The Odd Whimsy

Hello everyone!!!! Today I’m sharing a steampunk inspired mixed media canvas. I started out with a 6x6 canvas that I covered in tissue paper and then painted with black gesso.  I then added several layers of Art Alchemy Wax. Added my found things and covered them in black gesso.  After the gesso dried I starting painting the items with different paints from the metallique line.  After I painted my found things I actually changed the color of the background from purple and pink to kind of a copper and gold. Once everything was dry I added some butterflies cut from Graphic 45’s Steampunk Debutante line.  For a final Touch I splattered black paint and added glitter to the butterflies.  Thanks for stopping by! -AR

Happy Saturday!!! October was an incredibly busy month for me, which resulted in very little time to craft. I was about to go a bit stir crazy!!! Today I am sharing a custom order canvas, using the Precious Memories paper from Graphic 45. This paper is some of my favorite, and I have used before for one of my personal canvases.  I absolutely adore the way this one turned out!! Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check out my Instagram, Amrtlj, to see behind the scenes photos and more of my art.  -AR

Happy Friday!! I have some really exciting news today. You can now find my artwork in the relics antique mall in Springfield Missouri! I’m splitting the booth with an incredibly talented friend of mine and I’m so excited for everybody to go and see mine and her artwork. We are booth NN35.  If you’re looking for one of my pieces in particular, all the tags have my initials for my art pieces. Please be sure to check out my friends art as well, it is beautiful and so stunning. You find in the booth some of the pieces that you may have seen here on my blog or on my Instagram. So maybe a piece that you really loved is up for sale! Relics is located off of West Battlefield and Kansas Expressway, behind Grizzly in Springfield, MO.  Hours are 10-6, Monday-Saturday.  Thanks for stopping by!! -AR

Happy Friday!! Today I’m sharing an 8x8 Canvas I have done using some of the lovely Dylusions Sprays and Art Alchemy paints and waxes.  I knew I wanted to use a photo I had taken on my last visit with my best friend and beyond adorable niece (not at all biased right?) I chose to do the photo in black and white as I wanted to use warm tones for the canvas, and the colors in the photo would have clashed.  I started out with an 8x8 Canvas I got from Michaels. I went with one with the deep sides so I would have more room to play, and I love the depth it helps give to my art.  I then began using random items from my stash.  I built the piece up until I was happy with it.  Not gonna lie, it was quite hard to cover this up!! I may have to recreate it and leave it be next time.  Then I covered the piece in about three layers of white gesso.  Once the gesso was dry I began to spray it with Dylusions Spray inks in Cherry Pi...

Hello all!! Today I am featuring a mixed media box that I have been working on for a few days now.  I had this beautiful little Grpahic 45 book box sitting on my shelf for awhile. I finally decided to take it down and do something with it. I love mixed media and decided to use this box as my jumping point.  I started out with covering the sides of the box with Finnabair Art Basics modeling paste thru a Tim holtz Stencil. While that was drying I started throwing on all sorts of found things from my collection. What’s so great about mixed media is you can really use anything! After that was dry, I covered the whole box in black gesso from Art Basics. I followed that with dry brushing some Finnabair Metallique paint in Silver Spoon. I purposely left some black showing thru in places. This gave it an aged look.  After all that was dry I went to town with more of the Metallique paints, and some of the amazing waxes from Finnabair. Here is the finished r...

Good evening everyone!!! I am sharing a video tutorial for a scrapbook layout/canvas I did for a friend that is getting married. I use Graphic 45's Nature Sketchbook for this layout. It went with the picture I was using perfectly! The actual time spent on this was about two and a half hours, and I managed to cram it all into a 25 minute video. If you liked this tutorial please give my video a thumbs up! Thanks for stopping by! -AR

Hi everyone!!  I have been on a scrapbook layout kick the last few weeks, and been working pretty much none stop on them. Only taking a breathe to art journal really.  So my lastest one was made with Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante paper. I LOVE this paper, and it was the paper that introduced me to Graphic 45. I have a pad of the original printing, as well as three of the collectors release.  I went with this paper for this layout because I got the Prima Art Basics Rust and Patina Paste sets. Let me tell you, I had WAY to much fun with those!! Everything will quickly be covered in them.  I had to pull back on things on this one because I wanted to rust and patina all my little odds and ends.  Hope you have enjoyed my work. Thanks for stopping by! -AR

Hi everyone!! Today I am sharing another scrapbook canvas.  The collection I have featured is the beautiful Botanical Tea paper by Graphic 45. I decided the soft colors would work perfect for one of my favorite photos of myself and my seven month old niece.  As you can probably see, I love using lots and lots of layers. I seek out paper that has lots of things I can fussy cut from the collection. This saves me space on storage, and money from spending on all kinds of extra embellishments. Plus I know it all coordinates!! Thanks for stopping by! -AR

Hi everyone!! Today I am sharing a card I made using a Penny Black Poppy Stamp. I adore poppies and when I saw this stamp I had to have it.  I recently took a class at Scrapbook N Memories in Harrisonville, MO (this is an AMAZING store) with my mom. We learned how to do watercolor with stamps, and the class featured the Penny Black Floral stamps.  In the class we used Tombow markers, of which I don't own any. So I decided to try the same techniques I learned, but using the Tim Holtz Distress Stains with the dauber tops. I recently acquired a whole bunch of these (thank you Tuesday Morning!) so I have been looking for ways to use them.    I used my Mini Misti for this technique, which came in handy!! I originally had not intended to offset the outline once I was done, but silly me picked up the stamp. Oops. But I was still very happy with how it turned out!! Here is the finished card!! For this I used the following: Bristol Smooth Cardstock Penny Black Poppy Stamp Tim...

Happy 4th of July all!!! I have spent my day off at my desk, working on another scrapbook canvas. I love to take my scrapbook pages and adhere them to canvas. This way I can see them everyday. Today I have made one using Graphic 45's Olde Curiosity Shoppe. I used an old photo of my Grandfather from when he was about 12 years old. I fussy cut several images from the collection along with the chipboard for almost all of the decorations. I also used some of the Tim Holtz Keys, Keyholes, and gears to give it more depth. I also had a silver distressed butterfly left over from another project that I added to this. Hope you have all enjoyed your Holiday!! Thanks for stopping By! -AR

Hello everyone!! Today I am sharing my latest mixed media project, a victorian goth inspired canvas. I fell in love with mixed media a few years ago. It was right up my alley!! I was inspired to make this canvas as a birthday gift for a friend, who was having a Victorian Goth themed party. Let me tell you, that was absolutely beautiful!! Here is the canvas: This is one of the projects that you see it in your head, but once you start it totally changes direction! I had originally planned to cover the entire canvas is keys, but once I got started I liked it better with only half the keys. The pearls were not in the original design, but became part of it when I was looking for my gemstones. You can watch the whole process from start to finish: Supplies used: Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Paint in Black Soot Strands of pearls from Hobby Lobby (I buy them on the roll from the sewing section) Canvas Old Keys (I got mine from my work. They were going to throw...

Hi everyone!! Today I am sharing a card I made using Lawn Fawn's Sweet Smiles stamp and coordinating die set. I made this card using the no-line watercolor technique. I have recently started using this technique and I cannot stop! I absolutely adore it!! You can see how I made the card in the video below: Please note that I was editing late on little sleep, and referred to this technique as the brushless watercolor technique. Oops. This is why I need copious amounts of coffee at all times. For this card I decided to try watercoloring with Tim Holtz Distress Crayons. I super loved they way the watercolored, and I will definitely use them again for this. I'm fairly new to using Lawn Fawn stamps. I love all the cutesy, and I'm really enjoying using them in different ways. I have never been a stamper but I am so loving it! Thanks for stopping by! -AR

Hi everyone! Today I am sharing my very first shaker card!! I have been watching all kinds of videos on shaker cards and I have just been so inspired to make one myself. So I went to Michaels and Joann and bought everything I would possibly need for fillers (hooray for coupons!!) I was inspired to do a get well card for the 6th challenge on the Lawn Fawn Fanatics blog. I used the Baked with Love and the Treat Yourself stamp sets for this card. I am so happy with the way this card turned out. I love the colors, and I LOVE the shaker element. I will definitely be making more of these cards in the future!! If you want to see how I made this card please check out the video below: Thanks for stopping by! -A.R.

Hi everyone!! Lately I have been playing around with new mediums and techniques, trying to expand my skills and knowledge. My latest discover is the adorable stamps by Lawn Fawn!! I will be the first to admit that stamping is fairly new to me. I have been collecting stamps for years, but haven't really used them. I have been watching TONS of videos on Youtube trying to learn new things. This has been a huge learning curve for me!! But after a couple of days of practice, I think I am getting the hang of things. So here is my first card, using the adorable "Donut Worry" stamp set from Lawn Fawn. The inside is stamped with "(Be Happy)" from the stamp set I started by using a 5.5x5.5 card from Recollections. I cut out some heart paper from Graphic 45 with the largest of the large stitched square dies (in LOVE with these!!) which I then popped up from the card base with some 3D foam squares. The donuts were stamped onto some Bristol Smooth card s...

I realize I have been MIA the last few months. The death of my Grandfather took a much larger toil on me than I realized. I had kind of put away the craft supplies while I dealt with my grief. I am finally getting back into the crafting mood, and have a few projects I will soon be showcasing. I also took my first class with the amazing Dyan Reaveley of Dylusions that I will be Shari g photos from soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding. -AR