Rebel With A Cause

Mixed Media Challenge 6 (October)

This is the project I made for Mixed Media Challenge 6 on Blue Bazaar. The challenge is to use fabric in a mixed media project and the deadline is the end of October. The challenge details can be found here.

I love Venice, it is a city with wonderful curved architecture from the lamp posts to the bridges, from the archways to the buildings. I used a set of glorious photographs of Venice taken by Rachel Greig (Stamp It) and some German scrap to show this. Venice is filled with history and is famous  for it's handmade lace. These features are symbolized by the old buttons (some of which are mother of pearl) and a fragment of a vintage lace edged pillowslip. Although Venice is an old city, it is vibrant and full of life. Some of the homes have secluded courtyards with potted plants and many houses have window boxes overflowing with greenery and flowers. The single lily on this journal page represents the life in Venice.

Note to self: Update blog more often than once every four months, otherwise it will take an entire day to write the bare minimum of posts that need writing!!

Christmas Cards

Earlier this year I was invited to take part in a special Christmas feature for Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft. I was required to create two cards, the first card was to be simple enough to allow one to create twenty such cards in an evening. The second card was to be the same basic design as the first, but a little more intricate, allowing one to create ten such cards in an evening. Both cards were to use products that could be purchased in bulk and tools that could be used repeatedly. The color scheme for the cards was to be  brown and deep metallic. Here are the cards I came up with!!

I used a vanilla, cocoa, chocolate and copper color scheme. The focal image for the cards was created using a Stamp It Christmas stamp and a copper embelishment. The second card was jazzed up by the addition of copper seed beads and by embossing the chocolate cardstock using the Cuttlebug. I was very pleased with these cards and they can be seen in this month's Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft Vol 14 No 3).

Mixed Media Challenge 5 (September)

This is the project I made for Mixed Media Challenge 5 on Blue Bazaar. The challenge is to use texture paste in a mixed media project and the deadline is the end of September. The challenge details can be found here.

This project has sat unassembled on my desk for over a month. I finally had the chance to put it together, so here it is!! I covered a 6 x 6 chipboard page with an even coat of texture paste and stamped a scroll motif into the paste. The chipboard page was left to dry overnight and was then painted. The scroll motif was highlighted with gold rub on and the page was sealed with Mod Podge. The page was then decorated with a picture of a wonderful painting, German scrap, trims and a charm.

Favourite Quotes

Earlier this year I was invited to contribute to a special feature in Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft on Favourite Quotes. I was required to create a card of any type that incorporated my favorite quote. I choose a quote by St Augustine:

"Faith is to believe what you do not yet see,
the reward for faith is to see what you believe."

I love this quote because it eloquently defines the meaning of faith. My faith is vital to who I am, the way I live and enables me to see the wonder of God in each day.

I wanted to create a card sturdy enough to display on an easel so used a thin canvas as a base for the card. I decorated the canvas with the quote, an ArtChix Studio image of a fairy, a cherub charm, a Prima flower, velvet leaves, a Scrapware chipboard scroll, German scrap and various trims. My card can be seen in last month's issue of Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft (Vol 14 No 2).

Mixed Media Challenge 4: Ephemera (August)

This is the project I made for Mixed Media Challenge 4 on Blue Bazaar. The challenge is to use ephemera in a mixed media project and the deadline is the end of August. The challenge details can be found here.

"Ephemera is transitory written and printed matter, not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, baseball cards, bookmarks, cigarette cards, greeting cards, letters, pamphlets, photographs, postcards, posters, stock certificates, tickets, and zines". 

Wikipedia

This journal page features a reproduction of a fabulous newspaper advertisement that came as a freebie years ago with a copy of Scrapbooking Memories. It also features a very fragile vintage paper doily that was protected by sandwiching it between a piece of patterned paper and a printed transparency.

Journey to Venice

Venice is one of my favorite cities and I was therefore delighted when I discovered that Rachel Greig had designed some wonderful Venice themed rubber stamps. Rachel has branched out to create her own stamping/papercraft company called Darkroom Door that manufactures a range of fabulous products including the Venice stamps.

I used my new stamps and Scrapware chipboard products to create this ATC series entitled "Journey to Venice". Rachel's stamps come as unmounted rubber with a handy storage tin. I can highly recommend Darkroom Door stamps, their quality is excellent as can be seen in the level of image detail obtained using one of these stamps in the last ATC in this series. Magic.

Mixed Media Challenge 3 (July)

 

This is the project I made for Mixed Media Challenge 3 on Blue Bazaar. The challenge is to use paint in a mixed media project and the deadline is the end of July. The challenge details can be found here.

To complete this project I used the kit provided to challenge participants by Blue Bazaar. As per the kit instructions, the canvas was primed with gesso, painted and sealed with gel medium. The kraft tape and vintage papers were then adhered to the canvas.

I love this Opera flyer image and challenged myself to use it on the canvas. I found that the red paint was too intense and overwhelmed the image. I therefore muted the red color by stretching a piece of fine lace fabric over the entire canvas. The image was mounted onto black German scrap and the canvas was finished off with a velvet flower, a painted chipboard scroll and a lots of vintage bling.

Scrapware Cards

 

I am currently obsessed with bird stamps, I especially love the two Inkadinkado stamps I used to create these cards for Scrapware. The bird images were used as a focal point and framed with the delightful Scrapware chipboard frames. The frames were colored with ink to co-ordinate with the tones in the cardstock (Stampin' Up!).

The first card also features a scroll image created with a stamp (Stamp It), ribbon, lace, buttons and beading. The second card (which is a teeny tiny gift card) also features Cuttlebug embossing, German scrap and beading.

Mixed Media Challenge: Month 2 (June)

This is the project I made for Mixed Media Challenge 2 on Blue Bazaar. The challenge is to use metal in a mixed media project and the deadline is the end of June. The challenge details can be found here.

I decorated the cover of a 6 x 6 journal using a Collections 9 compartment chipboard frame as the foundation for the design.  The chipboard frame was embossed and the resulting textured finish was highlighted with gold wax gilt. The frame was then backed with a piece of beige patterned paper and the compartments used to display some of my favorite metal buttons. The central button is very old as are the silver-centered red velvet buttons. The gold and beige buttons are new. The framed button piece was mounted onto deep red cardstock and the design was completed by the addition of German scrap and metallic ribbon.

Mixed Media Challenge: Month 1 (May)

This is the project I made for Mixed Media Challenge 1 on Blue Bazaar. The challenge is to use pens/markers in a mixed media project and the deadline is the end of May. The challenge details can be found here.

To create this canvas, I stamped an image of a bird and colored it in using an aqua pen and watercolor pastels. I then attached a metal frame to the front of the image. The canvas was covered with a beautiful piece of lace fabric.  The canvas was then decorated with ribbon, German scrap and buttons. The framed watercolor image was attached to the decorated canvas.