Time to be creative

  

A day off of work is so exciting. I have several projects that I am working on and I finished some recently. Though it is past Valentine's Day; these were some fun projects.

 

These cute mail boxes are from this fun blog. She has the design measurements and process photos. I was on a roll and made some for my office, my daughter's office, and even my other daughter's track team. Making cards and little things like this is a great stress reliever for me. These were good to make as I used up a lot of my white scrap paper!

 



 

Then I finished an ATC for February over at Paper Traders. The photo is a little washed out so it doesn't show the background too well. I am trying some new techniques. PINTEREST has so many great ideas!! The background started with chalk ink. I pressed the pad over a vegetable bag. Then added gesso and more inks. The random hearts are tissue paper, glitter paper, and scraps of paper. The lace was another scrap I had. I have scraps of paper, ribbon, and lace all over the place. How do you organize your scraps???

Well hope you have a great day, Amanda

Blank Slate

Art can do so much and I found that it helps me in many ways.

I am working on my next tip-in trade pages for the swap at Paper Traders. The request is White on White pages. I love this idea. So here is my first phase. I cut the pages and there are elements I want to use but do not know if it will all stay.

 

The heart is something I cut with the cricut on some ledger looking paper and the very tip has a butterfly.

 This is some texture wallpaper with leaves.

This is some tissue paper with a light pink pattern. She said that muted color was acceptable. I am still thinking but gesso could cover some. I really love this paper because of the shine and the pattern.

Even with a request of white on white there are many options. Starting with a blank slate is refreshing and reminds me that there is always an option to restart and hope will guide you through.

Wonderful days and much to be thankful for and the Top 5:

1. So much to learn and enjoying every minute

2. PINTEREST fun

3. Stressful job helps me to value my art time

4. Time with my girls

5. The many blues of a morning sky

Have a wonderful week and wishing you projects that give you hope.

Amanda

Working out the bugs

 

 

I am going to remember one day to take step pictures. These are ATCs for a SWAP at Paper Traders. The guidelines were to use the colors pink, brown, and white. I wanted to have layers for the background so I started with ink various shades of pink.  Then stamped the script writing with brown ink. Used some gesso to get a more aged look. The flowers are from a old napkin and I decoupaged them on. The bottom is an embossed brown paper with pink ribbon and an old button. I did want to add some letters but ended up with a small pink tag and stamped love on it. Still looking for a better way to ink backgrounds. Any ideas?

Hearts

It is very close to Valentine's Day and I still have a lot I would like to do. So here is my first card. I started with a torn paper heart. A trick that I was told to get the exact tear is to use a wet q-tip.. It worked well with the heart. Then I punched hearts from various different papers. Love the glitter and music paper. Stamped the background with random hearts and dots. The label is just simple font with ribbon layered behind. Like the simple design of this one.