The 5-minute CAS card

So, over the weekend I had a field day fussy-cutting cute owls and jars for a few upcoming layouts. And whipped up a 5 minute CAS card when I was dealing with the craftermath. *winks*

Actually, sticking down the elements took about 2 minutes. I decided it was TOO simple and added some score lines on the card base. Now it looks more like a 5 year old's craft project than a 3 year old's right? *LOL*

Playing along with CAS(E) this sketch.

The one about the lantern stick...

This year I got the niece & nephews Angry Birds and Minions lanterns for the Mid-Autumn Festival. They were supposed to carry the lit lanterns around the estate but we had to settle for indoor lantern carrying because of the haze. [See previous post: Go away haze.]

Of course littlest nephew J was more interested in the lantern stick than the cute lantern. Here he was pretending to have a long beard [he called it moustache...*lol*]...

I was lucky to receive some chipboard from the Good Fairy [aka Lizzy Hill...thanks so much] and there were lanterns! Perfect for my layout. :)

Of course, while colouring the chipboard, I had an "accident" on the background and what you see is how I tried to make it part of the design...did I succeed? *winks*

Playing along with the Dusty Attic September Mood Board. 

Go away haze!

Every year, we "suffer" the unnatural consequences of Indonesian plantations clearing their lands by burning. The haze this year has been particularly bad with air quality at hazardous levels. 

Here you see my parents donning Fall 2015's "hottest" accessory - the N95 mask.*winks*

[Those masks go with nothing in my wardrobe of course - a fashionista's nightmare!]

Seriously, the freshest air we get these days comes from an air-conditioned room. And it's hard to breathe in those masks.

I cheered myself up by playing with these patterned papers from Ruby Rock-It. LOVE the owls and the jar! :)

Playing along with Stuck?! Sketches.

For the love of pouring medium...

So my latest obsession is the Liquitex Pouring Medium. 

What you do pour the medium in the middle of a canvas, add your liquid colorants, use a stick to create the marbling effect, then tilt the canvas to create cool effects.

Here's one I did with Ranger Patina paints. 

Here's one I did with alcohol inks. 

P/s: Happy weekend friends! If you have time, come play along with LESSology Challenge #51: It's reading time!.

Going for monochromatic....

I love making monochromatic cards because they challenge me to think about the execution of the design since I don't have other colours to "distract" the eye.

When it comes to monochromatic cards, the key is in mixing up the textures so that the eye is guided through the various elements. On this card...

1. The cold-press watercolour paper base provided texture which was captured with the ink splatters.

2. The light modeling paste created a dimensional backdrop with the stenciled design.

3. The subtle gold shimmer on top of the modeling paste gave #2 a little more depth.

4. The ice-cream stick had a subtle woodgrain texture which contrasted well with the vellum die-cut word 'friend'.

5. The scalloped ribbon softened the feel of the card.

6. The wood token helped to complete the visual triangle.

What do you think?

The new mixer...

It's "dangerous" when your mum gets obsessed with watching YouTube videos for healthy recipes. Especially when the video creator uses "fancy" equipment that your mum decides that she has to have....*winks*

So the other day, we went in search of the KMix...a Kenwood mixer.Check out mum's happy face! :)

The upside of a new mixer - lots of yummy fruit and vegetable smoothies! :)

A super quick layout with papers, diecuts, stickers and droplets from Ruby Rock-It. I just added buttons and machine-stitching.

Playing along with My Creative Sketches.

*Edited* This layout was a featured layout on My Creative Sketches.

I love the look of peek-a-boo lace...

I love the look of a little peek-a-boo lace over a mixed media background. You can semi-see what's underneath so it's a little playful and provides textural interest without bulk.

I use matte medium to adhere the lace. It isn't sticky like glue and dries clear.

Another card I created for Maya Road using one of their new word dies. :)

Feeding the "big baby"

So the other day, nephew #2 decided to see if he could fit in the baby chair at the restaurant...

My sister of course, had to go feed the "big baby"....*LOL* [No re-enactment, actual photos!]

Well, that's my kooky family. :)

Playing along with Stuck?! Sketches.

The reworked canvas

Meet my extremely layered and reworked canvas.

Layers of gesso, matte medium. lace bits, modeling paste and colorants to cover up what it was in its previous life...

Which was this canvas done back in November 2014.

My mum brought it to school to "dress up" her desk and I recently got it back. Having been drawing and painting my own girl faces for the last 4 months, I was immediately "dissatisfied" with this piece and tried to "improve" on it.*winks*

I failed miserably of course and had to proceed to Plan B: distract with sparkly stuff! *LOL*

I think it looks better now? What do you think?

Playing along with Anything But Cute.

*Edited* This was a DT Fave over at Anything But Cute. :)

My latest obsession: the word dies from Maya Road

I never knew that it would be so satisfying spending an afternoon die-cutting, running the diecuts through my Xyron sticker machine and making cards. :)

Yep. My latest obsession are these fabulous word dies from Maya Road which will be out in the stores sometime this week. 

You are supposed to layer those diecuts right? I went with 4 layers...is it too many? *LOL*

An altered book cover

This month's challenge at LESSology is all about books so I decided to finally tackle my art journal cover.

As I've shared previously in my tutorial on how to make an art journal out of an old book, this is my current art journal.

I went into my patterned paper scraps to pull out my paper strips which I adhered to the book with matte medium. Then I applied a coat of white gesso to prep the surface for paint. I wanted the patterns underneath to show through subtly.

I used The Crafter's Workshop stencil with ColourArte Radiant Rain shimmering mist to create some background design. 

Then I went in with some acrylic paints to pull the background colours together. You can use any acrylic paints here but these dabbers are a time-saver.:)

The next step was to draw my girl. I drew her with PrismaColor pencils, then added in the details with Posca and Montana paint markers.

I used watercolour for her hair so that you can still see the colours underneath.

P/s: You can see more of my art journal sketches on Instagram. :)