Framed Mixed-Media Heart Wall Decor

I'm having a great time with these patterns. 

Sometimes I've been doing them in my art journal, sometimes on loose paper - my son has been doodling them on his arms. LOL.

This one leapt off the page and into a salvaged garage sale frame. I now have a really cute little accent for my bathroom. 

For a focal point I added a recycled playing card. You can view my tutorial for them HERE.

All this color and texture makes me happy :)

I had a little strip left so instead of replicating it in my journal, I cut a piece out and glued it in. Having a pattern index is SO awesome. It's totally worth the additional effort. You can see it all finished in the top pic.

Thanks for visiting.

Painted Thrown Pillows: Upcycle

I had bought some orange cushion covers at Ikea 

No matter what I sat them next too, the brilliant orange looked a little rusty and autumnal. While that is gorgeous, my house leans more towards the bright and bold so dusty colors just don't gel with the rest. 

After placing them in my donation box but dragging my feet about dropping them off, I finally grabbed some fabric paint to see what I could do. They were already a loss.

Now we love them! And the pillow forms inside were thin and cheap so I double-stuffed them with my lumpy old gray cushions too. Those things looked like they were full of baking potatoes. 

But the two together - rich, thick, deluxe comfort. 

I'm a happy lady and my living room has one more bright pop of color.

Silly Duck Wall Decor

Seemed the right kind of sentiment for a Monday :-)

*SOLD*

Birds Nest Spoon Mixed Media Wall Decor

Made a few more birds nest spoons.

Available on Etsy

These ones are mounted on MDF.

*SOLD*

The book paper wings were made by brushing book paper with gesso, bending heavy wire into a wing shape and attaching the book paper to the wire with heavy clear glue. 

They're so marvelous in person - definitely worth the effort.

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Make a Little Birdhouse in Your Soul: 3D Collage

I've been playing around with adding 3D elements to collage lately. 

Available on Etsy

It's really enjoyable to get to add color and texture to all the nooks and crannies of the birdhouse. 

I've been saving all my scraps of this weathered wood paper and the peak of the roof was just the spot to show it off.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Mixed Media Wall Plaque

Shannon is the owner of Bombshell Stamps and she's one of the coolest, kindest, most generous ladies I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Her tremendous talent brings out the best in everyone around her.

 Today we're celebrating Shannon's Birthday with a surprise blog hop. 

Instead of a birthday card I made a wall plaque featuring her gorgeous stamp, Madonna Woodcut . It's one of my all-time favorites.

For the background I took an old calendar page (nice and thick, great for crafting and it keeps it out of the trash bin while saving you money) and embellished it with acrylic paint, spray paint and splatters. 

The image is stamped with Memento black ink and colored with Copic markers. After coloring, I fussy-cut it out and finished the edges with black marker. The collage is mounted on a plaque I found for 75% off at Michaels in their home decor department. I always collect interesting bases when I see them at a reasonable price as I know they'll be fun to collage on top of.

To see the rest of the hop just follow the list below. 

Bombshell's Blog

Alaine

Alison

Katie 

Kelli

Kim

Marnie

Stempelientje

Susie 

Sharon 

Kas 

Holley

Leslie

Alyssa

You Are Here --->Nicole

Cheryl

Milo 

Alex

Teresa

Jenn

Kathi 

Again, Happy Birthday, Shannon!

May the year ahead be filled with good health, laughter and success.

Warmly,

~~~Nicole

Renovations

Sorry my posts have been somewhat infrequent.

We've been doing this:

Because we were moving.  

I gave away half our stuff and packed up everything else into boxes.

THEN WE DIDN'T MOVE! 

So, we looked at all the missing furniture/stuff and decided it was a really good time to fix up the place.

We needed to repair things

because our builder was an ass and did a very crap job of just about everything. 

There was  A LOT to fix. 

Specifically vast, extensive, (expensive) drywall issues.

 And the ceiling. 

And the niche was sinking, backwards. 

Like it was trying to slink away. Bastard.

*SIGH*

And it was time to replace the floor...

New floor = Pretty

New floors require  new base boards.

And Plinth Blocks. I love Plinth blocks. Saying "plinth" is fun!

Try it :-)

And now the painting has begun.

Look at our boatload of paint! 

Like... a metric boatload which is much, much worse than an imperial one.

I keep hearing rumors about how nice it's going to be once it's all complete. 

I don't believe them.

Girl Under Tree Modern Girl Collage

Here's a new Modern Girl collage. 

Ain't she sweet?

I love the little pearl flowers in her hair.

The leaves and apples were made with some of my Gelli Plate prints. I love the variation you get when you print your own paper.

$45

Available on Etsy :-)

Two New Skinny Quotes

I felt like these go together in a karmic balance sort of way.

One is cheerleader positive 

and the other... less so. But just as true.

Valentine Curio Box featuring Gelli Prints and a Tutorial

When I saw Christy's awesome mixed-media curio box I was inspired to pull mine out and finally make something. Valentine's Day seemed like a perfect topic as love is celebrated year round so it can stay out and not look too theme-y.

This project was a great way to use some of my favorite Gelli prints that I shared in my last posts here and here.

Here's a close up of some of the cells:

The edges were a perfect way to highlight some of my favorites:

And here's the back, I just loved this print and wanted to make sure it had the chance to shine:

One of the fun things Christy did was make a foil heart. I loved her tutorial but I've always made mine a little differently so I thought I'd share my process. Basically, the difference is that I cover my foil with masking tape and then gesso it instead of trying to Mod Podge paper to the foil. To be honest, I haven't had any luck doing that - I'm all thumbs. Masking tape makes it easy :-)

Ta-Da! 

Your very own light-weight, practically-free, custom, mixed-media embellishment.

Or if you want to watch the video, here's a link: http://vine.co/v/bJUF06giIh2

(OMG! Vine is a hoot, no? Look me up there so we can hang out.)

Available on Etsy

Linked up at Tatertots and Jello