blue skies...

Hello my fabulous friends!

Who's ready for some blue skies and bright flowers?  I know I am!

So...

I'm totally LOVING the bright, happy colors and bold designs of DCWV Summer Garden Stack! And the 6x12 size is great for cards, die cutting, and borders on scrapbook pages! (and it is double sided! BONUS!)

These fabulous little gems are hot rocks from imaginisce.  They are hot fix, so when you heat them with the i.rock heat tool, the glue melts, and permanently sticks them to paper OR fabric!  How fun, huh! 

*note to self... must find some clothes or furniture to gem-ify!  Maybe my niece will let me sparkle up one (or more) of her shirts....*

A little floating magic going on here. I cut apart the top flap of the card and inserted a strip of clear plastic. This made a nice little window.  "Thanks" is actually stamped inside the card. This is just a fun way to change things up a bit. The thin strips of contrasting paper not only act as a fun edging, they also hide the glue lines. 

This fun flower was made using Spellbinder's "Rose Creations" die. I die cut layers of fabric, netting, and DCWV Summer Garden paper and did a bunch of stacking for a flower 'blooming' with texture.  I love that the paper is double sided, so when it folds over, a coordinating design shows. Fabulous!

Enjoy!

~Kassi

Supplies Used:

Paper: DCWV Supper Garden 6x12 stack, white card stock

Ink: Distress ink, VersaMark

Stamp: My Mind's Eye "Tickled Pink"

Die: Spellbinders "Rose Creation"

Other: fabric, brad, Imaginisce hot rocks, clear plastic 

use your scraps...

Hello my wonderful friends!

Have you ever had scraps of paper too small to do much with, but you love them too much to get rid of them?   Well, try why not try this out?

Die cut some small simple shapes like circles and make a border down the edge of a card. It's one of those sweet and simple cards that puts those favorite scraps to the best possible use!

So what are my scraps from???

Would you believe they are from the DCWV Kidlet stack?

Yeah! 

 I love how even though it is a "kid" stack, some of these papers totally work for any age! So cute!

Enjoy!

~Kassi

Supplies Used:

Paper: DCWV Kidlet Stack, cardstock

Ink: Distress Ink, Colorbox, All Purpose

Stamp: My Mind's Eye "Favorite"

Die: Quickutz "Nesting Circles"

Other: button, string

technicolor magic...

Hello my wonderful friends!

Today I thought I would share a fun little technique that looks a whole lot more impressive than it actually is difficult.  In fact, it is so simple, it only has two steps.  (but the end result is dazzling!!!)

I've heard some people refer to this technique as "black magic", but I don't really like that name, so I thought decided to call it.... the "technicolor magic" technique. Why?  Well, picture in your mind's eye, a tornado, a black and white farm house spinning around, and around, and around... until it crashes down... the girl inside timidly opens the door to a brightly colored scene and looks down at her little dog and says "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore..."

Ok... so I grew up LOVING the Wizard of Oz. :)

Anyway, let's make some Technicolor magic of our own

Step 1: Using a white waterproof permanent ink (or white acrylic paint), stamp your image on a black card stock.

Step 2: Paint over the white with Creative Inspirations Paint. The color will pop on top of the white!

Here is the finished piece! Beautiful, huh! And amazingly simple!  Although I did follow the lines for the the vines and to add some details, it really isn't the detailed work it looks like... want poof?

When you look at it in this light where you can see the shimmer, you can see that the flowers and berries are completely painted in...but the color only shows up on the white!

*side note for all Wizard of Oz fans... Dorothy's shoes were originally SILVER. That is how the story was written. However, to take full advantage of the Technicolor effects, they changed it to RUBY for the movie.  (When I learned that in Jr. High, I wrapped my Dorothy doll's shoes in tinfoil. True story)

Enjoy!

~Kassi

Supplies Used:

Paper: DCWV Chalkboard card stock

Ink: StazOn

Stamp: Basic Grey "Grape Leaf"

Creative Inspirations Paint: Green Olive, Evergreen, Royal Purple, Amethyst, Tutu Pink, Blush, Pink Highlights, Mellow Yello

softer side of knee highs

Hello my fabulous friends!

I hope today finds you all wonderfully happy, heathy, and creative!  

Today I have a couple cards to share made with one of Basic Grey's newest collections Knee Highs!

I love this collection! 

First up we have a little shabby sophistication... Over all, this is a fairly bright collection, but there are some papers that are a little more subdued. 

This too is on the softer side of the Knee Highs collection, and I absolutely love it! As much as I adore the bright colors of the rest of the collection, I think the "Cat's Cradle" may just be my absolute favorite single sheet!  It is simply beautiful! 

Isn't this collection beautiful???  

Enjoy!

~Kassi

distressed paste...

Hello my wonderful friends!

Who's ready to break out the paints?????  Yeah, me too!

To get us started, you are going to have to do a little prep work. You will need a squeeze bottle with a fine tip applicator.  (I washed out an old paint writer bottle.)  Next you will need to fill it with modeling paste. I used a  liquid ink to color mine black before I filled my bottle. (you can also use things like pastels and acrylic paints.)  You can use whatever color you want, depending on what colors you want in your project. You will need your modeling paste one color, and a contrasting color to go over top of it. Keep that in mind.

Ok, now we've got that all ready, let's get going!

Step 1: Stamp your image. I like to use a light color ink so no lines will show though when I'm done.

Step 2:  Carefully follow the lines of your stamp with your paste we talked about earlier to make all the lines of the image nice and raised. I'll be honest, this takes some practice! Don't give up! It helps to work from the inside of the image outward so you don's smear the lines with your hands accidentally. It also is good to wipe the tip of your bottle often... as you can see in the photo, it tends to get paste on the outside, and that can make for messy lines.

Let it dry completely.

Step 3: Sponge on a contrasting color of acrylic paint. I like to dab the paint on with a makeup wedge because I love the texture (I'll show a close up later in the post). Depending on your paint and the colors you are using, you may need to do more than one coat. 

Step 4: Randomly sponge on some Creative Inspirations Paint. This will give it some extra color and spots of shimmer. It really adds to the interest and beauty of the finished product!

*you can keep blending and adding layers until you are happy.*

Allow to dry completely.

Step 5: Gently sand the design. This will take the paint off the highest areas of the design, revealing the modeling paste and giving it that great distressed/shabby look!

Ok... so it looks kinda bad right now... let's clean that up!

Step 6: With a slightly damp rag, wipe away the dust that was created from the sanding.

Step 7: Admire your amazingly fabulous piece!

I couldn't get a good closeup of the shimmer, but it is beautiful!  I love the shabby distressed look!

A finished card with my design as the focal point was a cinch to put together!

Ok.. as promised, a closeup of the texture that you get when you pounce the acrylic paint on with a makeup wedge... I love it! 

Enjoy!

~Kassi

just spray it...

Hello my fabulous friends!  

I have a quick little tutorial to share with you today just for fun!

I was playing around with an idea that really wasn't working, however, it lead to something that is quite fun anyway. =)

In a mini mister, mix about equal parts Glossy Accents and water... I probably used a little more GA than water. I never measure things like this. LOL!  Shake well.

Spray onto a paper for a mist of shiny splatters of dots that will resist ink or...

Now, you have to work fast with this... it dries really quickly!

Spray onto paper and cover with glitter. Press down, and shake off extra glitter... 

fun random glittery patterns.. If you spray only from one direction, you can get almost an ombre look.

You can do the same thing with embossing powders! Yup, you read that right!  After shaking of the extra, heat up the remaining powder just like normal for some FABULOUS random texture!  It is great fun!

Ok.... back to what I'm supposed to be working on... =)

Enjoy!

~Kassi

faux canvas...

Hello my wonderful friends!

As an artist, one of the most intimidating feelings can be staring at a blank canvas. (yes, even those of us who have been at it for a while can feel this way...)

  Maybe it is the fear that we won't be able translate what we see in our mind to what others see on the canvas... Maybe it is the decisiveness of the first brushstroke eludes us... Maybe we are just afraid we will make a mistake. 

I know the feeling. I stand there staring at that stark white and it seems to swallow me whole. I have found it really helps me when I truly let myself embrace the belief that art is not about right and wrong... it isn't about making mistakes, but rather about feeling, expressing, and "dancing like no one is watching".  At least that is what works for me. Everyone must find their own way in art. 

However, finding your own way can get kind of expensive... have you taken a look at the price of canvases lately?  Yeah... that could be part of the reason the blank canvas is so intimidating. They are far to pricy to waste!  

So... how about a little faux canvas for playing with?

Gauze is much better priced in my opinion!

This works with many surfaces, however, the thicker, the better. I have used heavy cardstock, but it did curl quite a bit with all the moisture.  Chipboard and wood won't curl, but it is up to you.

Step 1: Coat your piece with Gesso. 

Step 2: While the Gesso is still wet, press the gauze into it, pulling the gauze tight. We are using the Gesso not only as a base coat, but also as our adhesive.

Step 3: Brush on a layer of Gesso over top of the gauze.  I like to follow the lines of the gauze both up/down and across.

Allow it to dry.

Step 4(a): Use a pair of scissors to trim along the edges of your piece

OR

Step 4(b): Trim around your piece leaving enough to wrap around and tape on the back.  This gives the wrapped canvas look that you get when you buy a stretched canvas... however, it is rather hard to do if you have anything other than straight lines. 

Your choice.

From here, it is up to you what you do with your faux canvas...

of course, I'm going to paint mine with Creative Inspirations paints...  LOL!

Step 1: Stamp an image using permanent waterproof ink like Archival ink. (this takes a little practice... remember it is a textured surface, so you need to apply a little more pressure than usual!)

Step 2: Paint in your image using your preferred method... I used All Purpose inks because when set with heat, they won't bleed with the next step.

I wanted to "antique" my canvas, so I made a glaze using clear Gesso, a tiny bit of Antique Linen Distress reinker, and Creative Inspirations Autumn Wheat for a hint of shimmer (love this!!!)

Step 3: Brush on antiquing glaze

A little ink around the edges, and I have a finished antique faux canvas with a hint of shimmer. LOVE!

No, it isn't the same as working on a real canvas, but it still is a fun surface to work on! And who says art has to be on a "real" canvas anyway? Not me!

Enjoy!

~Kassi