Halloween Tag

I'm still around, sorry it's been a while.  Hope you enjoy this tag I made using mostly Graphic 45 papers.  I also used some pop squares to add some dimensions.  This was made for another Scraps of Darkness swap.  The person who I swapped with finished her project first and sent me a impressive pile of free, "swag," to include a set of Dimensions stamps.  So, hoping she didn't send them because she hated them, I used them for the center of the tag.

The tag is done with a mix of orange and purple embossing powder, which I poured in small piles on a piece of paper.  I did keep the extra mixed color, I love Halloween so I'm sure I'll find some use for it.  Though it's now a lot more mixed than below.

Hope you enjoy the close ups and don't mind a short post.  I want to get something up.  If you would like to know where any of these elements are from then let me know.

Vintage Secret Letter Photo Frame Card

I originally thought of creating this with one of Graphic 45s' romance lines, the idea of a secret letter in a lover's card.  However, I wanted to give the idea a test run with this amazing paper that I've had for a little while and have not yet be able to use.  This paper line is from Melissa Francis' "Old World," collection.  I love the grungy/vintage look of the paper.  Melissa Francis creates quite a few decorative type products, her papers and scrapbook supplies are only a small part of what she produces.

Directions on Creating Your Own

Note: I used a Cricut to make this.  You could easily make a square version of this with just a standard manual paper cutter.  If you are particularly talented you could even get the fancier edges.  If you are going to make a fancier card by hand, I would highly recommend making a template that you can trace on chipboard and the paper you are going to use.

Circuit users: If you want it to be large enough for a 4x6" photo and you don't have an extra long Cricut mat then you will need to do some file editing.  I used Frame Card M36C5D.  If you make the card large enough to comfortably fit a larger photo it will extend beyond 12".  I made mine 7" high.  Since I didn't have the 24" mat I used the slice tool to cut the whole thing in half.  In order to slice I had to unattach the score marks and then reattach them once I was done.  I also ended up slices the three parts right down the middle (delete the score lines) so I could cut the different frames.  Be careful when you do this.  The middle and end piece are not identical.

With the cricut I cut halved frame card out of Silhouette chipboard.  I then cut the card cut into thirds out out of the Melissa Frances paper.  You will need two of each if you want to cover the entire thing.

The Front 

The two flowers in the bottom corner are from Prima Flowers "Debutante" set.  The stamp is a Bo Bunny Heritage stamp sticker.  The sticker originally had a large white border which I wasn't a big fan of.  I ended up cutting it down with my scissors.  The clock at the top right is from a ephemera pack.  Unfortunately I did not keep the pack, however if you look around a few bags you should be able to find a clock easily enough.  They are popular in paper crafting.  For the wire I twisted green jeweler's wire with gold.  My wire is just from a beading wire multipack that I found at Michaels, nothing too fancy.  It works well.  If you want smoother curves you will want to twist it around a pen or something similar.  You can carefully make the loops larger as you see fit.  It's good to get a good smooth base though.  I also hold it down with dots of strong, but clear, glue.  I am still experimenting with good glues that hide though.  I will say, the glue eraser that Tim Holtz makes is an amazing tool to have!  If you look closely at these you'll see a spot where I still needed to touch up (which I did) after the photos.

The Front Without the Photo

Inside The Front

Since I found the chipboard to be a little bit of an eye sore, I put some pinkish glimmer mist on the edges.  I did use clear gesso before adding the glimmer mist, but it still warped the card just a little.  I ended up adding the little velcro square after to add the option of closing the card.  The acorn branch near the bottom is only glued down at the very ends.  This gives you an attractive photo holder that also blends into the background.  It is from the same Melissa Frances paper collection as the rest of the card. 

Inside of Back

Originally I was just going to decorate the blank side next to the envelope.  I fussy cut this flower but I couldn't really come up with anything that I liked as a card layout.  So, I decided to just tack down the sides so that it gave another place in which a person could put a photo.  The envelope is also just a cricut file.  I fussy cut the piece the flap folds under from that same paper set.  I wanted to give it a image that stood out, so I used a random section from a much larger stamp and some white embossing powder.  The stamp is Flutter from KaiserCraft.

This shows you the flower without the photo.  I added some light gray ink to try and tone down the background and make the flower pop a little more.  Any vintage looking stamp would work for that aspect.  The flower will cover most of the stamp image.

I hope you enjoyed this card.  It is somewhat simple in construction.  The fussy cutting and waiting on the Cricut were the most time consuming parts, other than design.  If your paper is pretty enough you don't need to add a lot for a striking piece.

Supplies

• Melissa Frances Old World Paper
• This particular paper seems to be out of print, if you can't find it any vintage or grungy collage style paper can give you a similar look.  Tim Holtz has some similar styles.  If you want more flowery then Prima has some amazing papers that would work well with this.  If you know of others feel free to mention them in the comments for others.
• Chipboard or Cardstock for a base if you want something thick and sturdy.  If you use something heavy like bazzel and with color then you can let the edges show.
• Prima Debutante Flowers Item #580742 or any other medium sized matching flower
• Jewelry beading wire (the thinner stuff), twist two colors for a similar look
• KaiserCraft CS853 Flutter Stamp
• White embossing powder (I used Stamp it Up brand of fine powder)
• Bo Bunny Heritage Stamp Stickers #17902890
• Glimmer mist if you don't use pretty cardstock
• Clear gesso if you are going to glimmer mist anything.
• Small piece of velcro or a snap to hold the front closed if desired.
• Clock Ephemera or a clock cut from some heavy paper 

Amazing Little Cards

One of my favorite swaps on Scraps of Darkness/Elegance's Facebook is their Artist Trading Card swap.  ATC's are standard trading card size, in theory, at 2.5" x 3.5".  I have made a few ATCs at this point and they never stay neat and little.  Here are some of the ATCs I have created.  I love making them and if you would like one drop me a little Fiverr request.  I did start making some ATCs for a test sale at my garage sale this weekend.  If they don't sale then I will probably make an Epsy account and you can find already created ATCs there.  I do like custom making them to fit the receiver though.  I have tried to get more personal with them as I go.

In no particular order, here are some ATCs.

Once Upon a Story with Graphic 45.  I love fussy cutting and I really enjoyed making this one.  The wings on the butterfly have Reneaboquets Shattered Glass glitter.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but the fairy wings have dots of brick colored embossing dots.  I loved how the wood grained scrapbook paper (I think it was from Michael's) adds to the rest of the ATC.  

Grandmother and Smiles.  I made these specifically for a crafter that I swapped with who was also a grandmother.  I wanted them to be somewhat matching, but also unique.  The papers were just scraps from my stash.  The Yellow flower came from a Quick Quotes kit that I took apart.  The black and gray flowers are from Michael's.  The butterflies are stickers that I added to cardstock and then cut out.  The black and white mini hearts were scraps from another project where I made a heart boarder.  I thought, "well, lets keep these, I cold put them on something."  I am very much a, "waste not," boarding on hoarder type crafter.  Sometimes it makes my craft room a pain to organize, other times it works out.

Graphic 45 Mime.  The original paper I got this from (Graphic 45) was all monochrome.  I wanted to play with my Chameleon Pens.  I colored all of the yellow and the red.  The little black flower was just something from my stash and the Admit One charm is from Tim Holtz.  I just used some jeweler's wire to make it a small necklace.  The little ticket is 7 Gypsies.  I was happy with how this came out and I hope to use my Chameleon Pens more in the future.  

This is a quick one I put together for a girl on a house cleaning and organization group I have tried to get going on Facebook.  I thought maybe a little incentive to get some participation.  The recipient put pictures of her kitchen in my group so I tried to match colors on a sign she had hanging up for decoration.  

Love and more Graphic 45.  I had some Valentines papers and was sending cards to a recipient who had recently gushed about how supportive her significant other was of her crafting.  So, I made her some grungy romance ATCs.  The butterfly and rose come from Michael's generic embellishments they sell in their discount area.  The background of the Love (only) card and the little clocks come from Tim Holtz.  

A peek-a-boo tree,  This one was experimental for me.  The tree is hand drawn on spray misted ATC canvas.  The tree was drawn with a Chameleon pen.  I did draw the tree in it's entirety before overlaying the simi-transparent paper.  You can see the tree behind the paper a little better in the actual piece.  I am still working on that art photography thing.  This probably would have worked better and more dramatically on a larger canvas.  Working with the wire in such a small setting was pretty challenging.  I am pretty happy with it, though I can't say it's a favorite of mine.  I will probably redo with more details on a larger canvas at some point.

My first ATC.  I really wanted to add some hand painted and slight surreal feel to it.  I added some bits from an ephemera pack I had bought and sent it along.  The recipient seemed pretty happy with it.  I want to add painted elements and more surrealism to ATCs in the future.  So, stay tuned.

Let me know what you thought.  Any input is always appreciated.  If you are a Fivver customer then please let me know if any of these styles suit you.  Also, stay tuned for more pages on ATCs.

First Pocket Letter

My First Pocket Letter

I created this as a swap for Scraps of Darkness/Scraps of Elegance's Facebook page.  It's a little bit of a "use up some scraps," type of, so I am not going to post a long supply list for this one.  Just wanted to show off some photos.  This is a mix of quite a few different brands.  Purple is Donna's favorite color so I went with that.  I wish I had more matchy purples, tone wise, but I am still pretty happy with it.  Hope you enjoy.

Create: I think this is my favorite ATC in this set.  I love that butterfly.  The clock is covered with spray mist and I added some gray powder chalk ink to the bottom.  The effect looks a little more colorful in real life.  At some point I will learn to take better photos.

Spread Your Wings: because this wouldn't be a project from me without some fussy cutting.  I accidentally cut the stamp behind the birds tail originally.  Thankfully I was able to carefully glue it in and make it look nice and complete.

Hello: I wanted this to read a little like a letter, so I started off with Hello.  I also made this ATC individually for a challenge at Renea Bouquets, which is where the butterfly came from.  If you like glitter then I highly recommend checking out her chunky glitter glass.  I don't even like glitter much, but find working with her chunk glitter glass fun.  It's a interesting way to add a unique touch to your projects and less messy.  She also makes embellishments, like the butterfly.

Inspire: A simple layout, but it was a little challenging since I wanted the wings to stick up.  I had to cut the plastic carefully, fold the wings, and squeeze them through.  I was pretty happy with the end result, though the photos I tried to take of the, "3D," effect came out kind of blurry. 

Pocket letters are a fun way to send crafts and greetings.  They are also a good way to use up scraps since each section is pretty small.  I have seen Pocket Letters where all of the squares have the same base paper and they look nice as well.  So, if you want a unique gift or want to swap some art this is a great way to do so.  

As always, critiques and comments always welcome!  If you want to know where any particular part of this came from let me know in the comments.  I am pretty sure I could direct you to most of the bits and pieces used.

Mini Layouts!

I made these after trying to think of something I could throw up on Fivvr to maybe help fund my addiction a little.  No one has bit, but I think they are still a neat idea.  This would be a great gift idea for someone who doesn't want a huge 12x12.  Though, putting a 12x12 in a frame is also a great gift.  I used the passport photo setting for the picture and tried to mimic common scrapbook layout styles.

The cute pre-made page or Kiwi Lane look:

The Mixed Media Page

More Mixed Media, but darker

Simple and Basic 

Feel free to make your own and post pictures in the comments (if it lets you, I should look) and if you don't feel that artistically inclined then check out my page.  

Fivver Mini Layouts

Introduction and First Layout

Introduction and Halloween Mixed Media Layout.

Hello, my name is Tosha and I am a hobby scrapper who also likes to experiment.  After being asked rather or not I had a blog I decided to make one.  Feel free to scrap-lift, but please credit back.  when known I will give products used, I have a big stash of thing I've had for quite some time.  I will have some step by steps on newer things, but things I've already created will not have step by step photos.  The biggest thing here is that you get to see my experiments, both good and bad.   Not everything here will be pristine.  So, take what types you like and learn from my mistakes.

Without further ado, a recent and favorite layout of mine.  I did this from the October mood board offered by Scraps of Darkness/Elegance which you can see here: October Mood Board.  I am happy to say I even won the challenge last month and $20.00 from the store.  I am a fan of their kits and many items below came from various kits.  I will link the names as I recall them.

The inspiration for this was the lady with the umbrella and dark dress on the mood board.  I wore a costume with a dark dress (the photo) in which I tried to Cosplay the little girl below.  She was just a image I found randomly online years ago. If anyone knows who drew it I would be happy to give credit where it is due.  The term, "express yourself," is similar to being able to free yourself, but through costume.  I love to dress up and Cosplay, so it was very fitting for me.  The prim and proper lady (which I am not in real life) thinking of that time where she gets to be what she wants.  Hopefully she keeps her dark thoughts as a costume only ;)

Detail 1, The pretty Lady:

The pastel tentacles were stamped using chalking inks.  I used Quick Quotes Powder Puffs Caribbean Blue and Brandywine as well as Prima's Blossom Tree.  I stamped them onto some pale tan/manila looking cardstock that I had.  Even though the red and brown tentacle at the top looks like it has white dots (at least on my computer and a little bit on the layout in person) I actually put it on the same cardstock. 

I did take some time to pick out all of the extra little chipboard bits that were left in the chipboard from the cut the studio made.  I then gessoed (that is a word, right?) the Express Yourself lady from Blue Fern studios with white gesso.  I sprayed her with Simply Sheer Very Purple mist and Dragonfly glimmer mist from Tattered Angels.    I did the first layer of the Express Yourself letters the same way.


The flowers are from Prima's Aquarelle set.  Before sticking them on I shaped the green jeweler's wire and glued it down with some Beacon 3-in-One.  If you just run the wire across the glue bubble you can usually get a good enough coating without leaving globs of glue everywhere.

Detail Two: Express Yourself

To add the red to the Express Yourself, which I sprayed with the pretty lady, I used Ranger's Garnet Liquid Pearls.  I just squeezed it out of the tube onto the chipboard as well as on the edges of the butterfly.  Before doing the butterfly tips, however, I scuffed some red ink from a Color Box Petal Point Provence set.  Mostly the darker red color, but a few small smudges of the brown.  It doesn't show up much in the photos, but I also lightly touched up the lighter side of the butterfly's edges with the chalk inks I used on the tentacles.  You can kind of see hints of the teal and the pink.  I randomly tore the paper and tried to match the color changes with the tear.  You can see a small amount of pastel chalk ink on the edge of the black roses.

Detail 3: Black Rose

These roses were originally white paper stencils by Heidi Swapp in the Lace Paper Pack.  They are pretty papery.  I originally used it to make a negative white rose design with modeling paste (with the flowers as a single piece) on a Big Benefit Board I made for the Totally Tiffany Organization group I am in.  I then made another layout (I will post both on here eventually) in which I made the same relief, but with black modeling paste.  I could tell that the flowers couldn't handle being a stencil much longer, so I cut up the stencil and laid them on here in various places.  That is what gives them their thick and textured look.  I will try to post the other layouts soon so you can see what the stencil left behind and decide rather or not you want to take the same route, if you use this technique.  I really like the texture of the roses.  You could just paint them with a couple of layers of modeling paste verse filling in all of the negative space of the stencil if you want.  I use a artists knife when I spread mine which also adds a little of the line texture that you can see.  The black and white skull paper was just a scrap that I had of some Bella Blvd Funny Bones paper.

Detail 4: Butterfly and Skull

The Skull in the glass is a cutout from Graphic 45's Rare Oddities.  I "fussy" cut it out of sheet #4501142.  Be forewarned, I have been on a fussy cutting kick, so you will see it on a fairly regular basis.  I love how it looks, though it can be a time consuming process.  Take your time and buy small scissors.  I own a few pairs, but right now my favorite are a pair of Ek Success Cutter Bee scissors.  I also have some generic tiny embroidery scissors that I use for really small cuts.  An X-acto knife (ro something similar) will work wonders as well.  For this glass skull I didn't have to get too fancy.  Most of it was a simple rounded edge.  I also cut out the tentacles after I stamped them.  When I did the red edge on the middle pastel tentacle, I just touched some dark red ink from my Color Box Petal Providence set.  I just guestimated where I thought it would land.  The top tentacle is all red and dark brown ink from that same set, no pastel chalk ink.  I brushed the dark brown and red on the top half of the small pink butterfly and used the same Ranger Garnet Pearl paint for the edge of the body.  The antenna are jeweler's wire, the top red and the bottom one is purple.  

Supplies used:

Papers:
Graphic 45 Rare Oddities #4501142
Bella Blvd Funny Skulls
Moxxie's Zombie Attack Hollowed Ground (to include the red blood spot paper strip you can see on the full layout page).
Echo Park's Arsenic and Lace Large Demask#AL71002
Light colored cardstock for the stamping

Embellishments  
Prima Flowers Aquarelle
Prima Flowers Evita-Elsa (brown butterfly)
Blue Fern Studios: Express Yourself Chipboard
Heidi Swapp Lace Paper Pack 
I think the butterfly came from a K&Company Smash bag of mixed butterflies.  If anyone recognizes it and can let me know, I will appreciate it!
Purple, Red, and Green Jeweler's Wire

Inks and Pastes
Quick Quotes Powder Puffs Caribbean Blue and Brandywine  
Prima's Blossom Tree chalk ink
Tattered Angels Simply Sheer Very Purple mist and Dragonfly glimmer mist 
White Gesso
DecoArt Media black modeling paste
Color Box Petal Point Provence set, Merlot and Chestnut (I think)

Feel free to comment below!  I hope you enjoy.  If you have any tips or constructive critics I am always happy to hear.