A DIY Wedding Card

I love weddings. Don't you? There is something so magical about seeing a gorgeous bride walk down that aisle in her beautiful gown. I have been to so many weddings and they all have that little bit of magic. :) With another wedding right around the corner for a family friend, I was inspired to make something unique, special and classy. I also wanted to include a bit of sparkle to capture that magical spirit that was sure to be flying around.

 
I was looking through my stash of creative goodies and I knew I wanted to use a super cute patterned paper from the Becky Higgins Project Life Midnight Edition by Liz Tamanaha (whoa, is that a mouthful!). Remember, I wanted something with a bit of bling too and the new Pocket Pages Specialty Cards from me & my BIG ideas were the perfect compliment. Holy Smokes, do I LOVE their new line of cards! They are so fun with super fine glitter and foil added to their already darling cards. They are so perfect for my Project Life albums and projects like making cards too. I can't wait to use more of these bedazzled goodies in several projects I have planned.

For my wedding card I just used white card stock as the base, added the Midnight Edition paper that had been trimmed down, and began layering the mambi cards. I also used one of the 4x6 title cards in black & white wood grain from the Midnight Core Kit as a base. I just love how versatile all the pocket page cards from the various manufactures can be.

I also used some plain white vellum to soften up the layers a bit. I added some black grosgrain ribbon and some thinner black satin ribbon under the layered paper to make a tied closure. I fell in swoon-y love with the large glittered ampersand and made it the central focus of the card. I added black corrugated Thickers from Amy Tangerine (found at TJ Maxx) on either side. An itty-bitty silver heart fit perfectly inside both of the letter Rs to match the fabulous silver glittered circles on the mambi card.  

 

Doesn't the black and white look pretty with the neutral palette of that patterned heart paper! 

I just love it. 

Elegant, Classy, and Sparkling...exactly what I hoped for.

Now,  I have to figure out what to wear! :)

I hope you are having a creative, happy week with a bit of magic!

Martha Stewart Gesso & Goodbye Summer

Holy Smokes! How are you? All I can say, is that I blinked and summer disappeared. Literally...poof! My family and I had a wonderful time enjoying the warm weather, a fab vacation to Mammoth Lakes, baseball games, and all the good things that summer bring. I am so sad to see it go! My daughter just headed back to school this past Wednesday, so it is back to schedules, homework, and busy! I am happy to say though, I live in southern California...so the flip flops aren't going anywhere for awhile. :)

As I was packing up artsy goodies for our family trip to Mammoth and a Hubby & me trip to Vegas, I knew I wanted to bring along some gesso. I use it all the time. It is my absolute "go to" product for pretty much anything I am working on. I didn't want to bring my large container of Liquitex, so I ran over to Michaels (I seriously should work there) to see what I could find.

I found a small bottle of gesso by Martha Stewart that looked perfect. It was just a little bit bigger than a bottle of craft paint. I also HAD to buy this inexpensive Artist Loft set of watercolor. I mean, I HAD to - they shimmer! I am a lover of all the shimmer, the shine, the glitter, the sparkle. So these looked like a ton of fun. When I got home, I tossed them in my bag thinking I would have time to give them a try. 

 Fast forward to Mammoth. We did a whole bunch of this...

 ...so, there was not a lot of time for creating. Which was fine with me!

 But, when my husband & I went to Vegas, I had plenty of time. He had conferences all day so my art journal kept me company. I really liked using the Martha gesso. I liked trying something different. The consistency is pretty fluid, but grainier than the Liquitex. Once I spread it out over the page it became much more creamy in texture. It is thin and shows layers well, which I like. You will need to use a couple of layers if you want something completely covered though. I am going to stick to my favorite Liquitex, but I will also love changing it up from time to time. Hmmm, or better yet...maybe another mini vacation! Hint. Hint. :)

  
I got started on this girl while in Vegas and finished her up at home. I used some of the watercolors too. I'll talk about those later on in another post. But, let's just say - I love them! I also used some alphas from Heidi Swapp that can be inked, misted, or painted to change their color. I loved using them too and can't wait to do more projects with them. 

I hope you have had some fun creative time. Are you working on any projects?

DO tell...and HAPPY creating!

Don't forget to come find me on Instagram!! I'd love to see you over there.

I am @sadieinspired

Summer of Color - Pink and Gray

 I was super excited when I saw that Week 4 of Summer of Color 3 would be the beautiful color combination of Pale Pink and Charcoal Gray. So GOR-geous together, right? I guess I am not the best person to ask because I may have a mild obsession with gray. I love it with yellow, aqua, coral, black, minty green, and so on. If you were to look in my closet, you would see an ocean of black, gray, and patterns with those colors. There are splashes of color, but I usually gravitate to gray. :) SO, back to the challenge. I thought with this combo that this week's creation would be a piece of cake. Super easy. Super fast. Super fun. Ha! Super wrong!

I started off wanting to do something large, abstract, and on a canvas. But, ended up in all different directions having a very difficult time. I jumped into my journal - stuck. I worked on a mini 4x4 canvas - stuck. The creative mojo just wasn't flowing. So, what do you do when struggle finds you? Me? I walk away for a bit. That is exactly what I did. I left all my artsy tools right there on my desk and scrubbed my house from top to bottom caught up on the Real Housewives (I know, sorry. I can't help myself), played pirates with my little man, and found all kinds of other things to do. :)

After a few days I decided to give it another try. I sat at my table and like magic, my hands started working. This time I went to work on a small cardboard piece I had sitting in my collection. I worked for about 30 minutes straight and I was done (not including drying time). I let go of the abstract that I wanted to create and went with what I am familiar with. Sometimes, having a specific picture of exactly what I want already in my head hinders me. Does that happen to you? I think I try so hard to get the masterpiece in my head onto the canvas...and then when it starts to look different... I get frustrated or begin negative self talk. We all know that is NO good. So, I am glad I was able to work it out on this little cardboard piece. I will attempt that abstract on another day. :)

Come see the other pink and gray creations right here at Summer of Color 3, hosted by the lovely Kristin from Twinkle Twinkle.

Follow ME on Bloglovin'

 That's right! I have made the move! Since Google Reader has hit the road, I am giving Bloglovin' a whirl. I am still learning my way around but so far so good. :) They made it super easy to import all the wonderful blogs that I enjoy reading. Plus they make it easy to check out other blogs as well. Come continue the journey with me and Sadie Inspired over here!! I'd love it!

As you see above, I have been working on the Summer of Color challenge over at Twinkle Twinkle this week. I just love the combination of pink and gray (well anything with gray really). Don't you? The colors are so pretty together. I am HOPING to have some time tomorrow to finish up and come back to post my final page or canvas! Yippee!

Don't forget to come find me on Bloglovin' right here or on my sidebar. :)

Have a very happy and safe 4th of July Friends!