Catrina's time to shine!

Hey everybody where did the month go? OMG it's almost gone!!! Well I think it's time we dust ourselves this beautiful lady and bring her back out to celebrate All Hollows Eve and Dia de Los Muertos they are both pretty close to each other and Miss Catrina is our perfect Bloom Girl to helps us set the mood!

You know when you have an idea buzzing in your brain and you find what you're looking for? Well today I set up to find just that! Here's my finding and subsequent transformation!

I thought it would be the perfect size for my stamp but it was a tad smaller, no reason to stop!

I took my glass out and armed with StazOn I stamped my girl.

Next step in creating a faux stained glass effect was to trace the image using Pebeo Cerner Relief

Once traced leave it to dry. Of course I couldn't just sit and wait right!

I decided she would pop more if I painted the lantern black!

Looking perfect

Now to color it in I tried using a paint brush but the result was undesirable. I had a streak mark, not what I was going for!!! Then I remembered the needle applicators for Dina Wakleys acrylic paints and that was the perfect thing. It was like flooding a cookie with icing in between my " solder lines"! I've posted a video on my Twitter feed @paperboutiquesb that can show you how I did it. It's also on the FB page of the Bloom Girls

You can find another short video on faux soldering on my Instagram feed @milagroscrivera

For the lantern sides I had a little helper who got all excited when coming from school to find this project and begged me to help!

She's so intense, and yes you can totally engage your kids in helping you with this type of projects, and don't mind my mess, creative mind at work!

Time to enjoy my creation at home!

Here's the palette of colors I used just in case you are inspired to give it a go

Happy haunting my friends!!!

Milagros

Free, a mechanicals dream

Hi Bloom fans!!! It's Milagros today continuing the showcasing of Jamie's awesome birds stamp. I will be using the smallest guy for my project    You see a while ago I found this metal birdcage and saved it for a project, and totally forgot all about it.  As I was looking on my craft room I saw it on my shelves and asked myself what if?   Well the smallest bird fit perfectly, but I was determined to set him free!

And also I wanted to explore different avenues rather than go with the expected watercolors , another what if on my brain!

So here's my process

Carefully cut your bird after stamping 

Use Black gesso to alter Jamie's floral embellishments 

Give a coat of white crackle texture paste to the birds chest 

Lay it on thick for nice crackles and leave aside to dry 

It's a good moment to add some microbeads while it's wet

I was looking at my jar of mica flakes 

thinking another what if... So I gave my bird a metallic silver paint coat and 

over it I took my sharp tweezers and picked and adhered each piece of flakes to simulate feathers. I used the frosted color. For the head I painted the crown in gold leaf and the cheeks in 3D Gloss gel to hand apply more mica flakes

For the eyes I used 3d Gloss Gel with a fine brush and then I filled it with bronze microbeads 

Can you tell the cracks are beggining to appear?

I think the shimmering result of the hand applied mica flakes make it look stunning!

He's now free to wander...

Thanks for stopping by I hope you have enjoyed my mechanical bird and inspired you in trying your own!

Milagros 

National Scrapbook Day with Prima Marketing and Jamie Dougherty Designs!!

Hello everyone!! Thank you for joining us here on the Bloom Blog, and thank you for joining Prima for a day of creative goodness! Here are a few inspiring projects created by myself and the talented Bloom Creative team!

You know Mother's Day is fast approaching and a handmade gift really pulls at the heart strings. This small and simple home decor piece would be the perfect gift for that fun and eclectic mom.

How to Create:

1. Using a canvas panel take matte gel medium and collage patterned paper to the canvas. Allow this layer to dry. 

2. To dull down the background take a light wash of white gesso over the surface, you can also add a soft watercolor wash over the gesso. I used a walnut color to antique the background. 

3. Now using the Sweet Pea two layer stencil take your favorite acrylic paint and sponge the bottom layer of your flower onto the canvas. Make sure this layer is completely dry before continuing. 

4. Line up your stencil so that the outline layer is positioned over your first layer. Using a palette knife lightly spread a layer of heavy black gesso through the stencil. 

5. With a black ink pad add a fun or sentimental saying to your canvas. On this canvas I used the word stamp on the Lacie stamp set. 

6. Last but not least, shop your local thrift stores and find a nice frame that will complement your new work of art. 

NOW onto a few layouts to inspire you on this national Scrapbook Day!!! Below you will see some of my most favorite layouts by our Bloom Girl Creative Team. 

This layout by Sherry is full of beauty and mixed media happiness. Check out this blog post for the tutorial on how to recreate this lovely layout.

Next we have this hauntingly beautiful layout by Courteney.

Courteney will be sharing a tutorial on this blog on Tuesday so make sure you check back for all the info!!! 

This last piece isn't a layout but Lisa has used some fun techniques that would be perfect to add to any layout!  You can even watch her detailed video HERE> 

Thank you for joining us for the Prima blog hop and I hope you have a creative, inspired day today as you enjoy all of what Prima has in store. 

Hugs

Tattoo Couture with Milagros our new Bloom Girl

Hello everyone. Jamie here and I would like to introduce you to the newest Bloom girl on our Creative Team. Please give her a warm welcome. 

Hi Bloom Girls, I'm Milagros your host today and I'm also the new girl here!

 Yes I'm still pinching myself, blown away by the chance to be part of this amazing team of

 talented ladies!

This week Prima is showcasing the Floral stamp and I'm guilty of calling all the stamps my faves

 but hey they are! So I'm using the floral with one of the girls.   I have had in my brain this idea, ever since I first saw Lacie, of working a lace dress with her tattoo.

Here's my finished piece and then will break it apart into steps!

To "sew" my dress I stamped the tattooed arm several times and then cut and pasted all the pieces to fit.  I thought it would go nice with her ensemble to make a cute little hat to match so I used the remaining pieces in her head.

here's the breakdown

as you can see I used bits of washi tape as my

'basting" tool.

now for the hardware

and the nitty gritty with your girl

give your wood piece a gesso coat

stamp, emboss and cut your army of florals, hey if you are embossing you might as well emboss a whole sheet of 12 x 12 vellum and have them handy for other projects.  The blooms move so well when you wet them and give a perfect touch to a quick card!

I wanted some texture to move my paint around so I used the Spark stencil,

it had the perfect scale for my project

this is how it looks like

after painting my girl with the Prima watercolor pencils

 (The Basics & Julie Nutting skin and hair)

I started to give a wash of pink to my background

then I used some nice shimmer with the mica powder on her and on my background

this is how she looked like before adding the hardware, I think she looks so pretty

I enlisted my little one for this photos, before hammering my piece I found it is better to pierce some guiding hole for your nails, it makes it so much easier

and voila here's your finished project ready to grace your scrap room, entry way or wherever you fancy some good company!

 Of course she needed some chandelier earrings, remnants of my die cut hardware!

Thank you so much for being my audience and hope I have inspired you to try something new today with your Bloom Girls!!!!

Milagros

www.milagroscrivera.blogspot.com

Supplies used

Bloom Girls Floral Stamp

Bloom Girls Lacie Stamp

Bloom Girls Spark Stencil

Art Ingredients Mica Powder in Pink

Art Ingredients Micro Beads in Pink

Prima Watercolor Pencils (The Basics,  Julie Nutting skin & hair )

Art Basics Modeling Paste and 3 D Gloss gel

Archival Ink in Jet Black

Wood Canvas

Metal, Die Cutting Machine, Dies, Embossing Folder

Bloom Girl Floral Decor with Carisa

Hi everyone! Carisa here with you today and I want to share a fun and easy way to add custom art pieces around your house using the Prima Marketing, Inc. Bloom Collection by Jamie Dougherty with embroidery hoops! I used the Floral stamp on my project today.

First you are going to need some supplies. I used the Floral stamp from the Bloom Collection. I had some pieces of muslin that I primed with Golden Absorbant Ground in white to accept the water based mediums I was going to use to color the fabric. To add color, I used Imagine Crafts Fireworks! Sprays but you can use any type of sprays or mists that you have. I also used Versafine Onyx Black ink because it is a permanent ink but again you can use any permanent inks you have for this project.

First I traced an outline of the embroidery hoop onto the muslin fabric so I would know where to place my colors and stamps. Then I sprayed my fabric with three different colors to give a nice blend. I heat set that or you can let air dry (I'm kinda impatient. haha)

For two of the panels, I wanted to mute the colors so I took a stencil and created some circles with some white ink just to soften it a bit. In my mind, I wanted a bokah effect but it didn't quite turn out that way but I do love how the ink softened the bright colors so I was happy.

Next, I stamped my flowers on to each of the panels using just the smaller stamp on the outside hoops and the larger and smaller on the center piece.

Before embellishing with some Imagine Crafts Amplify I placed the fabric into the hoops and tightened the fabric. This made it a lot easier to add the outline as well as the sequins and gold mica flakes by Golden.

I also added a sentiment using some stickers in my stash. I really love how these turned out and think it is a simple way to add some pretty home decor pieces around your house or they would even make great gifts for friends and family! I hope you enjoyed my post today.

Prima Products Used:
Bloom Floral Stamp item #980313

Other products used:
Muslin
Embroidery Hoops
Golden Absorbant Ground - White
Imagine Crafts Fireworks Sprays - Angel Pink, Lady Bug, Dandelion
Imagine Crafts Amplify - Electric Orange, Electric Yellow, White
Imagine Crafts irRISISTible Pico Embellisher - Tuxedo Black
Golden Gold Mica Flakes