Mixed Up Mag - Rubber Dance Stamp post

Hello everyone, I am here today for Mixed Up Magazine to share this wooden panel which I created to showcase  a stamp from Rubber Dance called Blossoming Rose. 

It was the quote by Anais Nin included with this image that spoke right to my heart and caused me to want to create something truly special to showcase these powerful words...

I began with a wooden panel which I had painted with some tinted crackle paint, a new-to-me product from Deco Art that I am absolutely in love with!!

And then I decided to take a chance and see if I could stamp and heat emboss on wood like I do on paper... (using Versafine black ink and CTMH detail clear embossing powder), and it worked beautifully.

Look how crisp and clear this image stamped and how the clear embossing powder created raised and glossy lines which are now cells I can fill with color. 

For this next step I decided to use my Silks, an acrylic glaze from ColourArte that is both brilliantly coloured and full of metallic shimmer.

I let the color fill the cells and allowed it to pool and blend all on its own.  Another wonderful quality of these Silks is that the colours layer on top of each other, rather than mixing together, and you can see all the different tones and shades through each layer.

And because these are glazes rather than paints, they tint rather than cover over and the crackled wood grain is still visible through the color...

And finally I added a border of my very favourite Golden fluid acrylic gold paint which, for me, not only finishes off the piece but also makes everything richer.

So I do hope you enjoyed my little photo tutorial, and if this inspires you to create something of your own, please do share it with us in the Mixed Up Mag Mixer facebook group.  And now here are all the products I used to create this tribute to Anais Nin's wonderful quote:

Lynne Mizera
 
For the Mixed Up Magazine Blog
My Facebook
My Instagram

Happy Halloween!!

Well Happy Halloween Everyone - today I want to share with you my first ever Haunted House creation.  

 

These days I am totally addicted to making little houses and everything miniature to go with them.  I use the Tim Holtz Village Dwelling die as a base and let my imagination do the rest.

 

I have discovered that if I give myself total freedom to imagine and create, I will end up with an amazing and unique little structure.

 

It was interesting to me that when I was putting together this wee haunted house, no matter how hard I tried to create a creepy, scary, kind-of-evil little house, it just kept being cute; even the addition of a skull and spiders didn't do it.

 

So what I learned from this is that I do believe that I have more bubbly, positive and happy energy than the opposite, and I just don't want to scare anyone - which is not a bad thing, right?

 

So thank you for popping in today to see what I am up to and to enjoy more Halloween projects, some a lot scarier than mine, pop on over to the Mixed Up Magazine blog today where you will be amazed at the creativity and imagination of my team mates, (I know I was!).

Lynne Mizera, Spooky Paper Artist
for the Mixed Up Magazine Design Team
 


 



 

An Entire World In A Matchbox - Who Knew?

Lately I have been fascinated by all things miniature. There is something about "tiny but perfectly made" that just resonates with me. (I wonder if it is because I am 5'2"? Grin)  Anyway, my art brain has been urging me to create something very, very small and today I am up on the Mixed Up Magazine Blog sharing how I answered that call in a "small" way by creating these imaginary worlds hidden in a matchbox.  I encourage you to pop on over fro a closer look.

 

 As always, thank you for popping in today to see what I am up to and please do leave me a comment if you like what you see!

Lynne Mizera, Paper Crafter, Mixed Media Artist and Woman of the World

Here is a list of the Sin City Stamps I used on this project:
Wing-It Collection
Wildlife Collage Scene Stamp

Tree Woodgrain With Face Stamp

The Easiest Book I Have Ever Made!

Hello and Happy Day Everyone! I am up on the Mixed UP Magazine Blog today sharing with you how I made this sweet little book.  Currently the creative world is in love with bookmaking and I can understand why because I LOVE BOOKS. There is something about the feel of them in my hands and the smell of the paper that just makes me giddy.

But "real" book making is exacting and time consuming (although totally worth the effort) so when I remembered this simple and quick method of book making that I learnt as a child, I just had to share it with all of YOU.  Here is my process and a few tips that will make this book so easy to create that it makes a wonderful family project.

 

I don't know what the official name is but I call this the Accordion Fold method and I learned it about 40 years ago at sleep-away camp, so I had to dig really deep into my memory for all the steps, but it came back to me pretty easily and the finished book is positively Gift -worthy.  The most important item you need is a really good adhesive but the rest of the book can be assembled using anything that works for you; cardstock, scrapbook paper, cardboard covers or leather covers, and you can make it any size you like.  Since I like simple and obvious cutting and folding (which means no crazy measuring) I made my book 4x6 inches.

 

Here is what you will need to make this exact book:

2 4x6 inch board canvases

1 piece of 4x12 inch heavy cardstock scored at every inch (11 scores)

7 pieces of 4x6 inch watercolor or handmade white paper

Distress Oxide Inks

A pretty patterned border stamp (optional)

A good double sided tape (I used 3/4 inch Sook Wang tape )

A good liquid adhesive (I used Beacon 3in1)

Sprays, Stencils and Pastes for your cover (optional)

 

Get your paper ready... to get these wonderfully colored pages first I created puddles of colors of Distress Oxide Inks by smooshing the ink pad onto my craftmat and spraying the "smoosh" with water; next I wiped up the colors using my handmade paper pieces alternating between the different colored puddles.  Really, it was that simple, the paper soaked up the colors like water in the desert, the colors layered rather than mixing to mud, and the best part is that there was no wasted ink and my craftmat was clean when I was done!

 

Make The Accordion Hinge:

Cut a 4"x12" strip of fairly heavy cardstock; score at every inch (11 scores) and accordion fold.  These one-inch strips will show on your pages so I like to stamp them with a pretty pattern in colored inks and it is easiest to do that now before you assemble the hing.  To do that start with the accordion hinge folded so it opens right to left and stamp the top and every right hand side of each fold until the end of the strip.

 

Next turn the hinge over and apply a strip of double-sided tape to the back of each inside fold, remove the backing and stick each fold together, and you will have a hinge that looks like the one below.  This is what you will attach your pages and cover to.

 

Attach The Pages:

I used Sook Wang 3/4 inch double-sided tape to attach my pages to the hinge; apply a strip of tape to each panel that is NOT stamped starting with the underside of the top strip and continuing to the underside of the last strip; then all you need to do is Peel and Stick your pages.

 

When the pages are attached and you open the book the stamped strip will always be on the right-hand side of the page.

 

Attach The Cover:

The cover was created with two 4x6 inch board canvases which I decorated first and allowed to dry thoroughly before attaching. I used Dylusions spray inks and Viva Decore Ferro in Gold and Silver through a The Crafters Workshop stencil to create this look. 

 

 

But before I attach the covers I like to glue a strip of pretty ribbon over the hinge to make it look cleaner... You do not have to do this.

 

To attach the canvas covers to the outside of my book pages I used a heavy-duty liquid glue (like Beacon 3 in 1).  Apply glue to the entire top page of the book and press the canvas board cover onto this page, then flip the book over and do the same for the back.  I like to place a heavy book on top of everything and let it dry overnight.  

 

Once your book is dry it will open and close easily and is surprisingly sturdy.    

 

Decorate And Make It YOURS:

Now you can fill your book in whatever way you like... with photos, inspirational sayings, autographs.  I filled my book with a little inspirational story that came into my life 20 years ago and forever changed me and I used these wonderful stamps from Rubber Dance Stamps called Happy Dancing to enhance and decorate. I hope you will take a minute and read this lovely little story that I am passing along.  

 

 

 

 

 

Now head over to my post today up on the Mixed Up Mag Blog to find out how you can win a set of these Happy Dancing Women! 

Thank you for stopping by today to see what I am up to, I hope you enjoyed my little tutorial and if you did, please do leave me a comment, I read and cherish every single one.

Lynne Mizera, Mixed Media Artist

for the Mixed Up Magazine Design Team

HELP ME! I Have Over 100 Bottles Of Spray Inks! (Sharing My Storage Solution)

Today I am up on the Mixed Up Magazine Blog sharing the system I created for my spray inks.  I am a wee bit embarrassed to reveal that I own more than 100 bottles of ink sprays.  I can justify this incredible number because I use all of them on a regular basis, but I am sure you can imagine the storage nightmare I have created for myself.  I needed to find a storage solution that allowed me to see all my colors, that kept the bottles within easy reach, and most important of all I need a system that was simple to maintain and made it easy to put everything back.  Here is my solution!

I had these shelving units custom made.  I am sure I could have found similar shelving from a store, but these units, that were modified from a unit designed to hold essential oil bottles, have a tiny lip on the front of each shelf as well as each shelf slanting slightly toward the back all of which keep the bottles from falling on my head.  (This is very important I have discovered as I am constantly having tubs of modelling paste falling off the shelving unit on the left side of this photo and hitting me in the head all the time!)

I LOVE my shelves!  They are mounted above the paper-covered spot where I do all my messy work, and they hold up to 98 bottles of sprays.  I have organized my sprays by color families -  warms, cools and neutrals - which makes it really easy to find the colors I want and their compliments.

The best part is that no matter how big the mess I create I can put everything back again onto the right spot in seconds.

But after using my awesome ink storage system for a while I discovered that I was wasting a lot of ink when I was trying to choose just the right color spray.  I would spray the inks onto a paper towel to see the exact shade and to compare colors, and often times I would spray more than once.  I finally decided it would be worth the time to create some sort of visual catalog of my inks. And this is it!

To create this visual index I scored two pieces of 81/2 x 11 inch 90lbs card stock every 1.25 inches.  This created a grid of 35 squares - five rows of seven squares across each page.  Then I sprayed my inks onto some thick card stock, cut out a square that fit into my grid and then numbered and labeled the square.

I added the corresponding number to the spray ink bottle using masking tape and a waterproof marker.  I think the numbering is what makes this system so easy to use.

And finally I added basic color wheel information to the back of each sheet and then laminated them and put them on a metal ring.  They now hang next to my sprays and are a my "Go To" reference sheets for both spray color and color matching!

​​SML

​​SML

Now I can pick the perfect shade of spray every time and I can see which sprays sparkle, which glitter and which just shimmer.  I find I am using all my colors more often instead of always grabbing  my "go to" bottles and that I am can now factor in the glitter qualities of each spray on  my projects.  So What do I do with all these sprays? Well....

​​SML

I use so many spray products in my art journalling and mixed media card and tag making that I have a huge stash of beautifully inked paper towels and I now use inky paper towels in all my mixed media art.  Lately, it seems, every one of my projects start with a first layer of inky paper towels glued to the substrate and I go from there.  Here are a few examples: This is a stretched canvas covered in inky paper towels and a bit of gesso waiting for me to pull out an image using paint and paper...

​​SML

Here is a canvas in progress that started like the one above.   I am use acrylic paint and inks to start pulling out an image of whimsical flowers that I see in this inky paper towel base...

​​SML

And here is a plain old cardboard box which I turned into pretty storage for my open shelves using inky paper towels, stencils and pastes and some stamped images....

​​SML

Can you see all that delicious texture the paper towel layer created? 

​​SML

So that's my share for this month... I hope you enjoyed your peek into this corner of my creative space and I hope that now you too will start using your sprays and hoarding inky paper towels to use in a whole new way!  And here is a little teaser for another blog post:  In my studio space I create storage that is both functional and pretty acting as art work on my walls and visual aids in my studio.

​​SMLSo that

So you will want to keep coming back to see what I share next!
Lynne Mizera, Mixed Media Artist
for the Mixed Up Mag Design Team