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Friday, March 28, 2014

Unity Friends With Flair

Hi Everyone!

Well this is actually my 2nd post for Unity Friends with Flair,...I hope you don't mind!
My first post was the card I made with my hand made paper and because I really wanted to see what you all thought about it. It was the first time I had ever tried it and like with everything that is new to you feed back is always good! So thank you for looking at it if you did!

In this post I have a Birthday card to share. Another Phyllis Harris stamp set. I do love her images so, can't you tell! ;D

I hope that you like it!

Thank you so much for stopping by again!

Blessings and Hugs,
Mary

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Sharing some Hand Made Paper!

Hi Everyone!

Today I have something different to share with you! :D

A few weeks ago I went over to my girlfriends house and she showed me how to make handmade papers! Oh my gosh it was so much fun! Thank you so much to my girlfriend Cathy for inviting me into her studio! http://www.artstudiosandiego.com just in case you would like to check out her studio page!

 She is an incredible acrylic and oil artist, as well as handmade jewelry,(www.steampunkjewelry.net), collage and handmade books for journals etc. using  her handmade papers, so it was so fun to play with all of the different inks and paints to tint the papers. We also used dried flowers, teas and spices for color, texture and some for scent. Oh my goodness I could just play with it all day because you never really know exactly what you are going to get as far as color and texture until it starts to pulse  in the blender and then dries. We used scrap paper from the shredder for the pulp, another reason you don't really know what the color is going to be. ;D
We added the shredded paper,then covered that with water, more paper and then more water,then whatever flowers,teas or "extras" you want which can include inks, acrylic paints or dye. She said she bought the frames for pouring the mixture into at Michaels and the instructions that came with it are very easy to follow!

So first here are the papers that we did.
 And this is the one that I decided to work with first:
 So First I sprayed it with some Shimmer Spritz in Barn Door and Fireworks in Sweet Plum.
 Then I used Memento Luxe in Sweet Plum for the flourish stamp from Inkadinkado.
 The text stamp is from Unity Stamp Co. and I used Vintage Photo distress ink to stamp that.
And here is a card that I made with just a portion of the piece. The paper is pretty thick so you have to be careful when you tear it. You really can make them any thickness you want, so some of them are thicker than others. Some have more texture than others etc. I just depends on what goes in the blender and how much you pour out at a time.

 The yellow background paper is watercolor paper that I used dylusional ink spray on in yellow. Then when I sprayed the handmade paper I just used that paper to "mop" up what was left on the craft sheet after each spray. I like the effect! Plus I thought it helped to tie the colors of the papers together.
 I used ribbon from May Arts, and craft tag that I stamped with a Hero Arts chalk ink in Passion Flower, and the Sentiment is from Unity Stamps as well. :D
As I sit here looking at the photo I think I am going to add something to the bottom right comer of the yellow, maybe 3 pearls or dew drops. I think it needs something??
I have also cut out some flowers using the tattered flowers die from Tim Holtz and Sizzix to see how that works with these papers. I will let you know how that goes!
I can't wait to work with these papers some more!
And now I will be in the market for an inexpensive blender to make my own paper!
 It was fun, and ecological!
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I know it is a long post so thank you for reading all the way to the end! I hope you liked it, and I would love to know what you think as well as any suggestions!

Until next time,
Blessings and Hugs,

Mary

Friday, March 14, 2014

It is Unity Friends with Flair Day!!

Hi Everyone!

Geesh!! It has been a long time! But my desk is finally clean, my craft room re-organized (for now tehe!) and I am ready to start blogging again!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you can stay for a bit! ;)

I have a card to share with you that I did for my Daughter's Birthday! She turned 31 years old on March 3rd! Not sure how that happened! LOL!

I used a Unity Stamp set from the "Fashionistas" line by Tracy Malnofski.
These are such fun stamps to work with!
This one is called "Sabrina".

 I "fussy" cut both images so that I could pop them up with pop dots for a little dimension. Her dress is paper pieced and then I used black stickles on the bodice for some birthday sparkles and added dimensional pearls for the polka dots on her skirt. :D
 The Birthday cakes is done with stickles in black,  pink and the white "frosting"  with dimensional pearls! I think it looks pretty close to what frosting should look like! :D The red that was used on the cake and on her skirt was colored with a copic R46.  

 The flowers are from Prima and the ribbon I believe is from May Arts. I used card stock from GinaK designs and the design paper is from echo park.

 
I admit I am a little rusty! I have been creating and I will be back with some projects maybe this weekend, but definitely next week. I will even show you a Bird House I painted for my first project of the year for our new backyard!
Thank you so much for stopping by today! Or any day! All of your comments mean so much, and I thank you for each and every one!
 
Have a wonderful weekend!
 
 
Blessings and Hugs!
 
Mary