Polymer Clay TV & Polymer Clay Productions: Polymer Clay Overlay Technique with Lattice Lace M...

Polymer Clay TV & Polymer Clay Productions: Polymer Clay Overlay Technique with Lattice Lace M...: Want to learn a beautiful overlay technique with polymer clay and our Lattice Lace Mold N Stamp. This creates the most beautiful designs, j...

Fall is Here Yay! And so is a bit more Mixed Media Mojo Play!

Happy First Wednesday of Fall!

Hi! It's Kim from TangledBlueRose here with a Fall project to (hopefully!) get your Mojo going and make a project to share with us, we would loooovvvveeee you to share:)

The season just turned so it is official! Hope your weather in your part of the world is starting to show the season change!

This is a small canvas board, 5x7. I did not want a smooth base so I covered it with a generous layer of my homemade texture paste.  The I added some drywall tape pieces, one is a cool pattern with circles and another the standard grid one. I just pushed the things into the paste while it was wet.

Here you can see some of the layers. I stamped the images then embossed them. I like to emboss them, it helps me stay in the lines while coloring :)  I used Distress Paint and Inks to add the colors throughout this project. Have fun using whatever you have on hand! Just play.

The sunflower image is a digital stamp image transfer. I printed it on cheap dollar store photo paper. Then I pressed clear shelf contact paper onto it and smoothed it out with an old gift card. The contact paper is not paper, it is like a thin plastic. Once I made sure all the bubbles were gone, I put the whole thing into a bowl of tap water. Let it soak till the paper backing of the photo can be peeled up. This only takes a few minutes. I know it seems like an eternity but it is worth it. 

Gradually and gently, using your finger or soft rag, rub off the paper. Soon you will have all the paper removed and it will leave just the image on the contact paper. Let it finish drying now. Once dry if there is still some white on it that you don't want, just wet that section and rub it away. Don't worry if you accidentally rub away some of the image. It is perfect! You just made it rustic and distressed! This whole process works with clear packing tape too, it is just narrow. So depending on your image size, pick what works for you or just simply use what you have on-hand.

Ooooo this turned into a mini tut! I did not intend that to happen, but that is how art goes, right? Sometimes you just aren't sure where you are going, but then, boom! you are there!

Thanks for reading and I hope all of us here have given you a bit off inspiration! There is still plenty of time (even one more weekend!) to play with us on September's Challenge: Fall theme and add some paste. 

Show us your Mojo, let's play!

~kim

I have a few more photos of this project at my blog if you would like to visit. Let me know if you have any questions!

How to Make Leaves-the easy and less expensive way

Hello! Niki here a.k.a Pawsitively Creative.  Today is my first time on the blog as a DT member. Yippee! I created this canvas for my first DT project here at Mixed Media Mojo and wanted to share a brief tutorial about making leaves without a die cutting machine.

Not everyone has a die cutting machine, or the extra money to spend on one. So here is an easy way to make leaves without it. I used a die cutting machine for some of the leaves in my project (thanks to my hubby for an awesome anniversary gift in August) but also used these hand created leaves as well. 

First cut out a piece of paper to form a perfect square. I did mine as a 3x3 inch. Fold the paper diagonally BOTH ways to create an X in the middle of the square. Turn your paper square over and do the same to the back. (This is the black lines in the picture, you don't have to make the lines black. I did so that you could see where my folds were)

Now comes the fun part. Starting at any corner fold a small section over to make a pleat. Continue to fold your paper until you get your leaf the size you want it (the more folds-the bigger the leaf)

When you have all your folds done bring the paper edges of the corner together. 

It should look like the picture above. Apply glue to the inside edges that meet (any glue works as long as it dries fast). 

Now cut your new leaf from the remaining paper. Make sure that you don't cut too close to the bottom of your leaf that is still attached because it will cut the folds in your leaf. 

Viola! You have a pretty little leaf made by hand that you can use on your project for Mixed Media Mojo's September Challenge-Fall theme using Paste. 

The picture above shows 2 leaves that were made from the same paper. You could make 2 more leaves with the remaining corners.

I hope you try this and let me know how it goes. Feel free to ask any questions if you run into a problem or something is confusing. The DT is here to help in any way we can. Carpe Diem! ~Niki

How To - Thankful Leaf Canvas

Barb here.  I am going to do a little tutorial on how to make this Fall Thankful canvas.  It measures 4 x 4. 

The first step is to adhere a book page to the canvas.  Gel medium was used to adhere the page.  A layer of Gesso was added on top.  Gesso gives your bottom layer a “bite” and by this I mean – your other mediums are able to stick to the Gesso. 

Distress paint (gold) was wiped on top.  Another color (orange) was added along the edges.  After the paint was dry I used a background stamp and stamped it with Gold on top of the canvas.  At this point I let everything dry.  Once the ink was dry, the edges were distressed with brown ink. 

Patience is not one of my finer virtues.  I find it much easier to do mixed media stages right before I go to bed – it has all night to dry – and then in the morning – before I head to work – I will add another layer.  I have no choice – I am not near my art piece so I can’t mess it up. 

I have a Silhouette Cameo and I love this machine.  The branch pattern I used for a stencil was cut with my Silhouette out of some scrap card stock I had.  I just tape the stencil to the front of my piece.  I take my embossing paste and I color it with more distress paints.  Smear it over the stencil.  I did not want a smooth texture on my leaves so I used a piece of paper toweling and just pounced it on top of the leaves.  The stencil is still in place.  I remove the stencil and let it dry.  After it was dry, I decided the leaves were not green enough so I painted some more distress paint on the leaves.

I stamped the big leaves in VersaMark on watercolor paper and used brown embossing powder.  I then got out my Twinkling H2O’s (I was surprised – I found them – I usually have put everything in a safe place and they are never to be seen again).  I wet the top of my Twinkling H2O’s to activate them.  I wet the leaves and then started adding swatches of colors.  The colors just blend together and when they dry they have such a beautiful sheen.  I then cut the leaves out.  I colored the edges with one of the colors in the leaf so no white edges would show.  I also cut a leaf with my Silhouette and colored it with the green distress paint. 

I believe at this point is when I realized I had been working on my canvas piece upside down.  How did I notice this – the words were upside down.  It probably did not matter because they really are not that visible but I would have known so now my paste embossed leaves have changed directions and the layout changes.  We move from the left side to the right side for leaf placement.  (obviously at this point my camera broke and I took no more pictures.)  You will have to draw a picture in your mind for each step.

I tore a piece of fabric (this is leftover from a blouse my daughter made when she was in college).  It is a lovely color and I will be very sad when my last piece of this fabric is all used up.  I wrapped the fabric around the top of the canvas.  A small strip of fabric was pulled through the holes of the buttons and tied in a knot. 

The sentiment banner was cut with my Silhouette.  I added a strip of paper behind the sentiment that was colored the same as the leaves.  I love how the different colors show through the openings for the word.  This was a happy accident. 

Now you start playing with your layout.  The base leaf (the one cut with the Silhouette) is adhered to the canvas with gel medium.  The next leaf was added so it just hung over the right edge of the canvas.  Pop dots were put on the back of the Oak leaf and it was put on the canvas.  At this point I just placed my sentiment on the canvas to figure out the placement of the maple leaf.  I putzed and moved and putzed some more.  I cut the stem off the leaf so I could let it sit on top of the sentiment banner.  A small piece of adhesive was put at the bottom of the leaf so the maple leaf has a natural curve to it and the top points are all loose.

The sentiment was added with pop dots and the button added on top of the fabric strip.

I hope you learned a little bit from my tutorial on making this canvas.  I would appreciate your feed back.  I promise next time I will take more pictures.  (my camera really did not break - I probably got up in the fun of creating and forgot to take pictures).

Thanks for stopping by and go – make some fun fall mixed media projects and enter our challenge. 

A Big Welcome to our New DT members!

I just wanted to give a big welcome to the newest members of our team who started with us this month!  

Meet Shery:

I'm a writer/editor by trade and an art/craft junkie the

rest of the time. Before I made the leap to the wonderful world of

paper crafting and started blogging about my cards in July 2013, I

have been running my online businesses since 1997 and providing

services (content writing/editing, ghostwriting, copywriting, web

design/development) to various companies around the globe. I enjoy

card-making but I'm a mixed media girl at heart. Some of my works are

in private collections here and abroad, and I occasionally get

commissioned to create mixed media artworks. I love incorporating

different art mediums to my projects, and I'm happiest when my fingers

are inky, sticky, and stained. My husband and I have been married

since 2004 and we live in Central California with our two German

shepherds and feisty cat.

Meet Niki:

Hello crafty friends! My name is Niki aka Pawsitively Creative (can you tell I love dogs?). I am a Veterinary Technician and have 3 amazing dogs and a wonderful husband.  I have been back in the art world since April of this year after being away for a very long time. Two broken arms really limit what you can do! I started mixed media in April and have loved every minute of it. My style is ever changing but I love anything Steampunk and will try to incorporate it whenever I can. 

I hope that I can inspire just one person to try their hand at mixed media (or more!) so they see it can be a relaxing way to vent and let their creativity flow. Carpe Diem!

Meet Barb:

My name is Barb Housner.  I live in the south central part of the great state of Wisconsin.  I have been making cards for over ten years – I guess – time flies when you are having fun.  I sewed in my former life so your sense of balance and color trains you well for card making.  I love to dabble in Mixed Media.  It is so therapeutic to work on a piece.  You can just keep adding layers and if it doesn’t work out – cover it up with another layer.  I work full time and have two grown daughters.

Meet Kim:

Hi! My name is Kim. I am a mom who still loves to play. Things that make me happy in no particular order: photography, books, stamping, paints, inks, silly things kids do, seeing that a-ha moment in my child. I have always liked creating, inspiration comes from random places. I have no set style and don't really want one, I like to play with whatever catches my fancy:)

Be sure to come play along with us and our September Challenge!  You can get all the details HERE!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Maria

Mixed Media Mojo September Challenge!

Welcome to September!  Thanks to all who played along with our August challenge!  Last month we had a Design Team call and I want to welcome a few new members!

Niki

Kim

Shery

Barb

We are so excited to have these lovely ladies join our Mixed Media Mojo team!  

Before we get to this month's challenge let's announce our August MOJO DIVA:

JULEE

Julee contact me to get your MOJO DIVA badge!

This month's challenge is a FALL THEME AND USE PASTE (embossing, modeling etc..)

Check out what our Design team came up with:

Maria

Amber

Tameko

Shery

Barb

Niki

Kim

Thanks for stopping by to check out our new challenge! I can't wait to see what you come up with!  Come play along for your chance to be our MOJO DIVA of the Month!  Link up your creation below!

Thanks!

Maria