Spring Forward Art Journal with Karen Bearse

Today I am here playing in my art journal. This month’s theme is “spring”.  I wanted to show how any chippies can make a spring theme, even grungy rust can be made spring like.

This fun & colourful page is shimmery & luscious in real life. Too bad it is hard to photograph shimmer!

I started by cutting my art journal page using the side of the stamp block by Dylusions. This block has a wavy edge which makes it easy to mark & cut. Using modeling paste through a stencil and adhering cheese cloth gave my background texture. Covering the page with gesso and scratching lines in it added even more. Once the background was dry it was time for some colour!

Using glimmer mist I spritzed my background. The key is to make sure colours that blend well together are next to each other. For example purple & yellow make mud so I want to keep them apart. Yellow & blue make green so they are perfectly fine to be next to each other. In fact you end up with a bonus colour where the 2 mix. I spritzed away and then set my page to dry naturally. I find the colours are richer when they air dry.

Next was to add some copper highlights using a heavy body acrylic paint and piece of craft foam. Put a small amount of paint and just scuff the surface of the raised embossed areas. The paint hits the high points & leaves a lovely metallic shine and helps the images to pop.

I used the clock chippie to illustrate time, as in changing the clocks. First I cut it in half. The clock was heat embossed using Stampendous Spoon of Rust emboss powder. It really gave my clock that rusty grungy look. I wanted the chain circle to really pop and help my photo be the focal point. My photo has the same colours as the background so embossing the chain in black helped solve this problem.

To finish I cut out my title and adhered it to my page. Using a white paint pen, adding some doodles

helped the title to stand out & have a more fun look. Adding some metal gears & flowers rounds out the page nicely. Thanks for joining me today! I hope you enter our challenge this month & get inky!

Karen

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:

- Chain Frames

- Roman Clock Face

Other Supplies Used: 

- Glimmer Mist- Amethyst, It’s Yellow, Dragon Fly

- Metal gears & key charm by 7gypsies

- Stencil by Donna Downey

- Cheesecloth

- Modeling paste

- Gesso

- Word Play die by Sizzix

- Flowers by Recollections

- Emboss it by Ranger

- Spoonful of Rust by Stampendous

Meet the New Design Team Members!

First off, Karen and I would like to thank you for your submissions.

It was unbelievable to see all of the talent here and Canada, the States and the rest of the world. For those who applied and didn't make it, continue to apply when our call comes up again. We are always looking to add to our team, so don't feel discouraged. You are all very talented and we truly enjoyed seeing everyone's submission. 

We want to congratulate the new design team members that we are adding to our current design team! We want to welcome Deb, Ava and Charlene.

Deb Riddell

Paxton Valley Folk Art

Ava Gavaloski

Cottage Life

Charlene Byrd

Byrds Nest Paperie

Make sure to stop by each of the ladies blogs as they are truly talented designers and congratulate them on making the team! Stay tuned to see their creations starting in June.

-Karen & Katelyn

"Start Something Wonderful" Wall Hanging by Katelyn Grosart

Katelyn here and I'm back on the blog today to share with you some more inspiration for our current monthly challenge. This month's challenge is all about Spring, so with that in mind, I created a beautiful wall hanging for you.

To begin my wall hanging, I needed to place the banner and the top of the banner piece on the patterned paper and then traced around each image. Once each image was traced,  I cut them out with my paper trimmer and scissors. After the large banner piece is cut out, I placed my doily stencil on the paper and put texture paste over top of the stencil. 

After the middle of the banner paper was stenciled and it had dried, I sprayed Wilted Violet Distress Spray Stain, Picket Fence Distress Spray Stain, Perfect Pearls in Perfect Pearls and Mister Huey First Kiss, randomly on the stenciled image. 

Now that the patterned paper banner is stenciled and sprayed, it was time to move onto to the chipboard pieces. I used two small Swooping Birds and painted them with two layers of Vintage Rose Prima Acrylic Paint.

The last chipboard piece that I used was the Med. Floral Frame which I covered with two layers of Dark Velvet Prima Acrylic Paint. Once the paint is dry, apply a layer of VersaMark over top of the entire frame. After the VersaMark had been applied, sprinkle Iridescent Shimmer Embossing Powder overtop of the entire floral frame and then emboss with the heat tool. 

The first finishing touch was adding the fussy cut flowers underneath the top left and bottom right hand of the un-adhered floral frame. Before adhering the floral frame and the "Start Something Wonderful" saying, I adhered a doily to the top left and a doily to the bottom right corners slightly showing the floral images underneath. Adhere the "Start Something Wonderful" saying to the middle of the doilies. Before adhering the floral frame I added the ribbon to the bottom of the banner an 1" from the scallop bottom and made a bow on the right hand side. After the ribbon has been tied at the bottom, adhere the floral frame and Swooping birds. After the swooping birds are adhered, add a variety of roses to the top left and bottom right corners. The last finishing touch I added was the white ribbon to the top of the banner. 

Southern Ridge Chipboard Pieces Used:

-  Med. Floral Frame

- Swooping Birds

- 15mm Cream flowers

- 15mm Pink flowers

Other Supplies Used:

- Emerald Creek Craft Supplies: Iridiscent Shimmer Embossing Powder

- Ranger Ink: Texture Paste and Perfect Pearls Mist - Perfect Pearls

- Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz: Wilted Violet & Picket Fence Distress Spray Stain and Dusty ConcordDistress Ink

- Studio Calico: Mister Huey - First Kiss

- Prima: Vintage Rose & Dark Velvet Acrylic Paint

- Bo Bunny "Secret Garden": Secret Garden, Trellis, Garden Roses and Small Doilies

- Hug a Bug Seam Binding Ribbon: White

- Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts: VersaMark

Remember to play along in the monthly challenge over on the Southern Ridge Trading Company blog. Each month enter for your chance to win 4 designs from the online store - chipboard.ca -$20 (before tax) retail value of YOUR OWN CHOOSING! 

Until Next Time!

-Katelyn

Altered Frame with Corina Finley

Hello, 

Corina here, to share an Altered Frame that I have created using some paint and a variety of chipboard embellishments. I have used a few techniques from stamping with Chipboard to clear embossing for a lacquer finish.

For the center of the frame, I cut my cream card to size and stamped my sentiment using black archival ink. I then painted my Spring Fresh Swirl Corner using Distress Paint. While the paint was still wet - I flipped it and pressed it onto the cream cardstock just as you would a stamp. I love the look it gives! I then applied clear embossing powder to the Swirl Corner and heat set for a lacquer finish.

For the outside Ornate Square Frame chipboard embellishment, I also used Distress Paint also and clear embossing powder. I heat set and then adhered it to the frame.

I placed the Spring Fresh Swirl Corner in the left top corner, the glass and the cream stamped cardstock behind. I placed the backing on the frame and added a few lovely roses in my colour palette.

Chipboard used:

Spring Fresh Swirl Corners

Ornate Square Frame #1

Remember to play along in the monthly challenge over on the Southern Ridge Trading Company blog. Each month enter for your chance to win 4 designs from the online store - chipboard.ca -$20 (before tax) retail value of YOUR OWN CHOOSING! 

Thanks for joining me today!

Take care,

Corina Finley

Live, Laugh & Create!

Sara Emily is Stopping By the Blog

We are excited to welcome Sara Emily to the blog today as a guest designer. Sara Emily creates stunning mixed media pieces and were honoured that she has agreed to do a couple of guest posts for us. Sit back and relax and enjoy Sara Emily's amazing project!

Hello, friends! I'm honored to be invited by the super talented Design Team at Southern Ridge Trading Company to be their Guest Designer today!  I made my first ever dimensional layout using some of their amazing chippies. Here is my finished layout, and if you are interested in how this came about, I have a brief tutorial at the end of this post.  First, allow me to invite you to grab a cup or glass of your favorite appropriate beverage, because this is a photo heavy post.

This started as a cheapo piece of "art" I picked up at a yard sale about a year ago with intentions of making something with it.  It ended up in one of my boxes destined for our semi-annual sale coming up next month. It seems I have a hard time parting with things, especially when I have an idea in mind. Recently, my husband mentioned he would like to see some of our family photos on our walls, and I knew just what I wanted to make.

I used the beautiful Leafy Branches chipboard to make a sweet place to hold a nest at the top of my canvas. Papers from Tim Holtz Wall Flower paper stash and a few pieces from one (or maybe two) of his Ephemera packs make a wonderful backdrop and additional embellishments. I've added some Remnant Rubs here and there and stamping from Prima, Heidi Swapp, and Stampin' Up.

I've been eyeing up those art stones everyone's been using, and thought to myself, I must make some of those! My recipe for art stones on a budget: paper clay and a half hour of watching our presidential candidates on the news.

This Remnant Rub seemed perfect for the photos.

As do the little pieces of ephemera-"Handle With Care" and "Air Mail".  You can see I got out my gesso, marker spritzer, and nail file to give these a vintage look.

I chose another gorgeous spring like chipboard piece for my layout--Floral Frames. It's so intricate and lovely, and comes in three sizes.  Mine is the smallest and is the perfect size to hold a little nest of eggs.

And as for me, here are the stars of the show--my little twins when they were just three years old.  Every day we would pick them up and let them look at the house wren's nest made in our mailbox right outside our front door. How delighted they were to watch the birds come and go, making their nest, and counting the eggs each day. On this day, the eggs had hatched, and they were admiring the tiny birds. I just adore the expressions on their tiny faces! 

 

House wrens set up their nests in either our mailbox or in our garage every year, and last summer I had to hand carry a few babies out because they were getting trapped in the garage, and driving our cats nuts! Late this summer, one decided to come in the house through the front door when my daughter was leaving one evening. Of course, Roger, the cat, chased it around the house for awhile, but my all ended well. My husband caught it, and released it safe and sound back outside. I guess that's why they're called house wrens.

Here are some process shots of how this canvas evolved.  I added 3 coats of gesso to the glossy "canvas" (I had a different idea in mind for the background at first.) Next I added some textured paper I had in my stash and then the Wall Flower papers edged in Frayed Burlap Distress ink  in torn layers. I used a sea sponge and gesso to blend the papers to the textured background. Finally some additional texture was added using crackle paste and a homemade brick stencil.

 When the paste was dry, I added some Tissue Tape, chicken wire stamping in Potting Soil Archival ink and a wash and a sponging here and there of watered down Walnut Stain Distress paint. I did some additional stamping with Jet Black Archival ink.

 

The Floral Frame and Leafy Branches were prepared in the same manner.  I started by coating them with gesso and drying. Next I swiped on Distress Crazing Medium with a brush and dried that. I colored them with Distress crayons in Twisted Citron and Walnut Stain, using my fingers to blend the colors and get it into those cracks.  Doesn't it look like real bark?

I assembled my ephemera, layered my photos on a piece of corrugate board from our waffle box, added rub ons, sprinkled on some handmade art stones, and gave them a wash of watered down Walnut Stain paint and splattered with watered down Walnut stain, taking care to cover my photos. I even tucked in a feather I found!

Thank you for stopping by to see my layout and for all your lovely comments! Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily

Wishing you Everything Wonderful tag by Katelyn Grosart

Katelyn here and I'm back on the blog today to share with you some inspiration for our current monthly challenge. This month's challenge is all about Spring, so with that in mind,  I created a beautiful tag for you.  

To begin my tag, I used a #12  Kraft Giant Tag from Ranger Ink and cut it down to 5 1/8" x 8".

Once the tag had been cut down,  I then figured out which patterned piece of paper from Graphic 45's "Botanical Tea" line I wanted to use to cover the tag.  Once I had selected my piece, I traced around the tag and cut it out. To finish the piece of paper for my tag, I edged distressed the edges and inked the edges using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then adhered it directly overtop of the kraft tag. Once the piece is adhered, make sure to punch a hole at the top. 

To add some extra layers, pattern and colour on the tag, I selected three other patterned pieces of Graphic 45 "Botanical Tea" and cut to fit my tag. Once the pieces were cut, I edged distressed the edges and inked the edges using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Now that the paper is cut, comes the fun part of embellishing the chipboard pieces. The first piece I embellished was the Vintage Oval Mirror Fancy. To create the end result of the frame, I first needed to start by applying a layer of White Gesso over it. After the gesso had dried, I applied a layer of VersaMark over the entire surface and then sprinkled Soft Fallen Snow embossing powder overtop of the entire frame. Now that the frame was covered in embossing powder, I took my heat tool and embossed it. To finish the now embossed frame, I applied gold and then mushroom Adirondack alcohol ink randomly over the frame. Allowing 10 minutes for the Alcohol ink to fully dry. 

The second chipboard piece I embellish was the Intricate Butterfly. The first thing I applied to my intricate butterfly was a coat of Black Gesso. Once the Gesso dried, I applied a layer of VersaMark over the entire butterfly surface. After the VersaMark had been applied, sprinkle Onyx Frost Embossing Powder over the entire image and emboss with your heat tool. Once the butterfly is embossed, slight push the wings up to give it some extra dimension.

After the butterfly is complete, it's time to move on to your Honeycomb Pattern piece. To start, you will want to trim down your honeycomb pattern into two pieces that measure: 1 1/4" x 1" & 1 3/8" x 1 1/8". Once the pieces have been cut, apply two layers of Walnut Stain Distress Paint overtop of them. Once both layers of paint have completely dried, add a light layer of mushroom alcohol ink over top of each piece. Allow the honeycomb pieces to dry for 10 minutes after applying the alcohol ink.  The honeycomb pieces will be adhered to the bottom right and top left corners of the pink patterned paper.

The third piece I needed to embellish was my "wishing you everything wonderful" wood tag.  I applied a thin layer of Mushroom Adirondack Alcohol Ink to the entire top of the tag and set aside to dry for 20 minutes. Once it was dry, I cut the loop off of the tag, so that it created the perfect sentiment. 

The first finishing touch that I added to my tag was the variety of roses, flowers and carnations in the bottom right and top right hand corner surrounding the vintage oval mirror.  The second finishing touch was rolling the top left and bottom right corners up of the brown word paper, showing the honeycomb pieces underneath. The final finishing touch was adding a cream and light pink bow to the top of the tag, tying everything together.

Southern Ridge Chipboard Pieces Used:

-  Honeycomb Pattern

- Vintage Oval Mirror Fancy

- Trust your Heart Wood Tags

- Intricate Butterfly

- Cream Roses

- 10mm & 15mm Cream flowers

- 10mm & 15mm Pink flowers

- 10mm & 15mm Brown flowers

- White Carnations

Other Supplies Used:

- Emerald Creek Craft Supplies: Onyx Frost and Soft Fallen Snow Embossing Powder

- Ranger Ink: Ultra Thick Embossing Clear and #12 Giant Tags in Kraft

- Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz: Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Walnut Stain Distress Paint, Mushroom Adirondack Alcohol Ink and Gold Adirondack Alcohol Ink.

- Ranger Ink/ Dina Wakley: Black Gesso and Paint brushes

- Prima: White Heavy Gesso

- Graphic 45 "Botanical Tea": Fauna, Birds of a Feather and Flora

- Hug a Bug Seam Binding Ribbon: Light Pink and Cream

Remember to play along in the monthly challenge over on the Southern Ridge Trading Company blog. Each month enter for your chance to win 4 designs from the online store - chipboard.ca -$20 (before tax) retail value of YOUR OWN CHOOSING! 

Until Next Time!

-Katelyn