Gorgeous Junque Gypsy Memory Folio

Happy hump day everybody! Man, this week has just flown by, can't believe it's Wednesday already. Today I want to share a recent project for Craft Source using Marion Smith's Junque Gypsy collection. I was inspired to create a memory folio by a very talented lady on Youtube named Kona Raven. I follow her channel and was so impressed by the gorgeous folios she creates, that I just had to give it a try. She was even so generous to provide an awesome tutorial that I will share at the bottom of this post.

Junque Gypsy Memory Folio

Isn't it gorgeous? The entire thing is constructed of black card stock and tons of Scor Tape. The paper on the cover was my favorite sheet from the collection.I just loved the colors and the beautiful roses.All the edges are inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and I added 2 fussy cut butterflies from the collection to the cover, as well as a metal frame from Prima. The closure is crinkled seam binding colored with Prima's Color Bloom Spray in Cotton Candy.

This is what it looks like on the inside when you first open it up.There are lots of pockets for tags and 2 mini books being held by a belly band on the right hand side.

 It opens up to reveal even more pockets and photo mats and a really cool water fall feature.

More photo mats and space for journaling.

I really love the way this folio turned out and I encourage you to check out my video to really see all the details. I didn't want to make this post so photo heavy so I only focused on certain parts of the folio.To truly appreciate it, you have to see the whole thing. You can check out my video here.

Thank you Kona Raven for the inspiration and the wonderful tutorial. You can check out Kona's 2 part tutorial here.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week! Happy crafting.

Springtime in Paris Mixed Media Canvas

Welcome back to my blog! Today I want to share a very special project I created, recently, for Craft Source. Craft Source is a new, members only website, where for a $35 membership fee you can join and take advantage of deeply discounted craft products, bundled buys, exclusive tutorials and product review videos, monthly challenges and much more.They offer tons of bundled products and bulk buys. So the more you shop, the more you save and the products are discounted 15-35% everyday. Sometimes even more! For a limited time, the membership fee has been reduced to $25 so if you want to take advantage of this great offer you can sign up here.

Springtime in Paris

I started off with a 12x12 canvas and primed it with a light coat of gesso. Then I adhered two large pieces of music sheet to the top right and bottom left corners. I spread my homemade texture paste all over the canvas, heavy in some areas and lighter in others.Love this stuff because it creates such great texture and small cracks

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I used a damask stencil and Faber Castell Whipped Spackle to create even more texture. Then I used  Lindy's Stamp Gang Flat Fabio sprays in T- Bird Turquoise and Ocean Breeze Blue and sprayed it all over the canvas. Because the Flat Fabios don't have any shimmer, I mixed up some Finnabair Mica Powder in Teal with a bit of water inside a spray bottle. I sprayed this mixture onto the canvas and even created drips along the flower clusters for a shadow effect.  Next, I went over the top of the damask texture with Faber Castell's Texture Gems in gold. I just dabbed it over the tops with my finger to add a gold shimmer. You can also see  some of the stamping I did with Fiannabair's Messy script stamp and the spattering of paint I created.

The theme of the canvas is Springtime in Paris, so I made sure to include tons of flowers on my project. The tree branches are cut from chipboard using Tim Holtz's Bird Branch die. I cut off the bird and glued 3 pieces together. Then I painted them a dark brown color and painted a coat of white acrylic paint on top of that. I distressed the branches with a sanding block to reveal some of the brown underneath. The tiny leaves are from an old punch and the small pink flowers are by Prima. I love the way the flower clusters turned out. You can see bits of cheesecloth and lace peeking out and the gold berries really pop!

The Eiffel Tower image is from the internet. I printed it out and framed it with a small frame from my local craft store. I dabbed the once green frame, with white acrylic paint and more of the gold Texture Gems using my fingers. The little resin birds are Prima Shabby Chic treasures also dabbed with Texture Gems, this time in platinum. I love the sheen, the Texture Gems create.

Where there are flowers, there are butterflies. I stamped some butterflies on vellum and heat embossed them with gold embossing powder. Then I just cut them out and placed them throughout my canvas.

I spelled out "Paris" with some alpha stickers dabbed with acrylic paint. Then I added Finnabair's Art Ingredients Glass Bleads in Crystal to the bottom left corner. There is some on the top corner too, but it gets covered by the flowers.

Almost everything I used to create my canvas can be found at Craft Source. They are your go to shop for just about all your crafting needs. Take advantage of the limited time membership offer of $25 and sign up today! 

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

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!

Pretty Magnolia Tag made out of Packaging Material

Hi guys and welcome back to my blog! Today I want to share with you a great idea on how to turn you embellishment packaging into pretty tags. Whenever I open a new package, I'm always looking for ways to re-purpose the packaging. Whether it be cardboard, plastic, netting, etc. The backing material on some of the embellishments, come in great shapes and can make for awesome tags. I've created a beautiful Magnolia tag out of Prima packaging as my design team project for Not2Shabby.

Turning your packaging into a pretty tag is quite easy. I always look for packaging that has a neat design or details, such as eyelets, as my base. Then you simply trace the packaging onto designer paper of your choice. Cut it out and adhere to both sides of your packaging material with your favorite adhesive.

So here's the pretty tag I created using the sweet Magnolia image. It's called Tilda with Hanging Rabbit and you can purchase it here. I've used Colorbok's Victorian Parlour collection to cover the tag and inked all the edges with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. I also busted out my Doohickey dies and some pretty laces I had in my stash.

I colored the image with my Copic markers and I paper pieced her dress and boots. I also added Frantage in Shabby White around the image for more detail. It's my first time using it and I love the way it looks!

The flower cluster turned out so pretty. I just used flowers from my stash and these cute little pips I picked up at my local craft store. The leaves are from the Doohickey Club Dies Volume 4 and I stamped on them and inked them with Brushed Corduroy. The wood banner has been in my stash for ages and I thought it would make for a perfect sentiment on my tag.

I hope I've inspired you to look at your "trash" in a whole new way. I think I'll be making a few more of these tags!
Head on over to Not2Shabby and take advantage of Jamie's flash sale going on now until Sunday March 22. Almost everything in the store is 10% off and if you use Discount Code "LIZRUSSELL" you will get an additional 10% off your purchase. What a great deal!

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

Magnolia Altered Wood Gift Bags

Hi guys! Welcome back to my blog.Today I want to share a design team project for Not2Shabby.
Jamie was kind enough to send me some really cute stamps to work with this month and I received another Tilda! Would you believe it is only my second Magnolia stamp ever, lol. Between the cute stamps and the Dookickey dies, I'm officially hooked on Magnolia!
Since I'm all fired up for Spring, I created another Spring themed project.

I had picked up these cute wood gift bags at my local craft store and thought it would be cute to alter them as little favor boxes. I painted the inside of the boxes and covered the outside with Prima's Songbird collection. It's an older collection but oh so pretty and I just love the soft colors.

The sweet Magnolia stamp is Tilda with Hanging Rabbit and it was stamped onto watercolor paper and colored with watercolors for a soft look. 

 I used a lot of my Doohickey dies to create an outdoor Spring scene. The butterflies are from a MS punch and all the edges are inked with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. 

I inked all the die cut pieces too,to make them pop against the soft background. Then I added little pearls to the flower centers and on the hanging sign.

 On the back, I created a little envelope to hold a small card for the recipient. 

This is the second one I made. It's very similar to the first one so I'll just post some pictures.

I think they turned out so cute. Now, all I have to do is fill them with goodies and they're all set! 

Head on over to Not2Shabby and don't forget to use discount code "LIZRUSSELL" for 10% off your purchase.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Tags of 2015, March

The sun is out!!! The sun is out!!! Sorry, I just couldn't contain my joy, lol. After not having seen the sun in so long, I can't help but be happy! So in honor of the beautiful sun and the warm weather to come, I created a Spring inspired tag as my take on Tim' March tag.

I followed Tim's techniques to create the background on the tag, but just switched up the colors. You can check out Tim's tag here.Since I wanted to go for a shabby look, I used Distress paint in Broken China, Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet, Bundled Sage, and Brushed Corduroy.The effect was so pretty and I think it's just perfect for Spring. 

I used my homemade texture paste and gold embossing powder to create the really cool enamel look. The butterfly stamps are from my stash and I stamped them with Archival Ink and covered them with clear embossing powder. The crinkled seam binding bow was dyed with Victorian Velvet. It's such a beautiful color!

I added a word band with some jute rope at the bottom of the tag. Then I embellished the tag with Tim's Metal Foliage. I dabbed the metal pieces with Distress Paint to give them a more shabby look too.

Overall, I think it turned out very pretty and it was so much fun to create. You still have plenty of time to play along, so head on over to Tim's blog and check out his awesome tutorial.

Hope you like my tag and thanks so much for stopping by!

Parisian Themed Layered Card for Not2Shabby!

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope your day is a bright and sunny one, because mine doesn't look like it's going to be. We had a severe thunderstorm all night, here in Spring. The thunder was making the entire house shake and the rain would not let up. So needless, to say, it's wet and gloomy out there.But days like this do have their upside because it means I can stay in and have more crafty time! Today I'm sharing a bright and cheerful card I created for Not2Shabby.

This is my attempt at a layered card similar to the ones I've seen on Pinterest. The image stamp is by Whimsy Stamps called Walkies. I colored her hair, skin and the little pup with my Copic markers and then, I paper pieced her outfit. I hadn't colored black hair in a long time, that I almost forgot how to do it,lol. It took me 3 tries until I was happy with the results.

The designer paper I used is Authentique's Classique Pretty collection. I love the color combo of pink, black and white. Very Parisian don't you think?

I used several Magnolia Doohickey dies on my card and tons of flowers from my stash . Small seam binding bows and bling add an elegant feel to the card.

The sentiment is a sticker from the same collection and I just adhered it to a scrap piece of coordinating cardstock. 

I really hope you like my card and I invite you all to visit Not2Shabby shop. Jamie carries the most amazing stamps at great prices. You may also use discount code "LIZRUSSELL" for another 10% off your purchase.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you all have a pleasant day!