love and kisses

Hey everyone!!! Sherry here with a look into my creative process!!! And sometimes the unexpected journey it sometimes takes me on. Have you ever been in the process of making a project and half way through you go"crap, I'm not liking how this looks". But, you're to far in to 'fix' it but also to far into it to toss it!!! Well, I started this layout thinking that it would be a 12x12 project. Then, as I was getting going I decided I didn't love it! So, instead of tossing it and starting new I figured out which parts I loved and worked around them!!

So all I want to say is believe in yourself and you talent! Trust the process and love what you create! Sometimes it has to go through a yucky stage before it becomes exactly what you hoped it would be:)

So here it is, flawed start and all!!

Step ONE

I found a nice soft textured patterned paper and pulled out two of my favorite Bloom Girl stamps! i positioned them so that when I started adding color they wouldn't bleed together to much! (You will see what I mean in the next step)
Once the black ink of the stamped images is dry I did a thin layer of clear gesso over the top of the entire layout. This will help in the following steps to prevent the paper from completely absorbing the inks and liquid.

Step TWO

Next up, my FAVORITE way to add fun color to any project, Magicals!! I selected a few shades of pink and a few shade of brown to create fun hair colors! Because I added the layer of clear gesso i could wipe color from where I didn't want it with ease while it was drying! I slowly added more and more layers till the color was what I wanted it to be!!

THEEEEEEEN I decided I HATED IT!!!!! I almost threw it out till my fiance came down, hearing my words of frustration, to see what the fuss was all about! He looked at it and agreed maybe the color combo wasn't right, but that the left side was awsome!!! So BOOM my direction changed and I cut the layout in half and added some fun stencilling with molding paste.

Step THREE

Oh how i love the intensity of a good spray! Once the molding paste was dry i sprayed the left and top edges with water to allow the spray to spread wherever it naturally wanted to flow. I unscrewed the top of the spray bottle and ran the end of the straw along the two edges of the project, then tilted it slightly to allow it to flow around the paste.

Step FOUR

then to soften the colors and brighten it up a bit, I added a bit more stencilling with white paste! (you'll notice in later pics that I actually ended up extending this further up and left then where it is here. Once my picture and a few embellies went down a lot of the paste texture disappeared)

Step FIVE

Next up, EMBELLIES!!!!! I pulled out my bowl of homeless flowers (I have a cute glass bowl on my workspace that I throw homeless items that don't have a package anymore!) and metal embellishments and started layering flowers and metal bits around where I knew I wanted my photo to be set.

Along the edges of the flowers and focal area I spread clear glass beads and allowed to dry completely.

Once the flower were secure and the beads were dry I dry brushed them all with white gesso. (tip: if you like the color of your embellishments and want some of it to show through, you could also use clear gesso. Or for a super fun look you can even use black gesso!)

Once dry I start sprinkling my selected Magicals over the gessoed areas! I continued to layer this till the vibrancy was there! fortunately because magcals are so pigment packed it didn't take to many layers!

Step SIX

All that was left was to pop dot the photo on and ta-da I have a fun 6x12 layout to display!
Here are a few close ups to check out a few more details!

Thank you so much for popping in! Remember, the supplies I used are just ones that I prefer and enjoy. But, if you like something else as home that you love use it, if you have something similar use it! I am always a fan of new goodies but sometimes we can't have it all! So dig into your stash, pull out some delish products and create! You don't have to have the exact things I use to create beautiful things!

Make sure to pop into my Blog, Facebook and Instagram for more inspiration, sneak peeks, tutorials and product reviews!
Thank you for popping in:) make sure to peek around at the other amazing projects by the DT!!

xoxo

Supplies
PRIMA:
Bloom Girl- Summer (#980160)
                     Metal Floral Embellishments (#980221)
                     Flowers (#575212)
Art Ingredients- light paste (#961404)
Flowers(#565251, #556945 and #577957)
Stencil- 'weaving' (#962333)

LINDY'S STAMP GANG
Magicals-(for the hair) Steam punk sepia, sandra dee sepia, steel shimmer
                (for the flowers) cheshire cat cherry, time travel teal and rusty lantern lime
Spray-flying monkey midnight

AMY TANGERINE
'Twins' thickers (#366837)

HEIDI SWAPP
Clear Pocket Cards (#369959)

Busy Being Happy

Hey everyone, Sherry here (facebook, instagram, and of coarse my blog) today I am bringing you a tutorial on a layered layout using tons of colors and stamped images:) I am in love with the colors and images on this one, so sit back, relax and enjoy!! (Or play along! That's more fun anyways:)) The complete supply list will be shown at the bottom of the tutorial.
So lately I have been in complete and total love with Lindy's Stamp Gang magicals. They have made my heart pitter patter and constatnly surprise me with what I can use them for and where I can add them. So prepare to be amazed..lol!
First off here is the full image of the layout we will be creating together...

I started with a plain white piece or watercolor paper and picked out some rich red toned magicals to create the base of my layout. With the selected colors I worked one at a time allowing each to dry before moving onto the next color. Using a fluffy, dry paint brush I sprinkled the first color where I wanted it to live. Then I sprayed it with water to activate the awesomeness!! Once I had a bit of water puddled up I tilted my page to create some drips. I allowed this to dry then I carried onto the next color and also repeated for the third color. (keep in mind by wetting the page for the second and third color you will slightly reactivate the previous colors allowing for some blending!)

Once the magicals were all dry I made image impressions using black ink and my Bloom Girls Floral stamp set.  I overlapped some images a little but wanted to make sure each flower was distinct and not to jumbled!

NOT PICTURED I made more floral images on a second piece of watercolor paper (aproximately 6) and colored them using the same three magicals I used for the background. Once they dried I fussy-cut them all out.

I love the look what you spray Staboli pencil marks with water, it makes the bleed and spread! So for this next layer I decided where my focal point would be, then I made loose messy circles around where it would be set using the Stabilo pencil. then I lightly sprayed it with a mini mister. Once this is completely dry I made similar messy, loose circles with white liquid ink. and allow this to dry.

Using a thin thread that will stand out against the backround (black), I wrapped it around the layout so it would create more texture that will stick out from behind the focal points.

This next part was a new experiment for me! I have used magicals in a tons of ways, and I have also colored the Bloom Girls in a number of different ways, but I had never used magicals to color a Bloom Girl! So, today two worlds collide!

I made multiple impressions of 'Summer' on blank watercolor paper, keeping one image whole, I cut apart the other images using bit and pieces separately (the hair, the eyes, the lips and the flowers).
I then colored each piece separately and using the full image I colored the skin. Once all colored and dried, they were reassembled using liquid adhesive being VERY sparing!(you dont want any adhesive to stick out from behind the pice your gluing downa s it will reactivate the magicals and will be visible) The only part that was done differently was the flowers, they were assembled using pop dots after the frame was added, this way some of the flowers would overlap on top of the frame.

The frame was a plain chipboard piece when I started with it, but using the ever amazing IndigoBlu Mega Flakes kit I made it metallic and this helped to make the image of 'Summer'  stand out from the background. I have used the Mega Flakes kit in a few other projects on stamped images but this time i wanted to show its versatility and how it can by used to change embellishments and chipboard as well! (QUICK how-to on Mega Flakes for chipboard pieces:1)apply glue to the glue pad 2)press chipboard piece into glue pad making sure to get every piece you want metallic 3)sprinkle Mega Flakes over surface (making sure to have a paper underneath to catch extra) 4)press/rub the flakes onto the surface 5)use scrubby to scrub away any extra pieces... All supplies needed are in the started kit)

This is the fun part, assembly!! I usually don't adhere my main focal point till midway or till the end of the assembly but this time I adhered her first so I could build up around her! So using three layers of pop dots ( I wanted her to sit quite high) I stuck 'Summer' on the the center of where I wanted the focal point.
Once she was down I layered my previously cut floral papers using tape adhesive and pop dots to create layers and dimesntion. I also made my own custom embellies using Bloom Girl metal flowers but using white gesso on them, whenthat was dry I used the corresponding magicals to make them match the other reds on the layout! I finished off the metal flowers with some Bloom Girl brads and half pearls. I added a few words and sentiments to add a 'title' to the page along the bottom edge.

To tie it all together i covered Summer with a spare piece of paper and made platters using liquid white ink. I love to do this over magicals because the moisture of the ink reactivates the magicals a little and will make the ink take on a bit of the color underneath!

I want to thank you for stopping  by and checking out my fun tutorial using one of my FAV Bloom Girls:) make sure to peruse the site and check out more amazing, inspiring projects!! 

Supplies:

Prima Marketing:

BLOOM GIRLS by Jamie Dougherty

*Floral stamp set (#980313)

*Summer stamp (#980160)

*Metal emblishments (#980221)

Other

*Anna Marie brads (#570026)

Lindy's Stamp Gang

Magicals

*Limor Webber Designs magicals- t-bird turquoise, rusty lantern lime, steampunk sepia, steel shimmer

*magicals- cape cod coral, queen of hearts red, curiouser chartreuse, clam bake beige, salt water taffy, sandra dee sepia, cheshire cat cherry, ramblin rose pink, mad hatter mint green, tea pot purple

7 Dots Studio

*Thoughts Keeper word stickers (SDST0031)