Believe

I bought some of these chipboard wall decor words from Hobby Lobby to give out as Christmas gifts. I am enamored with the colors of this blue and green style and can't seem to move on to another color scheme. The blending is challenging, and I feel like I am inventing the wheel every time I attempt to recreate this look.

The quote is from a Footprints rubber stamp that I stamped on acetate with Staz-On ink. I cut the quote up and littered it throughout the piece. This is by far my favorite of all my word pieces. There are others, but this one was the one I wish I could look at every single day. 

The balance of beads and jewels is my favorite challenge. The cherry on top!

Paints were found at Joann.com. I used blue, green, and gold metallic paints. Gel medium sealed and adhered the dimensional goodies. 

Follow your art

I feel like words will ruin the tranquility of this enchanting little 8x8 canvas. I spend a couple months every year, putting paint and texture on a variety of canvases, so I can later create something with it. I really loved the plain painted canvas. Layers and layers that I will one day post a walk through series of my process. Each canvas takes a week, sometimes two weeks to create. If you take into account that I cut then hand paint all the die cuts, then we are looking at a much longer process from start to finish. 

Sizzix - 3-D flower 

Spellbinders - Floral Flourishes 

Spellbinders - Peacock Feathers

Spellbinders - Jewel Keys, Truth

Precious Metal Color - Blackberry, Blue Azure, Gold

Fiber Paste scraped on smoothly, but allowing the texture of the canvas to show from beneath. I use cheap gold paint to highlight the areas I want to show, then the final touch is Liquid Leaf Gold for that rich metallic look.

Cheery Lynn Designs - Hot Air Balloons

Cheery Lynn Designs - Butterfly

Fly Away

The only thing I love more than a deep textured, mixed media canvas, is the die cuts I put on it. This is an 8x10 inch canvas, one of my first attempts at mastering the reflective nature and motion I desire. I gave in to the theme of the year, which was game pieces as words, but I like the way it looks. My favorite part of this piece is the Milky Way like stream down the center. I made this piece when Cheery Lynn Designs released their mini gears and cog set, which I cut out with metallic paper.

Sizzix - Tim Holtz Sewing Room 

Clock Parts and gears or here

Lumiere - Halo Blue Gold

Liquid Leaf Gold

Precious Metal Colour - Blue Azure

Really... you can add anything you have on hand. Just make it fluid, and love it when it's done.

Peacock Peace

Continuing with my Peacock journey, I created this little piece last year and gave it away as a gift. It is really very simple, but ornate. I don't really like the smaller pieces that are so popular these day, because I want my story to take over the entire wall. But they make wonderful little gifts!

This fun little canvas is 5x7, and I used the Spellbinders Jewel Fantasies and Jewel Keys die set, along with the Cricut Art Nouveau. I found a large earring at Joann's and used it for the feather. The label is cut with the Tim Holtz Tag & Bookplates die. I used metallic paints to color th eaccents, and jewels to fill the feather tail. I do love my die cuts!

Alluring

I went on a crazy peacock phase a couple years ago, then went on a cutting spree with my Cricut. Originally this was not going to be a hombre type painting, I switched gears half way through and decided the peacock in the tree needed a blue sky! This painting hangs in my hallway so I can see it when I come up the stairs. It sits under a solar light tube, so it reflects the sun off the glass in the sky. It truly is Alluring. The gold mica flakes simulate falling leaves.

 I love the reflective nature of the Shimmer paper by DCWV, and the mica flakes from Micheal's. The base paints are Lumiere fabric paint, also metallic, but then I use pretty much nothing else! The peacock tail is filled in with stickles by Ranger.

  The wings are a beautiful set from Cheery Lynn Designs. It is a left and right, large and small set, and I LoOOove them!! You can see the details yourself!

The Alluring is from a Tim Holtz Bigz Block Talk alphabet set, I cut multiple layers of chipboard and layered them for dimension. The paint is Viva Precious Metal Colour, a wonderfully expensive metallic paint that is rather difficult to find, but Joann.com sells most of the colors. 

I am ever so pleased with the clever use of re-purposed treasures for my pieces. The branch is the Tim Holtz Bird Branch die, that I cut out the packaging of the die, with the die. Then painted the underside with Viva Stamp Paint, which offers texture, and the top is glossy. Or you can flip it for the texture up, I go both ways. You can see where I built the tree out of the single branch die.

One of my favorite techniques is using Golden Gel Medium from Amazon or Michael's and mixing a batter of translucent beads and blue and green cello glitter. This mixture also contains blue and green beach glass that I smashed to bits. The silver tube beads are a bit like rain drops, but only if you are thinking that when you drop them in the batter!

 The gel medium acts as a glue, so it is a really valuable tool for working on canvas. The base is textured with Liquitex Natural Sand mixed with paint, then watered down metallic paint for the blended effect.

I linked the stores that I buy most of my materials from. 

Thank you for stopping by!!

Curiosity is an ART

This technique makes my day better when I see it on my wall. The illumination shifts as the lighting changes throughout the day. Every time I walk by these pieces I see something different, and it reminds me of what I want in life.

This piece is by far my most favorite of all my mixed media. It has a lot going on, and I love the colors. The paints shimmer in the light, and the lettering is really unique, so much so that I can't duplicate it! How did I do that!?! 

The background is plastered with Natural and Resin Sand, applied with a palette knife. The tiny clock parts were difficult to find, but you can look on Amazon for Steampunk Watch Parts, excellent deal for what you get.

Above anything else, I would love to find the purple and green ribbon again, because this is my last rose in that ribbon.

The candle is a Tim Holtz die Candlelight Fright from Mat Board or chipboard. I used metallic paints to color it, and the Viva Decor Crystal Pearl Pen to create the wax. The flames are from the yellow pearl pens, which is a product I can't live without. I alternated the clear and the white pens while they were wet, to give that dripping look. If you are going to stock them based on my word, you better get two of each, because they are my go to for detailing dies.

I use various beads and glitters and flakes in my confetti fills. Both Michael's and Joann's sells the same product, but I like to buy mine at Joann's on sale.  

I used the Sizzix Serif Essentials alphabet to cut out mat board with an encyclopedia page on top of that. I stamped a peacock feather with Versamark and dusted that with blue and green Pearl Ex. I edged it with a gold paint pen.

I used gloss gel medium to adhere the beads and various pieces.

Any random bead mixture will work.

I linked products to the stores that I buy the most product from online or brick and mortar. Michael's, joann.com, and Amazon are my go to for supplies.

Great Performance!

This was a fun piece to put together. At the time, the wings were new to me, and I was on a fanatic dress form spree. The week I made this one, an actor friend was having a performance at his school and I was inspired by the intrigue of it all. Jesse got a standing ovation from me! One day when he makes it big in Hollywood, I will always have this piece of him from the past. Yes, he's a guy and this is a girl thing...I did use blue...

Cheery Lynn Designs - Wings 

Sizzix - Tim Holtz Sewing Room 

Sizzix - Tim Holtz Gadget Gears

Sizzix - Ornate Hanging Sign

Lumiere - Indigo

Precious Metal Colour - Blue Azure

Stampendous! Mica Flakes - 

You can find them at Michael's and Joann's stores, or here online.

The larger gear is from Cricut.com

Crafting Keeps Me Sane

I love the 8x8 canvas. They are so easy to work with because they are firm and tight, and there is no limit to what you can pile on. This piece was a sample board for various dies. It is all paint and die cuts, and die cuts I painted. I absolutely love die cuts more than anything else. I can cut paper for hours, so I have drawers of organized cuts. Cathartic I suppose.

If you like the look and options of this particular flower or rose, I would find the die as soon as possible because it is retired for some reason. It is a steel rule die and it cuts out nice felt flowers too. Sizzix.com should have some new options, I added a link to Amazon down below. Don't forget to ink the edges! 

Cheery Lynn Designs - Victorian Romance Flourish

Cheery Lynn - Sophia's Heart mini

Sizzix - 3-D flower 

I used an 8x8 canvas which is nice and manageable. I find they are difficult to get my hands on, but now I know to buy a bundle when they are available, and on sale. I buy all my canvas from Michael's when they have their fabulous Artist Loft canvas packs on sale. Girlie Grunge Labels word art.

The background is much more difficult to describe. I used Lumiere fabric paint - Indigo because it is so dark and flexible. I bought it on Joanns. While I was there, I also grabbed the metallic blue Viva Decor Precious Metal Color in various icy blues. And to keep it the marbled effect, I also used basic metallic craft paint that I buy when I go to Michael's.

When the paint dries, I add mica flakes using a really high quality Golden acrylic Polymer Medium, Gloss. The Mica Flakes are by Stampendous, and found at Michael's, Joann's, and Amazon.

Crafting Keeps Me Sane

Spellbinders - Valiant Honor

Spellbinders - Decorative Labels Twenty Eight

Spellbinders - Shapeabilities Venetian Motifs 

Spellbinders - Peacock Feathers

Cheery Lynn Designs - Hot Air Balloons