A piece of home.....

When our kids leave home

to pursue their dreams.....

it can be hard during the holidays!

Knowing this....
I decided to create something for my son,
it can be used as a Christmas Tree Ornament
then as a
PIECE OF HOME
to hang in his room once the holidays are over!

The base of my creation is an
ArtC ~ Wood Pallet Surface ~ 3" x 4.5"

I pulled out a package of ArtC ~ Adhesive stencils
and tube of Ultra Chalk ~ White

I applied the Ultra Chalk with a paint brush,
then I lifted the stencil and placed it over the remainder
of the Wood Pallet and dried the chalk.

I then applied a layer of
ArtC ~ Gel Stain ~ Chestnut
and wiped off the excess with a baby wipe.

LOVE THE LOOK!

I wanted to have some Twine for my project

but not blue,

so I painted the twine with

ArtC ~ Gel Stain ~ Chestnut.

When the twine was dry,

I pulled the strands of the twine apart.

I gathered a few pieces of New Hampshire nature,

and acorn cap for the cover of the

ArtC ~ Clear Dome Bottle

and a piece of evergreen for inside the bottle and

a couple of Hemlock Pinecones

to finish off the piece!

I chose a few embellishments from
an ephemera collage kit I had on hand.
I painted the wood chippie "love" with
ArtC ~ Gel Stain.

I hope my boy loves this

PIECE OF HOME....

.....as much as I did creating it!!!

Six Years Ago.....

Six Years Ago....this month

I was contacted by the folks are Reminisce

announcing I was the GRAND PRIZE winner

of their 2010 Design Team Search!

I remember that day soooo CLEARLY!
I scared my entire family
as I let out a loud WHAAHOOOP!

So when the folks at Ella and Viv Paper Company
(sister company to Reminisce)
contacted me to showcase some of their new
paper collections.....I was HONORED!

Here is what I created with their
Vintage Backgrounds Collections.

I began my creation by pulling out a

12 x 12 Black Canvas by Canvas Corp Brands

and the GORGEOUS Vintage Background papers...

I cut the papers into various geometric shapes

and adhered the shapes to my canvas

using Ranger's ~ Multi Medium Matte.

When dry, I cut a heart from copy paper

and placed it on my canvas.

Then, I chose

The Crafter's Workshop ~ Organic Matter Stencil

and applied

Perfect Paints ~ Perfect Clear Texture Gel,

rather heavy handily!

When it was dry,

I created a heart with some Lacelon,

a vintage plastic lace

and adhered it to the masked heart area.

This is when it get's scary....

I applied a mixture

of equal parts

Perfect Paints ~ Perfect Glaze Medium

and 

Perfect Paints ~ Aged Copper Shimmering Matte Acrylic

and applied it over the entire canvas....

and waited!

After a minute or so

(which seemed like years)

I used baby wipes to remove the excess.

The results are SOOO WORTH the panic!

See how the the paint remained in the crevices!

With my finger, I applied various

Perfect Paints ~ Shimmering Matte Acrylic

Sangria, Bright Gold, Peony, and Red Wagon

to my heart....

which all matched SOOO WELL

with the Ella and Viv's Paper Company

 Vintage Background #6.

I used Faber Castell ~ Big Brush Pen ~ Walnut Brown

around the edges of the heart to create depth!

To accent my canvas,

I pulled out a couple packages of

Petaloo ~ Chantilly Mixed Blooms

Lilac/Purple, Sienna and Mauve

to create my flower cluster.

I added leaves cut from Tim Holtz ~ Tattered Leaves

cut from Canvas Corp Brands ~ Avocado Burlap

accented with

Tattered Angels ~ Glimmer Glam ~ Lime Cordial.

I finished off my canvas with one of my FAVORITE stamps

designed by Yvonne Blair/ Impression Obsession.

I stamped on a piece of

Canvas Corp Brands ~ Tissue Stock ~ Ivory

with Ranger's ~ Archival Ink ~ Jet Black

and adhered to it to my canvas

with Ranger's ~ Multi Medium ~ Matte.

I hope you have enjoyed my creative process,

I KNOW I DID!

A BIG THANK YOU to folks at

Ella and Viv Paper Company

for thinking of me and

giving me the opportunity to create with their

FABULOUS papers!