Always

My sons ... a few (13!) years ago!

For the month of February the More than Words Challenge was "Always & Quote." My favorite quote of all time is by Helen Keller, "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be see or even touch - they must be felt with the heart." The greatest of all emotions is Love, and I don't think there is a greater love than parental love - Always.

February 2019 More Than Words Main Challenge

A quick overview of what I did:

• I first coated the Creative Embellishments Heart Flourish in the Prima Pastes and set it aside to dry.
• I started with some clear gesso on the background, then added the stenciling & embossing.
• All parts from the Prima Mould were coated in black gesso, then Bronze Age wax...and I just started stacking and arranging and gluing the ReneaBouquets Grid with the gears...And hoping for the best! LOL!
• Then the pastes ... layering and mixing and blending and watering down and building back up and drying ... and doing it all over again!
• The hearts & "Always" were both coated in black gesso, but the hearts only have Electric Violet Metallique Wax & "Always" has a mix of Electric Violet, Old Denim, and Mint Sparkle on top of Bronze Age.

Cluster at top of page.

Cluster at bottom left of page.

Area under photo.

Products:

• [From the] Tres Jolie February Scrapbooking Kit
• 13@rts
• Aqua Flora "Blue dreams"
• Prima
• Midnight Garden Collection "Old Map"
• Resin Icons
• Chalk Black Gears
• Chalk Black Words
• Creative Embellishments
• Heart Flourish
• ReneaBouquets
• Beautiful Board
• Grid Elements
• 13@rts
• Rose Fields Collection
• "Always" Chipboard
• Prima
• Finnabair
• Metallique Wax
• Bronze Age
• Electric Violet
• Old Denim
• Mint Sparkle
• Rust Effect Paste
• Burnt Sienna
• Royal Blue
• Lavender
• Mechanica Mould
• Vintage Trinkets (Clock)
• Art Anthology
• Diamond Grunge Stencil
• Ranger
• Antiquities Embossing Powder
• Frosted Crystal
• Archival Ink
• Jet Black
• Tim Holtz
• Aged Mahogany Distress Oxide
• Freckled Fawn
• Wood Chips - Hearts
• Stampers Anonymous
• Tim Holtz
• Bubble Stencil
• Silhouette Curio
• Silhouette Pen - Black
• Unbranded
• All the other gears not from the Prima Mould!

Rattan Heart

Rattan Heart created for the Creative Embellishments February Challenge

Over on the Creative Embellishments Blog the February Challenge was a color challenge, and this heart is what I came up with!

To color the rattan heart I used three different sprays, Shimmerz "Pretty In Pink" and "Sweetheart," and I watered down the "Rose-Gold" Prima paint to make the third spray. After they were dry I had to add some lace...because Creative Embellishments had it as a twist, and I'm not one to "skip" on twists!

It was after I had the lace on I decided to add make the inner and outer edges a bit darker with the "Rose Gold" Icing Paste!

After that is was a matter of arranging the flowers and working in the chipboard from Creative Embellishments!

For the Corner Flourish 4 (which has been cut apart) I put on a coat of white gesso, sprayed it with Shimmerz "Ruby"...twice, then I put on a layer of "Aged Mahogany" Distress Oxide and spritzed it with water! The berries were just coated in a layer of "Rustic Brown" paint, no gesso, because I wanted the paint to soak in some to "dull" it a little.

Products:

• Tres Jolie February Mixed Media Kit
• Scrapberry's – Rattan Heart
• Creative Embellishments Corner Flourish 4
• ReneaBouquets
• Vintage Burgundy Roses & Gardenias Flower Set
• Creative Embellishments
• Berries
• Prima
• Flowers (Item #594718)
• Finnabair
• Icing Paste
• Rose Gold
• Opal Magic Acrylic Paint
• Rose-Gold
• Metallique Acrylic Paint
• Rustic Brown
• Heavy Body Gel
• Shimmerz
• Coloringz
• Pretty In Pink
• Spritz
• Ruby
• Vibez
• Sweetheart
• Ranger
• Tim Holtz
• Distress Oxide
• Aged Mahogany
• Unknown
• Lace

Blossom by blossom ...

A layout, with a photo I took, using the Tres Jolie February scrapbooking kit.

I was smitten with the 13@rts paper used for the background, and fortunately Mother Nature let the first signs that spring will return peek out so I could have a photo that matched the colors perfectly!

I grabbed my Ranger Gold Embossing Powder, TCW Paste, & my Art Anthology Lotus stencil for the background, and the bit of ribbon on the bottom I've had for a few years!

Under the photo I cut apart Prima's "Rose Receipts" for layers and fussy cut "Midnight Garden" for the darker flowers peeking out at the top and bottom of the stack.

All of the "top flowers" (the ones with centers showing!) came from the Prima flower packs that were included with the February Tres Jolie Kit, and I dug into my stash for the "bottom flowers" (the ones where only petal peek out!) and the leaves.


Products:

• Tres Jolie Kits
• February 2019 Scrapbooking Kit
• 7 Gypsies Architextures
• Iron Fence
• 13@rts 
• Aqua Flora: Pink Bouquet
• Prima Midnight Garden Collection
• Rose Receipts (12x12)
• Midnight Garden (12x12)
• This Place (Flower Pack)
• Dark Romance (Flower Pack)
• Ranger 
• Gold Embossing Powder
• Prima
• Wildflowers Pillar
• Art Anthology Lotus Stencil
• The Paper Studio
• Bright Lace Ribbon Scrap Pk
• TCW
• Light & Fluffy Modeling Paste
• AC This to That
• FabriTac
• JudiKins Diamond Glaze

Altered Box

An altered box I did for the Reneabouquets Feb 2019 Valentintes/Romantic Mood Board Challenge over on Facebook!

I started with the Shimmerz Raspberry Sherbet for the lower half of the box then used their Salt of the Earth for the upper half & lid, and left it to dry overnight. When I work up the next morning I felt that something was missing, so I pulled out my new Prima Indian Pink wax, my Nuvo Mousse, and my jar of Iridescent Glaze, and I sat down to ponder what to do with it all!

Eventually I decided to put the Indian Pink wax on top of the Raspberry Sherbet, I added a middle band of color with the Nuvo Mousse, and I put the Iridescent Glaze on the remaining white Salt of the Earth. After it was all dry I was arranging the flowers on the lid and kept thinking I should add something subtle, which is where the lattice stenciling came from. Then I finished arranging my flowers, sprinkled on some glitter glass, and added the "Astrial Pink" butterfly from ReneaBouquets for some extra color.

Products:

• ReneaBouquets:
• Hot Pink Shard Glitter Glass
• Astrial Pink Glass Wing Double Butterflies
• Tropical Summer Limited Edition Anemone Mulberry Paper Flowers (the light pink flowers & leaves)
• Shimmerz:
• Paste-eez
• Salt of the Earth
• Raspberry Sherbet
• Prima
• Finnabair
• Art Alchemy Metallic Wax
• Indian Pink
• Art Extravagance
• Paper Texture Paste
• Tonic
• Nuvo Embellishment Mousse
• Peony Pink
• American Crafts
• Vicki Boutin
• CreativeFX Iridescent Glaze
• Art Anthology
• Lattice Stencil
• KaiserCraft
• Paper Blooms
• Hot Pink
• JudiKins Diamond Glaze

Fairly Purple Shadow Box!

I received the January Mixed Media Kit from Tres Jolie and was just in love with the shadow box! (Yes, part of the kit! Kim puts EXCELLENT kits together!! Tres Jolie has a monthly scrapbooking, mixed media, and card, tags, & more kit. No, I'm not reimbursed in any way to promote the kits, I'm a regular customer who happens to love the kits!)

Anyhow...the kit also came with purple paint & purple flowers...(and other items)...
Then I saw the January Mood Board Challenge at Mixed Media Place and I thought to myself, "Huh, that works!"

Mixed Media Place January 2019 Mood Board

After I primed the shadow box (Kilz spray primer because I didn't want to use a paintbrush on chicken wire!) I put on a coat of DecoArt "Lavender" Acrylic Paint. After that was dry I applied a thin coat of Prima's "Frozen Berries." The chicken wire was sprayed with Ayeeda Mist "Patina Bronze"by 13 @rts. The doily is a Creative Embellishments doily that I used black gesso on then painted with Prima's "Rustic Brown."

After all that it was just a matter of playing with placement until I thought it "looked right." (All the products I used are listed at the bottom of this post.)

All lit up!

 Here are some close ups:

This darling little fairy, "Tessie B Darling," can be found over at ReneaBouquets.com, as well as the butterflies and the (light) purple flowers.

Products:
[From the] Tres Jolie Mixed Media Kit (January 2019)
-DecoArt "Lavender" Acrylic Paint
-Creative Embellishments "Doily"
-Prima Flowers (Most of the White flowers)
-Darice Flowers (Dark Purple)
-Shadow Box

ReneaBouquets
-Printed Beautiful Board Fairy - "Tessie B Darling"
-"Salted Caramel" Premium Paper Glitter Glass, Tiny Treasures Premium Paper Glitter Glass, and Magical Miniatures Double Side Printed Butterflies
-Purple & White Roses & Leaves Mulberry Flowers
-Mulberry Paper Leaves

Prima Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint
-Rustic Brown
-Frozen Berries

Prima Heavy Bodied Gel

Judi-Kins Diamond Glaze

13 @rts
-Ayeeda Mist: Patina Bronze

Liquitex Black Gesso
Kilz Spray Primer ... because I didn't want to try use a paintbrush on chicken wire! LOL
Cinnamon Sticks ("generic" - from the grocery store)
Unbranded light string

February 2019 Counterfeit Kit!

My February Counterfeit Kit!

Once again I am going to do my best to use up supplies I have on hand using the Counterfeit Kit Challenge (CKC) as inspiration. The above photos are the supplies I pulled together for this month. (NOTE: I DO NOT have 12 sheets of patterned paper, the bottom photo is of the *other* sides of what I consider my *main* choice...but a lot of the "backs" really went with the kit too!)

The following are what I consider my "staple" supplies. The supplies I use (almost) always!

This month I tried something new for me. I didn't really think too much about what I was choosing. Basically, I picked my papers and cardstocks, then just started grabbing packages of embellishments that had something I thought *could* work, and just stopped when my CKC box was full. My previous kits took a lot more thought, I would basically pull out anything that could work then spend an excessive amount of time overthinking "this or that." I'm hoping to cut down on my overthinking!

My CKC box. I need my kit to have boundaries...so I don't call my whole scraproom my "kit!"