Cratfy Friday #12: Bloom

You can hardly tell that she is only 4 years old in this photo. I picked the title Bloom which is just perfect for this little girl who will soon bloom in to a fine woman.

This is one of the few layouts I did quickly because it involves only handcutting and paper mixing and matching. The letter stickers from Prima completes the layout. Although this layout does not involve too much painting and drying, I just could not let it pass at least with the Maya road sew it chippies.

All materials are from Studio Azul's kit except for the Maya Road chipboards. The papers are from Prima, Bo Bunny and 7 Gyspies.

Crafty Friday #11: Falling in love with embossing powders

Ever since I got hold of the Frantage line of Stampendous embossing powders, I fell in love with embossing powders once again. They really give a different texture to chipboards. I may have to find other ways to use them, but right now, I enjoy using them on chipboards.

And another idea I learned is to mixed my old embossing powders with the frantage line to revive those old and outdated embossing powders, give them a new twist and catch up with the new trends in giving my projects new dimension, not to mention I get to use them and enjoy them.

Here are two layouts, mostly from my side of the family, with my father and the three grandsons and with my mother and all the girls in the family, except me.

Chipboards are embossed with Stampendous Shabby Bronze mixed with white and gold embossing powders from my stash.

Crafty Friday #10: Alice in Wonderland and Steampunk ATC

Below are two more ATCs I made for a swap. 

The Alice in Wonderland image is from one of the Studio Azul kits I still have in my stash. It is actually black and white and I colored using watercolor pencils. I also attached an embossed image and on the side, I sprinkled Stampendous Mica Flakes.

This is my second version of a steampunk ATC. I cannot remember if I have a photo of the first one. I just love gears so when I saw there is another steampunk ATC in swap-bot, I did not have second thoughts of joining. Look at the 5 centavo coin i added to the embossed clock. I am also falling in love again with heat embossing. I have to revive my old embossing powders by mixing them to different Stampendous embossing powders (Shabby white and/or aged copper). It really gives a different texture to chipboards. I have few more projects where I used embossing powders which I will be posting in the coming weeks.

Crafty Friday #9 - Vintage Tag

Here is the photo of a tag I worked on for swap. Perhaps I should also have a happy mail day post to highlight what I receive from the post.

It was created using patterned paper, washi tape and book pages adhered to a cardboard. Distress ink is applied over the paper and after drying, different vintage images are randomly stamped in the tag. To finish off, I randomly applied embossing ink on the edges and pour embossing powder randomly.

Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Sketch #5

My goal is to complete the sketch challenge in FSC, never mind if most of the time though, I get to work on the sketches after the challenge deadline. So here is my late take on sketch #6.

The background is a Prima paper way back 2 or 4 years ago. Yes, it is so gorgeous I almost did not want to use it. The flowers are handcut from BoBunny paper, while the cages are from Basic Grey paper.

I also used Maya Road bird chipboard painted with Ranger crackle paint and coated with white Tattered Angels glimmer glam. I love the one in white bacause you can use it to coat for any surface. The Basic Grey chipboard letter set is becoming a favorite. One pack contains so many letters I have used them already for several layouts and mini ablums yet there are still enough letters for several more layouts.

Apologies for the resolution because I am only taking pictures from my cellphone. This allows me to take a picture of the layout and post right away. I find it too cumbersome to detach the SD card from the camera, connect it to USB and attach it to PC.

Crafty Friday #8: Someone stop me

I always keep telling myself to stop signing up for any new swaps. Well I did, for a week. But after I got all my from my partners and amazed by their works of art, I am hooked and kept on signing up.

Here are few more ATCs and handmade postcard for my previous swaps.

Crafty Friday #7: It's raining ATCs

Yay! Crafty Friday is running on two months and it keeps on coming. I am thankful that I discovered the world of ATCs which gives me a break from creative rut. I made these ATCs for the swap in Swap-bot, but soon I hope I can make ATCs just for fun and for the sake of art.

MMM Online Crop and Scrap Date with Mel

Last Friday, August 31, a group of Filipino scrappers had an online crop in FB from 9pm - 12mn. Sketches and challenges were posted during the crop period for the participants to work in until Sunday. It was a very productive crop event for many and tons and tons of inspiration from various scrappers were flowing in for three days. Since I have work until 12 mn of August 31, I only managed to complete one layout that night, after my shift.

The following day, a fellow scrapper friend Mel invited me over for a crop session at her place. I was able to do three layouts, one using a sketch from the previous night's online crop. I was able to complete them (with title and journalling) just recently.

I used very old papers I have in my stash. I have a lot of de-stashing to do and so glad I can still use them despite the recent releases of papers, embellies and any other stuff manufacturers can think of.
I just incorporated new techniques and trends just so the papers won't look really outdated. Glad they worked well even with the papers and you couldn't really tell how old the papers are.

These additional four layouts add to my total output to date of 26 layouts.

Crafty Friday #6: Watercolor pencils

I am glad I joined ATC swaps. Pushes my creativity and allows me to bring out those tools from the box and finally put them to use. Yes, I always have this feeling that I should use them sparingly but in the end not using them at all. But now, since I joined swaps, I am taking them out of the box, try them on and explore my creative side.

I used to join only those swaps that are easy for me, but since I have been playing around with watercolors, this time around I picked the ATC watercolor challenge. Several ATC had to go to the trash before I finally got the groove of using watercolor and watercolor pencils and became satisfied with my work. I have seen a Donna Downey video about making poppies and she does it with a breeze. And true enough as I tried it. I never realized I can do this - I can draw and paint!!!

Mini Album Swap

Here are the pages for my mini album swap. I hope Cecil will appreciate these simple pages.

First Page, three pockets on the side and one at the top.

Second Page, left side space for photo, right side can be space for photo or journalling.

Third Page a photomap on the left side, plus a pocket which can be used for additional photo or journalling.  Right side is a pocket envelope for additional photos or journalling.

Fourth Page - left side another page for photo and pocket for photo or journalling and right side, tiny album for photos and journalling plus pocket on top.

Last Page, left side, a pocket inside a pocket and right side is a place for photo.

CD Art Thursday #2: Altered CD - Photo/Memo Holder

Glad I found those tiny frame stands in one of the super malls around here. Fits CDs perfectly.

CDs are just perfect for this since they are sturdy and can hold embellishments.

Christmas is just around the corner so I thought of making prototype of what will be our give aways this year. Next thing I will do is make a list and start the mass production of my altered CD - Photo/Memo Holder.

Crafty Friday #4: Swap-bot - Postage Stamp

This was sent out almost two weeks delayed due to the recent flooding in Manila and over various parts of Luzon. The requirement is use a scenery postage stamp for ATC. Good thing I was able to receive a mail with a postage stamp from a place in Brunei. I used mask and structuring medium and stampendous frantage fragments, distress inks and came up with this ATC. Hope my partner likes this one.

I am now getting addicted to swap for three things: 1) Gets me excited to wait for the mail because I am getting something other than bills; 2) Postage stamps from all over and last but not the least 3) I am receiving something that was created by an artist in other parts of the planet.

Crafty Friday #1: Swap-bot: ATC swap

I will be starting another series in my blog for the crafters out there. My Wais Wednesday series has been ongoing for the past 8 weeks and so here is another one (though I hope I can still revive my CD Art Thursday series in the coming weeks).

I recently joined a swap group called swap-bot. This is a fun group who does a swap of almost anything - from postcards, ATCs, smash/junk journal items to teas, pens and what-have-you.

I usually sign up for ATCs, postcards and smash/jubk journal. Although shipping is a little heavy on the pocket, it is a way to connect with others and at the same time keep the postal system alive. Thanks to technology, gone are the days of snailmails and penpals. These were replaced with the internet and other electronic media.

Here are two of ATCs mailed for the butterfly theme. Both are butterfly themed except that the second one is a glittery butterfly per swap requirement.

The ATCs are very simple, I just run through a patterned paper in an embossing folder, distressed with distress inks, punch a butterfly. To customize for the glittery requirement, I just applied embossing ink, glue powder and glitter and voila, two projects completed.

CD Art Thursdays #1: Painting CD

I will be starting another series in my blog which is all about CD art. I fell in love with altered CD art the first time I tried my hands on them. I had to put this aside though due to a busy schedule. With this series, I am hopeful that I can revive my passion for altered CDs which is another great way of upcycling CDs and reducing our wastes. So stay tuned and and together we will explore various mixed media techniques applied in CDs to recreate our unique work of art.

As a starter, let us learn the basics of painting CDs. Gesso is an all around medium that you can use to prime any surface. It prepares the surface so that you can apply paint or any medium into it. For comparison, I used two types of gesso, a liquid, thin gesso and a thick, paste-like consistency gesso.

Photos below will show the difference between using liquid, thin gesso and thick and paste-like consistency gesso.

Thick Gesso

Liquid gesso

I am not sure if the first coating is thin because of the watery brush that I used. But notice that after several coating, you will achieve the same effect on the CD. 

Based on experience, liquid gesso is better to use on papers and canvass and thick gesso can be used on non-porous surfaces like plastic or even metal. 

There are even other types of gesso out there but you are free to experiment which one suits your preference. 

Grungy Tags

These tags are going to be mailed this Friday for our local swap group. We have been swapping tags, ATCs, mini album pages, junk journal for the past months.

For June, our theme is Alice in Wonderland. I made a heart and crown tags based on the Queen of Hearts character. And of course a She Art version of Alice.

I love enjoyed working on these tags, trying out new mediums and incorporating new techniques. I like the way it progresses from conceptualization to execution. Putting medium on top of another to create layers. It is all messy but full of fun.

I used watercolor, acrylic paint, viva inka gold, liquitex modelling paste, craypas, tim holtz stamps, stampendous mica fragments.

Copic markers

I never thought that i will get hooked with copic markers. The first time i learned about it, I know it is not for me. Coloring is not my thing. But when I started to stalk Nichol Magouirk and Jennifer Maguire and admire how they these markers turn stampes images into life, I slowly gave in and tried on initial colors. The first attempts were a little bit disappointing, until I slowly got the hang of it. I only have a handful of the colors, but I was able to mix match and create some cards and the latest one is an invite for my son.

I printed the copic color guide and hopefully add more to my current set.

Happy I Love You Day

My kids specially Joie is very excited for this day, much as he is excited foe Christmas day or birthdays. Last Saturday, he's already making a countdown. And he also keeps on telling us about the artwork that he did in school.

And today, they got up early and greeted us with Happy Valentine's Day as if it were our birthdays. Maybe because of the hearts that they thought today is equally significant as other important events in our lives, because more than any regular day, today is so full of love and giving and expressing love to those special to us makes it more meaningful.

I wish I was like them when I was little. Then and now, I am not really expressive of what or how I feel (except when i am mad and upset). I do not know how to make others feel special the way I care for them. But I believe it is not too late to change and really tell the people I love that I care, thet are loved and they are special.

Love month

February being the love month, our swap group with PinoyScrapbookers decided for a love themed tag swap. I have started receiving the tags since last week, but I got to send out mine only yesterday. Here's a sneak of what I made. I used water color paper, neo caran water colors, gel medium, prima flowers, unity stamp, embossing powders, mists, ali edwards stamp. Lace or ribbon, glitters or beads/blings are required for the project. There are 9 participants, including myself, so made 9 of these.