Top Flight Stamps Grand Opening Blog Hop!!

Today we have an AWESOME blog hop for the opening of a great new online store called Topflight Stamps. Topflight Stamps offers a wide variety of art stamps from countries around the world. You will be sure to find something different and fun there. They also offer free shipping on all orders over $50 with US addresses!! 

And, don’t miss the Grand Opening Special Discount - 20% off ALL orders - use code TFS-GO20 – offer good March 27 through March 31. Be sure to comment on this blog and all the blogs on the hop (read to the bottom of this post for info) to be eligible for the GRAND PRIZE a $50 store credit!!!

PLUS - each of the designers in this blog hop are giving away a $10 gift certificate to one of the commenters on their blog post. I will announce my winner here on Monday, April 3. The $50 Grand Prize winner will be announced on the Topflight Stamps Blog on the same day.

 I’m sharing a project I made with The Journaling Clear Stamps Set with Masks by Claritystamp. It is a two sided wooden block! 

Now, be sure to check out all these blogs and comment for your chance to win the grand prize!! • 

• Topflight Stamps
• Donna Bowman
• Clare Messenger
• Linsey Rickett
• Julia Stainton
• Karen Crossen  - You are Here!
• Heather Pulvirenti
• Veronica Zalis
• Tenia Nelson
• Lynne Forsythe
• Lisa Hoel
• Sandy Allnock
• Rachel Kleinman
• Teri Anderson
• Lisa Adametz

This is the awesome Stamp and Mask/Stencil Kit from Claritystamp!! I love this company and have had a single stamp from them that I bought one time while I was in Scotland visiting my Granny. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember what the company was that made it ... but thanks to a couple papercrafting slueths ... it turned out to be Claritystamp!! What a find! And now, I can just order them strait from TopFlight!!

I started with a sketch of an angel on my wood block.

Then I added the stamps for texture with archival ink in coffee and black.

Then I had an idea ... and it went totally wrong ....

So I turned the block over and started on the other side in frustration! I used the new Architextures Paper Pad from 7Gypsies ... it has an awesome print that reminded me of old wallpaper.  A little whitewash over it and it felt even more vintage! Then after the whitewash dried, I stamped away, added some text and 7Gypsies Architexture Chicken Wire and felt so much better about this side of the block!!

 After I had the one side done, I felt brave enough to start over.  I remade the angel, and added some crackle and sanded down the paint.  I went around the edge of the cream paint with Glimmer Glaze in Satchel.  Then when I used my ClarityStamps with the archival ink in coffee, they really popped a little more!

Block Crazy #3 - Tattered Angels!!

Here is my 3rd block from my block craziness!! This one used Tattered Angels Baseboard Spray and  Glimmer Glaze to achieve a gray weathered look from a plain piece of wood from the hardware store!  Check out all the steps at the Canvas Corp Brands Blog!

And it all happened because of an oops .. what do you do when you spill a container of much loved Glimmmer Glaze?  Cover the whole project with it!!

Block Crazy #2

I was having a hard time creating anything the other day.  So, in order to clear my head and find some inspiration, I picked a couple of quotes out of my sketchbook and turned them into small decor projects.  You saw my first one here! 

Here is my second block!

I used Paper Arstsy Turquoise Fresco Paint and mixed it with Deco Art Crackle!  The edges were coated with Tattered Angels Baseboard Spray in Cardboard to darken the wood that shows around the paint. The words were printed on tissue paper and glued down with matted medium.  And I finished off the project with burlap, crocheted ribbon and rusted bottle caps.  LOVE this piece!! 

Going Block Crazy!!

At Christmastime, my mom gave me a HUGE load of wood scraps from the farm!! I have been in heaven! I just love making little home decor blocks with a little bit of mixed media and a favorite saying!!  There are not any process pictures, but I wanted to share these with you.  I actually have them for sale at a local shop called American Redemption.  So, enjoy!  

I picked 5 quotes from my sketch book and used them as my inspiration for these blocks!

Here is the first one!

This is a wood block with PaperArtsy Fresco paints as the background.  Then I used Heidi Swapp metallic texture paste through a stencil for the texture on the sides!  Then I used White FolkArt Acrylic Mixed Media Spray for a final white splatter touch! Love this saying!

MIxed Media Challenge #34!

Welcome back Mixed Media Challengers!!  This is SUCH a FUN challenge this year!! Our challenge this month is BUTTONS!!  Our awesome sponsor this month is 28 Lilac Lane! Make sure to click the link and visit!! THEN join us and create your project for our challenge at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge!

Craft with May 

One randomly chosen winner will receive a goodie box filled with an assortment of 28 Lilac Lane embellishment mixes (what you see pictured is just the beginning!) as well as a spot in May’s next online class focusing on embellishments! Whoohoo! 

And here is my project for this month's challenge!

I started off with a wood block scrap and covered it with cream chalk finish paint mixed with crackle paste!

Then I took stencils, stamps and archival inks to create a background!

Once the background was finished, I started punching circles out of scrapbook paper.  They were glued down with matte medium. 

And finally I sprinkled on the buttons and added one of my favorite quotes!!  And I find this saying just so important today! Now, come and join in the challenge!!  We can't wait to see what you all create!!

Mixed Media Challenge Blog #34

And a picture of the back  ...

Tattered Angels Tutorial!

I am so excited to share with you a tutorial that I created for Tattered Angels!  I had so much fun playing with their glazes to make this rustic tulip piece for my house!  Here are just a couple quick pics of the project, but jump on over to the Canvas Corp blog to see the whole tutorial!! 

Just a quick summary of the project ....

Weather the wood background and add some stenciling!

Use Modeling paste to create the tulip embellishments ....

Plan out a picture that you want to create and make your embellishment pieces! 

Print out your text ... 

Visit the Canvas Corp blog to see a much more detailed post about how to create a rustic tulip piece!

The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog - Challenge #33

I can't believe it is already February!!  Down here in Atlanta, we haven't really had much of a winter so my trees are already blooming and my spring bulbs are poking through the ground. My fingers are crossed for at least one more little wintery spurt - perhaps a day with snow flurries!  But in the meantime, I am happy to celebrate February with hearts and some sweet inspiration!!  And I HOPE that you will join us as well in our Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #33!!  And if you play, one random player, will be drawn for an awesome gift card from Stampendous!!  We had a blast playing with our stampendous products this month - such an amazing selection!!

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #33

And here is my project this month!

So, this project has changed so many times throughout the last few weeks!! I really wanted pink and red hearts ... I walked through the stores to get some Valentines Day inspiration, but I couldn't do it!! Instead, I ended pulling out the gold and bronze colors to make my hearts.

I also had Embossing Paste by Dreamweaver in black from Stampendous.  And in the spirit of playing around, I added transparent crackle medium to the paste.  It turned out really neat because the matte texture of the paste, crackled up really well!

Then I had the (un-smart) thought to put the colors directly onto top of the background .... ugh. It was SO not working for me.  So I scrubbed off what I could ...

And then I used Paper Artsty Chalk paint in Stone color to cover up the whole wood block to start over again.  

 I used archival ink through the metal Compass stencil from Stampendous ... LOVE this one!

The Vintage Contract text stamp from Stampendous created another layer of texture in the background.  And let me tell you, this is my new favorite stamp ... it is in the background of almost every project I have made since I got it in the mail!! 

I added some more hearts with an old stamp ...

 I stamped the Follow your Heart text onto a big piece of the copper covered paper, cut some hearts out of the paper that I had played with and put all the pieces together!  And I was happy!  Sometimes, you just have to keep adding layers and pushing yourself to create and finish a project!

So .... come play!! Pull out stamps, stencils, paint and get to work on some Sweet Inspiration!!