"Dan"-a 12x12 layout for Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog

 Hello there crafty peeps! I haven't been doing a whole lot of papercrafting or mixed media lately, but I did complete this layout using a photo of my uncle who passed away early in the year. At most of our family events, he was the guy behind the camera, so I'm grateful to have this photo.

I used paint, stenciling and a little tearing to distress the background paper, then made some crumply, inky flowers with metal centers (to make sure they were sufficiently masculine!) I had gotten the wonderful bark leaves at a home decor store that was closing out a few years ago and thought they were perfect for this page. The scribbly frame is from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts, heat embossed in gold, then inked in black. A few fussy-cut clocks and gears and some metal embellishments finished it off. The title letters were inked lightly in brown to showcase the texture. Most of the papers are from the BoBunny Heritage line.

I pray all is well in your world as you navigate the craziness around us, and I hope you find refuge in creativity...hugs and best wishes...Lynne XX

"Free in my Faith"-6x6 canvas for Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog

 Hello there crafty friends....my latest canvas is a do-over with a story behind it, and I was happy to hang the finished product over the worktable in my craft room. I had had it there since we moved in here with a quote on it that made me sad every time I noticed it and finally decided it was ridiculous to leave it there. I was going to start over but didn't have another canvas this size and really didn't want to go out for one. I tore everything off of the old one, and I must say that act in itself was rather therapeutic. This is the new finished project:

My craft room is all done in pastel colours against pale grey walls so it fits in perfectly. After attaching everything except the quote, paper hearts and the metal items I wanted to keep as they were, The jeweled  metal rectangles at the upper right are from a broken bracelet! I used white spray gesso before adding light layers of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists I lightly inked the edges of the flowers with the same deep pink that I used on the edges of the papers to further define them.

FREEDOM is a big part of what my life stands for right now, as is my FAITH, so this phrase really resonated with me. Life changes made the previous quote on the canvas no longer true for me, but this one I know will always be true, no matter what life may throw my way!!

Thank you for stopping by, and I wish you a wonderfully creative September-be true to yourself no matter what! xx Lynne

"I Wanted to Fly" art journal page for Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog

 Happy August, my crafty friends! I hope all is well in your world; it's hot and humid here and I've been on a kick listening to old music that I grew up with, either in my craft room or when I'm driving. Recently the lyrics to Neil Diamond's "Shiloh" caught my atention, and got me thinking about flying, which brought me to the story of Icarus and eventually to the idea of a moth to a flame or to light, which is the image I chose to capture on my page.

 I created the background with Tattered Angels glimmer mists, starting with black then layering three shades of blue.I spritzed a light layer of yellow mist in the upper right corner before hand-drawing the light bulb, which was finished with coloured pencils.Yellow washi tape and some sponged acrylic paint finished that section, and randomly placed beads completed the blue section. (I just used tweezers and white glue to attach those.) The smaller moths were fussy cut from a sheet of Recollections paper from Michael's, and the large one was from Tim Holtz paper. I drew the flame on a scrap of mottled orange paper and cut away a bit of the moth's wing to create a charred effect, which was edged in black and grey.

I simply hand-printed my song lyrics on blue patterned paper and inked the edges lightly in black. I very seldom incorporate washi tape or beads in my projects, so this was a good chance to play a little!

I've always found song lyrics fascinating and have been inspired by them in so many of my projects, from scrapbook pages to cards and canvases, art journaling to Bible journal pages, and even occasionally in my zentangle drawings.Next time you're enjoying some down-time listening to music, pay a little extra attention to the lyrics and you just might be inspired to create something interesting! Wishing you a delightfully creative month....hugs and best wishes....Lynne xoxo

Nature Tag album for Creative Artiste MixedMedia Challenge Blog

I treated myself to a Graphic 45 "Woodland Friends" paper pack while we were locked down, hoping it would inspire me to get creative, and it was perfect to pair withh this cute tag album from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts and make a place for all the photos I had of Buddy, the squirrel we rescued and raised about 15 years ago.

I had a lot of fun with this, going through the papers and choosing as many squirrel images as possible and combining them. I had to keep the inner pages fairly flat, but added paper and fabric flowers on the cover as well as some plastic greenery I had and some decorative fibers both on the cover and attached to the pull-out tags. I inked all the edges and used foam tape for added dimension on most of the pages

My photos were all taken before we had a digital camera, so many of them are pretty awful , and I had to silhouette a lot of them because they were quick candid shots and often had very busy backgrounds, but I'm happy I was able to preserve the memories of our adorable little Buddy together in an album.

The pages are like pockets which hold a pull-out tag, as shown here:

These are the pull-out tags:

These are the pocket pages:

God's creations are amazing and this lovely paper showcases so many of His beautiful animals; I hope you enjoyed seeing my project and my squirrel photos.

Be sure to take part in the July challenge at Creative Artiste-always anything goes, as long as it's mixed media! Thanks for stopping by! xx

Check out the challenge HERE

Fireweed-a 12x12 layout for Creative Artiste

 Hello there! It's garden season here, so I ddecided to scrap a flower photo I had in my stash. Fireweed is a wildflower that's common in northern British Columbia  where I used to live. When there's a whole field of it, these vibrant plants make it look like it's on fire, hence the name given it by the native people of the area.

I treated myself to some lovely paper that I found on Amazon and found it was perfect to set off this photo. I loved the paper so much I didn't want to cover too much of it up (that's often a problem of mine!!) The rainbow was torn from another sheet and inked with a rich blue. I added stenciling with texture paste, used some Martha Stewart border punches randomly around the edges, and tore the remaining edges between the punching. Again these were inked in blue to further define the punched designs and tearing.

The title letters were originally a deep maroon, so I painted them white before inking them in pink.I gathered random flowers from my stash in bright pink and fresh green to echo some of the shades in the papers. The diecuts are from a BoBunny collection and I thought the colours coordinated really well with my other embellishments.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my page; I'm happy to have it as a keepsake of the lovely wildflowers from a province I lived in for several years; I wish you flowers and blue skies this season and always xx

Breaking Even-an art journal page for Creative Artiste

 Hello there crafty friends-I love using song lyrics, poetry and quotes in my artwork, so when I recently heard Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler"again, some of the words jumped out at me and I incorporated them here.

I started by mod-podging some tissue paper onto my page, making sure to crinkle it up a bit here and there, and then painted it red when it was dry. I had this adorable deck of mini playing cards in my stash, and they were perfect for this project. I inked and distressed them along with the background and all the other paper used here. I had a bunch of random chipboard numbers, so I grabbed some of those and heat embossed them in gold, then rubbed them with the same ink. The pair of buttons are meant to represeent coins. the diamond pattern and rows of numbers were stenciled with black texture paste, but I kept it a little thin to create a less crisp edge than I usually try to achieve. The black swirls and red patterned circles were from papers in my scrap file ( I keep everything bigger than about 2" in a large accordian file)

I hadn't done any art journaling for a while and it was fun to get back to it; hope you enjoyed seeing my page, and I'd love to see things you've created using song lyrics! Happy May xx

ALIVE-a mixed media canvas for Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge Blog

 Happy April and Happy Easter to you! I decided to create a piece focusing on the true meaning of our Easter celebrations, and the hope that the Resurrection brings. These days, fosusing on hope is especially important,

I built up the cave/tomb with crumpled tissue paper and Mod Podge, and did the same on a separate stone cut from heavy cardboard, then mounted the stone with dimensional tape for depth. After attaching the button collage, texture paste, lettering and embellishments, I used spray gesso on the whole project., then mixed light greyish-brown acrylic paints and layered paint onto the tomb and stone, with a slightly darker colour on the opening. Everything else was left white to be misted. I appproximated the areas with the colours by using yellow on the sun, blue in the sky area and a touch of green near the bottom but wasn't going for a fully representational look and allowed the colours to overlap and blend here and there for a softer look. Finnabair wax in Peacock was used to accentuate the lettering.

Thanks for stopping by, and I pray you find Resurrection hope today and always! xx