The Odd Whimsy

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

So I have fallen completely in love with Graphic 45's Nature Sketchbook paper. The colors and patterns are so gorgeous and my favorite thing about the paper is the loads and loads of butterflies!!!!!!! I LOVE to fussy cut butterflies and pop them up on my projects to make them 3D. So when I got this paper I instantly wanted to do a configurations box from Tim Holtz. I had never used one before, and this just seemed like the perfect paper to use with it. It also helped that I hit Joann Craft store right at Black Friday time and got a ton of Idea-Ology things to put in the box to help fill it out. I really love the way this turned out! I think what took the longest was trying to figure out how I wanted all the boxes arranged. I think measured them all and cover the insides of the box. I then followed Tim's directions for tissue taping all the seams. I used different things cut out from the collection and some of Tim's Idea-ology line to fill up all ...

So today I am very excited to announce that I have filmed and posted my very first video tutorial to youtube!!! This was definitely a challenge for me, and I still have quite a few kinks to work out in the filming and editing process so please bear with me :) My video today features a card I made with the brand new Graphic 45 Nature Sketchbook! I am completely in love with this collection!! The rich, vibrant colors, the gorgeous patterns, and of course all the butterflies just begging to be fussy cut!! Without further ado, here is the video!!!! Thanks for stopping by!! AR