My Little Boxes of Happy...

Hello and Happy Halloween everyone!  today is the day for my second mixed media project for the Susan Weckesser Creative Team and instead of going traditional Halloween-y I thought I would share this little idea that has been germinating in my brain for about two years now and chose today to be birthed.  I am calling these My Little Boxes of Happy!

The size of an old-fashioned match box, the outside is already a wee jewelled gift...but when you slide back the cover a complete three-dimensional scene is revealed that just makes you smile... hence My Little Boxes of Happy!

I used the Sizzix Bigz-L Die #659447: Tim Holtz Alterations Matchbox and Susan Weckesser's Live in Color paper line to create the matchboxes.

Susan's paper worked like a dream because it is so much heavier than regular card stock, and a bit of Sook Wang double sided tape holds everything in place.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember to stamp background images BEFORE assembling the matchbox.

Susan's stamps are the perfect size for creating these tiny, 1.75"x2.25" diorama's I needed, which I stamped and painted using my new Peerless watercolors  

Another Note: I will be creating a new blog post in November all about these wonderful bits of dye-infused paper.

And when these images were embellished using Ranger's Stickles and Close To My Heart's Liquid Glass, they ended up looking like jewels and made spectacular backgrounds. 

I assembled my wee diorama outside the box on a piece of heavy cardstock, using foam pop dots and Beacon 3in1 glue, and then popped the completed scene into the box base using more Sooke Wang tape to hold it all in place.

A delightful little surprise and so gift-worthy, don't you think?  So thanks for popping in today to see what I am up to .... and as a Special Thanks to YOU my loyal followers... if you send me an email request with your street address (see contact box above) I will send you some matchbox cut-outs so you can create and assemble your own Little Boxes of Happy! 

Lynne Mizera
for the Susan Weckesser Creative Team
 
Susan K. Wecckesser/Unity Stamp Sets I used:
Going Wild
Journal Doodles With A Heart
Granma's Needlepoint
In Circle Me
Create Your Day

Other Susan K. Weckesser Products I used:
Live In Colour Paper Line
ColorBox Mini Pop Inks

And the Rest:
Sizzix BigzL Die#659447
Peerless Watercolors
Sook Wang Tape
Rangers Stickles
Close To My Heart Liquid Glass
Foam Pop Dots
Beacon 3in1 Adhesive
 

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - "W" is for Watercolor

Happy Day everyone and can you believe that we are just days away from Halloween???  Every single person I have talked to this month has said the same thing... "WHERE did this year go?!"  But ooops, I digress....

Today, over at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers we have a Watercolor challenge and did I ever have fun with this one!!

I spent all day playing with my Magenta Nuance Pigment Powders (which are similar to Brushos or Ken Oliver's Color Bursts). I used mixed media paper with a vellum finish and lots of water

wetting the paper before sprinkling on the powder and spraying more water on the paper after adding the powder, watching everything swirl and blend.

I used my trusty heat gun to dry right away the effects I wanted to keep

but allowed others to mix and swirl and soften as they dried on their own.  These are just a few of the amazing backgrounds I created... 

And then for something slightly different I stamped and heat embossed in white enamel overtop of some of the brightest pieces to create this lovely lacey look...

I used these backgrounds as backdrops for just a few of my favorite Unity Stamps' "Lovely Ladies" and created all these cards...

and since I could not choose just one I have decided to share them all...

Unity Stamp: Blooming Rebecca Girl 

Angela Blom/Unity Stamp: Adaline Girl

Angela Blom/Unity Stamp: Mila Girl

Angela Blom/Unity Stamp: Blooming Rebecca Girl

Phyllis Harris/Unity Stamp: Face the Sunshine"

Do pop on over to the Snarky Stampers' Blog to see what the Sisterhood has created for this challenge and we would love if shared your watercolored-creation with us.  You have until Friday, November 11th to link up and we always pick a Queen of Snark and her Princesses!

And "Happy Halloween Everyone!!"

from Lynne Mizera

for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday #386

Well once again time has flown and it's Wednesday again - the day where I always try to spend a bit of time hopping around the globe looking at crafty desks andpeeking into thier lives, as well as sharing my own... Go HERE to find out all about Julia Dunnit's wonderful weekly blog hop "What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday" over at the Stamping Ground... and THIS is my desk this morning...

Messy and hard to see because there is lots I am working on that I am not ready to share just yet. 

Instead I am going to share some detailed shots of the area where I do all my "inky-painty-messy stuff", (or what is now being called Mixed Media.) 

Mr. Awesome found me these solid wood storage units on-line for the incredible price of $50 for both, and the tops make a wonderful work surface for everything messy (hence the paper-covered top and back).  The grey mat is an oversized craft mat that is heat proof and washable and I use it to keep clean and to stop my paper from catching fire from my heat gun... Grin)

I found the grey shelving unit to the left at Winners and spent more than I normally would because of the hooks that I could use for hanging stuff... 

I love having all my mediums within easy reach and easy to see and to inspire me when I am in the creative zone. I also helps me to remember what I have if I can see it!

 

The best money I ever spent was having these wall-mounted boxes built for all my sprays.

There is a small lip on the front edge of each of the shelves which prevent them from sliding out too easily and each shelf is slanted backwards so the bottles settle against the back of the unit and don't fall on my head.  

It is easy see all my colors, to find what I want quickly and, the most important thing, it is REALLY EASY to put them all away again when I am done!

The books hanging on the wall are storage that I created to hold my large and small stencils...

I made them using scrap cardboard and plastic page protectors for scrapbook pages.  The big book has 12-inch pages the smaller book uses 8-inch pages...

And they make it really easy to find a stencil, use it and put it back again so I can find it next time... 

Now I want you to know that I am not this organized in real life!!! All these processes were developed and put into place after I had wasted many hours either a) taking all day to clean up a HUGE mess (which I HATE) or b) trying to find stuff that I NEEDED - grin.  And since I hate wasting creative time for no reason - here are my solutions - which I am happy to share with all of you.

And the last thing I want to share are these wonderful storage pots from IKEA... the hanging bar cost $3 and the pots were $1 each for a total of $10 spent.... I love these pots because I can see everything I have stored in them, and I can throw stuf fin there to get it off my workspace and then still find that stuff again later... Grin.

So that's it for my workdesk area today.  And now the following are some photos of things I want to share from the past week... so feel free to FLY AWAY if this does not interest you... Smile!

I was trying to capture the sun steaming through my studio window lighting up all my hangy things and just LOOK at the great shot I got of both the window and Mr. Awesome raking leaves... 

Thank goodness he loves working in our yard because I don't want to rake up all these leaves!

The rock garden I put in this spring seems to be loving these cooler days of fall and is looking spectacular!

Teh backdrop of all the yellow just makes everything pop!  

I love how Mr. Everet looks so happy being in charge of all the flowers...

And how my wee fairy keeps watch over everything while communing with the metal dove.

and how Huck looks on from his still green patch of Snow-on-the- mountain - the Guardian of the Rock Garden...

and how the wild violets are blooming again ... I'm not sure why but I'll Take it!

And finally... here is what is left of my concord grapes... something came through and ate every single bunch except this one... on the ground 

And that Something was a BEAR! ... I found SIX large piles of poop all over the yard this week... and it turns out bears love walnuts!  So now Mr. Awesome says that I have to pick up all the walnuts - Every Day And I  have to pick them up before the sun goes down because Mr. Bear comes around at night to find more food. 

Crap! Ooops, no pun intended! Grin

So Happy WOYWW from Canada everyone and go HERE to visit more blogs!

Lynne Mizera,

Mixed Media Artist & Bear Avoiding Walnut Hunter