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Friday, November 22, 2013

Unity Friends with Flair!

 Hi Everyone!
I have a card to share with you for Unity Stamps Friends with Flair!
This is a Birthday card that I did for a special Friend who is an artist and inspires me everyday!
 
 I used an image created by Unity's Angie Blom! I love Angie's images and I thought this one was perfect for my friend!
   
 
I printed her on Gina K pure luxury card stock and used Copics to color her in. The little flower on the easel I drew in. I do love the fact that the "canvas" on the easel is blank and so lends itself to having any image that might be special to the recipient so you can personalize it.
 
I used Gina K card stock for the matting, and echo park dots for the patterned paper.
Ribbon is from my stash (could be May Arts?) and the Buttons are from Button Galore and More.
 
I hope that you like her!
Thank you for stopping by!
 
Have a great weekend!
 
Hugs,
Mary

Saturday, November 16, 2013

A Grateful Mixed Media project to share!

Hi Everyone!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday!

I have a page that I did for my Mixed Media Class with Tracy Weinzapfel to share with you!
This challenge was 2 parts one to share a page on being Grateful, find a quote that reflected your feelings. I found this quote by Albert Schweitzer :

 "At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."

When I read this quote I thought how perfect for Tracy! She rekindles that spark every Monday night!
I have others in my life, a few other close friends that can rekindled that spark in other areas of my life, but Tracy is able to get to the artistic side, the happy side of my heart and Soul.
I hope that you all have someone that can do that for you! And how exciting if you can do that for someone else! Wow what a feeling that would be!
The second part of the challenge was to you a color story board from Deco Arts or their Pintrest page.
I found a color story of a Navy, turquoise blue and gray with an accent of yellow tablescape. So the colors I used were Sapphire Blue & Turquoise Waters (Deco Arts), Turquoise (Plaid) and Dolphin Gray(Delta).

Here is my piece! I hope you like it!


 
  I did cut the flower our and raised it up with foam tape for some more dimension.


Supplies used:
Gesso from Claudine Hellmuth (Studio paints), Deco Arts Satin paint ( I love this new paint! so smooth to work with), Stencils from Crafter Workshop, Faber Castel paint pens, and Montana white paint pen.
Thank you for stopping by!

Have a wonderful day!

Mary

Friday, November 8, 2013

Unity Friends with Flair!

Hi Everyone!

I wanted to quickly share a card that I did for my Mom for her Birthday in September.

I used the Donna Downey Poppies stamp set from Unity. I love the size of these images it really allows you to blend and paper piece your piece if you want to...which I did! ;D

 I used water color paper for the image. The background is done with Deco Art paints, then I used Gellatos is reds and oranges for the poppies.
 Some sparkle fluff was used in the center of the poppy for dimension and then of course the prima crystals and may arts ribbon!
 
Thank you so much for stopping by today! Your comments mean more to me than you will ever know!
 
Blessings and Hugs,
Mary

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

"Letting it Go" for Mixed Media Monday!

Hi Everyone!

Whoa the day before Halloween already! How did this happen! LOL

Our challenge this month for Mixed Media Monday with Tracy Weinzapfel  was to "Let is Go".

Letting it go is harder than you think for me. Something that I am continually struggling with. It seems to take me forever sometimes just to create a card! I over think things, and change my mind A Lot! ;) Trying to be better about it but it is a struggle. Someone told me once that it was because I was a Virgo! Lol! Something about wanting perfection!? yeah,...well it is a nice idea anyway! ;D

So here is my attempt at "Letting it Go"!

 I used Deco Arts Satin acrylics, tattered Angels glimmer mist and the gray background was done with Gelattos both the satin gray and a metallic.
 A Copic India ink pen was used for the border around and I used Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers to edge the wording after I distressed the edges.
 The Doily stamped image in the background is a stamp from Unity Stamp Co. that I used white paint with. I stamped it off once so that the image was muted and distressed. The rest of the images were painted free form.  I really was trying to let it go! :D
 
Thank you so much for stopping  by for a look! I hope you like it!
 
Wishing you a colorful week, and a fun Halloween!
 
 
Hugs,
Mary

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Mix Media Challenge "Share your Home"!

Hi Everyone!

Well I am back to dust off the cobwebs on my Blog! Which I guess with Halloween approaching it is a good thing to do in more ways than one! ;D

Anyway! I have a Mixed Media project to share with you from our September creative Dare with Mixed Media Monday with Tracy Weinzapfel.  Our challenge this month was to do a project which would share the words that describe what our Homes mean to us or the words that describe what we allow into our Homes.
And these are my words for my Home :)

 I used Gelatos for the background color, love how easily those gel sticks blend together with just water. The vines I stamped with archival ink and then filled in with gesso and painted with Deco Arts acrylic paints. I used gesso and then Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Paints to color the body of the house, first with yellow and then orange over the top of it here and there, then blended it with a dry brush.

 

 The roof was done using modeling paste with a stencil from Crafters Workshop #TCW191s Mini Bricks. Then I used gesso over that so that the background wouldn't show thru and then used a red acrylic paint  from Deco Arts.
I outlined everything using a Copic India ink pen, and then a white Signo Uniball Ink pen from Ranger. In some areas I did use a white Montana paint pen because it glided over the gelato's a little better than the Signo pen did. Then I decided I wanted some smudge action so I used a Charcoal pencil to outline and then rubbed to blend it! :)

The Flourish stamp is from Unity Stamps from a Donna Downey set called "The Artist in You" (I think !) I used Tim Holtz Distress ink in Wild Honey. The Vine/Leaves and the Border stamp is from Ranger Dylusion by Dyan Reaveley a set called "Further around the Edge".
 
I always find it so amazing that my projects never turn out in the way that I first think that they are going to! And usually in a good way. At first I wasn't sure if I liked how this one  turned out, but that may have had something to do with the fact that it was 2:30 am when I finally decided I was done with it! LOL! But now I think I like it! :D
I hope that you have enjoyed looking at it as well! Thank you for stopping by and allowing me to share with you what is important to me in my Home!
 
Blessings and Hugs for a color filled week!
 
Mary

 

Friday, August 2, 2013

Let your Spirit Fly!

Hello Everyone!

Well I guess you could say that I have been taking a break for awhile from the Blogging world! (Obviously! LOL) But I am back today!
Many things going on that needed and still need my attention, but I want to start getting back into the swing of things! It feels very good to do so! :D

I have some projects that I would like to share with you over the next week and today I am here to share my July Creative Dare for our Monday night Mixed Media with Tracy Weinzapfel! You can find her blog here. And the link for our Ustream class on Monday nights is here. The August challenge will be up soon and we would love to have you join in with us!

Okay, so my project! The July creative dare was to pick a favorite project that Tracy had done so far this year on Monday night. This is the project that she did that was ONE of my favorites:

Dare1

And this is what I created from her inspiration! :


 


 

 
I love the colors of the buttons in her project and the playfulness of it. It just made me smile every time I looked at it! I used a twist on her sentiment from last week which was "Grow your Spirit", and since my Spirit has needed a little lifting lately, and the hot air balloons seemed to speak to that I decided to let it go and allowed my Spirit to fly while I was creating this piece. I felt like I was 5 years old again gluing all those buttons! LOL....and maybe that was the point! I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't suppose to fit together perfectly. I knew I had wanted to do a split canvas and thought that off-setting the 2 would add to the visual interest and give the feeling of movement .In looking at it right now I think I need to add a cuff at the bottom of the balloon, but I'll have to think about that! ;)
The smaller balloons I used stamps from Unity Stamp Company for the outlines, and then filled them in with gesso ( Claudine Hellmuth, but deco arts makes a good one as well ;), and then used deco arts paint to fill them in. The small balloon under the bird I used 2 piece of cello wrap that I had from a bouquet of flowers and used decoupage to attach them to the canvas. On the stripes and polka dots I used Art institute fine glitter for some sparkle!  
There is Distress ink in Dusty Concord and Vintage Photo around the edges. The Buttons are from Buttons Galore (who was a sponsor  in which I won the drawing!) and also from my stash. Montana paint pens in black and white, and a charcoal pencil all made appearances on the canvas!
I hope you like it, and maybe will find some inspiration in it for your own Spirit!
 
Thank you for stopping by! I truly appreciate it!
 
 
Blessings and Hugs,
 
Mary
 
 
P.S.  Please look for a  post later this weekend on some ippity inventory that I still have available!
As you have probably noticed, if you are a loyal Unity Fan, there has not been any new ippity releases in a very long time! Angela has made the decision to combine the lines all back into Unity  for now. A new program is suppose to be developed but we don't have word yet as to what that will be. For now ippity is still available on the Unity website. I will put the inventory together and let you know what I have if you are interested! They will be listed at 25% off the msrp. :D
 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

April Creative Dare!

Hi Everyone!

How is everyone??
I know it has been awhile again! ;)

I am here to share with you my Creative Dare for Mixed Media Mondays! Our April challenge was to pick 5 words that you would want to be remembered by....(Tracy makes us think!! lol)

Here are my words:

A Gentle Heart ( I know not really one word! haha)
Encouraging
Optimistic
Friend
Strong in Faith (Okay, I know not a word again! lol)

Here is my page:
 I used gellatos for the background...they are like playing with crayons! Love them!!

 The stamps that I used were Tim Holtz, Stampers Anonymous. And the Border stamps and the little house were from Dyan Reavley, Dylusions.


I used some dylusions ink to water color in the bird,with a water brush.

 And to seal it I used a new product to me,but one that Tracy had used last month, it is a liquid spray Decoupage,gloss sealer! It was so fun to use,and I love the finish that it gave my project. It is by Beacon. (And actually I think they are one of our sponsors for this month )


 
Well I hope you like it! Thank you so much for stopping by! It would be great if you could join us on Monday night at 6p.m (pacific time) for Mixed Media Mondays!
We have a lot of fun chatting,and there are prizes to be won by participating in the monthly challenges! :D And this month is Tracy's Birthday (43!) and she is giving away prizes all month long! The Girl knows how to celebrate! LOL Tracy Weinzapfel Studios !
 
Blessings and Hugs,
 Mary

Friday, March 29, 2013

Wishing you the Blessings of Spring!

Hi Everyone!

Today I have a card that I did for my Dear, Dear Friends that live in Minnesota! They are so wishing for spring right now, so I thought instead of a Card that said Happy Easter on the outside I would do one for Spring! ;)

The front of the card I used Unity Stamp Co. Stamp of the Week for the flowers,and the basket is a stamp from the Unity Feb. 2012 KOM. The sentiment is from Verve.( I love the font!)

I used a Spellbinders die for the mat and then attached it to a white cardstock base.

The flowers were fussy cut,as well as the basket and I used dimensional foam squares under them both to add a little dimension. Then I glued along the edges to hold them down.

I used a Butterfly stamp from the Rubber Cafe in memento dandelion ink and stamped onto the designer paper from a  DCWV paper stack for the background. The card stock is from GinaK. I used copics to color the flowers.And the grass at the bottom is a Sizzix die that I cut down to fit the size of the basket a little better. ;)


 
 The sentiment on the inside of the card is from GinaK designs, a set by Rupa Shevde called "Easter Blessings".
I did and another strip of grass across the inside bottom of the card just to add a little color.
 
Well, I hope that you like it! And I really hope that my Girlfriend will like it! It will be late in arriving for Easter, but I think it my arrive before Spring does to them this year! lol
Regardless it is beautiful with all the snow around them and on the lake! We sure do miss them!
 
Wishing you all the Blessings and Joy of this Easter Season!
 
 
Hugs,
Mary

Monday, March 18, 2013

MMM Creative Dare!

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you all had a great weekend! We spent time with friends and it was wonderful! :D

Today I want to share with you a canvas that I did for Mixed Media Mondays!
Our creative dare for March is to use a favorite song and buttons! ;)
We are being sponsored this month by Buttons Galore and Viewtainer. :D

So I know many will think my song choice is silly especially considering how old I am, however I am probably going to do another canvas for this challenge as well so this song just seemed like it should be my first choice!
Now before I tell you what it is let me explain it just a little ;D My Husband and I met in high school, just before my 15th birthday. And I loved Winnie the Pooh (where others loved Micky Mouse, I was all about the bear! tehe) and we also loved the group Loggins and Messina. And just about that time they came out with an album called "Loggins and Messina Siting in" (I think)...Kenny Loggins use to right songs for his Children and then put them on the albums,so on this album he had written  one for one of his Children and it was call "House on Pooh Corner". So that song somehow became "Our" song!
So here is my Canvas!

I used a lot of different products and Stamps. Paint is from Decco Arts and Claudine Helmuth. I used gesso and a template from Crafter's Workshop for the tree and then a stippling brush for the leaves.
The butterfly is a stamp from the Greeting Farm. Buttons from my stash. The words to the song as you can see are cut apart and then under the paint.

 I did try to find stamp images that reflected the words to the song. The Bees and the beehive is from Unity as well as the brick border that I used for the stepping stones from the little houses. I did paint those in with Studio Acrylics and india ink pen from Copic. The lamp post is from Stampendous, and the Flourish border and leaf is impression Obsession.
I also used Glossy Accents in the light of the lamp post and well as the windows to make them look like glass. I did use it on the butterflies as well after I colored them with copics.

I hope that you like it. I know that painting really isn't my strong area, or Mixed Media for that matter. But I am trying to go outside of my comfort zone and explore!
Thank you for stopping by and following me on my journey with Mixed Media!

Here is hoping that you have "chased all the clouds from the skies" in your lives!

Blessings and Hugs!

Mary

Friday, March 8, 2013

Friends with Flair!

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all having a great day !

I have a short little post for you today for Unity Friends with Flair.

I did a Birthday card for my youngest Sister a few weeks ago using the May 2012 Kit of the Month for the main image.
 The image is colored in with copics and I did stamp them twice and cut them out so that I could pop them up with pop dots for dimension. The card stock that I used was GinaK,and the designer paper is from Graphic45.
On the inside I combined two different sentiments together ; the first one is from Unity's KOM March 2012,and the second which is have a Fabulous Birthday is from a Stamp of the Week set that I received in February.
You can blend stamps together to come up so many different sentiments which helps to give more life to them! Love that!

Well tomorrow I am taking part in the On-line Stamp Classes that Unity is also teaching in (Angela!)
"True Stamp",and I can't wait! It will be so fun! Are you going to be there? I will look for you in the chat room! :D

Have a great weekend!
Thank you for stopping by!

Hugs,
Mary

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

February Creative Dare "Life List"

Hi Everyone!

Today I have my February Creative Dare from Tracy Weinzapfel "Mixed Media Mondays" to share with you! You can find out all the details here on Tracy's Blog!

This month we were challenged to do a "Life/Bucket List" in a mixed media form. :D

Here is my attempt!

 I have used Deco Arts acrylic paints,Memento ink,and distress inks.
The sentiment stamps on the tag is from Rubber Arts Cafe. (One of the sponsors this month,along with DecoArts). The other stamps that I used are from Unity Stamps :)

The "Dream Big" sentiment I first stamped with modeling paste because I wanted some extra texture under it. Not sure if I like that or not!
Any way, I did emboss the "Beautiful Life" sentiment at the bottom of the page,and I think I like that better. ;)  The distress brick wall and the vines and flowers are from Unity,and I stamped those with the memento ink and distress ink. 

 I used Tim Holtz Washi tape over the top of my list. I kind of like the fact that it had the months of the year and felt that went well with the idea of the list.

 I love this sentiment by Rubber Cafe! They have some great ones that are still on my "wish" list! lol
Flowers are from May Arts (I think,..they were in my stash!)
 
Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope that you enjoyed seeing my attempt. Do you have a "Life list or Bucket list"?  This Dare has given me a chance to think about some things that I would love to accomplish, and has made me refocus! It is so easy to get caught up in the everyday things that go on and to lose sight of ourselves in it.
 
Have a great week!
Blessings and Hugs,
 
Mary

Monday, February 25, 2013

What would you use Viewtainers for? LOL

Hi Everyone!

Well today I have a little different kind of post! haha!

I don't know if any of you have seen or use Veiwtainers for organizing your craft spaces or your Honey's (or yours for that matter ;)  ) garages. Or even your Children's toy area?



Well Viewtainer would like to know how you use them, or what you would use them for!
If you leave a comment on their facebook page, or post pictures of them in action in your space you could win a 3 pack of them! How nice would that be?! :D

So here are some pictures of how I use mine,...:D

 
I can sort my buttons by color. :) And these have tops that are slit so you can just squeeze the top and pour out the buttons! Easy!
 

They come in tall ones to store my Washi Tapes ;)
And my twines, by color family! :D
 

 Look at the pretty light blue and yellow! Perfect for my paint brushes! haha

AND they have sizes that are perfect for my Pitt Artist Pens and jars of india ink. As well as tall ones for jars of paint.

And if you have drafting pages or plans for a house they fit perfectly into one of the specialty sizes! haha! These are plans that my Daughter made while she was taking drafting and Architecture classes in high school and college, I couldn't part with them! LOL
These are some that I still need to sort buttons for and the raspberry color is going to have my gellatos stored in it, until I have enough of them that I can get the different colors and then store them by color coordinated cap as well. tehe!

 
Well I know this seems like a crazy post for me, but I really love these containers! They are really helping me to get organized and to stay neat while crafting....AND the biggest thing is that I can find stuff again! HaHa!!!
 
These are great for the garage as well, I plan to start ordering them, or you can find them at Home Depot, just not in as many pretty colors! I guess the guys don't want to store their nails, and bolts etc in Raspberry and pink containers! How boring! LOL
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
Hugs,
 
Mary