Just an Instagram kinda day.

Still working away on a boat load of stuff that needs to be done this week.
Problem is, none of it is laundry.

Good thing I have a husband who can do his own if it becomes necessary.
He's good like that.

Everything I am working has to do with counting and measuring and filling in boxes on a spread sheet...not really my cup of tea.  I decided I had had enough of that and set out to continue the journey I started last week with the modeling paste and paint.  Today I am going to put into practice what I leaned and make a little zig zag book that I cut from some very beautiful 140lb Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper I bought at Dick Blick in Las Vegas in the fall.  I know most people go to casinos, I go to Dick Blick.

 The paper is very long.  I cut it 5" tall and then just folded it back and forth, every 4" to create the book.  You end up with a short little stubby piece on one end but not to worry that will easily be resolved by adding a sturdy back piece.

After I took the picture above I decided to change it up today (once again) and use my iPhone and Instagram to take the rest of the pictures.  Love the results.

Anyway, here we go...
Golden Fluid Acrylics are the paint choice for today...
in my favorite color, Cobalt Teal + water = happiness on a paintbrush.

Paint on Golden Fluid Acrylics in Green Gold along the top edge...spritz with water. 
Lift paper to make the diluted paint run.

Adding diluted splatters to the craft mat to add more Cobalt Teal to the backside (just because I can...and I like what's going on back there) 

Note: Here is where I loose my mind an change to a different filter on the pictures...darn it, I was going to stay with the same filter the whole tutorial.  Funny, it only took two pictures and I forgot which one I was using...uggg.)

See what I mean?  

Now I can't decide which do I like better, the front or the back?

Using a mask, add modeling paste to the project (refer to last weeks post for directions).  This one is Christy Tomlinson - vintage doily.  Let the paste dry.

Work on another project that is in progress in the kitchen while modeling paste dries.

30 minutes later and back from the kitchen.

Paste is dry.

Paint over the paste with diluted Martha Stewart Metallic Paint - Vintage Gold (this color is DIVINE).

Oh, I like this part.   Seriously, you must try this.

Use stamps to create more texture.  

Archival Ink in Aquamarine and Dyan Revelry Stamp - Basic Backgrounds

The Archival Ink pad is new so I stamped it on a tag before I stamped the book to get a lighter image.

Add some vintage paper strips.

Words are next (my favorite part),

This is my "One Little Word" for 2012

Substance.
You can see that when folded, the cover was part of the "backside" of the paper so I got the best of both worlds going on.

Font Stamp: Doodle Bug Designs for Hampton Art found at Michaels

(here is where I noticed I changed Instagram filters some time ago)

More words inside in Archival Ink - Coffee

More doodling with a random black pen and a circle stencil I made from punching a piece of cardstock with a 1" circle punch.  I really don't doodle much on projects because it always seems like I mess it up when I do. 
No thinking like that today. 

My signature...word strips cut from an old book.  This one, a Grammar book I picked up in Old Town Orange when I was shopping with Carolyn Peeler after CHA.  The equation is from an old math book.  I love the line, "Carefully cherish virtuous principles".  Not something we hear much about in this day and age of the "Housewives" and the Kardashians.

A bit of handwriting...again, something I don't do too much of.  The writing never seems good enough.   But today, I am not going to let fear stop me from trying.

NOTE TO SELF: practice writing!

And lastly, a bit of stitching.

Love it, love it, love it.

I am happy about the way it turned out.  

In fact, so happy I am ready to make another.

If you look back at the picture of the folded paper there's that little bit on the right end that was sticking out.  I had one of the cards I made a while ago during experimentation with Liquid Pearls that fit perfectly on the end (love when that happens).  All I did was glue it to the little stubby piece to make a back then added some vintage music to the backside behind the yellow card.

Happy day.
Amazing what doing something free and creative can do for your spirit.

I have to go back to counting and measuring now but I am going to be thinking about getting back to the worktable all day. 
Maybe I can sneak in a little between laundry loads.

cheers
paula

ps) of course you know what measuring and counting means....a new kit is coming soon.

Oh Brother!

On Sundays my kids all gather at our house for dinner and fun.  Last week amid all the lovely chaos my two daughter-in-laws had a photo shoot with our newest grandson Derek.  It was fun to watch them pose that sweet little boy for each shot.  He is the most content and easy baby to work with!  He would only occasionally open an eye while he was being molded and placed into position.  This one he was put in a vintage doctors bag.....It was lots of fun and being the proud grandma, I thought I would share!

My sister Ann's family has been growing also.  Erin, my niece, after having 5 girls finally had a boy....we are so thrilled for her!   They had their own photo shoot and Ann made a darling tray to document his arrival into this world using the photos and items representing the facts and info about his birth.  I asked her to tell us about it.....

"Brother" Tray 

by Ann Mabee 

Ann's How-To:

I have been wanting to do something with the darling photos of our newest grandson, Ezra, ever since the pictures were taken.  And I finally figured it out!  He needed a tray documenting his birth and how excited we all are to have him in our family.  I “allowed” myself to use some old 7gypsies papers and ephemera that I have been saving (hoarding!) for just the right project.  And this fit the bill!  It was fun collecting the various items to include in his tray. 

First, I must give credit to Kathy Scoffield Photography for the delightful pictures.  I was fortunate enough to be present during the photo shoot and she is amazing.  I was intrigued with Kathy’s use of soft, cuddly blankets, hats, bottom covers and a hair dryer.  It was fun to watch her work with Ezra to get him to pose just so and then be able to stay there for several photos.  The total shoot took over two hours and he slept the entire time!  By the way, the hair dryer was set on low and was aimed at Ezra to help him stay warm, since he had on so little clothing, and it kept him cozy so he would stay asleep!  I love that trick!

The first picture was cut in half to fit two slots in the tray.  Cute, don’t you think?  

Ezra is the first brother in their little family, so the brother flashcard was appropriate.  He is the 6th a welcome addition to their home.

The domino in the bottom left corner represents the children in my daughter, Erin’s family.  She has five sweet little girls, and finally got their boy in December!  Needless to say, we were all elated at that prospect.  

I like the little yo-yo at the bottom.  I tried to find one that would fit, but of course, that didn’t happen.    

 So I improvised.  I used two wooden toy wheels (shown below) turned toward the inside and connected them with a small piece of a dowel.  I then wrapped the center peg with string to make a yo-yo.  Pretty easy, but it did take a bit of sanding of the dowel.  I then used Vintage Photo Distress Ink with a blending tool to age it just a bit.

I used some old Scrabble letters to spell out his name in one of the wider slots.  

The glass dome has a little tag that says “Boy”.  The small fork and spoon are there because we all know how much little boys like to eat....and so far in this little boy"s life it has been all about getting him to eat and fill in those long skinny legs.

In the bottom right portion of the tray, I included the statistics of Ezra’s birth.  He weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz.  I used a game piece for the number 7 and a Bingo calling game piece for the 11.  I also used a Bingo game piece for the 21 to signify that he was 21 inches long when he was born.  And luckily enough, I found an old clock charm that showed the time of day of his birth.  Talk about a lucky day!  And the small tag on the right shows the date of Ezra’s birth, December 14, 2011.  

The only things that weren’t in my personal stash of supplies were the two sports charms (which I found at Hobby Lobby) and the yo-yo, which I made.  I guess it pays to have a stash of goods so you can make a special project whenever you’d like!

Thanks Ann for sharing!

deb

Test Drive Tuesday

Super busy with some projects I am working on so today's tutorial is more of a product "test drive" if you will.  If other words, I needed to find out how some different products work with Modeling paste for a class I am teaching so I figured I might as well invite you along on the "test drive".  

I like to work with heavyweight tags in a large size (#10 size) because it gives me plenty of space to work with.  So I have a stack of tags, some Liquitex light modeling paste (from Michaels), a stencil from Crafter's Workshop and a scraper.   Since the purpose of today's exercise is color/product experimentation I am going to make all the tags using the same stencil. 

On a side note, some people have mentioned that it might be a nice technique but they are not a "tag person".
Well, neither am I. 
I use tags for the experiment so another time I can incorporate the technique onto a canvas or a journal or a layout.
With that said, let's get started.

 Super easy, lay the stencil on your surface and scoop a little paste onto the scraper.

 Cover the stencil, filling in all the gaps.

Now lift the stencil up.

The paste dries rather quickly so clean you stencil right away. 
I just used a baby wipe and a paper towel.

NOTE: please note this next part is addicting so you might want to think about making at least 6 or 7 tags to play with.  I made some on plain tags, others I colored the tag before I added the stencil pattern.

1.  Distress Ink:
My favorite medium in the workroom because it can be subtle or very bold.

I used a blending tool to add Wild Honey to the parts of the tag.

I sprayed the tag with Perfect Pearls - Biscotti.  The water in the Perfect Pearls reactivates the Distress Ink.  If you wait a little bit you can see the color pooling at the edges of the hardened modeling paste.  Once you are satisfied dry with a heat tool.

 Now a bit of Stormy Sky

 And finish with Fired Brick.

Well, not really. 
I wanted to add some Silver Dabber Paint.  So start the dabber on the craft mat and then move to the tag.

Ever so lightly run the paint dabber over the raised pattern to give it just a hint of metallic.
Now I'm done.

2.  Distress Stain:
This tag was sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Old Paper (a new 7gypsies color) before I added the modeling paste. 

Instead of adding the Distress Stain directly to the tag, I squeezed it out onto the craft sheet.

 Then swiped the tag through the stain.

HUmmm...that looks "interesting".  But I am not giving up yet.

 I swiped it through again and then added a bit of water.  Still not there yet.

Add some Victorian Velvet Distress Ink and now it is starting to come together.

Interesting how you can still see the dots from the Glimmer Mist in the background.  It looks way better in person than it does in this picture.  Very subtle color.

3.  Picked Fence:
Note: This tag had a wash of Spun Sugar Distress Stain before I added the Modeling Paste pattern.
I added Vintage Photo Distress Ink to the tag.

I decided to try Picked Fence Distress Stain. 
(This is the only Distress stain you have to shake well before use)

 I swiped it over the raised portion.

 Then quickly sprayed it with water and the stain starts to move around.

 Turn the tag on it's side and the white Picked Fence Stain runs.

I love the way this one turned out.  I think it could use a bit more experimentation but over all the Picked Fence adds an interesting almost chalk like effect to the tag.  I did darken up the edges with Vintage Velvet Distress Ink (love the combo of the pink and brown).

4.  Spray Ink:
I have to test the new Dylusions Ink Sprays on at least one tag.
I picked Bubblegum Pink.
Spray it out on your craft mat.

Then swipe the tag through the ink.
LOVE this color pink...super rich and vibrant.
Dry with a heat tool.

 Now Lemon Zest

 Swiping makes the yellow Lemon zest into orange once it mixes with the pink.

 To get the Lemon Zest to remain yellow I sprayed directly on the tag in a couple of places.

 I think I will finish this one off with one of Dyan's new stamps - Background Love  stamped in Archival - Aquamarine.
looks like candy. yum.

 Well, I think you've seen enough of my test runs for today.  I ended up making more than 15 test tags for future reference...some bold, some subtle and some in between.

 The most important part is not to be afraid...try something new and just have fun experimenting.

One note, if you are even thinking about recreating an experiment... document what you use in order of appearance and any specific notes on the back of the tag.  Too many times colors change when you are layering and later on you can never tell if it is Orange Marmalade or Spiced Marigold!

cheers!
paula

On a totally different topic (so that's why I put it down here in the PS part)
1.   This starts back up on Sunday, May 6th for a ridiculous few weeks.  Season 1 was phenomenal (if you like quirky super sleuths like I do).

2.  This new show is interesting if you like remodeling.  Candice Olsen has become too scripted for me (even though I love her work) so I have been enjoying a change.  Not even my style, but I always love creating something from old stuff, especially reclaimed wood.  You can even watch the first episode online.

Okay, so now I'm done.
cheers again and have a great rest of the week!
p