Here’s a layout that I completed last week and never got around to posting to my blog. My poor neglected blog. You’d think as a former English major and a motor mouth, I’d enjoy sitting down to write a blog post where I could just gab away. I’m not sure what my deal is. I think it’s just hard to get me in the mood to sit down and get my pictures uploaded and ready to go. Once I start writing up a post and uploading the photos I’m fine. Anyhow, I decided to try out a new technique for my 12×12 layout last week and I adore the outcome.  A lot of people have been spraying their mists and using plastic or old packaging to kind of smear it down on the page. The effect is this really neat abstract art blotchy wonderful burst of color. I tried this technique using Dylusion sprays in teal, dark blue, and yellow over top of some gesso. I used a photo I took last year around Christmas. I love the look of this layout…the messy-ness…the chaos. It’s just fun and awesome. I recently got a die-cutting machine (The Vintaj) and while I don’t have very many dies as of yet, I’ve loved using it. I used the newest Amy Tangerine die set and cut out the “love” die in various colors to match the layout. Simple layout that just documents my love of scarves. What a great accessory. This is probably one of my favorite layouts in a long time. I’m going to try to be better about posting layouts on my blog as I complete them.

I was on a bit of a shopping binge in August that made me feel a bit guilty. It was nothing like the amount of stuff that I used to buy last year which is good…but at the same time, I’ve been getting quite a bit of paper. Hi, my name is Crystal. I’m a paper-holic. Admittance is the first step to recovery, right? Anyhow, I’ve just been really taken by all the great new lines that came out over the summer and found myself buying a lot of single sheets of 12×12 paper and 6×6 paper pads. Like any good paper crafty, I love having a nice crisp new sheet of pretty paper. I’ve been trying to make myself use up this stuff and just pushing myself to create layouts so I feel more validated in my purchases. Life has been getting in the way and just haven’t been making as many layouts as I could but here’s one after a small dry spell. The paper that I used is from the Echo Park line, “Capture Life.” I absolutely loved this green/teal bokeh paper and had to put it to use. I took this photo on Monday. It’s a photo of me, my boyfriend Bruno and my best friend Nik. We recently visited Nik at the tattoo shop he works at to get a touch-up done on one of Bruno’s tattoos. I just tagged along as an excuse to see Nik. It’s always nice getting to catch up with your bestie even if its only for a few. Of course I suggested a selfie of us three before we hit the road and headed back up to Baltimore.

This page is pretty simple. I just used some more paper and cut apart pieces from the Echo Park, “Capture Life” collection and kept the colors to teal, gold, and black and white mainly. I did add some gold glitter to a few wood veneers, and added some Inka Gold to the little Studio Calico stars that were used. What I definitely feel good about is my use of brads. I realize that I rarely remember to use my stash of those guys so felt good to get quite a few on the page. Hope you guys like it!

The theme for this challenge on the Oddball Art Co blog for the month is non-traditional hair color. You know, anything funky and anything that you can’t be born with. Blue, pink, purple, green, etc. I decided to use this adorable unicorm digi for the challenge. Unicorns can have non-traditional hair color too right? They are all mystical and stuff, right?

I created an art journal page with this super cute image and just decided to layer up the color. My page uses watercolors, and Dylusion and Color Shine sprays with this nice plus sign stencil from Crafter’s Workshop. The page has a nice artsy, distressed feel and I like how it came out. If you guys want to play along, be sure to stop by the Oddball Art Co blog. The challenge will run from August 15th through September 14th. Just link up your project using a digi that has non-traditional hair and you could win 3 super sweet digital images from the Oddball Art Co Etsy shop.

Please check out our Facebook group for another challenge that runs on there. It’s always “Anything Goes” as long as you use an Oddball Art Co digi stamp. Below are photos of my project! Can’t wait to see what everyone creates!

It’s time for another sweet Oddball Art Co challenge on the Facebook Group Mixed Mediaology. Up for grabs are 3 wonderful digital images from the Etsy shop. Challenge runs from August 1st until August 31st. You can create anything your little heart desires as long as you use an Oddball Art Co digital stamp on your project.

I decided to go back to basics for my project and create an art journal page. I first took a stencil of leaves and branches and added that all over the page with modeling paste to add texture. After I drew lots of little hearts and “X’s” with a white Gelly Roll pen. I sprayed the entire page with lots of different vibrant Dylusions sprays. I really love how the colors just melted together! I then used Archival black ink to stamp a few little circles for added interest. The digital image I used is one of my favorites from the shop. Isn’t the little owl just the cutest? I could not resist to use one of my favorite birds on the page. Hope you guys will play along and join us. It’s going to be lots of fun. 🙂

It’s time for another Oddball Art Co challenge. This time on the blog, the challenge is to show off your coloring skills! I used this adorable little fairy from the Oddball Art Co Etsy shop. She is Fairy Girl Image No. 70 in the shop. I took a small canvas from Michaels and sprayed it with different Dylusions and Color Shine sprays in variations of orange, yellow, and pinks. To create the bokeh style background I took two Heidi Swapp stencils and used  white gesso to create those see-thru areas that look like orbs of light. I also took one of my pink stamp pads and a makeup sponge and used the same stencil to create darker circles. I really like the way the background came out. It’s bright and pretty but also has this ethereal quality!  I colored up this digi with my Prisma color pencils. I did add a bit of lace trim to the bottom of the canvas and a large cluster of various flowers just for some interest. Hope you guys like it!

The challenge will run from July 15th until August 14th. If you’d like to play along, join us on the blog and link in your project! You just have to create a project that shows off your coloring skills and you could be entered to win 3 digis from the Etsy shop of your choice!

Below are some close-ups of the project. Can’t wait to see what you guys create for the challenge. 🙂

** Also if you’re going to head to the Etsy shop to purchase digis, use the code: DTCRYSTAL10

This will save you, 10% on digital stamps!

It’s time again for another Oddball Art Co Facebook Challenge. For the July 1st challenge, I used this adorable little lamb digi and created a colorful canvas to showcase him. The digi is image No. 34 in the Etsy shop. The challenge will run on the Facebook Group, Mixed Mediaology.  You have until August 1st to compete in the challenge. You just must use an Oddball Art Co digital image in your project but anything goes. The winner will be picked after the deadline and a prize of 3 digis of your choice will go to the winner! Pretty sweet, huh?

For the canvas, I started by spraying different Dylusion and Heidi Swapp Color Shine sprays. After these dried I used black and white acrylic paint with stencils to get some different patterns for the background. The hearts that you see were created with modeling paste that I mixed with a little bit of pink Dylusions. They mostly take on the color of the background sprays but in a few areas you can see a tiny bit of pink, peeking through. After watercoloring the adorable lamb digi, I added him to my canvas! I love the way it turned out and think the vibrant colors will really pop when he gets hung up. Thanks for checking out my blog and artwork, guys!

I stared making a mini album of our newest addition to the family, our cat Moxxi a month or so ago and never got back to it …until a couple days ago. I decided that I wanted to make this album using mainly paper from the Dear Lizzy line, Lucky Charm. I just loved the collection and had recently watched a video on YT made just from the Lucky Charm collection and fell in love with it. I really like the paper even though its not a super new line…just love how the colors coordinate together. I got back into making this album and this time I worked through it pretty fast. I had a ton of fun making it and love how it came out. I stuck with mainly using Lucky Charm and a few sheets from an AC 6×6 paper pad that matched the Lucky Charm collection dead on! The embellishments are things from my stash, Lucky Charm embellishments …and generally just things that coordinated well.

The album itself is a Heidi Swapp album made from wood. The pages were all blank and white and so I decorated them up with sprays, stencils and stamping. Hope you guys like it. I’ll leave you with shots of the album!

The cover was sprayed with the Heidi Swapp navy Color Shine spray. I just added some gold Thickers and this cute felt bow that I got in a pack from Michaels. I added a bit of seam binding to the binder rings …it was sprayed with a green and yellow spray.

The inside back cover and outer back are just sprayed this mint green from the Heidi Swapp sprays.

Thanks for checking out my album. It was made with a lot of love! You can now officially call me a cat lady…and this comes from the girl that was always a dog person. 😉

Here’s a page that I worked on last month for Ashley Laura’s challenge on YT. She wanted you to work with a favorite technique of yours and of course I chose gelatos. I love any time I can add a different medium to layouts to give them an artsy-feel. For this layout I started by coloring different shades of blue around the page. I then added water so the page would have a watercolor-like effect. I used a Prima stamp set for the designs in black to create my own background. I then took 2 photos of myself  and decided to create a quadrant where I layered behind each piece. I really like how this monochromatic page came out. It’s probably one of my favorite recent 12×12 layouts. Hope you guys like it too!

Time for another Anything Goes Oddball Art Challenge. This one runs from June 1st until July 1st on the Facebook Group. All you have to do is use one of the awesome Oddball Art Co. digi images to create your project. We’d love for you to join us! Check out Lizzy Love’s Etsy shop to snag a digi.

For this challenge I created another art journal page with the digi. I used the zombie bunny image which I love. I don’t know why but when I saw him I kept thinking of the movie, “Donnie Darko” so I had to use a quote from the movie. I guess he just reminded me so much of Frank the Bunny. To create the page, I used Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Teal and Bronze. Used a few stencils and some awesome lime green acrylic paint. I added modeling paste and decided to alter some tissue paper. I made a wash with my acrylic paint and painted some black and white polka dot tissue paper and then cut it out in a star shape before adhering it down to the background. I used my Jelly Roll pen to write the quote on the center of the page and then outlined this in black. I really how all the colors I use look together.

Come join us on Facebook and play along! The winner of the challenge will get 3 awesome digital images from Lizzy Love’s shop to create with!