Please Respect My Work...

All of the cards, layouts, handmade items and art work displayed on this website are copyright to me, Lynne Mizera. Of course I hope to inspire and encourage you and would be morethan happy for you to use any of my work to that end; however, please respect me and my work and do not directly copy any of my projects without crediting me or enter any of my work into any magazines or competitions without my express written permission. All my cards, layouts, projects and art work are not to be used by any commercial enterprise for any financial, marketing or commercial gain.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: "N" Is For Naughty Christmas

Hello and Happy CHRISTMAS everyone!! I love that I am ending this year of snarky, card-making fun as  a Sister in the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers with the (now) traditional Naughty Christmas Challenge... and isn't it just fitting that this is also our 100th challenge!  
 
And here is my creation using the JJ Christmas Box digital stamp from Bugaboo Digi Stamps - where they just happen to be having a 50% off EVERYTHING sale until December 31st (just Sayin').  
This was a pretty easy to make card since all I did was print off the image, color it in using my Copic markers and cut and mount it on a card base... and of course I added a wee bit of glitter with my gold gel pens... I think she kind of looks like me! (grin)

This challenge is open for an entire month so the design team can spend the holiday eating and drinking well into the new year... so you have until Friday, January 19th to link up your Naughty Christmas creation, and please do consider joining us because we love seeing your creative, snarky brains in action.  Also, don't forget to pop on over to the Sisterhood to see what Naughty creations the team has made for us as we ring out 2017!
Thanks for popping in today to see what I am up to and wishing you and yours a WONDERFUL
Christmas and holiday season.

Lynne Mizera
for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers
 

  







Out of Christmas Wrap? Then Let's MAKE SOME! A Tutorial by Lynne Mizera

 
Hello Everyone!  Today I am here to share my last STAMPlorations tutorial for 2017.  And we are Down to the Wire with Christmas Eve just around the corner, which is always when I run out of wrapping paper!! So I want to share with you how I quickly turned some brown parcel paper into my own personalized Christmas wrapping paper using my stencils with acrylic craft paint and a foam brayer.
 
It only took me about 45 minutes to make one 4-foot piece and three 3-foot pieces of customized paper and it was enough to wrap all of these gifts, so let's get started...
 
Now before I get into it, here are a few things I have learned along the way... 
1.  If you don't like your pattern you are  NOT finished yet... just keep layering.
2.  Gold fixes EVERYTHING!!
3.  Clean the sponge brayer between EVERY color application.
4.  You only your pattern to run down the centre of the paper, the edges are usually cut off so don't waste time and paint going right to the edge.
 
Now, for my first attempt, I tried sponging on red spray dye ink over top of this Holiday Words stencil, but it was too much work and I did not really like the look - there had to be an easier way...  and there was, the foam insert for my brayer!!
  
My brayer came with three rollers, a hard plastic solid one, a softer roller that I  use for ink and this sponge roller which I had never used before now... and now I know it is for pushing paint through a stencil evenly and QUICKLY... (who knew??)  While it too me almost 15 minutes to sponge this 4-foot piece of paper, it only took me five minutes to add this coat of white paint over top of the red ink with my sponge brayer!
And the coverage was so smooth and even.  Now you can make yourself crazy trying to brayer each image perfectly and even, but Why?? Because this is wrapping paper so the overall effect is what  really matters, not the individual details... and remember this will probably be going into the garbage after the gift is opened.

This piece was still not quite bright enough for me and I wanted those words to really pop, so I brayered a strip of white paint down the centre and re-did that stencil in a dark red over top so the words popped right off the paper, and then I cleaned off all that red paint in my sponge by running it all over the top and bottom of the paper to make it a bit more red...
 
Now this is the look I was going for... and you will notice that nothing is perfect or lined up and the images are not even straight and it still looks GREAT!  this piece of wrapping paper took me about 30 minutes to complete, but now that I knew what I was doing the next three pieces took only about 15 minutes.
Using the sponge roller was exactly like using a paint roller on your walls, just smaller.  I used a piece of wax paper for my paint pallet and made sure the sponge brayer was loaded with enough paint to get good coverage but not so much that it squished out everywhere.
I also discovered that gold paint does not make a good bottom layer, it just doesn't show up enough against the brown paper, but it makes a magnificent top coat.
And just look at how lovely this piece is after I used my gold ink spray and dripped all over those dark green holly leaves.

And in the light it shimmers just like those expensive foil papers.  Now this next piece I went in a slightly different direction, applying different colors of paint through the Christmas Trees stencils...
And HATED IT...
Until I brayered over top the entire piece with my gold craft paint... SWOON!!
This picture really does not do it justice... the gold paint softened the colors of the trees and pulled them into one cohesive piece and totally shines in the lights under the tree!
And finally this final piece, done in under 5 minutes, using only one of the Christmas Tree stencils, gold on the bottom and a light green on the top in an evenly repetitive pattern. Lovely isn't it?
Here are the papers under a light so you can see the wonderful metallic shimmer achieved using gold craft paint as an accent...
And here are the seven gifts I wrapped using all those papers I made... each have one piece of that awesome wire ribbon that makes my bows look like a professional tied them and one of the gift tags I created in my last post... aren't they just STUNNING!  (the gifts, not the tags...grin)
 


So that's it for my Tutorial this month and this year!!  Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday and all the best in 2018... And looking forward to sharing even more of my creativity with you next year!
Lynne Mizera
For the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Design Team
 
Remember to use my personal discount code:
 STAMPGIRLLYNNE
to Receive 20% your entire order, even sale items.

STAMPlorations products used on the project:


Christmas Trees stencil

Holly Background stencil

Holiday Words stencil

Other Products Used:
Plaid Pure Gold Acrylic Craft Paint
FolkArt Acrylic Color - Shamrock
Americana Snow White Craft Paint
American Decor Chalky Finish "New Life" (green)
American Decor Chalky Finish "Rouge" (red)

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Christmas Is Coming So Let's Make Some TAGS!!

 
Hello and happy day everyone!  Today I am sharing with you how you can use some ARTplorations stencils and the CUTplorations Luggage Tag Nesting Dies to quickly create some fabulous Christmas tags.  the key word here is Quickly because if you are anything like me, in these last days before the 25th I am always scrambling to finish a few last-minute gifts!
 
Now for me TAGS are the New "cards" and I especially love Christmas tags because they are three things in one:
1. They decorate the gift in a unique way
2. They replace the hand-made Christmas card, and
3. They can be used as a keepsake ornament for the tree
Win-Win-Win!!
So come check out these wonderful Christmas tags I created in just over an hour using a few ARTplorations stencils and whatever else I had on hand to decorate and embellish...






So I hope you enjoyed my post this week and that it inspires you to get creative with your own stencils, and if so, please do share your stencil creation with all of us by  linking up to to this month's Mixed Media Challenge over at STAMPlorations where it's always anything goes except a card as long as you use a stencil, any stencil!

Lynne Mizera
For the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Design Team

Christmas Trees Stencil
Holiday Words


Luggage Tag Dies


Friday, December 8, 2017

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: "V" Is For Vegan (Animals)


Hello and Happy Day everyone!  Life for me has been CRAZY these past few months and I am imagining that THIS is how a Christmas elf probably feels working in Santa's workshop right about now!! (Grin)  So I have  been MIA from the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers for the past few challenges and my posting for the Sisterhood may be a wee bit sporadic for the next few months, but Worry NOT - I am still here!! For this challenge Edna says 
 

which means make something featuring an animal, a LIVE animal because I think using a dead one just wouldn't be playing fair, (she says with a BIG GIANT SMILE.)  And Here is my creation:
Using a set of digital stamps from Bugaboo Stamps (a 100% Canadian Company!) I colored the images with my Copic markers and mounted them on this embossed background covered with a layer of spiced marmalade distress ink.

So check out Bugaboo Stamps, their collection of digital stamps is pretty awesome, and don't forget to pop on over to The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers to see what the rest of the team have created... and why not consider joining us?  You have until Friday, December 22nd at midnight to link up your LIVE animal creation and we always choose a Queen of Snark and her Princesses! 
Lynne Mizera
for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers
 

Thursday, December 7, 2017

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
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