Art techniques on cards....Gesso and modeling paste

I'm back today to share a few more art techniques I tried out on the Mixed Florals Card Kit.  For the first technique today I'm using a sheet of the dictionary paper paired with Gesso from the Mixed Media Kit + acrylic paint mixed with water to create a spray mist.  

I spread some Gesso onto the book paper with the palette knife included in the Mixed Media Kit.  I then misted the page with the spray ink.  The result was a soft, altered page that made a perfect background for some other layers and embellishments. 

When you spread on the Gesso to create heavy layers in some spots that leaves a great place for little card sentiments whether you stamp them or type them out and cut them apart like I did below.  

The next technique I tried spreading modeling past onto tags from the card kit using the palette knife and a Pink Paislee stencil.  I then sprayed more paint mist on top, leaving some of the modeling paste white.  

As you can see my colors from my work room are off from the real tags once they dried but you still get the idea.  I love that these look somewhat like old wallpaper with the raised finish.  I'll definitely be trying this out again on cards and such.  If you want more of a worn look you can sand off some of the ink with a fine grit sand paper or sanding block. On a few of the tags, I just spread Gesso with no stencil.

Sometimes when creating a card you'll notice you have some big spaces with not much going on.  Or perhaps you made a mistake and smudged some ink, etc.  

Adding modeling paste with a stencil and a palette knife onto cards is a great way to add some textured interest.  It can cover up those little mistakes or just add another point of interest for the eye to land on.  Here I used a Pink Paislee stencil to add a design to an open area on my card.  I like to create an organic shaped area instead of using the entire stencil or rigid boundaries.  

Here's the finished card once the modeling paste dried and I added the other embellishments.  I really love the look of the modeling paste here.  

That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  :)  I'll be sharing some Project Life pages soon + a page from my Dylusions art journal.  

Art techniques on cards....blending with graphite pencil

Hi everyone, hope your week is off to a good start.  This week I'll be sharing two posts showing you how to use some art techniques on your cards.  I'll be working with the Mixed Florals Card Kit shown below. 

I'll also be using the fun products from the Mixed Media Kit.  As a special offer, I'm discounting $5 off your order for those who order the Mixed Media Florals Card Kit and the Mixed Media Kit together, while supplies last. 

First off, I'd like to say that I've definitely been doing a lot of experimenting lately.  Trying new things.  I'm sharing the journey with you and hope that you're inspired to maybe try something new too.  I'm not a professional artist by any means, I'm just having fun and sharing my findings along the way.  

First up is a basic card with no artsy techniques in case you just want to make cards using the card kit only.  I just used items from the card kit + some twine, staples, a stamp(old SU!), washi (Freckled Fawn) and enamel dots (My Mind's Eye). I've been using this card layout on lots of my cards lately.  I can layer all the pieces together, stitch at the top and then just adhere to my card front.  The patterned papers in the card kit are from My Mind's Eye.  

Now onto the art techniques.  Today I'll using the Derwent Graphitone water soluble pencil (from the Mixed Media Kit) on two separate projects.  First up I wanted to show how you can draw simple, straight lines to add some interest to projects.  I used a ruler and just two lines across my strip of patterned paper, see top sample.  The bottom strip of paper shows the results when I wet a paint brush with water and gently colored over the lines.  The graphite in the pencil softens out when mixed with water.  You can see the same effect on the tag below.  I've always been a fan of pencil lines so I just love that I found these blendable pencils.  There is no color per say in the pencil, just the graphite look.  

Here's the finished card I made. You can see that I used the pencil on the horizontal strip, the dictionary paper, under the sentiment and on the tag.  A very soft look on this card using just simple, drawn lines.  

Next up I'm going to show you how to use some masking, spray mist and scribbled circles using the Derwent pencil.  Please excuse these work in progress photos.  They were taken in my work room at different times of the day and the lighting gets wonky due to the lack of good, natural lighting.  

First up, I took a piece of the floral patterned paper from the card kit.  I punched some card stock circles to use as masks over the paper.  I started out misting with white spray ink but the effect didn't show up much. 

I mixed up some craft acrylic paint and water in a mini mister.  You get 3 of these in the Mixed Media Kit.  I love using the acrylic in the misters because you get more of an opaque look.  You can see the misting in the photo below.  I used my heat tool to speed up the drying process.  

For the next step I scribbled some circles using the Derwent pencil.  This is a pretty cool look in itself so you could stop right here if you wanted and use this piece on a project. 

I wanted to show you what the scribbled circles looked like when blended with water so I did this additional step, shown below.  It reminds me of vintage wallpaper which is a look I love to see on projects.  To brighten up the insides of the circles I even took some Gesso from the Mixed Media Kit and applied it to the circles using my fingertip. 

Here's a comparison of the original piece of patterned paper on the left and the altered piece of patterned paper on the right.  

Here's my finished project using the altered piece of patterned paper.  The effect is very subtle and soft. I created a pocket card just using a half sheet of 8.5 x 11 cardstock then stitching up the sides.  

For an insert to write a message or possibly add more stamping, I adhered an index card to a piece of plain cardstock then stitched.  The pocket style card would be great to add a gift card for Mother's Day or graduations, etc. 

Okay, those are my two techniques for today.  I hope you try them out. My next post will show the Mixed Floral Card Kit combined with Gesso and modeling paste from the Mixed Media Kit.  Thanks for joining me today!

My Type of Friend Card Kit

Welcome to the weekend! If you missed it, yesterday I had a big shop update with lots of new product. You can view all the new items in this blog post and all of the products are now in the shop too.

One of the most fun items in the shop update is my newest card kit called My Type of Friend. Below you can see all the contents of the kit.
In the kit, there is enough product to make 5 completed cards with wax paper packaging. The sacks are the packaging for this go round but many of you have already picked up a package of the cream envelopes that can be used instead of the waxed paper sacks. The line of cardstock and coordinating envelopes that I've found to use in my card kits is really good quality. I'm very pleased with the weight and feel of the products and I'm happy to use them on my personal cards.
My goal with the card kits is to keep the quantity small enough so that I can still mass produce them but also add in some speciality items. One of the unique items in this card kit is the 4 x 6 sheet of mini typewriter Instagrams. I've used this little image before on some projects and thought it would be so fun to add to some office themed cards for this kit. You can cut apart the square images and use 5 for the cards. You'll have one extra photo to use for a separate project. I'll have more to show you on that in an upcoming blog post.
I've also selected one of my favorite products from Elle's Studio to use in the kits. This fun Lil' Snippet: Notes card is just perfect for office themed cards. I'll show you some additional uses soon for the extra portion that you will cut off the card.
The kit will also uses one of my favorite Crate Paper patterned papers (I originally said it was October Afternoon, my apologies). With the kit you'll also get 5 yards of brown/white baker's twine and a full roll of Tape Measure Freckled Fawn Washi tape.
Here's what the completed cards will look like. Very suitable for any occasion with the inside of the cards left blank.
I'm a hug lover of the office theme, as are many of you. This is a great card design to add to your stash. And there's plenty of fun details like the added button and little strip of Washi tape. The color scheme with the golden yellows and olive greens are very suitable for the Fall season coming upon us too.
In lieu of a traditional envelope, the cards will come with the supplies to create these fun waxed paper sacks to hold the cards. I love it when the card becomes a little gift in itself. You could easily tuck in a gift card, small notepad or a few flat, packaged candies for the recipient of the card.
There will be enough Washi tape to wrap around the front of the waxed paper sack. Simply insert the card and fold the sack around to the back side, then secure with the Washi tape. Then tie a length of baker's twine around the card like a package, string on the tag and secure it with a loopy bow. So cute that the recipient might want to admire the package before ever opening the card. :)
Please refer back to this post for photos of how your cards will be assembled and for any special tips. I think the card designs will be easy enough to assemble just by looking at the photos but if you purchase a kit and ever need help, just shoot me an email.

Today's tip: Once you cut apart the Elle's Studio sheet, you'll notice that the bottom portion of the notecard has an indentation in the lined paper design. There's also the word "date". In my card design (look at the photos above) you can see that I've covered up both of those parts of the notecard. To do this, adhere the golden yellow paper strip over the portion of the notecard that has the indentation. Then using pop dots or regular adhesive, adhere the circle sentiment over the word "date". Just a little strategic placement of the embellishments to cover up those parts.
I hope you enjoy this card kit as I know it will become one of my favorites.

You might like some of these products to go along with your cards:

5 Cream Envelopes- In case you want to use regular envelopes instead of the waxed paper sacks for packaging.

Vellum Envelopes-These really show off your beautiful, hand crafted cards.

5 Yards Brown/White Baker's Twine-An additional bundle to have on hand.

Mini Typewriter Instagrams-Use for additional cards, notebooks, cute tags, packaging, etc.

Clear Card Boxes-All 5 of your cards and envies will bit in a clear box. Tie up with baker's twine and any tag from the shop for an instant gift idea.

Printed Hang Tag-These would fancy up the waxed paper sacks so much. I think they fit in great with the office supply theme.

Coming soon:

Cards as gifts........I'll be doing separate blog posts on how to use cards as gifts and how to get it organized. This might come in really handy for those of you who might like to give cards for Christmas presents.

Additional items made with the kit.....There will be a few extra items in your card kit. I'll show you a fun project using that extra mini Instagram + I'll show you a few ways that you can add extra embellishing to the card kit items to bling it up a notch.

Halloween shop items.....It's my favorite holiday to decorate and make gifts/cards for. I've been collecting some unique items to add to the little shop of horrors. I can't resist making some Halloween cards and gifts to send to friends and family. I'll share some of my new finds with you.

Simple Circle Notecards

Back once again with some more creations from my 2 Squared School Kit. I told you I was up for the challenge of conquering this kit. Getting closer. :) Here's another peek at all of the kit contents. There's a LOT of goodies in this kit, especially when you sort it all out and begin creating. As the kit suggests with the "2 squared" title, there are lots of 4 x 4 papers to start your projects. This is a great way to get a creative lift if you're in a little crafty slump.
Each time I sat down to create with this kit, I picked a few items and then just went to work. Here I have some notecards with envelopes and stamped pieces. The large stamped bulls eye image is Studio Calico's Plano Stamp. The small circles were stamped with Studio Calico's Take Note.
And here's my set of 3 finished notecards. These came together very quickly so they'd make great teacher gifts because they're easy to mass produce.
On the tops of my cards I adhered some stamped Grid Paper Labels. I'm loving these labels lately for sentiments. They take ink well and if you want several of the same sentiments you can just stamp them all down the row while the labels are still on the backing sheet. I've also got Notebook Paper Labels. I layered 2 strips of Washi tape over the label.
On the bottom of the cards I popped my focal pieces right in the centers of the stamped circles. Realllly love the graphic feel of this. And perfect for the fellas too.
On my Kraft envelopes I used more Washi tape + more stamped Grid Paper Labels. Any of my labels work great on envelopes because they are very flat and stick well.
For packaging I used a Waxed Paper Sack from the kit. I know I will be keeping a big personal stash of these sacks for teacher treats and packaging up small sets of cards. They have a gusset so you can easily fit in a set of cards with envelopes.
I used yet another Grid Paper Label with some of the Kraft stars from the kit adhered. I sealed up my sack with more Washi tape then added a Metal Rim Tag from the kit with a big loop of black/white baker's twine. Eeek, I just love having a stash of teacher goodies ready to go.
Okay, I have ONE more post this week with the last of my teacher themed projects made from the kit. Come back and visit. :)

A note for you + wax paper sack packaging...

Hi there. I'm gearing up for some fun blog posts now that some of the girls' Summer activities have ended. Between all the sporting events, searching for a new SUV for Eric & me so that the girls can have our old vehicle for school, tending to the gardens, Josey's B-day, etc it's been very busy around here. I have however been doing some fun work behind the scenes which is giving me a creative boost like you wouldn't believe. I've been purging items like crazy in my work room + doing some a little switching out from cheap white storage units to some of my vintage finds. Having a less cluttered room does something amazing for the soul. It seems to free the mind also and I'm SO enjoying my time in my work room right now. I'll post some updates when I'm a little more settled in.

In the meantime it seems as though all the office work I've been doing has flowed over to the creative side too. I've collected a nice selection of October Afternoon's 9 to 5 office themed collection. I've always loved OA's whimsical, colorful and somewhat vintage line of products. There's such a nice offering across the board of papers, embellishments, mists, buttons, stickers, badges, stamps, washi tape and more....what's not to love?

The washi tape, badges and office themed die cuts are some of my faves.
Tomorrow (Monday) I'll start off the work week with a fun new kit in my shop. It's also office themed and will be chock full of crafty items that can be used for cards, scrapbooking, Project Life, notebooks and gift packaging. Look for details here on the blog, Twitter and Facebook.

I've had fun creating items using the October Afternoon 9 to 5 collection + items from the upcoming kit. My project for today uses 6 items from the kit. I started off with a fun card which uses a small Instagram of my vintage typewriter. I used an app called Phonto to add the sentiment to the photo. Josey passed by the stairs one day when I was typing away and hollered down, "Clickety clack clack". She's got her texting, I have my typewriter. It was great inspiration for several projects.
The card front uses October Afternoon floral paper, my favorite from the 9 to 5 collection. I also used a Lil' Snippets: Noted journaling card sheet as a base layer for my photo, a punched/stamped tab and the rest of my embellishments. The small chevron arrows are from a Studio Calico stamp set.
The typewriter sentiment is stamped from a Hero Arts stamp set. Button tied with twine is from the OA 9 to 5 collection. The washi tape and ribbon are a few of the items from the kit. The approved stamp is from Studio Calico and I'll add a date to the card when I send it out.
Totally enjoyed assembling this card but the fun isn't over yet. With cards that have a bit of bulk, like tied buttons, I like to send them out in a bubble mailer. This way the card doesn't get damaged or torn open + it allows for some cute packaging and perhaps a few goodies to be added in for good measure. Today I'm using one of my new Waxed Paper Sacks to hold the card instead of an envelope. Totally fun for food treats but also useful for packaging up paper goods too. I trimmed off the left side of my waxed paper sack just slightly wider than my card width. I added some of the OA paper + a strip of washi tape. I left the top unadorned so that I could fold it over to the back.
I inserted my my card, folded over the top and added an orange baker's twine wrapping.
I used a punched circle of grid cardstock + some typewriter stamps from my stash to create a name tag. So simple but oh so pretty, I think. I love that you can peek through the waxed paper sack to see the card. Plus the Kraft, wrinkled waxed paper lends a vintage feel. I can't wait to try these out with some notepads...hmmm, perhaps another blog post coming soon.

I've been so inspired by my new goodies and creating in my new/old work room. Please join me again for more fun projects & peeks of my work room coming soon.

Shop update:

Don't forget that my new office themed kit will be available tomorrow. Look for the kits in the the shop by mid-morning.

Project Life:

I've had to put the assembling on hold but I've kept up nicely with my calendar and photo taking. Plus I've been creating a nice stash of handmade journaling cards which are sure to make the process go by quickly. I can't wait to get back at it now that my schedule has eased up a bit.

Blogging:

I'm looking forward to hopefully having more posts here on the blog. Cards, scrapbooking, Project Life, my Mish-adventures, vintage finds and maybe a few new features coming soon. I hope you'll join me.

Weather:

Insanely hot. Near record highs for the nation here in Kansas. Happy to have my swimming pool. Don't EVEN think you'll see photos of that fun! Ha. Trying to keep my flowers and vegetable gardens alive. Praying for the states that are having horrible fires.....we also have a firebug in our community, someone setting fires to local pastures....my dad has had 2 fires. Hoping for rain that is so desperately needed. Hoping my girls get cooler weather for their last softball tournament later this week.

Vacation:

Dreaming of cooler temps in a beautiful lodge setting. Love nature, trees, lakes and cabins. Road trips, all the way! Have a good spot you'd like to share? Link me up, peeps! I'm looking for suggestions to add to my travel bucket list.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies + NEW Waxed Paper Sacks...

It's that time of year again when the zucchinis start to pile up everywhere. I always like to try a few new recipes each Summer and Pinterest was the first place I looked. I found a very intriguing recipe called Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies so I pinned it. The original recipe is from this post at Food Plus Words blog, a fun new blog find. And shortly after, I tried the recipe. There's something about baking that always takes me right back to my mom's kitchen. Maybe that's why items from my kitchen (shown below) look like they're from another era. I love all the old time dishes and utensils.
I knew I wanted to use these brownies for some gifts so I wanted them to cut perfectly. I lined my baking stone pan with foil and then sprayed it with *Spam* as Jordan calls it....Pam baking spray actually.
Then I just lifted the little tin foil handles and out came my brownie brick.
But they were far from bricks when it came to the texture. These babies were soft and moist and tasted really good. And chocolate-y. No taste of zucchini what so ever. That only adds to the moistness. Note: I ended up wrapping the brownies in clear wrap and freezing them for future use. I found that they were SO moist that they might end up sticking to my packaging.
I did a little photo shoot with my brownies and a half pint of milk + an old plate. I had a little idea brewing for a fun tag to add to a new product that's coming up in just a bit. I used Instagram and Phonto apps on my iPhone to alter my photo, which will be used for my packaging.
And now I'd like to introduce a new product that I'll be carrying in my shop. Waxed Paper Sacks are my newest packaging item that I'll be adding to my product line up. They will be sold in a set of 10 and will be perfect for food packaging or just for fun packaging of small gifts. I absolutely love the Kraft color and the crinkly feel. There is about a 1" gusset on the sides so they can be filled with lots of treats and goodies. I think these will take you back instantly to the days your mom packed your lunch and wrapped everything in waxed paper. Anybody with me on that one, or was it Ziplocs all the way for you?

I'll be using the Waxed Paper Sacks frequently I'm sure for teacher gifts, etc so you'll be getting lots of inspiration. I'll probably offer some kits up in the shop too, using the sacks, tags + other shop items. Today I have a fun packaging to share for the Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies. I grabbed a few out of the freezer and let them thaw. Meanwhile here's the line up of products that I'll be using to create my treat gift sacks.

Products used:

Waxed Paper Sacks

Large Manila Parcel Tags

Grid Paper Labels

Cotton Twine

Washi Tape

Instagram photo (printed at 2" x 2" with a white border)

Studio Calico paper clip stamp from Please Note Stamp

Directions to create tag:

Type to/from on Grid Paper Label with vintage typewriter. Adhere label and photo to Large Manila Parcel Tag. Adhere strip of torn Washi tape to tag and stitch over with sewing machine. Stamp the paper clip over the top edge of the tag. Fold over Waxed Paper Sack, filled with treat, and punch hole. Tie embellished tag to sack with cotton twine. Be sure to leave the tails of the bow long. Love that look.
And that's it. A fabulous homemade treat, simple handmade packaging and you look like a domestic piece of loveliness.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed today's post. You'll be seeing lots more homespun creations using my shop items + favorite products.