April Showers MMMC

Hello April, hello new month, and HELLO NEW CHALLENGE! The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge is up with a new challenge theme... APRIL SHOWERS

We want to see your mixed media projects that are all about rain... think rain boots, umbrellas, clouds, dew drops, lightning, rainbows... just use your imagination and be creative! You have until April 30th to add your project to our gallery!

MMMC has a fantastic sponsor and THREE PRIZE PACKS up for grabs this month! Thank you to DECO ART for all the amazing products!

The prize includes tons of products from the new DecoArt Media line... gorgeous acrylic paints, permanent mists and sprays, crackle paste, gesso, metallics... it's a fabulous prize!! Good Luck!

Now onto my project. I finally put a Boot Girl (class from Christy Tomlinson) to a canvas. woohoo!

I actually took photos of each of my steps, so I can walk ya through...

- I started with a sketch I did several months ago in my journal. - Then I grabbed some super appropriate patterned papers from the DCWV "Sky's the Limit" stack to collage my canvas board. I used DecoArt Matte Medium to collage everything. - Once it was completely dry I added some of the Turquoise DecoArt Spray. I rubbed the paint with a baby wipe, giving the canvas more of a 'blue wash' look. - Then I sketched on my canvas with a Stabilo black pencil.

When I started painting, I first painted a layer of Titanium White acrylic paint to give a base for any color I added. The acrylic paints come in Primary colors, which makes mixing custom colors so much easier! - Once my girl was painted, I did a white wash over the background. I did this by mixing the Titanium White paint with some glazing medium, then wiped it off with a baby wipe.

Now the fun part... adding the details!! I started by outlining everything with my Faber Castell Fine Tip Black Pitt Pen. - I painted some grass and puddles. In the water, I added DecoArt Intrferance medium. This is such a cool product... once it dries it leaves a pearlescent sheen (like a mother of pearl). - I added stamping and rub ons to the background. Stamps are from Unity and I used Stamper's Big Brush Pens from Design Memory Craft as the ink. - I finished the puddles by applying a coat of Liquid Glass and sprinkling some glitter on top. Once the Liquid Glass dries it is completely clear, and now it has glitter dried into it for added fun :)

Lastly, I used some DecoArt Crackle Paste through my new favorite stencil (The Crafter's Workshop "Mini Believe Script") and drew in the sentiment.

I'm especially proud of the claw hand I made for her :)

Thank you for joining me! These MMMC posts are always fun ones for me to share! Make sure to see what the rest of the designers created at the MMMC blog! And a huge huge THANK YOU to DecoArt for the fabulous products... I will certainly continue to use them! 

Now link up your mixed media April Showers project to our gallery! Have fun!

Love,

Rachel

DECOART SUPPLIES:

Primary Yellow Acrylic Paint: http://goo.gl/1kt1mW

Carbon Black Acrylic Paint: http://goo.gl/Taj7w7

Titanium White Acrylic Paint: http://goo.gl/U0nlTm

Primary Magenta Acrylic Paint: http://goo.gl/xSm6RF

Cerulean Blue Acrylic Paint: http://goo.gl/jsgLmj

Burnt Umber Acrylic Paint: http://goo.gl/FLVQo2

Acrylic Shimmer Mister Turquoise: http://goo.gl/Iz7PDp

Liquid Glass: http://goo.gl/dMnBSo

Matte Medium: http://goo.gl/9816IO

OTHER SUPPLIES:

Detail Black Artist PITT Pens: http://goo.gl/KKM6MB

Stamper's Big Brush Pens Yellows: http://goo.gl/KjIvab

Black Stabilo Pencil: http://goo.gl/ZjRXWv

Unity Stamps SheArt Doodles: http://goo.gl/2zOySR

DCWV and TOMBOW Blog Hop!

Hi and Welcome to the Gold and Cork Blog Hop with Tombow USA and DCWV! We have 2 days full of gorgeous projects using GOLD and CORK! You should have come here from the Tombow USA Blog , which is also the first stop on this hop!

I created a mini album for my friend Donna that holds photos from our summer trip to Charleston, South Carolina. The main products I used are a DCWV mini kraft album, DCWV kraft Insta Photo Fun pages, DCWV Insta Photo Fun inserts, DCWV Gilded Stack, DCWV embellishments, TOMBOW Xtreme Adhesive, Tombow Dot Runner, and Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

The main products used in my mini album

Now time for some photos! I'll explain more as the photos go on...

I kept the cover very simple. I included three butterflies from Crate Paper's "Notes n Things".

This is the first page of the album. Of course before we could have a weekend away in Charleston, we had to spend some time in the craft room! I wrote a little note on the inside cover to my friend :)

I'm not going to make you look at EVERY single page, so I'll pick out my favorites. I got really happy with my Janome Sew Mini sewing machine for this project.

I used some of the DCWV photo inserts to create little 'shaker' pages throughout the album. I filled parts of the clear pages with sequins and wood veneers, then sealed the page by sewing it shut.

The Gilded Stack comes with some fun cut apart journal cards. This one say "Thank you very much for the difference you  make in my life". They are such a great addition to a cute mini like this!

I sewed on some Dear Lizzy Thickers for my Charleston, SC title page.

I paired some fun puffy stickers from Pink Paislee's "Solstice" collection with the DCWV Insta Photo Fun kraft pages. 

Here's another sequin shaker page I made with the 4x4 DCWV insert. 

For every photo page, I adhered the photos to the cardstock using Tombow Xtreme Adhesive. Chipboard pieces (like the star and circle pieces) are adhered with Tombow Mono Multi Glue.

The chipboard pieces here are from Teresa Collins. They were adhered with Tombow Mono Multi Glue. I backed them on colored square pieces from the DCWV Insta Photo Fun embellishment packs.

In the back of the album I included some brochures and maps from historic places we visited.

There are A LOT OF PRIZES going on for this weekend's hop!!!!! To win, visit and comment on the participating blog posts. You have until March 31^st at 11:59 EST to comment. A winner will be picked randomly and announced on April 1^st 2015.

Tombow will be giving away: Tombow Xtreme Adhesive, NEW Tombow Adhesive Dots, NEW Tombow Foam Tape and everyone’s favorite the Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue!

DCWV will be giving away: The DCWV Gilded Stack, a 4x4 Cork Stack, Insta Kraft Album, Accordion Album and a set of Birthday Photo Props!

Remember to “Like” Tombow USA and DCWV on Facebook.

Your next stop today is BECKY SPRINGER! Happy hopping!

Love,
Rachel

SUPPLIES I USED:

Janome Sew Mini Sewing Machine
Tombow Mono Multi Glue
Tombow XTREME Adhesive
Tombow Mono Dot Adhesive Runner Refills
Tombow Mono Dot Adhesive Runner
Canon Semi Gloss Photo Paper
Doodlebug Assorted Sequins (12 colors)
Studio Calico Tiny Stars wood veneers
Studio Calico Hearts and Arrows wood veneers
Fiskars Rotary Paper Trimmer

DCWV Gilded paper stack
DCWV Insta Photo Fun 4x4 Kraft and Black paper
DCWV Insta Photo Fun 4x4 Kraft and White paper
DCWV Insta Photo Fun 2 ring Mini Album
DCWV Insta Photo Fun 2x2 page inserts
DCWV Insta Photo fun 4x4 page inserts

Crop on the Cape Photos! + Winner

Over the weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend my FIRST EVER crop. This wasn't just any small crop, it was Crop on the Cape! 253 amazing women coming together to enjoy the hobby that they love. I am SO glad I went and loved the company I was with (thank you Lynn, Kathy, Donna, Donna, Donna, and Donna for welcoming me into your group!) Yes, there were 4 Donnas in our group :)

The same weekend at the crop, Paper Issues was also hosting an online crop filled with challenges and games. I completed 7 layouts over the weekend, each one inspired by one of those challenges. THANK YOU to Paper Issues for all the inspiration!

Now as you may have guessed, this will be a super photo heavy post! Sit back, relax, and enjoy :)

Kathy, me, and Lynn with all of our stuff. Our table was Edgartown :)

Lynn, me, and Jenn... the artsy fartsy girls! Love these ladies <3

Oh ya... it snowed on the first day of spring. The view from our hotel room.

Now onto some layouts! My first (and maybe favorite) layout was for the Paper Issues "Selfie" challenge. Create a layout that has a picture of yourself.

I used papers from Maggie Holmes and Heidi Swapp 'September Skies'. The rub ons (black hearts) are from Crate Paper 'Kiss Kiss', and all embellishments are from the new Simple Stories 'I Am' collection.

I am... Enjoying the little things, so loved, and Unapologetically Me. Lynn took this photo of me at the Crop with her fun Fuji Instax camera.

I spilled red wine on my layout... but I loved the story behind it, so I kept it and even highlighted it.

This layout was created for the Paper Issues Use a Song Lyric Challenge. The Bruno Mars song 'Uptown Funk' was played multiple times a day from a table near us... and it just got to be a little too much. Again, this page has a story behind it and I love that. The photo is of the Edgartown table holding up their wine cups! CHEERS!

Papers in this layout are from the DCWV "Honey Chic" stack. Embellishments were from a grab bag I was sent, but some are from the Simple Stories I Am collection.

This layout was for the Paper Issues Stitching challenge. This was my FIRST TIME EVER using a sewing machine for a layout. Thank you Kathy for teaching me what to do! I'm officially addicted.

These photos are from my summer trip to Portland, Maine. All papers are from the Carta Bella 'Ahoy There' collection and embellishments are from Pink Paislee 'Solstice'.

The 4th layout was for the Paper Issues Free Cut File challenge. I used this free file for the entire background of my layout.

I cut around the outside edges so the full layout is bordered with the cut file. I cut a lot of circles and filled in some of the spaces. I also added stamping from a Technique Tuesday stamp set. All papers are from Carta Bella 'Ahoy There'.

This layout was for the Paper Issues 'Alphabet Soup' challenge. I covered a sheet of cardstock with these foam phrases by Amy Tangerine, covered it all up with Gesso, then covered that in Gelatos. It's a pretty messy layout, and definitely not my favorite, but it was really fun to put together.

All papers are again from the Carta Bella 'Ahoy There' collection.

Next up is a layout inspired by the Paper Issues Sketch challenge. I really like how this one turned out. And it all came together really quickly!

Patterned papers are from Carta Bella 'Ahoy There' and embellishments are from Pink Paislee 'Solstice'. Photos are of the Portland Head Light and my hubby and puppy :)

You've made it to my last layout! Woohoo!!! This was for the Paper Issues 'No Cardstock' challenge. Every piece of paper is this layout comes from DCWV 'Seaside Yacht' stack (sold exclusively for Michael's stores). Embellishments and rub-ons are from Pink Paislee 'Solstice'.

I had the fabulous opportunity of sitting next to Donna Bryant during the crop. The talent in her fingers is beyond amazing! I scraplifted this layout design from a page she created at the crop. Thank you Donna!

I had such a great time and I hope I can join in the fun again next year!!! Thank you to the awesome women at Crop on the Cape, and thank you to the ladies at Paper Issues for putting together all these great challenges!

NOW TIME FOR MY WINNER FOR THE EASTER 5 FOR 5 BLOG CANDY!!!!

I used Random.org to select the winner. Congratulations to SHERRY BUTCHER! Please email me your mailing address to rwkrafts(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your goodies!