a favorite art journal page...

but first…

from the bottom of my heart…

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the birthday wishes…

I sincerely appreciate each & every one of them…

Rick said…"I didn't know that you knew so many people"…

lol…LOTS of my art friends live in my computer!

again…

THANK YOU ALL…I got well over 400 wishes, emails, cards & texts…made my day!

now speaking of hearts…

here's a fun art journal page…

I was actually sad when it was finished…

I really enjoyed creating this one & didn't want it to end...

it's the large size page that I've been doing…

8 ½ x 6 inches…so it's BIG!

I've gotten LOTS of requests for a tutorial for this new technique…

and also questions about making this a class for stores…

YES…that's my plan for 2014…a full 2 day art journal weekend marathon, where we'll make the journal covers & then fill the journal with this style of pages...

I'll be demoing this technique in the Ranger booth at CHA, so if you're attending, please stop by & visit us…

if you're not attending CHA, I plan to do a video of this technique with Christine from Scraptime…she & her hubby Mark do an awesome job… and she posts these videos right after CHA…so no long wait to get started with the fun…

if you want to be ready with the ingredients, so you can play along…

my archival reinkers & Ranger's specialty stamping paper are the 2 key MUST HAVES…

after that it's just adding stamping & stenciling…

remnant rubs, clearly for art, embossing pastes & embossing powders are great add ons…

so if you have these ingredients, you'll be ready to go…

and speaking of going…

I'm off to the studio to

make CHA art!

wendy

ps…YES there is a Ranger designer challenge for this CHA…

gotta get my thinking cap on for this one!

a quickie art journal share...

a very fun large mixed media art journal page...

and some thoughts for today…

make art!
wendy
ps…the title says…QUICKIE!
that's all folks! 
I got LOTS of (CHA) art to make...

enabler alert…25% off...TODAY ONLY...

just a quickie post to let you know

 about a 

 ONE DAY 

studio 490 

S A L E!

at eclecticPaperie…

25% off stamps...

25% off stencils...

25% off art parts...

25% off Blossom Bucket...

here's the SALE CODE…

12DAYS2

happy shopping...

gotta run to the studio to…

make (CHA) art!
wendy
ps YEAH BEARS!!!

a little vintage holiday decor...

and literally…

it's LITTLE!

it's full steam ahead working on CHA samples, but yesterday this idea popped into my head…

I couldn't concentrate…

so I HAD to take a break & see if it would look good…

I like to make a small Christmas goodie every year for Rick's bathroom…

and I had an IDEA…

to play along, follow these simple steps…

drop some of the smallest pearl baubles into a sandwich bag & add about 3 or 4 drops of red pepper alcohol ink…

seal the baggie & squish the bag to color the baubles…

remove them & set them out to dry…it's pretty quick…

next grab a woodlands large tree & mist it with peeled paint distress stain…

if you haven't tried misting with the distress stains, you're missing out on a lot of fun…

this just *might* be my favorite way to use them…

just pop the top & put the stain into a mister…

TRUST ME…you WILL love them!

here's my green tree…

use potting soil archival ink on the blending tool to ink the wood base easily...

next, use Glue N Seal to lightly & randomly paint the branch edges…

the photo below shows that the Glue N Seal does activate the distress stain, since it's water based..

BUT...no problem…

just run the brush under water & it removes the distress color quickly & the brush bristles are unharmed…

since Rick likes vintage bling, peeled paint distress glitter was perfect…

I put the tree (with the wet Glue N Seal) into a sandwich baggie & sprinkled it with the distress glitter…

and here's a TIP…

shake the tree inside the bag to remove the excess glitter...

after I removed the tree & set it aside to dry, I cut the bottom corner off the baggie & funneled the glitter right back into the container & tossed the baggie...NO MESS!

it's kind of like those pastry/frosting bags…

to make the tree secure in the base, make a small hole in the wood base & insert a nail…

make sure to cut it if necessary, so it sits flush in the base…

use hot glue to fill the hole in the shoe form & the nail holds it securely in place...

now add the red baubles to the tree with Glossy Accents…

in this next photo, you can see how awesome the glitter looks...

add a bow to the base with the red natural trimmings…

the finishing touches are some of tim's remnant rubs…

they adhere easily to the child sized wood shoe form…

MUCH easier than trying to stamp on a curved surface…

vintage…quick & FUN…

kind of a darkish photo, in the laundry room…lol...

this is a better one…

and here's the LITTLE decor that fits perfectly in his bathroom…

complete with a mirrored star tree topper...

here's plan B, just incase you don't have a shoe form…

vintage tin reflectors will make a perfect stand for the large tree too…

this will be CUTE ...

and if you have a little tree, a wooden vintage thread spool is a great fit...

now it's back to the studio…

today is all about new stamps, new stencils, new art parts, new _______ & ________…

when they arrived I felt like a 5 year old on Christmas Eve!

if you have a little spot that needs a little holiday decor…

or need a super sweet hostess gift...

try this little project & 

make art!

wendy

ps…GO BEARS!

clearly for art and frosted film...

frosty & sturdy…

it's a match made in heaven!

while talking with tim one day at CHA, I asked him about his ideas  (ok…picking his brain) for using his frosted film…

he said I think you should try it with your clearly for art & see what happens…

GENIUS!

so today, his December tag is created with frosted film, clearly for art, the tattered poinsettia die & my MWAH…archival inks…

tim asked if I would share some projects using the same products…

below is my tattered poinsettia card…

the base is the new distress watercolor cardstock & it's the perfect base for a more classy card…

it's a nice white & a very substantial base...

I used red geranium archival to tint the frosted film…just a little on the blending tool is all it takes…

tap it on...then dry it with Ranger's heat-it tool...

I used watering can archival, with my ornate dots background stamp, to lightly stamp over the large die cuts before assembling the flower…

fern green archival was perfect for tinting the frosty little sprigs…

these are on the pinecone die & they fit perfectly with any flower…I use them LOTS…they add great detail & dimension, but no bulk…so if you are mailing a card or adding them to an art journal page…they are perfect...

I felt like the card needed very little, since the poinsettia made such a great focal point…

just some stripes stenciled along the left side with watering can archival and some random script background stamping, also with watering can archival…

I used bundled sage distress ink, on the blending tool to shade the card edges…

a big pearl bauble for the center & some smaller pearls & some pens stitching to the edge…

done!

this next photo shows how pretty the flower is…

it's frosty & un-smashable…

that's the benefit of using CFA...

oh…see the small flower hiding?

that's the mini movers & shapers cardinal/poinsettia…it was lightly inked with red geranium, then stamped over with my reverse dots background, that was inked with watering can archival…

that's how the dots are pink-ish & the background is grey...

this made the flower darker & helped it stand out so it could be tucked behind the larger poinsettia...

so that's one way to use the frosted film/clearly for art combo…

for a clean & simple classy card…

plan A...

but how about a more vintage look?

plan B...

for the tag below, I covered a sheet of the CFA with the frosted film, then die cut the mini bottles…

the left & center bottles were colored with orange blossom archival, with a bit of potting soil archival on the edges…

the bottle on the right is a little different…

I used a thin layer of broken china distress PAINT on the BACK of the bottle…then added cornflower blue archival to the frosted film front…

YES! distress paint works great on CFA...

what you'll notice is that the bottle on the right is more opaque, because of the distress paint and that the paint really makes the frosted film stand out...

to jazz up the bottle fronts, I wanted to add some remnant rubs…

they work perfectly AS LONG AS THE ARCHIVAL INK IS DRY, before you apply them…

archivals are oil based, so they need to be 100% dry for the rubs to stick...

you'll see those cute sprigs on this tag too…

and just a portion of the ornate dots background, to create a border...

I like that the same products can be classy or vintage...

some other tips I wanted to share…

I heat these pieces from the back…the CFA side...

after heating the CFA to shape the pieces, I used glue dots to add them to the tag…

the frosted film really helps to hide the glue dots…

they are almost invisible...

I added the rubs after I heated & shaped the bottles…

I wasn't sure if rubs are heat stable or not…

distress paint on the bottle back creates a whole different effect… & completely hides the adhesive…

I used the distress markers to highlight the bottle corks…

clearly for art can be reheated & reshaped many times…

archivals inks are permanent on the frosted film, when dry...

now for plan C…

this play day got me thinking...

would frosted film work over clearly for art BLACKOUT?

it's the same moldable material, but pure solid black…

and I'm happy to report…

it does & it's really a unique effect…

this is the tattered florals flower & the center is rusty hinge, distress glitter...

I decided to use the flower on this art journal page…

you can see that orange blossom archival berries looks great with rusty hinge…

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the flourishes, stamped with fern green archival & for sure, jet black archival for my main sentiment...

make sure you pop over to tim's blog & see his AWESOME December tag along with more tips & hints…

if you came over from tim's blog…

THANKS SO MUCH for stopping by!

now...it's time for YOU to grab your frosted film & clearly for art so you can have fun and…

make art!

wendy