Creepy Caravan Halloween Blog Crawl

Welcome to the next stop on the Creepy Caravan Blog Hop! Crafty mixed media mavens have been busy fashioning Halloween creations for your seasonal enjoyment and inspiration. Sit back, relax and crawl along with the Creepy Caravan.

Cassandra here, joining in the hop with this "Spells" altered book... great for a seasonal home decor display or a prop for Halloween costumes.

I started by applying black gesso with a paint brush to the jacket of an old hardcover book.

Next, I created patches for some of the really torn areas of the cover using cheesecloth and tissue paper and then applying Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint to those areas. Once they were dry and crackled, I used Texture Paste through the Constellation stencil from Magenta to add the background stars and constellations. Then, I adhered the stacked cardstock cut outs that I had created using a Silhouette Cameo.

After painting everything with black acrylic paint, I started to apply Prima Finnabair's Art Alchemy waxes with a small brush and at times with my finger to smear it in some spots. I used White Gold Metallic Wax over all the raised areas and then added some Lucky Emerald Antique Brilliance to the tree and Mystic Turquoise Antique Brilliance to the birds.

I replaced the jacket cover onto the book and took a photo with the book laying open in the middle so that the jacket can be seen in its entirety.

Supplies: Black Gesso, Matte Texture Paste, Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paste and Multi Media Matte (Ranger), cheesecloth, tissue paper (misc.), Constellations stencil (Magenta), tree, crows, sun, creseent moon amd letters cut files (Silhouette), cardstock (Staples), Fawndementals Glue (Lawn Fawn), black acrylic paint (DecoArt), Finnabair White Gold Metalique Wax, Lucky Emerald and Mystic Turquoise Antique Brillance Wax (Prima) 

Here is an angled view as part of a Halloween display on my mantle. I hope you enjoyed my altered creation and that I have inspired you to create your own book of spells.

For your next stop on the Creepy Caravan Blog Hop, please head on over to Life in a Snapshot.

If you are just beginning on the Creepy Caravan Blog Hop with your visit here on my blog, below is the full list of all the inspirational talented artists in hop order:

It's Oddly Appealing

 Whimsy Chic Paper Crafts

Kelly Parker Designs

Scrap Savvy Creations (you are here)

Life in a Snapshot

Karla Yungwirth Designs

Scrapstorian- Brande Davison

Stephanie Eaton

Roni Johnson a.k.a. Ink Stained Roni

Matter of Crafts - Jessica Larios

Jennifer Gagne (KaezMum)

Nelly’s Artistic Creations

A big thank you goes out to Cathy Frailey (owner of Bleeding Art challenge blog) for organizing this hop. Be sure to visit all the hop stops for some awesome Halloween themed mixed media creations and be sure to leave some love!

*****

I am entering my altered book into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Spooky Challenge. Challenge details and DT creations can be found here.

Happy Halloween!

Just a Note and Pencil

I had so much fun making my DT project for this month's Emerald Creek Anything Goes Dare that I made not one but two projects that coordinate. I took a dollar store notebook and pencil and transformed them into these with a little EC flare!

I started the notebook transformation by giving the cover two coats of gesso, allowing it to dry in between layers. Next, I slathered on a layer of Tim Holtz Grit paste with a palette knife and let it set up for a few minutes. Then, I spritzed the Kimilese stamp and stamped it into the grit paste; cleaning it off as needed and re-wetting it so as to not get stuck full of grit paste. I set the book aside to dry and worked on the watercolour panel. 

Once it was dry, I spritzed the cover with water and then generously sprayed Tim Holtz Distress Stain, letting the water and stain mix to work their magic. Again, I set it off to dry.


The techniques for the watercoloured chrysanthemum piece work best by using a positioning tool; In this case, I used my MISTI. After positioning the Spider Chrysanthemum stamp in the MISTI tool with a 400 Series piece of Strathmore watercolour paper, I loaded the Kimilese stamp with Coffee Archival ink and stamp kissed it onto the Chrysanthemum stamp. Then, I stamped the Chrysanthemum stamp to the watercolour paper. It gives a reverse image imprint but it is not an issue in this case because the font is not very legible; however, it gives the look of script that I wanted. It is very important to use a waterproof ink like the Archival ink for that first step as it will not run once dry for the next steps. 

After cleaning of the ink from the flower stamp, load the stamp with Antique Linen Distress ink and spritz both it and the watercolour paper with water before stamping the image over the previously stamped script. Once dry, use a static tool over paper image and load the flower stamp again but with VersaMark ink. Cover with fine clear embossing powder and heat set. This will leave the petals and stem areas of the Spider Chrysanthemum clear and easy to watercolour as the emboss powder sets the Antique Linen section and resists the watercolours. Using Distress inks smooched on a craft mat and a water brush, colour the petals with Peacock Feathers and the stem with Mowed Lawn. Lastly, I wet the edges of the watercolour paper with the water brush and tore them off to leave the distressed raw edges.

Taking kraft cardstock, I cut it to a 4 5/8" x 7 5/8" sized panel. Then, I stamped the Just a Note at the centre 3/4 mark down the piece with VersaMark ink and covered it with a custom combination of Candy Brown, Vegas Gold, and Mirror Gold embossing powders. Next, I distressed the edges and inked them with Coffee Archival ink to match the script font stamping on the watercoloured piece and then, wrapped the hemp twine around the centre section. I adhere the kraft panel to the notebook cover with gel medium and left it to dry.

Supplies: Kimilese Script stamp, Spider Chrysanthemum Stamp, just a note stamp, Clear Fine Embossing Powder, Candy Brown Embossing Powder, Vegas Gold Embossing Powder, Mirror Gold Embossing Powder (Emerald Creek Craft Supplies), Tim Holtz Grit Paste, Antique Linen Distress Stain Spray, Antique Linen, Peacock Feathers, Mowed Lawn Distress inks, Coffee Archival ink, Dina Wakley Gel Medium (Ranger), VersaMark ink (Tsukineko), gesso (Golden), 400 Series cold press watercolour paper (Strathmore), ribbon (May Arts), natural hemp cord (Darice), notebook (Dollarama) 

Once dry,  I foam taped the back of the watercolour stamped piece and adhered it in the top half section. Lastly, I threaded the beautiful May Arts ribbon through the spirals and tied it off hiding the knot by rotating the ribbon through the spirals a bit at the bottom.



It is amazing what embossing powder will transform! I "coloured" the pencil by taping off the metal and the sharpened tip ends with painter's tape and rolled it across a Versamark ink pad to cover it completely. Then, I covered it with Turquoise Sparkle emboss powder to match the blue of the chrysanthemum. 

Supplies: Cerith Seashell Stamp, Seahorse Stamp, Turquoise Sparkle Embossing Powder, Metal Turtle Brad, Ancient Anchor Charm, Citrine Gemstones (Emerald Creek Craft Supplies), VersaMark ink, Timber brown, Saddle Brown, Teal Blue StazOn inks (Tsukineko), pencil crayons, (Crayola), Shrink-It (Aleene's), Natural Hemp Cord (Darice), Tim Holtz Idea-ology Jump Rings (Advantus), 1/2" x 1/8" Pop Up Dot (Glue Dot), pencil (Dollarama)

It has been a long time since I used shrink plastic but it was the perfect way to accessorize the pencil. I took a piece of Shrink-It plastic and lightly sanded one side. Turning it over, I stamped with StazOn ink on the clean side. I stamped the Cerith Seashell once in Timber Brown and once in Saddle Brown. I stamped the Seahorse in Teal Blue. Next, I turned the sheet over to the sanded side and added touches of colour with pencil crayons before carefully cutting them out and hole punching with my Cropadile. Then, on a parchment lined cookie sheet, I shrunk all three with an embossing gun. I coloured the Ancient Anchor Charm with some Tim Holtz Walnut Distress Paint, letting it set up a bit and then wiping some of it off. I added jump rings to all four pieces and tied on some hemp twine to each.

To attach the charms to the top, I used a turtle brad which I coloured with brown and green Sharpies. I pushed the brad into the eraser and tied on the four charms at a variety of lengths.

To cover the metal and finish the pencil off, I took two large dimensional pop dots and stretched then around the top until they were secure. Then, I pressed in the Citrine stones until completely covered. And there you have it... one kickin' pencil!

Here is one last look at both projects together...

Now it's your turn. Let your imagination go where it may and come play with this month's dare. Full details, other design team member's inspiration pieces, and contest link up can be found here on the Emerald Creek Dares Blog.


TTFN,

Emerald Creek Supplies Used:

Kimilese Stamp

Spider Chrysanthemum Stamp

Just a Note Stamp

Cerith Seashell Stamp

Seahorse Stamp

Clear Fine Embossing Powder

Candy Brown Embossing Powder

Vegas Gold Embossing Powder

Mirror Gold Embossing Powder

Turquoise Sparkle Embossing Powder

Metal Turtle Brad

Ancient Anchor Charm

Citrine Gemstones

Emerald Creek's First Anniversary

In honour of Emerald Creek's First Year Blogiversary and Kim Evan's sojourn into new territories for her business, I decided to follow her lead and spread my wonder-lust wings a bit too! I took the opportunity to embrace the Anything Goes Anniversary Dare and try something very much out of my ordinary repertoire with this altered trellis.

During my quest for a project idea for the Dare and with Emerald Creek's products in mind, my imagination was completely sparked when I spied this small brown metal fairy trellis in my local Dollarama. I just knew that the fairy's outstretched hand would work perfectly with a butterfly and I would be able to work with flowers which I do so like to do.

But, being somewhat practical by nature, I didn't want something solely decorative. I wanted it to be able to able to handle some moisture in use with plants. Thus, it forced me to experiment and get creative with materials to make it work as I envisioned it could.

What I learnt was that... foil alone (even the thicker BBQ variety) was too flimsy to withstand the intricate fussy cutting part of the leaves and ... foil tape would not be cost effective nor practical given the volume of leaves needed and used in the project. What I discover that worked was a form of something I had used in the past to withstand cutting through my Silhouette machine. I adhered regular kitchen aluminium foil to 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock with gel medium. It provides the right amount of support for the foil, it is easy enough to fussy cut, and is not compromised by a bit of moisture due to the foil front and use of gel medium which can withstand water once dry. The foil is easy enough to colour with alcohol inks and equally easy to heat emboss.

I prepped two foil covered cardstock pieces and once they were dried and flattened, I coloured them with Tim Holtz Ranger Alcohol inks. One whole sheet with a mix of Citrus and Clover for the leaves and on the second sheet a 1/4 was coloured with a blend of Sunshine Yellow and Watermelon to create orange for butterflies with a 1/2 part coloured Pool blue for flowers, and the last 1/4 left uncoloured in case of any boo-boos or if I needed more of anything.

For this project, I did a very Kim-esque thing and mixed up a concoction of embossing powders (about equal parts Candy Brown and Mirror Gold with a bit of Vegas Gold Emboss Powder for some sparkle) to get just the right colour and look that I was going for that would compliment and coordinate with the trellis's paint finish.  Working in quarter page increments, I stamped the images with Versamark ink, applied the emboss mixture, and heat set it. Once the pages were completed, I began the task of fussy cutting out all the pieces. Building from the bottom up, I adhered them in place with gel medium on the trellis until I was pleased with the arrangement. Once it was all dry, I placed it in a planter box of Irish Moss. It makes its' home as a cute whimsical addition to our light-filled entrance area.

Supplies: Leafed in the Corner stamp, Fallen Blossom stamp set, Large Butterfly stamp, Candy Brown, Mirror Gold, and Vegas Gold Emboss Powder (Emerald Creek Craft Supplies), VersaMark ink (Tsukineko), No Name Aluminum foil (Loblaws), cardstock (Staples), gel medium (Golden), Tim Holtz Sunshine Yellow, Watermelon, Citrus, Clover, and Pool alcohol inks (Ranger)

I must say that it has been exciting to be a part of Emerald Creek's first year journey into the realm of social media. Congrats to Kim on all her success and growth over the year! Thanks for having me along for the ride and here's to many more adventurous and successful years!

To commemorate the Emerald Creek Anniversary event, the entire DT team have created projects for the post. Be sure to check them all out over on the Emerald Creek blog here. I hope you too take on this month's 'Anything Goes' Dare and join us with one of your own labours of love for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate and a 20% off discount code to the shop.


TTFN,

Anything But Paper - Emerald Creek Dare

I am not only excited to be sharing my first project for Emerald Creek as part of the Design Team but also because I am so stoked about the birch bark bookmarks that I made for this dare. More specifically, these beauties will be used as magazine markers. 

The idea for a magazine marker was born out of my love of Flow Magazine for Paper Lovers. If you too are a fan of such a specialty magazine, then you might feel the same way as I do about needing a bookmark as a placeholder versus dog earring a corner of one of these lovelies... it just feels so wrong to do the latter.

The current Emerald Creek Dare is Anything But Paper. I have to say that I really loved the challenge of creating these bookmarks, which are traditionally made from paper, without paper and the experimentation required to figure out what worked with the base medium. 

To begin, I used a piece of birch bark that I had saved from a storm damaged fallen tree. To prep the base, I cut it into a 3 inch width and as it was too thick to lay flat, I peeled it in half (approx. 3 layers) to create two strips. Then, I cut them at two slightly different lengths just for the sake of trying two sizes. I chose to leave the natural tear part at the bottom and make all cuts from the top portion. Next, I used a baby wipe to remove the natural powdery residue from both sides of the birch strips. Lastly, I angle cut the corners and used a regular hand held office supply hole punch to make the hole. Now they were ready for some creative play.

For the first one on the left, I wanted to give stains a try. These are the supplies that I used on it. 

I started by heat emboss stamping with the Kimilese stamp and Vegas Gold Embossing Powder . Next, I sprayed Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, and Broken China Distress Stains on it and then dried and heat set it with a heat gun (being careful not to get too close to the bark with the heat as it can cause the birch to blister). I placed it under a heavy stack of books to cool, dry further, and flatten. Once it was completely dry, I used the MISTI stamping tool to align the Cherry Blossom Branch stamp from the NWD Fallen Blossom stamp set where I wanted it to appear on the bookmark. Then, I inked up the branch portion of the stamp with Ranger Coffee Archival ink removing the ink from unwanted areas with a baby wipe prior to stamping it on the bark. Next, I heat set the ink with the heat gun and then let it air dry a bit longer. 

While that was happening, I cleaned the stamp with it still adhered to the MISTI using a baby wipe. Next, I inked up the blossoms with emboss ink, re-stamped the image, and heat embossed it with Sweet Valentine Embossing Powder. Once cool, I stamped my craft mat with Picket Fence Distress ink and used a water brush adding the white to the inside of the blossoms. While that was air drying, I coloured the Tim Holtz Crinkle Ribbon with Antique Linen Distress Stain and stamped the Small Butterfly on a cut off piece of birch bark with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and heat embossed it with the Iridescent Shimmer Embossing Powder. Lastly, I stamped the "Remember to make memories" sentiment also from the NWD Fallen Blossom stamp set with the Coffee Archival ink, adhered the fussy cut butterfly, and tied on the ribbon.


For the second bookmark on the right...




I followed much of the same process with the following alterations:

- I did the initial heat emboss resist technique using the Kimilese stamp with Burnt Copper Leaves Embossing Powder prior to painting it with a combination of Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, and Twisted Citron Distress Paint. After letting the paint "set up" a bit, I carefully lightly buffed parts of the embossed sections with a piece of paper towel to remove some of the paint and reveal the embossed script.

- I heat emboss stamped the Small Butterfly stamp using emboss ink twice on the small piece of leftover birch bark and heat embossed one with Vegas Gold Embossing Powder and the other with Iridescent Shimmer Embossing Powder prior to fussy cutting them both out.

- I heat emboss stamped the "Remember to make memories" sentiment from the NWD Fallen Blossom stamp set with fine white embossing powder.

- I used three pieces of jute twine to tie the top and knotted the ends.

Here is a look at the supplies that I used for this bookmark.

To see my fellow "Dare"mates takes on the challenge and get the challenge details, check out the Emerald Creek blog here. Kim is offering an added bonus prize for further incentive to this Dare so it is a perfect time to grab your imagination, get creative, and come join us.

If you make your own birch bark bookmarks using either method, be sure to share a link with me here on the blog or tag me @scrapsavvy on Instagram. I would love to see your take.
  

TTFN,

Emerald Creek Products used:

Kimilese stamp

NWD Fallen Blossom stamp set

Small Butterfly stamp

Burnt Copper Leaves Embossing Powder

Sweet Valentine Embossing Powder

Vegas Gold Embossing Powder

Iridescent Shimmer Embossing Powder

Other products used and available from the EC shop:

Distress Stains: Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio, Broken China, Antique Linen

Distress Paints: Broken China, Peacock Feathers, Cracked Pistachio, Twisted Citron

Distress Ink: Picket Fence, Peacock Feathers

Ranger: Emboss Ink

Easter Pillow Boxes for Magenta April Challenge

It is an Easter Challenge over at Magenta for April.  My DT take on it was to upcycle a paper towel roll and turn it into pillow boxes.  I cut it in half which made for 2 - 6 inch pillow boxes.  Perfect size for putting jellybeans, chocolate eggs and/or other Easter treats in.

I started by flattening the rolls, thoroughly gessoing them and scoring the end with a semi circle for the end flap.

Supplies: stamp, stencil, patterned paper (Magenta), gesso and molding paste (Golden), gelatos (Faber-Castell), multimedia gel (Ranger), alphabet die cutter (Tim Holtz - Sizzix), glitter (Doodlebug design and Recollections), jewels (Dollarama)

On this one, I then used a flower stencil from the first of the Spring Flowers Trio of stencils with molding paste and once dry, I coloured it with a Snow Cone gelato. I used Lime Gelato on the Tapestry patterned paper, covered it with gel medium and then die cut the letters using a Tim Holtz Alterations Typeset Sizzix die.  Once adhered, I covered the whole box with a thin layer of gel medium to seal it. The bunny was stamped on cardstock, glitter glued for the carrot, ears and tail and, once dry, fussy cut and adhered it to the box. Lastly, a little touch of bling added in the flower centres and it was complete.

Supplies: stencil, "Life is a Beautiful ride" sentiment stamp and "Adventurous Bird" sentiment stamp, chipboard (Magenta), gesso and molding paste (Golden), gelatos (Faber-Castell),  multimedia gel (Ranger), Baker's Twine (Maya Road), marker (Fibracolor)

For this one, I used the butterflies from the Nature's Elements stencil with molding paste.  When dry, I coloured it with Bubble Gum, Tangerine and Lemon gelatos. I blended and lightened the colours using a baby wipe. Then, I replaced the stencil back over top the butterflies and, again using a baby wipe, I removed the colour on the butterflies.  They were not as white as I wanted them so I added a light layer of gesso to whiten them up even more. To seal it all in, I brushed on a thin layer of gel medium.

For the sentiment "Easter Blessing", I actually used the font letters from two sentiment stamps.  Nothing like getting more uses out of your scrappy supplies! For "Easter", I markered up the letters that I needed from "Life is a Beautiful Ride" sentiment stamp.  For "Blessing", I used the "Adventurous Bird" sentiment stamp.  I cut the letters out in rectangular shapes and adhered them to the chipboard tag. Next I dragged the edge of the chipboard through a thin bit of gesso in its lid. Then when dry, I sanded it to distress it up. Lastly, I punched a second hole in the tag, strung it with Maya Road's Pink Lemonade Baker's Twine and tied it on to finish it off.

Fun crafty upcycling with great results. Can't wait to give these as gifts at Easter.

Note: You can use toilet paper rolls instead but they make a smaller 4 inch box.

TTFN,

Pretty perch... of the human kind

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting at the local municipal pool while my daughter was having her swimming lesson, when it dawned on me that the folding chair I was sitting on would be a fun thing to personalize and alter.  So I gave it a go.

Supplies: patterned paper, ribbon, felt embellishments (Pebbles), modge podge (Plaid), font Cooper Black, hot glue, thread (miscallaneous), folding chair (Loblaws President's Choice)

To make it more weather resistant, I modge-podged both sides of the paper for both the background and the leaves.  I adhered it with hot glue and hand stitching using a curved embroidery/apolstery needle.  I kept the rectangle size such that by centring it fits naturally in the chair's fold zone for bag storage.

I love, love , love the results! Apparently this experiment rates highly with my daughter's approval and has thus raised my coolness factor (for the present time at least,LOL!) as she wants me to make one for her now.

TTFN,

My Scrapbook Nook Family Reunion Crop

The Nook just wrapped up it's virtual crop.  The challenges were fabulous and the projects scrappers created were outstanding.   The talent pool over there is unreal.  I only had an opportunity to participate in 2 smaller challenges.  This was my take on Stacey's Challenge #14 - Monograms.

I decided to make mine a room decor for Valentine's decorating.  There is lots of Heidi Swapp in this one, old and new House of 3/Pink Paislee.  I Glimmer Misted the specialty paper with pink to coordinate with the "M".  I used a Dollar Store picture frame and placed the paper behind the glass and the embellishments on the glass.

TTFN,

Neat Stamped Gift Idea

I made these as a little gift for a friend who loves birds and travel.

Stamps used: bird and frame (Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous), "Discover" and "Adventure" words (Heidi Grace Designs), "Journey" word (7 Gypsies),  "Explore" word (Inque Boutique), letter "L" (CTMH)

I love how they turned out! They looked really stunning wrapped with a black grosgrain ribbon with the monogrammed tile as the top of the stack.  These also make great personalized hostess or teacher gifts.

Supplies Needed:
- unsealed tumbled marble coasters
- stamps (clear acrylic work easiest for placement)
- StazOn ink
- tile sealer or clear acrylic spray
- adhesive backed felt

Instructions:
1. Wipe unfinished/unsealed tumbled marble  4x4 tiles (I found a box of 9 at Home Depot for $5 cdn.) with a damp cloth to remove any dust/particle residue and let dry completely.
2.  Stamp image with StazOn ink onto each tile.
3.  Bake in oven at 350 F for 1 hour to set.
4.  Let cool completely.
5.  Seal with tile sealer or clear matte or satin lacquer spray as per product instructions.
6.  Once dry, adhere precut 4x4 piece of adhesive backed black felt.

You can also make trivets out of larger tiles.  The themes are limitless and are great for personalizing to the receiver's decor or interests.
TTFN,
Cassandra