Create with a point...

Just a quick post to wish everyone "Happy August" and show you that the Scrap It Girl challenge for August is arrows and #.  

For this card, I used some wood shapes from Unique Laser Designs--a Polaroid frame and a cute bee (who has been over-Stickled with Rock Candy).

I kept the hexagon theme going by dry embossing the whole card with a pattern from Sizzix and added a canvas arrow from Close to My Heart.

Still trying to balance all of the crafting I want to do with house projects and outside projects, but sometimes a quick card is all I need to feel accomplished for the day.  One thing checked off.

~Kelly

Be decorating...

 

Sometimes tags are just too pretty to put on a gift and then throw away.  Sometimes tags are just too pretty to put on a gift at all.  That is when they end up on the tree as ornaments! 

 

I had every intention of using these Linnie Blooms canvas tags as gift tags, but once I started playing, I just couldn't give them up on a gift, so onto my tree they went!

 

I added strips of washi tape to the tags, and then painted them with a layer of Modge Podge to seal the edges of the tape from lifting.  I painted the tree and stars with acrylic paint and "decorated" with Stickles for extra sparkle.  There can never be too much sparkle at Christmas time!

 

I added some musicality with these alphabet letter stickers from Cosmo Cricket and then strung some seed beads on wire to make them easy to hang.  These are so quick and easy that I will make some more.  Maybe, the next ones I make I'll be willing to part with.  Maybe.

 

 

Wishing you the happiest of times this Christmas season!

Kelly

www.kellystarsallthingscrafty.blogspot.com

Be wrapped in love...

I do not like to shop.

There, I said it.

I'll say it again.

I do not like to shop.

However, I do like finding the perfect gift for someone. And because I do not shop often, I browse for good gifts all year long. Sometimes, that perfect gift is a gift card (like to their favorite scrapbook store...hint, hint). And, while a gift card may sometimes seem impersonal, when it's wrapped with something hand-made, it seems to be wrapped with love.

The Linnie Blooms shop is full of some new fun holiday shapes, and this stocking is perfect for a stocking stuffer (it doubles as an ornament too).

First, I took out a white crayon and freehand drew some zig-zag shapes on 2 of the Linnie Blooms Canvas Stockings.

With a little bit of Distress Ink and some water, I painted over those zig-zags (one side is Festive Berries and the other side is Evergreen Bough). The white crayon acts as a resist.

                                                  

Then, I used Tacky Glue to line the edge of one of the stockings and glued them together.





Next came the fun, embellishing part. I glued a thick, furry felt as the top of the stockings and rubbed in some Rock Candy Stickles. I added silver glitter glue as stitches on the toes and heels. I went outside and clipped my spirea shrubs to get some natural sticks that I added to some silver berries and wrapped them in a bundle with some twine. Some Copic-colored Linnie Blooms leaves top it off.

And look...it's the PERFECT size for a gift card!

So don't despair if you don't find that perfect gift...

wrap it in LOVE...then it is perfect!

~Kelly

www.kellystarsallthingscrafty.blogspot.com

Be a friend...

I'm continuing my love affair with Linnie Blooms canvas shapes, and this time I am playing with a "long canvas blank".  It is a layer of cotton batting between a blank cotton canvas and a printed cotton layer on the back, size 12"x5".

Just like the other smaller Linnie Blooms shapes that I've played with before, I love the way this texture absorbs any medium I throw at it.  Today---acrylic paint! I used some Scotch blue painters tape and created a chevron pattern.  I did not measure---just laid down the tape in what looked like straight chevrons to my eyes.  I like the way it looked when I aligned them off center.  Make sure you push down hard to adhere the tape to the blank so that you don't get any seepage.

I spread the acrylic paint directly on the canvas with a foam brush using a light gray and canary yellow.  As you can see, there is no need to be neat about it!

I ripped the tape off (I didn't even wait for the paint to dry) to see how it turned out and was so impressed that the lines were so sharp.

To create the jar, I traced a clip art jar shape onto some velum paper and cut it out.  I inked the edges and then highlighted the thread and reflection lines with some Rock Candy Stickles.  I attached the jar to the canvas by sewing on a few stitches (can't have any adhesive showing)!  It's difficult to see in the photo but there are wire stems wrapped with twine that I hot glued to the back of the felt flowers--they run down into the jar so the flowers don't look like they are just free-floating.

Yes, those are Linnie Blooms leaf shapes in between my felt flowers (a Sizzix die).  I swiped some Distress Stain on those leaves to add a splash of color.  Then, I plucked some random buttons from my stash and slid a few seed beads onto the threads as I attached the felt flowers to the canvas. 

Lastly, I printed the sentiment on some cute pink/khaki gingham paper.  I dried the ink with a heat gun to make sure it was really dry before painting a layer of Modge Podge over it to add some texture. 

I loved this project SO much, that I've decided that this was the first in a series of seasonal blanks.  Coming soon---fall!  I better hurry, it's already September!

~Kelly