Quick and easy paintbrush container...a project for Xyron

So Xyron is featuring back-to-school projects all week. As you know, I'm all about getting organized and prettying up containers...so here's a simple paintbrush container. :)

1. Start with a food/storage container.

2. Spray-paint with Krylon silver metallic paint. 

3. Measure and cut lace, then run it through the Xyron 9" Creative Station.

4. Adhere lace to tin, add MT tape to top edge and embellish with pearls, lace trim and bling. 

Even your paintbrushes need a pretty home, right? *winkis*

A lazy person's mixed media canvas....*winks*

Meet the lazy person's [aka me] mixed media canvas....*LOL* Sometimes when I don't really want to work on an entire background on my canvas, I just use a sheet of patterned paper. :)

The colours on this patterned paper were pretty muted so after a layer of clear gesso [gesso provides the tooth for colorants to stay on the substrate], I added a tea stain wash [yes, I was enjoying a cup of tea!] and then intensified the colours on the patterned paper with Faber Castell Gelatos.

I added some stamping on the edges to create some depth, then embellished with mica flakes, bloom, leaves and bling. The chipboard bird was covered with Liquitex sand resin, coloured with Gelatos and finished with a sprinkling of mica flakes. The "adventure" sticker is from 7 Dots Studio.

Playing along with 7 Dots Studios Five Senses challenge.

New dress = photoshoot....a layout for Made With Love

Apparently my niece is well-trained in the SOP [standard operating procedure] for new dresses. *winks*

She would get all her "accessories" out and get me to take photos of her. :)

Yep...new dress = photoshoot. *LOL*

If you reside in Singapore, supplies for this layout can be found at Made With Love. :)

The appeal of mixed media...

The appeal of mixed media for me is the ability to transform mismatched and unrelated objects and make them part of a cohesive art piece. :)

Nuts and washers from old lighting, old telephone cable, button, lace, pearls and fibers all get a new lease of life with gesso and paint....[Can you spot them? *winks*]

I added even more texture and interest with The Crafter's Workshop stencil and Liquitex resin sand medium [the rhombus shapes].

The pops of colour were pulled from a photo of The Gangster Gang [aka niece + nephews]. :)

The objects were adhered with Liquitex Matte Gel and the paints were Daler-Rowney acrylics. 

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I had these lovely ladies join me for a workshop on Sunday. Love what they made!

Posing on the new slide...

So I really love the new slide at the playground because you can fit the Gangster Gang [aka niece + 3 nephews] on it! 

It also gave me a chance to scrap a large photo [8x10]....which was hard since there was so little space to play with. Well, when all else fails, go for glitter! *winks*

Of course, I had to sneak in a tiny photo somewhere...:)

Playing along with Let's Get Sketchy.

Funny story....*winks*

So a couple of Saturdays ago, the nephews had fun at the playground but came home to a real problem....

Here they were...at 6.30pm. Note what they were wearing....

Apparently, my brother's helper brought back all of their clothes the week prior so the boys had nothing to wear after their bath. I had to "loan" them my tightest t-shirts [you know for those occasions when the "girls" need to be showcased...*winks*] which they wore as T-shirt dresses! *LOL*

Playing along with Scrap365.

Saved by a white pen...

So I've been enjoying working in my art journal every night...throw on some colour and see how it looks in the morning. :) 

Anyway, you know how it is with mixed media as you start layering...

"Oooh....looking so good! I love gelatos!"

"Hmmm...maybe it needs a little something extra...I'll try..."

"Crap! Now it looks like shit..."

"Thank you gesso...now it looks like that mess never happened..."

"Goodbye gelatos, I'm going in with my Neocolor crayons..."

"Oh yeah, this is sooooo much better...I'm so getting in the zone..."

"I think I'll stop now...what the [censored curse word]!Where did that blob come from?"

"Maybe some patterned paper to cover up? 

"That was a good save. It looks somewhat decent again."

"I think it needs a shadow effect...oh, I hate it...but it's a pencil, I can erase it..."

"Damn cheap eraser...I'll just try the smudge look..."

"Now it needs some sort of an outline...aha...I'll try my white pen."

"Why did I go in with the white pen? Now I have to outline EVERYTHING!"
"This is so not happening...I'm calling it a night." [Really sad music plays in the background...]

Next morning...
"Hey, it looks pretty decent."

Yeah, me, the drama queen. [cue laughter]

Happy weekend friends! :)

This layout drove me crazy...

I'm not one to throw out projects even though some projects drive me crazy mid-way...*winks* I go by Tim Gunn's catchphrase, "Make it work!" 

Like on this layout. 

I love this outtake photo of the three nephews rallying around their sister...while she is totally camera ready with her smile. So I matted the photo on glitter cardstock and fussy-cut some SEI floral paper. But the flowers were initially white and didn't quite go with the photo because the kids were in bright clothing and that red fire hydrant was just screaming for attention! [I know..I tend to exaggerate...*LOL*]

Luckily, I managed to find a red sentiment/title strip in my paper scraps [yay!]...and then I added a red ribbon tab to pull my focal point together in a visual triangle. 

Then I coloured the flowers and leaves with gelatos + water + paintbrush for a watercolour effect. I defined them further by outlining with a white pen. And finished with some bling and little outtake photos on the filmstrip.:)

Playing along with Let's Get Sketchy.

The three monkeys...

So when the nephews came dressed in Paul Frank t-shirts, I wanted to do a photo-shoot with the three monkey and a tree...[yes...I can be super corny...*LOL*]

As usual, the deal was a good photo gets them a chance at "free play" posing...

And they channeled their inner Miley Cyrus by sticking out their tongues...*winks* 

Still obsessed with the 3D cut-out photos...:)

Playing along with Stuck?! sketches and the button challenge at The Studio Challenges.