Thanks Card with Monica Edwards

Hi everyone! Welcome back to a Southern Ridge Trading creation using Leafy Branches and Swooping Birds.  To make this card of thanks for a friend.

I painted the chipboard pieces with gesso first and then added another coat of white paint.  For the bird piece I glued it to a piece of white cardstock so you could see the image clearly.

Southern Ridge Trading Company Supplies Used:
- Leafy Branches

 - Swooping Birds

- Cheerio Stencil

Other Supplies Used:

- Liquitex Gesso

- Simon Says Stamp Die : Thanks

- Neenah Cardstock : White

- Flowers

- Silver Mirror Paper

Hope you enjoyed my post
- Monica

Artful Adventure Journal Book with Karen Bearse

I am participating in a free class, Artful Adventures by Nathalie Kalbach. It is a wonderful idea about taking photos while "strolling through your hood" & documenting with these photos where you live. It is a 30 day challenge & will also give ideas about how to use your photos in your art. I decided to make a journal book that is fabulous on the outside & simple on the inside to document my strolling.

The design team as you have seen are playing with the wonderful new Dragonfly release. Here is my project using the journal book. It measures almost 4”x8”, has a delicate dragonfly design cut into the cover & comes with the “My Journal” title. I wanted this book to look grungy & metallic. I played with all kinds of products, layering & playing.

Adding Deco Foil to my title & chippies on the inside was an idea I had early on. I knew I wanted the inside of the dragonfly to be one of the watercolour foils showing through from behind. I have a tutorial on my blog with various foiling techniques on adding the foil to chippies.

I thought I would give you a peak at a few pages inside the book. The book comes with chippie inserts but I saved those for another project & added double sided paper for the pages. Wanting the photos to take center stage, meant keeping the pages simple. This book is about the photos & the stories. Another thing I am trying to do in general is use my stash! We all have lots of supplies so this is a way to add old to the new.

A fun place to use different papers, stamps and some stickers, post-it notes.

I will continue building my book as the class challenge goes on. The front & back inside covers are the same, each having a pocket to put something fabulous in!

Southern Ridge Trading Co. Supplies Used:

- Zen Dragonfly Journal

- Nuts & Bolts

- Green Leaf

- Med. Gears

- Gear Clock Stencil - Medium

- Cheerio Stencil - Small

Other Supplies Used:

- Therm.o.web: Deco Foil Transfer Sheets - Amber, Emerald Lapis Watercolour and Aqua, Deco Foil Liquid, Pen Adhesives and Transfer Gel, Peel & Stick Toner Sheets

- Tattered Angels: Glimmer Mist - Black Magic & Sterling, Chalkboard Spray in Charcoal

- Finnabair Art Alchemy by Prima Marketing: Acrylic Metallique - Royal Red & Emerald Green, Acrylic Opal Magic - Pink Blue, Metallique Wax - Rich Copper & Aged Brass

- Frank Garcia Artisan Powder by Prima Marketing: French Blue & Trianon Patina

- Ranger Ink: Texture Paste Opaque Crackle & Matte

- Graphic 45: Nature Sketchbook

- Paper Studio: Patterned Paper

- Tombow: Mono Glue

Hop on over to my blog to see more photos & a Deco Foil tutorial on these chipboard pieces. I am also having the world’s smallest (I assume) blog hop & you could win a prize! hope you join in on all the fun!

- Karen

Journal Cover with Chippies with Karen Bearse

I love making books. Mini scrap books, art journals, smash books. The best part is designing the covers. Most often I like to do this at the end of the project once I get a feel for it. This month’s Southern Ridge Trading Co… challenge theme is “your favourite”. I have a few in this project, from chippies to techniques. This is a fairly easy tutorial that can be applied to your book project.

I decided to cover a composition book that I am using for Simelle Laine’s Learn Something New Every Day, #LSNED. A while back I received this mixed paper pack from Recollections and thought this paper would look great for the cover.

I adhered my paper and added a piece of washi tape down the side and covered with decoupage glue so it will stay down. Adding a little bit of paint using a foamie through a few stencils, in some random spots just cause. I love the new circle stencil “Cheerio”.  For the chippies I did some of my favourite techniques.

One of my new favourite techniques for chippies is to use alcohol ink. Cover the chipboard with gesso, let dry and dab alcohol ink, using felt on a dabber.

For the # tag paint with gesso, dry and paint with Dylusions. Dry and add some stencil marks with gesso on a foam piece. The key is to use very little paint so a sharp image is achieved. After this was adhered I decided to add a layer of glossy accents to help the chippie shine. Just add the glossy accents in a heavier coat then if you were to glue, it is self-leveling. If there are bubbles just pop them using a pin. Let dry naturally.

Gears are one of my favourite things & I wanted to add more but I also wanted the paper to stand out. This is also one of my favourite techniques as it is so simple. Just paint using Distress Paint dabber in black. Let dry & add highlights of metallic. Done.

Bird chippies- hee hee love this! I wanted to do something different so I again painted with gesso. Why all the gesso you ask? The chippies are beige and affect the colour of anything you put on them. If you gesso them first you start with white so your colours are real. Plus gesso is a foundation that most products work well on. Once the gesso was dry I stamped in archival ink and added Distress ink with a dabber sponge. Adding wire and some beading to the large bird gave it a nice touch.

Lastly assembly time! Use a strong glue to adhere everything down. I like glossy accents for this. I used letters from my stash for the title and added some doodle lines. Finished my project by distressing the edges with some paint. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! Chippies just add great dimension to any book!

Southern Ridge Trading Co Supplies Used:

Chippies:

- Small Bird mix

- Symbols #1

- Med. Gears

- Skeleton Leaves

Stencils:

- 3” - 4 Leaf Clover

- 3" - Cheerio

- 3" - X

Other Supplies Used:

- Recollections: Paper & Title letters

- Ranger: Distress Ink, Glossy Accents, Dylusions Paint, Alcohol Ink, Archival

- Gesso

- Seth Apter: Stamp

- Posca: White pen

- Eileen Hull for Sizzix: Flower Dies

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! 

- Karen