiful creations!

Don't be a stranger!





Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Lessology Challenge #60-Mug Shot


So this month's challenge over at Lessology is Mug Shot... decorate a mug or a cup.  When I was away at an event this Spring, we had these cute little plastic "throwaway" cups on our table and I couldn't bear to toss mine so I brought it home with me figuring I'd use it on my workspace to throw all of those extra little things... sequins I find after I've put that particular baggy away or that managed to escape and dive off the table and my toe finds it a little later; extra cuts from glittery paper that I'm sure I'll use on a future project but I'm not sure quite what to do with them; gems that fall off of my creations on that off day I didn't liquid glass every single thing I added to the card and I find them on the floor not sure what they went with.. but I may find where it's missing from or I could still use it... too lazy to put it away and certainly can't throw it out.  At the time, the place for all of that stuff was in the lid of my stamp cleaner and I figured it was time to be able to use that again.


When this challenge came up I looked at it and thought... well.. a container for such pretty and valuable items such as these should be ... well.. pretty!  And I really have always wanted a bejeweled goblet.  AND I did have all of these gems that I got very inexpensively somewhere yet have been sitting in my gem drawer unused for at least three years now... if not longer.. why.. never the right size or color for a project I'm working on... always something better... and plus... once I use them they are gone...so... 

I also added a glass heart or two that are clear ... the one above looks pink-ish but that's because I've already filled the cup up with pretty items and the color is showing through.. kinda cool.  I used some black shimmer trim around the top... just 'cause.. I mean... I definitely have enough jewels left over to finish it off, but I thought that glittery trim might finish off the top nicely.


I also found a couple of these pretty colored acrylic butterflies in my stash of old jewelry baubles and they made the perfect addition.   I believe I bought the earrings that these hung from back in my Prince/Purple Rain/Hair Band/Perm/Zebra pants days.

Let me say... I am definitely not the one to call on if you want a mosaic done..lol!  But for what it is and if you don't look too close.. I think it turned out pretty.  A couple times today I caught myself stopping my work just to look at it sparkle and daydream a bit.


And see.. it's only half full!  It's like a little cup of treasures that I'll dig through here and there when I'm trying to decide what little nugget I need to finish off a project.

So... your turn.. and I cannot wait to see what you create!

Oh!  I almost forgot the before pic!


Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Lessology Challenge #59-Neon Inspired

http://lessology.blogspot.com/
 
This month over at Lessology the theme is Neon!  And as always you must use something upcycled on your project.  Here's what I've made for you this month:
 
 
So.. Neon... not my usual favorite pigments.  When I saw this one I thought... what in the world am I going to do... I didn't even own anything Neon.  So I stopped off at Office Max and bought myself some Neon Sharpies.  I had gotten this new stamp set from CTMH, Ornate Blossoms and thought it might look pretty cool colored up in Neon colors... and I think I was right!  I made it into a page for my journal for one of the month dividers.
 
I'm also playing along with the Glitter 'N' Sparkle "Recycle" Challenge... if you're here and you love upcycling this is another great challenge all about Doing More With Less.... you can link up with anything but a card.

 
I especially loved this sentiment from Unity Stamps and I borrowed my mom's Neon embossing powder to stamp it onto it's base.  You may be wondering what in the world are my upcycled pieces. I actually had the foresight to take a pic!  
 
 
So I had this packaging that would have otherwise all gone in the garbage.  I cut the scalloped frame and two butterflies out of the cardboard and punched some dots with the plastic and I'll tell you... I have plans for more of it so it hasn't gone into the garbage yet.

 
I painted the frame black with some acrylic paint and that was my plan for the butterflies also... and then I flipped them over and saw the beautiful colors already on them... so I just colored the white bits with more marker and left the pretty parts as part of the butterfly.
 
 
I punched dots out of the plastic and treated them as sequins and along with my clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh I think they look pretty cool.  I love that the dots from the plastic are really clear so I could place them right over the sentiment without covering it up at all.
  
 
And the cool technique with the pink around the edges... I used my Vivid Pink alcohol marker and a waterbrush with 70% alcohol in it and did some "watercoloring" and then after it was dry (once it's not cold, the alcohol is dry), I used a piece of burlap with the alcohol on it and pressed down on the pink to create the texture....one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, lift... learned that one at Copic Bootcamp.
 
Thanks for looking and I can't wait to see your Neon creations... I think I'm coming around to the Neon!