Getting organised...one project at a time!

Hi there, it's Julie Short here and I am on a bit of an organising kick at the moment.
The other day I was wandering through our local op shop and this little treasure caught my eye.

 I don't know about you but I seem to spend too much time looking for business cards, paint chips for yet another pot of my current favourite colour as well as warranties and instructions for recent purchases.
The accordion folder certainly deserved a makeover and could be a perfect catch all.

So out came the Susie B range of papers, the Unity Susan K. Weckesser Washi stamps, Pan Pastels and Viva Decor Pearl Pens.
In pretty quick time I jazzed up the accordian file.

This is the front with the wonderful house and alpahbet letters individually cut. Because I intend to use this, when I had finished decorating with Pan Pastels - how smooth they are, I gave both sides a very thorough spray with fixative.

I was pretty pleased too that the "Live in Colour" came from a remnant paper piece and it fitted perfectly.

Now we just have to get into the habit of using our organiser so that we can be ..... a lot more organised.
That should leave me more crafting time ...shouldn't it?
Julie

August Create To Live Challenge

The sweet ripe taste of …summer…success…anticipation…victory…

What word would you use to fill in the blank?

I am excited about this color challenge as I love the way these colors pop with each other.  I also am thrilled with the subtle patterns and textures. 

This challenge is for you to use the color and message themes in the picture above. Take some creative liberty here to create based on how this picture makes you feel. What does it inspire in you? What creative ideas jump out at you first?

Create a project to share with us based on this picture above. Write a blog post and share your project. Come back here and link-up your blog post in the challenge submission in our sidebar to your left. After you post your project, make sure to tweet about it, share it on Facebook and Pin it as well. I’d love to see little ‘blooms’ of inspiration this month all over.

Use hashtag #createtolive when tweeting or pinning so we can find and share your posts too!

Your project can be a layout, a card, a mixed media piece, or anything you create using this picture as your inspiration. Using Susan K Weckesser Inc. products are not required, but are ALWAYS welcome. :-)

Our prize package this month is …. One of a Kind Winter, Susan K. Weckesser/ Unity Stamp Co. Stamp, 12x12 Scrapbook paper designed by Susan K Weckesser Inc, and a little package of Ranger Distress Inks. So, pull out your supplies and play along - And don't forget to submit your blog post with our sidebar submission Inlinkz widget!

and now for the winner of our Create to Live June Challenge….

“Below is a list with the winning link:

1 .  irit

Thank you for playing, Irit, and we love how you used this challenge to CREATE this gorgeous layout. Hugs, sweet girlie!  Please send us a private message on our Susan K Weckesser Facebook Page or email cheryl.skwinc@gmail.com with your contact information and we will get your prize package on its way! 

Have a wonderful week everyone and we can't wait to see what you create up next!

xoxo

Stamped & Soldered Pendant

Hello!  Cheryl Boglioli here to share a quick little happy piece I made.  I’ve created a happy personalized necklace using papers and a small sentiment Unity stamp from Create Your Day by Susan K Weckesser.  After cutting out the paper, I added a little more pop of color using my PanPastel colors around the edge and around the butterfly.  I stamped the sentiment using Ranger black Archival Ink and heat set to make sure it didn’t smear when placing between the two memory glass pieces.  I sandwiched the little piece of art between two pieces of 1.5x1.5 Inkessentials Memory Glass and wrapped with copper foil before soldering.
I’m not a solder expert yet by any means, but I’m having fun practicing.  I’m still working on the whole process and am actually anxious to look back in a year or more and see how my beading, jewelry design, and soldering skills improve over time.

To finish and attach the pendant to my necklace, I set two Stainless Steel jump rings in the top and one in the bottom of the pendant. I cut a Prima Bead Stainless Steel chain in half and added a jump ring to both pieces before attaching to the pendant. I also added a few drop beads to the top jump rings and the bottom for greater design interest.   You can find more details about this piece and my earrings over on my blog today too.
Go out and CREATE YOUR DAY today!

Live In Full Colour - A Mixed Media Layout

Hello friends!  It's Lee-Anne here.  I am so honoured and so excited to be asked to be a guest designer on Susan Weckesser's Design Team.

Today, I have a layout to share that I created with Susan's stamps, stencils, and patterned papers. It was fun to create and it made me happy to use all the cheery, bright colours.

I used the background paper as my canvas and used some modeling paste and a stencil and added some designs for texture and also on the rooftop of the house.  I then took my Heidi Swapp Color Shine Mists in the colours Primrose, Mint Green and Chartreuse and added splattered dots and also misted my diecut title that I created with my Silhouette Cameo.  To add some more dimension, I layered and fussy cut some of the patterned paper and corrugated paper and adhered them to the layout. With Susan's  cute Heart Unity Stamp, I used a pink Pitt Big Brush pen and inked the stamp and then cut it out.  Finally I used some twine and adhered it to the fussy cut sun to give more interest and then some flair buttons, little flowers and a pearl for the door knob as well as machine stitched around the door of the house with thread for more texture.  Below are some more closeups:

I hope you enjoyed my layout and thank you for letting me share.  Have a wonderful day!

Altered spoon from the homefront . . .

 Hi everyone, Tracy here today with an altered spoon to share with you all.

Wanting to add a little something extra to some of my containers at home in my garden and at the allotment I grabbed a few supplies . . .

My favourite go to stamp set -

 Create your day by Susan K Weckesser co branded with Unity Stamp Co.

along with a few essentials 

Faber Castell Gel Medium

 Tim Holtz Distress Stains, Distress Paints and Distress Ink Pads

Archival ink pad

 Clear Embossing Ink pad 

Inkssentials Kraft tag

and lastly a little Raffia.

My favourite part . . . Getting Messy!

I started by applying a layer of Gel Medium to the spoon, leave it to dry or if you are impatient like me then blast it with a Heat Tool.

Next came a layer or two of Distress Paint in Picket Fence, smudging it around with my fingers!

Time to ink up the little house stamp with an Archival Ink Pad, no acrylic block needed as the spoon curves it`s easier to apply using your hand.

A little bit missing on the roof but I kinda like the rustic feel.

 Now the fun part, adding color with Distress Paints and Stains.

A little doodle dooo time adding birds, puffs of smoke from the chimney and scribbles . . .

I stamped one of the sentiments from the set, chopped it all up and fixed in place with a hot glue gun.

Next I stamped all over the spoon with a Clear Embossing pad, sprinkled with a little Cosmic Shimmer Embossing powder and set with my ever trusty Heat Tool, repeat the process once more.

 Love what embossing powder adds to a project and how alive the colors become.
At this stage you could use a clear varnish but I think the embossing powder should do just as well . . .
fingers and toes crossed!

Ooops, I almost forgot to mention that I applied Black Soot and Walnut Stain Distress Ink all around the edges of the spoon to shabby it up a little.

A quick look at how the spoon started life in my shed and the finished spoon.
The spoon is now at my allotment along with a few others in the wild flower section for all to see.
Want to see more spoons . . . then pop over to this post here on my blog.
Thank you so much for looking
Till next time
Tracy Easson
Susan K Weckesser Design Team Member

Creating...just because

Hey sweet bloggers! Rita Barakat here with a peek at an art journal

page I am working on.

Using lots of stamps and PITT pens.

Not really sure  where I am going with this one but I did have

fun stamping all the images around her. Sometimes

I just paint, to paint. Do you do that?

She kinda reminds me of the Mona Lisa! LOL!

Its fun just to create and see where it takes you!

Tickled Pink

Well I am Tickled Pink that my niece Grace is coming for a visit this summer, I only get to see her once a year so it is a whole lot of catching up when we do.  This is a layout to celebrate her coming, this is when she was well under 1 and now she is 4 and going to go to school this year.

It is a simple layout using Susan's paper as a back ground, but also cut out to make embellishments. the clouds are cut from one piece and the tickled ping from another.  The banners were stamped with her banner stamp - Celebration of Simple and then cut into 4 triangles from the one stamp to make a smaller banner.  The sun was stamped with the sun from the Fly Away set.

Here are a few close ups of the details.  What a cute little birdie! 

Well I cant wait to see Grace this summer, of course I will have my camera out and ready to go.  I am sure I will get some great photos to share. 

Have a great week, Jennifer