"It Takes A Village" Mixed media wood blocks

 

 

 

 

 

Hi!  This is Joyce and I am excited to be part of the Susan K. Weckesser Design Team.  Mixed media and recycling is a passion of mine, so today I would like to share with you how to create your own village using the wonderful new mini-pop inks, stamps, and scrapbook paper that Susan has created. 

For this project, I used recycled children's wood building blocks.  I made mine reversible, and the roofs can be switched around also.  Another idea would be to make a holiday house on one side and "everyday" on the other.  You can use any size, shape, or combination of blocks, so get creative and have fun!

 

 

First, choose your blocks to make a little village.  Slice larger blocks in half on the bandsaw to make roofs.  

 

 



 

 

Next, tear up strips of old tissue patterns into sections approximately 1" x 3".  Using a foam brush and Decou-page, glue on tissue pieces to cover all sides of your houses and roofs.  Be sure to overlap edges a bit.  Let dry.

 

 

Take your mini-pop ink color and swipe it on all sides of your wood piece.  This covers quite easily and is bright and vibrant.  When dry, use Mystery for a vintage look by swiping the edges.  Continue with all colors until all blocks are colored.

 



 

Ink up the Celebration of Simple stamps with the mini-pop inks and stamp onto the Colorburst scrapbook paper for the roof fronts.  Cut out triangles to fit your blocks.  Adhere the pieces with the Decou-page.



 

Trace the house block shapes onto the Colorburst paper and cut to fit the blocks.  Use both sides of the paper for variety.  Glue the rectangle pieces with Decou-page onto the blocks. 

 

Drill holes 1/4" into roofs for chimneys (screws or springs) to fit.   



 



 

With the Doodle Stencil and a cosmetic sponge, pounce Decoart paint colors on house fronts and backs.  Use coordinating paint colors with the mini-pop ink colors.  Let dry.  Using the Mystery ink, go over edges of scrapbook paper. 

 

Cut out magazine words that relate to the home theme.  Distress the edges with Mystery ink.

 

Arrange metal scraps, keys, buttons, dominoes, and magazine words to your liking.  Photograph for reference.  Glue on all paper pieces and words.  Doodle around words and stenciled areas with a ultra-fine sharpie pen and a white gel pen.  Brush over all house surfaces with Decou-page.  Allow to dry.  With foam brush, cover all wood block surfaces with Decoart ultra-matte varnish.  Dry well.  Glue down all metal pieces, dominoes, keys, buttons with E6000 glue.  Also glue in the chimneys with E6000 glue, referring to photo. 



 

I hope you enjoyed this project and look forward to seeing what you've created with Susan K. Weckesser products. 

 

Joyce Shaulis     For the Susan K. Weckesser Design Team

 

Susan K. Weckesser products:

Celebration of Simple red rubber stamps http://www.unitystampco.com/

Colorburst scrapbook paper

Color Box mini-pop inks: Kiss, Cocoa, Fresh, Sky, Mystery, Ice http://www.clearsnap.com/

Doodle stencil http://susankweckesser.com/shop/page/2/

 

Other Products:

E6000 glue  http://eclecticproducts.com/

Decou-page, Decoart paints in True Red, Peacock Teal, Sour Apple, Ultra-Matte varnish  http://decoart.com/

white gel pen  http://sakuraofamerica.com/pen-gel 

 

 

 

 



Summer fun frame

Hey there crafty friends! Einat Kessler here with a fun and easy project you can create with your kids! A super easy frame for a summer fun photo!

These summer days are perfect for all kinds of water activities...the beach, the pool as long as it's cold and refreshing! This frame project is so easy you can create it with your kids.

Start by cutting a 5" X 7" chipboard square. Then create a frame by removing a 4" X 6" square from the middle. Color the frame with blue acrylic paint or distress ink.

Stamp the wonderful boat stamp from the Sail Away stamp set on Beautiful Daydreams paper and cut it out. Color the boat and the waves with coloring pencils. Adhere the boat to the bottom of the frame.

Cut the sun from the same paper and adhere it to the frame as well.

Then stamp the cute kite from Fly Away set twice. Cut both of them out. Color with coloring pencils. Adhere the kite to the frame. Add a string to the kite and tie around the frame. Then cut the small ribbons from the second stamps and add them on top of the string.

That's it..you're done! This project is really easy and could be a perfect project for children. You can create a set of a few frames for more summer fun photos!

Have fun creating!
Einat

A word of advice mini album

Hi crafty friends! Einat Kessler here with a new project!
My boys always say: "Mom stop worrying so much", "stop telling us what to do" etc. Well I'm only giving them a piece of advice...right??
So instead of telling it directly to them I created a little mini album with a few advices.

I started with this beautiful house I cut from Susan K. Weckesser patterned paper. I used a stencil to create the brick pattern on the house as well as the waves on the roof. I also cut an I shape on the window so I can open it a little.

I cut different Susan K.Weckesser patterned papers as pages and used a different stamp on each page.

"May the sun shine on you! But only if you let it". I stamped a the sun on patterned paper, cut it out and adhered it on the page with 3D foam tape. Then I added my advice.

"Let your dreams fly high". I stamped the kite directly on the page. Then I cut out only the top part of the kite so I can raise it a little with 3D foam tape. I stamped the kite again on a different paper and cut the small ribbons out and added them on the page. I hand drew the clouds and added my advice.

" Don't be afraid to get wet...". stamped the cloud on patterned paper, cut it out and adhered it on the page with 3D foam tape. I added stickles rain drop and wrote my advice.

"LOVE". I stamped the word love on the page. I hand cut two hearts, distressed them and added a frame with a black pen. I also added little hearts and a punched border.

"Always listen to your mom!". My final most important advice...I stamped the image on the page, added a net fabric and some punched buttons.

Finally I bind it all with a Bind-it-All.

Have fun creating!
Einat
Susan K. Weckesser DT member

Home canvas

Hello Susan Weckesser fans, Einat Kessler here with a new fun project!
When I got these amazing stamps this project just popped into my head. I just knew it's going to be so much fun playing with these stamps and with a lot of color.

I created a mixed media canvas full of layers and techniques. I started with painting the canvas with acrylic paints and then adding some tissue paper.

I stamped the adorable house stamp from the The Happy Homestead set on a white cardstock and created the bricks with modeling paste. I colored it with mists and ink. Then I colored the roof with some orange acrylic paint and Perfect Pearl powder. I added the windows and door with 3D adhesive.

After the house was adhered to the canvas I added more layers and texture with stamps and masks. Finally I sprayed everything with mists.

To finish the canvas I added two cute clouds from the Fly Away set, a "tree" and some flowers.

Have fun creating.
Einat Kessler
Susan K. Weckesser Design Team

"Live in full color" by Vicky

Hello everyone!

It's Vicky with you today and I am super excited as this is my 1st post for this blog!

 Now, let me tell you something...when you have Susan's papers in front of you, you really want to make something happy, fun and colorful!!! The papers are so good quality and the colors so vibrant...I LOVE them!!!

So, inspired by that saying "Live in full color", I made a layout with a photo of my daughter surrounded by flowers!!!

I have used Susan's papers which I have cut out in stripes!

I did some fussy cutting too and used that lovely purple flower, the clouds and the circles!!!

I have also used the stencil! 

The papers were too colorful so I applied some gesso in the middle and then I used Susan's stencil in various little places and applied distress inks with a sponge! The rest of the embellies are handmade by Purple Pumpkin!

My wish for you is to always try to live your life in full color! We only have just one life to waste it....

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!!!

God bless you and your families!

Have a nice day!!

Vicky

Designer Chat with Ken Oliver

A couple years ago I first met Ken in person at a CHA show in LA and I was so impressed not only by the AMAZING crafter and artist that Ken is, but also by his wonderful personality. He truly is a awesome person and so I was thrilled when he said that he would be part of the Susan K. Weckesser Inc. – Christmas Love Campaign. His work is simply magical.

I would like to now introduce…….

Ken Oliver

Christmas Love: Preserving Your Family Heritage

Preserving your family heritage is an easy way to show your family how much you love them, lets you share stories and memories of loved ones who are no longer with us, and lets you discover together the intricate and often fascinating fibre that weaves us together into a rich tapestry of family love.

At this time of year, we’re completely consumed with going to parties, shopping for presents…the decorating; the complete and utter chaos that envelopes us at Christmastime can be overwhelming. And the real joy of Christmas is often overshadowed by the pressure to shop, spend, give…This year, I made a very conscious decision to give “handmade.” There’s no better way to share your love than to

share something made by your hand. Sure, I have spent many nights cutting, gluing, soldering, painting and creating…but I’ve spent that time in the peace of my home surrounded by music, things and people that make me happy. I have yet to go to the mall or visit one of those mega discount stores. And I feel all the better for it. In these very challenging days, giving handmade gifts, especially like the ones I am sharing with you today, will touch hearts and will let you preserve and share your family heritage.

This heritage project started in November, while I visited my parents in Indiana at Thanksgiving when my mother and I started scanning boxes of old family photographs. As we were working through the piles I started to realize how very lucky we were to have this record of hundreds of photos and how special our family truly is. We were farmers, we were workers and we were makers…life in rural America at the end of the 19^th century was hard…money was dear, and usually if you wanted something, you had to learn how to make it…you might have guessed by now that crafting is in my DNA.

After the holiday, I returned home to Phoenix with the images in my mind…I love working with vintage family photos and really wanted to create some art objects that preserve the images in a decorative way, and in a way that would invite family story-telling and memory sharing.

To share the images we’d worked on together, I decided to create some special Christmas ornaments that would be in character with life in rural America at the end of the 19^th century and preserve our heritage in a way that could be enjoyed for many years to come and hopefully by generations to come.

First I created photo transfers onto clear acrylic sheets. This technique captures a transparent image. Anything you place the image on shows through the photo.

Then using some spray paints and alcohol inks, I faux finished bevelled glass pieces to give the effect of antique mercury glass.

Next, I created mini collages using the images and scrapbook papers.

Here, you’ll see the reversed side of the collage. I used Graphic 45 paper and tiny elements using Spellbinders die templates and craft foils for a very vintage look. Ink and glitter also add a layer of instant age to the collages.

Enclose the collages between t layers of beveled glass then use copper tape to seal the edges and hold the solder.

Apply flux and solder around each piece. I’ve been really fortunate to have worked with Giuseppina "Josie" Cirincione, who has mentored and taught me some very cool soldering technique through this project. Her book Solder Technique Studio: Soldering Iron Fundamentals for the Mixed Media Artistis an invaluable resource.

Then to finish the ornaments, remove all residue with a spray bottle of alcohol, then apply liquid patina to the soldered area to age the metal.

I added strips of antique saree ribbon to hang the ornaments. The look is elegant and harkens to the fact that crafters or makers generations ago used strips of old clothing or fabric strips to create yarn or string.

Each one of these ornaments tells a story, stories of my grandparents on their wedding day, stories of my great grandmother and great grandfather and their lives on the farm in rural Kentucky. I love looking at the ornaments, each one is a treasure. It’s been a real joy to create them and a privilege to share them with you. And I am really looking forward to sharing them with my family this week over the holiday…I expect we’ll get to tell stories to my nieces and nephews about days and times that are long ago and far away…and I am really excited to share and preserve a small bit of our family heritage.

Thank you again for letting me share this with you today during Susan K. Weckesser’s Campaign of Love. It’s so important to share family traditions and to preserve our heritage, especially during the holidays.

Merry Christmas All…Make sure you create something beautiful today!

Ken

To see more of Ken’s amazing work go visit his blog

------>Ken’s World in Progress <---

Thank-you SO Much Ken! What a beautiful way to save & share precious memories.

HERE are some things GOING on:

My Susan K. Weckesser Inc. Design Team has been amazing and has really been showing some LOVE during the Christmas Love Campaign have you seen what they have been blogging about?

It has something to do with…

Tracy Easson

Rita Barakat

Vicky Varvadouka

Jennifer Hottinger

Thank-you for sharing & caring!

Hey, if you tweet…. look for #Christmaslovecampaign

#craftuplove

Lazy Summer Day Stamping

August has been DELIGHFUL for us here at the Weckesser Homestead!

We have spent some time camping, relaxing, and just playing in the garden. It has been fun after a super busy year just to take a little time and play together as a family.

That doesn't mean that I haven't had my {CRAFTING} moments! While I was enjoying some quiet moments in Waterton, Alberta, I created a card using some chalkboard paper from Canvas Corp. I used some of Heidi Swapp's COLOR SHINE. Love it! It is a new product and the color is FAB!

Then I used one of my new co-branded Unity Stamps ~ Sail Away . I used some UTEE on the image.

  I used Clearsnap'S  wonderful smooch to color in the image. I love how the {COLOR} pops!

Recycle: _

Bubble Wrap makes wonderful texture dots!

Even all the little critters had to come see what I was doing!

And of course…..

we had a lot of *SILLY* time!!!

It was…

So, LOTS of exciting things happening this FALL! Can Not Wait!!!!!

SUPER EXCITING!

Including the Fall Issue of the Canadian Scrapbooker which is out September 1 with my 'Do The Doodle' article in it. Susan K. Weckesser Inc. is a sponsor of the magazine this issue, and there is going to be a prize package give away over at the magazine and here on my blog…so keep watching!

It is going to be AWESOME!!!!

Crafty hugs,

~Susan

* Hey, Did you notice all the fun I am having editing my instagram pictures? I am adding Rhonna Farrer's new #instaicons! So easy and so much fun! I just upload Rhonna's work to my Phonto app on my IPhone and then voila!