Brown Bag Bokeh Background Bookpage Birches

Dina took us to a fun Etsy shop for inspiration for our Mixability Challenge today, Naoko Stoop makes some really beautiful brown bag collages. I was inspired by the look of her trees in several of the pieces so that's the direction I took.

Here's my final piece.
Stamps: None Paper: Early Espresso, Brown Bag, Bookpage Paper Size: A7 Ink: Acrylics, Gelatos Accessories: Gesso, Paintbrushes, Gelato-Blue, White Acrylic Paint, Acrylic daubers: TH Spun Sugar, Adirondak-Espresso, White, Blue Techniques: Bokeh Background, Tearing

Read more:    http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2609663#ixzz3SIic4eA2

I started with pieces I cut from a brown lunch bag that I coated with Gesso using a foam brush. 

I tore book pages for the birches and used a dauber along the edges first.

I used a dry brush dipped into the dauber to add the horizontal bands on the trees.

I painted white acrylic snow drifts.

Then I started my Bokeh background. I first daubed circles of blue Gelato that I smudged with a damp finger. Next I daubed Tim Holtz Spun Sugar on.

To complete the Bokeh I used light blue and then white daubers. I also added white paint on my birches. I adhered them by rubbing Gesso to the back sides and pressing them down onto my bag.

Embossing Folder Stamping

     This is such a fun, easy, but beautiful technique-embossing folder stamping.  I played around with both inks and acrylic paints today.
The first card is very flat and mailable.....the second not so much!

This one uses Tim Holtz Distress Inks along with Midnight Muse. I pressed the ink pads (have the TH spots) directly onto the ef before spritzing liberally with water.Stamps: Verve-Prov 16:9 Paper: Bermuda Bay, Watercolor Paper Paper Size: A2Ink: Midnight Muse, Distress Inks: Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Fired Brick, Peacock Feathers, Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade Accessories: The Paper Studio Arrows ef, Stampamajig, Spritzer Techniques: Embossing Folder Stamping

Read more:    http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2606098#ixzz3RGe7lYqz

For this one I inked a script ef with acrylic paint daubers and pressed the front of my card into the ef after misting with water. I thought the colors looked kind of beachy, so I made a collage with some natural items and beach glass.

Stamps: Verve-Hebrews 11:1 Paper: Natural Ivory Paper Size: A2 Ink: Soft Suede Accessories: Stampamjig, Spritzer, Early Espresso ep, TPS script ef, Versamarker, Paint Daubers: Adirondak-Espresso, TH Antique Linen, Ranger-Weather Vane, Spritzer, Burlap, wood, shell, beach glass, squash tendrils, Momenta wood embellishment, Glossy Accents (to adhere items) Techniques: Embossing Folder Stamping, Sponging, Embossing, Omitting With Markers

                                                   Read more:    http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2606121#ixzz3RGfGshNe

Whipping Up Some Kitchen Magic

Sabrina sent us to our kitchens today in the Ways to Use It Challenge and asked us to use a kitchen product based technique on our cards. I've been trying to go back to my Pinterest boards and use some of what I've pinned and I remembered this tutorial on aging tags with coffee. I didn't go back to the tutorial and read it again, just sort of winged it, but it was the source of my kitchen inspiration. I grabbed some tags, instant coffee granules as well as some coarse salt. Later I threw in some ground cinnamon along with sprinkled cocoa powder.

For this one I added granules to a card wet only with water

Dipping a tag in the coffee solution

Here's my wet tags with the salt sprinkled on

I took an empty toilet paper tube and dipped it into the coffee solution and "stamped" onto the tags

Ready to dry....I was impatient so I stuck them in my warmer drawer and when I went back and reread the tutorial, she put hers into an oven at 250

I can't stand to waste anything, so since I still had solution left over I went down and grabbed a big sheet of watercolor paper and some book pages to play with. I filled a mister with the coffee solution to spray a finer mist.

Here are the dried tags...see how well the salt worked!

Stamped a bunch of rings on this piece!

Lost the definition of the rings so went back onto the dried tags and added more stamped rings.

Here's my finished card. Can't wait to make some more with the other goodies I created, but I've got much to do today and I've run out of "me time."

Same card viewed from the side.

Stamps: Hardwood, Fiskars:Perfect Blend Paper: Early Espresso, Mocha dp, Soft Suede, Natural Ivory, Coffee Sleeve, Tag Paper Size: A2 Ink: Close to Cocoa Craft, Early Espresso Accessories: Twine, Hearts punch, Hexagon punch (to notch end), TH Ribbon Flags die Techniques: Salted Background, Coffee Staining, Polished Stone
*All SU unless otherwise noted
                                                           Read more:   http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2604849#ixzz3QtgyaEaT

This is an art journal page I made using one of my tags and one of the stained book pages. To the tag I added a strip to cover the writing (this was a recycled Goodwill tag) and then used color pencils to add "coffee" words. I also used the direct to paper technique to add Sepia along the edges of the tag and the wood grain strip which I also distressed lightly. Stamps: SU-Perfect Blend, alphabet blocks Paper: Journal Page, Book Page, CitraSolv Magic paper, TPS-kraft dp, SU dp, Goodwill tag, Placemat, Soft Suede Ink: Versafine Sepia and Onyx Accessories: American Craft Twine, Spritzer Techniques: Coffee Staining, Distressing, Direct to Paper

Read more:    http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2605228#ixzz3Qzezmwxy