It's that time again... my quarterly Paint & Texture column is up over on the StencilGirl blog. This month I'm using my Boho Faces stencil with paint and stitching to show how thread (and a few beads, of course,) is a great way to add texture to your artwork. Head on over and check it out! I've got a free photo tutorial showing how the painted and embroidered face focal point came together.

And if you like this project, you may also be interested in my next Live online class, Make a Statement - it's this Saturday, April 24th, at 1pm Eastern time (but you can watch the archived version at any time as long as you register in advance.) The samples are mixed media statement jewelry, but you can just create the components and use them for other projects if jewelry isn't your thing. Hope to see you there!

It's Topflight Stamps 4th birthday! I'm joining in the celebration along with a group of fabulous designers to share handmade birthday cards that showcase many of the unique products available at Topflight Stamps (including my stamps and embossing powders!) I hope you'll enjoy my cards and tutorial and then continue to hop along with us to see the variety of fantastic products from this talented bunch. (And make sure to stick around to the end to find out how you can win a gift card.) Updated... winner is on the bottom of the post!

If you're following in order then you should have arrived here from Rachel Greig's blog, but if not - no worries! Get the full list of participants and links to their blogs at the bottom of this post.

For my contribution I've used my stamps from PaperArtsy and my Boho Blends embossing powders from Emerald Creek to make a pair of mixed media birthday cards.

I put together a little tutorial to show you how I made these and which products I used to achieve the various effects. Ready to get started?

​Step 1: I started out with Neenah Extra Heavy folded cards and used Lavinia Acetate Circle Masks along with Prism dye ink from Hunkydory and a blender brush to put down three circles of ink on the front of my card.

Step 2: I traced the Lavinia masks onto plain copy paper and cut out the circles to create masks for my stamps (the acetate masks will work too, but they're a bit thicker and so it creates a bigger gap between the stamp and the edge of the circle when you stamp over the mask. The thickness of the acetate is perfect for inking, though.)

I laid the paper masks over top and matched them up with the inked areas, then used designs from my different PaperArtsy stamp sets, stamping repeatedly, to fill the inked circles with pattern. (The set in the photo is my EGL10 set - Japanese Patterns. I also used EGL11 - Suzani Florals as well as my new EGL13 set, Botanical Illustrations.) I stamped with a combination of the Prism Dye Ink Pads as well as Hero Arts Ombré pads.

Step 3: I took the Prism Glimmer Mist in Glamour Gold and instead of spraying, I opened the bottle and used the tube for the sprayer as a skewer and drew rough outlines around my circles with the gold ink.

Step 4: I used bits of washi tape along the edges (two of the designs by Tracy Evans for AALL & Create) and then cut circles from the Colorful Circles washi from l'Encre et l'Image and adhered them onto the card (I used a glue stick since handling them during cutting takes away a lot of the stickiness.)

Step 5: For each of the cards, I chose one of the frames from my new EGL14 (Ornate Frames) stamp set and stamped on watercolor paper with embossing ink and then used some of my Boho Blends embossing powders to heat emboss the images. (For this piece I used Kano Green and Moroccan Sun.)

Step 6: I added sentiments to the birthday cards by using a small alphabet set to stamp my words, then I cut out my frames and edged them with more Prism ink (I used Smoked Paprika here) and then adhered them onto the card with Hunkydory Finger Lift Double-Sided tape.

Step 7: To finish, I added some self-adhesive rhinestones (Hunkydory Diamond Sparkles Glitter Gemstones - Gold Sparkles) onto the main frame to highlight my stamped sentiment and then just used a regular pen to scribble borders and add a few marks.

Voilà! Completed mixed media birthday cards. I love the look of layering ink, stamping, embossing, and washi tape all mixed together to highlight the celebratory sentiments and I'm excited to have these ready and waiting for the next time I need a birthday card :)

I hope you enjoyed both the cards and the tutorial... here are a few more close-ups so you can see both of the completed cards.

My latest live online class is now up and open for registration. "Stick, Stamp, Paint." is a fun 2-hour mini workshop hosted in partnership with Country View Crafts in the UK. The class, which is in a private Facebook group, will be live on June 6, 2020 from 1-3pm London time (8-10am Eastern in the USA.) 

We'll use inks, rubber stamps, collage, paints, and mark making to create layered mixed media artwork featuring a variety of fun techniques. I hope to see some of you there!

Just popping in to let you know that my quarterly column on the StencilGirl blog is up! Today I'm sharing part of the process for making this mixed media piece, which includes stencils, stamps, heat embossing, and water-soluble cold wax mixed with acrylic paint and water-soluble wax paints. Head on over to see more photos and get details on how it all came together.

The original artwork from this post is available for sale in my shop.

Hi all! It's been a while, but I was finally able to finish up a tutorial I've had in the works for about the last two months. I've used kraft-tex from C&T Publishing as the basis for a fun new mini accordion art journal. There's plenty of collage, some stamping and heat embossing, and even some stitching.

Here you can see a peek at the finished outside of the journal, but be sure to head over to view the full tutorial for details and step-by-step instructions and photos.

I have a new tutorial available today over on the StencilGirl blog! I'm sharing one of the ways I like to art journal on top of layers of paint and images left over from cleaning off my stamps and paint brushes on the blank pages of my journal.

If you'd like to see more on how this page came together, make sure to head over to StencilGirl Talk to see my step-by-step photo tutorial.

Hi all, it's time for my quarterly column on StencilGirl Talk - I have a new mixed media project and tutorial available showing how I complete this piece, "Butterfly Medallion," from start to finish:

You can head on over to see the whole thing, including close-ups of the finished piece. It's also linked from my Tutorials page.

For those who might be interested, the original is also now available for sale in my shop.

Hi all! It's been a while... in the last two months I've started a new job, done a little traveling, and moved from Utah back home to Northern Virginia. It's been a bit crazy, but I did manage to squeeze in the time to work on a new project for my quarterly Paint & Texture column on the StencilGirl blog.

This month's project includes a step-by-step tutorial that shows how I made this layered and textured mixed media piece using paint and stencils, collage with a bit of frottage, and embossing powder using both Baked Texture and my new Boho Blends from Emerald Creek.

Make sure you head over to the StencilGirl blog to see the tutorial as well as close-ups of the finished artwork.

(Sold - thank you!)

You've probably heard or seen me talk about this at some point already, but I'm thrilled that my new line of products with Emerald Creek is now starting to ship! The new goods are going to a few small independent stores right now and I should get the order for my shop soon - I anticipate being able to start shipping sometime this month. (I'll open pre-orders when I know better when I'll get my order.)

What's included in this new line, you ask? I have eight new embossing powders called Boho Blends and seven new crystal and semi-precious gemstone embellishments called Boho Bits. All of them are inspired by my travels around the world... from the colors, sights, and experiences of everything from the Spice Market in Istanbul to the mud brick houses in rural Uzbekistan to the local jewelry worn in Myanmar, China, and Turkmenistan.

These were officially released at the Creativation trade show in Phoenix in January and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be there on the floor, in the booth, and at the demo table. In my demos, I shared some of my favorite techniques using both the Boho Blends and the Boho Bits and since coming home, I've been working on re-creating those demos as in-depth videos so that everyone can see them.

Without further ado, there are two new video tutorials now available; the first one focuses on the Boho Blends and in it I share my faux "painting" technique. The second showcases the Boho Bits (and of course there's some embossing too,) and shows one of my favorite ways to use them - creating a custom medallion embellishment.

​While the new products aren't widely available yet (I'm waiting on pins and needles for my order to ship!) I couldn't wait to start sharing ideas for using them... hopefully you'll be as excited as I am and ready to put them to work in your own mixed media projects, art journals, and paper crafts over the course of the next few weeks.