Holiday Blog Hop - Create Your Own Gift Wrap - And Video!

{Gift Wrap Created w/ Decorative Papers & 1 Stencil}

"Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people once a year."

- Victor Borge

Helllllloooooo & Happy Holidays!

I hope this finds you safe, warm and feeling incredibly loved. 

Speaking of which - love that is - I can't wait to share with you the latest from the Jessica Sporn Designs Creative Team: a Holiday Blog Hop using her ever-so-lovely Stamps & Stencils. . . .

Not only are we hopping along with Jessica Sporn herself, but also with the following Design Team Elves, er, Artists:

Sherry Canino

Karen Gaunt

Denise Alloca

And in the spirit of the Season, there are presents to be had as well! That's right, a total of three (3) lucky winners will win one of the goodies below:

Giveaway #1 Blessings: Rubber (Moon) Art Stamp

Giveaway #2 Smoochy Ornament handmade by Jessica Sporn

Giveaway #3 Gorgeous Wall Hanging by Denise Alloca

(It even has a little clip for hanging your favorite picture or notes!) 

How cool is that?! All you have to do is leave a comment here - and everywhere else you hop - to be considered. You have until next Monday (12/12, 9 am EST) to put your hat in the ring, and the winners will be announced on Jessica's blog the following day. Good luck!

So what did I do for the Holiday Hop?

I played around with making my own Gift Wrap using decorative papers and just one stencil. I tend to decorate my home in candy colors for Christmas, and this wrapping paper is no exception. I found that Jessica Sporn's Paisley Flower Repeat was the perfect partner for creating elegant patterns on a variety of old 12 x 12 scrapbook papers I had on hand.

Wanna see more? Here are a few detail shots:

Lime green Christmas wrap with a handmade fabric bow

{To make a smaller bow, cut the width in half and adjust the length to your liking}.

Oranges and pinks with Stickles glitter for an "embossed" look. . . .

Teal with Swarovski Crystals. 'Cause every Christmas deserves a bit of Sparkle. 

{Oh, and in case you're wondering. . . . yes, the boxes are all empty! I know, I know. Crazy, right? In the end, they will be for your eyes only}. Thanks for watching, hopping and playing along! 

I wish you much love, luck and magic this Season and always.

Kristin xo

YOU are the Spark . . .

9 x 12 Loose Art Journal Page

"You are the Spark that ignites the World"

-- Anonymous 

Happy Easter, Happy Spring & Happy PPF!

This little girl came about shortly after hearing the fabulous quote above. I just couldn't keep my mind off of the inspiring words and, naturally, knew that there would soon be a journal page in response to them. Here's what I came up with. Pink, polka dots, and glitter; what more could a girl ask for?

I hope this finds you knee-deep in colored eggs, jelly beans, chocolate bunnies. And that you are surrounded by those you love.


To Bunny Kisses,
Kristin xo

Stencil Test Drive with Jessica Sporn

Can you see me dancing? I look fabulous, by the way, as I jump up and down clapping my hands in frenzied excitement. . . . 

Okay, so it may not be the prettiest thing to see, but the excitement is genuine as I. Am. Thrilled to be participating in Jessica Sporn's Test Drive for one of her newest Stencil Girl products; Frames!

It felt like my birthday when I received the elegant 9 x 12 stencil in the mail, and I've been playing with it like a toddler with a new toy ever since. But I digress. Wanna see what I did with it? Okay then, here goes:

Journaling with Frames

My first play date with the stencil was with my journal. I used the oval frame in the set as a central element on the left of the spread and then used a piece of another (turned upside down) to represent a necklace on the right. Wait, here's a better shot of the oval:

Gel pen, molding paste, silver leaf and Stickles glitter

I began by placing the stencil on the page and simply colored in the exposed areas with an iridescent gel pen. I then off set it a bit and pushed molding paste through the same stencil. Before it dried completely, I applied silver leaf to the surface and then waited (impatiently) for it to finish drying. I loved the raised look it gave me and decided to finish it off with a few smudges of silver Stickles glitter.

Frames Banner

  

But I wasn't done there. I really wanted to do something that showed the variety of the stencil, so I decided to take some 4 x 6 pieces of painted cardboard I had in my stash and create a banner of sorts using all of the frames in the set. Since I'm a Mother Goose fan, some of those vintage images made their way to the party as well. Here's a close up of each piece of the puzzle, all of which were created with a mixture of molding paste and black fluid acrylic paint:

A portion of the rectangle frame (shown in the green piece above) was masked off to create a "door" and another stencil in the set was used to create a "roof". 

Each were highlighted with iridescent Stickles glitter for movement and depth.

Rounded Rectangle Frame

Oval Frame 

(this is the same stencil used in the journal above)

Square Frame

Rectangle Frame

And there you have it! I loved my play date with Jessica's Frames and look forward to using the beautiful stencil set again and again. Thank you Jessica for your support and generosity! 

Oh but wait! You can win one too! Here's the deal:

Now go see what the other artists did with the Frames stencil! But before you do, be sure to leave a comment here because Jessica is giving away a Frames stencil to one lucky winner, and EVERY comment in the test drive will be eligible to win. The more times you comment, the more chances you have to win!

Comment by Midnight, EST 10/13/2013

So go check them out! Here are all of the artists participating in this week's Stencil Test Drive:

Linda Kunsman

Maria McGuire

Nathalie Kalbach

Anita Houston

Janet Joehlin

Valerie-Jael

Jessica Sporn

Have fun and good luck! 

The giveaway is now closed. Thank you for taking the drive with us . . . xo!

(Happily linking to Paint Party Friday too!)

Kristin xo

Paint Party Friday: Lil' Cardboard Collages

Happy PPF!

I hope this week found you with paint under your fingernails at some point . . . Mine were definitely encrusted with acrylics, gouache, glue, gloss medium, fiber paste, varnishes and (naturally) glitter for days. It was a case of peeling fingers for sure. You know, you've been there . . . .

But I digress: this week I was influenced by the lovely (darling & delightful) Mindy Lacefield after watching several of her You Tube videos. It was this one that really got me: watching her paint several little cardboard paintings at once. So excited I was, that I cut up the next box I got my hands on and went to work. My pieces took some different turns, but I'm so grateful to have had the impetuous to try something fun and new. Thank you Love Bug, for the beautiful inspiration!

Wanna see what I came up with? Okay:

4 little cardboard collages, all lined up in a row.

(Each one measures approximately 5.5 x 11)

They were first cut, pulled to reveal texture and then gessoed

Elements such as vintage playing cards and game pieces were added

Stencils served as the base, with some molding paste mixed with paint 

to create some raised areas

This one included a face - behind chicken wire that was adhered with E600 and beeswax

And here we have a little pocket that housed vintage tickets

They are hung with decorative wire and grommets

And finished off with decorative (and painted on) trim

That's it. Thanks for letting me share and thank you to Kristin and Eva for another opportunity to play with paint.

Have a fabulous weekend,

Kristin xo

Paint Party Friday: Art Journaling

"Hide Me"

Strathmore Visual Journal

Happy PPF!

I hope this finds you happy and well. 

I had a go at art journaling this week and wanted to share my progress with you here. Not sure if I'm really done with these pages as I often wonder how much of my art journals are complete without much, um, journaling, but nevertheless, this is what I've come up with:

Vintage Bingo card serves as a hidden flap

Glittered girl underneath

And this page features a fabulous picture of my Grandma (printed on a transparency) back in the day:

"The house the Grandma built"

Thanks for looking! I look forward to seeing all of your pretty pieces at the Party . . . .

Kristin xo

Week Two: Mint Chocolate Chip!

"U"

8 x 8 Canvas Flag

It's week Two of The Summer of Color 2: Ice Cream Inspirations and our second prompt is to create anything we'd like using the "Flavor" of the week, Mint Chocolate Chip . . . .

This little girl was created in the same manner as the week before, with a piece of primed canvas material, watercolor and acrylic paints and this time, a sparkling bow encrusted with fine glitter and pale blue Swarovski crystals.

Hungry for more? Check out the next delicious inspiration found directly above . . . .

Ice Cream Kisses,

Kristin xo

Mind. Body. Soul. (Art Journaling)

Believe it or not, I am almost done with the journal started for sweet Leslie's online course, Mind. Body. Soul. Good thing too, as the prompts ended about two weeks ago. (sigh). . . .

Below are shots of the last journal spread for Anxiously Engaged, followed by the first and last pages of the book:

"Oh the places we will go"

(Vertical spread)

Vintage music, vintage stamps, Stampington art papers (bike) and personal photo

Opening page /  Table of contents:

"Contents"

Featuring all of Leslie's prompts

Carefully selected papers hint at what's to come

Back / final page:

"Put on a happy smile"

Swarovski crystals, rub-ons and paint chip

There you have it. Only one thing left to complete: the cover! Oh, and the story behind the book as a whole. On a personal note, when I started the course, I had no idea what or where I would be when I ended it. I don't mean to sound cryptic, I will finish the cover, put it all back together, and share the story in it's entirety in my next post for Paint Party Friday. 

See you then,

Kristin xo

{Looking for The Summer of Color? Get the whole scoop here.}

Paint Party Friday (Week 8)

"The World Grows Green Again"

It's PPF!

And I thought I'd bring a journal page I've been working on for Mind. Body. Soul. to the party. The last prompt in Leslie's e-course is based upon the words Anxiously Engaged, and after much consideration, a quote I read by Rumi finally determined what I would do with it. . . .

"The world grows green again and runs with gardens. Jewels from the mines glitter in each tree. 

Souls open like suns and link with one another."

-- Rumi

Acrylics, watercolor crayons, decorative papers, stamps and Swarovski crystals.

Elements from the previous pages peeking through

Only one more spread (and okay a front page, back page and cover ;) and I'm done with another journal. Oh happy days . . . 

And speaking of happy days, the next Summer of Color is just around the corner! Only one month to go until SOC 2: Ice Cream Inspirations . . . . Pop over here to read all about it . . . .

Yours,

Kristin xo