UmWowStudio and Pan Pastels - The Pen is Mightier

Hi everyone,

This month at UmWowStudio we're using Pan Pastels on our projects! Oh the colors are so beautiful, and for a powder, they're almost rich and creamy!

I've got my project up there now with some explanations on how I used Pan Pastels on the page so I'd love it if you'd head over for a quick visit...thank you!

Of course my title is from the line "The pen is mightier than the sword" from the play Richelieu. I think that is a fine quote and though I've used it on an art journal page, I've been wanting to use it on a page for some time. And large, lovely feathers like these by UWS just make me think of quills. Then there's the sweet photo of my youngest "writing" while her sister was doing homework. Put it all together and there you have my page :)

I used paper from the 7Dots Studio Nature Walk collection and the word stickers too. Head over to the UmWowStudio blog to find out how I altered the feathers.

I made this little cluster with flair, and chippies from UWS. The felt (which was originally white) is from my stash and that lovely resin flower is from the sweet Helene Bogren. 

Just showing a close up of the "ink" and circles from the Circle Confetti Mask.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Supplies:

UWS Circle Confetti Mask

UWS Feather Trio

UWS Soar Tag
UWS Layered Circles
UWS Butterfly Kisses Flair
Pan Pastel Magenta, Permanent Red Tint, Bronze, Bright Yellow Green, Turquoise Shade
7Dot Studio Nature Walk

You Make My Heart Flutter

Hi everyone,

So a little while back I made a page inspired by February's mood board over at Scrap Around the World:

But I kept coming back to the photo of that very cool cake and decided to make another page. I wanted to do something with overlapping layers so I played around and made these feathers. In fact I have a tutorial which I can't share quite yet, but I'll keep you posted!

The feathers are obviously my most prominent embellishments so I kept other details small. There are many paint, gesso, and stamping layers but I kept the colors soft, more blended.

 I loved using the 7 Dots Studio Love is in the Air paper. They helped give my feathers 'pop'. 

I'm also taking a class by the amazing artist Kal Barteski  and though I didn't use a formal brush, I decided to do a little freestyle handwriting as part of my design for the page.

Cheers!

ScrapFriends Sketch Challenge #19 and Some Catching Up!

Hello everyone!

I'm back from vacation and it was WONDERFUL! Me and the hubby celebrated our 10 year anniversary by going on a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam withOUT the kiddos (oh thank you, oh thank you, oh thank you mom for watching them!!). I'll share some photos before parting adieu but on to other fun things as well!

ScrapFriends has another fabulous sketch challenge up and I hope to encourage you to play along!

I stayed pretty close to the sketch because it was such an awesome one and had one of my favorite trends on it....feathers!

It is a wordless ode to some of my favorite scrapbook things and as I wanted to make those things standout, I kept the background neutral.

Here's some close ups.....

And as promised, here are a few photos from our trip...

Angkor Wat at sunrise....need I say more?

Ta Prohm 

New travel hats :)

Eating street food...yum yum!

Hiking in Sapa

Ha Long bay on our private junk boat!

I always forget this part....

Papers: SODAlicious, ILS

Washi tape: Freckled Fawn, Gauche Alchemy

Feathers: Silhouette

Pens: Zig Writer and Zig Photo Signature

Paints: Luminarte Twinkling H20's, Angora watercolors

Hope everyone is having a grand week!

A Little Cheer!

Hi everyone!

I've got a word to describe what's been going on in our household the past week: bubonic...
as in, you know, the plague....as in, it's been totally bubonic in our home...!!

Anyway, you get the picture. It's been a bit rough but everyone seems to be on the mend now :)
How about something to cheer everyone up?

Just looking at that photo cheers me up! But I'm a tad partial ;) So how about a challenge? That's right, a new challenge is up at True XOXO and it's based on the timeless, classic Audrey Hepburn. Show us how she can inspire you!

She has a quote that starts "I believe in pink." And that (and this photo) became the inspiration for my page. That's my baby girl all glammed up in her sunnies and I really could not get this song lyric by Pink out of my head all last week so I went with it!

So what's my latest craze? Feathers! I'm seeing them all over the crafting world and I love it! I cut my feathers out with my Silhouette and colored them with my other new favorite thing...Derwent Inktense Watersoluble Pencils...so smooth people, so smooth! Add a little doodling and voila! feathers to match any page!

I'm pretty proud of myself for using patterned paper as my background.  Most of my pages are on white CS but I'd given myself a small challenge this year to use my patterned goodies and to layer those papers together too. I think I'm working it out alright. To add a bit more interest to the background though, I layered with gesso, watercolors, and acrylic paint. Watercolors create a lovely effect...give it a try!

That little banner is made out of washi tape. I found the colors too bright so I sanded it down, stamped my sentiment, taped it on cardstock and cut the edges. 

Well I hope that added a little cheer to your day...see you over at True XOXO!