Mixed Media Flowers in the Studio

 

I don't know about you, but I think I am ready for spring. I am in the mood for cheerful colored nail polish, birds, nests, sweet little happy projects added to my house, flowers in bloom, and sandals. In southern California winter does not last that long, so it is already feeling like spring. Today it is 75 degrees with some clouds. :) I do LOVE the crisp, cold weather of winter...but, after Valentine's Day passes I am ready for the hearts, pinecones & winter décor to come down. I am ready for the flowers to start popping out everywhere! What about you?

 

Flowers are dominating my creative creations right now too...big, playful, sketchy flowers.

I love them.

 

 

My favorite background collage material lately = my daughter's school papers. Such fun use for them. It beats the recycle bin. When her papers come home, I sort them into 4 places - recycling, special papers to save, a bin for our Project Life albums (scrapbook layouts/mini books too)  and the rest go into a drawer in my art studio for projects. I LOVE seeing her writing pop through on my canvases or journal pages. There is something so sweet and refreshing about kiddie writing!

 

 

I hope you are having a beautiful weekend! I am sure I will find time to spend at my studio table where undoubtedly more happy flowers will appear. :) What are you looking forward to right now?

 

 

Love Inspired Layout

Ten years ago today I became the luckiest girl in the world and married my best friend!! Isn't he the cutest!? I feel so blessed to go through this crazy life with him. He is a wonderful Dad, sweet supporter, the best smile maker, funny, silly, brilliant... I am sure he would loooove it if I kept on going...but, I'll save that for later. :)

Today I am sharing a love inspired 12 x 12 layout.

 

All the paper used (except for the white card stock) is from the me & my BIG ideas Kraft Wedding 12x12 paper pad. I love that this pad has lots of neutral patterns in it. I wanted something black, gray, and white with pops of color. Ohhhh, and a bit of bling too! Look at that fun, sparkling love heart!! SO fabulous. It is actually cut from one of the mambi specialty cards.

The added black droplets were made with watered down black acrylic. I don't have black ink, but doing it this way always works for me.

I also had to add a doily and vellum to the mambi paper. I just can't seem to get away from using these two. I may be slightly obsessed. I use them ALL the time! I think I need to kick it up a notch and at least throw some paint on them or something! Maybe I can stencil on the vellum....hmmmm, maybe next time. Stay tuned!

I hope you are having a wonderful week full of love and blessings. I am off to go get ready for our little anniversary celebration. 

Happy Creating!

Making Cards with Gelatos

I am so in love with the Faber-Castell gelatos. They are so super fun and easy to use. It is always fun to incorporate new art supplies into the creative mix. I already had white, black, silver, and gold gelatos. I liked them so much that I wanted to add some new shades to my collection. When I went to Michaels to grab some, they only had the package with reds & pinks. I will have to make another trip to see if they have any new colors. Of course I am really WANTING the blue pack because of the aqua. :)

I thought these colors were perfect for some Valentine's Day cards. I made a few that were quick and easy, with supplies I had laying around. The first thing I did was cut down some white card stock to about 5 inches. I also grabbed some sheet music, washi tape, some Dear Lizzy paper, and my embellishment drawer. (I keep a plastic organizer with drawers by my table and one of the drawers is for embellishments. It is convenient to throw things in there that I find around the house, rescue from the trash or buy.)

After I gathered my creative goodies, I started to play. The gelatos really allow you to control the amount of color you want on your project. If more pigment is needed, I simply add more. Easy! It is also very easy to use stencils with gelatos. Just be sure to hold the stencil pretty firm so the gelato does not spread out too much underneath. It might...but, I actually like that.

I was using standard white card stock when making these cards. I had thought about using watercolor paper, but wanted to see how this card stock held up with the water. The paper did buckle quite a bit. If you want to have less warping a heavier paper would be a better choice. I like the way the cards turned out - but, flat they are not.

Look at that cute Dear Lizzy paper from the Lucky Charm collection. I know it is an older collection, but I LOVE it. I have a 12 x 12 paper pad that I am hoarding having a hard time using up. Is it strange to have paper make my heart skip a beat? Ha! My hubby has some competition. :)

The light pink gelato is so soft and pretty. It was the perfect shade for this card. Some vintage sheet music layered with a white doily, Dear Lizzy sticker, and a water colored heart came together beautifully.

I am looking forward to more creative play with my gelatos. SO fun! Do you have any? I'd love to hear about your gelato projects too!

If you are on Instagram, come say "Hi!" Find me @sadieinspired

Come back for a visit tomorrow when I share a special layout! :)

Happy Creating!!

mambi Mondays - Mixed Media Heart Canvas

I am super excited to start a new series on my blog today!! 

mambi Mondays

Yiiippppee! Every Monday I will share a project using some me & my BIG ideas goodies. I might create a canvas (like today), layouts, crafts, home decor, gifts, cards, journal pages, etc. Super fun, right? Of course, I LOVE mixed media so I started things off with a Valentine's Day inspired canvas.

Enough rambling...let's get to it.

I started with a 10 x 10 wooden canvas from Michaels. I have to say these wood canvases are my absolute favorite. First of all, they are only $2.49 each. Awesome! It is not a flat panel either. It has a small ridge all around the back so it is ready to hang. YES! Who wants to bother with adding that stuff. 

I want to make...then hang! :)

I covered the entire surface with some vintage sheet music from my stash with Mod Podge. Hold on... Let's take a little bubble diversion - don't sweat them. If you have even adhered paper (any kind) to any given surface with gel medium or Mod Podge, then you know you are going to face trying to get as many air bubbles out as you can. Is it a constant battle for you too? My solution - accept that the surface MAY not be completely flat AND love the texture those bubbles later create. I put Mod Podge on the surface and the back of the paper, plus I also use an old gift card to squeeze out as much glue as possible. BUT, whatever is left behind - I don't sweat it!

After it was dry, I added gesso and two shades of aqua craft paint mainly with my fingers. I didn't want to cover the entire surface of course. I definitely wanted bits of music popping through. Luckily, this particular piece of music was a love song, so it had the words love, or I love in several different places. I highlighted those by circling them. I also used a circle stencil (from an old board game) and white paint to add layers to the background.

I set the canvas aside to dry and began looking through my collection of me & my BIG ideas paper. I found a little bit of everything to use. The paper used was from 12 x 12 pads, CARDS in an INSTANT and POCKET PAGES cards. There are so many fun patterns to choose from. I had some small wooden hearts (from Michaels) that I wanted to use as the base for each heart. I used a heart as a template and traced out a different pattern for each one. The bottom right side of the grid does not have a heart because the words "I love" were already there from the sheet music. I added "you" with some small mambi ABCs.

Finally, the finishing touches were added using various mambi stickers. Again I used a little bit of everything. It turned out so, SO cute. I already hung it up in my entryway! :) This would make a totally cute Valentine's Day gift (or any occasion) for someone special. Also, the wooden hearts could be replaced with cardboard pieces you cut yourself or some chipboard. So many different ways it could turn out.

 PS I am a me & my BIG ideas Design Team member. I have the honor of working with some very talented ladies. Please come visit the mambi blog so you can see what they have been up too! 

Happy Creating!