Wanderlust 2017 - January Challenge

Hello my crafty people!

I am one month in to Wanderlust 2017 and I could not possibly be enjoying it more!

The teachers & classes have been incredibly inspiring and have really helped me be creative

 in some new and wonderful ways.

January's challenge for Wanderlust students was to go outside and choose 3 colours from natures palette to create a journal page that tells a story of your life in January. 

We live near a park that has a pretty good hill on one side of it. It's a really popular tobogganing hill for the kids in our neighborhood. On the day I read the challenge for Janaury, I took my dog for a walk and we went by this hill. It was a nice day, chilly but there was a bright blue sky and there were lots of kids out there. On either side of the hill are clusters of evergreen trees.

I decided that my colours were going to be blues & greens.
It just so happened that I already had a page in my art journal that had blue & greens on it from cleaning up some spray stains from another project. To tine down the colours I dry brushed some gesso over both pages.

I found some pages in an old book that I had that were perfect! After I decided the placement I glued these down with matte medium. To help blend the book pages in to the background I whitewashed them with a bit of gesso.

Next I added some evergreen trees with some Distress Paint - Pine Needles & Cracked Pistachio and The Woodland mini layering stencil from Tim Holtz.

Next, I added some more images using the Snowflake & Speckles Layering Stencils with some White Linen Dylusions Paint. The last step was taking my Distress Crayons and adding some grey, white & black to the edges of my pages and stamping my sentiment.

Emerald Creek Dares - Anything Goes

It's time for another challenge from Emerald Creek Dares and this time it is Anything Goes!

This month I chose to upcycle some glass vases I found at the thrift store ($1 each!). These will be perfect to hold some cuttings from garden. My tulips, lilies & poppies are already starting to pop up so I hope the snow stays away!

On to my project....

So pretty and so simple to do!

First I gave the vases a quick clean up as they were quite dusty from being stored in the garage.

Next up I painted each vase then while the paint was still wet I sprinkled with a selection of pastel embossing powders from Emerald Creek.

Distress Paint Worn Lipstick & Emerald Creek Pastel Pink Embossing Powder

Left - Distress Paint Twisted Citron & Emerald Creek Pastel Green Embossing Powder

Right - Distress Paint Dusty Concord & Emerald Creek Pastel Lilac Embossing Powder

I left the vases to dry on their own before using my heat gun to heat set the embossing powders.

After the heat setting the embossing powders, I took an ink blending tool and applied Potting Soil Archival Ink all over the vases to highlight the beautiful details.

I dyed some crinkle ribbon for each vase using the coordinating Distress Stains and added some charms for a finishing touch.

Charms - Emerald Creek Vintage Feather Charms

& Tim Holtz Idea-ology Typed Token

I used Distress Crayons to add some colour to each charm. These work especially well 

on the Typed Tokens.

Charms - Prize Cameo Charm & Squirrel Charm (both from Emerald Creek) 

I painted the cameo charm with Wilted Violet Distress Paint and wiped away some the paint after it was dry. I used the Peeled Paint Distress Crayon on the squirrel.

Charm - Love Your Life Frame 

I found this charm in my stash and used Distress Crayon to highlight the words.

These were so much fun to make and I can't wait to fill them with some fresh flowers!

Products used for this project:

Emerald Creek Pastel Green Embossing Powder

Emerald Creek Pastel Lilac Embossing Powder

Emerald Creek Pastel Pink Embossing Powder

Emerald Creek Vintage Feather Charms

Emerald Creek Prize Cameo Charm

Emerald Creek Squirrel Charm

Distress Paints - Worn Lipstick, Twisted Citron, Dusty Concord, Wilted Violet.

Ranger Archival Ink - Potting Soil

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Typed Tokens - hope

Crinkle Ribbon

Vases - Thrift Store 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today. 

Now it;s time to visit the rest of the Emerald Creek Design Team Blogs and get even more inspiration before you show off your Anything Goes project at the Emerald Creek Dares blog. I can't wait to see your amazing creations!

Cathy

Claudia

Diana

Katelyn

Pam

& Special Guest Blogger

Nicole Wright

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from Paradise Lost & the Emerald Creek Design Team

2015 is quickly coming to an end and what a year it has been for me!

If someone had told me a year ago that I would be living in Edmonton, Alberta,  have my own blog and be on a design tem I would thought they were crazy! 

But here I am and I am so happy! 

I hope, that no matter how you spend this holiday season, you are able to spend time with your family & friends making memories! I really appreciate each and every single of you that follow or visit my blog ~ you bring crafty inspiration into my life and I am forever grateful!

Now on to my Holiday project for Emerald Creek Craft Supplies.

This project is a bit of a de-stash project, with  a whole lot of Sizzix dies, Tim Holtz Idea-ology and my favourite charms & embossing powders from Emerald Creek.

 I used a 6 frame shadow box from KaiserCraft that I had in my stash. The 'Merry Christmas' sign sitting on top is also a KaiserCraft and a long time lurker in my stash.
Let's take a closer look at each box and some of the techniques I used.

Oh! Look! More KaiserCraft! I decided that these wood veneer 'ornaments' would make a great base for a wreath. I first used Barn Door & Lucky Clover Distress Stains to add colour before using Walnut Stain Ink to tone down the bright colours. Festive Foliage die set was used for the wreath and I added a few Pinecone charms from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies.

I bought a set of Tim Holtz Holiday LetterPress just for this project. I added some Distress Paint before dipping my letters in Distress Crackle Clear Rock Candy. I just love the look of this stuff when it dries!

I just love bottle brush trees. I usually will tint my trees with Distress Stain but for this project I decided to leave them natural. Except in the next frame - I decided to add some Soft Fallen Snow Embossing Powder from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies to the tips to give my tree a frosty feel.

 The Candy Cane Charms from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies

make the perfect decoration for my mini tree. I added some Poppy Red alcohol ink from Ranger for a bit of colour.

The burlap panel is hard to see in the background but here is another photo of it while I was working on it. I used some Soft Fallen Snow embossing powder mixed with transparent 3D gel to add a snow texture to the edges of this panel. I used the same mixture with my snowflake layering stencil.

Here is the snowflake panel used in another frame with some stacked snowflakes dies and Snowflake charms from Emerald Creek

I couldn't resist using a few Found Relatives for this Holiday project & Festive Ephemera

 from Tim Holtz.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and I wish you and your loved one an very Merry Christmas and a happy holiday!

Please take some time to visit the rest of the Emerald Creek Design Team for more holiday inspiration.

Diana Hetherington

Cathy Potosky

Katelyn Grosart 

Karon

Claudia
Shilpa

Check out the new challenge at the Emerald Creek Challenge blog 

for a chance to win a $25 credit to the online store

 

Happy Halloween Eve.....

Happy Halloween Eve my crafty friends!

I know a lot of you have been busy creating spooky, creepy and all things ghoulish projects because I have seen so many in my trip around blogland.

Emerald Creek Craft Supplies is hosting a Trick or Treat Dare over on the blog.
Come visit us and share your Halloween Tricks with the Design team for a chance to win a Treat!

Click on the button below to enter your Halloween themed project today!

Elegant Edna.....my August Tim Tag

Is it August 21st already? My goodness, where does the time go?

I have to get my butt in gear before Tim blogs the September Tag!

I love the Friendship Words Block & Script Die sets - it took me a little time to get them positioned the way I wanted them and a little washi tape to hold everything in place. It seemed like a waste of washi but it was the only tape I had in the house. Desperate times call for for desperate measures!

 Meet Edna - an elegant lady from the Found Relatives collection.

I named her Edna after my very own great gram ~ a lady who could rock a stylish hat 

with the best of them.

 This tag is going to make a great gift tag for a friends upcoming birthday!

Be sure to check out Tim's Tag for August

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Leave a comment so that I know that you were here. 

I love 'meeting' new crafty people that will inspire me!

~~ stay crafty ~~

julia

Submitted to challenge: 

Tim Holtz : August Tag 

Coffee Frap....my go-to summer drink

I love coffee.....hot, iced or frapped...it just doesn't matter.

Tim Tag this month was made just for me, I know it!

I love the new Custom Blend Distress ink pads almost as much as I love coffee.

I decided to go with a more sunny, "summer"-y custom colour blend.

 I think it looks like a beautiful summer sunset

Custom Blend - Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge & Fossilized Amber

Instead of the Stripes Layering Stencil I used the Burlap one instead. I love the look of the plaid that Tim has on his tag so I will definitely be adding the Stripes stencil to my very, long wish list. 

 

Thanks for dropping by my blog today ~ I love to read your comments!

~~ stay crafty ~~

julia

Submitted to the following challenges:

Tim Holtz  - 12 Tags Of 2015 ~ June

Frilly & Funkie - It's Summer