Nature's Neutrals ATC Set

Hello everyone! Today I'm posting a set of ATCs I made for a swap at ATCs for All, for a Neutral Colors theme.



I began my collage background from some magazine images with flower pods and leaves in a wintery garden. These lead me to think of autumn, early winter even, after a first snowfall perhaps. So I ended up with a palette of white and shades of brown and yellow.



I added torn paper scraps from book pages and paintings I no longer wanted to keep, and then used gesso to fade the edges.



The edges are coloured with Distress Ink colors Brushed Corduroy and Black Soot.



For embellisments, I chose mistable fabric stickers that I tinted with different yellows and browns, and Wycinanka chipboards that I embossed with WOW embossing ink, color Earthtone Nutmeg.



These cards went for a swap, but I'll let you know in the blog if I make more in same style for trade later on!



I'm entering my ATC set in the following challenges:

Mixed Media Monthly: Vintage. I was inspired by the vintage colour palette, and also had the lace in mind when I applied the subtle, uneven coat of white gesso.



Memuaris: Palette #28, Orange & Brown or Sand & Brown



Mixed Media World: Anything Mixed Media Goes.

And Eclectic Ellapu: Flora and Fauna / Nature



Last but not least, here's a photo of the little extras that I included when mailing the swap. I love getting happy surprises like this so I often include some collage elements myself whenever there's room in my swap envies and the postage limit allows!



Happy weekend to everyone and thank you so much for your visit and comments!

Mixed Media Christmas ATCs for Scrap Africa

Hello again, and happy December! I created this set of Christmasy ATCs inspired by the December Mood Board at Scrap Africa.



I was particularly inspired by the textures, glitter, festive mood and shades of red. The rose in the top left corner made me think of using a stencil, so I started the background with stenciling some structure paste.



I worked the background in one large piece, about A3 size. I actually started it with a scrapbook layout in mind, but couldn't think of an inspiring photo to combine with it, so I decided I was more in an ATC mood this time.



When creating with a paper of the size A3, there's actually enough for both scrapbook layout and a row of ATC backgrounds. A3 short side is a quarter inch short of a regular 12x12 scrapbook paper, but I don't mind a difference this small in my projects. I think it's handy and economical to buy art paper for mixed media scrapbooking, even though the sizes have not been created with scrapbook albums in mind.



Can you guess what other media I have used?



There are quite many layers actually. Over the stenciled paste, I first painted some parts with tube watercolours and other spots with acrylics. You can perhaps see the fluorescent red that pops out a bit. That, for example, is an acrylic paint.



I used two different lettering stamps that are among my very favourites at the moment: historical script-looking Liesbeth's Letters from Art Journey and an old one that looks like scribbly handwriting.



For the main embellishment, I used wood veneer Christmas trees that I had first gessoed white and then heat embossed with a white gold shade.



I also used paper scraps, washi tape and a velvety flourish fabric tape.



I am also joining the following challenges: Christmas at the Artistic Stamper, and Merry & Bright at the Mixed Media Monthly.



Thank you for popping in! Do check out what the rest of the DT did and join our challenge at Scrap Africa until the end of December!

Vielä mahtuu jouluaskartelukursseille Espoossa!

Hello! I'm writing in Finnish this time, since it's about my upcoming workshops in my home town Espoo, Finland.

Heippa! Tässä vielä viime hetken nosto joulunajan askartelukursseistani Espoossa. Kurssipaikkana on Espoon työväenopiston/Omnian uusi tila Tapiolan keskustassa, osoitteessa Itätuulentie 1.

Molemmat kurssit sopivat sekä vanhoille tekijöille että askartelua vasta aloittaville. Työväenopiston kursseille voi tulla myös muilta paikkakunnilta, ei tarvitse olla espoolainen!

Ilmoittautuminen tapahtuu netissä www.ilmonet.fi tai puhelimitse 0206 924 44.
(Huom! Puhelinpalvelu vain ma klo 12−16 ja ti−to klo 12−15.)



Mixed media -jouluaskartelu käynnistyy jo huomenna tiistaina 15.11. infokerran merkeissä.

Infokerralla tutustumme hieman tarvikkeisiin ja toisiimme, pohdimme mahdollisia projekteja ja neuvon lisähankinnoissa varsinaista kurssiviikonloppua varten.

Kurssin hinta on 40 €, josta materiaalimaksun osuus on 8 €. Ilmoitathan, jollet pääse ensimmäiselle kerralle! (4 paikkaa vapaana)

Kurssipäivät ovat:
tiistai 15.11. klo 17.30−20, Tapiola, Itätuulentie 1 (käsityöluokka)
lauantai 26.11. klo 10−16, Tapiola, Itätuulentie 1 (ateljeeluokka)
sunnuntai 27.11. klo 10−16, Tapiola, Itätuulentie 1 (ateljeeluokka)

Mixed media -tyylinen askartelu on monenlaisten tekniikoiden yhdistelyä ja kokeilemisen iloa. Viikonloppukurssin aikana opimme useita helppoja tekniikoita, joilla saa aikaan persoonalliset joulukortit, lahjapaperit tai pienet lahjat. Tutustumme muun muassa gesson, akryylimaalien ja leimasinmusteiden käyttöön. Sabluunoilla, leimaamalla ja painamalla syntyy upeaa jälkeä niin valkoiselle paperille kuin vaikka vanhoille kirjansivuille.

Viikonlopun aikana ehdit tehdä runsaasti kortteja pikatekniikoilla tai vaihtoehtoisesti jouluisen minialbumin muistoille tai ruokaohjeille, tai tuunata valmiin esineen. Voit tulla myös vain kokeilemaan tekniikoita, oppimaan ja ihastumaan! Kurssilla ei tarvitse osata maalata eikä tarvitse olla askarrellut aiemmin.



Myös viime vuosien suosikkikurssilla
Joulukortit mehiläisvahatekniikalla (kuva yllä) on vapautumut yksi paikka (kannattaa ilmoittautua myös jonoon!) Kurssin hinta on 29 €, josta materiaalimaksun osuus on 8 €.
sunnuntai 20.11. klo 10−16, Tapiola, Itätuulentie 1 (ateljeeluokka)

Tervetuloa kursseille!

Hello Friend − Layout for Scrap Africa Sketch Challenge 78

Hi! Happy Friday, and happy September! It's monthly challenge time again at Scrap Africa!

I felt like making a light and neutral coloured layout with some mixed media elements on the background. I'm still using my Krafty Travel Kit I joined the Counterfeit Kit Challenge with last month.



This month we have an elegant simple sketch with a circle around the focal cluster.



I'm also sharing a couple of photos of how I got the layout started. For the background, a cardstock colour called Straw was suitable for my idea, light but not completely white. I had spread a very light layer of gesso on it previously. The journaling card, the gold and white striped straw and the paper with the crosses or plus signs are from my Counterfeit kit as well as the cardstock.



Due to having a toddler at home, I quite often start my projects at night, choosing materials and trying different layouts. If it's already late at that point, I don't necessarily do anything else but just "sleep on it", and next day I have a better idea of how to go on.

The photo with my messy table below is about a trick I have learned at patchwork quilting.



That is, for checking if the layout still looks mainly white when I add the plus sign paper and the blue journaling card.

Sometimes it's hard to compare the lightness value of different elements from up close, so it helps to look from a distance. Blurring your eyes a bit or taking a blurry photo, like I did here, confirms that the other elements are fairly close to the background in lightness value. I wanted it to be this way so that it's just the photos that pop out from the background, not the whole cluster of elements.



At the point of taking the photo above, my 2-year-old had been drawing beside me, and I wanted have the mark of his pen on my background, too. He and his brother are also the stars of the layout, so it felt like a nice way to keep a memory of his first drawings!



In addition to the doodling, I used mists, white and gold structure pastes, yellow Paint Pen and turquoise Stickles for the circular frame.





The chipboard rocking horse is from Wycinanka. I used blue acrylic paint on it first, let it dry and embossed around the edges with Midnight Teal from Lindy's Stamp Gang. Last layer is clear embossing powder. The separate stars that came with the horse just have the blue paint and the clear powder layers.



Apart from the thin washi tape strip in the top left corner, I felt like no more embellishments were needed this time!





Thank you so much for looking. I hope to see you at Scrap Africa!

Amazing Glass House − Counterfeit Kit June Challenge 1

Hello! Today's the day for June Challenge #1 at Counterfeit Kit, where I am happy to be the Guest Designer this month.



The challenge prompt is to be inspired by one of these mood boards at Burnett's Boards − you're free to choose one that works with the color/mood of your own counterfeit kit!

The images that you see on the main page are only partial so if something looks promising, take a closer look!

There are some really gorgeous color combos & moods... This one seemed spot-on for my May Hip Kit Club inspiration this month:

Neon Wedding



The neon colours inspired me to use the yellows and pinks of my kit. And I loved the decoration with the hanging glass pieces and the alphabet in different colours. The letter O in the word LOVE has a metallic finish that made me think of using my sequins. Instead of alphabet, I cut out and decorated two arrows from my kit.



In the background, I've used some gesso and acrylic paints in neon orange and yellow. I thinned them with water so that I could splash them like watercolours. There is also some pencil doodling and stamping.



I used washi tapes and strips of my papers to create the background for my photo.





I'd love to see you pop in and link your own challenge project at Counterfeit Kit Challenge. It'll be so fun to see what mood boards everyone will choose!



Thank you for coming!

Easter − Layout for Scrap Africa Sketch Challenge

Hi everyone, and happy April! The sketch at the new Scrap Africa Challenge inspired me to scrap a photo of our Easter decorations.



Here's the lovely sketch by Scrap Africa owner Denise van Deventer.



I am also joining the challenge at Scrapcraft.ru themed Wood and Decorative Tape.

I used wood in the embellishments − firstly, the heart that was silver coloured in the beginning but I sanded it to let the woodgrain show a bit more and inked the sides to suit my colour palette.



The bird I glued on the photo is also of wood veneer.



I'm not sure if it counts for the wood theme, but the challenge also inspired me to use birch bark! You can see it as a strip on the right side of the photo and in the die cut flower on the left side of the photo.













Here below is the photo I used in the layout so you can see it from a bit closer!

In Finland, willow twigs with decorations are a typical Easter thing to do. Feathers and flowers made of colourful tissue papers are the traditional ways to decorate the twigs, but I was using washi tape and eggs covered with foam clay. Those were super easy and fun to do with kids, by the way. Even pretty young ones, like our 2-year-old, was fine doing it with just a little help!



Thank you for looking in and Happy Springtime to each and everyone who's reading this!