Off the Cuff: Mixed Media Jewelry

Off The Cuff

Definition of off-the-cuff : not prepared in advance : spontaneous, informal 

I am anything but spontaneous. I love to plan and organize. And my most favorite thing to do is cross things off my list. Sometimes, I make lists of things that I have already completed just for the sole purpose of checking it off. I am amazed at how much I can get done when I make a list and stick to it. That sense of accomplishment is a very essential part of my day. Even though there are days that I don’t want to do much, I dislike feeling lazy.  Hopefully, this summer while my children are off school we can get into a routine. Not only does it keep them from being bored but it keeps me on track…and less grumpy.

Most of our friends through the years have all been spontaneous by nature. Many times, Hubby and I have pondered how couples with children can live so care-free. But now I can see that there are many upsides to this dynamic. They tend to be adventurous and adapt easily to change. We tend to weight out all the options and in the end choose the least risky (aka boring).

Are you an Off the Cuff individual/couple or do you err on the side of caution?

Making The Mixed Media Cuff

Inspiration

I was very inspired by a tutorial that I recently saw on the StencilGirl® blog by Claudia Neubacher. I loved how she combined fabric, stencils and paint to create wearable art. I love unusual/eclectic jewelry but have never wanted to invest in another hobby. These cuffs are a happy medium. They are worn as an adornment yet they are still a piece of art. How cool is that?

The Process

I used a flour sack towel as my base because I had a scrap leftover from a previous project that I had already colored using PaperArtsy infusions. I laid my Chinese Garden Plum Blossom stencil on top and sprayed Lindy’s to create my outline.

I painted the stenciled image with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints and then outlined in a black marker. I did not use fabric safe paint as I am not planning on getting this wet. Plus, this was just an experiment to see how it turned out.

Last, I cut a piece of flannel the same size as my cuff. The original tutorial was a single layer but flower sack towels are very thin so I thought I needed a bit more thickness. I used a zigzag stitch around the edges to keep it from fraying. I did a straight stitch around the edges twice, being careful to not maintain a straight line. I also stitched around the larger flowers and leaves. The button hole was last. I made it a bit too close to the top but it doesn’t really bother me. Overall, I am rather pleased with how it came out.

But, I am thinking about adding some seed beads to the center of the blossoms to dress it up a bit.

I am playing along with Elizabeth and Bleubeard today by sharing a pot of my favorite tea.

That’s all for today. I would love to see links to some of your jewelry projects or wearable art. Inspiration is always in demand in my neck of the woods.

Happy Tea Day,

Kate

Elephants In My Garden: Mixed Media Mail Art

Elephants in My Garden

It’s that time of year and I am planning my vegetable and herb garden. Due to all the rain, weeds have taken over and I am wishing I had a gardener to do the weeding for me. Thankfully, I have two little gardeners in training. I have learned to use chores to my advantage and tonight my one little spent the evening cleaning up my front flower beds which were over run with Creeping Charlie.

My boys have expressed an interest in having their own little patch to tend. As most children they think big. Like really big! They imagine stuffing their cheeks full of berries every time they tend their garden. That and they think it will require little to no effort to maintain. I am excited to see how their expectations play out.

I have decided they can start out with a few plants- probably a few strawberry plants and an herb. Strawberries spread easily and are probably the most easy of all the fruits to grow. I am hoping this will be a great lesson in responsibility for them and hopefully set them on the path to having green thumbs.

Did your children ever show interest in gardening? And for you master gardeners, what do you think would be a low maintenance, high-yield plant for children?

Creating the Mail Art

I have had this envelope lying around my table for a while and recently decided to put it to good use. I started out by painting the envelope using Fresco Finish Paints. Next, I stenciled the Elephant March Stencil. The elephant has been painted with Fresco Finish Paints and doodled with a black pen. Lastly, I stenciled and painted the Chinese Garden Plum Blossoms to add some greenery.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kate

Challenges Entered:

Wednesday Simon Says: Stencil it

Monday Simon Says: Stencil It

Love To Craft: (May) Anything Goes

 

It’s Good To Be Me: Mixed Media Journal Cover

It’s Good…

I received so many encouraging words from everyone about my daughter’s potty training. A few days has made a HUGE difference and she is now taking herself to the potty without much prompting. Who would have thought that a 2 year old needed to retain the control. Once I stopped forcing her to sit on the potty she decided to comply. As a result, I am less stressed. She still likes me to accompany her to the bathroom which takes a large chunk out of my day but who am I to complain, she is taking herself!!

I am sure you are tired of my potty talk so I thank you for understanding. As you can guess, it is a big part of my life at the moment. Or rather it it is my life. I know this season will not last forever. No matter how sad I get at the thought that my last baby is almost a big girl, leaving diapers behind is not one of those “baby stages” that I will morn.

Creating The Journal

Inspiration

I have had difficulty for some time staying on my plan. I started Trim Healthy Mama 4 years ago when I was struggling to lose weight. I was working out for 1 hour a day 4 days a week and I was still gaining weight. I realized something was wrong even though my thyroid levels were ‘normal.’ I was diagnosed at this time with Hashimoto’s, a autoimmune thyroid disease. I changed my diet and within a few months my thyroid antibodies had come down considerably.  Although, they are still far from normal I try to implement healthy choices into my daily eating.

Back to the present, I haven’t consistently stayed on my eating plan since I got pregnant with my daughter. The lure of sugar and gluten has won and I am stil struggling with my weight. In order to keep myself accountable, I decided to start a food journal to write down everything I put in my mouth. What better way to be inspired to lose weight and be healthy then to have a pretty journal to write in.

The Cover

I have several journals sitting around so I decided to pull out this fabric journal and make it pretty. I coated the cover in gesso before applying my Lindy’s Sprays: Tibetan Poppy Teal, Wisteria Purple Blue and Wake Me Up Before You Go Gold. Next, I added some stamping and my embellishments. I finally broke down and used my ‘treasured’ Tim Holtz paper dolls that I got for Christmas. They are just as beautiful as I thought they would be. And this bright yellow flower has been sitting on my table for ages and in my stash for years. So glad that I finally put it to good use.

Here is a picture of the sprays that I used.

So, that is about it for me today. Thank you for stopping by. Have a great weekend.

Kate

Challenges Entered:

 Simon Says Wednesday: Easter (Moodboard)

Simon Says Monday: Easter?Spring Inspiration

Stamplorations: March Mixed Media (Spring)

A Vintage Journey: Treasure (TH Paper Dolls)

More Mixed Media Challenge: Anything Goes Optional Green

A Very Pearly Christmas Gift Bag: PaperArtsy Guest Designer

Designer Gift Bag

I am over at the PaperArtsy blog today sharing a DIY Christmas gift bag. The holidays are approaching quickly and this project is perfect for those last minute packaging ideas.

I love beautiful packaging. I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to DIY Packaging. But then I start to think of the unwrapping process and how all that hard work usually ends up in the trash. Quite disappointing for those of us who make wrapping a gift an artistic expression. The great thing about gift bags is they are reusable. Not to mention that they can be really expensive at the Hallmark store. The kraft bag I used for this project was found at the dollar store. And get this…it came in packs of TWO! Not only is it unique to you but it also comes saves you a lot of money!

You can see the full Gift Bag HERE!

Thank you for looking!

Kate

It’s All In the Neutrals: Index Card Art

 

The Neutral Zone

Speaking of the neutral zone, my hubby and I watched the newest Star Trek ‘Beyond’ movie. If you haven’t seen Star Trek than you probably have no idea how ‘Neutral’ fits into this paragraph. But that’s alright because I am not going to dwell on Star Trek but on the ‘movies’.

We usually wait for movies to come out on dvd before watching them. Not only is it difficult to find time for a date, but there is something exciting about saving $10 a ticket, $6 on supersized artery- clogging popcorn and most importantly being able to watch the movie in non-approved movie theater clothing. And I admit, I am a talker. I like to as questions, gasp, laugh and cry with however the emotional roller coaster plays out. My husband, on the other hand, loves to go to the movies because he is all about the huge screen and the surround sound. It must be a guy thing. Sure, I like to be able to see the picture but I can see it just fine if not better from my comfy spot on the couch. And if I may add, I will never have to worry about sitting behind a tall person that takes up part of the screen. Or giggling teenagers that laugh every time the leading man and lady kiss. Which, by the way, totally destroys the mood and obscures the following dialogue. (Yeah, I watched Twilight in the theaters.)

So, what do your think? Team Movies, Team Couch or Team Neutral?

Ok, onto the neutral index card.

Creating the Index Art

I pulled out my pack of index cards to create a portfolio card recently and decided to try out index card art. I have been seeing a lot of the ICAD’s which seems to be the new craze. While I don’t have time to craft every day (gasp), I have been trying to make more time in my schedule than before.

Let me just say that index cards used to be cards. Now they are thin, flabby pieces of paper being passed off as cards. So disappointing! Because of this, I had to add bulk to provide more support. I added a piece of vintage paper, followed burlap trim, coffee stained muslin and another layer of stamped muslin.

I cut a chipboard tile and stamped it with and Asian lotus, wound black thread around the card, affixed a few UmWow chipboard circles and splattered the finished piece with gesso and coffee.

I am usually all about color but I thought I would try something different for this piece.

If you enjoyed this post, check out a few of my other Asian themed pieces: A Little Asian Box, PaperArtsy Asian Tag Trio, Bird Song Canvas, Konnichiwa Pop-Up Card, The Chinese Tea House

Are there any great TV series or movies that you have watched recently? I need more suggestions.

Thank your for reading!

Kate

Challenges Entered:

A Inky Mess: Challenge # 13 Anything Goes

Aall and Create ITAC 2017: Challenge 2 Asia #itac17 #AALLtournament2017 #aallandcreate

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes

That’s Crafty: Only Cards

 Frilly And Funkie: A Little Rusty (Coffee Stained)

Memories Make You Rich : Mixed Media Art Assemblage

Memories Make you Rich

My hubby is a financial blogger over at CYInnovations so we discuss money all the time with our children present. In fact, my boys love Dave Ramsey. They have his slogan and the radio show theme song memorized. That is usually what my youngest boy is humming while he washes dishes. So, last evening my 9 year old asked my husband if we were rich. The conversation went a little like this-

9 y.o.- “Daddy, are you rich?”

Daddy– “Yes,” Pause “I have a warm house, a job, plenty of food and 3 beautiful children.”

I was sitting at my craft table and I just teared up. How true these words are! It is not necessarily money that can define wealth but that our basic needs are met and the people that we love and make memories with are around us on a daily basis.

It is good to teach our kids that money isn’t everything. My hubby has the kids writing a upcoming blog post on their money views and they both drew pictures to illustrate their ideas. I’ll let you know when it goes up so you can check it out.

Meanwhile, I’ll give you the short version of my assemblage process.

 

Creating the Assemblage

Getting Started

To start off, my box is recycled from a Christmas present. I liked the shallow depth and the rectangular shape of the box. For some reason I struggle with layout in square shaped boxes.  I added a layer of gesso and then Black Soot Distress Paint. I covered the inside with patterned paper and then started adding texture.

The Texture

I applied texture paste through my favorite Stencil Girl Eye Lattice Stencil. I mixed paint into my texture paste and came out with a peach color. Not what I was going for but oh well. After the paste dried, I went over some of the texture and the box with blue paint.

The Inside

Using a smaller box as a platform I covered it in paper using the same texture paste/stencil method as the side of the box. I chose a vintage jewelry pendant as the focal point. Patina Paints were used to color a few of the metal objects.

A tag is in the background framing the box along with some black gauze-like fabric.

Products Used:

Challenges Entered:

Altered Eclectics: Anything Goes

Scrapi-Wyzwaniowo: Home Decor

13arts: Abstract Art

Art Journal Cover

Playing around with journal covers is one of my favorite things to do. This chipboard cover cost me .99 cents! What a steal! Totally unplanned but the background turned out with a watercolor effect and I LOVE it along with all the texture from the stencils and grunge paste. If you want to check out the full picture tutorial, you can find it HERE. The inside page I made for this journal is HERE.

 

The Vintage Circus: Altered Book Part 2

Le Cirque

Here is the last of my  layouts for my altered book. You can see Part 1 HERE. I know I said this before but I really enjoyed this project. I hope you are inspired to save those old books destined for the trash and start creating something fun!

Me + You = Crabby: Altered Box and Pinterest Picks

The Box

I used a recycled box that previously held a collection of small baby books. PA Hot Pick stamps embellish the lid along with lots of texture. You can see the whole process on the PaperArtsy Blog at Part 1 and Part 2.

Pinterest Picks

I thought I would share a few inspirational boxes. Links to the original artwork are below the photo.

Jack & Cat Curio for Ice Resin

Linda Cain Designs

Stephanie Rubiano

Kindred Chemistry by Rod Lathim

Old Curiosity Shop By Melanie Forbes

Time Travelers Apothecary Kit By Azirca

Butterflies and Swirls

Netflix and Blogging

My little’s are all in bed sleeping soundly while I sit here on the couch blogging and watching Netflix. We live in the mountains so there is not a lot of choices for TV. In fact, to get any channels at all we have to have basic cable. We are literally in the middle of nowhere! Since hubby and I are trying to become Debt Free via Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover, we don’t have any money to waste on cable packages. Netflix is cheap and there are no commercials! Right now we are in the middle of watching the TV series Arrow and Hawaii Five-O. We are also waiting for the new seasons of Reign, Person of Interest, Supernatural, Leverage and Once Upon a Time. What TV series are you watching?

Altered Photo Frame

I didn’t place a photo in this frame box but I had a lot of fun decorating it. Beautiful stamps, watercolors and texture paste made this a fun make. My step-by-step tutorial is here.Thank for having a look.

Kate

It’s Mayhem!

Vintage Circus Altered Book

I just loved the idea of doing a Altered book centered around the Vintage Circus Theme. My very first layout in the book was this one, created for PaperArtsy, using Lynne Perrella stamps. Her images have the perfect amount of vintage and quirky to fit with this theme. Have you ever seen the circus scene in the Phantom of the Opera movie? It is all color, sparkle, and mystery. Everything I envisioned the vintage circus to be. I had so much fun creating this altered book that I  sent it in for publication and was published in the 2016 Summer Issue of Art Journaling by Stampington and Co.

My step by step tutorial for the creation of this layout can be found here. I will be sharing the rest of this altered book in future posts so be looking for that if you enjoyed this post.

Feedback

I enjoyed all of your feedback from the recent poll that I posted. In case you didn’t notice, I have started to implement those ideas into my weekly blog schedule. I am having fun writing about other topics that interest me. Someone asked why I didn’t include mixed media and scrapbooking on my poll. To answer that, I will continue to include those types of projects as that was the initial inspiration for starting my blog.

Kate

My Man Loves Flowers

Fun Facts about Me

Ok. So I thought I would let you know a few things about me so you can get to know me better. I always love when the writer reveals information about themselves as it seems a bit more personal. Here goes…

• I love Vanilla Custard Gerber Baby Food (I know, some of you are grossed out right about now)
• I tap my teeth when I am nervous
• Jane Austin is one of my favorite authors
• My favorite color is purple, turquoise come in as a close second
• I have a thing for Egyptian history, culture and art
• I HATE being pregnant but I LOVE having babies
• I dislike going to the beach for vacation (I end up looking like a lobster, broiled and baked)
• I am a very cautious spender
• I am not a risk taker

Art Journal Cover

I love taking dollar finds and turning them into a piece of art. My art journal cover was one of those things from the dollar bin. Using stamps and paint from PaperArtsy I made an fun journal cover that inspires me to house some new art journal pages. My step-by-step tutorial is here. Please stop by and take a look.

Kate

 

Paper Doll Shadowbox

Hello! I can’t believe it has been 6 months since my last post. Time just seems to get away from me. My little one is almost 1 year! She consumes so many hours of my day but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a mommy is the greatest job! I am so thankful to God for the opportunity. How about a picture of my cutie. This is her a month ago. She is still adorable but just has a little more hair.

So, as many of you know I am a Guest Designer for PaperArtsy.I write for them a few times a year. At the moment that fits my busy schedule as wife and mommy have to come first. I figured I needed a boost to get back into blogging mode so I am going to share my PA projects from a few years ago. I was only able to share sneak peeks at the time but I think it is ok to share the full project now that a lot of time has lapsed.I will still link to the complete tutorial over on the PA Blog.

So, here is my first project. A paper doll style shadowbox. My favorite details of this project are the texture on the frame and the doll dress. I had a lot of fun dressing her up. Of course, now i have a real doll to dress up and let me tell you…I am having a blast.

Take a peek over at my tutorial over on the PaperArtsy blog and I would love to hear any comments you may have. I have some great pictures of details to get you inspired.

Here is to a new year of projects and consistent blogging(well, maybe)

Kate

 

Art Journaling

Tags

Published

Hello! I really am still alive despite being gone for months. My little is now 4 months and growing like a weed. I am enjoying every precious moment I have with her, knowing it will be my last time to experience all the ‘firsts’ with a baby.

I was recently published in the Summer 2016 edition of Art Journaling by Stampington and Co. I have two articles in this magazine.One features my Grief Journal from my previous miscarriage and the second article features my Vintage Circus themed  altered book. If you get a chance to read them I would love to hear what you think. (Don’t mind the skull mug. The nurse in me finds it exciting. Not to mention it is  the perfect size for those large cups of tea!)

I thank you all for your sweet comments on the birth of our baby girl. She is taking a lot of my time up and now that her brothers are home for the summer my mommy time has diminished to a big, fat, whopping ZERO. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am hoping to get back on the creative wagon in the next few months.Perhaps then I shall have more to share. For now I will try to be content dreaming up projects in my head!

Kate

Baby is Here!

My little sweetie arrived February 23rd, 3 weeks early after a very difficult pregnancy. We are so thankful and blessed to have her! It has been a while since we have had a baby around here but her big brothers are in love with her.

Here is a banner I made for her room. It has a paper doll theme. I used some Prima doll stamps that have been sitting around for 2 years.

And another picture of my little because I am in love!

As you can imagine we are busy so I am going to try and stop by my blog every now and then to update.