Christmas Cookies

Alas! Today is the day before Christmas Eve and nary a homemade Christmas cookie to be found in the house.   Instead I have been funneling my decorating into some Stars for the Vintage Journey "Star Light Star Bright Challenge".

My stars a mix of styles and designs because I had originally just started playing with stamps that I haven't played with in awhile to create a variety of star tags.

I then realized I only had a few days to wish all of you a beautiful Christmas. I decided to create a few stars to use as decoration on my Christmas dinner plates.

 I love this Artistic Outpost Santa and used him with a glaze of Seth Apter's Vintage Beeswax.   He is stamped on some very old ledger pages from a ledger book and glitzed up with some sparkle and gold bells.

I then pulled out one of my favorite Madonna and Child Stamps.  I have two which are both retired stamps.  This one is from Hero Arts.  I adore this stamp and the original artwork it replicates.

I created the same star with some slight variations. I colored them differently and added a different sticker. Both were glazed with the vintage beeswax and edged with gold krylon pen.

I started with this star just playing with the juxtaposition of the stamps and words.   The funny black strips of cardstock are there because I made this a two sided star with this funny fellow on the front:

The next one is just a mix of stamps highlighting happy memories.

 My last star is all about the twinkling and shining our on lights.  I love the look of joy on the little girl's face:

 My wish for you and your family is to have a blessed holiday with someone you love.  A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Suzz

Grateful Heart

Hello!  There is so much inspiration out there and I used the Vintage Journey's Industrial Challenge with the Mixed Media Monthly Glitter challenge to get my creative juices flowing.

I have to admit that I had this background laying around for a long time and it was calling to me to use it.  These were the last bits of the mist so I got a ton of shimmer from the gold left in the bottles and I laid down salt to help get the pooling of the color in a crackle effect.  I looked at how the mists had pooled and saw a heart shape. 

 I decided to use that shape and used a watercolor pencil to hand draw a heart shape to emphasize the pooling of colors.  I blended it with a waterbrush and added a mix of blue and brown watercolor pencils.

 I then  used the Stampendous Luxe Mix which I have to say is one of my favorite products because they have mixed up the mica flakes, and glitter to give a beautiful mix of texture.   I sprinkled it randomly over sections which already have a high concentrate of the glimmer from the mist.

 To add to my industrial feel, I stamped a bit of the definition stamp from Stampendous over the surface and highlighted it with the monocle and a pin to clip it on.

I found a lovely sentiment in the Tim Holtz Idea-Ology stickers and some tissue tape for texture.

Products:Heidi Swapp Color Shine, Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Monocle, Pin, Tissue Tape, Small Talk, Stampendous Gold Luxe Mix, Stampendous - Dream Text Stamp

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Suzz

Enjoy the Journey

Howdy all.  Hope everyone is safe and warm. Lots of snow piled up on the East coast right now.  We were lucky and didn't get any of the storm here. 

I have been wanting to play along with the Vintage Journey - Vintage Travel Challenge this month. I finally found time this morning to play.

 

 I started with a mix of Stampers Anonymous stamps to get my mojo flowing.  

I stamped a repeated pattern on the top and the bottom and the map stamp in the middle. I then highlighted with watercolor pencils all the images.  I splattered a little mist onto the background. I added in the stenciled words and the fun image on vellum. 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Suzz

Celebrate

Hi Everyone!  I am thrilled to be a pinworthy Vintage Journey Guest Designer for their challenge this month which is Baby You're a Firework!

Here is my fairy tree houses created for the challenge.  Now you might be thinking what does that have to do with fireworks?  Well I searched pinterest for some fireworks inspiration and found some adorable little firecrackers made out of toilet paper rolls.  I saw that and though what about little houses that could be hung on a tree branch.

So these little houses are inspired by the firecracker model.  Here are a few steps on how to create them:

I took a paper towel tube and cut it into three uneven shapes.  You can see I didn't get clean cuts which I loved as it gave it an uneven feel like a tree would have.

next I cut out some tops and cut a slit into the center and punched a little hole for my twine to pull through.

Next I painted the tubes with gesso and then tried a bit of color on a few of them. Then I decided I wanted that bark effect and knew the crackle embossing paste would be just the effect I needed.  So I lathered up the tubes and let them set and dry. I came back in and finished the drying with the heat gun which added a whole other layer of bubbling and texture.

The roof on my this house was a leftover background that I cut up with the Sizzix Autumn leaves and layered them on the roof.  I mixed in the same colors on the house to match with my roof.

This little house has the pinecone die sprayed with a mix of yellow, green and brown and the outside received the same treatment. I also used a shimmer spray of gold to add a little sheen.  After everything was dry I added a bottom circle and touches of rocky sand around the bottom and moss around the opening.

 I wanted one of my houses to look like a birch tree and I used a mix of the black soot, pumice stone and yellow to try to get the grey color tones in the cracks. I finished the opening with the sand as well as the base.

 My last house is the glitzy fairy house and she had to have flowers in a deep purple with a touch of gold.  I also used the glitter to frame her door and her base of the house.

Products:  Products: Ranger Distress Stain Sprays - Tarnished Brass, Seedless Preserves, Fossilized Amber, Pumice Stone, Black Soot, Peacock Feathers, Vintage Photo, Forest Moss,  Dreamweaver Cracked Embossing Paste, Stampendous Gold Crushed Glitter, Heidi Swapp Gold Lame, Sizzix Tim Holtz Pinecone, Sizzix Thinlist Autumn Leaves.

Thanks for stopping by!

Suzz