Prima April PPP

There was a time when color challenges and mood boards intimidated me, and I would only play along with these challenges when compelled to by design team commitments. Because of these design team commitments, I developed a love of color challenges and mood boards almost in spite of myself, and they are some of my favorite challenges now.

I like pretty color combinations well enough, but striking color combinations are the ones that really grab me, and this month's Prima PPP really fits the bill. The contrast of the bold blues with the soft pinks and greys just begged me to play along.

Here is this month's inspiring moodboard:

I crammed a lot of background work into this one. I started by coating the paper in clear gesso, so that I could better control where my mediums went (or be able to quickly dab them off if they ended up in the wrong place), then added some white gesso over the area around my photo. Inspired by the image on the lower left of the moodboard (the heart wrapped in chicken wire), I stenciled a geometric shape on the background paper using the Harlequin stencil and White Crackle Paste.

 

Once the Crackle Paste was dry, I spritzed on Summer Sky and Cobalt Color Bloom sprays. To give really give the harlequin pattern dimension, I outlined the diamonds with a water-soluble black pencil, using some water to blur the sharp outline somewhat. I finished off the background by splattering on some blue and pink sprays, as well as some black and white paint, then brushed Mica Powder in Vintage Pink over the background randomly using my finger.

In order to add more dimension and flow to the layout, I added glass beads using gel medium, and tucked some gauze in amongst my blooms.

 

Some wire thread, corrugated cardboard and Junkyard Findings add some masculine elements to the layout.

Thank you for stopping by! I've been hard at work at more cards for birthdays my sons are invited to, and will be sharing those in the next couple of days.

Prima Products Used:

- Salvage District papers: Louis XIII, Palais Royale
- Royal Menagerie 3x4 Journaling Cards
- Prima flower packaging
- Gesso - Clear, White
- Crackle Paste - White (961503)
- Stencil - Harlequin (961305)
- Color Bloom: Summer Sky (573867) & Cobalt (573898)
- Mica Powder: Vintage Pink
- Tales Of You And Me: Je T'aime vine
- Mini Sachet Roses (565985)
- Something Blue flowers (575311)
- Wire Thread: Dusty (572044)
- Glass Beads: Cobalt Blue (962654)
- 3D Gloss Gel (961381)
- Junkyard Findings: Industrial Lamps (892293), Tiny Screws
 

Boy's birthday card

It seems to be birthday party season for my three boys, and the spring is also chock-full of family birthdays for us, so I'm busy making cards. 

I love the Julie Nutting boy stamps because they make boy cards so very easy. For this card, I dug deep into my Prima stash and pulled out papers and alpha stickers from the Craftsman collection - still one of my favourites for boy cards. 

I stamped the Aidan stamp on the darker side of the Prima Cartographer Boussole paper for the skin tone, then created the clothing pieces from various sheets from the Craftsman collection. 

Once I had assembled my paper doll, I added shading to the skin and with alcohol markers. 

The Black Box paper has draftsman-style drawings all over it, meaning I didn't have to add any additional stamping to my background. 

I added some masculine accents with corrugated cardboard, jute twine, staples and metal, then finished the whole thing off with some Craftman alpha stickers. 

Thank you for stopping by today!

Prima Products:

Julie Nutting stamp: Aidan

Julie Nutting tag pad

Cartographer paper: Boussole

Craftsman paper: Black Box, Tools of the Trade, Widgets

Craftsman Tiny Alphas

Engraver: 6x6 paper pad

A birthday card

My middle son, who's seven, was invited to a girl's birthday party this past weekend, so I got the chance to make a girly card! The two of them have been friends since they were 2 years old, and I love that their friendship has survived all the vagaries of elementary school. Though he did glom on to the only other two boys at the party, her older brother and his friend, for solidarity, he had a great time. 

Thank you for stopping by!

Prima supplies used:

Julie Nutting Tag Pad (910235)

Julie Nutting stamp: Betty

Cartographer paper: Boussole

Garden Fable paper: Primrose & Proper, Birdhouse

Royal Menagerie paper: Fly Free

Super Heavy Gesso

Color Bloom Sprays: Boysenberry, Summer Sky, Lime Wedge

Prima Alcohol Markers: Light Skin

Altered flask

Awhile ago I saw a YouTube video for an altered flask. Though I took mine in a completely different direction, I was inspired by the video to go out and find a plain steel flask and make it my own.

I started by running several strips of foil tape through my embossing machine using a Tim Holtz embossing folder (my favourite). I then carefully adhered it to the flask, including to the screw cap, and pounced on several colours of Alcohol Ink. 

This gave it an incredible worn, aged look. 

For the centrepiece, I started with a Prima Relics and Artifacts piece from the Chivalry set, which I painted with Art Alchemy paints, silver foil, and Stickles. I set this on a large metal piece atop a scrap of distressed Prima paper, with Junkyard finding screws in the corners. 

For the backside I attached some Prima scraps as well as a fussy cut clock, aged with Chalk Edgers.

Various Prima trinkets hung from Louviere chains completed the project. 

I hope you enjoyed checking out this project as much as I enjoyed making it. Thank you so much for stopping by today. 

Altered Elephant

I recently picked up an inexpensive paper mache elephant at the craft store to try my hand at altering something Finnabair-style. I love her altered horses, and set off to alter my elephant in the same vein. 

I started by painting the whole thing with black gesso to prevent mediums from soaking through or making the paper mache soggy. I then added doodled circles and dots to the haunches and details to the trunk, tail and toes with pearl pen and repainted the whole thing with a second coat of black gesso. I then added a generous coat of clear crackle paste to the elephant's back, and left the whole thing to air dry. Once it was dry, the fun began. I mixed many different colours of mica powder with gloss gel, painted on mica-rich paints, and rubbed mica powder on with my fingers. Once all the paint had dried, I rubbed gold Inka Gold over the raised doodles and crackles for extra texture and definition. 

 

A chain lead-rope and some additional metal embellishments finished this beauty off. 

Thank you for stopping by today!