It's a Big BIG Mandala Monday

I have to confess this started out as an ordinary-sized Mandala; it grew to cover about half of my two-page Dina Ledger Journal spread; and finally I thought, "Just fill both pages!" So I did. All of which happened on three or four evenings over the course of maybe two weeks.  For the record, most of my mandalas are not completed in a single sitting; I typically have 20-30 minutes at the end of the evening for "freestyle" art and usually I start a mandala or a collage... or a collaged mandala if I can't decide which, lol.

I used a Mini Ink Blending Tool and Domed Foams to apply rainbow shades of Archival Inks in concentric circles; then added black Letter It Fineliner details; then some messy stenciling with Dina's Coaster Stencils. At the end, I got out some Posca Pens and used a detail blender or marker to tidy up some of the rounds if the colors split in a weird way.

The biggest impulse to keep going came NOT from something I did well; au contraire. Actually, it was a Big Mistake! When I was about halfway across both pages... (around where the ring of purple tabs with white hearts are... though they didn't have much detail yet) ...I added those 1-inch blue and green circles with Letter It's Polka Dotting Stencil. And I haaaaaaaaaaaaated them. I added more colors, tried to blend them out, tried to disguise with white, etc... nothing really worked. I closed the book and mentally added this one to the "unfinished" pile. 

But the next time I saw the unfinished spread, I remembered that when you can't manage to cover up something you hate, the answer might be (rather counter-intuitively!) to ADD MORE OF IT. Yep, I know it sounds nuts but... sometimes the "ugly" thing just needs more context. And in this case, I do believe it worked! Which is not to say that I love those dots but... I like them more and was able to finish the page. And thus another Mandala Monday is complete. 

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Sunny Days Ahead

I had a bunch of printed images leftover from the hybrid layouts and cards I made this week using the fabulous digital/printable papercrafting kit my friend, Carol Porter, designed. In case you missed it, this kit is called Tiny Tales Collection: Rainy Night; it’s going to be a multi-part adventure (hooray!) but Chapter One is called “The Walk Home” and is now available in Carol's NaysWorld Etsy Shop; btw, you can get there via the link in her @naysworld8 profile. I recommend hopping over to her account, because both she and her granddaughter have made some FAB creations with this kit that you don't want to miss!

This time I haven't done any digital wizardry, except to print several of the images (the lotuses and the newspapers) at several different sizes. Which, to me, is one of the beauty parts about using a digital kit to do traditional/ physical papercrafting: you can literally make every item as big or as small as your printer (and your 61 year old eyeballs, lol!) will allow. I used a mix of ordinary cardstock and glossy photo paper, which (serendipitously) makes it look like the main character is walking out of the rainy night-time scene and into a bright sunny day.

I, too, will be walking out into a bright sunny day; though in my case it will mostly be to clean our deck and do some yardwork. But hey, I'm not complaining, after a snow-bedecked winter, it's lovely to be outdoors doing ANYTHING that doesn't involve a snow shovel! 

Hope your Sunday is off to a good start! ♥

JB2607: Whimsical Winter Wonderland

"Whimsical" describes something, "Playfully quaint, fanciful, imaginative and slightly odd; often suggesting a lighthearted, unpredictable or charmingly unusual quality not based on strict logic." This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to use that definition and make a Whimsical holiday card… it might be mice decorating the holiday tree, a space-age midcentury modern wreath, some fun little holiday gnomes, or whatever says whimsical to you. Here's my card:

My friend Gina wrapped my holiday gifts in suuuuper-cute Hello Kitty holiday giftwrap; which of course I saved carefully and backed with cardstock. Then I cut out alllllll of those presents, trees and Kitties. (Yes, I am indeed nuts; thank you for asking.) I wanted my whole background to be that pale green snowflake paper, but alas there wasn't enough. As it turns out, I think that was a good thing, because it completely changed how I used the tiny cut out houses and trees ...for the better! The pine tree background is ancient Pebbles; the scrap of plaid is, I believe, Echo Park; and also quite elderly.

JB2607: Walking in a Whimsical Wonderland will run until 6pm (Eastern) on Wednesday, April 8th. Hop over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's amazing card and link up your own.

More Tiny Tales

I mentioned the other day that my friend, Carol Porter, aka @naysworld8 has designed a wonderful digital/printable papercrafting kit called Tiny Tales Collection: Rainy Night; it's going to be a multi-part adventure, with new sets to come; but Chapter One is called The Walk Home and it is now available in her NaysWorld Etsy Shop. Whether you're a digital, physical or hybrid papercrafter, I think you're going to love this kit as much as I do... which is A LOT!

The kit has a dozen gorgeous .png elements which means they have completely translucent backgrounds for effortless digital layering; plus they resize beautifully and look great whether you use them in big or small digital art. But... it's not JUST a digital kit... you can print and cut these images out to use in layouts, journals or cards. BTW, no matter what size I printed them, they looked absolutely perfect on both plain cardstock and glossy photo paper. Case in point:

I made two physical versions of this Let it Rain design: an A2 card and a larger art journal page.

I layered some of the elements digitally before printing; and added others that I printed and fussycut. For the latter, I chose to leave a very skinny white border to get maximum definition. Lotuses are one of my favorite flowers, so I printed and cut LOTS of them. I only used a few in this design, but trust me, you'll see them again!

No matter what size I used or what paper I printed on, the images were flawless, scaling perfectly and printing beautifully. I also made a pretty large all-digital collage... just because I could, lol:

I added a digital background paper that wasn't in the kit; and I also very slightly widened the city street image to fit better in the square format. As you can see, there was NO distortion or loss of clarity. 

More projects to come. In the meantime, you'll definitely want to check out Carol's work (and her sweet granddaughter's who is already quite a formidable designer!!!) via Instagram @naysworld8 as well as her Nay's World Website and NaysWorld Etsy Shop!

Best Reading Quote Ever?

Building a card around Eyelet Outlet Brads and a favorite quote is a great way to make fresh, personal cards for friends and family. Stamps and journal cards abound; or format your fave in a text document, print it out and add it to your card. This card has a base of Book Washi matted with Wood Tape; and helping set the scene for a cozy day of reading, this sweet bear is surrounded by Book Brads; a cute potted Cactus; the tissues from our TP and Tissue Set; a Heart Brad; the Sun and Cloud Set; even a Mini Ladybug has joined the fun.

Cozy Reading Shopping List:

Book Brads

Cactu Brads

Toilet Paper and Tissues Set

Heart Brads

Sun and Cloud Set

Mini Ladybug Brads

Eyelet Outlet has all the embellishments to make your next card even more delightful!

SOS570: White OUT

It's time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this fortnight we'd like to see cards/ projects which contain NO white. 

I recently realized that it's been quite some time since I made a card with one of my favorite die sets: Hero Arts' Frame Cuts Tulips. If this set had coordinating stamps, not only do I not own them, I've never seen them. And while they look perfectly nice just cut from cardstock or patterned paper and pieced; it's actually not terribly difficult to add a sort of ruffley edge just below the top of each flower to make them look a bit dimensional. You can use inks, paints or watercolors, but this time I went with my trusty Tombows in three very nicely blendy shades of pink and two of green. When I had the colors to my liking I took very sharp Prismacolor Pencils in a coordinating shades of dark pink and medium green to emphasize the layers and add a bit more shading. I used gel prints for my label shape and card background; the one looks like it actually has a bit of white on it but NO, I assure you, it's very pale pink. I used a rich rusty orange-ish red for my mat and for the A6 cardbase. I even changed the top thread on my sewing machine from white to light pink before adding some machine stitching as a finishing touch.

SOS570: White OUT runs until the evening of Monday, April 6th. Visit Shopping Our Stash to see our Crew's inspiring takes on this challenge and start planning what you'll link up with us this time.

Tiny Tales Collection: Rainy Night

I'm so proud to announce that my friend, Carol Porter, aka @naysworld8 has designed this ah-mayyyyy-zing digital collection, which is now available in her NaysWorld Etsy Shop. Whether you're a digital, physical or hybrid papercrafter, I think you're going to love this kit and find lots of ways to use Tiny Tales Collections Presents - Rainy Night: Chapter 1 — The Walk Home (Notice it says, "Chapter 1... because it's a growing series… more stories are on the way!)

The kit features 12 gorgeous .png elements which resize beautifully and look great whether you use them in big or small digital art; AND no matter what size I printed them, they looked absolutely perfect on both plain cardstock and glossy photo paper. Case in point:

I made two physical versions of this City Walk layout design; one as an A2 card and one as a larger art journal page, about 6 x 9" including the gel print background.

I layered some of the elements before printing and added others that I printed and fussycut. For the latter, I chose to leave a very skinny white border to get maximum definition.

No matter what size I chose or what paper I used, the images were flawless, scaling perfectly and printing beautifully. I also made a pretty large all-digital collage... just because I could, lol:

As you can see, I added a background paper that wasn't in the kit and I widened the city street image just a tad to accommodate the square format, with no distortion or loss of clarity. I put a bit of a drop shadow on the lady and on the sentiment strips, but otherwise the images are exactly as they came in the kit.

I'll have more projects later this week, so stay tuned. In the meantime, make sure to check out Carol's work via Instagram @naysworld8 as well as her Nay's World Website and find the first Tiny Tales Collection in her NaysWorld Etsy Shop!