Mixed Media Monday - Fun with Journaling Stamps

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Hi Paper Wings fans! Dana here today sharing a mixed media piece I created with some of my favorite Paper Wings Productions stamps and the second half of my bird nest. If you missed the Reverse Bird Nest Canvas that I created with the first half of my bird nest, you can check out that post HERE.

Once again, I have used the piece of sturdy cardboard that protects the contents of the Nesting Components Kits for the base of my project. This piece of cardboard measures approximately 8.5 x 11 inches. A sentence from a novel written by one of my favorite authors, Megan Hart, stuck with me and I used that passage as inspiration for this piece; "My heart became a bird, my ribs the cage it beat against."

I primed the cardboard with a light coat of gesso before I stamped the background. The gesso helped to cover up some stray color that landed on this piece from another project (ha!), but also added some "tooth" to the otherwise smooth surface, which helped to grab the ink and color I added next. Another benefit to priming with gesso is that it acts as a sealant, so any mediums added to the top of the cardboard will stay on top, rather than soaking into the paper, prolonging the life of my mediums.

I stamped a square boarder using the Graph Journaling Lines Clear Stamp and I used the Ledger Journaling Lines Clear Stamp to create a stand for my nest. I arranged some stamps from the Perfect Alphabet and Perfect Numbers clear stamp sets randomly on a stamping block and pressed them onto my background for some interest. The selection of PWP Journaling Stamps are great for embellishing if you're not big on journaling! I also added some circles to the border with the Art Textures Cling Stamp Set. Note: I used a black Archival Ink for my stamping so that the color would not bleed when encountering water when I applied color in the next step.

I applied streaks of color with Gelatos from the 50s Diner and Tropical packs and then blended with a wet paintbrush to color my background. Tip: To keep the shades of blue and yellow vibrant, I blended those shades first, cleaning my brush after each color.

Next, I stamped some hearts using the NEW Carved Love Cling Stamp Set and colored them in with a Watermelon Gelato. Note: To achieve the subtle pink color I applied a small amount of Gelato to the area and blended the color with a wet finger. I used a Stamper's Big Brush Pen to add some green leaves and added a pop of orange with some homemade mist.

I used the Perfect Alphabet Clear Stamp Set to stamp my quote. There are several copies of each letter in this set so stamping out a full sentence was quick and easy! I also stamped a gorgeous bird using the Bird Melange Cling Stamp Set.

To finish the piece I attached my half bird nest with some hot glue and embellished the base with some moss and colorful ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope I have inspired you to use your journaling stamps in a fun new way!

We would love to see what you make with Paper Wings Productions Stamps so add your projects to our Flickr Group or our Facebook page. You can also find Paper Wings Productions on Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube!

Gelatos - Tropical 4 Pack Gelatos- 50s Diner 4 pack Perfect Alphabet Clear Stamp Set Perfect Numbers Clear Stamp Set Bird Melang Cling Stamp Set Fly Away Cling Stamp Set Art Textures Cling Stamp Set Distress Circles Cling Stamp Set Carved Love Cling Stamp Set Graph Journaling Lines Ledger Journaling Lines

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What's Up Wednesday: Little Box Full of Possibilities

Hello there!

It's Shay here today.  Have seen the awe-inspiring altered box by Norma?  She's amazing!

I have something that bridges the gap between Christmas and the coming new year.  Do you have a friend who is crafty or you wish to introduce to stamping and/or memory keeping?  Journaling cards are very popular right now for use in scrapbook layouts, Project Life, minibooks and cards.  They are easy to make and with stamps a breeze to customize.  Why not create a coordinating set as a gift?  It also won't take too much time as we are all going down to the wire with Christmas less than a week away.

I picked out some patterned paper in a color scheme that I liked and cut out a few 3x4 inch rectangles from the papers.  I then cut out some 3x4 inch rectangles from cream cardstock.  I grabbed some stamps and took my ink color cues from the papers.  I also made a little box to hold the cards from patterned paper which I decorated with a tag from Holiday Tags set that I stamped "to: from:" stamp in the same set.  So cute!   And for an extra special gift add a gift card or gift certificate to your favorite stamp company (wink wink) to the gift to encourage them to create their own journaling cards.

I made some super simple journaling cards, but there are so many options out there.  The fun of this project is that you can decorate your 3x4 canvas with any stamps you want.  An alphabet can become a fun monogram (try Whimsical Pattern Alphabet or Funky Alphabet) to stand for a friend's child's name, stamp out words or names with Funky Lower Case or Perfect Alphabet or numbers from Perfect Number stand for a month (imagine doing numbers to mark the month's of life of a newborn).  The Paris or London sets are perfect for travel themes.  If your friend loves angels, for instance, then the Angels cling stamp set would be lovely stamped in a soft ink color that can be written on later.  Go for pretty and elaborate or clean and simple to suit your recipient's tastes.  Round the corners, use different punches on the cards, die cut shapes out of the card or add shapes to the cards.  Change up the colors for their favorites.  There are really so many possibilities!

Journaling Cards can be used to make a minibook or tags by punching a hole, a beginning to a card in addition to being used on scrapbook layouts and Project Life.  They can be as embellished or not as embellished as desired.  They are pretty versatile and awesome!

I hope you ink up some Paper Wings Productions stamps and create some journaling cards!  We would love to see what you make with Paper Wings Productions stamps.  Add your projects to our flickr group, to Pinterest, comment with a link on this post or even email pictures to us!

AND don't forget to enter to the pin it to win it contest to get free Paper Wing Production stamp goodness!

Happiest of holidays to you all!

Shay.

Stamps: Perfect Number, Holiday Tags, Graph Journaling Lines, Holiday, Perfect Alphabet, Remember, School Paper Journaling Lines, Tabs and Banners, Celebrate, Happy (set like Holiday, Remember, Celebrate, Merry and Thankful)
Ink: Jenni Bowlin for Ranger in spice tin, lemon drop, speckled egg, stick candy and seed packet; Memento by Tsukineko in tuxedo black
Cardstock: Neenah Paper
Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, My Mind's Eye
Other: Copic markers; American Crafts glitter tape; washi tape (to close box)