Guest Artist ~ Nicie Ibarra

Let's give a

Warm Welcome to Nicie Ibarra

she is our Guest Artist
on Wednesday Women

My name is Nicie Ibarra and I have been crafting for about 15 years. I’ve been married to my wonderful husband since 1989, and we have two children. Our 21 year old son is attending college and our 17 year old daughter will be graduating high school this June.

I really enjoy working with paper, beads, wire, clay, and of course inks & paints. But, I have to admit that once I discovered Mixed Media, I was hooked!!! The main reason that I find Mixed Media so relaxing and rewarding is that I have always been the type of artist that had to “paint inside the lines.” In Mixed Media, it’s OK to paint outside the lines and add as much or as little embellishments as you want.

You can visit my blog at http://cardsandcraftsfromme2u.blogspot.com/for additional information or just to stop by and say hello. Thanks!  

Oriental Themed Accordion Fold Collage Booklet

by Nicie Ibarra

This project started out as a tri-fold card and slowly evolved into an accordion fold collage booklet - J -but I’m very happy with the end result.

This is an eight panel accordion fold collage booklet. The covers measure 7” H x 4½” W, the inside pages measure 6” H x 4” W. The gold cord in the back wraps around the entire booklet and the front gold cord helps tie the covers closed. Both cords have porcelain beads at the ends.

Supplies:

· 12x12” card stock color of your choice

· Handmade or decorative paper of your choice

· Washi paper

· Cardboard or cereal box

· Coordinating cords or ribbons

· Beads of your choice

· Clip art of your choice

· Golden Acrylics – Bronze Yellow, Cadmium Red Deep Hue, Gold

· White glue

· Foam brush

· Score pad & tool

· Stamps
Prosperity (Hero Arts)
Tiny Longevity (Hero Arts)
Round chop (Kodomo, Inc.)
Small Longevity chop (Stampmagick)
Geisha (unknown)
Small Oriental text (Leveanworth Jackson)
Large Oriental text (Tin Can Mail Man)

· Black Staz-On Ink Pad (Tsukineko)

· Verdigris Green Pigment Ink (ColorBox)

Instructions:

1. You will need 2½ pages of the 12” x 12” card stock, the height is 6” and the length is 12”.

2. Once cut, lay the paper on the score board (long ways) and score at the 4” & 8” lines – this will give you three panels.

3. Overlay the card stock, over one another, in order to make one continuous long strip of stock. Make sure you glue the edges carefully so they will not curl up.

4. Once you cut the paper & score it, you will have enough to make the eight panels of the accordion fold booklet.

5. Once all the panels have been glued and they have dried, you can begin transforming it into a beautiful collage or any art project you wish to create!

6. First, I added the bronze yellow color to the front and back of the panels. I intentionally left a few sections unpainted.

7. Once it dried, I added the red paint randomly.

8. Next comes the fun part! Choosing the clip art, stamps or any other ephemera you will use on your project. Play around with them and once you like the placement, glue them on the panels.

9. Once the clip art and stamps were dried, I added a layer of the gold acrylic. I really like this Golden Gold acrylic because it’s very translucent. You can’t really tell there is a layer of color

until you move the piece and the light hits it.

Notice the difference in the pictures above.

10. Cut the cardboard to the desired size.

Tip: If you don’t have cardboard, you can use an empty cereal box. If you want sturdier covers, you can always add more layers but the cereal box works great.

11. Cut the decorative paper about ½” to ¾” longer than the cardboard, making sure that you can fold it over the cardboard’s edges.

12. Add glue with the foam brush around the cardboard’s edges and a light coat in the middle. Place the cardboard on the reverse side of the decorative paper making sure it’s in the middle of the paper.

Tip: Be sure not to add too much glue because it will take a long time to dry and will create a lot of air bubbles.

13. After placing the cardboard on the paper, cut the corners of the paper in an angle. Don’t get too close to the corner or you will have a gap between the cardboard and paper, exposing the cardboard. Glue the edges and fold down the tabs.

14. Now, cut a piece of coordinating paper making sure that it covers the exposed folded edges. Let them dry.

15. Once the covers are dry, you can add the cord or ribbon. You can punch a hole in the front & back covers or just add the cords before placing the top paper to the covers.

       16. Add the beads to the ends of the cord. You’ve just created your own accordion fold booklet!!!

                                      http://cardsandcraftsfromme2u.blogspot.com/

Thank you Nicie!

Technique Tuesday ~ Using Reinkers as Watercolors

Welcome to Technique Tuesday

I hope you find inspiration and projects

To spark your creativity

I will strive to share techniques each week.

“Using Re-inkers as Watercolors”

by

Judy Cantrell

In a disposable palette tray add one tiny droplet of Distress Re-inker
in the following colors:

Dusty Concord
Spiced Marmalade
Peeled Paint
Broken China

These four droplets were used to make this watercolor page

with a ½ inch angle shader brush and a little bit of water.

There is lots of color left to make several more projects
from this tiny amount of re-inker.

I made my journal album a few weeks ago if you would like to make your own; purchase a 140 lb cold press Watercolor pad 9 x 12" and then cut the pages in half. Use a

craft knife to cut the book board that is included on the back of the pad for covers.
The covers were painted with two coats of gesso before making it into a journal album

with my Zutter tool. I use the 3/4" binder coil for this album. For my album I used the back side of the paper; it has a smoother finish.

Finished size 40 pages 6 x 9" 

[[ Please note: Some of you might think I took the watercolor technique from Tim Holtz if you are taking the online classes. Actually I made this project two weeks before his classes started. Just a odd thing that he would share something similar to what I'm sharing here. ]]

Technique Tuesday ~ Tiled Card

This week's tutorial

Tiled Card

by Judy Cantrell 

Supplies:

Stamps

Marvy Brush Markers:

#1-Black

#120-Lavender

#121-Very Violet

#128-Grass Green

#130-Butter Yellow

Tsukineko markers give similar results

Glossy Card Stock (Ranger)

Light and Dark Purple Card stock

Adhesive

Paper Trimmer

Instructions:

1. Cut two white glossy card stock; 1 15/16” x 2 ¾” and two light purple card stock, 2” x 2 7/8”.
2. Cut one white glossy card stock; 2 ½” x 4” and one light purple card stock, 2 1/8” x 4 1/8”.
3. Cut one white glossy card stock; 1 ½” x 2 ½” and one light purple card stock, 1 5/8” x 2 5/8”.
4. Ink the three small flower images on glossy card stock with Lavender, Very Violet, Grass Green, and Butter Yellow brush markers. (View Card for placement of color)
5. Ink the quote on glossy card stock with black brush marker.
6. Mat the stamped images with coordinating light purple card stock.  
7. Arrange the stamped and mat pieces onto a dark trimmed card stock measuring 5” x 6 ½."

I would love to hear from you!

My personal blog:
http://wwwstampedimpressions.blogspot.com/

Technique Tuesday ~

The technique on this tag is from Tim's newest book

Compendium of Curiosities II

page 56

Supplies:

Distress ink

Clear embossing powder

Heat tool

Ink blending tool

Bookplate and tag die
Flourish die
Metal flowers (idea-ology)
Tim's Tissue Tape
Clip art from CD
Manila 14pt. file folder (tag)
Vagabond

Instructions:

My tag was finished using a flourish die cut that was distress inked and heat embossed with clear ink, Tim's tissue tape, idea-ology metal flowers and clip art from a CD.

Thanks for Looking!

Judy

Wednesday Women ~ Waxed Mix Frame Tutorial

Let's Give a Warm Welcome

to

June MacFarlane 

our

Guest Artist

on

Wednesday Women!!

June Macfarlane lives in North East England with her large family. She is a mixed media artist and crafter and also a digital designer.
I have been creating art for around 15 years now but more so since early retirement due to illness. I am never happier than when I am covered in ink, paint or glue but mostly I enjoy discovering new techniques through trial and error. You will often find me creating odd pieces with odd techniques; for example I have worked using broken eggshells, paint and crackle medium to create an unusual frame. I once also made a frame from Pasta which I hang in my hallway of my home.
I love smaller pieces of art and rarely work on large canvasses.
Blogging is another love of mine and you can tell that as I have three main blogs. Dezinaworld ( my main digital design blog) Dezinaworld collage sheets ( the sister blog where my collage sheets can be found and they are FREE )
and my personal art blog for some of my art work is called Arty Retreat.

 "Waxed Mix Frame"

Supplies:
2 pieces of ATC size plain card stock
Embossing folder
Machine to emboss
Cut-out image
Text background from old book
Glue
Distress ink or other inks
Glossy Accents
Crayola or other wax crayons
Travel iron or encaustic iron
Dark pen or marker
Kitchen roll

Instructions:

1. Take two identical plain piece of card stock (I chose ATC size but other sizes will work.) One is for the base and one is for your frame.

2. Emboss one of the pieces of card stock for a nice texture. I used one of the texture fades from Sizzix.

3.When the frame is embossed, fold it exactly in half and tear a hole carefully from the center, unfold and reveal a torn edge frame. Put this aside for now.

4. Next, you will need to build the base for your ATC. Colour the book text or other background you choose using some distress inks or chalks.

5. Then take a pre-cut image (mine is from my own Desinaworld images) and check the arrangement of your background image, placing the torn frame over the top to see how it will work and for positioning.

6. Glue the background to the base and then the image to that. Do not glue the frame.

7. Now, for the messy wax part.

8. Heat up an old travel iron or encaustic iron (use an iron that can no longer be used as a home iron for clothing)
9. Take the colour or combination of colours you want for your frame from a a box of crayons.

10. Cut small pieces and put to one side ready to use.

11. Lay the frame down on a protected surface ( I used newspaper but would not recommend it as it can pick up ink from the print) Kitchen paper or scrap paper would work much better.

12. Now, lay pieces of the wax down onto your frame lightly over the top, wait a few seconds and the wax will melt and your iron will lay flat to the surface.

13. Lift the iron and wipe clean if using a different colour next. Keep on repeating the process until all gaps are filled and wax merges.

To Finish:

You need to adhere the frame to the base ATC. Wax is greasy and makes this difficult so you need a strong very sticky glue. I use glossy accents for this, it works really well and bonds the two perfectly. Once you have done this, trim anything at the edges. Then if you wish to define the torn edge in the center just take a marker pen and carefully draw around the torn edging to finish.

View June's beautiful Artwork on these blogs:

http://dezinaworld.blogspot.com/

http://dezinaworld-junesartyretreat.blogspot.com/

Technique Tuesday ~ Water Stamping

Welcome to Technique Tuesday!!

By Judy Cantrell

Compendium of Curiosities Water Stamping page 35

By Tim Holtz

Supplies:

Craft sheet

Distress inks

Embossing ink

Archival ink

Stamps

Ink blending tool with foam applicator

Tag or cardstock with smooth finish

Heat tool

Mini-mister

Water

Instructions:       

1. Start with a craft sheet down on work table. Next, ink your blending tool with distress ink; start on the outside edges working in a circular motion.
2. Continue inking using various distress inks until you are pleased with the results.     

Note: Tim’s suggestion; use inks with bold deep colors for best results.

3. Ink your stamp with embossing ink.
4. Mist your stamp with a fine mist water sprayer. This is where it might take a few tries to get just enough water on stamp.
5. Press stamp down on your distress inked background. Lift off immediately dry the wet image using a heat tool. As the image dries your water stamping image appears.
6. Finish using your choice of embellishments and stamps.  

Note: I replaced water with a mixture of Perfect Pearls powder [perfect pearl] mixed with water in a Mini-Mister as my example.