A Sweet, Crafty Journal ~ CCS

Good morning my crafty friends.  I've got a sweet, crafty journal project up on the CutCardStock blog for you today.

 

I've used some wonderful colored cardstock from CutCardStock.

 

Plus, these beautiful printed papers and die cuts from Patchwork Roses collection from Uniquely Creative...

 

...and this amazing Snap and Swap die set from Sizzix and 49 and Market.  It is a collaboration die set, and it is a brilliant concept.

 

I hope you'll stop by the CutCardStock blog to see all the details.

 

Happy Crafting!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Candy Cane Lane ~ Fun with Paper on Christmas Day

Hello friends and Merry Christmas Day!  

  I have a confession to make.  I'm a bonified, certified paper hoarder.

There, I said it!  I try so hard to not buy new papers until I've used up some of my older papers that sit in a paper pile for years because A.) I like them too much to use or B.) I just have so many, I can't possibly use them all.  Especially when it comes to Christmas design paper.  I LOVE Christmas papers!  Especially Prima Marketing Christmas papers!!  They always have the sweetest vintage designs. 

 Well grab a cuppa something warm and have a seat.  Take a breather from the busy-ness of the day.  This post is filled with projects I made, while trying to use up the Candy Cane Lane collection from Prima Marketing.

You may recall a flip album I shared using this paper last year.  If you want to have another peek, you can find it HERE.  This year I made this sweet little journal that one could document special Christmas memories and put photo's in or use it as a Christmas daily planner.  

I used Eileen Hull's Scoreboard XL Passport to create the cover and spine of the book, cut from heavy chipboard.  I covered the book with the darling Candy Cane Lane papers and embellished it using flowers from Prima and some die cut leaves in Gold and soft blue to match the stocking Santa is filling.

 

The Passport die includes the cute little name plate, which I also cut out of chipboard and covered with a scrap of the same paper I used for the front cover.  I stamped a name using a stamp from Spellbinders Sign Here stamp set from the Flea Market Finds Collection.  I tucked a tiny Tim Holtz charm beneath the name plate and a ribbon closure.

When you open the book, there are three tabbed dividers including three signatures of color matched cardstock pages.  

I added the center signature first with a simple signature stitch.  For the two outside signatures, I added old buttons to the outside of the spine, just to snazz it up a bit and add some vintage flair.  

Here's the view from the top of the book.  You can see the three signatures and variations of papers I used for the pages.

The finished size of the book measures 3 1/2" x 5".  It's the perfect size to tuck inside a Christmas stocking!

I then made three Christmas cards.

adding bits of gold glitter strips and lots of WOS.

Are these images not just as cute as can be??

Finally, I made three treat boxes.

I was so happy to use up more of this beautiful Candy Cane Lane Collection from Prima.  I still have lots of paper, die cuts and flowers leftover.  Maybe I can finish it off next year.  What should I make next??  Leave me a comment with your suggestions.  I love a good challenge.  

Thanks for sticking with me for this long post and thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you and yours a blessed and Merry Christmas!

Strawberry Fields ~ Mixed Media Monday

Hello friends ~ Welcome back to another installment of Mixed Media Monday.

Today's art journal entry features a wonderful collection from Simple Stories called Simple Vintage Berry Fields.  I just love the sun-shine colors in this collection!

I started by covering a page in my Create Happiness Art Journal with a sweet country yellow, gingham paper from Simple Vintage Berry Fields 6x8" Paper Pad.  If you look closely, you'll see the subtle image of a mason jar.  So reminiscent of farm fresh country.  I distressed the edges of the page and splattered on some Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I layered on some ephemera bits from Simple Vintage Berry Fields Ephemera.  The strawberries are stamped using Sunny Studio Berry Bliss.  I love how real these look when stamped!

The "Oh Happy Day" stamp is from 49 & Market Vintage Artistry Dream stamp set.  The acetate butterfly, leaves and flowers were found on Amazon and the postage stamps are actual vintage stamps found in my vintage stamp collection.

Here's a list of products I used:

Simple Stories Simple Vintage Berry Fields

Simple Vintage Berry Fields Ephemera

Simple Vintage Berry Fields 6x8" Paper Pad

Create Happiness Journal

Sunny Studio Berry Bliss

 49 & Market Vintage Artistry Dream

I hope you enjoyed today's project.  Do you keep an art journal?  Let me know in the comments.  I'd love to stop by for a visit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Think Pink ~ Mixed Media Monday

I saw pink and thought of you.

Good morning crafty friends ~ I have a pretty pink entry in my art journal to share with you today.  It all started with this beautiful background paper from Spellbinders Flea Market Finds Florals Palette. 

 I was struck by the bold pink flowers and vines cascading across the paper.

I started the process by using a Brick Stencil and a craft spatula, applying Translucent Distress Texture Paste over the stencil all around the border of the page.  Once that dried I added Picket Fence Distress Paint over the top.  Using a damp paper towel, I wiped the paint off the brick, allowing the paint to settle between the bricks like mortar.  I love how the colors of the printed paper show through the translucent bricks, with a faint white detail between them.

In Focus:

Using a Tim Holtz Specimen die, I created the butterfly slide, adding stamped images from Cathe Holden's Sign Here stamp set.  The Delicate Dogwood die cut flower is from Poppystamps.  I colored it using Copic markers and stamped it with a script stamp.

 

 I added some ephemera pieces from Flea Market Finds Coat Check Miscellany and Meadow Lark Miscellany, after distressing the edges of each piece with Walnut Stain Distress Oxide Ink.  See those pretty vellum flowers with gold details??  Those are from Pinkfresh Studio Garden Bouquet Washi.

I added some stitched lines to the left side of the page that was from an old rub-on, but I messed it up when I was painting and rubbing the bricks, so I covered them with a strip of glitter washi tape.  I love how this page turned out.  In fact, I'm tickled PINK about it!!

I hope you like it too.

Here's a list of products I used today:

Spellbinders Flea Market Finds Florals Palette
Brick Stencils
Translucent Distress Texture Paste
Picket Fence Distress Paint
Sizzix Specimen dies by Tim Holtz
Coat Check Miscellany
Meadow Lark Miscellany
Pinkfresh Studio Garden Bouquet Washi

I'll be adding this project to the following challenges:

Creative Artiste Challenge ~ Anything Mixed Media Goes

Beautiful Blossoms Challenge ~ Anything Goes without Mood Board Option

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Peach Tea Anyone? ~ Mixed Media Monday ~

Hello friends! How are you bearing up with all the heat?  Here on the east coast, we've had more than our fair share of rain, however on the days that the sun has peeked through, it's been very hot and humid.  So, how about a nice, cold glass of peach tea?  It's been quite some time since I've shared a Mixed Media Monday post, so here I am with a new entry in my Create Happiness Art Journal.

This sweet page is filled with papers and ephemera from Prima Marketing Peach Tea collection.

The Peach Tea collection is filled with soft pastel colors and wonderful vintage style ephemera that I love!  The bird etching is a transparent rub-on.  I love how the patterns and colors show through, but the bird image is still crisp and visible.  

I did some random stamping using stamps from Spring Vintage of Winter Time Crafts, that I found on Amazon.

This page actually came together very quickly.

I hope you enjoyed today's quick post.  I find art journaling so relaxing.  I hope you'll be encouraged to start an art journal or planner of your own too!

All these products can be found at A Cherry On Top!

Prima Marketing Peach Tea Collection
Peach Tea 6x6 Paper
Peach Tea Ephemera
Rub-Ons
Art Journals & Planners

Stay cool!

Thanks for stopping by!

Be Still And Know ~ Mixed Media Monday

"Be still and know that I am God".  

Oh, how many times in my life, I've had to pause and reflect on this verse from Psalm 46:10.  

*I am a worrier....

*I am emotional....

*I fear.... a lot....

*I breath....

*I pray....

*I trust....

*I learn to be still and know that God is God!

This was a page from my art journal that I did when my daughter was in the third trimester of her pregnancy, but we were so filled with the unknown.  We knew from the start, that her pregnancy was not a perfect pregnancy, and that baby was measuring small.  None of her pregnancies have been normal, and they've all ended up in loss.  Why would this one be any different?  Many times, I had to lean into God and learn to be still and trust Him for the outcome.

I started this page of my Create Happiness Art Journal, by ink blending tumbled glass and antique linen DOX inks to the background of the page.  Using the Book Stencil from Stamperia, I added Crackle Texture Paste randomly over the page and set it aside to dry.  I love the look of the crackled texture.

I started layering various die cuts from Tim Holtz Ephemera packs, as well as some greens that I cut out of printed papers found in my scrap box and a very old leaf die from Cheery Lynn.  The mushrooms and butterfly are leftovers from Simple Stories Vintage Foliage Bits.

I perched this handsome little dude from Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Paper Dolls onto the mushroom and stamped the Bible verse and cut it apart as I wanted the look of text blocks to build the sentiment.

I was quite pleased with how this turned out and I hope that you like it too.

I'm so happy to share that our little miracle baby is home from the hospital and is doing well.

He's still a tiny, little peanut, under 4 pounds, but he's gaining weight every day.  He has stolen our hearts.

To say that dear hubby and I are proud grandparents is an understatement.

I'm adding this page to the Cut It Up Challenge ~ BIG!

Here's a list of products I used to create this:

Create Happiness A5 Stone Paper Journal ~ Stamperia

Stamperia Book Stencil
Distress Oxide Inks
Simple Stories Vintage Foliage Bits
Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Paper Dolls
Tim Holtz Ephemera
A Cherry On Top

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Thanks for stopping by!

Something New ~ Mixed Media Monday

Hello friends.  Do you ever feel like you want to break from the norm of card making and freely create?  When I feel that way, I get inky and typically make some kind of altered art or mixed media project.  I've never shared those types of projects on my blog before, but then I thought, "why not?" 

"Art" is a process that all creators develop, grow and learn through.  I'm the first to confess that I'm not very good at trying new techniques, but I do enjoy the freedom of the creative process of using lots of different mediums from time to time.  

I'm using today as a start of something new on my blog.  Welcome to "MIXED MEDIA MONDAY"! 

Life is full of mountains and valleys.  Every day, it's up to us to choose how we respond to all the events that happen in life.  I can easily get distracted by the negatives, allowing fear and worry to set in.  Thankfully, I'm beginning to recognize more quickly, when I'm in that negative pattern, and I turn to the God who holds all things together.  So, my word for today is "hope".  

On this page of my art journal, I started by laying down watercolors, blending them together by spraying the page with water and turning the book.  Once I was happy with the colors, I set the journal aside to dry.  I stenciled text and images using Stamperia's Book Stencil and started layering papers from my scrap box.  I stamped more text onto the largest piece of paper and ripped and distressed the edges.

The die cuts are from an ephemera pack from Stamperia, that have been sitting around for far too long, waiting to be used. I added some while gel pen accents to the leaves, letters and various areas on the page.

I hope that you enjoyed this new series.  I won't be posting a project every Monday.  My goal is to share something new a couple times each month.  

I've linked some products that I used below.  The art journal that I used has stone pages, so it doesn't matter what type of medium you use in your creative journey, the pages won't warp or curl.  

 Stamperia Create Happiness Stone Paper Journal

Stamperia Book Stencil

Ephemera Die Cut Packs

I'll be adding this project to the Simon Says Monday Challenge:  Make Your Own Background

 

Thanks for stopping by!