Wine Journal ~ Creative Embellishments and Heartfelt Creations

This month the Creative Embellishments Design Team had the good fortune to work with some gorgeous products from Heartfelt Creations for a cross-promotion feature! So, I have an awesome 'album' project to share with you today!

In addition to paper-crafting, my other hobby is making homemade wine! So, I have used the gorgeous Heartfelt Creations Italiana Riviera Paper Collection to create a Wine Journal! It was so easy to put together this journal using the Heartfelt Creations 3D Flip Fold Album (Black), along with the Pocket and Flip Fold Inserts (Black - A, C and D). To embellish the album, I've used several different Creative Embellishments chipboard pieces, which suit the paper design perfectly, including: the Wine Pouring Set, Wine Bottles and Glasses, Grapes, and Grapevines. I also used the Arched Doors Set 2 and the Wrought Iron Fence 3 to decorate the front cover, along with one of the Window Shutters to decorate the spine of the album.

Front Cover

Spine

Inside Front Cover & Page 1

Page 2 & Page 3

Page 4 & Page 5

Page 6 & Page 7

Page 8 (Insert Open) & Page 9

Page 8 & Page 9 (Insert Open)

Page 10 (Insert Flipped to Right) & Inside Back Cover

Page 10 (Insert Flipped to Left) & Inside Back Cover

Back Cover

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Happy Crafting!

Magic of Oz - Illuminated Pumpkin Shadowbox ~ Creative Embellishments

Today I'm sharing a super-fun Halloween project created for the Creative Embellishments Design Team! I have been hoarding my Graphic 45 The Magic of Oz paper in my stash for ages and decided to haul it out and create this Illuminated Pumpkin Shadowbox using fussy-cuts from the papers and Creative Embellishments Chipboard pieces that were just perfect for this project! I started off with an Orange Craft Pumpkin with a Shadowbox cut-out. I painted the outside of the pumpkin with black gesso so I could have a two-toned pumpkin and really draw the eye to the bright orange inside. I added a string of LED lights (hidden at the top of the pumpkin) and two 'flickering candle' battery-operated tealights to light up the inside of the pumpkin - this looks so much more striking in real life! The photos don't do it justice! I also added two cute witch's legs I found at the craft store under the pumpkin - to look like a crushed witch!

I fussy cut the main characters, along with a bunch of other elements, from the papers to create the scene for the pumpkin. All the papers are inked along the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink. I started building the scene by putting some brown excelsior and graveyard moss in the bottom of the pumpkin. I used the Creative Embellishments Spiky Gate and Creepy Gates as the central elements to start building the scene around. I painted the gates with black gesso and then coated them with Crackle Accents. I also used a Creative Embellishments Poppy Cluster along the gates, which I painted with Art Alchemy Metallique Acrylic Paints in colours similar to the poppies on the Graphic 45 papers.

I fussy cut the Wicked Witch and backed her on black cardstock for stability. I added a glitter pumpkin and small skull from my stash as "steps" for her so it looks like she's stepping out of the pumpkin. I finished off this section with a black fabric leaf, some graveyard moss and a bit cut from the Creative Embellishments Brick Pieces. I painted the bricks with Art Alchemy Metallique Acrylic Paint in Pure Sunshine and then smudged the Brick Pieces with Black Soot Distress Ink to make them look aged/worn.

Inside the pumpkin, I added the Scarecrow and his "Wanted - A Brain" sign. I made a "Broken Yellow Brick Road" using the Creative Embellishments Brick Pieces. I added lots of fussy-cut poppies and a compass, a small sugar pumpkin and a small skull around the Scarecrow's feet. The poppies hide the tealight in front of the Scarecrow. I also added a fussy cut Emerald City at the back of the pumpkin so that it looks like the Yellow Brick Road is leading around through the gates to the city.

I placed the Cowardly Lion behind the Spiky Gate and the Tin Man and Dorothy in front of and on either side of the Creepy Gates. I also fussy-cut the Oz circle as a closure for the Creepy Gates. The Wizard of Oz is suspended from the top of the pumpkin in his hot air balloon. I added a few of the Creative Embellishments Creepy Trees - you can see these tucked in behind the lion, in front of the balloon basket and behind the gate on the right side of the pumpkin. The trees were painted with brown acrylic paint and then coated with Crackle Accents. You can see the painted poppy cluster and some more fussy-cut poppies, as well as another small skull tucked in the back behind the Creepy Gates. The poppies in front of Dorothy hide the second tealight.

The title from the main page of The Magic of Oz collection fit perfectly across the top of the pumpkin's opening. I fussy-cut the title and backed it on some black cardstock - and after cutting it out (again) I inked the edges with Distress Ink in Black Soot. I also fussy-cut some flying monkeys and added them to the left side of the title and added a small fussy-cut compass to the right side.

I poured mod podge over the top of the pumpkin and let it run down the sides and then added lots of black glitter to create glitter drips all around the pumpkin. I used the Creative Embellishments Pumpkin Vine Flourishes to decorate the top of the pumpkin. I painted the pumpkin stem and vine flourishes with green acrylic craft paint and then coated them with crackle accents.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!
Hope you're having a Spook-tacular October!

"Two Minutes to Midnight" - Steampunk Masquerade Mask

I love Halloween - so this month when I saw that Canvas Corp Brands October Challenge was to create a Masquerade Mask, I knew I had to play along! I had an inexpensive (dollar store) mask just sitting around in my stash waiting to be altered - so this was the perfect opportunity to upcycle it!

 I used Creative Embellishments Chipboard to give the mask a Steampunk look. Once I had the composition in place, I painted the entire mask (which was originally silver) with Heavy Black Gesso. Next, I highlighted areas by dry-brushing elements with Heavy White Gesso. I used four colours of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Suede, Latte, Oriental Poppy and Haunted Shadow) to start adding colour to the mask. First, I sprayed the entire mask with the Suede Glimmer Mist. Then, I used the Latte mist around the bottom/middle. I used the Oriental Poppy mist along the outside edges and the two outside points of the mask. Finally, I used the Haunted Shadow mist up the middle of the mask. Once I was happy with the misting, I dry-brushed Prima Art Alchemy Metallique Acrylic Paints in coordinating colours (Brass Hardware, Royal Red, Blackberry and Ancient Coin) to add more pops of colour to the mask. Here are some more angles/close-ups!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Hope you're having a Spooktacular October!

Enchanted Forest Fairy Tale Triptych ~ Creative Embellishments

Today I'm sharing a project I created using the awesome Creative Embellishments chipboard Triptych and Graphic 45's Enchanted Forest collection. This Triptych represents traditional fairy tales, with the front cover as "Once Upon a Time" and the back as "Happily Ever After". I added ribbon hinges and a matching ribbon wrap-around tie to the triptych and then covered the individual pieces of chipboard with papers from the 6x6 paper pad. The fussy-cuts are from the 8x8 and the 12x12 paper pads. All the paper edges are inked with Distress Ink in Black Soot. I've added clear rhinestone bling to embellish the imagery throughout the Triptych.

I added the Creative Embellishments chipboard Victorian Carriage to the back cover. The carriage and horse are painted with acrylic paints and decorated with fussy-cuts and borders from the patterned papers. I also added an image of a princess from the patterned paper to the carriage window.

The inside shows traditional Fairy Tale motifs, such as Sleeping Beauty, a Knight in Shining Armour and an Enchanted Princess. I cut the castle from the 6x6 paper using my Silhouette and created the scenes using different images fussy-cut from the patterned paper. I added lots of dimension to the scenes using different sizes of 3D foam adhesive. The decorative chipboard border around the edges of the Triptych was painted with white crackle paint and then rubbed with Inka Gold rub in Gold and edges with Distress Ink in Black Soot.

Here are some close-ups so you can see all the details!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Happy Crafting!

Halloween Accordion-Fold Mini Album ~ Creative Embellishments October Challenge

I can't believe its October already! As always, Creative Embellishments kicks the month off with a new challenge! Here is this month's inspiration photo - and the twist for this challenge is to use something metal on your project!

I just love Halloween – so this was a really fun challenge for me! I’ve used two of the awesome 3×4 Wood Veneer Cards (Happy Halloween and Spider Web) as the covers for my album and the tiny skull from the new Everyday Icons chipboard pack as a cover embellishment. For the cards, I created a wash of acrylic paint, pearlizing medium and water to stain the cards. I used Black Soot Distress Ink on the edges of the cards and some black ink on the front cover to highlight the drips and a black aquarelle pencil on the back cover to go over the spider web lines. I also added some glossy accents to the drips on the front cover and to the spiders on the back cover. For the tiny skull, I painted it with acrylic paint in Antique White and then inked it with Black Soot Distress Ink. For the metal element ‘twist’, I’ve added some metal brads to the hinge stickers and a metal ‘oct. 31’ typed token by Tim Holtz.

I used Bazzill Blackberry Swirl cardstock to create the pages/tags for the album and have used patterned paper and stickers from the new Authentique Mysterious Collection Kit to decorate the pages/tags. I inked the edges of all the patterned paper with Black Soot Distress Ink and added some fun yarn from my stash to the tags to finish off the decorating. This album is all ready to add pictures to now!

I hope this project inspires you to play along with the Creative Embellishments challenge this month! Be sure to follow the Challenge Rules so that you're eligible to win the $50 Gift Certificate to the Creative Embellishments store!

Challenge Rules:

• Create a NEW project layout, mini album, tag, card, canvas, etc….as of October 1st, 2016.
• Please add your entry to our InLinkz box on the Creative Embellishments blog to be eligible for the prize. You have until the last day of each month 11:55 pm eastern time to enter.
• It is required that you mention in your blog post that you are playing along at Creative Embellishments together with a link back to our blog. Please make sure to reference our challenge. Please no back linking.
• Combining with other challenges is permitted.
• We would love to see you USE AT LEAST 1 CE product on your project but it isn’t required to play along. However everyone that does will get and extra chance at winning.
• WINNERS will have 2 weeks to claim their prize. The winner will be announced on this post the day after the challenge ends. Keep an eye out to see if you are a winner.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today - and I hope you have a spooktacular October!