I cannot possibly explain to you all just how much I LOVE the new Maya Road Lisa Uppercase ~ Chipboard Alphabet. And not because they are named after ME but because they truly are my favorite font style and size chipboard alphas Maya Road makes.

When Maya Road discontinued their Philadelphia Uppercase alphas (my first true love) I nearly had heart failure and let Caroline know I was not happy with that decision and begged PLEASE NO NOT THESE but there I sat anyway with no more Philadelphia alphas. I begged some more, pleaded some more but they were gone, gone, gone!  BUT  NOW I have a new love and I really do love these more than the first so all is well, this new set is the perfect size and I’m super happy and Caroline just continues to roll her eyes at me and all my quirky loves.

Hugs!

Yes, I’m in love with the new Maya Road Hexagons. They come in three sizes, basically small, medium and large and some are die cut which allows you to create a nice frame on top of another as I did with the hexagon that has the vintage sheet music inside.

This canvas is covered with circles punched from old ledger paper and sheet music and a few doilies here and there. Each item is attached with natural beeswax, then sealed entirely with beeswax. Each hexagon is coated with beeswax and accented with a vintage button, bingo butterfly motif and altered key.

The key is inked with Adirondack Pigment Snow Cap, covered with Glossy Accents and accented with a 5mm cream colored pearl.

The crocheted doily is one my mom made… I have her creating lots more for two classes I plan to teach. Her little doilies are the perfect size for my projects. Thanks, Mom.

Supplies Used can be found at the following links: Fiskars X-Large Easy Squeeze Circle Punch, Fiskars Large Easy Squeeze Circle Punch, Natural Beeswax, Melt Art Melting Pot, Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Blending Tool, Collage Glue Stick, Glossy Accents, Maya Road Bingo Motifs ~ Black, Adirondack Pigment Ink Pad ~ Snow Cap, Tim Holtz Sanding Grip Block Tool, Claudine Hellmuth Studio ~ Blank Canvas, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint Artists Brushes

Hugs!

Susie Moore created these three adorable projects using the new Antiquated Collection ~ Sweet Little Girls and Knick Knack stamp sets. Each piece is detailed to perfection with pearls, flowers and trims. As you can see by Susie’s projects these stamp sets are fun to color in with inks and markers. I love how Susie used the Scooter Boy. This little plaque just screams boy with the baseball accents, domino piece and all the red, white and blue. Thanks, Susie.

Karin Aguirre created these two super sweet tags using the new Antiquated Collection ~ Darling Little Ones and Mini Silhouette stamp sets. I love Karin’s dreamy style and eclectic mix of papers and trims and of course the way she adds little glitter here and there. The Mini Silhouette baby stamp looks adorable inside the altered mini frame. They are a perfect fit. Thanks, Karin.

Kristii Lockart created this gorgeous card using the new Antiquated Collection ~ then comes Baby stamp set. If you click HERE you can read the tutorial she put together instructing you how to create your own “the comes Baby” card. I love how Kristii double stamped the carriage image to add dimension to the card. Plus she uses the best Copic Marker colors in all her creations. Kristii’s frilly vintage style makes me eyes super happy. Thanks, Kristii.

So which is your favorite stamp set? I’d love to know. Make sure you leave a comment HERE for a chance to win a stamp set of your choice from the Antiquated Collection Spring Release. I will announce the winner, tomorrow. Good Luck!

Hugs!

Saturday, I had a wonderful time with a great group of ladies at The Crafty Scrapper. These ladies were all finding courage to try new techniques. Some needed more courage than others but each jumped right in and embraced their creative journey. No names will be given but some had never done any type of mixed media class and let’s just say this class was pretty advanced and I was SO PROUD of her when her canvas was completed. Some feared the thought of freehand painting well maybe more than some actually, maybe quite a few but they ALL did it and they ALL looked amazing. And one in class I discovered did not like getting her hands dirty. LOL, as long as I have known this lovely person I NEVER knew this and would have never ever guessed such a thing.

We used lots of fun products during class… Ranger Products like Rock Candy Crackle Paint, Crackle Accents, Stickles, Glitter, Archival & Distress Inks and Multi-Medium, some Studio 490 Clearly For Art, stamped images from my Antiquated Collection stamp sets as well as fabulous Maya Road products. This class was filled with lots of techniques

 Everyone busy creating, painting, inking, cutting, drying and assembling. 

I thank all who attended my “Art Requires Courage” class. It was a wonderful day watching each of you push yourselves creatively and try new techniques.

Hugs!

I was playing late into the night with Bees Wax and thought I would give you a keeping it real photo of my work area. Maybe this is why I love junk shops and thrift stores so much… the messier the better. You’ll find all kinds of things in this photo… finished projects, dried flowers, lace, buttons, sheet music, bees wax etc… all the things I love. Encaustic art is were I want to remain. I love the smell of melting wax, I love how it swirls, bubbles and flows. It’s been quite a journey getting to this place but this place feels natural, effortless and makes me so happy.

This piece is still in the works. I love how dried flowers look underneath layers natural bees wax. I’m not sure how this piece is going to end up looking in the end as I just start creating with no real plan in mind… I just add and add and before you know it I’m done. It’s an amazing journey.

See the swirls and layers of wax? I love that look so much. I’m thinking maybe some glass glitter will look amazing sprinkled here and there in this piece. Gonna think on it a bit more but I do believe it just might need to have a little sprinkle or two. Once this piece is finished I will share a photo.

For now though, I need to get some spoons flattened out for my “Art Requires Courage” class at The Crafty Scrapper, Saturday. I only have 3 spots left.

Hugs!

Yesterday, I played with wax and must admit Encaustic art makes my heart happy. This canvas piece is still in the works but I love how it is turning out. The soft white and hues of cream make me swoon. The tiny doily is made by my mom. It was just too perfect not to use in this piece.  I’m thinking this might be a fun class to teach at “The Crafty Scrapper”, in the near future. What are your thoughts?

I love how different these two mini canvas pieces are yet the colors are the same. It was so much fun experimenting with different tools and embellishments… doilies, dried flowers and small feathers are perfect additions for encaustic work.

This one is one is my favorite. The photo is of my grandmother and mom and is one of my favorite photos of the two of them together. I wanted a word to put on the canvas and was so amazed when I looked down on some sheet music and “tenderness” was looking right back at me. I thought it was the perfect word for this piece. I’m also thinking about adding a few small vintage buttons to this piece… gonna think on this idea for a bit longer.

So have ANY of you tried any new medium? I really hope my “An Artist Cannot Fail” blog series is inspiring someone out there. Please let me know and share some projects. I would love to see.

Hugs!

I’m so looking forward to teaching my “Art Requires Courage” canvas class Saturday, April 21st. Class starts at 10:00 a.m. and will take approximately 4 hours to complete. Carolyn told me I have just 4 slots left so if you want to join me and learn some fun mixed media techniques please call Carolyn at The Crafty Scrapper 972.923.3151. The cost for the class is $45.00.

In this mixed media class you will alter an 8″ x 10″ canvas using an eclectic mixture of elements such as chicken wire, vintage papers, stamped images, textiles, paint and glitter. I will show you how to create a faux stamped metal accent as well as a faux tin type photograph using a vintage spoon. We will alter silk leaves to look as though they have been air dried and accent your canvas using vintage buttons, stamped muslin and self adhesive pearls. This canvas is filled with techniques that can easily be applied to lots of different projects you create in the future.

Supplies Needed:  Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Creamy Brown Ink, Rock Candy Crackle Paint, Diamond Stickles, Foam Squares or Pop Dots, Strong Liquid Adhesive, Fabri-Tac, Glue Stick, Crackle Accents

Tools Needed: Paintbrush, Heat Gun, Hot Glue Gun, Hot Glue Sticks, Scallop Scissors, Scissors, Wire Cutters

PLEASE NOTE: You need to bring 2 wallet sized photos of the same image printed from a laser printer or copy machine.

See you there!

Hugs!

I have been having so much fun needle felting. Pretty much each night while Alan and I are watching a movie or TV show I’m felting. I find it very relaxing. The flower shown in the photo above is going to be placed onto a tote bag I think. I posted a step by step tutorial to recreate the flower in my Tips, Techniques and Tutorials online workshop. If you are registered for this workshop make sure you check it out. If you are not registered for this online workshop it is never too late. You can register anytime and have access to all the tutorials I’ve posted over the past several years.  You can read more about this online workshop HERE.

To me it is so fun to take a piece of wool roving and sculpt it into a tutu wearing bunny, embellishment for a project or coin purse for the girls.

These will eventually be for sale once I incorporate them into projects. I have lots of ideas running inside my head.

The coin purses are for Terri and Ansley. I plan on making one for me as well or maybe a business card holder instead. That would be really cute.

The bunny and chick are going to be placed onto a small canvas altered with vintage papers and sheet music. The bunny sitting on a flower is going to be placed into some vintage type container… still trying to decided on the perfect one. I also need to add the felted tulip I created for it to hold.

So are you inspired to give needle felting a try? I sure hope so. I’m thinking about doing an online workshop that is all about needle felting. I have a strong desire to spread the joy of this craft with everyone.

Hugs!

And since I finished my tag at home I thought I would show you a few step by steps so you can make one for yourself. Of course I got the okay from Carolyn to share it since it is her make-n-take design.

The first thing Carolyn had use do was attach a piece of vintage book paper to the tag using Glue N Seal. Side note for Carolyn, you need to guard that book better I’m not trustworthy. Once the book page was attached we just started using any Dylusions ink sprays we wanted. I have no clue which ones I used as I was just grabbing and spraying with and without Dylusions stencils. Then we dried it just a bit with the heat gun and stamped any of the Dylusions background stamps we wanted. I’m telling you it was a BLAST!

I added a little sparkle to my tag at home using Ranger’s Sunflower Sparkle & Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mist.

After we stamped the girl image onto white cardstock I colored her in using the new Tim Holtz Distress Markers. Since I was going to cut the image out using a craft knife I did not worry about getting out of the lines a bit.

At home, I added a few Self Adhesive Pearls, Diamond Stickles and Glossy Accents. I’m sure it is no surprise about me adding Pearls and Diamond Stickles. Since I was going to cut my girl out with my craft knife, to get rid of a few bubbles that appeared when putting the Glossy Accents onto the stripes on her tights I just pulled the Glossy Accents past the stamped image.

Once the Glossy Accents was dry I placed the stamped girl image onto a craft mat, then using a craft knife cut out the entire image.

I stitched around the tag using cream thread and my sewing machine set on a straight stitch setting. Then using scallop scissors I trimmed the side right and top edges of the tag. I then attached the girl onto the tag using foam squares. I like the dimension foam squares create.

The saying is supposed to go along the right side of the tag and well the wings go on the girls back. Once I get these I will take another photo to show you. Some how I lost them on my way home. This tag was so much fun to make, seriously SO MUCH FUN!

Thanks, Carolyn for such a fun make-n-take and thanks for letting me share it with all my blog readers.

Hugs!

Watch for the items I’ve created over the weekend to be listed in the “SHOP” on my blog soon. I have big plans for these little cuties!

This teeny tiny bunny only measures 1.75″ in length. I need to place him or her in a little vintage something.

My sister named her Miss Bluebell. I still need to alter her chair and add some other accessories to complete her.

This mouse is named “Trixie” and still needs a few things added to complete her look. She and Miss Bluebell stand about 4″ tall.

This felted trio will end up being three altered art pieces. They measure approximately 1.5″ to 2″ tall. I have some more felting to do on some other pieces that I will share later. I cannot wait to finish them all and list them in my shop. Each one will be “One Of A Kind” since I don’t like doing the same thing twice.

Crafty Hugs!