50 Stories

Hello Dears!
I thought I'd share a brand new layout of mine that was so much fun to create and that I hope will make you feel inspired!
It all started with a beautiful new 7 Dots Studio collection of papers called Writer's Block. Contrary to its name, I never hesitated. :) My new layout is inspired by the beautiful color palette of these papers somehow making me think of creating something more ' masculine'.

My instant thought was that the papers would perfetly match one of my favorite photos of my dad as a young man. And here's what I came up with:

I started like I often do - gathering and glueing down little bits of leftover papers, pieces of fabric and paper tapes creating a cluster in the area that was going to be my focal point.

A little bit of White Gesso and some freehand stamping created a lovely depth I could keep building on and adding all the layers I love so much.

All the larger and heavier elements were glued down with Soft Matte Gel and Heavy Body Gel - my faithful go to products when I need to be sure that all the embellishments will stay in place.

And I just kept adding... Having fun choosing among my Mechanicals all the elements that reminded me of dad and that would help me create a masuline feel to the layout.

I also added a few trinkets from my stash and so we have a Pocket Watch that I think is just perfect for the occasion, bat wings, a light bulb, all kinds of gears, washers, little screws, and many more...

Each of these elements seems to be telling a story of its own, like this tiny metal charm in the shape of a merry-go-round - my dad comes from Bielany, a district in Warsaw once famous for being a popular weekend picnic spot with famous carousels and such . :)

The colors here are mainly Lindy's sprays both sprayed and splashed with a paintbrush.
The splatters also come from watered down White Gesso to add a little bit of worn, vintage look. I didn't want my work to look too tidy and ordered. ;)

If you like playing 'I Spy...' game, you can also spot elements made with beautiful IOD Moulds, Art Pebbles and Mini Art Stones.

I hope you like my 'masculine', multi-layered inspiration and here are the products I used:

Oh and yes, I do remember I promised to announce the winner of my Team's Farewell Giveaway... :)

Before I do -

first of all, you have made my life really difficult - how to choose1 out of 600 (yes! six hundred!) comments.....? ;)

Please know that both my Team and I, we read all your comments very carefully with our hearts filled with so much gratitude. It's absolutely priceless to know that all our efforts make a difference in you lives and that so many of you dare to spread your creative wings. :) Thank you ever so much...

And now - time for the winning comment which goes like this:

'Fabulous, Inspirational, Naughty but Nice Acronyms = FINN'

and belongs to:

 Congratulations!

Please, contact us at: missmoth1@gmail.com to claim your award! :)

Sending you all lots of hugs!
xx

and my Fabulous Inspirational, Naughty but Nice -

A Fork In The Road

Hello dear ones!

The weekend is just about to start and here we come to provide you with some beautiful art inspiration - we hope that with Athanasia's expressive creation - you'll simply grab your papers and paints and spend these days creatively! :)

Life is full of forks in the road filled with the need to make new decisions. That’s what makes life so interesting and that's what today's page is about.

The whole project is based in the center of a chipboard piece, which is the focal point where all the possible choices begin. Τhe end of each wire leads to a different option and all together are twisted together back in the center where all began.

I wanted to keep it muted, not too colorful, so I chose the Metallique Acrylic Paint - Black Berry (I so love this color!) with a little bit of Vintage Rose and Light Patina.

I also used a tiny amount of Rust Mica Powder, as well some of the Frozen Lake Mica Powder here and there. I love how they blend together all the different textures.

For the background I used the Alpha Stencil as well some beautiful background stamps.

To add more texture I used two different Art Ingredients: Bronze Micro Beads and Black Mica Flakes. And for the tittle I used a sticker from the 7Dots Studio Nature Walk collection.

I like using wire in my projects and this time I had so much fun twisting different pieces, securing them with a stapler, I even created a tiny fork with it.

I used the 3D Gloss Gel to glue it down and a Mini Hardware screw to decorate it - it looks so cute!

So here is my video with the whole process, I hope you will enjoy it :)

Thank you for visiting,

have a lovely crafty weekend!

xxx

Athanasia

Materials used:

The Past | The Future

Hello, dear Friends!

Instead of writing the usual welcome / introduction, I thought I'll simply show you this exquisite detail... :)

Curious? Enchanted? Wanna see more? :)
Get ready for another stunning art journal spread created by our wonderful Gayle!

Hello lovely Finnabair friends. This month I’ve worked in my art journal which is becoming one of my favourite places to create.

Art journals can limit “dimension” in what you do however... Too much bulk can make your book difficult to work in. So I try to compensate by using rich and or dark colours, lots of pattern and some texture, and hopefully keep it interesting.

The patterns have been created from 3 small pieces of paper, 2 stencils and 1 stamp. The texture has been created with Modeling Paste and Double Sided Texture Brush. The colour comes from ink, acrylic paint and Magicals and Art Alchemy Metallique and Opal Magic Paint.

And here's my step by step of how I got to the final result:

No.1 and No.2 I’ve sketched 2 faces in my journal.

(Note: The buckles and bubbles on the first page come from the page behind where I have done some collage work and not removed all air bubbles OR made sure I dried completely between all wet layers… Sometimes it pays to dry from the back and the front and make sure your paper dries in the middle.)

No.3 The small pieces of patterned paper I’ve used are from a shopping bag and are quite thick. Art Basics 3D Matte Gel has the body and strength to stick this heavy paper down easily.

No.4 Adding some ‘soft’ texture using Modeling Paste through a stencil. Part of the patterned paper had an animal print on it. I have tried to continue this “print” into my page by just painting it on with acrylic paint.

No.5 The pink “splattered” background was done by tapping Magical powder onto paper that had been misted with water. To prevent the Magical Powder from going all over the faces, they were given a coat of masking fluid.

No.6 Using Modeling Paste, more texture can be added using a Double Sided Texture Brush to drag through (so much fun, I love using these brushes for creating all sorts of interesting textures and patterns).

No.7 When the Modeling Paste was dry, I painted over it with Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint in Metallique Black Berry.

No.8 When that was dry, using a ‘dry brush’ technique, I went over the top with Art Alchemy paint in Opal Magic Rose Gold which created a gorgeous, glowing gold finish.

Here are some detail photos of my combination of Modeling Paste, Double Sided Texture Brush and Art Alchemy Acrylic Paints.

Also a Prima Vintage Vanity “Checkered” Clear Stamp.

Pattern details with Modeling Paste through a stencil and also ink through a Finnabair Prima “Doily” stencil.

What lies before us is “blank space”, we don’t know what will happen.

Let's make today rich and colourful and full of all the lovely little details that make us happy. 

Gayle xx

Materials used: