DecoArtMedia Winter Wonderland Challenge: Winter is Magic Snowy Owl Canvas

Welcome to the DecoArt Media Winter Wonderland Challenge!

This challenge is winter themed and filled with blues, purples and maybe even some snow!
The DecoArt Mixed Media Design Team has been busy creating some great inspiration pieces that have been featured daily since December 28th over on the DecoArt Media Blog.  The challenge opened for entries on December 28th and will close on January 29th.

Hello, hello!!!  Are you guys keeping warm?  It's been pretty mild so far here in Texas.  February is usually our coldest month so we'll have to wait and see how we fair this winter.   Okay so for this challenge I created a beautiful snowy owl mixed media canvas.

I'm using a 6x6 burlap canvas that I covered with a thick layer of  DecoArt Media gesso.  I used a palette knife to spread it on then added a wash of blue interference.

Next I added warmth with shades of pink.  I'm using a combination of quinacridone magenta, magenta interference and white shimmer mist.

 After that I mixed up some Prussian blue with crackle paint.  I applied it with a palette knife and stamped snowflakes into it when it was half dry.  This technique leaves a subtle impression in the background.

I tweaked the background a bit then used a chalk pencil to sketch my design.  Once I was happy with the sketch I loaded my brush with Paynes Grey and went over the sketch.

After that it was just a matter of coloring in my owl.  I started with a base layer of good ole Titanium White.

I continued to layer and add shadows using Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Paynes Grey and Carbon Black.  While the paint was still wet, I sprinkled a thin layer of blue fairy dust for a little shimmer.

Next I added embossed snowflakes here and there.

To round out the composition and add some interest, I attached an embellishment cluster.  The cluster includes a glittered snowflake, tiny silk rose, hatpin and paper flower.

The final touch was adding the sentiment: Winter is Magic.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, be sure to enter the DecoArtMedia Winter Wonderland Challenge.  Have a wonderful day!!

PWP Winter Blog Hop & Giveaway!

WELCOME to Paper Wing Productions' Winter Design Team Blog Hop & Giveaway! If you've arrived here from Katie's blog, then you're in the right place.  If you’re just stopping by for a visit, please CLICK HERE to start from the beginning.

This month our theme is Winter.  So grab something warm, get comfortable and enjoy the hop. 

The main prize is a $25.00 gift certificate to the Paper Wings Productions online store.

For a chance to win all you need to do is:

• be a follower of the Paper Wings Productions blog
• visit each of the participating designer's blogs and leave a comment
• come back and leave us a comment on the PWP blog telling us you completed the hop.

To increase your chances of winning: like our Facebook page and/or invite your friends to the hop.  Be sure to leave a separate comment for each of your additional entries. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, Dec 10th, 2013 on the Paper Wings Productions blog.

Today I have a sweet little Winter Princess to share with you.  I think she would look beautiful on a mantel or in a little girls room inside a glass globe.

If you follow me on FB, then you probably saw this pic.  It was this light bulb that inspired my design.  I recently replaced several of the light bulbs in my studio and being the pack rat recycler that I am, I saved them.  I thought that I could probably make something with them.  So when I started thinking about my project, I kept looking at this bulb sitting on my self and then it hit me.  It looks like a dress!!  So I found a small piece of cardboard tube from my junk pile stash and glued it to the top.  The tube works to elongate the bodice and cover up the bulb's prongs.  Then I started looking at my stamps and had another AH-HA moment, the tree looks like a skirt!!  So that was my jumping off point and I ran with it :D  Let me show you how I put her together:

She needed a base so I used an empty spool of ribbon, a sheet from a chipboard mini album, foam, lace trim and scrapbook paper.

I painted the chipboard with Gesso then stamped/embossed it with one of the snowflake stamps.  Next I filled the empty spool with foam, topped it with paper and attached the lace trim.  With that she was ready to take her place of honor.

I used Prismacolor pencils and Stickles to color and embellish my princess.  Since my dress is three dimensional and she is two dimensional, I had room to embellish behind her.  So I used the beautiful leaves and postcard stamp.  Then I tucked in a piece of the ribbon from the Nov Nesting Components kit and some more snowflakes.  

Since I ended up covering the "tree skirt", I decided to add another one front and center.  I also added a wooden tree that I dyed with Lindy's spray ink, flowers and a sentiment glued onto an old key.  The Shakespeare quote is on the Waves of Magic stamp set and is attached to a beautiful winter scene but I just wanted the quote so I cut it out.

You'd never know that this beautiful little princess started out as an old light bulb and empty ribbon spools, lol.  I hope I've inspired you to get creative with your stamps and upcycle something that you might have thrown away.

It's time to send you off to your next stop so head on over to Carrie's Blog!!

***Here is the complete line up just in case you get lost along the way***

Erica Rose Thompson - http://ericarosecreates.blogspot.com

Irit Shalom - http://iritshalom.blogspot.com
Katie Smith - http://www.punkprojects.com

Norma Gomez - http://lilhoneybeestudios.blogspot.com

Carrie Avery - http://www.carrieavery.com
Amber Rasmuss - www.sew-ink.blogspot.com
Cathi O’Neill - www.celticknotted.blogspot.com
Dana Tatar - http://datatar.blogspot.com

Paper Wings Productions Blog “The Aviary­ - http://paper-wings-productions.blogspot.com/

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY!!

&

Let Your Creativity Take Flight!

Princess Clear Stamp Set Snowy Stamp Set Postcard Cling Stamp Jolly St Nick Cling Stamp Set Leaves Cling Stamp Set Winter Cling Stamp Set Writing Backgrounds Cling Stamp Set Starburst Set- Icicle Creek Madonna Blue Robe Embossing Powder November 2013 Nesting Components Mixed Media Kit

InLinkz.com

Picture Perfect Layout

Hello, hello!  Today is a HUGE day in our household because our youngest starts middle school.  Wow, I just can't get over how fast time flies.  I hope he has a great day and a wonderful middle school experience.

I also have a Bella update!  Our sweet four legged baby came home yesterday!!!!!  She is still on loads on medications and needs to go back for a follow up in two week but I'm just soooo happy to have her home.  She's definitely not a 100% but she's alive and she's here so that's good enough for me.



Thanks again for all of your well wishes and prayers :D

With so much going on this summer, I really didn't make it into the studio to create too often but I did make this layout last weekend.  I used the beautiful vintage themed Paper Wings Productions Nesting Components kit along with PWP leaf stamps, K&Company stickers and flowers from my stash.

Did you know that PWP has a huge assortment of Fall and holiday themed stamps?!  Well they do!!  I used their Leaf Cling Stamp set on this layout.  Do you see the big cream colored flower?  That was a weekend flea market find :D

With the Aug PWP Nesting Components kit, you get to choose between the circles and damask background stamps.  So I used the circles stamp with some copper embossing powder on this layout.

This is me and my sweet little grand baby last fall.  Well friends, thanks so much for stopping by today and be sure to stop by the PWP blog for more Aug Nesting Components kit inspiration!!

Have a Beautiful Day!!!

In Remembrance Layout - Berry71Bleu/CSI Case No. 79

Hello, Hello!!  I hope you all had a wonderful fun filled holiday weekend!  

Today I'm sharing my very first project as a Berry71Bleu team member.  (Yay, I'm very excited about that!)  This month's challenge is "ANYTHING GOES" so the sky's the limit!!  Breakout your favorite crafty materials and put something spectacular together.  Then link your project up for your chance to win some fabulous prizes.

But wait, there's more!!!!

This month Berry71Bleu is also sponsoring CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration!  How exciting is that right?!  We will be joining CSI as Guest Detectives for the entire month of July.  So we'll be sharing our layouts here after they go live on the CSI site each week. Join us for any one of the weekly CSI Challenges for a chance to win a $35 Gift Certificate to the Zeus and Zoe Etsy Shop!

I was inspired by the patriotic colors of Case File No. 79 and quickly began gathering my evidence.  My investigation revealed traces of ribbon, metal, flourishes and stripes!  Suddenly before my very eyes, the scene of my son and his Cub Scout troop honoring our nations heroes appeared.

To create the stripes, I layered strips of crepe paper and ribbon then stitched down the center of each stripe.  I used a large Scrapiniec die-cut to frame the tomb of a fallen soldier and smaller die-cuts through out the layout as accents.

I randomly stamped a Heartfelt Creations Perfect Medley stamp with gesso and inked the edges of the cardstock with my finger.

For my metal element, I used a sheet of aluminum foil.  I folded the foil to give me four layers before running it through my embossing machine.  (Since a single layer of foil is very thin, it's necessary to fold it to add strength; otherwise the foil may not hold the embossed image.)  After embossing, I applied a thin layer of  gesso to white wash the foil.

With a little more stitching here and there, some blingy stars and meaningful words, I solved CSI Case No. 79.

Our July Sponsors

Heartfelt Creations is the main sponsor for this month!

Heartfelt Creations
Blog: http://www.heartfeltcreations.us/blog.php

Heartfelt Creations® is a leading Rubber Stamp & Scrapbook manufacturer for the craft industry. Heartfelt Creations was established in 1997 as Golden Rule Supply manufacturing Rubber Stamps. In January 2006 Golden Rule Supply became Heartfelt Creations.

Heartfelt Creations provides a unique line of artistic stamps, detailed dies and designer papers. Many of our stamps coordinate with our exclusive Spellbinders™ dies. The innovation of our stamps paired with matching dies offers a whole new dimension of possibilities and quickly adds eye-popping 3D depth to any project. Our designer papers are designed to coordinate with our product collections adding the perfect complement to any Heartfelt Creations stamp or die. 

The Inspiration

Linda the founder and CEO of Heartfelt Creations describes it as the 'AHH HA' moment when she picked up her first stamp to show her kids how to use it. At that moment she realized that she had discovered something amazing. With that a dream was born to offer the same creative delight to people around the world that she felt when she picked up a stamp for the first time. 

Main Prize:

Random Prize:

A one-of-a-kind Berry71Bleu Handmade Tag by Marivic Clifton

A special thanks to Scrapiniec Die-Cut Chipboard for sponsoring the Berry71Bleu Design Team, who will be sharing projects with their chipboard for the next several months.

Scrapiniec Die-Cut Chipboard

Blog: http://scrapiniec-inspiracje.blogspot.com/

Scrapiniec is the first Polish manufacturer of laser die-cut chipboard products for use in scrapbooking. They satisfy even the most unusual individual orders and are characterized by reliability, high quality and friendly customer service. 

You have til the end of the month to join in on this month's  Berry71Bleu ANYTHING GOES challenge!

THANKS for joining me, have a great week!!!