Masculine Distressed Card

Father's Day may be over, but we always need masculine card don't we? Over on the Ranger blog, I've got an easy card tutorial for the manly men in your life, using lots of great Ranger and Tim Holtz Idea-ology products. You can check it out here. 

Thanks for popping in today!

Quick Father's Day Card with Graphic 45 French Country

Father's Day is fast approaching and Graphic 45 is featuring many wonderful ideas all week on their blog. You simply can't say you haven't been inspired to create something personal for Dad this year.

One of my contributions is this easy and elegant card using French Country papers.

I have a tutorial for this card here, so be sure to check it out. Then visit their blog each day this week to get even more ideas!

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a fabulous Friday!

eP Get Altered Challenge - Spoons

Wait, what? An altered spoon? Interesting...

This month over at the eclectic Paperie blog, Toni has challenged us to create an altered art project that includes a spoon. You can join in the fun by creating your own altered spoon project and uploading it to the challenge. You may even win some sweet spending money for goodies in the eP store! Details are all spelled out below.

Meanwhile, off to my local thrift store I went in hopes of finding a beautiful ornate silver spoon, but alas, all I found was a bin full of wooden spoons. VERY, very well-used wooden spoons. So I grabbed a few with no clue what I was going to do with them and they've been sitting here on my desk trying to inspire me to do something with them.

I decided a wooden spoon on its own wasn't very appealing, so I opted to use it as the hanger to my little Happy Home canvas.

This simple little canvas measures 5 x 7 inches which was a good proportion for my spoon hanger.

Here's a quick overview how the project came together...

First a layer of gesso over the whole canvas. Then a thin layer of embossing paste through my Polka Dotty stencil. Let dry thoroughly. Doesn't take long at all.

A quick smear of Distress Paints. (Salty Ocean, Broken China, and Mowed Lawn)

Spritz with water mister to blend and thin the colors out.

Paint the sides with Vintage Photo Distress Paint, then after all the paint is dry, blend Walnut Stain Distress Ink over the surface. This really makes everything pop, and cuts down the bright color nicely.

I had some paper-covered grungeboard die-cut shapes left over from my Artist's Crown project, so I put them to good use here and create a house and a door.

Paint the roof with Fired Brick Distress Paint, the house with Vintage Photo, and the door with Walnut Stain.  (The colors are little washed out in my photo.)

Ink the edges of all pieces with Walnut Stain Distress ink, then add some accents. Here I used Tim Holtz Vintage Lace die and Collage paper for trim below my roof. 

The Ring Fastener looks like a little door knocker and a Hitch Fastener, a doorknob.

A Label Pull made the perfect name place on my house. I typed Green on my computer, cut it out and adhered it behind.

I put our house number on the canvas as a memento of our Florida home, should we ever move away from here. The palm fronds are from an old QuicKutz die from long ago. I cut them out from shades of green Kraft Core cardstock and lightly sanded them before adhering them in place. The numbers are cut from a wonderful new Sizzix strip die I found in my local Joann's store by Brenda Walton called Antiqua Numbers. I cut the numbers twice; once from the Collage papers and once from black cardstock to serve as a drop shadow.

And finally, the spoon. You can see how worn it is on the end. Decades of stirring, no doubt. This Blossom Bucket Butterfly fit perfectly in the spoon.

The words Happy Home are Art Parts by Wendy Vecchi which I painted with two coats of Wild Honey Distress Paint. I attached the spoon to my canvas by inserting Screw Eyes into each and joined them with some ball chain.

I attached the spoon portion to my wall in our foyer using Command Damage-Free Hanging strips (17204) which are a lot like velcro strips and are very strong. 

An easy and quick project that was a lot of fun! Now how about you join us over at eclectic Paperie in our challenge. Here are a few helpful tips:

• You do not have to use products sold in the eP store…but we do love it when you do!

• Share a direct link to your creation, not just your blog, using the Linky Tools feature at the end of the eP post.  If, for any reason, the Linky Tools doesn’t cooperate, please add a link in the Comments section of the blog.

• When uploading to any online galleries, please use any of the following keywords; eP, eclectic Paperie or Get Altered Challenge.  Link your creations to the eP blog.

• If you’d like to be considered as one of our featured projects and be entered into our prize drawing, please be sure to add your link no later than 6:00 pm EST on June 21st.  They’ll announce the winner/featured project right before the eTeam Picks Challenge that day.

G45 Easel Card Video Tutorial Part 2

Finally getting around to completing video part 2 of my Graphic 45 Easel Card using ABC Primer papers. This video goes into more detail on how to achieve a faux chalkboard look, plus I share the formula for making your own envelopes for most any size card. This is a great way to use up older 12 x 12 papers you have stashed away. I love the look of envelopes made this way.

There are a few small goofs in my video as far as transitions, but after 6 hours of fiddling with iMovie I was done and called it "good enough." You'll see what I mean when you watch the video. If you find you have any questions, however, you just let me know.

Okay, here we go...





If you missed Part 1 or would like to see any of my other videos, go here to view my YouTube channel.

Thanks, and have a great day!

June Kit of the Month - "Tommy"

My June kit of the month is going to be perfect for Father's Day, Summer, Cruising, Sailing, Beaching, you name it. Close To My Heart's new Tommy paper packet and canvas stickers are some of my favorites this season. And check out my Father's Day Hinged Display I made for my hubby this year. What fun it was to make, and so easy!

(Be sure to click on the image for a closer view)

My Kit of the Month Club is open to all! 

Here are a few club options plus details:

12 months: $20 per kit

9 months: $25 per kit

6 months: $30 per kit

3 months: $35 per kit

(All options include additional charges for shipping and are for consecutive months.)

Each kit contains all materials to create four fabulous scrapbook pages (card stock, pattern paper, embellishments, etc.), sharp color photos and close-ups to help with assembly, easy-to-follow cutting guide, plus helpful tips. Membership requires a credit card on file which will be charged automatically during your term. Kits ship the first week of each new month. Contact me directly at AnnetteGreen@me.com to start your membership now.

The Tommy canvas stickers add wonderful texture. Here I inked the edges with Desert Sand ink.

Artisan Studs are the perfect embellishment for these pages. With their adhesive backing, they're a snap to pop onto your layout.

Lots of layering here with the canvas stickers. I added some hemp with Tacky Glue to my banner.

And with some of the leftovers, I made this fun card for my dad for Father's Day with the help of a large alphabet stamp. It took me just a few minutes!

This is the hinged display for my hubby using the same Tommy paper packet plus lots of stamping and embellishment. This will be great for Paul to put on his desk at work.

Hope this has inspired you to get crafting for Father's Day. All products used are from Close To My Heart and can be found through the links below.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great Monday!

eP post - Burlap Summer Canvas

Hello and welcome to the weekend! I'm over at the eclectic Paperie blog today with a fun project using many Tim Holtz goodies. If you've ever looked at those small burlap canvases and wondered what the heck to do with them, I am here to show you a fun and easy summer project you can complete in just 2 hours or less. Hop over to eP and check it out. Let me know what you think when you get there.

Thanks, and have a great weekend!

12 Tags of 2013 - June Journal Page

Happy Friday everyone! Those who have been following my blog know that I am creating journal pages in place of tags inspired by Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2013. Be sure to hop over to Tim's blog to check them all out and to learn a lot about Distress Markers while he demonstrates his June tag. Today I want to share my June journal page inspired by those marker techniques.

My pages are 6 x 8 on Bristol, vellum surface, 100 lb. by Strathmore. At the end of the year I will create a book with rings.

Okay, let's get started coloring!

I began by stamping images that have an open design in which to color. I stamped on a piece of watercolor paper cut to 4 1/2 x 6 inches. This is an older Close To My Heart stamp set of sunflowers. The honeycomb in the background is from Tim's Mixed Media set. One of my favorites. Since I'll be color in the images with water based markers and a water brush pen, I stamped with archival black to avoid bleed.

So, how do you begin? Let me first say that I am not an illustrator or a fine artist in any way. So my shading might not be spot-on, but I do what I can with the skills I have and I don't stress about it. It's too much fun to worry about all that. I do know that you have to stick with a light source, so for mine the source is coming from the upper left of the page. I began with something small, like the leaves. I used Shabby Shutters first. It's the lighter color of the two greens I'll use. Notice how I left some white space above where I colored?

Next I used Peeled Paint to color below the previous.

Then with the waterbrush, I blended the two together and pulled the color up into the white space. (You may have to click on the photo to get a closer look.)

Next I used Scattered Straw on the sunflower. 

Then Wild Honey coming out from the center. I work quickly and don't fret over anything.

I use the waterbrush to pull the two shades of yellow together.

Since the flower is already filled with color, if I want to add any more color I have to dry it first. Here I added Spiced Marmalade by scribbling the marker onto my non-stick craft sheet and then picked up the color with my waterbrush and brushed and dabbed it here and there for some added depth.

I continued to do this on all the sunflowers. The centers are colored with Tea Dye as the lightest color and Vintage Photo as the darker, then the waterbrush did the rest.

To color the edges of the watercolor paper, I used an ink blending tool with Tumbled Glass to rub around the edges, then used Broken China to darken just the outer edges. I used a waterbrush to pull the blue colors into the page more. I absolutely love how this looks. You'll see a close-up in the next photo. For the pinkish red splatters I scribbled Barn Red marker onto my craft sheet, then picked up the color with my waterbrush and flicked it onto the page. I did this technique again with Fired Brick to get  some variation. 

See the blue edge? Love that. And those splatters just look like they're floating on the paper.

Onto my Bristol, I created a monochromatic background using Victorian Velvet in three media. Stain, Distress Ink, and Distress Paint. I simply smeared each onto my craft sheet, then a heavy spritz of water and then dragged and dipped my Bristol into it until I was happy. After heat setting it, I inked the outer edges with Aged Mahogany.

I stamped the flourishes with Victorian Velvet Distress ink. This image comes from Tim's "Artful Flight" stamp set.

I adhered my watercolored piece to my page with strong glue stick, then stamped the sentiment in the upper left corner.

The key thing to remember is, if you're doing journal pages, be sure to punch your holes in the page first, not afterwards.  Oops.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day, and I'll see you tomorrow from eclectic Paperie's blog where I'll be sharing a Burlap Canvas creation using all sorts of great Tim Holtz products. And speaking of eclectic Paperie, you can find all the great Distress Paints, Stains and Markers in their store. Start shopping now.