Wednesday, November 11, 2015

thanks to our Veterans...

this sentiment seemed appropriate for today...

thanks to all our veterans & to those currently serving & working hard to keep us safe...
we appreciate YOU so much...



this was a quick card to put together...
the diagonal stripes are the yikes stripes stencil, just used on an angle and stenciled with

 a favorite stamp-it stencil-it...
the flower is the gorgeous
the leaves are stenciled 

I had intended to stamp
then stencil & keep it completely flat,
 but I had a scrap of clearly for art already covered with newsprint, so I added another layer, with just the flower...
that little extra makes a big difference...

the sentiment and floral collage were both stamped with jet black...

you can see that t's a
simple & quick card...

I've had lots of requests for tutorials doing more art journal pages...
I KNOW...
it's been a while...

so...

I have one done & I'll be back on Friday with a ton of step out photos to show how I add multiple layers to the background 
with stamps, stencils & inks...

AND...
there's also
  a fun NEW technique...

here's a peek...



I'm really liking the tea rose
sky blue & leaf green archival trio of colors...
using jet black makes them all pop...

that's it...

time to edit the photos & write the tutorial...

see you back here on Friday...

enjoy your day &  
I hope you can...

make art!
wendy




Thursday, November 5, 2015

Make ART Challenge - November - Celebrate Fall

Hi folks! We're finally back after our month long break! Not that things settled down at all...our house sold, in two weeks (WHAT?!), and we're knee deep in trying to pack and find new housing. Never a dull moment! Thanks so much for your patience!

I did manage to find some time to create a project for this month's challenge...along with a photo tutorial, listed below. Before we get started with the ART, let's review the challenge rules:


  • Our November challenge opens today and anyone can participate!  Just link a photo of your project (on your blog or gallery), using the Linky Tool, at the end of today's post.  (If posting from your blog, please only insert the URL of the specific challenge post, not just your blog title)
  • The challenge ends on Thursday, November 26 at midnight (EST).
  • A random winner will be selected from all of our participants and announced here on the blog on Friday, November 27.  You may enter multiple projects, however, your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
  • Each month we will have a sponsor and the sponsor will award the prizes.
  • You must use at least one Wendy Vecchi product in your project.

This month, Wendy will be awarding one winner, chosen from a random drawing, a prize package of her wonderful products.

The November challenge is to create a project inspired by the fall season. Use some fall colors or themes for this month's challenge.

Let's get on with the tutorial!

 I started by pulling out my brand new Dylusions black page journal...it's dreamy. I used a blending tool and two paint colors from PaperArtsy to create a sky and ground on the page. I love how you can just see hints of dark peeking out through the colors.


Next, I used Wendy's Add a Stencil stencil and white gesso to add some design to the background. My hills were created using vintage book text and some fancy free hand cutting. I inked the hill edges with Gathered Twigs ink.

I used Wendy's embossing paste and the Lovely Tree stencil to add a few trees and to even add some leaves on the ground.
This is the step where I forget all about my camera... I actually started by coloring the leaves with acrylic paints, but I didn't like the look of the sky peeking through the leaves...the trees didn't look full enough so...I painted in the background of the tree as well, creating a tree shape by hand. Then I added more individiual paint colors to the embossed leaves. TIP - A great trick for easily coloring embossed images is to put the stencil back over the image once the paste is dry. Then you can easily paint individual areas without paint getting on the background. This was the technique I used for coloring the tree trucks. I also used Faber Castell Big Brush markers to create a darker shadow around the hills.
Here I added some text throughout the page using Jet Black Archival Ink and the Artful Words stencil.
My final step was to add the sun, which I hand cut from designer paper. The sun's rays are from Wendy's Sunburst stencil (one of my all time favorites!).  The quote was added using some individual letter stamps. I had a few fall themed stickers in my stash and I added them to the top right hand side of the page, which created the perfect spot for my date stamp.

I hope you enjoyed today's project! Now it's your turn! Interested in sharing your ART? We'd love to see what you create based this month's challenge! To share, just add your blog post (the specific post, please) link below.  Once your project is listed, you'll be entered into our drawing.  Thanks so much for playing along this month!


Saturday, October 10, 2015

October Challenge

Hi friends! By now you're probably wondering what happened to the October challenge. Well...life happened...and I completely forgot about the challenge until a few days ago. 

Let me explain...After being unemployed for six months, my hubby finally found a job! Yeah! However, it's in another state, which will require us to move. Insert sad face. We had a week to get our house prepped for photos and listed for sale, which included packing up the majority of my studio and a major clean in our attic and garage (so thankful the hubby got that job!). And then...we went on a week long vacation (it was needed!) Half way through our vacation I remembered the challenge for this month...ugh...

I am so sorry about the unexpected and unexplained break! However, we plan to be back to our challenge next month. I already have a project completed...yeah for making ART!

Thanks for hanging in there and we hope to see lots of participants next month! Please share our challenges with your social media groups, we'd love to see more folks making ART!

Oh, and, does anyone want to buy a house in NH? **wink**


Friday, September 25, 2015

September Make ART Challenge Winner

Hello ladies! It's time for me to announce the winner of the September challenge...Raise your hand if you bought lots of Wendy's new products..WooHoo!  Our winner this month is...


Congratulations, Wanda! You've won a prize package from Ranger! Please email me at ksdm@comcast.net to claim your prize. Be sure to check out Wanda's beautiful tag on her blog. 


Thank you so much to everyone who participated in this month's challenge! Spread the word about Wendy's challenge blog..we'd love to see more people participating in the challenges! We're so happy to see everyone's work each month. Stay tuned for next month's challenge, which will be announced on Thursday, October 1! 

Friday, September 4, 2015

Make ART Challenge - September - NEW Product Inspiration

Sorry for the delay, Wendy fans, but we have some exciting news to share and we had to wait one more day for he good news...Today is the release of Wendy's NEWEST products...WooHoo!!!

This month's challenge is going to be a little different...we're only sharing the cover of Wendy's new catalog, aren't the colors divine (and they're going to help me hold on to warm weather just a little bit longer), and Wendy has posted the full reveal, with projects on her blog!

Your challenge this month is to visit Wendy's blog and create a project inspired by one of hers or one of her new products. Be sure to share, in your blog post, what product or project inspired you.


As for the new release, let's just say that I can't wait to go shopping...there are some fabulous new goodies!! Before you head to Wendy's blog, let's review the challenge rules:


  • Our September challenge opens today and anyone can participate!  Just link a photo of your project (on your blog or gallery), using the Linky Tool, at the end of today's post.  (If posting from your blog, please only insert the URL of the specific challenge post, not just your blog title)
  • The challenge ends on Thursday, September 24 at midnight (EST).
  • A random winner will be selected from all of our participants and announced here on the blog on Friday, September 24.  You may enter multiple projects, however, your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
  • Each month we will have a sponsor and the sponsor will award the prizes.
  • You must use at least one Wendy Vecchi product in your project.

This month's sponsor is...Ranger!  Ranger will be awarding one winner, chosen from a random drawing, a prize pack of Wendy's products.

Interested in sharing your ART?  We'd love to see what you create based on Wendy's new products! To share, just add your blog post (the specific post, please) link below.  Once your project is listed, you'll be entered into our drawing.  Thanks so much for playing along this month!


Friday, August 28, 2015

Make ART Challenge Winner - August

Hello ladies! It's time for me to announce the winner of the August monochromatic challenge...It is...


Congratulations, Julia! You've won a prize package from the queen of ART, Wendy Vecchi! Please email me at kim@eclecticpaperie.com to claim your prize. Be sure to check out Julia's beautiful Wendy-inspired card on her blog. Julia also has lots of other beautiful art on her blog as well!

A a GIANT thank you to all of the other challenge participants! We're so happy to see everyone's work each month. Stay tuned for next month's challenge, which will be announced on Thursday, September 3! 

Thursday, August 6, 2015

August Make ART Challenge - Monochromatic

Hello all of you Wendy Vecchi fans! Are you ready for this month's challenge? Kim here, and I'm super excited to be hosting Wendy's challenge this month. Wendy just returned from a whirlwind trip to the UK and is now rushing to meet some looming deadlines. Before I share the details on my project, let's review our monthly challenge rules: (PS - How do you like my kid's Kiwi Crate easel? It's perfect for holding art projects! **giggle**)


  • Our August challenge opens today and anyone can participate!  Just link a photo of your project (on your blog or gallery), using the Linky Tool, at the end of today's post.  (If posting from your blog, please only insert the URL of the specific challenge post, not just your blog title)
  • The challenge ends on Thursday, August 27 at midnight (EST).
  • A random winner will be selected from all of our participants and announced here on the blog on Friday, August 28.  You may enter multiple projects, however, your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
  • Each month we will have a sponsor and the sponsor will award the prizes.
  • You must use at least one Wendy Vecchi product in your project.

This month Wendy is our sponsor! She's going to be sending our winner a prize package filled with some of her favorite goodies.


And now...on to this month's challenge...It is to create...a...

...MONOCHROMATIC project...

Did you guess that by looking at my project? **smile** Monochromatic means that you'll use shades of just one color...and I chose brown! Any guesses why I chose brown, besides the fact that I love the color brown? Well..I was digging through my scraps and found a discarded pocket watch die cut (from Tim Holtz) that I had die cut and embossed ages ago, but never used. I had cut out the middle part of the pocket watch die and as soon as I found this piece, I knew what I wanted to make!

I started by die cutting a circle and stamping/stenciling. I started with the Checkmate stencil, added the Price Chart stamp, and then used a blending tool and Potting Soil Archival Ink to add just the branch from the Stamp It, Stencil It Build a Blossom set. The last step was to age the circle edges with Gathered Twigs. You can just see the background peeking through the black text in the photo below.

After my background piece was complete, I die cut another circle from Clearly for Art and stamped text from an older stamp set, Parisian Art, onto the plastic. The plastic piece was attached directly to the pocket watch die and then I separated the background piece from the plastic with foam tape for some added dimension.


One of the tricks to keeping a monochromatic project visually appealing is to use different shades of the same colors, incorporate texture, and add lots of layers.

After I assembled the pocket watch background, I inked an Art Parts flower, using Distress Inks, and stamped the Mesh pattern on to the top of the flower. I added little gold dots, using a gold paint pen, and used Potting Soil to emboss the flower middle.

The swirls and sentiment are from the My Kind of Art stamp sets (one of my favs!) and both were stamped on scrap paper and fussy cut. I, of course, added more Gathered Twigs to everything that was cut out. To finish my project, I added some hand dyed ribbon and that cutie bird (I love that bird!) from the License Plate Art stamp set.

Now that you've read about my project...it's your turn to create! To be entered into the challenge, simply add your blog post (please link the specific post instead of your blog name) to the link list below. Once your project is listed, you'll be entered into our drawing. Thanks so much for playing along! 


Friday, July 31, 2015

July Make ART Challenge Winner

Hello Wendy Vecchi fans! Believe it or not, another month has passed us by and that means it's time for me to announce the winner of this month's Polka Dot challenge...It is...


Congratulations, Peg! You've won a $25 gift certificate to The Funkie Junkie Boutique! Please email me at kim@eclecticpaperie.com to claim your prize. Be sure to check out Peg's beautiful Wendy-inspired creations...not only did she make this beautiful framed art piece, but she also created a number of cards all sporting lovely polka dots!

A a GIANT thank you to all of the other challenge participants! We're so happy to see everyone's work each month. Stay tuned for next month's challenge, which will be announced on Thursday, August 6! (Seriously, August??!!)


Thursday, July 2, 2015

July Make ART Challenge - Polka Dots

Hello crafty friends and welcome to the July Make ART Challenge! Today we're featuring the lovely artwork of Jenny Marples, design team member for our July sponsor...The Funkie Junkie Boutique! You can read more about Jenny's beautiful project on her blog.

Wendy is knee deep in show and new product (YEAH!) prep so Jenny is standing in for her this month. A big THANK YOU to Jenny and Funkie Junkie!  Let's get on with this month's challenge...


  • Our July challenge opens today and anyone can participate!  Just link a photo of your project (on your blog or gallery), using the Linky Tool, at the end of today's post.  (If posting from your blog, please only insert the URL of the specific challenge post, not just your blog title)
  • The challenge ends on Thursday,July 30 at midnight (EST).
  • A random winner will be selected from all of our participants and announced here on the blog on Friday, July 31.  You may enter multiple projects, however, your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
  • Each month we will have a sponsor and the sponsor will award the prizes.
  • You must use at least one Wendy Vecchi product in your project.

As mentioned above, this month's sponsor is The Funkie Junkie Boutique and they will be rewarding one random winner a $25 gift certificate to their store!
And now on to the challenge!


....This month's challenge is to use POLKA DOTS on your project....

Wendy has lots of fun polka dots products, from stamps to stencils, you're sure to find a great product to use....or include one of Wendy's other beautiful stamps with polka dot paper. Show us how you incorporate polka dots into a project...can't wait to see what you create!  

To share your art, simply add your blog post (please link the specific post instead of your blog name) to the link list below. Once your project is listed, you'll be entered into our drawing. Thanks so much for playing along! 

Friday, June 26, 2015

June Make ART Challenge Winner

Some how we've made it through June...I can hardly believe that we're half way through 2015 and six months in to Wendy's Make ART Challenges. Time flies when you're crafting! Love the challenges, don't love that summer is going by so quickly! So...best bet to to keep on creating and announce this month's challenge winner....

Anita Houston

Congratulations, Anita! Not only do I love your Wendy flowers, but I'm digging how you paired them with Ken Oliver's Color Burst watercoloring powders. Lovely!! Anita, please contact me at kim@eclecticpaperie.com to claim your prize package!

A big thank you to everyone who participated in this month's challenge. Get ready for the announcement of our next challenge, which will be announced on Thursday, July 2!


Thursday, June 4, 2015

June Make ART Challenge

Summer is here and so is our June Make ART Challenge!!  And how about Wendy's beautiful art journal page? I LOVE it...stunning! Can you guess what this month's challenge is going to be from looking at Wendy's project? Well...before we get on to the challenge, let's recap the challenge rules:

  • Our June challenge opens today and anyone can participate!  Just link a photo of your project (on your blog or gallery), using the Linky Tool, at the end of today's post.  (If posting from your blog, please only insert the URL of the specific challenge post, not just your blog title)
  • The challenge ends on Thursday,June 25 at midnight (EST).
  • A random winner will be selected from all of our participants and announced here on the blog on Friday, June 26.  You may enter multiple projects, however, your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
  • Each month we will have a sponsor and the sponsor will award the prizes.
  • You must use at least one Wendy Vecchi product in your project.
This month's sponsor is...eclectic Paperie!  eP will be awarding one winner, chosen from a random drawing, a prize Wendy goodies, including her latest products!
And now on to the challenge!


....This month's challenge is to use EMBOSSING POWDERS on your project....

And be sure to try out some of Wendy's beautiful new embossing powder colors...perfect for summer! Show us how you use embossing powders in a creative way on your project. We can't wait to see what you create!  
Wait until you hear about how Wendy created her project, shown above:

Did you know that you can use whatever you have on hand to create a stamp? The circle frame shown on Wendy's art journal page was created by inking the bottom of a butter container with watering can archival ink. Simply press & twist on the page to transfer the ink.

The hearts were created with red geranium embossing powder. Just ink a manila scrap with red geranium ink, sprinkle on red geranium embossing powder & heat to melt. Next, use dies or punches to  create custom (perfectly coordinated) embellishments. 

Wendy used gold embossing paste thru the old ledger stencil in 3 areas to add a bit of texture & shine to the background. Stencils are awesome to layer in the background!

Genius! Love the way Wendy's creative brain works... **smile**

Inspired? Now it's your turn to Make ART! We want to see what you create with embossing powders this month. To share, simply add your blog post (please link the specific post instead of your blog name) to the link list below. Once your project is listed, you'll be entered into our drawing. Thanks so much for playing along! 

Friday, May 29, 2015

May Make ART Challenge Winner


It's the end of another challenge month and time for us to announce this month's Flower challenge winner! 

As always, we adore seeing everyone's art projects and are so thankful that you continue to share your work through these challenges. It's inspiring! Feel free to share your projects on Wendy's Facebook page any time! We love sharing! So...are you ready for this month's random prize drawing winner?  It's....


Love Ann's beautiful project, the blue bird really pops off of the page.  Ann, you've won a prize package from Ranger! Please email me at kim@eclecticpaperie.com to redeem your gift!

A big thanks to everyone who submitted a project! Our next challenge will be posted on Thursday, June 4...Stay tuned!





Thursday, May 7, 2015

May Make ART Challenge - Flowers

Welcome to the May Make ART Challenge!!  It's always so exciting to reveal our challenge and to share more ART! Before we get on to the challenge, let's recap the challenge rules:

  • Our May challenge opens today and anyone can participate!  Just link a photo of your project (on your blog or gallery), using the Linky Tool, at the end of today's post.  (If posting from your blog, please only insert the URL of the specific challenge post, not just your blog title)
  • The challenge ends on Thursday,May 28 at midnight (EST).
  • A random winner will be selected from all of our participants and announced here on the blog on Friday, May 29.  You may enter multiple projects, however, your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
  • Each month we will have a sponsor and the sponsor will award the prizes.
  • You must use at least one Wendy Vecchi product in your project.
This month's sponsor is...Ranger!  Ranger will be awarding one winner, chosen from a random drawing, a prize pack of Wendy's three new Archival Ink Pads AND three new embossing powders!
 And now on to the challenge!

....This month's challenge is to use FLOWERS on your project....

This should be a super easy challenge because Wendy's stamp and stencil line is stock full of beautiful floral images. Show us how you use her pretty flowers to create a project. You can make a card, art journal page, home decor project...anything your heart desires, just make it with flowers! We can't wait to see what you create!  

Wendy used some a combination of die cut flowers and foil to create her beautiful tag. Hop on over to her blog to read more about this project.

Interested in sharing your ART?  We'd love to see what you create with flowers this month! To share, just add your blog post (the specific post, please) link below.  Once your project is listed, you'll be entered into our drawing.  Thanks so much for playing along this month!

Friday, May 1, 2015

Make ART April Challenge Winner

Wow...we're at the end of another month and another Make ART challenge! How did everyone like creating with re-inkers? Who knew you could do more than re-ink an ink pad with those little bottles? Wendy Vecchi knew! 

We loved seeing everyone's beautiful art work and were delighted to see that many of you shared your submissions on Wendy's Facebook page.  Feel free to share your projects on the Facebook page any time! We love sharing! So...are you ready for this month's random prize drawing winner?  It's....


Redanne created a beautiful card, using re-inkers to add color and design to her background. I'm especially giddy over her flower...love all that dimension!  Redanne, you've won a prize package from Stampers Anonymous! Please email me at kim@eclecticpaperie.com to redeem your gift!

A big thanks to everyone who submitted a project! Our next challenge will be posted on Thursday, May 7...Stay tuned!

Thursday, April 2, 2015

April Make ART Challenge - Re-Inkers


Welcome to the April Make ART Challenge!!  WooHoo!!!  We're so excited to have you with us today and to be celebrating all things Wendy Vecchi!!  

Let's recap the challenge rules:
  • Our April challenge opens today and anyone can participate!  Just link a photo of your project (on your blog or gallery), using the Linky Tool, at the end of today's post.  (If posting from your blog, please only insert the URL of the specific challenge post, not just your blog title)
  • The challenge ends on Thursday, April 30 at midnight (EST).
  • A random winner will be selected from all of our participants and announced here on the blog on Friday, May 1.  You may enter multiple projects, however, your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
  • Each month we will have a sponsor and the sponsor will award the prizes.
  • You must use at least one Wendy Vecchi product in your project.
This month's sponsor is...Stampers Anonymous!  Stampers Anonymou will be awarding one winner, chosen from a random drawing, a selection of Wendy Vecchi products!
 And now on to the challenge!


....This month's challenge is to use RE-INKERS on your project....




Grab any of Wendy's Archival Re-Inkers, in all of those beautiful colors, and show us what you can do with them!  Create a background, color some embellishments, color your stamped imaged, ribbon, and more!  We can't wait to see what your projects!  Interested in Wendy's beautiful creation?  You can read more about how she creates her yummy re-inker backgrounds below..
Archival reinkers are GREAT, useful tools. Obviously, their main purpose is to reink your Archival pads. They are also perfect to color embossing pastes before spreading the paste thru a stencil. Use your Mix & Store Jars to make and store custom colors…mix right in the jar so there is no clean up & NO waste of the paste! The jars keep the paste fresh!

One of my most favorite techniques is to mix a drop of Archival reinker with plain rubbing alcohol on my craft sheet…this makes an awesome background EVERY time! (See photo above)

Use lots of alcohol if you’re working on a manila tag or art journal page…use less alcohol if you’re working on Specialty Stamping Paper. The difference is that the manila will soak up the fluid…the Specialty Stamping Paper will not absorb the fluid…it sits on top...and that's what helps to create the beautiful patterns.

An extra benefit of using rubbing alcohol is that it will NOT warp or bubble the manila tag or art journal page or specialty stamping paper page...


Another tip…make sure to start with just one drop of the reinker, since it is VERY concentrated & make sure to mix the reinker into the alcohol…

Here's another one of my favorite art journal pages created with the Archival Ink/Re-inker technique.  Enjoy!
Interested in sharing your ART?  We'd love to see what you create with Archival Re-Inkers! To share, just add your blog post (the specific post, please) link below.  Once your project is listed, you'll be entered into our drawing.  Thanks so much for playing along this month!

Friday, March 27, 2015

March Make ART Challenge Winner

A great big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in this month's Make ART challenge, where we focused on using some (or all) of Wendy's beautiful stencils.  Also, thank you to Simon Says Stamp for providing this month's prize of a $25 gift certificate!  Ya-hoo!  This month's random prize drawing winner is...


Stephanie did a great job showing off one of my favorite stencils...Layered Tree.  And love how she added bits of design from a number of other stencils.  Thanks for playing along, Stephanie!  To redeem your prize, please email Kim at kim@eclecticpaperie.com.

Stay tuned for the April challenge, which will be announced on Thursday, April 2.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

March Make ART Challenge - Stencils

Welcome to the March Make ART Challenge!!  WooHoo!!!  We're so excited to have you with us today and to be celebrating all things Wendy Vecchi!!  

Let's recap the challenge rules:

  • Our March challenge opens today and anyone can participate!  Just link a photo of your project (on your blog or gallery), using the Linky Tool, at the end of today's post.  (If posting from your blog, please only insert the URL of the specific challenge post, not just your blog title)
  • The challenge ends on Thursday, March 26 at midnight (EST).
  • A random winner will be selected from all of our participants and announced here on the blog on Friday, March 27.  You may enter multiple projects, however, your name will only be entered into the drawing once.
  • Each month we will have a sponsor and the sponsor will award the prizes.
  • You must use at least one Wendy Vecchi product in your project.
This month's sponsor is...Simon Says Stamp!  Simon Says Stamp will be awarding one winner, chosen from a random drawing, a $25 gift certificate to their online store!

http://www.SimonSaysStamp.com 

 And now on to the challenge!


....This month's challenge is to use STENCILS on your project....
Wendy has plenty of stencils to choose from, and yes, you can use Wendy's SiSi (Stamp It, Stencil It) products as well. The hardest part is going to be choosing which product(s) to use!  Wendy's beautiful project, shown above, uses FIVE stencils!  You can read more about Wendy's project on her blog.


Also shown with today's challenge, a beautiful creation from May Flaum, design team member for Simon Says Stamp.  May used Wendy's Three Fresh Flowers stencil on this project.  See more of May's artwork on her blog.  
Thanks so much for visiting and we look forward to seeing your ART! 

Friday, February 27, 2015

February Make ART Challenge Winner

It's been another art-filled month on the Make ART Challenge blog and we have been delighted with all of the beautiful projects that have been shared.  THANK YOU!!

This month's random drawing winner is...



Gabrielle - Thank you for sharing your delightful art journal pages...Love them!  You've won a $25 gift certificate from The Funkie Junkie Boutique! (Think of all the Wendy's goodies you can get!)  Please contact me at kim@eclecticpaperie.com to claim your prize!

Thanks again to everyone who participated and please feel free to share your artwork on Wendy's Make Art Facebook page.

Our next challenge will be posted on Thursday, March 5, 2015.