NEW! Kit & Video Tutorial for The Scrapbook Diaries!

Hello dear friends, I know it has been quite some time since I last posted on my blog. As most of you know I've had a lot going on with my daughters wedding....but it is done now (it was a beautiful wedding) and now I have time to get back to my creative work!  My first order of business was to get a new Page Kit done for The Scrapbook Diaries!  It's summer and it's such a fun time to do those beach/seaside photo's.  I used the gorgeous papers and embellishments from the new 49 & Market collection (designed by Janene Meyerowitz) called Sand & Sea!  I am so in love with these papers and especially the layered sticker sheet that goes with it!!

These beautiful layered stickers (sea horses, shells, starfish, bubbles, coral, sea grass and jellyfish) are so pretty and add a lovely 3D effect....and best of all, no fussy cutting!  In an instant you have the look of a page that took a lot of time and detailing but without all the work!  Included in this kit is a full 12x12 layered translucent sticker sheet with glitter accents....I'm actually hoarding some for a canvas I want to do....but there are a LOT of embellishments to choose from in this package....and lets just say the quantity is limited on these so you may want to jump in on this one asap!

For this kit page I used a cool distress crayon by Tim Holtz along with some gorgeous Blue Patina mica powder by Ranger Perfect Pearls for my mixed media products (included in the kit of course). And to give the page some lovely texture I used a 6x6 stencil that I designed for The Crafter's Workshop called Tile Mania (TCW662).....all included in the kit.

    

As always the kit includes a full private video tutorial to which you will have unlimited access to with the purchase of the kit.  This will show you in step by step detail how to create this page.  You can imitate it exactly as is or tweak it to match your own taste.  Janene also created a bonus page that can be made with this kit and let me tell you it's a stunner, it utilizes some more of my favorite papers from the gorgeous Sand & Sea collection!  

I have to admit that beach/summer pages are my favorite to create and this one was seriously fun to play with, I think you will really enjoy this one.  You can get your kit while quantities last at The Scrapbook Diaries HERE.

I hope you enjoyed this post today and perhaps want to give this gorgeous kit a go! I appreciate all your kind comments and feedback and read and reply to them all! Thanks so much!  Have a lovely creative weekend my friends!

VIDEO TUTORIAL: Mixed Media Art Journal Cover Using My NEW TCW Stencils and Dusty Attic Chipboard!

So I've made August my "spend time with family month", just wanting to take advantage of the time the kids have off school and make the most of it!  But I have taken a few moments out of our fun time to do a little video tutorial of an art journal cover that I made up as a sample using stencils I recently designed for The Crafter's Workshop!

I created both a positive and negative stencil design for this stencil that I named "Organic Matter". For this project I used the smaller 6x6 inch stencil (for the back) and the 12x12 inch mask style stencil for the front of the book cover. (You can find all my stencils online at The Scrapbook Diaries, I just heard that Janene has all the stencils in house now! and has already begun sending out all the pre-orders!! ....you can also use the TCW store finder for a TCW dealer near you).

Dusty Attic Products used on this project:

~ Dusty Attic Journal

~ Skeleton Clock Frames

~ Geometric Corners

~ Nuts and Bolts

~ Rulers

~ Cogs #2

~ Jumbo Cogs

~ Dusty In Color Paint: Hot Chocolate, Raisin, Sunburnt Orange

~ Dusty Attic Rusting Powder

When I was designing my stencils I have to say that I already had all these wonderful Dusty Attic chipboard designs in mind to use with my stencils.  I just love the industrial look of these chipboard pieces and thought they would work well with my Organic Matter stencils.

As I was creating this cover design I decided to flip on my camera and shoot a video tutorial to show how I used the stencils and also to show how I added the rusty finish to my Dusty Attic chipboard pieces.  So if you have time, give yourself and little break, sit back and enjoy!....

I used a whole lotta mixed media products to make this project, to find the list just click on the youtube link (bottom right corner of the screen above....when it's playing).....you can find the full list in the Youtube description area underneath my youtube video (click the down arrow beside the title to open up the description area).

I always like to keep the back of my art journal book covers free of a lot of 3D elements as the back seems to take a lot of wear and tear.  So I stuck to just adding some texture with my 6x6 'Organic Matter' stencil.  I added some stamping and used the same mixed media colors and sprays I used on the front of the journal cover.

Here is a view of the front and back of the journal cover.  I like that you can open up the spin of the journal cover so that you can remove the front and back to work on them.  Then you can reattach when the painting is done. NOTE: this is more of a notebook journal.....if you are looking to have an art journal where you can paint on the papers you will want to order a art journal that has watercolor or manila papers inside them.

I used Dusty Attic's Rusting Powder on all of my chipboard pieces for this project. I so much love the effect of the rusting powder.  All I did was paint the pieces with some of my Dusty Attic paints and while wet, sprinkled on the rusting powder.  I then sprayed the pieces with a solution of 75% white vinegar and 25% water.  I gave it about 20 mins to a half hour to dry/rust.  I then lightly brushed with some Sunburnt Orange DA paint to add to the corroded look. (see video above for more details)

I used Golden Molding Paste (but really any texture paste will do the trick) with my TCW Organic Matter Mask Stencil (12x12 size) to create the veined look on my background design.  After applying all my background spritzes and inks, I hit the relief areas of the stencil with some Luminarte H20's in Egyptian Gold,  and Pearlex Mica Powders in Aztec Gold and Turquoise (see video for application).

This journal cover was so much fun to create!  I hope I've inspired you all to get out your DA chipboard (you can find a large selection of DA chipboard at The Scrapbook Diaries), TCW stencils and mixed media products and get creating your very own mixed media project!  Thanks for stopping by my blog today, I always appreciate all the kind comments and feedback and love to hear what you all think of the new products I've designed!

NEW Mixed Media Video Tutorial! {Shimmerz Paints & Dusty Attic}

So I recently got my design team package from Dusty Attic and was so thrilled to see these gorgeous pearl strand chippies (Elegant Pearls)....and started dreaming up fun ways to use them! At the same time a dear friend sent me some really pretty Prima blossoms and shabby chic resins (Thanks so much Kimberly Lau, you are such a sweet heart!), a cluster of which were a pretty pinkish poppy design to them (From Fairy Belle collection).....so I thought I would also incorporate the New Poppies chippies from Dusty Attic as well into the page design to mimic their soft colors.

Dusty Attic Products:

~ Elegant Pearls

~ Poppies

~ Vine Frame #1

~ Word Pack #14

Once I decided on the chipboard pieces I would use, I thought about what color combination I would like to put together for my page.  I decided I wanted some soft pinks with peaches and a hint of soft green. So I chose the following Shimmerz Paints products for my page design.....

As I often like to do when making up a mixed media page, I thought I'd do a video tutorial so show step by step how this page was made. Time to grab yourself a cup of coffee, relax and enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed my video tutorial today.  Here are a few close-ups of the page design that you can view at your leisure....

I used a piece of corrugated cardboard between my paper layers to leave a little room to tuck my embellishments.

I used a Faber Castell black Pitt pen to draw out the Poppy petal designs on all my chipboard pieces before I began to add my color wash using a paint brush and Shimmerz paints. You can also see some  of the stamp work I used to create my background design...one of which is my new Crackle/Peeled Paint texture Stamps (you can find my stamps at The Scrapbook Diaries HERE.

I just love these cute blooms from Prima's Fairy Belle collection, I thought they added just the nice feminine touch combined with the Dusty Attic Elegant Pearls.

Here's a close-up of the other cluster of poppies....and you can see close-up some of the paint wash and stamping I did to create my background design.

I just love all the NEW Word Packs Dusty Attic has come out with!  They are just the perfect size and have such a pretty delicacy.  For me, size is key, because I tend to have a habit of making up my whole page design and then later trying to figure out how I'm going to add in my title! :)

You can order Dusty Attic Chipboard online at the following places:

The Scrapbook Diaries (USA...ships Internationally)

Moments of Tranquility  (USA)

Dusty Attic Website (Australia....ships Internationally)

NOTE:  You can purchase Shimmerz Paint Products directly from their website HERE. Be sure to mention my name 'Gabrielle' in the 'Instructions to Merchant/Seller' part of your order to get a FREE/Bonus Shimmerz paint product in the color of your choice!

Also before I finish here today, I wanted to remind everyone about the awesome monthly challenge we run at Dusty Attic!  Use Dusty Attic chipboard and the inspiration board for the month (see below) on your next project....be sure to link you project at the Dusty Attic blog (see right side column) and you will have a chance at winning the SUPER generous prize of a $100.00 gift certificate to purchase your favorite Dusty Attic chipboard at the DA website!

I hope you enjoyed todays project and hope that my video tutorial will provide you with some inspiration in creating your own mixed media scrapbook page!  Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today, your kind comments and feedback always make my day! xo

NEW Video Tutorial: Dusty Attic & Shimmerz Paints Canvas

Hello Dusty Attic Fans!  Gabrielle here with you today! I just got back from a little R and R up at my brother's lake house over the holidays, and got playing with some of my new (and old favorite) Dusty Attic chipboard pieces and a variety of beautiful Shimmerz Paints!  I created a Video Tutorial for this one (see below) so you can follow step by step how this one was made :)

I used the inspiring January Moodboard from Dusty Attic to create my canvas design.  The idea is to use the photo, colors and descriptive words to launch your creativity.  If you would like to play along with us and create a project using the moodboard, be sure to add your link to the right side column at the top of the Dusty Attic blog. The only set rule to play along in this monthly challenge is to use the Moodboard as your inspiration and that you must use Dusty Attic chipboard in your project.  An awesome prize of a $100.00 gift voucher is up for grabs each month! That is a whole lotta gorgeous chippies, who wouldn't want a shopping spree like that!

Here is a list of the Dusty Attic chipboard pieces I used for my 'Peace' Mixed Media canvas:

- Number Grid (small)

- Skeleton Clock Frames Set

- Monarch Butterflies

- Vine Borders

- Jumbo Cogs

- Cogs #1

- Mini Cogs

- Sea Gulls

- Swirly Vines #4 Small

- Mini Grasses

- Elegant Swirl #13

- 'Peace' Title Chippie

- Vintage Keys

I carefully chose colors to match the colors in the Dusty Attic Moodboard, and to do that I reached for my beautiful Shimmerz Paints!  Here are the Shimmerz Paint colors I chose to create the canvas design:

SHIMMERZ PAINTS:

- Tuscan Sun Sprtiz

- Don't Be Suede Coloringz

- Heidi Ho Blue Coloringz

- A Shade of Grey Coloringz

- Moody Mauve Coloringz

- Spiced Cider Blingz

- Good As Gold Inklingz

- Blue My Mind Inklingz

- Gosh Garnet Inklingz

So now, grab yourself a cup of coffee/or tea,....I've created a Video Tutorial so you can watch step by step how I made this mixed media canvas design...Enjoy!...

I hope you enjoyed watching my video tutorial.  It's always fun to create a mixed media project with Dusty Attic chipboard!  I chose nature elements like butterflies, birds, grasses and vines to reflect the tranquil, peaceful feeling the moodboard created for me.  Here are a few close-ups of the project...

I always love to combine mechanical elements like clocks and cogs with nature elements like butterflies, vines and birds.

Here you can see a close-up of some of the textures and colors that I added to the project.

Adding adhesive gems is a fun way of adding a new dimension to your chipboard pieces.

And finally a full front view of the canvas design.  I hope I've inspired you to give a mixed media canvas a try!  

.....AND....Dusty Attic has great news this month!  If you didn't already know, Dusty Attic now has a new Website, where both Retail and Wholesale orders can be put in!  That's right, you can now order directly from Dusty Attic.  And to start everyone off with a great new year, Jennifer Hedger has a Special for the month of January!  20% Off all Wholesale AND Retail orders!  Just use the coupon code: happy 2015

and you will receive 20% off your whole order!

ALSO...

If you are looking to stock up on some of those gorgeous Shimmerz Spritz's and Inklingz I used on this project (or some other colors you've been wanting to purchase), you can order Shimmerz Paints online directly from their Store HERE.  NOTE:  You can receive a FREE/Bonus Shimmerz Paint product in the color of your choice on your next order of Shimmerz paints by mentioning my name in the 'Instructions to Merchant/seller' part of your order!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!  I hope I will continue to keep you inspired this year!  Your kind words and feedback always make my day! xo

Video Tutorial: Shabby Chic Wall Art

Hi all! I have something a little bit different to share with you today.  I love browsing Pinterest, lots of inspiring artwork to be found there.  I've been admiring the fashion drawings of Katie Rodgers and thought I'd like to try doing a little fashion sketch of my own using my Shimmerz Paints.

Here are the Shimmerz Products I used for this project:

~ Tuscan Sun Spritz

~ Pumped Up Purple Coloringz (NEW)

~ Cotton Candy Spritz

~ Hot Fudge Vibez

~ Shades of Grey Coloringz (NEW)

~ Peek-a-boo Pink Inklingz

~ Imperial Amethyst Inklingz (NEW)

~ Blue My Mind Inklingz

~ Pugnacious Purple Inklingz

As always, I've created a video tutorial to show this project from start to finish...sketching out the design, painting it right to completion.  Enjoy!....

I hope you enjoyed watching the process, ...here are a few close-ups of the project to enjoy at your leisure...

One of my favorite parts of this project was using the masking fluid with the water color paints, and then rubbing it off to get the almost glittery look to the dress.

I couldn't resist adding a bit of texture to the design with some texture paste and a stencil (Tim Holtz)....then giving the design a wash of  a variety of colors from the Shimmerz Inklingz collections.

I framed this project and will be giving it as a gift for my beautiful sister for her home office.  She has a bright and pretty shabby chic theme going in her office so I thought this would be a nice surprise for her.

Before I sign off for today I just wanted to make sure you are all aware of the amazing sale going on at the Shimmerz Store, they have 5 beautiful Seasonal Sets for a reduced package price, along with a Special offer.....

With any purchase of $50.00 or more you get the above gift set for FREE!  And don't forget, if you mention my name "Gabrielle" in your message to seller, you will get a FREE/Bonus Shimmerz product in the color of your choice!  How awesome is that! You can find the Shimmerz Store HERE.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today, I hope I've inspired you to get your paints out and play! xo

A NEW Kit Page & 4 NEW Stamps Sets Designed by Me!! {The Scrapbook Diaries}

I'm super excited to share this post today, not only do I have another Page Kit to share with you all today but I've been busy creating more stamp designs! .....So my last kit page for The Scrapbook Diaries sold out super fast so I immediately started work on the next one!  I thought I would again choose colors from purple/green color palettes, but this time with a hint of teal.

As always there is lots of cool products in the kit, including some intricately cut wood embellishments from Wycinanka (unique pieces from an international manufacturer), Spritz from Shimmerz, Crafters Workshop Stencil and of course premium patterned papers (these papers have a nice thick almost watercolor-like weight).

Butterflies are always a favorite embellishment for me and there are lots of them in this page kit, enough for this design and then some (see the beautiful bonus page Janene created to go with this kit!).

Lots of pretty frame accents, blooms, vintage style lace, chipboard, inks and more!  

And of course you will get a link to a private Video Tutorial made just for this page that will give you  unlimited access in order to recreate this page for yourself.  If you want to jump on this Page Kit you can find it here at The Scrapbook Diaries! As always, Janene offers this kit as a Basic Kit or Complete Kit....she likes to help you save if you already have some of the items in your stash like the spritz or stencil. Grab one while they are still available, they do go fast! :)

Now as promised I have some exciting news to share with you all today.  I've been busy at the drawing board this past month and have created 4 new stamp sets!  When I start to work I ask myself what I would like to have in a stamp set, and then I start designing.....

This first set I created a diamond/daisy background stamp.  This is a designed I used to draw out by hand on some of my layouts a few years ago and I thought I would draw it out for a stamp to be used as a background design.  This one will be fun for mixed media style pages where you want to create your own background design.  I also sketched out some Daisy designs (separating the stems so that the blooms can be used in whatever design best fits your project).  You can find this stamp HERE.

I've gotten quite a few emails over the year asking where people can get my word stamps that I used on my pages.  LOL....I didn't have a word stamp, that was just my handwriting.  So it was suggested that I make up some word stamps in my own handwriting. Here I've used words that I often use on my scrap pages and projects....even though it's my own handwriting, this one will come in handy for me as well, as I won't have to worry that and the end of creating my page, that I might mess things up by slipping up while writing my word :)  ...You can find this stamp HERE.

When I dress up my shabby-chic Chipboard pieces, one of my favorite things to do is use a nice scripty word stamp to randomly stamp onto my white painted chipboard, and then use crackle paint on the piece.  It gives a really cool shabby look, so I made the 'Beauty' and 'Paris' word stamps for this purpose.  Another thing I find I love to use a lot is script quote stamps for creating my own background designs, so I used one of my favorite quotes "And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet, and the winds long to play with your hair".  And of course label stamps are always fun for creating interesting and pretty backgrounds, and are also a great option for cardmakers. You can find this stamp HERE.

Another design that I've hand drawn on some of my layouts in the past is this Dandelion design (this one would be really cool used with embossing powder!).  I also thought this one would be a fun one for card makers, so I created a word flourish as well for this stamp (again hand drawn and in my own handwriting).  I had a little more room on this stamp so I asked myself what design I would like to have handy for corner designs.....I realized I have never seen a fishnet design stamp.  I did a search looking for one and could not find one....so here is what I came up with, I wanted the design to have a sort of organic, distress look.  You can find this stamp HERE.

NOTE: Janene decided to release this stamp with the release of the latest Kit Page I made for The Scrapbook Diaries so that those of you who are interested in both the Kit and the stamps can save on shipping in one order.  International buyers, be sure to click on 'Bill me actual shipping fees" especially if you are buying the stamps on their own, ....there was some issues that arose with the last sets when international buyers, as a very large shipping price would automatically be added to the stamps (this was a standard/flat rate for international buyers but meant for large packages) Janene can ship the stamps on their own for a much more reasonable rate in small packages.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today, I always appreciate your kind words and feedback on my work, you all make my day! xo xo

VIDEO TUTORIAL: How To Make a Polymer Clay Mermaid Tail

Okay my friends, you asked and I answered!  After posting my Video Tutorial on making the 'Imagine' canvas design that I made for Shimmerz Paint, I got tons of emails, messages on YouTube and Facebook asking if I would create a tutorial to show how I made the Polymer clay mermaid tail that was the centerpiece for my canvas. Above is a photo of the bare clay piece that I will show you how to make.  So sit back and enjoy! xo

Hope you enjoyed the video and that you are now able to create your own sea-scape design :)  ....If you missed the video Tutorial on painting the mermaids tail and putting together the canvas design, you can find that Video Tutorial HERE.

Here is a photo of the finished/painted mermaids tail...



I used the gorgeous NEW Shimmerz Paints 'Inklingz' to get the two toned shimmery effect....You can find Shimmerz Paints HERE.  NOTE:  You can get a free/Bonus Shimmers product (a full sized bottle of Shimmerz or Dimensionz or a sample sized jar of Dazzlerz or Texturez) if you put my name "Gabrielle" in the INSTRUCTIONS TO MERCHANT part of your order :)

Have a wonderful and creative weekend! xo