more clay play

Hi everyone.  Jan here to share this mixed media piece.  This piece is ATC size, loaded with mica and involves an impression of a real live leaf into the clay.  The dragonfly is a Mixed Media Supplies digital stamp printed on vellum.

Let's get started.
You'll need:
Clay - black or brown
Mica (Mixed Media Supplies)
Leaf (from a tree or plant)
Gelli Print (stash)
Digital stamp (Mixed Media Supplies)
Tombow Markers
Glossy Resin
Xyron Creative Station (permanent adhesive)
1/4" double stick tape (ScorTape)
soft bristle paint brush.
Pasta Machine (for clay conditioning)
Acrylic roller
Craft Knife
Cardstock (white 3 x 4-inch piece)

Condition clay as directed by the manufacturer, beginning at 1 and finishing at 3 (using a pasta machine).

If you need to, clean and dry the leaf to remove any dirt or chemicals.  Apply a generous coat of mica powder (I used 3 colors) to the back of the leaf (there is more texture there).

Place the leaf on the clay with the mica facing the clay.  Using the acrylic roller, roll the leaf lightly into the clay.  Leave in place and trim the excess clay using the craft knife.  Remove the unneeded clay and remove the leaf.

At this point bake the clay according to manufacturer's directions.  Let cool and remove from baking plate.

Print the dragonfly on vellum in the desired size.  Color on the wrong side (non-printed) as desired using Tombow markers.  The color is transparent on the vellum.  Cut as close to the outside lines as you can.  Apply a light coat of the glossy resin to the printed side of the dragonfly.  Set aside to dry.

Assemble the background.  Because my gelli print is done using copy paper, I add an extra backing of cardstock the same size as the ATC (2.5 x 3.5 in).  Then I add another backing that frames the gelli print (3 x 4).  Adhere using your favorite method.  I run the gelli print through the Xyron for edge to edge coverage.  Adhere the clay leaf to the gelli print, add the dragonfly and frame as desired.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek today.  Please drop by my blog for more mixed media ideas.  Hoping you have some creative time on your calendar this week!  Nurture your heart!

Mixed Media ATCs - adventures in OOPS!

Learning to embrace the oops has always been an issue for me in the past, however, after taking a couple of recent online classes, I have been able to do much better about letting go of some things and let a few of the oops be visible and be a part of the finished project.
Matter of fact - these oops have sort of grown on me.

You'll need
Mixed Media Birds and Butterflies
copy paper
digitized dictionary page
cardstock (white)
vellum
laser printer
Gesso
foam brush
Gelli Plate
Acrylic paint
brush or brayer (optional)
Mister filled with water
Painters Tape
stencil (mini dot - my design)
stamps, (Texture stamps from Mixed Media Supplies, assorted sentiment stamps)
ink pad (black)
Markers (Tombow Dual Brush, SN Sparkle, clear or pearl mica mixed with alcohol or water)
Tape runner (Tombow)
Clear foam Tape (Kool Tak)
seed bead (optional)
Silver, gold mica in misters


Open your favorite photo editing program and size the digital bird and butterflies image as desired.  Print using a laser printer.  Open the dictionary page and print on copy paper.
Cut the printed dictionary page into ATC sized pieces.  Trim as needed if your printer doesn't do a bleed print.  The pieces should be a finished size of 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.  Using the foam brush, apply a light coat of gesso on the printed side.  The print should show through.  Set aside to dry.

Print the butterfly page on a sheet of translucent white vellum.  Cut the butterflies and birds you will use for your project and set aside.
Section off an area of the Gelli Plate using the printer's tape.  The area should be slightly larger than your ATC card. 

Place small dabs of acrylic paint on the gelli plate, blend the colors with your fingers (brayer or brush) and lightly mist with some water.  Place the gessoed paper face down on the gelli plate and pull a print.   Pull a second print.  Repeat as needed. Let these pieces dry thoroughly.

Color the reverse side of the butterfly as desired using the markers.   The vellum may curl -- you can flatten it by placing it in a heavy book or pressing lightly with a craft iron between two pieces of copy paper.   Embellish with some sparkles using the SN sparkle pen.  Let dry.

Add a little more texture to the front of your gelli print using a stencil (mini dot) and some ink and a blender or air brush.  Stamp the sentiment (I jiggled the stamp - creating my blurred image and the OOPS!)  Using the blender and some light brown, add a little color around the edges if desired.

Adhere your print to a piece of cardstock cut to the size of the ATC.  Using a blender or the ink pad, add a little more color to the edges of the card.

Mist or fleck the mica on the ATC card as desired, add other embellishments  -
Using the clear foam tape, add the fussy cut butterfly and bird images  you've colored.  Name and sign your finished image.

These are so fun to make and remember, it's ok to embrace the oops!  Today's play was definitely a good one. 

Mixed Media Fathers Day Card

Supplies used today are: 

Mixed Media Supplies Stencil Coffee Stains

Mixed Media Supplies Metallic Mica Powders

Mixed Media Supplies Rubber Stamps

Mixed Media Supplies Digital Stamps

Microbeads and Microflakes

Embossing Powder

Embossing Ink

Alcohol Markers

Distress Inks

Acrylic Skins

Cardstock

Good Monday Morning!

Today I made for you an early father's day card.

I started with some cardstock and a stencil from the Mixed Media Store. 

I used embossing ink to smudge onto my stencil with cardstock underneath. I removed the stencil and I used brown embossing powder to stick to my image. 

 Then I heated the embossing powder with my heat tool. 

 Then I colored my background with distress inks pink/blue/brown. 

I also used the Red Rubber Stamps found at Mixed Media Supplies Store. 

If you look closely you can see I cut my stamps edges for a more organic finish. 

 I mounted my red rubber stamp onto an acrylic block with double sided tape. Then I randomly stamped across my background. I added some micro flakes and micro beads. 

 I used alcohol markers, acrylic skins, and metallic mica powders to color my image. This image can be found at Mixed Media Supplies Store!

 I used double-sided foam tape to prop up the image. 

That's it, I hope he likes it!

Have a great week and we will see you next time!
Warmly Peggy

Floral Spring Hello

I'm so happy with the way this card turned out.  It's simple and highlights a beautiful digital stamp from Mixed Media Supplies.

We celebrated Mom's 86th birthday this month.  Alzheimer's isn't kind and we are getting to the point of having to introduce ourselves on occasion.  Mom's favorite color is blue and her eyes twinkle a brilliant blue when she smiles.  I hope this card will bring a smile and twinkle.

You'll need:
Bouquet digital stamp (Mixed Media Supplies) to be released shortly
Ornamental Frame (digital stash)
Sapphire Mica (Mixed Media Supplies)
Photo editing program (Photo Shop Elements)
Printing program (Print Shop), optional
Printer
Die Cutting machine (Sizzix eclips2) and associated software (eCal2)
Cardstock
Markers (Tombow)
Waterbrush
White embossing powder
heat gun
text background stamp
ink
watercolors
Water brush (#1 or #2)
Tape Runner (Tombow)
Quick dry Glue (LineCo Natural pH)

Embellishments (I used a laser woodcut)
Open your digital photo imaging program.  Open the digital stamp and alter the color of the stamp lines by changing hue and saturation.  Resize if needed and save. Repeat the process for the ornamental frame of your choice.  I altered the frame slightly to accommodate the bouquet.  Add the bouquet as an additional layer to the frame.  Make any changes needed and save.  I saved as a png and as a psd file just in case I wanted to make any additional changes in the future. 

Since I'm wanting to make sure that the image will fit in the desired size for my card front and print one additional image, I opened Print Shop and set the page up using the guides for placement of the png image.  Print the page when you are satisfied with the arrangement.

I let the ink on my print dry for about 24 hours before starting the watercolor background.  I chose a light brown and watered it down significantly before adding it in a pouncing manner around the images on my print.

 

I used a light turquoise to color in the butterfly.  Using a separate print, color the butterfly using a small amount of mica mixed with water.  Let dry.  Fussy cut the butterfly from the image and set aside.  

Open eCal2 and create an oval frame with a cut out that is slightly larger than the outside diameter of the ornamental frame you are using.  I added 1/4 inch to the measurements of my frame and created an oval with those measurements and added rectangle and used Back minus Front in the path dropdown to create my card front.  Cut using your die cutting machine.  (I didn't have a die that had a large enough opening for my image, so the electronic die cutting machine was my best option).

Using the background stamp and a light brown, stamp the oval frame, using some versamark ink, and a flourish stamp, stamp randomly around the frame.  Liberally sprinkle the embossing powder to cover all the stamped areas.  Remove the excess powder and using the heat gun, set the powder.
Using the eBrush, apply your color by spraying a light coat.  Once you've sprayed the frame, gently wipe the excess color away from the embossed images on the frame.

If the mica you mixed with water earlier has dried on your palette, re-charge it with a little more water and using a fine tipped waterbrush and create small dots as desired around the embossed images.  Let dry.

Adhere the digital print to the back of the oval frame.  Adhere the frame and print (now one piece) to the card front.  Using a dot of glue, adhere the butterfly and let dry.  Lift the wings a bit for some dimension.

Glue any other embellishments as desired.  I chose a "hello" woodcut  from my stash.  This piece could also be framed.  It would make a very nice piece of home decor. 

Thanks for dropping by and spending a little time on the MMS blog today.  Hope you've scheduled some creative play in this week!

Part one of DragonFly Love!

Mixed Media Supplies has some dynamite digital images. You have the opportunity to manipulate them to fit your project. I decided to use the dragonfly image as a digital stamp and wanted to try my hand at designing a base image to be printed out and then used to create a real-time project later. So enter an open source paint program and Mixed Media's imagery! So out comes my tablet and I am playing away with my digi stamp!

I placed each dragonfly on their own layers. Then I colorized the image so I could use some if the color brushes.

I was so afraid to try this... I love it and can't wait to print it out and then add some wondeful paints and textures to this image!!

It is so nice to be able to save this and add to it. I will love showing your the finished project. See you later this month!

What a fun start!

From Coaster to Album Cover

Hi Everyone. It's my turn on the Mixed Media blog again.
This project begins with a 3.5 in cardboard coaster.  These were in my stash, but were purchased at a dollar store a few years ago. (Thanks, Dayna for the stash!)  Who would have thought we would have found so many ways to use them over the years!

You'll need:
coaster (cardboard)
Gesso
digital stamps (Rose from Mixed Media Supplies)
tissue paper
printer
computer, image editing software
stencil
modeling paste
palette knife
gel medium/mod podge (matte)
DecoArt foil glue pen
DecoArt gold foid
shimmer mist (gold)
reinkers (blushing bride, moss green)
water brush, size 2
hole punch, optional

My step to step photos are not usable for this post... my apologies! 

Apply a thin layer of Gesso to the coaster. Set aside and let dry

Open the digital file for the rose and resize as desired.  Print on tissue paper.  I used a laser printer. (If you use an ink jet printer, I suggest that you let the ink dry overnight before applying to the coaster and using the gel medium.)

Tear the roses from the tissue paper... or trim with scissors.  Using the gel medium or Mod Podge, adhere the printed stamp images to the coaster.  Burnish the edges of the paper to the coaster if needed while the medium is wet.  When dry, using a water brush apply a little color with the reinkers. Let dry.

Secure the stencil to the front of the coaster.  Apply a thin layer of modeling paste and let dry.  My paste is homemade and is an Antique White color. (If you're in a hurry, you can use a heat gun to hurry the process)

When dry, "draw" some accent lines with the deco art foil pen.  Let dry according to the manufacturer's directions.  Lay a piece of gold foil on the coaster and burnish.  Pull the foil and then lightly mist the coaster with the shimmer mist.

Add a title or sentiment as desired.  Foil around the edges of the piece if desired. 

Be sure to sign your work. 

Repeat for the back cover if desired.  Here are the photos that did turn out...

At this point, you can punch a couple of holes or leave as is and use another type of binding for the covers and page inserts. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Enjoy some crafting time in the week to come!  And be sure to stop by the Mixed Media blog often to see more Mixed Media projects by the design team. 

And please feel free to stop by my blog for other projects -- Happy Crafting!

Raising My Holiday Spirits by Debi Tullier

During the holidays I sometimes get a little down. Family logistics, Poppa not being here, as time goes on,  time does  make big changes. I know that there is one thing that can lift my spirit, Color.  Having color around me brightens my day and my thoughts. So here we go!

I love making tags. I can tie them together, give them as gifts, and just look at them. I love getting lost in the making of them as well.

I started with a tag painted with white and blue acrylic paint. 

I then took one of Mixed Media Supplies Crackle background rubber stamp and stamped silver ink all over it. 

I layered another stamp Dark Distress over the first inking. I used a pink ink.

I used Punchinello with homemade molding paste mixed with Metallic Mica Powder

I then used a chalk to tint the edges and some interior areas of my tags.

I love the digital art sheets that are available from Mixed Media Supply. You can find many digital downloadable images here.

On this tag I also layered over with some wonderful gold paste that I had on hand. I feel that these tags helped my lift my spirits. If the holidays are a little rough for you, sometimes a little time spent relaxing can make all the difference.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Debi

Paper Fabric

Jan here with a fun project featuring the NEW Mixed Media Supplies Digital stamps!  Loved the rose and knew that I had to do something fun with it.  This is part 1 of a 2 part project. 

You'll need:
lightweight muslin
tissue paper
digital stamps  (Mixed Media Supplies)
background stamps (Stampin Up!- retired)
inks (dye)
Soft brush
glue and water
Printer (I used a laser printer)

Stamp tissue paper with desired background stamps.  Choose and size the digital stamps as desired.  Attach tissue paper to some copy paper and run through the printer.  Set stamped images aside.

Lightly dampen your muslin with some water.  Drop a few drops of ink on the muslin and spread the ink using the brush.  You can add additional ink/color if desired.  Let dry.  Iron to set the color.

n a small container, mix equal parts of glue and water.  Using a clean brush, apply a light layer of the glue mixture and add a tissue paper image.. I tore pieces and applied.  Then brush over the tissue paper to seal.  Make sure to get as many of the bubbles if any out and be sure to brush all the edges as well.  Let dry.  Apply additional layer as desired.  You can add additional color is desired.  Let dry.  The material may be a little stiff.  Play with it, crumple it and the more you handle it the softer it becomes.  It is very pliable. 

 I added some additional color after the roses were added.  I can't wait to do the next steps in this project... you can find those details on my blog in the next day or so.  Stay tuned for more fun projects from the Design Team.  You won't be disappointed! 

Cluttered Mind ATC

I  love ATC's. They are fun, compact and can be used to experiment on techniques in a smaller way. I have, like many others a bunch going on. My mind is cluttered and so is my ATC! It is a way to release some stress and have some fun doing it. Mixed Media Supplies has so many goodies to help me express myself.

Supplies:

Playing Card

Digital Image sheets from http://www.mixedmediasupplies.com/

Molding Paste

Gesso

Mica Powder

Embossing stamp pad

Rubber Stamp Chainlink Fence

Airbrush Marker Machine/Stampin Up/Tim Holtz tool as well

Spectrum Noir Markers

Sharpie Gold marker

Glitter

I started with a regular playing card. I have stacks of them. I primed it with white gesso.

Next, I trimmed several of the digital image sheets available from Mixed Media Supplies.

 I began to fill the background with color.  I used an airbrush marker tool to do so. I also have on hand Spectrum Noir Markers.

I used stencils that I had on hand to put in some additional elements in my composition.

I used colored pencils to fill in some of my collage images for my ATC.

It is a very rewarding and relaxing time spent in crafting!

Ready to put all of the elements together!

I used Mica powder mixed in molding past for the textured

areas.  I also used it in the Embossing stamp area along with some glitter.  I really enjoy the completed

card.