Arting

My daughter Dawn and I did our first Artist Trading Card (ATC) collaboration!

Dawn created the background with the amazing technique we learned from Tim Holt's Creative Chemistry Class-3. She brought them to me and said, "Now that I've done this I don't know what to put on them. You're good at that, here."

I was nervous at first because I didn't want to ruin her beautiful art. It took me a bit to come up with ideas, but after rifling through my die cuts and stamps, I came up with these. She kept the bird, I kept the other one. Maybe next time we do it, I'll do the background and she can put the other side of her creative brain to work.

I've done several Instagram ATC swaps and having so much fun! This is my latest, which will be going out to jolly old England. I borrowed Dawn's mermaid die-cut and used some scratch watercolor paper on which I was trying different art crayons. I feel like there's something missing, but at this point, I'm afraid I'll mess it up. Plus I have to decorate an envelope in which to mail it, so I'm calling it done. 

I belong to a Facebook paper doll crafting group that consists mostly of making Julie Nutting paper dolls. I joined their Christmas ATC swap and will find out who my partner is at the end of this week. This is the ATC I made using one of the smaller Christmas sets by Prima. I wrote JOY on the Christmas ornament confetti, but it was a challenge to photograph.

I'm working on a few other things, mainly my ornaments for our annual ornament swap, which is this Saturday! I've never cut it so close, but I didn't like any of the ideas I was considering. I finished the prototype last night around 1:00 a.m. I'm still not feeling it like I usually do, but maybe it'll grow on me. Happy holidays have begun!

Fangirling Much!

THE Julie Nutting, designer of a Prima paper doll line, liked one of my posts on a paper doll Facebook group!!

I can't even tell you how excited I am by this. I'm about to hyperventilate. Not really, but really.

And I appreciate all of the love from my fellow craft peeps as well. I don't post on there for accolades, I post because I'm excited about these paper doll stamps and I love sharing and seeing everything about them. It encourages me to go that extra step with each one I make.





Disclosure – This post contains affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may make a tiny commission if you decide to make a purchase. The products I link to are those that I believe in, regardless of any commission I may make from them. My goal is to help you easily find the tools, products, or other items that you will need to complete your project.

Paper Doll and Art Journaling In Miniature

I'll never grow up.

I love playing with these Julie Nutting paper doll stamps! This one's for another swap and her name is Audrey. I can't wait to see what my partner sends me.

Aaaand, I'm in! Going through my 2015 art journal affected me in an unexpected way, so it encouraged me to keep on keepin' on. This is my first Journal52 2016 prompt, "Word Of The Year." Going to literally be doing a little each week. *snicker*

My daughter Dawn suggested I use Project Life cards, both small and large, because I wanted to go smaller and less complicated. Then she suggested this 2"x2" format and I was immediately enamored with this idea. Making my first one validated that feeling.

Dawn even gave me a little binder with sleeves that was made for photos this size. I'm still contemplating on how I'll be altering the cover. What I really like is that the binder allows me to expand entries to 2"x4" or 4"x4" if I'm feeling extra artsy fartsy. Sometimes I get in that zone and don't want to stop, so this pleases me immensely.

Here's to another year of crafting and making the world a happier place in which to live.



Disclosure – This post contains affiliate links, which means that at no cost to you, I may make a tiny commission if you decide to make a purchase. The products I link to are those that I believe in, regardless of any commission I may make from them. My goal is to help you easily find the tools, products, or other items that you will need to complete your project.

Celebrate Your Uniqueness

I recently joined a couple of Julie Nutting paper doll groups because I like this stamp line so much. I enjoy seeing what other people do with them and use those ideas as inspiration to make my own. I jumped right in and volunteered for two swaps, this one, which I'll mail this week, the other, a January swap.

I wanted to make a galaxy-like background for this doll I had in my stash of already made dolls. So I chose my Color Burst concentrated powder to see what they could do.

I spritzed the watercolor paper tag with water then sprinkled on each color. There was a lot of water and color, so I needed to soak some up, but I didn't want to mess with the design. So I took my embosser and hit it with some heat to set the color. It was still pretty wet, so I layed a piece of multi-media paper on top of it and rubbed, which resulted in a pretty cool pattern on both pieces of paper. I'll use the extra piece in another project.

I blended regular watercolors to cover the white spots, and splattered gold, white and black paint. When everything was dry, I edged it with black Staz-On ink and added tiny little dots of sparkly Stickles. 

The circle and swish lines she's standing on were cut with Dawn's new die set, which I absolutely love. I glued them in place with Glossy Accents and inked and glued down the lettering as well. I was going to tie ribbon at the top of the tag, but I decided that I like it without it.

I want to stamp the envelope I'm sending this in, so I'll get that done next and then off she goes! I'll sweat it out until I hear from my swap buddy, but I'm sure she'll like it. Not gonna lie, this is difficult to let go of, but I can't keep them all.

Paper Towns

As you can see, I'm still in love with Julie Nutting's paper doll stamps. I spent a few days working on getting multiple stampings of each one, then dressing them up by fussy-cutting patterned paper. I colored a few areas and topped them off with touches of Glossy Accents. It's nice to have them ready for cards I'll be making or for scrapbooking.

Thank you, Dawn, for spoiling me with my new stamps!

My Love For Julie Nutting Paper Doll Stamps Continues

I ordered a few of the newest Julie Nutting paper doll stamps and I love them all! I actually tried something I saw on YouTube with this one.

I stamped her on a piece of mixed-media paper with black Versafine archival ink, and instead of paper-piecing her outfit with an already printed piece of card stock, I stamped the skirt with a floral pattern using a pigment ink. This is important because I wanted it to soften the stamped image a bit and pick up some of the purple color when I brushed over it with a water brush. It wasn’t quite as dark as I wanted, so I gave it another coat with purple metallic water color.

It didn't matter that the stamping and coloring went outside the lines because it was cut out and pieced together later. I must say, knowing I didn't have to be particular while coloring it made it even more fun.

I used a gel pen to color her hair and the top of the dress and headband, and gave the top a once over with a clear Wink of Stella brush pen. A piece of lace and a flower made of confetti with a pearl at the center was added to her waist. Her face, drawn free-hand, finished it up.

The stamping/water-color process was new-to-me, and drawing features was is something outside my comfort zone. New goals met.