Christmas In July - Mixed Media Canvas Home Decor

Let's celebrate Christmas in July.  

I'm sure many folks would agree that Christmas themed projects are fun to create year round.  

Creative Embellishments has a gigantic and amazing selection of Christmas and Holiday chipboard pieces to help gussy up any holiday project.    Included in the collection is an adorable snowman from the Mr. and  Mrs. Snowman set.   And I totally adore snowmen especially when no real snow is involved. 

These are the Creative Embellishments chipboard pieces I used on the mixed media home decor canvas:

Creative Embellishments - Small Family Border Words

Creative Embellishments Mr. and Mrs. Snowman chipboard set

Creative Embellishments Large Snowflake Set

These started out as two separate 5x7 canvases and were hinged together in order to sit on a tabletop.

I smothered and slathered heavy molding paste all over the canvas to create a wintery frosty look.  

Before the paste dried, I pressed the chipboard words  - joy and peace -into place so the could be flat on the canvas.   These words are from 

Creative Embellishments - Small Family Border Words set.

Then I waited patiently for this to dry.  Quite possibly the hardest part of any project.  

 I'm going to talk a little about the sweet snowman.  

He's part of  the Creative Embellishments Mr. and Mrs. Snowman chipboard set.  Trust me - Mrs. Snowman is equally adorable.  Save her for another project or for a holiday card.  

I used a sponge to lightly dab white acrylic paint onto the chipboard piece - making sure I didn't have the piece totally covered in paint.  I like how the snowman looks with a bit of kraft color from the chipboard peaking through.  

It also helps to blend the untreated chipboard words into the finished decor piece. 

I also added some red trim to the back of the chipboard piece to give the scarf a bold  pop of color while maintaining the cool details of of the scarf. 

The snowflake was also lightly sponge dabbed with white acrylic paint.  These are part of Creative Embellishments Large Snowflake Set.

Thanks for stopping by and joining me for Summer in July.  

Creative Embellishments - Small Family Border Words

Creative Embellishments Mr. and Mrs. Snowman chipboard set

Creative Embellishments Large Snowflake Set

Caught in A Net - Heart Card

I'm headed to the seashore this week for a wonderful, warm sunny holiday.  
In anticipation, I pulled out the seaside collection by Maja Design called Life by the Sea.  I find this collection to be soothing, peaceful and calming.  It's possibly my favorite collection by Maja - timeless, classic and always comforting.  

I think the only time I'm not comforted by the collection is when it's almost gone.  

These are the papers I used from Life by the Sea by Maja Design
Regatta (B side)

Bottle Message ( A and B side)

  

In order to give my card an extra pop of nautical fun, I added a chipboard heart net from Creative Embellishments and a flair button.  I think the embellishments accent the papers perfectly.

These are the products I used from Creative Embellishments: 

"By The Sea"  Flairs

Fishnet Hearts - chipboard

Here is one last image to show the dimension of the card.  

Thanks for stopping by today.  Happy crafting.  

Where to shop? 

You can shop for Maja Design Papers here. 

You can shop for "Life By the Sea" here. 

Shop for chipboard, wood and flair buttons from Creative Embellishments here.  

Creative Embellishments - "By the Sea" Flair buttons

Creative Embellishments  -Fishnet Hearts

Maja Design - Life By the Sea paper Collection

Two Different Looks -Grape Vine Cards With DIY Tutorial

Today I'd like to share a quick DIY tutorial and two different perspectives using the same chippies.  

Scroll down to see my step-by-step DIY tutorial showing how I finished the grapes and grapevines.  

I've selected the gorgeous detailed Grapevines chipboard from Creative Embellishments to use as perfect examples of how the same chipboard can enhance different papers for totally different looks. 

I am also going to show my step-by-step (easy) process to making these grapevines look diVINE - and almost fresh picked straight from the vineyard. 

Below is an image of the fabulous detailed Grapevine chipboard.   The package  has so many pieces in it - such a great value.   I was able to make two cards from the same package.  

Here is the first card.  I picked light cheery purple papers for a more contemporary look.  

The papers are from Stamperia - Stamperia paper - Lilac Flowers collection.  

I layered a grape leaf by using a bit of foam on the back to give it dimension.  

Step-By-Step

It's true -  I cannot paint....At all.  All those little lines demanding I stay neat and tidy and not stray outside them. 

 The problem is really two-fold.  1. I don't want to cover the gorgeous detailing of the chipboard pieces.  2. My problem and frustration also happens when the paints bleed on the chipboard.   

 Now I just the "Jen Cheat Method" of chipboard painting  detailed chippies.   Super easy.

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The image below has the steps I followed to created the look of my grapes and vines.  

Step 1.  I painted the leaves with  Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Forest Moss. Then I added some brown  to the vines and veins on the leaves.  

I used Dark Chocolate Liquid Pearls .  I find that products like Liquid Pearls/Stickles and Nuvo Crystal Drops are easy to use because they have a nice fine tip for detailed work, do not bleed and run and add great dimension to the chipboard.  I am not skilled with a paintbrush so anything I can do to make my life easy is the path I'm going to take. 

Step 2.  Next I wanted to add some highlights to the leaves and leaf veins so I added some light green Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops - Gloss Green Apple.  

Step 3.  I added dabs of Lime Green Stickles Glitter Glue, then after all is dry, I inked the edges of the leaves with Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink -Walnut Stain 

Step 4.  Ahhhhh those ity-bity grapes clusters......have I mentioned I'm not skilled with a paint brush?  Oh yeah, I sure did. So I used the flat end of a wood skewer to dab a dot of paint on the grapes.  Soooooo easy and quick.  

I used Prima Art Alchemy - Metallique Plum Preserves  

 Step 5.  To give the grapes some dimension, I added Stickles to the grapes.  A bunch of grapes on the vine may have different shades of grapes and the different Stickles does just this - adds a few varying shades of grapes. 

I used Stickles Glitter Glue - Lavender  and 

Stickles Glitter Glue - Diamond (Icicle or Crystal).

Make sure to let the Stickles dry!  

Looking for more DIY chipboard painting "cheats"?  

 Go here to see how I made the sea turtles.  

Click here to see the light houses.

Click here to see the Mermaid.

Here is the second card I made with a vintage flair.  

The little "love" tag came from Stamperia's Old Lace 12x12 paper that I used on this project. 

The grapes and vines have a different feel on the Old Lace paper.  

Where to shop? 

You can shop for all your Spellbinders dies right here .

You can click here Tammy Tutterow.

You can shop for Stamperia papers here. 

Stamperia paper - Lilac Flowers collection
Stamperia's Old Lace 12x12 paper
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Paint -  Forest Moss
Ranger Liquid Pearls - Dark Chocolate
Tonic Nuvo Crystal Drops - Gloss Green Apple
Stickles Glitter Glue - Lime Green
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink -Walnut Stain
Prima Art Alchemy - Metallique Plum Preserves
Stickles Glitter Glue - Lavender
Stickles Glitter Glue - Diamond

Celebrate with Patriotic Cards

I'm here to celebrate Independence Day through the July Challenge at Creative Embellishments.  

Creative Embellishments has some awesome patriotic chipboard pieces that helped make my cards especially festive.  The red card is adorned with a hot air balloon from the 4th of July Set 2  painted with acrylic paint and a beautiful Lace Border (#1) that looks like a bunting.

The July Challenge has a patriotic color theme and the twist is color blocking.  You can see all the details of the challenge right here.  

Please join along in the fun and upload your project on the blog post. 

The image below shows the wonderful patriotic chippies I used.  

Creative Embellishments Lace Border #1

Creative Embellishments 4th of July Set 2

Creative Embellishments Patriotic Stars

The blue card uses the Patriotic Star as the focal point.  I embossed the chipboard with white embossing powder and then added a piece of bold red cardstock to make the star pop and really show off the stars and strips of our beloved nation. 

While really not a color blocked card, I think the different patterns have the effect of some blocking.  At least that's the story I'm going with!

This is the second card - with a bold pop of patriotic red.  I used acrylic paints for the hot air balloon. Once again, these are the chippies I used on this card. 

  Creative Embellishments Lace Border #1

Creative Embellishments 4th of July Set 2

The papers used for these cards comes from Maja Design - Life By the Sea collection.  

Where to shop? 

You can shop for Maja Design Papers here. 

Shop for chipboard, wood and flair buttons from Creative Embellishments here.  

Thanks for stopping today.