Mixed Media Monthly August Challenge – Travel!

Buy your tickets and pack your bags, 'cause we're going traveling with the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog! As you can see, our theme this month is 'Travel'. We are also pleased to have as Guest Designer Lindsay Weirich (The Frugal Crafter) joining us. She is giving away one spot in her new online Mixed Media Class as the challenge prize so be sure to join in this month!

On a personal note, our family has huge travel plans for August. We are moving from California to Idaho! That's a big deal for us, as both my husband and I grew up here in the Bay Area. Our roots are deep but this will be a good change for us. I will be looking forward to landing in our new home and getting to unpack all my art supplies. I think I am going through creative withdrawal. Painting walls in our house here just isn't the same. ;-) Due to limited time, I couldn't create an in depth tutorial for you this month, but I did make a little project to mark our big move:

I cut three Idaho shapes out of foam core board and glued them together. Roughly cutting out sections of an Idaho map, I used Glue 'n Seal to adhere them to the front and back of my foam core sandwhich and trimmed them at the edge with a craft knife. Then I "frosted" the raw edges with Texture Paste to make it look nice and neat. The base is cut from corrugated cardboard – a readily available and appropriate material around here at the moment!

The boxes are wooden blocks painted with Brushed Corduroy, distressed with archival Potting Soil ink and then covered with various Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs. Here's a back view:

I topped it all off with a photo of myself and my husband standing on our dirt patch. That was taken in May. It is much more than a dirt patch now with our house well under construction. It should be done mid September. It is all so exciting! I never ever imagined I would get to live in a brand new house. What a blessing.

Whether your travels are permanent, for vacation, or metaphorical, we would love to see your projects inspired by them. Hop on over to the blog to see the design team's inspiration and share your own. Enjoy the journey!

Be sure also to check out Lindsay's blog and You Tube channel for more inspiration.


The supplies I used for this project can be found at Sizzix or Simon Says Stamp. Follow the links below and a shopping you may go. ;-)

Sizzix BANNERS AND PENNANTS Thinlits Die Set 660329	Banners & Pennants #660329	Artful Arrows 659433	Tim Holtz Sizzix Die ARTFUL ARROWS Bigz 659433	Dot-Matrix & Gridlock Set	*Tim Holtz Sizzix DOT MATRIX & GRIDLOCK Texture Fades Embossing Folders
*Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival POTTING SOIL Ink Pad AID38979	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad VINTAGE PHOTO Ranger TIM19527	Tim Holtz Distress Paint BRUSHED CORDUROY Ranger TDD39709	Tim Holtz Distress Paint BLACK SOOT Ranger TDD36302	Ranger GLUE N SEAL 3.5 OZ Matte INK44994	Ranger TEXTURE PASTE 4oz INK44444
*Tim Holtz Idea-ology ARROWS Adornments Metal Charms TH93127	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology MEMO PINS Split Ring Metal Embellishment	Tim Holtz Idea-ology Remnant Rubs 2015 SPECIAL DELIVERY TH93188	Tim Holtz Idea-ology WORDS REMNANT RUBS TH93055	Tim Holtz Idea-ology NUMBERS REMNANT RUBS TH93056

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Sizzix Party Decor Ideas with Eileen Hull

Howdy! Summer is in full swing now and that often means lots of celebrations and get-togethers! For the month of July, Eileen's Inspiration Team will be sharing our creative ideas for Sizzix Party Decor. You’ll find ideas for storage, centerpieces, favors and more that you can create with your favorite Sizzix dies for your next party, bbq or bash. For my project, I used the Tea Cup 3-D die to make a favor for a bridal shower:

I have an oldie but goodie technique to share to help you get more use out of your Sizzix dies. Let's get going!

You've probably heard of using dies to make fun foam stamps. This is a great technique to remember and it's super easy! I applied a double sided adhesive sheet to a piece of fun foam and ran it through my Big Shot with the Lace Medallion Doily die.

Remove the adhesive backing and stick it on a piece of scrap plastic packaging. Voila! Instant stamp!

I used a brayer to apply white acrylic paint to the stamp and then stamped the image onto my tea cup pieces. You can't see much of the white on white but the paint acts as a resist. See what happens in the next step.

I spritzed the pieces with Spray Distress Stain and gently wiped the excess off the stamped parts. The stamped design pops right out! Next came the assembly of the cup which isn't hard at all. You can use a strong dry adhesive like tacky tape but mine was already packed away for the move. I used a wet adhesive which takes a bit longer but works well. Clothespins make great clamps to hold things in place while the glue dries a bit.

While the glue was drying, I assembled the flowers. Eileen's flower dies make it a breeze. Here I used the Heart & Soul Flower die to cut out several parts to work with.

I also shaped the petals by placing the parts on a foam pad and using a rounded tool to make it dimensional.

Finished flowers:

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to head on over to Eileen's blog to check out all the ideas being shared this month. You'll find lots of inspiration! We'd love to have you share your projects on Eileen's Facebook page too. Have a great week… ;-)

The supplies I used for this project can be found at Sizzix or Simon Says Stamp. Follow the links below and a shopping you may go. ;-)

Tea Cup, 3-D	Flower, Heart & Soul	Sizzix LEAVES SPRING Bigz Die 661111	Sizzix Bigz Die - Leaves, Spring	Doily, Lace Medallion	Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain CRACKED PISTACHIO Ranger TSS44109
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad VINTAGE PHOTO Ranger TIM19527	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TATTERED ROSE Ranger TIM20240	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SPUN SUGAR Ranger TIM27164	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad WORN LIPSTICK Ranger TIM21513	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SQUEEZED LEMONADE Ranger TIM34940	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SCATTERED STRAW Ranger TIM21483
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad FOSSILIZED AMBER Ranger TIM43225	Ranger Archival Ink Pad JET BLACK AIP31468

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The Mixed Media Monthly July Challenge!

Welcome to July and another fun challenge at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog! Our theme for this month is Reach for the Stars and our guest designer is Seth Apter! He is donating one of his super cool stamp sets as a prize so you will definitely want to join in our challenge this month. We are also welcoming a new member of the design team. Be sure to head on over to the blog after this to check everything out! For my project, I created a triptych of space themed ATC cards and a matching holder for them.

Here are the cards right next to each other so you can see the design better:

I used an interesting technique for the background that involves a material you probably have sitting in a kitchen drawer right now – aluminum foil! When you paint over the foil and leave some parts with a thin coat, the shine comes through and gives you a really nice effect. It's easy too!

I cut my card bases out of heavy cardstock and glued them to a piece of foil that I had crumpled and then carefully flattened out again. Depending on the texture you want, you can really crunch the foil or just make larger creases. I used Prima 3D Gloss Gel, which will adhere anything, to glue the foil to the cardstock. I did put a large acrylic stamp block over the cards to hold them flat while the gel dried. As it was drying, I sketched out my scene and painted it with DecoArt Media fluid acrylics:

After they were dry, I fussy cut all the little pieces out to glue onto my card backgrounds.

I trimmed out the cards and left a small margin of foil attached that I folded over the edges and glued on the backs of the cards. Then came the fun part of painting! I used a combination of black and metallic colors to make "nebulae". I also splattered on some of the DecoArt Media mists. Spacey! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Canada Day to my northern neighbors and I hope my fellow Americans have a wonderful and safe Independence Day holiday weekend. Everyone else have a grand ordinary weekend lol.

The DecoArt Media fluid acrylic colors I used are: Titanium White, Dioxazine Purple, Ultramarine Blue, Cobalt Turquoise Hue, Carbon Black, Gold, Yellow Oxide, Hansa Yellow Medium, Medium Grey Value 6, Green Gold and Naphthol Red Light. I also used Primary Yellow and Shimmer Violet Misters.

The supplies I used for this project can be found at Sizzix or Simon Says Stamp. Follow the links below and a shopping you may go. ;-)

Crescent Moon & Stars	Embossing Folders 2PK - Blueprint & Gears Set	Tim Holtz Distress Ink Stain TARNISHED BRASS Ranger Metallic TDW35206	Tim Holtz Distress Paint BLACK SOOT Ranger TDD36302	Sizzix Little Sizzles - 6" x 13" Mat Board Pack	Tim Holtz Idea-ology MINI CORNERS Metal Hardware TH93131
Prima Flowers 3D GLOSS GEL 16 OZ. Art Basics 961367

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