July Kit Giveaway Blog Winner!

Hello!

Thank you for all the comments and sharing!  We love the July Kit and it is obvious you do too!  ;)

The winner of the July Kit for blog comments is:

{VICKI}!

Congrats!

 Please email your details to frogdogstudio@hotmail.com! 

Hugs,

Tina

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July Kit Giveaway!

Hi!  Tina here with a quick post! 

The past 2 months have been a whirlwind of activity and would like to personally thank each and every one of you for supporting Frog Dog Studio!  Y'all have embraced the concept of a true Mixed Media Kit club and have shared in our passion for creating art! 

I hope you continue to visit the blog every day for Design Team tutorials, tips, and how-to's.  Our Design Team totally rocks and I wouldn't have been able to pursue my dream without your support and without the Design Team inspiration!  THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

I am in the process of planning our September and October kits and WOW!  They are packed full of product and creative possibilities! So be sure and stop back for more inspiration!

As a way to say Thank You, I will be giving away TWO (yes two) July Mixed Media Kits!  The July kit has been a special treat and I simply love the Distress Paint and the ARTchix Ephemera sheet. 

So you want the details?

There are two ways you can win!

1.  Leave a comment below just saying Hi!  (It helps if you follow us so you can receive daily inspiration from our Design Team and it's an easy way to know of any future giveaways!  but is not required).

2.  I will post the giveaway image (above) on Instagram.  Follow us on Instagram (the link is located in the upper right of the blog) and repost the image with  #frogdogstudiojulygiveaway.

Are you a current subscriber or did you purchase the July kit?  No problem!  You can still participate!  If you are the randomly chosen winner you will win a $25 Gift Certificate to the Frog Dog Studio Shoppe for future use!

I will pick 1 winner from the blog post and one from Instagram on Thursday 8th, so start sharing and commenting!

Thank you again for your support!

Hugs,
Tina

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Fill your heart with what's important...

Hello and Happy Monday!  Tina here today as we wrap up our July Kit tutorials and how-to's.

Today, I'd like to share with you my creative process for using the July Kit, and especially Distress Paint in your art journal pages.  Distress Paint acts wonderfully with water, and it especially fun when dripping paint on your art journal pages.

Before we get to the video tutorial, here's a peek at my art journal page, highlighting one of my favorite quotes:

"Fill your heart with what's important, & be done with all the rest".

I hope you enjoyed a peek into my creative process.  The one thing I love about mixed media and art journaling is that is completely random, and spontaneous.  It isn't planned nor expected.  It is what you are feeling in the moment.

Here's a few more close-ups of my pages...

That's all for today!  Have a wonderful Monday and thank you for stopping by!

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Playful Musings - Scrap Painting

Lea here, my first Playful Musings, a series I will be bringing to readers every month!  Playful Musings is an open-ended, experimental, technique post.

Sometimes we lose the child within as we grow up and have to follow so many rules - be uber responsible!  Playful Musings is about playing and just feeling what you want to express.  No perfection allowed!!  A safe-fun way to try new things, find out about new media and see what they can do.

 

Supplies:
From July Kit - Ranger Distress Paint, various colors
(Collage of birds in kit, medium is also great for this technique)

Other Supplies:
Bo Bunny Paper/Embellishments, UmWow Studio Chevron, scissors, cardstock, soft watercolor brushes, paper scraps, decorative paper scraps and other items to create interesting patterns

1.  On white cardstock, rip and collage decorative paper (words here).  The Studio medium that is in the kit is perfect for this step.  Apply medium and place paper down on surface pressing from the center out to smooth and adhere.  I also have a small brayer I use to roll over paper if I feel more pressure is needed.

2.  Take your Distressed Paint and daub it on a scratch surface to get it going first.  When done with using Distressed Paint, store inverted (dauber side down) so paint is always at the sponge.

3.  Use a scrap piece of paper, and daub the Distress Paint color of your choice and pull brush over the scrap piece of paper onto the surface of the cardstock.  Where ever the scrap paper is, will work as a mask and no paint will be left there.

Keep using different shaped and sized scraps and brush color over the surface of the cardstock. 

4.  Here, a punchinella strip is used like a stencil and dots are added. 

5.  A wavy ruler was used, face down, to create an interesting pattern.

6.  Splattering mica watercolors with a toothbrush adds little flecks of colors on the surface.

7.  To finish your art, collage images and elements on top of what you painted.  Add splashed paint colors (daub Distress Paint or paintbrush or use toothbrush) on die cuts and even paint them with background colors to help them blend in. 

The Distressed Paint works perfectly on top of chipboard or other bare elements you might want to spruce up!  The Studio Medium works great to adhere everything to the cardstock.  Try using the Crackle to change the appearance of the chevron. 

This idea can be utilized with the Maya Road box.  Cut cardstock to size to fit box, adhere and then play like the instructions above!!

Play, play, play. Experiment! There is no right or wrong to this method. Leave out steps, try other paints or media to see what happens.

Cre8tivelea Yours - Lea

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Vacation Memory Box

Hello fellow mixed media artists, I am super excited to share my first ever post on the Fabulous Frog Dog Blog!  I don't know about you, but I get so excited when I see the "brown truck" coming my way...hoping it's my new FD Kit ...AND, I LOVE seeing everyone's creative projects on our blog...so inspiring:)

I received my July kit the day before I left on a family vacation to Glacier National Park in Montana. It was hard to wait to play with so many fun products, but my trip gave me great purpose for my project...a vacation memory box:)

So, here goes...

As we were literally walking out of the last hotel we stayed in, a toilet paper roll wrapper caught my eye.  I liked the color and the word River printed on it and swiftly stuffed it in my bag.  My husband just shook his head.  

I tore it into small pieces and used the Studio multi matte medium to adhere it to the box found in the kit.  I used to use a lot of Mod Podge, but I like this product so much better!  It's not as sticky on your fingers, has no odor, and works great!  It dries fast too.

Both inside and outside covered with just one toilet paper wrapper...Yay! And to think, someone was just going to throw it away:)

Next I utilized the Distress Paint in "peeled paint" & "Antique Linen"

by adding some color to both the box and the Tim Holtz hinges. 

To put the hinges on, I pulled out my paper piercer to make holes 

through the box in order to push the brads through the hinges and box. 

I used some of the cool red letters from the ARTChix studio Ephemera sheet

to spell out Montana for the front of the box.

I couldn't resist coating them with the Crackle Accents.  I  just LOVE the effect this product brings to a flat piece of paper! Be patient though...it's best to let it dry 1-4 hours, depending on the surface area and thickness of the coating.

I inked up a pine tree stamp (the forests of Montana were breathtaking) with one of my favorite inks (moonlight white) to add some texture and color.

The metal embellishment on the front was something I grabbed out of my "stash."

I altered it's color with the "peeled paint" distress paint.  (I sealed the whole project with a clear acrylic sealer, which will prevent the paint from chipping off the metal piece & hinges)

Next came my treasures for the inside:)  

One of the Maps from Glacier National Park had "little squares" of places to see and stay on the back.  They were the perfect size to add to the "coasters" in the kit.

I first painted gesso on each of the coasters.  Next, I added the map squares, and both distress paints.

I printed off some of my favorite snap shots (in miniature size : 1.65 -almost a 2 inch square) using my home printer on card stock and then added them to the "coasters"

 using the Studio multi matte medium.

I added some sentiments using both the Washi tape (found in the kit of course) and 2 of my favorite pens...Faber Castell's Pitt Multi liner (xs) & Scarlett Lime in black.

Below is a picture of the inside lid.  I tore off the title of one of our trail maps (after I altered the color using my Gelli Plate: more on that below), burned the edges, and added the Crackle accents.

Oh, and all the butterflies were "punched" out of the same map that I had altered using both distress paints on my Gelli Plate. I know you'll be learning more about the Gelli Plate in months to come! Hope you're intrigued:)

I added to the box a few maps and a rock I found by the River in the park.  I drew on the rock with another one of my favorite pens...Uni-ball Signo pen in white.  *If you use this pen on a rock you must seal it in some way or it may smear,  I sprayed the rock with a clear acrylic spray.

The WG on the top stands for West Glacier...

this was the location of the beautiful house we stayed in.

I dipped the ends of the twine in craft glue to keep it from fraying. 

I think I'll make memory boxes for all of our trips and display them on a shelf.  It's so much fun for friends and family to pull out the tiny treasures and reminisce.  

I drive my husband crazy, cause I collect rocks when we travel to remember each special trip.  They are all over the house:)  I think he's happy this one has it's own little box.

I Would love to hear from you about your creative memory keeping!  Hope you enjoyed this tutorial as much as I did making it!  Happy Crafting!  

Love, Sue

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A little birdie told me....

Hello and Happy Friday!

Today, I would like to share my main project created with the July Frog Dog Studio kit!  I don't know about you, but I love 3-D art and boxed in particular.  There is something about creating a little treasure box from nothing but a chipboard box, Distress Paint, Crackle Paint, a sheet of Ephemera, and flowers!  :)
(special note:  the flowers are not included in the July kit.  These were taken from my personal stash)

I had SO MUCH FUN creating this little treasure box.  It is completely full of texture, color, and dimension.

I had started recording a video tutorial to show you how I created this fun little box, but my camera battery died and I lost the finish of how I made this box.  So I start with the video portion, then finish with some pictures of the balance of my how-to.

How-To continued below:

After adding the modeling paste and distress Paint to the chipboard squares, I added a thick layer of Crackle Accents to each piece.  Let the Crackle accents dry completely before moving to the next step.

Once the Crackle Accents is dry and the appearance of cracks are visible, add several colors of Distress Ink to each square, using an ink applicator.  This will add more depth and texture to each square and will really make the cracks POP!  (I used Vintage Photo, Tea Dye, and Peeled Paint)

Here are some close-ups of each side and how the Distress Ink seeps into the cracks!  Looks awesome, doesn't it?

Next, I daubed Distress Paint (in 3 colors - I used the 2 colors from the July kit and ) to my craft sheet and spritzed with water.  I placed several sheets of vintage dictionary ephemera on top of the Distress Paint, adding color to the paper.  Once the paint was dry, I added Distress Ink to each dictionary page, aging the look of the paper. 

Next, I began building my box, using the Crackle Accents chipboard squares and the distressed dictionary paper.  Add the paper to each side of the memory box with Gel Medium.  I ripped various sizes of the paper when adding them to the box.  I really like how the overlapped paper looks and it adds one more layer of dimension.

Once the sides are covered with the distressed paper, I adhered the Crackle Accent chipboard squares to each side with wet adhesive.  Next, attach the Tim Holtz hinge (included in the kit) to the front of the box, adhering it with the included brads.

After the sides are complete, begin building the top of the memory box.  I began by covering an old match box (from my stash) with the washi tape included in the kit.  I wanted to use the box to build height to my box and to add another layer of beauty!  :)

I adhered flowers of various sizes to the top of the box, then finished my memory box by adding 2 birds from the July Kit Ephemera sheet in several spots amoung the flowers.

This memory box now sits on my desk in my office!  What an uplifting and happy project!

Have you ordered your July Kit?  If not, you better act quick!  These are going fast!  We would love to see your memory box projects!  Please share them on our Facebook page.

As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by!  Have a fantastic weekend!

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