Crafty Sunday

Hello there! This week I was able to spend some time being crafty and for me that means stained fingers and glitter in my hair. I got some really fun pages completed and was able to play with some of my favorite companies and products.

On Friday, I created my favorite layout from the week. I had been playing around with the idea for this page for awhile but could never find the perfect photo. I was rummaging through some pictures from 2008 and ran across this photo of me with my camera. And then BoBunny came out with this super line called "Mama-razzi" and the colors were perfect, so I knew it was time to create this layout.

The one thing from the BoBunny collection that I didn't purchase were the flowers because I figured I had enough flowers. Well I had a ton of flowers, but none of them were the right color. So I decided to color my own. I absolutely love how they turned out and I want to share the technique. :)

 Materials:  White flowers (Mine are the wildflower mix from Prima), distress inks in multiple shades of the same color, ink blending tool with foam, Perfect Pearls (perfect pearl color), Ranger Mini Mister filled with water, heat gun, Ranger Craft Mat

2. Choose your lightest shade of distress ink. Here I chose Broken China.  Apply the ink to the flower using the ink blending tool. For mine I held the middle of the flower as I inked so that the flower wouldn't tear. Also make sure that you get ink into the crevaces of the flower.

This what the flowers look like with the lightest color on them.

2. Next take your darker shade of distress ink and ink blending tool and swipe the color over the top of the flower. This ink will only reach the raised parts of the petals. Here I am using Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

3. Make your own pearlized mist with a Ranger Mini Mister, Perfect Pearls, and water. I used the clear glitter color called Perfect Pearls on my project.  To make your mist, use a craft stick to scoop some perfect pearls into the mister. Fill the mister 2/3 of the way full with water, screw on the lid, and shake to mix. I glued a pearl on the top of the lid of the mister so I know what is inside it.  I got this tip from one of my favorite artists, Jennifer McGuire. To see more of her tips, visit http://www.jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/.

4. Spray your flowers with the Pearlized Mix. Because of their unique properties, Distress Inks react with water and the colors will bleed together creating a cool muttled look. You could also use Glimmer Mist in the Pearl color for this technique, but I found that the Pearlized Mix works better for me.

5. Dry the flowers with a heat tool. This sets the color and stops it from bleeding anymore. It also speeds up the drying time on te flowers.

This is a close-up of the blue flowers. I used Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress inks  and then spritzed them with the pearlized mix. I totally love the subtle glittery shine they have.

These flowers were created with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress inks. I also sprayed the pearlized mix over these.

Layer your different sized flowers together on your layout and add a flower center of your choice. The top flower here uses a cardstock sticker with foam adhesive dots behind it and the bottom flower simply has a large gemstone adorning its center.

Bonus Tip

To create these cool multi-colored and layered chipboard letters, I first painted them with the greenish-blue color of acryllic paint. After it dried, I then used a tan color of paint and dabbed it on different areas of the letters using a wadded-up paper towel. Finally I used a paintbrush and some copper-colored glimmer mist to paint on some glimmer color over the areas painted tan. It really gave the letters a unique aged look that added to the overall look of the page.

Well I hope you all are enjoying your holiday weekend. Mine was very busy with a going away party for my brother-in-law who is heading to Iraq this summer. We had over 60 people here and it was a blast!!! :)

Until next time,

Janeen :)

Musings...

"Bless The Broken Road"
I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you


[Chorus:]

Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

[Chorus]

Now I'm just rolling home
Into my lover's arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you


This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you. 

Yes, God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you.



I have been thinking about this song a lot lately.  I guess for me this is a prayer and a dream that someday this will be me. It certainly has been a broken road but I know that one day, it will lead me to the man that God has chosen for me. This is what keeps me going on some days when this dream seems totally hopeless and reminds me that I have a God that loves me infinately!

A bit of Craftiness.... :)

Hello bloggers...again life has taken over and I have't blogged in forever. So to make up for my absence, I have lots of fun crafty stuff to post. :)

First up is a layout I made today. I tried a fun new technique...which I will share below.

Isn't it just super cute? I just totally love these pictures of Bailey when she was a puppy. Her favorite toy was her squeaky balls and I love these photos of her playing with them. And speaking of playing, I played with some of the papers from the April's Scarlet Lime kit....which is gorgeous by the way. Lots of bright primary colors paired with elegant black papers. I only used yellow pieces for this layout, but there are a ton of blues and reds too...Another layout is in the works with the kit so stay tuned. :)

The technique I want to share with you today is the black accents with the text type paper behind it. Believe it or not, this is all stamping! Except for the largest element on the layout which is a clear sticker from Heidi Swapp. I found a roll of 100 of these stickers at Tuesday Morning for $1.99 so you will probably be seeing A LOT of these on my upcoming projects. :)

So want to know how to get this super fun look? I simply used a few basic stamping supplies and 2 of my favorite stamps from Hero Arts:

              

Hero Arts Cling Stamp: Friend Definition                       Hero Arts Clear Stamp: Speckled Ornaments

 

1. Stamp the friend definition onto plain white cardstock using a black chalk or shadow ink. This gives the background the look of newsprint. I used the mini stamp press from Fiskars to mount my stamp on. I find that it gives me more control over where I place my stamp and also helps give me a more crisp image.

2. Adhere your cling stamp to an acryllic mount and stamp it on top of the image you stamped in step 1 with Versamark Ink or other favorite clear embossing ink. Sprinkle on black embossing powder and heat your image with a heat gun.

3. Cut out around the stamped image leaving about a 1/4 inch border around the image.

4. Use your favorite adhesive or pop-dots to attach your embellishment to your project.

I ended up using these flourish images on a set of cards that I made to have on hand.

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I also thought I would share a few of my other recent projects that I have been working on. Enjoy!

This layout was super fun and easy to put together. I followed a sketch out of a recent issue of Creating Keepsakes, altering the colors and elements to match my photos.  These photos are from a fun evening that my friends and I shared back in 2007. We had a bonfire and a hayride, which had a haunted stop along the way with a little church and a "ghost". It was a really good joke and we all still talk about that memorable adventure.

This is another sweet layout of my puppy Bailey out in the snow.  She loves to be outside in the white fluffy stuff and always ends up covered from head to tail in snow.  I had a lot of fun playing with these papers from American Crafts and adding some bling snowflakes from Basic Grey to add that special touch to the layout.

This layout was created for this month's design team challenge over at the If It's Groovy Blog. We were asked to get creative with shadows in our photographs and so I snapped this sweet photo of my parent's shadows on our driveway as they embraced. :) I was able to use up a small bit of my Valentine's paper stash by using these fun papers by Chatterbox and Carolee's Creations. The scalloped border is created with Paper Frills from Doodlebug and I used Prima roses to give my layout that special touch.