MINI ALBUM COVERS tutorial by Asmah

Hi everyone! 

Asmah is back with a "from-nothing-to-something" mini album that is made from scratch. In this tutorial I would like to show you how I did the cover and back pages by upcycling chipboard from an old office file.

Without further ado, let's get started and enjoy with a latte.

 1.  I used a chipboard from an office ring binder file cut into 4x6 inches.

2 & 3. Make two holes with crop-a-dile.

4. Gathered waste not want not scraps, lace, trims, drywall tape, tulle, strings and cheesecloth or just anything you want to build up textures.

5. Glue down torn paper scraps with glue.

6. Randomly adhere the elements. The strings are rolled up to form flowers and later tucked in with tulle.

 7. Apply gesso all over the texture. I let dry under the sun.

8. I used big bloom factory large ARTplorations stencil to create some nice patterns by applying modeling paste.

9. The messy part begins with playing water colors, spritzing water to let them run through the textures and paste.

10&11. Before I started mess up the covers with colors, I applied glue on certain areas. Then I sprinkle glitter over the glue and shake the unglued access off the covers back into the bottle.

I used patchwork frenzy graphic pentagons stamps to stamp the covers randomly for additional interest. Lastly a bold sentiments create stamp is used to create the title for this mini album adorned with some trendy butterflies, seed beads and sequins.

 I tied the covers up together with fancy yarn.

That's it for today. Hopefully my humble mini album covers give you some inspirations to reduce your stash. I shall be back again next month with another tutorial.

Have a good day.

Hugs and smiles,

MOP UP AND EXTRAS ATC's tutorial by Kim

Hi, Kim here!

Today I have a short tutorial making 2 ATCs using the "extra" bits that always accumulate while making projects.

I have a bag filled with some blank papers cut to ATC size, 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches, from various papers as well as some postcard sizes and random tags. That way when I have some left over colored modeling paste as above, I don't have to just throw it away. I placed 2 blank ATCs side by side and used the ARTplorations Square Links stencil with the paste.

I used color sprays on one card and watercolor powder on the other...and dipped and smooshed some tags for later, too.

Next I added some dots and straw circles to add some more layers.

Now going back to leftovers from other projects, I picked out two butterflies that I had fussy cut before. They are stamped with STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies and the sentiments are STAMPlorations Subway Art Builders Create

Since they were already stamped, leftovers, it saved a lot of time. Distress the edges, arrange and glue. Done. Two ATCs complete and ready to go to a new home.

Have a great day!
~kim

CREATE ART CANVAS tutorial by Tanja

Hi there,

it's Tanja here for you and I would like to show you the creation of this canvas step by step:

• cover a canvas with gesso and create a background with Distress Paints (Broken China, Evergreen Bough, Bundled Sage, Iced Spruce)

• apply a generous amount of Dylusions Spray (White Linen) to the upper part of the canvas and let it drip down

• stamp some circles with white gesso using a cap and the bottom of a blending tool

• create your own heart stencil and use it to draw a heart onto the canvas with the help of a pencil
• fill in the shape with gesso

• paint the heart with Distress Paints (Squeezed Lemonade, Abandoned Coral, Festive Berries)
• add shadows with a Derwent Charcoal Pencil (light) and highlights with a white gel pen
• draw some sketchy lines around the finished heart using a black PITT Artist Pen
• add splatters with Distress Paint (Hickory Smoke)

• apply Prima Marketing Modeling Paste through the ARTplorations Leaf Bliss Large stencil on all four corners of the canvas and let it dry thoroughly

• use the DIY stencil as a mask and stamp through it using the script stamp from the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Elements stamp set and Memento Luxe (Tuxedo Black)

•  mix Distress Paint (Chipped Sapphire) with Golden Glazing Liquid and apply it over the stenciled leaves - let the mixture dry for a little moment and wipe it away; make sure that enough paint stays on your substrate to accentuate the leaves
• add some more paint splatters and some vertical and horizontal lines with a craft scraper using the some dark blue paint 
• apply gesso with a stippling brush through the ARTplorations Fearless Large stencil and also add sketchy lines around the letters with a black PITT Artist Pen
• ink up the edges with Distress Ink (Black Soot) for a finished look

Until next time.

Yours,

HOPE TAG tutorial by Lee-Anne

Hello, mixed media fans!  Lee-Anne here with a quick and easy tag tutorial for you today.

Gesso a #10 tag:

Add light embossing paste through the Square Links stencil.  When it's dry add more light embossing paste through the Flower Burst Large stencil (oops,someone forgot to take the second picture!)

Blend several colors of Distress Crayons over the tag:

Randomly add some white gesso to the tag:

Stamp the dragonfly from Winged Things in gray Archival Ink and smudge some more Distress Crayon around it:

Stamp the sentiment from Hope Blooms in black Archival Ink.  And finally, color some seam binding with Distress Ink, tie it in a bow and add it to the tag.

Thanks for joining me today!  Hope you've had fun!

MIXED MEDIA CANVAS WITH PANPASTELS tutorial by Susanne

Hi everyone, Susanne writing today and I have a mixed media mini canvas tutorial for you today.

Here are the step by step instructions:

 1. Take the large Leaf Bliss stencil and use VersaMark Ink to transfer the pattern onto your canvas.

 2. Use PanPastels to color the background. The pigments will stick to the VersaMark Ink. Add a layer of fixative to seal the PanPastels

 3. Take the little birdie from the Some Birds stencil set and adhere it to the canvas with Gel Medium. You only cover the edges with Gel Medium. This makes sure that the next layer of color will not run under your stencil.

4. Add one or two layers of Gesso and remove the stencil.

5. After the gesso is dry you need to put the bird on your canvas again and also the Tribal Swirsl stencil. Add some gold texture paste to it.

6. Add some doodling with pastel pencils.

Thanks for stopping by today,
Susanne.

ARTplorations stencils:
Some Birds
Leaf Bliss
Tribal Swirls

ART PAGE tutorial by Irit

Hello, my dear crafty friends! Irit here with my new mixed media art page tutorial and this time I made is in a totally different style. It's my first time to use this technique and I hope you like the final result as much as I like it. So let's go!