Creative Squad

Live Like It’s Spring – Cheiron Brandon

  

Happy Tuesday (or should I say Hoppy?) and hello from the Creative Squad! Today Cheiron Brandon has a lovely and very apropos card for us that uses my Beacon stencil and the monthly theme Live Like it’s Spring – Springtime is when Mother Nature kicks it into high gear. It’s the time to wake up and approach life with renewed energy.  Let’s join Mother Nature in this reawakening and create some things in the Spirit of Spring!

Hi there! It’s Cheiron here with my monthly post. I am so excited for spring here on the east coast, but it seems like it’s never going to arrive. I always have best intentions of sending cards for the holidays to friends and family, but they never seem to come to life. I decided to “spring” into action in my studio with some stencils and spring colors and make this fun card that can be easily replicated to send out for Easter to family and friends.

To start, I used some Distress Mixed Media Heavy Stock and applied a thin coat of gesso. Once the gesso has dried, apply Distress Crayons in spring colors to the panel (I used spun sugar, squeezed lemonade, shaded lilac, cracked pistachio and broken china ) blending each color with your finger as you go along.

Keep blending until the entire panel is covered.

Once you are finished blending, put the Beacon stencil over the panel and rub through the stencil gently with a baby wipe to reveal the gesso underneath and create a pattern.

Remove the stencil, add a die cut and some word stickers to you card. It’s as easy at that! You could even use multiple stencils to create this effect. I hope you enjoyed this Easter card, and maybe it will inspire you to make some fun cards to send out to those you love.

See you next month!

Thanks Cheiron! This is so cute and happy! We just love your card designs. Cheiron used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:




Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

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Live Like It’s Spring – Tina Walker

  

Hello from the Creative Squad! This week Tina Walker is kicking off a new theme for us with a really cool mixed media project using my Granada stencil and the new monthly theme Live Like it’s Spring – Springtime is when Mother Nature kicks it into high gear. It’s the time to wake up and approach life with renewed energy.  Let’s join Mother Nature in this reawakening and create some things in the Spirit of Spring!

Hi! Tina Walker here today with my take on this month’s theme, ‘Live like it’s Spring’. To be honest it was tough getting inspired by this month’s theme, just coming off of a major east coast storm. I live in PA and we ended up with over 18 inches of snow in a 24 hour period. I thought we had gotten through the major winter snowstorms, but once again, Mother Nature had me fooled. Since the ground is covered in snow and the temperatures are still cold, I am dreaming of warmer days, and bright sunny skies. The sun was my major source of inspiration, using the bright, sunny yellow as the theme for my mono-chromatic Spring nymph.

To create the background of my nymph, I prepped several random PaperWhimsy Amazing Alterable pieces with gesso and a coat of yellow paint. Once dry, I applied crackle paste with one of Nat’s newest StencilGirl stencils, Granada.

After the crackling magic was complete, I aged each piece with a ‘spritz and remove’ swipe of Distress Spray. The spray eased itself into all of the cracks, revealing the crackle goodness.

I embellished several of the amazing alterable pieces with glitter and paint, using the same color palette.

I assembled all pieces together with my nymph’s arms, honoring the sun.

Here’s a close-up of the amazing texture you can create with just a stencil and some paint.

I painted an old metal drawer pull in the same color palette to use a hanger for my Spring nymph.

How are you inspired by Spring? Does the bright, pastel colors heighten your creative whims? Or does the idea of renewal motivate you to create? I’d love to hear how you are inspired by Spring.

Thank you Tina for a such a whimsical creature! I hope your Spring Nymph helps to usher in Spring sooner rather than later :) In addition to scrap lace and an old metal drawer pull, Tina used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:




Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

Comments (3)

  • Gerrie

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    This is just amazing!! So adorable and out of the box! You did GOOD! (despite the snow)

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    LOVE it…what a fun spring project!

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Say It Like You Mean It – Michelle Rydell

  

It’s Tuesday and time for a post from my Creative Squad! Today we have a fun and uplifting art journal spread from Michelle Rydell. She used my Stroll Through the Hood #1 stamp set for her take on this month’s theme Say it like you Mean it – Let your unique voice be heard and tell us what’s on your mind. Be bold. Be yourself. We all have something to say and sometimes we need to shout it!

One thing I have always been passionate about is music. I grew up with a lot of music in our house – my mom played the piano, and my dad loved to sing. I was fortunate enough to take dance and piano lessons too. Now, as an adult, music inspires a lot of my art. In fact, I am currently working on a mini-journal dedicated to song lyrics.

Today, I want to share a quick and easy way to make a journal page, using Nat’s Stroll Through the Hood set #1 stamp set! I’m creating this spread in my 4” x 5” mini journal. The song I am using as inspiration is “Hope” by Idini Menzel. I want to reflect the soft and gentle spirit of the song, so I start with some pink, orange and yellow paint, swirled with white to create a soft background

Next, I added a small strip of sheet music for texture, and pounced some coral paint thru Nat’s “What’s the Point” stencil to create movement in the sky. The “Brownstone” stamp creates the scene, and the lyric starts with the word hope, which is emphasized by using the “Hope Tag” stamp.

I wrote in the rest of the lyric with a journaling pen, added some stamped “Star Tags” to the sky, drew in a little bird, used a poster paint pen to color in the stars, and added highlights to the building. I finished the page by adding a border with an oil pastel, smeared with my fingers to create a softened effect. Here’s the final page…

Now that I’ve done a page with the Hope Tag stamp, I can’t wait to try one with the Art Tag and Love Tag stamps too!

Thank you Michelle for this gorgeous little masterpiece! In addition to some sheet music, Michelle used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:




Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Julie Tucker

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    Wowwwwwww! This is gorgeous! LOVING that quote, the music paper and the buildings!!!!!!!!!!

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Say It Like You Mean It – Marsha Valk

  

Welcome to another post from my Creative Squad! Today we have a beautiful piece from Marsha Valk who used my Stroll Through the Hood #1 and #2 cling stamp sets to give her personal take on this month’s theme Say it like you Mean it – Let your unique voice be heard and tell us what’s on your mind. Be bold. Be yourself. We all have something to say and sometimes we need to shout it!

There are a lot of things on my mind: work and business, national politics, environmental and sustainability issues and even something as mundane as interior design. At this moment, as I’m typing this, current affairs in the US just aren’t in the forefront of my mind. But the Stroll Through the Hood #1 set is about a stroll through urban America. Not urban the Netherlands… So what was I going to do? I didn’t want to make another ‘I don’t want to’ spread. So I decided to turn off my mind and let the theme and the stamps do the talking.

Each time I read the theme ‘Say it like you Mean it’, I have a bad case of ear worm: the song ‘Sewn’ by The Feeling instantly starts playing in my head. But… I wasn’t sure what to do with it and I started thinking about songs that fitted the New York City feel of the stamps. And because I’m not currently in an empire state of mind, I thought of ‘I can’t see New York’ by Tori Amos. Also not sure about that song, I decided to go with both songs. They certainly were on my mind now!

I stamped some of the images in a notebook whilst I was working out what to do and that’s where the idea for the stars hanging from the sky came from. Then I stamped an urban scene at the bottom of the page.

Whilst I watercoloured the sky, I thought: you can’t see the city if there is no light. So that’s when I coloured the stars black. But the brief was to use one of the tag stamps and I chose ‘Hope’, so I felt that at least one star should shine its light.

In the end I needed to decide whether I wanted to colour the urban scene. I didn’t want to make it a black cityscape and colouring it would make it too visible, so I only added light grey lines and kept the rest bare.

The penciled and smudged words are the lyrics of ‘Sewn’ and the title in india ink refers to the Tori Amos song.

Thank you Marsha! We can always count on you to take the theme and really pull it apart to see what it means to you :) And the results are a gorgeously composed scene with beautiful colors and a couple surprises – like that cute suspended Star Tag lighting up the night sky. Marsha used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:



Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

Comments (1)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nice take on the guidelines Marsha. I can’t help but hear the Billy Joel song I’m in a New York State of Mind while reading your words. Now I’ve dated myself for sure. The stars are a nice addition.

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Say It Like You Mean It – Cheiron Brandon

  

Happy Tuesday! This week Cheiron Brandon from my Creative Squad is sharing 3 gorgeous cards that use my Stroll Through the Hood #1 cling stamp set, and my Beacon and Kassel stencils. Cheiron took a more subtle, but also uplifting, approach to this month’s theme Say it like you Mean it – Let your unique voice be heard and tell us what’s on your mind. Be bold. Be yourself. We all have something to say and sometimes we need to shout it!

Hi there! Cheiron here with my post for the March theme… Say it Like You Mean it. I know it is great to be big and bold and say what you mean, which is what I do almost all of the time. Today I thought I’d go a bit smaller with some subtle messages that can be sent in the mail. I love Nat’s new stamps, especially the graffiti words from Stroll Through the Hood #1 and I have incorporated them all into a set of gelli printed cards for you today.

I gelli printed a few panels using the Beacon and Kassel stencils to serve as my background:

Then I stamped the Powerhouse, Lady Liberty, and Brownstone stamps onto each:

I painted some printed paper with a brayer then stamped it with the different tag stamps: Art, Hope, and Love, and added some handwritten words and outlining to make little quotes for my cards.

I then mounted each gelli printed panel onto a black card base, then adhered the quote to each. Such a simple way to send a thoughtful message.

Thank you Cheiron for sharing such lovely designs with us – those colors are absolutely gorgeous. And I couldn’t agree more with your quotes. In addition to various papers, adhesive, and a black pen, Cheiron used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:


Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.
Nat

Comments (1)

  • Michelle Rydell

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    These are beautiful Cheiron! and so do-able! Thank you!

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Say It Like You Mean It – Tina Walker

 

Hello from the Creative Squad! This week Tina Walker is kicking off a new theme for us with a beautiful and very meaningful book that I am so happy to share with you today. Along with my new Stroll Through the Hood #1 cling stamp set, Tina created something very powerful using the new monthly theme Say it like you Mean it – Let your unique voice be heard and tell us what’s on your mind. Be bold. Be yourself. We all have something to say and sometimes we need to shout it!

Hi! Tina Walker here today with my take on this month’s theme, ‘Say it like you mean it’. The U.S. is in a pivotal period of transition and the theme this month is a perfect way to support and vocalize my feelings and thoughts. I am saddened by what is occurring in the current administration and I am standing up and fighting for my rights and the rights of others. I am incredibly proud of my project and it is one of the favorite things I’ve made in many years. It really does prove that when you are passionate and inspired, creating reflects a piece of your heart.

The pages for MY VOICE mini, are scraps of black leather. I cut them into various rectangle shaped pieces, both small and large.

Using stamps from the Stroll Through the Hood #1 collection, heat emboss each page with the various stamps from the set. I really love the white embossing against the black leather.

For just a bit of color, dry brush several sections of each stamped image. The idea is not color the image, but add highlights.

I am a person of few words. Instead of filling my mini with paragraphs and paragraphs of many words, I choose several that say exactly how I feel. My words of support and protest are stamped on scrap pieces of fabric. Machine stitch the journal strips to the leather pages.

Using small scraps of leather, heat emboss the graffiti words from the stamp collection and stitch to the pages with a decorative zig zag stitch.

The binding for my mini are large eyelets. It was a challenge to get the large eyelet holes through the leather, but in the end, it was worth it.

Do you create and put your thoughts and feelings to paper or fabric? Do you find personal liberation when writing or creating with your feelings? I’d love to hear how you voice your mind.

Wow. Thank you Tina for a such an honest and meaningful project. You are right – when passion and creativity come together in art, something truly special comes out of it. In addition to scrap fabric, a sewing machine, and various embellishments and jewelry, Tina used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:




Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

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Nat

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Let’s Go Somewhere – Michelle Rydell

  

Happy Tuesday my friends! Today Michelle Rydell from my Creative Squad is sharing a happy and bright journal cover using the Batik Pattern 2 foam stamp, the Batik Pattern 4 foam stamp, and this month’s theme: Let’s Go Somewhere. We’re in the depths of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere and looking for an escape! This month let’s reminisce about past vacations and plan future adventures to help us get through these gray days.

I decided it would be fun to bring this month’s theme to the project of decorating my journal cover – which is the place where I document the biggest adventure of all – life! Here’s how I went about doing it…

I already had painted a base coat of orange and pink paint on my journal cover. I busted out the Batik 4 stamp, the stamp buddy, and some pink, white, yellow and Quin Magenta paints to get started…

I applied the paint to the stamp buddy in a stripey pattern, and covered the whole cover with the Batik 4 stamp, in a tile fashion…

Next, I applied some fuschia and payne’s grey paint in random patches to knock back the busyness just a bit…

For the third layer I used the swirl from the Batik 2 stamp and turquoise paint applied with a sponge, to add a border along the bottom. After that was finished I could see the beginings of a sunrise peeking through. Do you see it?

I decided to bring the sunrise out with some fluorescent orange paint; and filled in the rest of the foreground with more of the yellow and white Batik 2 stamping…

Final details were added with white and black sharpie poster paint pens. I’m so happy with my new journal cover – I’m all set to document the journey of life!

I love these colors!!! Thank you Michelle for such a vibrant project and for showing how you can use just parts of the Batik stamps to create new designs. Here are the supplies Michelle used in her post- some links are affiliate links:

 


Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

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Nat

Comments (4)

  • Diane Baker-Williams

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    Love the colors you used. They make the white truly pop. Appreciate you sharing the steps you took to create.

    Reply

  • Sherry Canino

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    What a gorgeous art journal spread !! Absolutely love the colors too ❤❤❤

    Reply

  • Gerrie Johnnic

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    Love love love this! Wowza, what colors…….amazing project!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Such vibrant colors Michelle! I feel like I took a few minutes on a warm island while sipping my chai this morning.

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Let’s Go Somewhere – Marsha Valk

 

Today is Tuesday and that means it’s time for a post by my Creative Squad! Marsha Valk is sharing a fun and creative way to use the Batik Pattern 3 Foam Stamp, as well as the Batik Stencil, the Embroidery Stamp Set, and this month’s theme: Let’s Go Somewhere. We’re in the depths of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere and looking for an escape! This month let’s reminisce about past vacations and plan future adventures to help us get through these gray days.

Let’s Go Somewhere… Somewhere exotic… somewhere where there are palm trees… cocktails… and where the women wear beautiful patterned summer dresses in vivid colours!


The assignment was to use the Batik Art Foamies and batik only means one thing to me: fabric. So I decided to create patterned designs using embossing powder instead of wax in an attempt to make my paper look like batiked fabric. I’m not sure I succeeded, but it was a fun experiment!

Here are the steps I took. There are a lot of repeat steps, to create a multilayered look!

Step 1

Use embossing ink to stamp small patterns (like these stamps from the Embroidery Stamp Set) onto sheets of white (mixed media) paper. Sprinkle clear embossing powder on top and heat emboss.

Step 2

Cover your paper with watercolor. Let it sink into the paper, wipe off any watercolour that beads up on top of the embossed areas and let the paper dry.

Step 3

Take some papertowels, place your paper on it face down and iron with a hot iron. The embossing powder will melt and absorbed into the paper towel.

Step 4

Use embossing ink and stamp the Batik Pattern 3 Foam Stamp onto your paper. Sprinkle clear embossing powder on top and heat emboss.

Step 5

Cover your paper with another coat of watercolor. Use a slightly darker shade of the same colour or choose one that mixes well with the colour that is already on there. Wipe the excess watercolour off the embossed areas and let the paper dry.

Step 6

Apply embossing ink through the Batik Stencil onto your paper. Sprinkle clear embossing powder on top and heat emboss.

Step 7

Cover your paper with a last coat of watercolor. Use an even darker shade of the same colour or now choose one that mixes well with the colour that is already on there. Again: wipe off the excess watercolour from the embossed areas and let the paper dry.

Step 8

Take some papertowels, place your paper on it face down and iron with a hot iron to remove the embossing powder.

Step 9

Use the paper as a background for art journaling, use it as collage paper or… doodle on top to really make it look like patterned fabric!

 

Wowowwwoww! Thanks Marsha! The results are awesome and I definitely want to try this. Here are the supplies Marsha used in her post- some links are affiliate links:




Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

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Nat

Comments (5)

  • nathalie-kalbach

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    Marsha, you amaze me ! I love the technique and the way you layered all the different tools and patterns on top of each other- and your video is super fun! Love it!!!! Thank You!

    Reply

    • marsha.

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      Well… Thank YOU for designing such wonderful Batik stencil and stamps!! This was fun!!

      Reply

  • Michelle Rydell

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    What a cool technique! I want to try this too! Thanks for sharing Marsha!

    Reply

    • Anna Friesen

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      Hi Shelley!! I agree!!! Now I wanna play!! Loved the techniques. (annarummagingthroughherout-of-cotrolartstash) ??

      Reply

    • marsha.

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      Thanks Michelle! Have fun playing!

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Let’s Go Somewhere – Cheiron Brandon

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone! Today is Tuesday and time for a post by my Creative Squad . Cheiron Brandon is sharing a beautiful Art Journal spread using the Batik 1 and Batik 2 Foam Stamps as well as the Embroidery and Stroll Through the Hood #1 Stamp Sets and this month’s theme: Let’s Go Somewhere. We’re in the depths of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere and looking for an escape! This month let’s reminisce about past vacations and plan future adventures to help us get through these gray days.

Hi there! Cheiron here with my monthly post. This month’s theme is Let’s Go Somewhere! I always love warm weather, but I am not opposed to snow an winter either. As we are approaching Valentine’s day my thoughts for my journal page drifted to Paris and the romantic pinks and blacks. I wouldn’t mind wandering through Paris in the snow and stopping to warm up every so often with some warm food and wine…

I created this page by laying down a foundation of gesso, then stamping with paint  to create lots of layers using the Batik Pattern 1 and 2 ArtFoamies and stenciled using the Beacon Stencil. I partially applied paint to the shapes I wanted by using a foam blending tool. I used lots of stamps from the new Mixed Media Stamps Embroidery Set and the awesome graffiti style love from the Stroll Through The Hood #1 Set.

To finish off the page, I added some splatter in coordinating colors. I can tell that these new stamps are going to be a staple in my art journal. I hope you are having a great day, whether its warm or cold where you are, and if you are planning a vacation or just dreaming of one!

Thank you so much Cheiron! I love how she used bits and pieces of the Foam Stamps instead of using them as a whole image and I also love the grungy feel of this page and the wonderful colors. Now I want to go to Paris too :)

Here are the supplies Cheiron used in her post- some links are affiliate links:


Play along with us! I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

Comments (3)

  • Michelle Rydell

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    Cheiron your page is beautiful! I love how you used the stamps, and those colors are yummy!

    Reply

  • Sherri Scott

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    Hey Nat! Of course you would have a Creative Squad. I’m glad Cheiron is a member. I have always enjoyed her work, it’s light, colorful and nice to look at.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Sherri – so good to see you here :) Yes- I love Cheiron and her work! I hope I see you soon again my friend!!!! have a great rest of the week, Nat

      Reply

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