On a break

Hey Folks,

I know I have been missing and maybe you noticed or maybe you have lost all hope of getting any enjoyment out of this blog.:-)

I just wanted to officially mention that I have been extremely busy with some behind the scenes work, the details of which I will be able to share here soon ..hopefully.I am taking a break from blogging for an indefinite time till I get things in order.Till then,keep creating and stay happy.

Cheers
Pallavi

Mixed Media Altered Dresser and Artist Spotlight

Hi

Today is my turn to take on the spotlight at Anything but a card challenge blog. Apart from talking about myself ,I have put a up a mini challenge of sorts out for the readers. Do check it out and maybe you would want to play too. Here is my inspiration project

My challenge has to do with my current fascination with black and metallic colours. I think Black is the perfect base for metallic colours and accents to shine through and I wanted to play with that.

I used modelling paste and some stencils for the texture. Everything was covered with black acrylic paint first. For this project I tried something new to me. I used Decoart's Antiquing mediums for highlighting the texture. These are awesome and perfect to give a vintage-y aged ,patina look. However, I needed some more colour, so I busted out my Silks acrylic glaze and dabbed them randomly.

Even after that, I was not very happy since I wanted the textures to stand out more. So I finally decided to use my newest buy i.e. Viva Décor Inka Gold. How fantastic it is! I am so happy that I finally broke down and bought it. I have been making do with acrylic paints for metallic accents but this paste is something else.

That's all for now. Hope you visit us at ABAC blog and participate in my challenge. I will be thrilled to see you there.

Cheers
Pallavi


submitting for Mixed Media Place Creative Gym Exercise #5

 

Shabby Chic Birthday Gift Set

Hello,

Today's project is something that I did back in early January but never posted due to the combined effect of travelling, laziness and a bunch of not so great pics. I finally decided to post it today because the guilt of not keeping up with my blog won.:-)

Back in December,I got an order all the way from the US from a guy who wanted to send a surprise gift for his close friend.Like most men,he had no idea what exactly he wanted. He just wanted pretty things and this is what my interpretation of pretty was. I made quite a few items. I sure hope she liked them.

First up is a box that I altered and a simple mini album that goes inside.

I used some gorgeous papers from the DCWV Mariposa collection. I love how the alphabets on the box look, if I say so myself.

Next up are an altered photo frame, a birthday card and an explosion box. I was in such a hurry to send out the parcel, that I forgot to take any decent picture of the inside of the box or of all the items in one pic.

Here is a not so great pic of all the three together

That's it.Hope ypu like the project.

See you soon,

Cheers
Pals

Anything But A Card Challenge #44 -Friendship

Hello,

It's a new month and a brand new challenge at Anything But A Card Challenge. The theme this time is Friendship and this is my take on it. Please visit the blog to check out all the inspiring projects from our design team.You can make any kind of project as long as it is NOT a card. We would love to see you there.

I created this piece in my art journal. I used collage, stencilling,and stamping and some finger painting too.This year I am trying to explore other style of art journaling and not just stick to grungy mixed media pieces.

This is heavily inspired by the art of Artists Junelle Jacobsen and I had a lot of fun doing this.I took some of her classes last year and only now getting down to practice.Using such bright colours was scary for me though.:-)Bummed about the mess I made with the quote, but then this is my art journal,mistakes do not matter.:-)

Hope you like it and seriously hope that I can gather enough energy to get back on the blogging bandwagon.

Please do
Till then,
Cheers
Pallavi

 

Anything But A Card Challenge # 43 : New Beginnings

Hello!

Another super short and quick post to share my DT project for Anything But A Card Challenge Blog. This month our theme is 'New Beginnings'. With the start of a fresh new year, this theme is so appropriate. You can interpret it any way you like. Maybe you want to document something that you plan to do this year, or may be you want to recycle something old and forgotten and give it a new beginning. For inspiration, do check out the blog and the fabulous projects made by the design team. We share inspiration and the team's interpretation every week.

For my project, I had very limited time since my life has been crazy busy this month. I decided to incorporate a quote about new beginnings in my brand new art journal. Since the project had to be done super fast, it's not very complicated or involved but I like what I achieved. Hope you like it too.


I used Gesso, Silk acrylic glazes, acrylic paints, some new stamps and stencil for this. The sentiment is created using vinyl stickers. For some reason it looks crooked in the picture which is driving me nuts. I did ask my husband to look at it and it looked okay to him, so I don't know.:-)

Anyway, that's all I have for now.Do visit the ABAC blog and participate. We would love to see you there.

Cheers
Pals

Last project of 2014! (Photo Heavy)

Hello!

First of all thank you to those who visited and commented on my last post. I am humbled that you still took the time to comment even though I have been rubbish at supporting you.

Today's post is a quick one to show the last project I did in 2014.I did a set of custom themed door hangers for a client who wanted to give them away as Christmas gifts. She had very specific requirements and knew exactly what she wanted, so that helped a lot.

Starting with my favourite out of the lot.:-)

 

The second one is for a newly wed couple who are in love with purple. I love the texture on this one. It does not show up in the picture but its all shimmery. I used the Prima color bloom sprays on this one and some gold flakes.

 

 

This one is for a little girl obsessed with pink and fairies and butterflies.:-).This is also textured and sparkly. I used my Crafter's workshop stencil and glitter paste on this one.

 

 

This one is double sided. One side for a book loving new mommy.

 

 

and the other for her new born baby girl

 

 

On to some for the guys

 

This one is for a travel loving guy.

 

 

Another for a stylish party animal.

 

 

Last and my least favourite. Something for a photography buff. I had the hardest time making this one because I was all burnt out after finishing all the others within a very tight timeline. The paper in the background has some photography related words on it and I bought some digital elements for this one but for some reason it does not make me very happy. Thankfully the client liked it otherwise I was all out of ideas.;-)

 

Okay,that's it.Hope you don't mind the photo heavy post.I will see you again when and if I am inspired enough to make some other project.Till then,stay blessed and stay happy.

 

Credits :

The labels on the first two hangers are free graphics from Free pretty things for you and The Graphics Fairy 

The chair in the Mommy hanger is a digital image I bought from Bugaboo stamps

The Car in the travel hanger is a free digi from Digital Two for Tuesday

The Photography elements(The paper and the cameras are from a digital kit I bought from StudioKitch at Etsy.

The model silhouette is a freebie from snap2objects

 

Cheers

Pallavi

 

 

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A little late but a happy happy new year!

Hi

How is everybody! I have taken a conscious break from blog world and interwebs in general since the past few months. I badly needed to get some balance in my life and to spend some time thinking about my aims, goals,aspirations and also spend some time with family and friends.This time away has been a blessing and kind of cool. I thought I will miss it but I didn't.The only thing I miss is visiting your blogs and revelling in your creativity

.I have not yet decided when I will be back to my regular schedule,but I did not want to miss this opportunity to thank all my followers and friends who took the time out and encouraged and challenged me in my creative endeavours. So here's a BIG THANK YOU AND A WET SLOPPY VIRTUAL KISS (on the cheek ,lol) to all of you who visit me. I love you all!I will visit you soon.

Happy new year. Hope you dream big this year and hope all your dreams come true.

Till then,

Cheers
Pals

Tea Light holder Cards

Hello,

How are you all doing? Crafting much? The state of affairs on this end is sad. I talked about holiday hangover in my last post. Sadly, I am still not over it and kind of lost about what I want to do next. I have been catching up on your blogs and that's about all that I have done for the past week. While looking at Pamellia's latest post about her gift for her mom, I suddenly realized that I do have one forgotten project that I never posted. Her's is gorgeous! Do check it out.

I made some tea light holder cards for Diwali gifts before my vacation and never bothered to post.Now that I have nothing worthwhile to share, I have decided to share those here, even though they are not my best work and maybe make me cringe a little. These are super simple and in some cases boring too.:-).My excuse is that I was in a hurry and I am sticking to it.:-)

Here are some of them which were a bit passable.Others I refuse to share.:-).I made use of scrap papers,stickers and some stamping and heat embossing.

Here is how the inside looks for one of the cards

I had not added a tag or a pocket when I took the pictures.Ideally you need to have something on the left side to write your greeting /message.

Okay that's it.I hope I wake up from my slumber and do something creative today.Wish me luck.:-)

Cheers
Pals
 

Anything But A Card Challenge #41 : Anything goes

Hi,

First of all apologies to all my bloggy friends for being remiss in visiting your blogs and admiring your creations.I have been missing from the blogosphere on account of some long due vacation and then the ensuing holiday hangover. I need to do a lot of catching up.:-)

I am slowly getting back into a regular schedule and today's project is my DT inspiration project for Anything But a Card challenge #41.The theme this time is 'Anything Goes' (as long as it's not a card), my favourite kind of challenge theme.:-)

My project is something that I have done before too.I made some faux tiles and used them to alter some boxes.I love the look of these tiles and also love the fact that it is a wonderful use of all those little cut outs or tags you get in paper collections.

Making these tiles is super simple. Cut chipboard into the required sizes, adhere your chosen designs with mod/podge or glue. Use Mod Podge Dimensional magic or Glossy accents and apply an even layer and let it air dry.

.Do not move or touch or tilt your tiles till they are dry. I left all of these to dry overnight. If you get bubbles while applying the product, use a sharp needle or a pin to prick the bubbles.

The photos do not show it but these do look a lot like tiles and have a nice gloss feel and finish to them.

Hope you like this project.We have new inspiration from our talented team every week. Do check them out and if you have crafted some stuff, go ahead and share with us. We love looking at your gorgeous projects.

Cheers
Pals

Submitting for 613 Avenue Create Challenge #97 :Anything Goes

Anything But A Card Oct Challenge #40 - Autumn Magic /Spring Wonder

Hello,

Today's quick post is to share my DT project for Anything But A Card Challenge #40.This time we want you to play with the theme Autumn Magic/Spring Wonder. You are welcome to submit for either season or better yet combine both. For some fabulous takes on the theme, do check out the blog.

For my project I stuck to the Autumn theme and attempted to create a mixed media painting of sorts.

I started with laying down a thick coat of gesso and scratching and texturizing it before it dried. For the tree line I used a mixture of some sprays and acrylic paints in shades of red ,orange and a little bit of brown. To highlight the texture, I added some Prima Clear Crackle on top. Once it dried, I used a wash of Burnt umber Acrylic paint and rubbed the excess off.

As an Additional step, I added some gold mica flakes with matt medium to showcase the gold tones of Autumn.

The Quote is by Emily Bronte and I just printed it out on my printer and glazed it with Yellow and orange watercolours and outlined with black waterproof ink.

For my trees, I used a script washi tape. I did a wash with white acrylic paint over that to tone it down a little bit. The foliage is done by sponging some acrylic paints with a dish washing sponge.I also stamped some text over it with Sepia Archival ink.

Hope you like the project.

See you soon!

Pals

 

Shimmer and Glimmer

Hello

I am back with another altered jewellery box. This time I experimented with metallics and shimmer and used colours which I hardly ever reach for, so I am not sure if I like it or not ,but I did enjoy making it.

I covered the whole box with Tim Holtz Tissue paper and then used a mix of purple and green metallic gelatos and acrylic paint for the colours. You can't see it in the picture but the design on the tissue paper shows up underneath the paint.

I then used the Prima Elementals stencil with modelling paste for some texture. I painted some of the circles with metallic paint and splattered some yellow paint for some contrast. I coloured some gauze with metallic purple gelato and water and painted my chipboard pieces silver.I also added some pearls to the lid to carry forward the circles/polka dots theme.Everything is sprayed with Lindy's Scintillating silver spray.

The flowers are a mix of Prima and some I am roses flowers.I used some resin pieces from my stash too.As my last step I stamped some text using my all time favourite stamp and Black Archival ink.

I kept the sides simple with some stencilling, paint and stamping.

I hope you like it .See you soon!

Cheers
Pals
 

Lulupu Sparkle With Prima blog hop

Welcome to day 3 of Lulupu "Sparkle with Prima" Blog hop! I am very excited and honoured to be a part of this month long celebration organized by the Lulupu team to celebrate the festive season.The blog hop has a lineup of some amazing crafters and awesome prizes to be won.

All the rules and the fantastic prize details are available on the Lulupu blog.Do check it out!

You must have reached my blog via Priya Sondhi's blog! If not please click HERE for the complete list of the hop participants or to start the hop from the top.

For my project, I really had to struggle to think of a project worthy of the blog hop.I finally decided to alter a book box in a style that I am most comfortable with. It's messy and grungy and I am hoping at least some of you will like it.:-)

I do have a sort of a tutorial.I hope its helpful.So sit back and enjoy.

1. Die cut a few doilies using the Prima Marketing Purple Metal Die Doily #2

2. The die cuts as well as some torn pieces of Prima Epiphany paper were adhered to the box using Prima Marketing-Art Basics Soft Matte Gel

3.  Use Prima Damask stencil with Modelling paste to add some more texture.

4. Cover the whole box with watered down gesso to unify all the elements and use some Heidi Swap Gold Color Shine mist to add some touches of gold. I also watered down some black gelato to make my own mist and sprayed it on the box.

5. Apply Prima Art Extravagance Clear Crackle Texture Paste on random areas of the box and let it dry.

6. Use Pearlescent watercolours to add some colour and shine to the black section of the box.I also added some more gold and bronze to the lighter areas to highlight the gorgeous crackle texture. I also added Prima's Art Ingredients Gold Leaf Mica Flakes using Matt medium.

These are all the steps that I took to achieve the texture.

Unfortunately it got really dark by the time I was done with this,so I do not have pictures of the rest of the steps.I am still outlining them and hope they will help.

7. I die cut some circles from the Prima Epiphany papers and adhered them to the box.

8. I added some seed beads coloured with alcohol inks with matt medium

9. I used some cardstock die cuts and metal pieces from the Epiphany Cardstock Die Cuts pack , some chipboard snowflake pieces , Studio Calico Tiny stars wood veneers pieces and a butterfly from Forever Green laser cut wood icons as my embellishments. The wooden frame is from my stash.

 

Some Prima Rodanthe flowers coloured with  pearlescent watercolours finish off the embellishing.

10. As my last step,I added some stamping using some word and texture stamps and  also added some sequins from the die cut pack and some splatters using white paint.

That's about all I did for this box .I love the texture achieved by stencilling and the clear crackle paste. Hope you like this project and find the tutorial helpful. I would love your feedback, good or bad.It does not look like much in the pictures but its gloriously shimmery and textured in real. I wish I had better photography skills.:-)

 

Don't forget to play along the hop and the challenge.You can find all the details here. Keep checking the  Lulupu blog to see the project reveal by the next crafter Deepti Stephens.. A fantastic card maker and crafter.

See you soon,

Submiting for Primatober BAP

Cheers
Pals

 

Altered boxes with a mixed media touch...Again!

Hello,

I would first like to start with a happy news. I was a winner at a new challenge blog for my Steampunk Canvas. The Mirror Crack'd is the newest blog on the block and they have monthly challenges. If you love to try your hand at mixed media and journaling,the challenge is just right for you.

I know you must be a bit fed up with my fixation with altering boxes.It's one of my favourite things to do. Taking a plain unremarkable thing and transforming it totally. That is magic to me.:-)

So no surprises here, I have another set of boxes to share today.

For the first one ,I covered the lid with a doily stencil and texture paste and use various shades of Lindy's sprays for the colour. I have heat embossed and fussy cut a doily stamp with ranger's Platinum embossing powder. You can see it peeking out beneath the die cut which is one of my favourite dies and a very recent purchase. I cut several pieces of the die for some dimension and added glossy accents to the top for a faux epoxy look.

For this one ,I die cut a heart and layered several pieces. The heart was then painted with Lindy's Dark chocolate truffle and Cocoa bean copper sprays. I did the same thing with the clay bird pieces and the Prima resin fairy. I also coloured the lace with some green and brown shades of Lindy's.

I love the texture on this one. I used a memory box stencil with Liquitex modelling paste and then coloured it with various shades of green and gold.

That's about it for today's post. I must warn you that I am not done with altered projects. I have several more coming in subsequent posts. I can't help it. Most of my September was spent doing just this.:-)

Cheers
See you soon
Pals

Altered Mixed Media Box

Hello!

How is everybody? I have another altered box to share with you. I have to say that I have a soft spot for this one. I wanted to create a white/cream toned box and I love how it turned out. Doesn't happen too often in my neck of the woods.:-)

I used papers from Prima's Sunrise Sunset collection. Though it's not visible in the picture very clearly, I used Prima's Damask stencil with some glitter paste on the lid. The whole box and all the embellishments are sprayed with Lindy's Scintillating silver.

I used some dimensional magic and tiny beads to fill up a bottle cap. The flowers are a mix of Prima Rodanthe flowers and some foam and mulberry flowers bought locally. The butterfly chipboard piece is from Itsy bitsy.All the papers are distressed with Vintage Photo distress ink.

The sides of the box are textured with a Kaisercraft doily stencil. I used some twill tape and a chipboard corner piece with a metal flower. I have fallen in love with these metal flowers. I am already running out. Have to get some more.

And, that's it for today. Have a lovely Saturday.

See you soon!

Cheers
Pals

 

Altered Vintage Ladies Boxes

Hi

In my last post, I promised you that I would state all my excuses for missing for so long and today is the day.:-).

I have nothing dramatic to say, just that I got some urgent orders and had no time to post regularly and then I got sick, so it took a long while to be back. I know I said I will be creating everyday and more such proclamations. I of course did not or rather could not do that, but the good news is that I did create a lot of things, so all was not lost and I now have a few posts to share. Yay!

First in the series are a few jewellery boxes that I altered with Vintage ladies images. I have done these kind of boxes before and the client wanted the exact same thing. I did change out the images though. These  make great gifts for the festive season.

Here's the first one.

Isn't she gorgeous. I love how serene she looks! I printed these images out and mounted them on chipboard, sprayed them with varnish to prevent the ink from running. I sealed them again with Mod podge just in case.

Here's the second one

There's not much to share about what I did here. The boxes were painted in silver and I used papers from the DCWV Luxury stack and Prima's Sunrise sunset collection for covering up the top ,sides and insides.
Both the images are free images from here and here.

That's about it for today.See you soon with some new projects.

Cheers
Pals


 

Steampunk Mixed media canvas and a little announcement!

Hello!

I am back after a long break. I have my usual list of excuses, but I will bore you with them in some other post. Today I have something a little more exciting (for me) to share.

Sometime back I found a blog called 'Anything But a Card" or ABAC and found out that they were looking for design team members. If you know me, you know my struggle with making cards, so I was intrigued and applied. I am thrilled to announce that I have been SELECTED! Yayy! I think it's a match made in heaven.:-).The challenge blog comes up with great themes every month and you can submit any type of project as long as it's NOT A CARD.:-)

This month's theme is called STEAMPUNKtember. Do check out the challenge blog and I would love to see you participate.

Steampunk is not something that I really understand very well or have done too much of. My understanding is limited to the usual clichés of machinery, gears, clocks etc. and that's what I did in my project.

I used the reverse side of a deep edge canvas for a shadowbox type effect. To create the background,I used some Cheery Lynn die cut gears and stuck them down using matt medium.

I also used the Tim holtz eye chart ,Crafters workshops Time Travel 6 by 6 and Art is stencil with Liquitex modelling paste for added texture.The coloring mediums were a mix of Ranger's Color wash and Lindy's sprays.

I used my all time favourite Tim Holtz's Reflection words stamps with Archival ink to add a little more texture.

The colourful heart ,which you can't see much of, is a hand cut chipboard piece, which I covered with embossed aluminium tape and then coloured with multiple shades of alcohol inks. The rest are embellishments from my stash.

That's about it. Hope you like the project.

Cheers
Pals
Submitting for Simon Says Monday challenge : Stencils and stamps
The Mirror Crack'd -Anything goes