Dictionary for IndigoBlu

I am presenting a clean and simple card over at IndigoBlu today so pop on over to the blog and check out how I used the dictionary.

Friday Focus at Frilly and Funkie

I am presenting the Friday Focus segment over at Frilly and Funkie today so pop on over and see what I have created.  Here is a little sneak peek of just one project.

Something Old

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie and the very talented Jenny who is our hostess this time is calling it Something Old.  She describes it this way:

I'm sure, like me, there will be lots of you who love all things vintage and enjoy nothing more than discovering old and unwanted treasure at thrift shops and junk markets. The challenge this time is to use something old either as the basis of your project or as an addition to your vintage or shabby chic creation.

I have only been to one vintage market and it was in England last November. While there were a number of things I would have loved to have picked up for use in my creations, I couldn't because of the weight restrictions the airlines place on luggage. So the next best thing was to go through my cupboards and see what I had from my late Mother and late Mother-in-Law that might work for this challenge.

I rediscovered this box of costume jewelry so I decided to go through it and see what I could use.  I chose an earring with a clip-on back and then I found some lace from my Mother-in-Law's sewing room in another box of goodies and they were almost a perfect match to one another.

I started with a piece of Bazzill card stock for the card blank and then added some Graphic 45 paper from the Time to Flourish pad.

I wanted to try out my new Oxides and while I didn't get the result on my first attempt that I thought I would, I knew that I could use what I made provided I paired it with coordinating papers so I used a paper from the Mon Amour patterns and solids pad and one from a Prima pad called Sweet Peppermint.  All the papers were distressed and the edges were inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I made some flowers to add to my shabby card.  The large flower started with a scrap of green card stock die cut with Tammy Tutterow's Shabby Posie die.  The edges were inked with some Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide.

I die cut a couple smaller flowers from Tammy's die and used some antique linen to colour them and then used some Tree Branch Archival Ink and a text stamp from Recollections Haunted set to add some stamping.  The flowers were shaped and layered.

Next I used three sizes of flower punches from EK Success to create some flowers from a piece of paper from the Mon Amour pad.  The flowers were spritzed with some Worn Lipstick Distress Spray and some Lindy's Frozen Jack Frost and the edges were inked with Vintage Photo DI before they were layered to create the two large flowers.  Finally I punched and layered some smaller flowers from the scraps of my Oxide paper. Pearls were added to the centres of all the flowers.

I altered a couple of filigree leaves by pressing them into Versamark and then heat embossing them with Tree Branch Embossing Powder from Wendy Vecchi.

Now it was time to put this card together.  The paper panels came first followed by the little piece of lace.  I made a loopy bow out of jute twine and added the flowers and leaves next.  The earring was tucked beside the flowers and then I added one of the Tim Holtz paper dolls.

I purposely left a sentiment off this card because I don't know how I am going to use it but it would be suitable for a number of occasions.

The following items used to create this card came from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Shabby Layers

It is time for me to show you my first May project for IndigoBlu.  The theme this month is Wings so I decided to make something with a butterfly on it.  And if you have a butterfly, I think flowers are in order.

I started by grabbing some Bazzill card stock for the blank and then added some paper from a Prima pad called Secret Garden for the back panel.  The paper was distressed and inked with some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink from Tim Holtz.  I added a smaller distressed and inked panel from the same paper collection with dimensional foam strips.

I used some of Wendy Vecchi's Tree Branch Archival Ink to stamp a butterfly from the Victorian Garden set onto a scrap of the Prima paper that I used for the small panel.  After it was fussy cut, the edges were inked with Rusty Hinge DI.

Next I stamped the flowers and leaves from the Live, Laugh, Love set onto some of the Bazzill card stock and inked the edges of the flowers with Rusty Hinge DI and the edges of the leaves with Iced Spruce DI after they were fussy cut.

I embossed the flower petals from the back to give them a bit of shape and layered one on top of the other.  Some Recollections micro beads were added to the centre.  I made a little stem from card stock and inked it with Iced Spruce and then added the flower and leaves on one side.  Extra leaves were added on the opposite side.

I made a tag from the same paper as the background panel and added some burlap string.  Before I added the butterfly to the tag, I altered a key for the body using some Rust Alcohol Ink blended with some Copper Mixative.  The tag was also layered with dimensional foam strips.

Next I dyed some seam binding with Iced Spruce and Shabby Shutters DI and made a crinkled, loopy bow.  Finally I added some roses from Wild Orchid Crafts and a few buttons from my stash.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:

Moving Along With The Times - Butterflies
Dream Valley Challenges - Things With Wings
Craft-Dee Bowz - Anything Goes with a Handmade Bow

Jazz

It is time for a new challenge at Frilly and Funkie.  Linda is our hostess this time and she is calling it The Sound of Music.  Here is what she has to say about it:

"When this challenge goes live, I will be in Key West for the annual Songwriters' Festival. I thought it would be fun to create something vintage or shabby chic that tells what music means to you and/or to depict a favorite song."

I am not the least bit musical so I can't sing or play an instrument. I do love to listen to music but don't have a favourite song. I do have my likes and dislikes when it comes to the type of music I listen to with jazz being my absolute favourite.

I made this card twice. Why, you ask? Well I knew right away what I wanted to focus on and after I worked on the individual elements I fought with myself about the layout. I finally jumped in and glued things down but instantly disliked it so I pulled off some of the elements I could re-use and the rest of the card was shredded and thrown in the garbage.

I decided I needed a break, which worked because while I walked on my treadmill I came up with a plan and it only took a short time to put the card together.  Now why couldn't this have happened from the beginning so I didn't waste so much time?

Here is how I made this card:

1.  Printed vintage music paper on the computer (I found some images online of a Billie Holiday classic called Body and Soul).  The edges were distressed with scissors or a distressing tool and ink with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink.
2.  Cut strips of coordinating papers (I used Graphic 45 Mon Amour) and distressed the edges.
3.  Selected an image and changed it to greyscale before it was printed, cut out and distressed.
4.  Mounted all the paper layers on a card blank made from Recollections card stock.
5.  Using a petal template I found online, cut layers of white card to make my gardenia.  Shaped all the layers and adhered them together to form the finished flower.

6.  Sprayed the flower with Lindy's Frozen Jack Frost and while it was still wet, pounced on some Perfect Pearls using a fluffy makeup brush.

7.  Altered a metal leaf by coating with white embossing powder.
8.  Added the leaf and flower to the card.
9.  Made the text on the computer and fussy cut each letter.

Billie Holiday often is shown in photos with what looked like gardenias in her hair so that is why I went with this colour palette so I could coordinate with the paper gardenia I decided to make.  She had a short and tragic life but she had one fantastic voice so if you get a chance I hope you will listen to her sing.  There are so many instrumental jazz artists that are fabulous - John Coltrane and Charlie Parker are a couple of my favourites.

I hope you will join us for this challenge.  One random winner will receive a gift certificate to Linda's shop and the Design Team will choose their favourites with the top pick receiving an invitation to be a Guest Designer at a future date.

Nature with Fabric

Today is the start of a new challenge at Stamps and Stencils.  This time I am the hostess and am calling it Fabric and Fibres.  I describe it this way:

Let's add some fabric and/or fibres to our creations this month. You can use linen, burlap, organza, wool, lace, ribbon, rope to name a few. The list is almost endless but whatever you add, make sure there is some stamping or stenciling (or both) on your creation as well.

I started with a deep canvas from the dollar store and stenciled a vine border on the top and around the sides using Golden Light Molding Paste and a Dylusions stencil called Leaf Flourish Small.  Next I gave it a coat of Liquitex White Gesso.

The next step was to paint everything with Driftwood Acrylic Paint from DecoArt and then dry brush randomly with DecoArt Bleached Sand.

I stamped some muslin scraps with Liquitex Black Gesso.  One has a butterfly from Hero Arts and the other has a tulip from an IndigoBlu set called Butterfly Collector.  I sewed some quilt batting to the back of the stamped pieces and then frayed the edges,

I used some one-step Coal Black Metal Paint from DecoArt to paint a wooden flower from the dollar store and a leaf sticker from Martha Stewart that I bought in the clearance section at Michaels.  A gold pearl from Dovecraft was added to the centre of the flower and the leaf was mounted on some burlap ribbon.

I stamped a leaf from a Tim Holtz set called Leaf Prints onto a scrap of cream card using Jet Black Archival Ink and then fussy cut it.  Next I added some Gold Embossing Powder from Recollections to create a few highlights.  To add the embossing powder, I used an embossing pen from Zig in a few random areas and then gently sprinkled the powder on those areas.  The embossing pens are a great tool because they allow you to add embossing in tiny areas rather than all over.

It was time to assemble my nature collage but first I collected a few more items to embellish it:

• A piece of wood from the local playground that I wrapped with some gold Artistic wire.
• Some bits of lace from my stash.
• A gold skeleton leaf from Papermania.
• Some canvas ribbon from a wholesale outlet in Fancy Gap, Virginia.
• Buttons from my stash.

This time I purposely laid everything out with separation because I wanted a structured look to my canvas but I plan to do another canvas with similar elements and group/overlap them to see which look I prefer - stay tuned.

I am going to enter this canvas in the following challenges:

Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes
Mixed Media Monthly - Put A Stamp On It

Card Und More - Buttons
We Love 2 Create - Anything Creative/Mixed Media Goes