September Guest Designer, Gwen Lafleur Part Two!

Hello and Happy Thursday!

Our Guest Designer, Gwen Lafleur is back with a couple more projects!  We seriously love her creativity and are so happy she created more today!

Let's get right to her projects!

Art Journal Spread 

For my second project, I used the kit along with some goodies from my stash to make a spread in my art journal… one of my favorite spreads so far!

I went through a lot of layers to get to the final point, so I thought I’d put together some tips on how I put it

Step 1: Stencil, stencil, stamp!

1. I picked a stencil and used it with Dylusions mists on both sides of my spread as my foundation.

2. Then, I layered several more templates and different colors on top. I was looking for little pockets of interesting stuff that I could highlight later on. (I knew I was going to cover a lot of it up, so I wasn’t too worried about how it looked at this point.) I also added some stamping (you’ll want to dry your layers in between, especially if you’re changing color families – it will help keep them from getting too muddy.)

3. I attempted to stamp with the white Dylusions spray, but I got kind of a vague outline… that was okay, I went over it with a paintbrush. What I was looking for was a base that I stamped over again in pink – the white helped it pop off the background a bit more.

Step 2: Add the last pre-paint details

4. I used my orange Sharpie to add some detail and color to a few of my stamped images.

5. Using the stamp marker, I also added a bit more color to some of the stenciled areas.

6. Finally, I used the Paper Pen and detail tip to outline some of the stamps, and also added the rest of my price stickers. Looks like a hot mess, huh?

Step 3: Paint! 

7. I decided what I wanted the main color scheme to be for the top layer and put a few shades of blue paint on my palette. Then I used my finger to apply it, working around the areas that I wanted to leave visible – I like using my finger for this because it helps me blend better, so there’s less of a defining line between the painted and unpainted areas.

8. Now… doesn’t that look a lot better? Some really fun and interesting areas are peeking through.

Step 4: Add the final details 

9. I wanted to bring the kit stamps back to the front of the page, so I made a quick circle template with some scrap paper and stamped several of the images on top so they would show through the hole.

10. You can see how it looked – I did that a few times on the spread.

11. I went back with my Paper Pen and detail tip to go over some of the designs that were peeking through the paint. Then I added some Glossy Accents and Frantage Fragments to highlight some of the areas and add some texture. Just to finish it off, I added a few sprays of white Dylusions mist – the perfect final touch!

That was it! I finished it off by pulling out some old alphabet stickers to spell out my quote. Then I sealed the stickers with some gel medium. And there you have it… one of my favorite art journal spreads to date.

But Gwen just couldn't stop creating with the September kit, so she is sharing another project with us today!  We just love this one and it is so versatile and awesome!

Project Life Cards 


After making my first two projects, I still had quite a bit left from my kit, so I decided to make a set of Project Life cards. Of course, you could also make ATC cards instead. After I finished these, I started thinking that I’ll probably use them in my cardboard art journal instead of in my Project Life album – they really look good in there!

Here are a few quick tips on how I made these. As you can see, I pretty much followed a formula which made them very quick and easy to put together.

Step 1: Get your crafty mis en place ready to go! 

1. I took 3 sheets of my canvas paper and cut it into 3”x4” pieces. Then I stamped on the scraps and cut them into circles. I also cut off a few pieces of my paint chips.

2. I adhered my paint chip strips to the top and bottom of my cards, cutting off the excess on either side (I made sure to center the strips so that I would have part of all three colors showing.)

3. From the rest of the paint chips, I punched out circles to put behind my stamped images (I made sure to punch close to the edge so I could still use the rest of the card.)

Step 2: Lace ‘em up 

4. I cut another piece from my paint chip scraps and used a ruler and a pencil to mark where I wanted holes for my Rex Lace. Then I used my 1/8” setting on my Crop-A-Dile to punch the holes.

5. I let out a long piece of the Rex Lace and then just wrapped it through. I started out by pulling through from the back on the first hole so that the end would be on the back side.

6. Once it was threaded, I just cut off the ends and taped them down.

7. Now it’s all ready to decorate!

Step 3: Decorate!

I used the rest of my paint chip scraps, some patterned paper scraps, washi tape, mini alphabet stamps, and my Paint Pen with detail tip and my Frantage Fragments to finish these off. (Tip – I used 1/8” score tape to adhere the Rex Lace on the music card.) I’m pretty pleased with the results… I think I might need to make more!

 

WOW - aren't those just amazing projects?


Thank you again Gwen for taking the time to share your talent and creativity with us this month!  Please be sure and stop by Gwen's Blog and see more of her amazing projects!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day!

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September Guest Designer - Gwen Lafleur!

Hello and Happy Thursday!  We are very excited today as we announce our Guest Designer for September, Gwen Lafleur!

Thank you Gwen for sharing your amazing talent and creativity with us!  Before we get to her first project (which you will love), let's get to know her a little better!

 

Hi everyone, I'm Gwen. I'm a Northern Virginian currently living in Connecticut. By day I work in online marketing, but by night I'm an amateur home cook, mixed media artist, paper crafter, and cookie addict. I'm an aunt to four adorable nieces and nephews, and I absolutely love to travel... if I'm not on a trip, I'm planning or dreaming about one! I've been playing with paper and glue since I was about three years old, and it never gets old. I'm thrilled that I got a chance to play with this month's kit, and I hope you enjoy my projects as much as I loved creating them.

Let's get to Gwen's first project!

Cardboard Art Journal

For my first project, I just used the awesome September kit. Of course, for me, the “kit” also includes the packaging and since I’ve had a thing for working with cardboard lately, I decided to use the box and kit supplies to make an art journal. I’ll admit, I wasn’t sure whether this would work since I was limiting myself to the box and what was inside of it, but I actually really like the result!

Here’s how to make your own cardboard art journal.

Step 1: Make the covers & pages

1. Cut apart the shipping box so that you have two large flat pieces from the top and bottom.

2. Figure out the size pages you want, and trace them out (I did mine 5.25”x7” to match the canvas paper from the kit plus a little extra width for the holes.)

3. Using scissors or a good trimmer (I used a heavy duty rotary trimmer,) cut out the individual pages. I got 6 panels from the box, but ended up only using 5 for the book.

Step 2: Prep the pages. 

4. Create a punch template to make sure the holes are even. I just grabbed a scrap of paper about 1”x7” and used a centering ruler to mark where I wanted my holes. You could make as many as you want depending on how you want to bind it.

5. Use removable adhesive to attach the template to each page and punch the holes. I thought I was going to need my Crop-a-Dile (which is a good idea if using lots of pressure for punching is hard for you,) but a regular punch worked pretty easily.

6. Use the sheets from the canvas pad to cover the pages. I decided to just put it on one side and leave the brown side – I like working on that kraft color. You could cover every page or leave them all blank. Adhere with your favorite adhesive. I started out with Yes! glue which works great (takes a while, though) and also tried Elmer’s spray adhesive which worked really well too.

Step 3: Decorate your cover 

7. I used the full stamp set along with the stamp markers and my neon Hero Arts cube to stamp each of the images onto the cover. I just repeated them in the same order all the way down until it was covered.

8. I cut a title block from a scrap of cardboard, stamped the thought bubble, and used that awesome detail tip to add a title and some details to my stamped images.

9. Finally, I used the Frantage Fragments along with some Glossy Accents (or whatever glue you like) and added some embellishment to the corners of my cover and then gave a good spritz with my white Dylusions mist… it adds so much!

Step 4: Embellish your pages 

The first thing I did on my pages was to take my orange Sharpie and draw some designs in the bottom corners of some of my pages. Then I went back through with my Paper Pen and detail tip and added lots of fun details to make the designs pop even more. I love how it turned out! (You can see all of those designs below.)

For the rest, you can certainly use anything in your stash, but I wanted to keep to my challenge to just use the box and what was in it, so I tried to get creative for my embellishing.

10. Bubble wrap is awesome. And it makes a fantastic stamp too! It works best with the ink pad, but it also worked with the stamp pens. I used it with both blue and pink in several places.

11. Cardboard can make another great texture stamp. If you peel off the flat surface on one side to expose the ribbed interior, you have a stamp! This will also work with the stamp pad or the markers.

12. Finally, I went back to the kit stamps and put them all on one acrylic mount and stamped them together in a big block. I really love the look, and it ties in the design on the cover. I also went through and added some of the price stickers and bits of the paint chips.

Step 5: Bind the book 


I went through all of the pages and added the neon reinforcements around the holes – it’s a great pop of color! Then I used that cool Rex Lace to bind the book. I just kept it simple, threading a piece through each of the holes and tying a tight double knot in each one.

Here’s how all of my inside pages looked after I finished:

And that’s it! I really like how it looks– it’s ready to fill with words, pictures or maybe some more layers! Probably all of the above. :)

That is such a wonderful and creative project!  Thank you Gwen! Be sure and stop back later in the month for another project (or two) from Gwen.  We can't wait!  Please stop by Gwen's Blog and say hi! 

Thanks for stopping by!

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