Celebrate Fall Jewel with 28 Lilac Lane!

I am so excited to share a very special limited edition mix from May Flaum's 28 Lilac Lane line with Buttons Galore: Fall Jewel!

Available exclusively from Buttons Galore this week here is a link. You can enter code LL400 when checking out between now and 11:59p eastern time on Friday (26th) and you’ll get $1 off making it just $5.99. What could be cooler? Within USA spend $30 or more at the Buttons Galore online shop and shipping is free! They do have the entire 28 Lilac Lane line – as well as dozens (hundreds?!) of their own button mixes as well.

I have had a lot of fun creating these three projects with the Fall Jewel mix and I'd like to share my inspiration with you. Enjoy!

Isn't the mix gorgeous! I know I am going to have a hard time using that beautiful wood button, because I just want to keep it, like a treasure!

I went a little crazy with the embellishments on my card, likely because I was in a Crazy Dogs mood! It was a lot of fun to dress up this fella with some glitz using the sequins and beads and making his kibble with more beads. Perfect for a birthday, graduation or note of encouragement. 

(watercolors and ink, stamps - Tim Holtz)

Moving on to fall, I started my tag by watercoloring my blueprint leaves with Distress crayons.

And, here is the tag! This reminds me of fall camping or even Thanksgiving. After I made the tag base and colored the lantern and leaves, I figured out my placement and where I would tuck in the 28 Lilac Lane pieces. It was a lot of fun creating the cluster with buttons, sequins and beads, and the little metal leaf from the collection is the perfect touch!

 (stamps - Tim Holtz; Distress inks)

Closeup of the grouping...

For my third project, I made a Halloween card, and added sequins and beads. If you look carefully at the umbrella, you will see the little hanging beads. 

(stamps - Tim Holtz; background created with Color Bursts)

Closeup of the web...I was trying to recreate the dew drops on the webbing with the beads.

So, three different projects using the Limited Edition Fall Jewel set from 28 Lilac Lane, and as you can see, I still haven't used that wonderful wood button, but I will find the perfect project for it one of these days!  I hope you have enjoyed my inspiration for this lovely mix from May Flaum. 

Be sure to head over to her website to see a beautiful card and frame she created with the Fall Jewel mix!

Wood, World and Wild!

Isn't this a great challenge over at Creative Carte Blanche? Those gals are always coming up with something good, and you even have a couple of days to join the challenge - last minute like me! It turned rainy this afternoon, so I pulled out some things and decided to make a tag.

My wild birds are sitting on a tree limb made from wood tape and a wood product, cardboard, with two words.

Aren't these sweet little birds? 

stamps from Wplus9

I colored them using Ken Oliver's Colorbursts - such a cool, fun and messy(for me) product. Funny how I was aiming for blue/green and orange/red and now that I look at them, these could make a Christmas tag!

I used Finnabair's Emerald Metallic paint with the Tim Holtz stripes stencil to make the background.

Wonder what those cute little birds are twittering and tweeting? Bet they are celebrating spring just like us!

Moondance

It's a marvelous night for a moondance...do you remember this classic song? Once I put my page elements together, this came to mind and it fits just perfectly!

I've been playing with new things lately...Koi stamp set by Nicole Wright from Emerald Creek, new Color burst colors and Liquid Metals by Ken Oliver and just having fun!

I started off by stenciling the circle with the butterfly, but used too much paint, so I ended up blending the circle with my finger using white and Distress paints - mermaid lagoon and twisted citron. Then I stenciled again using Distress ink - mermaid lagoon. Once that dried, I stamped one of the tiny Koi fish from Nicole's beautiful set.

Using a piece of punchinella and distress paint, I stenciled and used the reverse to blend two looks.

Now for some Color Burst fun! I spritzed my watercolor paper, then shook out three oranges and fuchsia, spritzed some more, swirled it a bit, then added in some Liquid Metal. Next I took my paint tool and scratched across, then let it dry overnight. I prepared this paper to stamp my big fish on. 

I stamped a few waves at the bottom using paint, then added the Koi fish I had stamped and cut. I imagine my fish are leaping in a joyous dance to the full moon, because it is...a marvelous night for a moondance!

It's also an "Anything Goes" challenge over at Emerald Creek Dares, so my fish are flying over to get entered in the challenge! They celebrated National Tartan Day recently, and although there is nothing tartan here, I hope they had a lot of fun!

Butterfly Slipstream

Trying out some new things, inspired by my Creative Expedition class with May Flaum this past month. and Finnabair my long time art rock star! Of course, I had to take it into a steampunk direction, and am entering my tag into Sandee and amelie's Steampunk Challenges where "anything goes"! I just love how creative that DT is with loads of steampunk inspiration! Well, spring is in the air over at A Vintage Journey, so I am entering my tag in that challenge also, since I can't wait for spring! And, at Anything But Cute, the challenge #12 is all about Earth Day and planet Earth, so my butterfly is fluttering over that way too! I was inspired by the butterfly, the vibrant green on the bird's head, and the lovely green fields on the mood board.

 Butterfly Slipstream - Reality has limits, imagination is boundless...Dream...

I am fascinated with the idea of butterflies flying thousands of miles each year, following their migration paths using some kind of inner compass. How do they know how to do this and return to the same summer and winter grounds? 

Perhaps they have a tiny clockwork compass to guide them??

I started by adhering all kinds of random buttons on my tag, then had to add in gears and cogs of course, and some of Finnabair's new art stones - fun product! Lots of great texture, and then the real fun begins! Time to get messy!!

Started layering the colors on to the tag,  and began with the distress paints over my gesso, and then added the golds and metals - oh yes! I do love my new Liquid Metal Color Bursts! They are really cool and I need to explore them more.

Is it any wonder my tag is green? It is my favorite color, but also, I really can't wait for spring to come and watch everything turn green and bloom and grow - then the butterflies will return too.

So yes, I am imagining thousands of butterflies getting ready to head north. Tiny clockwork compasses give the heading, and the slipstream is gearing up for the flight of the butterflies, well oiled, the levers are cranking up and soon the butterflies will follow the clockwork path to their destination. I think it's kind of like the Milky Way that we can see on some clear nights - we know it's there, even when it is not visible to us.

I hope the slipstream flows your way and brings the beautiful butterflies this season!

I'm Ringing in Spring over at Emerald Creek!

I know, I know, spring is not yet here officially on the calendar, but there are lots of hints lately that it is on the way. Over at Emerald Creek Dares they are ringing in spring, and I thought I would play along.

So, let me introduce you to my flower child...is she growing up to be a flower child of the 60's? does she love to garden? is she a bit of magic? I will leave that to your imagination!

I discovered distress crayons can be used to colorize photos - this is one of the Tim Holtz found relatives.

The background is mainly color bursts on watercolor paper with a bit of distress  crayon smudged in along the edges. I just got some new color bursts, and was playing with the Caribbean colors and the Liquid Metals - lots of fun!

Flowers are stamped and watercolored, a trio of birdies added and a butterfly, a piece of filmstrip, and she is ready to put into the flip frame. I love my flip frame!

I am counting...just a few more days until spring! May yours be filled with flowers and flower children!

Triple Trio at Creative Carte Blanche!

It's Triple Trouble over at Creative Carte Blanche, the newest challenge is to use a trio of items - cardboard, lace and metal. Now you might think these would not go together, but they certainly do! I decided to make a little fat book page, that I'll call "Lady Luck".

I challenged myself to try some different colors with the cardboard, and give a bit of a Caribbean flair. Normally, I would go for dark colors, maybe metallics, so it was fun to play with the brights! I had a piece of watercolor paper I'd tried my color bursts with, and got the lovely teal colors, which I thought would be a nice contrast. Out came a very old stamp from Acey Deucy that I thought would be fun to play with and I could put a metal crown on her head.

A domino to echo the one in the art stamp, rusty metal key, lucky charm, and gears round out my trio of laces. Cardboard - check! Lace - check! Metal - check! I do believe I have the trio covered for the challenge.

Triple Trouble: Lady Luck

Exploring a New Medium: Ken Oliver Color Bursts

I LOVE these dry pigment ink powders!! They are micro fine powders, so don't use them around a fan! The colors are so vibrant and they are just so much fun to work with :) I had ordered a few colors and did a little experimenting at home on watercolor paper and canvas board. Here are those results...

Then...I got to go to class! I headed over to the Papercraft Clubhouse in Connecticut last weekend, and had the privilege of taking two classes with Ken Oliver. Oh, I am a lucky girl! In my first class, we focused on different techniques, so here are my results...

Well, of course, I had to have my picture taken with Ken!!

In my second class we worked on some finished projects and turned one into a home decor piece. Here are some of my samplings...

My finished canvas. I may still go in and play with this one a bit.

So...if you LOVE color like I do, you will want to get some of these little lovelies and get real inky! I am sure you will be seeing a lot more of these in my work!  

You can learn more about Ken Oliver Crafts here, and Color Bursts can be found here.