MPC featuring G45

that's right, us girls at Mountain Plains Crafters are showcasing

Graphic 45 today!

and there is a little prize package, so be sure you leave us all some love

and go post on the main MPC blog for your chance to win

First up today is a tag

This is a big tag, I cut it larger than normal at 3.5"x8"

Why? Well I love all the details of the paper I chose for my base

it's from G45's Time to Flourish Collection

which is super girly and beautiful.

The lovely lace is from My Mind's Eye.

I diecut using Die-namics Fancy Flourish with Stampin' Up cardstock.

Those cute little metal flower brads are almost vintage at this point, I've had them for years from Making Memories.

The finishing ribbon is from American Crafts (boo the very last I have of this particular one).

And a wonderful miscellaneous paper clip to finish it all off.

Next up I have this great (or at least I think it is!) Canvas piece that will be a Christmas gift, nope I'm not naming names here! She'll just have to wait to find out.

This gorgeous paper is from G45's Typography Collection.

I have a hard time cutting the prints from this collection because I love them so very much!

Let me go back, I started with a plain white 9"x12" canvas; thanks to Dick Blick I get them in bulk for a great price.

I cut out all the sentiments using my CutterPillar Pro (best trimmer EVER).

I painted the edges of the canvas black using acrylic paint from Master's Touch.

Sized the Striped paper & started piling stuff on.

I border cut the Stampin' Up cardstock using a Martha Stewart punch I got on clearance. I added the sentiment strips on those & attached it all to the base piece.

Next I added the funky paper clips to the sentiment boxes and aheared those to the base.

May Arts sparkly thin red ribbon for a topper and also for some to dangle this sweet sunshiney face to with a Making Memories brad.

I chose to use some older metal flower embellishments from Basic Grey and some chipboard sequins from UmWow Studio which I decided needed a little more color, so I dabbed on a bit of Golden's Transparent Pyrrole Orange & Quinacridone Red.

Die cut paper flower I cut on the Circut but I'm clueless which cartridge it came from, it was in my stash, but I can tell you I spritzed it with Tattered Angles before flicking it with Red paint. I topped that off with a bit of UmWow Studio flair which also somehow got a bit of paint on it too!

Glued it all down, then found a few more metal embellishments I felt just went with it all & added those too. Last I did a little Red paint splattering, just cuz I can ;-)

Last glued it down to the canvas using Aleene's Tacky Glue

I hope you've enjoyed my portion of the Graphic45 paper showcase!

Don't forget to go to the MPC blog to get entered to win & leave all of us some love

Kitty

there is nothing like a cat, I have two tuxedo kitties in my life

they make me happy

This Hallow's Eve Kitty from Unity Stamp Company

makes me happy too

I created the center circle using various mists

stamped the kitty/moon/bats using Ranger's Archival Ink

then using a tiny paint brush I painted the moon with Liquid Pearls in White Opal

Printed papers are an old Making Memories 8x8 pack Spook Alley

The awesome little chipboard bats are from UmWowStudio

I painted the bats with Tuxedo Smooch

edges are distressed with Tim Holtz Black Soot

I played along with Sketch Saturday #379

I made very small changes: left off the staples, added a sentiment strip, changed the stars to bats plus dropped one and moved them over but I think you can still see the basic sketch idea :-)

Many Thanks

My friend DeeDee is an amazingly talented designer!

She works wtih 7 Dots Studio, designing these awesome papers, stamps, stencils & chipboard pieces;

Plus she owns & designs for UmWow Studio coordinating chipboard pieces (the nice heavy kind) along with masks & flair. The latest is called Lost & Found and it is wonderful!

Background - 7 Dots Studio Wonky Halftone Mask used with Heavy Gesso (let that dry overnight)

smeared Tim Holtz Abandoned Coral & Twisted Citron on my craft mat, spritzed with water & dipped Background piece,
Using one of the 7 Dots Studio stamps in teh same inks, I added 3 splats of full color
Then I dipped my drinking glass in some Tim Holtz Ground Espresso and created some "coffee" stains

My friend from Mountain Plains Crafters, Marilynn, recently sent me these awesome little upcycled {pizza box} scrabble pieces, applied those with some thermo-web glue dots

Added a bit of May Arts Jute and topped it all of with a few sequins

heart & splatters

June 26... Our Wedding Anniversary!

We've been thru so many changes over these many years...

we've gone from high school diplomas to tech school grads

we've gone from thin to fat

we've been scrapping by to making it pretty good

we've gone from tiny starter home to custom construction

we've gone from childless to the parents of two teenage boys

we are so very blessed

and we still like each other

I made this one with the current Freshly Made Sketches #192 for my dearest

I got this great Chevron embossing folder on clearance at Hobby Lobby!

The heart stamp is from VivaLasVegas Stamps Plate #1459

Chipboard Heart (which I painted white) is from UmWow Studios Heart Confetti

a few splatters of black & white here & there 

Nautical or Patriotic... that is the challenge!

Welcome to the Mountain Plains Crafters Summer Challenge!  You have not one, but two choices; go nautical or go patriotic with your creation.  It's that time of season and we want you to choose whichever theme strikes your fancy.   Create a craft project (card, layout, DIY, etc.) and scroll to the bottom of this post for the InLinkz to link up.  We do have a few house rules, so read those at the bottom as well.

Before you read further, please visit May Arts Ribbon on Facebook and tell them "thanks for sponsoring the

challenge at MPC!"  You might wish to follow them as well.  There's always something fun going on over there and lots of crafty inspiration as well.

Well for my creation, I kinda did BOTH! Not really intentionally but that's what I ended up with

Where's the May Arts Ribbon, you may has asked yourself? humm, you see the wide blue/white stripes & the wide red/white stripes? That is May Arts Ribbon! Yes I was really thinking out of the box on that one as I really love both those ribbons

The lighthouse image is from Viva LasVegas Stamps Plate #923

For the water, I just blended several Faber-Castell Gelatos then rubbed lightly with water

Those amazing alphas? Well those are from my friend DeeDee at UmWowStudios AlphaOne

Now leave me some love, make something amazing & get it linked up!

Happy Blogoversary Deb

My friend & sister Design Team Member, Deb is having her very first Blogoversary!
We're doing a little Hop so make sure you go visit her blog: Meticulosity and leave lots of love

To help her celebrate, I created this with her in mind.

Her favorite colors: Lilac & Pink, plus she loves turquoise!

 this is an 8x10 canvas

inspired by Vicky Papaioannou

I selected this song just for Deb from an old Methodist Hymnal 

I used Penny Black's stamp Devine

along with Tim Holtz Bird Crazy 

and the stars are a Mask from UmWow Studio topped with Faber-Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel

a little mixed lilac & purple sequins to detail out the purple flower

 along with a little Faber-Castell PITT in Dark Sepia & black

A little detailing on this one using Faber-Castell PITT in  Pink Madder Lake

and some Sakura White Glaze pen

All Paints are from Golden

To celebrate my crafty friend, Deb
I am having a little Blog Candy!
So be a follow of this blog, comment below with a way to contact you
(due to price of postage, my drawing is only open to the U.S.)
I will select a winner via randomizer.org and announce the winner on Sunday, May 24th.

*****MAY ******
WINNER WINNER Time
and my lucky commenter is......
MARY!
I've sent you an email on what to do next!

GIU 2015 - Day 5

Thank you all for joining me this week!

I truly enjoy using Unity Stamps,

they are one of my go-to suppliers.

For my finale, I created a 12x12 Canvas

that started out as a gift for a friend

but ended up completely different from where I started.

It started out being a riot of flowers in all shades of purples, lilacs & white with a bold blue background, but it completely sucked so I removed all traces of the Gelatos & started over with fresh gesso.

But now, well now 

I'm in love with it!

As soon as the gesso dried, I used this amazing 12x12 stencil & sprayed it with a mixture of

half & half of Airbrush Medium & Carbon Black.

Once that dried completely, I started layering on the following mixed about half & half with Glaze;

(all paint is from Golden)

Teal, Sap Green Hue, Green Gold, and Quinacridone/Nickel Azo gold.

Again I waited for all those layers to completely dry before adding Ultramarine Blue which was about 1/4 paint with 3/4 Glaze (it dried to this awesome glossy gel texture)

Using Unity Stamp Company's Wild Poppy Silhouette which I stamped in a mixture of 

arbon Black & Titanium White to create a gray.

With an UmWow Studio Diamond mask, I applied Super Heavy Gesso that once dried I coated with Faber-Castell's Glass Bead Giltter Gel.

I applied the Sap Green Hue onto Unity Stamp Company's Beautiful Elements &

stamped in the bottom right corner.

I splattered Naphthol Red Light onto the Poppies.

Then I hung it on my painting room wall!

GIU 2015 - Day 1

Welcome to my week as the Growing In Unity Gal!

I am so excited so let's get started with something beautiful that I made yesterday (Sunday)

I started off with this fantastic printed (French, I think) tissue paper from Hobby Lobby

it's Gift Tissue so it's in the wrapping section

I topped the tissue with Matte Medium then stamped

Unity Stamp Company & Donna Downey's Delicate Wildflowers

After I added it to the blank tag, then I applied Modeling Paste to an UmWow Stencil

Diamonds and the Cicada

I applied Golden Napthol Red Light, Wuinacridone Red & Quinacridone/Nickel Azo Gold mixed with Acrylic Glazing then wiped off after about a minute each before applying the next color & wiping

Last I stamped the sentiment

Unity Stamp Company's Badass Every Day

Soar Above

Hello and welcome to the Light It Up Blue For Autism Awareness Blog Hop!

I have no personal story of Autism.

I just want to help where I can for those who have it or are raising a child with it. 

We have so many fantastic sponsors that have shown their support for Autism Awareness and you can see the complete list here: http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/…/the-light-it-up-blue-for-…. If you would like a chance to win a prize from one of these fabulous companies leave a comment on this blog, and any of the other blogs participating in today's hop! Winners will be chosen at random and will be announced on Monday April 6. Instead of a card, I created a Mixed Media Canvas!

This 11x14 Canvas was inspired by YouTube Video by
Vicky Papaioannou

sparkly details

Star Mask - UmWow Studio
used with modeling paste & topped with Faber-Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel
I hand cut all the hot air balloons
all the background colors are Faber-Castell Gelatos
grid is Unity Stamp Company Stamp
Alphs stamps from Fancy Pants Doodles & Things
I also free handed the cloud cu-outs
topped the clouds with Wink of Stella
all detailing using Copic Markers on balloons & clouds

I hope you've enjoyed my projects!

Blue Girl

Hello and welcome to the Light It Up Blue For Autism Awareness Blog Hop!

I have no personal story of Autism.

I just want to help where I can for those who have it or are raising a child with it. 

We have so many fantastic sponsors that have shown their support for Autism Awareness and you can see the complete list here: http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/…/the-light-it-up-blue-for-…. If you would like a chance to win a prize from one of these fabulous companies leave a comment on this blog, and any of the other blogs participating in today's hop! Winners will be chosen at random and will be announced on Monday April 6. Now here is the card I created for today's hop! 

I call her "Blue Girl"

 A2-size card back cut from Stampin Up cardstock

Image & Sentiment are a stamp from Unity Stamp Co. Dream Girl

Stamped using Ranger Archival Ink on White Cardstock

All coloring on the white cardstock is Gelatos

Heart & Flower Chipboard from UmWow Studio

painted with Acrylic Paints

twine embellishment on stem from May Arts

*Pink*

Everybody who follows me regularly knows how much I enjoy playing along with challenges

well today, I ran across a Mixed Media Challenge called

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge {Facebook}
or Mixed Media Monthly Challenge {blog}
 who for February has a challenge of PINK

which IS a challenge for me because I am completely not a pink girl

but I gave it the old challenge try

I chose to use my Art Journal for this Pink explosion

Big Chevron - Stencil from Wal-Mart in the paint department

Little Chevron - UmWow Studio Chevron Mask

Flower Petal Stencil - The Crafters Workshop

Miscellaneous Acrylic Paints

Large Floral Stamp - Unity Stamp Co. Mega Blooms

Butterfly - Unity Stamp Co. SMAK Trust Your Soul

Sentiment - Unity Stamp Co. SMAK (life is what you make it)

black splatters - Dr. Martin's Black Star India Ink

tag - brown hole from Donna Downey

Ribbon - Basic Grey

heart cup whatever

my heart usually is full when I have a full cup of coffee

just sayin'

keep that stuff coming!

Today I'm finally getting to play along with {Spring} Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

I only have one coffee cup available to me at this moment

(I have others I just can't get them right now)

so you're seeing this Creative Memories stencil again

The background is acrylic paint which first I applied using a UmWow Studio Mask of hearts

then using the Donna Downey technique of baby wiping it off before it dried,

I "painted" the rest of the card using the wipie

The stamp on the coffee cup is from Unity Stamp Co along with the sentiment

coloring on cup was done using Copic markers

ADORNit - wood plaque

Oh My Gosh! When I opened up this package I was GIDDY with excitement!

It immediately came to me what I wanted to do this this ADORNit
Wood Plaque Life is Beautiful

I started out by using Liqiutex Gesso over the entire wood base piece

Setting aside the wood letters for later use

Next I applied Twinkling H20's over the entire surface, working from the sky down to the grass

I hit it with the heat embossing tool to make sure all colors were completely dried before moving on

No photo for this step: using Unity's Stamp Company's Wild Poppy Silhouette (Donna Downey was the artist), I colored it quickly using Faber-Castell PITT artist pen big brush in Black and stamped for some faint floral images.

Using Donna Downey's Stencil with Faber-Castell PITT artist pen big brush in Black,

I carefully colored in just those flowers (the poppies) on top of the stamped poppies.

This step took quite a while and I used a tapping movement instead of brushing.

I found I had two chipboard Swallows from UmWow Studios which I painted

using Twinkling H20's in Black, along with a floral piece I painted using Twinkling H20's in rainforest. Once dry, I applied to the wood base using Yes!Paste

No photo for this step: I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks on the letting as the word "beautiful" was slightly darker than all the other letters, I just kept using various shades of brown until I got the look I wanted.

Using Yes!Paste, I positioned all letting where I thought they would look best.

Here's another view:

UmWow December Sketch

I played with this & played & played until finally I think it just might be done

maybe

I, of course, used the UmWow Studio December Sketch

which was very challenging! bu that's a good thing

this is a page in my art journal and I LOVE it

all the color you see are Faber-Castell Gelatos

Mushroom Stamp (upper left) & Moths (upper middle) -  7 Dots Studio Nature Walk Stamp Set (embossed using Zing in Chestnut)

Fern Stamp (upper middle) - Unity Stamp Co. Beautiful Elements by Jo-Ja

Cicada Mask (upper right) - UmWow Studio

Caterpillar Stamp (middle left) - Viva Las Vegas

Big Mushroom Stamp (middle middle) - Viva Las Vegas

Small Mushroom Stamp (middle middle) - Viva Las Vegas

"into the wild" flair" (middle middle) - UmWow Studio from Moon Shine Set

Sunflowers Stamp (middle right) - Viva Las Vegas

Chipboard Tag (bottom left) - UmWow Studio from Nature Walk

painted with Twinkling H20's in Rainforest

Sentiment (between bottom middle & right) - 7 Dots Studio Nature Walk Paper Pack

Small Chipboard Snail (bottom right) - UmWow Studio

with just a little bit of Faber-Ca stell PITT artist pen in White

blue splatters - Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze in Waterfall

misc washi & fibers

and here is the original sketch from UmWow Studio

soaring

UmWow Studio has a sketch every month to play with

I fully intended to make a scrapbook layout

and have simply run out of time with Thanksgiving being tomorrow

and family obligations

so a card it is!

I think it turned out beautiful!

Kraft Card base

for the background I used UWS Chevron Mask with Tim Holtz Pumice Stone

then I stamped Gelatos in Metallic Blueberry with

Unity Stamp Company's Beautiful Elements

All Papers are from 7 Dots Studio's Nature Walk along with the sentiment sticker

(don't pass-out, yes I said STICKER!)

all the little banners were hand-cut and ink distressed

plus UmWow Studio's Nature Walk Flair

bird stamp is also from Unity Stamp Co.'s She Did It Anyway

music stamp is a small portion from a Unity Stamp Co. KOM  {white lies within us}

birds stamped using Tim Holtz Black Soot ink

here is the fav sketch

Friendship Explored

Friends With Flair

from Unity Stamp Company

is something I look forward to each & every week.

This week, while I've got my project all ready to go

I'm posting it the night before.

You see this weekend my younger son (13yo right now)

will be competing for a spot on

TaeKwonDo USA Team going to Italy next summer!

yes, you read that right...

Italy!

and he's already told me I can't go... we will be speaking on the subject again

once we find out if he makes the team or not

I'm too excited

I'm too nervous

I'm extremely proud

*for the background, I created the grid with a ruler & pen

because I can't randomly do squares

*it's just not in me

*then I filled those squares with Galetos in Cotton Candy & Pistachio

blend blend blend

*then I applied Gelatos in Black Licorice using the wedge shaped Faber-Castell thingy

*using Unity's Donna Downey Stamp Imagine It flourish with Spearmint,

I applied the Gelatos directly to the stamp & spritzed with water

stamped on background 4 times, spritzing between each

*next I cut a piece of vellum & stamped the sentiment from Unity's The Right Words using Staz-On

*again using the flourish, I inked it up using Brilliance in Pearlescent Sky Blue and

dabbed a bit of the Staz-On here & there, stamped on vellum

*using UmWow Studio circle mask with the Brilliance, I applied using my fingertip

*I placed one tiny Zot in each corner and a few around the parameter

before adding Queen & Company's Washi Tape

*last I glued it all down to a green cardbase

Gelatos & Unity Stamps

to me, they are the perfect pair!

I spent much of last weekend in my craft room

watching YouTube videos & playing.

You see I'm very new to Gelatos

I know, I know... day late for that train

but I'm having so much FUN with them!

Here are the things I created last weekend,

I've already shared on my facebook page

Paula's Paper Playhouse

so you may have seen them already

but I wanted to share in the blogging world as well

Everything was made using Faber-Castell Gelatos & Unity Stamps

First Up: Moonlit Owls

Nanny

(vellum & dots, plus small dot embossing folder)

Aunt Leila

(brown & gold ribbon)

Wintery Mix

(silver metal snowflakes)

Art Journal Page 2

(butterfly & star chippies, plus diamond mask) from UmWow Studio

I hope you like what I've done

If you have any questions at all, please ask!

this witch

ok ok, it's just me

not really a witch

but I will be wearing this AMAZING

witch hat on October 31

I apologize, the page got wrinkled while packed away on my way home from a crop :-(

so many of the embellishments are from UmWow Studio

the VERY old items are: cloud, moon with baby swinging & yellow roses

newer items: crows, layered stars (so excited I found a package in my stuff!) and sunflower

the crows I covered with Twinkling H2O's in Black

behind the moon & splattered Tattered Angles Stained Glass in Yellow

Lace from Making Memories

large floral rub-on is super old

yellow roses were "dressed up" using Stickles in Black Diamond

I hate Cancer

I really hate cancer. so many friends & family have suffered and some have been lost.



This is in honor of all my girlfriends (too many to list) and my great great Auntie... my Aunt Leila was the matriarch of our family. She helped raise not only myself/cousins, but my mom/aunt/uncle AND my grandpa/great aunt. She is forever known for growing her own fruit to make a special jelly I named "LeilaBerry" and I can still see her face as clear as if she was standing in front of me. She passed when I was pregnant with my 16 year old but unfortunately I didn't know yet, what a joy it would have been for her had we known!

This one is for all the men I have known and know of going through treatments. Especially in remembrance of  Johnny, my dad's best friend when I was a kid who was like another father to me, we lost him years ago to breast cancer but no way was I making a pink card for a strong mountain man like him so I mixed together blues (for the sky & water) and green (for the grass & trees).

And this last card goes out to my sister Design Team Member, Sheryl, and her husband Leon, who is currently undergoing treatment. They have really been struggling financially but there is a fund set up to give them a hand.  Please consider going HERE to give them a little help!



All cards were made with Stencils (UmWow Studio & Tim Holtz) along with Gelatos and Unity Stamps