Shabby Chic Castle

Hey guys! I just realized I haven't posted anything in over a month. I've taken on some new responsibilities and have been sooo busy!
Today I want to share a design team project that I created for Not2Shabby. This is actually my last month designing for Jamie's shop and I'm sure going to miss it. Jamie sent me an adorable set of stamps this month, including La La Land Crafts Sassy Princess Marci. As soon as I saw her I knew I had to do something involving a castle.. While perusing the aisles at my local craft store, I came across a castle birdhouse made out of wood and thought it perfect for my project.Check it out.

Sassy Princess Marci in her castle.

I painted the wooden birdhouse with Vanilla acrylic paint and Light Pink paint by Craftsmart. Then I used a stamp that resembled stone texture and Pumice Stone Distress Ink to stamp all around the walls of the castle.

It's very subtle, but you can see a little of the stone look, the stamp created.

I colored Marci's skin and hair using my Copic Markers and used gold Stickles on her crown.Her outfit was paper pieced using scraps from an old collection by Melissa Frances.

The flowers and vines along the castle walls were die cut using Magnolia Doohickey dies and cardstock. I really love the look of the vines against the castle walls.

I made a little flag for the top of the castle using my Spellbinders Banners die set and a bamboo skewer. Sassy Princess Marci comes with 3 sentiments and I chose the "once upon a time" sentiment to stamp onto the flag.I also created a mini flower bed out of a matchbox and some more Doohickey dies. Isn't it cute?

 Here's another full view from the side.

I think this piece would look so cute in a little girl's room or make for a cute centerpiece for a Princess theme party. Too bad my little one has outgrown her princess phase.

Head on over to Not2Shabby and don't forget to use discount code "LIZRUSELL" to get 10% off your purchase. Jamie always has the cutest stamps at amazing prices.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you all real soon!

12 Tags of 2014, March

Hi guys, welcome back!

 So at the beginning of 2014, I told myself that I was going to start participating in Tim Holtz's  monthly tags. I had every intention of following thru on that promise,( I really did)  but life sometimes gets in the way. Needless to say, I missed out on the January and February tags but wasn't going to let March get away from me. And I'm so glad I took the time to create my tag(s) because they turned out awesome! If you aren't participating already, you really should consider getting started. It's never too late and I just love all the tips and techniques that Tim teaches us each month.Well, enough rambling...check out my take on the March Tag of 2014.

 

 I didn't have many of the products that Tim used for his tag, so I had to improvise. But, to be honest, that's actually the best part, because you end up with a  really unique tag. I used Steampunk CMS107 stamp set for the main images and a couple of random stamps from my stash.

This month's technique was smudging. You stamp your inked image onto one tag first, and then without re-inking, stamp again on a second tag. Then you immediate smudge the images using your  ink blending tool. You can see the smudging much better in the close up above. Pretty cool, huh? I used a stencil from Heidi Swapp and Lindy's Stamp Gang color spray in Tiffany Blue, concentrating on the upper right hand corner.

I  applied turquoise paint onto the word band and then rubbed it off with my finger. This step really helps to bring out the words in the band.. The jute string was stained with Peeled Paint Distress ink and I dabbed more of the turquoise paint on the edges of the tag. And viola... two really cool Steampunk inspired tags!

I had so much fun creating these tags that I couldn't stop there and thought I'd catch up on the two I missed.

Here's my take on the January tag:

 

It's almost identical to Tim's tag because I practically had every product he used. Of course, I changed it up a bit to make it my own. The chit chat stickers reflect what's important to me and the "R" on the charm further emphasizes that notion.. It's my family name!

 

My take on the February tag:

 

Again, I had to work with what I had on hand, but I just love the way it turned out! The arrow and scalloped edge were created using foil tape over cardstock. I then applied black gesso over the die cut pieces and rubbed some off with my finger to create a grungy look. I did the same thing on the wings except  they were die cut out of grungeboard. I used a toothpick to create the "feathers" and then added the black gesso to accent the wings. LOVE it!!!

 

Well, that's it for today's post. I really hope you like my tags and you really should consider joining in the fun each month. You not only get to  create an awesome tag but you may also win a prize if you upload your tag to Tim's blog. I'm on my way to do that now!

 

Have a wonderful week everybody! I'll see you all real soon.