Mixed media- have fun while making a mess!

Craft Roulette's Parameters this week seemed a little challenging. How do you put a mustache together with a floral cluster? Also, your card needs a circle and hayride colors! The parameter of mustache brought to mind the Tim Holtz set Curiousity Shop. Because it was Tim Holtz, I felt compelled to do a mixed media and collage type card. I started by using sprays to do the background, While it was drying, I stamped with my old favorite Stampin Up stamp Paint Prints. I think I've had that stamp set since 2005ish and I've always loved it. I fussy cut the flowers and mixed up some paste with pink ink. The paste became a little pinker than I wanted, but it worked out ok. I made a pattern with my mustache stamp and a circle in between, and it looked like a rope going all the way across the card, then, however, I covered most of it up! They say the key with mixed media is to just keep going and keep adding- so I did. I used sprays, stencils, brushes, paste, inks and a variety of stamps- I had all of the things out on my desk and was happily creating away.

This card is a stretch out of my comfort zone and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Two lessons from one card.

I needed a sympathy card for a coworker- to be signed by a bunch of us at work- so it needed to be 5x7. This was extra challenging, since sympathy cards are typically hard to make and 5x7s are not generally my thing. I did have a master layouts from Gina K for a 5x7 frame. So I decided to keep it simple by using the frame, my old trees from stamping up and just simply blending behind them. I Inc blended two backgrounds first and on one I used an orange to indicate the sun on the other I did not. Just looking at the blended backgrounds before I stamped the trees. I definitely preferred the one without the orange. then, when the trees were stamped, it looked very different! I preferred the one with the orange. At first, I decided to pop up the frame, but I got kind of cheap with my foam tape. Big mistake! A rookie mistake and I should have known better, especially since the frame was pattern paper, which is a little thinner. Here are the two cards, and you can see how the frame turned out bumpy on the first one. To sum up: 1- blending looks different after you stamp! 2 Thin paper needs a lot of support with foam tape!

Fergus the Gnome

I really had fun making this and it was a longer project. I actually started it in the end of August and finished in October, but it sat idle for a long time in between. It was given as a gift to someone who loves gnomes. I am pleased with how he turned out and was surprised how much I enjoyed the blanket stitch! Also- the big mistake I made was sewing the nose on without the beard, so had to fix that!

A long time

It's been a long time since I've posted anything and part of me wonders if there is any point to posting here at all. No one really reads it, but it's nice to have a record of things I guess. It was a busy year, I moved in June and and still getting organized in my new craft room. I'm glad for Craft Roulette, as that gives me a challenge, an incentive and a deadline for card making. The deadline is super helpful to me! Anyway I will post a few cards I made, including one with zentangle on a watercolored background which I really enjoyed making.

Favorite felt ornament yet

This little snowflake combines two different dies from Poshta Designs- the spring garden and fancy flakes dies. I like how this one came out.

Stitching on felt

In January 2025 I placed my first order with Poshta design for dies and felt. My first purchase was a kit which (made sense because I had nothing to begin with)- however, it was for Christmas bells. As the year progressed, I got less and less interested in the bells. I never really did much with the felt and dies that I had- but I didn't lose interest. I kept watching social media occasionally buying felt, etc. I researched a lot because I love to research. I bought a few used stitching dies. Now, after getting off to a slow start. I am back to actually using some of that felt!

Craft club!

This year I have been so lucky to teach craft club on Tuesdays after school. I have three regular girls who come, and it is a joy to plan projects that they can achieve and watch them create! Here are a couple of their creations.