Sleeping Rose

Hey everyone!

I'm trying really hard to post once a week on Thursdays, but this week life got in the way with the hubby ending up in hospital with gastro. But, fear not, he's home again and back to his "normal" wonderful self.

Anyway, this week I decided to post another of my Disney themed mixed media ICs. This one is titled 'Sleeping Rose' and features - you guessed it - the delightful Briar Rose, who is the heroine from Sleeping Beauty.  She is the last of the classic princesses that Disney produced before the rennaissance, which returned Disney as a household name.

Briar Rose is such a wonderful princess, because she is so in love with her life. She lives in the forest with her woodland friends and strange "aunts", and dreams of nothing but her handsome stranger to come and whisk her off her feet.  This is evident in the quote on the page :

"I know you, I've danced with you once upon a dream,"

But alas, this all changes on her 16th birthday, when she is ripped from her life and becomes her true self, the beautiful Princess Aurora.  This metamorphosis occurs by a night journey to the place where she falls prey to the magnificent (and one of the best villains, imo) Maleficent.

I drew inspiration for this really simple card from that moment when Aurora pricks her finger. I used texture paste and a homemade stencil to create the spindle, and then using Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains in Broken China and Twisted Citron, I coloured the background. Then, I used watered down black paint to create the malevolent shadowing around it.  To finish it off, I spattered the whole thing with blue and fluoro pink paint.  This is to symbolise the ongoing battle between Flora and Merryweather for the dress to be pink or blue.

And that's it! I hope you all enjoy and have a fantastic week.

Ciao xxx

Trying Something New

Hi there!

So this week, I have a large project in the works.  I'm doing a quote journal for a friend's Christmas present. After doing some IC (index cards), I quickly realised that there were wayyy too many quotes that I wanted to include, so I decided that a journal was the way to go.

In starting the journal, I wanted to make the cover heavily embellished because the rest of the book would be quite simple.  But I lack the funds to go out and buy a ridiculous number of embellishments and I haven't had the opportunity to buy a die cut machine as yet.  So I decided to give making some from scratch a go.

For the frame and vintage keys, I grabbed some brown cardstock, and armed with Google images and an Xacto knife, I painstakingly cut out the images I wanted. I quickly realised that I needed to slow down (a few attempts were sacrificed to the rubbish gods), and ended up with some pieces I was happy with. I then coated them in embossing medium and powder.  I think they turned out awesomely, even though they aren't as thick as true die cut images may be.

Now I was getting excited! What else could I make?

Next up came some raised dots. I grabbed some pony beads and preheated the oven to 175℃. I out some baking paper onto a tray, then the beads. They then went into the oven for about 25 minutes, but I checked them after every 5 minute interval. I really didn't want my house full of black plastic smoke!  Once they came out, I placed another tray on top, and pressed down firmly to flatten them out.  If you're going to try it yourself, maybe put a tea towel on top of the top tray, 'cause it got a bit warm. 

Again, sucess!

Finally, I made some paper roses.  You can find the pattern for the roses here. And they look amazing, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, a bit of a long winded post this week, but I hope you all enjoyed it.

Have a great week! Xx

CinderBlue

Happy Thursday!

So this week, I've decided to share another of my Disney-themed mixed media ICs. 

Apart from being the next princess chronologically, Cinderella has always made me think of dreams coming true...after all, "a dream is a wish your heart makes". She has a beautiful blue colour-scheme, but also the story shows loyalty, dedication, and never letting life get you down, because this too shall pass.

With this piece, I wanted to make it very texture heavy and give it a depth that my previous piece didn't have. I started with Tim Holtz Distress Spray stains in broken china and chipped sapphire, and used acrylic paint to paint a foot. Next, I layered white lace, blue stained tissue paper and scrapbook paper to give dimension and show the voluminous layers of her skirts. I then used 3D texture paste over the top with a Kaisercraft stencil, and more spray stain. Finally, I added a diamond embellishment, and edged the card and quote in Tim Holtz ink in faded jeans. 

The piece wouldn't be complete if Cinderella didn't have her glass slipper, so I cut one from some clear plastic using an Xacto knife and used some UHU glustick to attach it.

I hope you all like it.

Have an excellent week xxx

Getting scrappy...

So, I finally got around to starting Asha's scrapbook. It's something that I've been meaning to get around to, and FINALLY!! I did.

I sat there looking at all my supplies and for a long time, I couldn't seem to make anything work. Then it hit me. I was trying to make it look like a traditional scrapbooking layout, and the whole point was to do it in the style of mixed media. And it all fell into place.

I absolutely love reading the book "On The Night You Were Born" to Asha (every night!) And so this made for a perfect quote. It speaks volumes about the wonder a baby being born, and also for the parents, meaning that their lives are forever changed.

The composition is 3D texture paste using a Kaisercraft quarter stencil, Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains, alphabet stamps with Archival Ink, cotton thread, Kaisercraft mini blooms, glitter letters, and DIYshop cork butterflies.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it. Have an amazing week. Xx