Santos Doll

Hello!! It's Jennalee here today with a Santos Doll. I am so excited to share this project with you. With a few different mediums, this Santos really comes to life!!

To begin paint all skirt pieces front and back with brown paint. Once dry assemble skirt. 

Once the glue has dried rust the skirt with Rusting Powder from PaperArtsy. Cover piece with Distress Collage Medium and sprinkle on Rusting Powder. Spray with vinegar and set aside. (I forgot to take a pic of the rusting in action)

While skirt dries paint doll body with gesso. I only painted the front. The back I inked up with Frayed Burlap Distress ink. 

For the face and hands (sorry forgot a pic again) I painted them a peach skin tone. Once dry using a palette knife I added a layer of Distress Crazing Medium. Allow to air dry. For the body and arms mix Opaque Crackle Texture Paste with Bundled Sage Distress Ink. Add to body with palette knife. Allow to air dry. 

I chose not to do a face on my doll because I can't draw, period. And I may have gone a bit crackle crazy, but I wanted my doll to have a very worn look like she had just been dug up. 

Using a craft knife I remove a few areas of medium. To add an extra grungy look rub Artisan Powder and Vintage Photo Distress Crayon into the cracks. The hairline was drawn on with Walnut Stain Distress Crayon.

The arms are one of my favorite details. I originally planned to use brads but they didn't hang quite the way I envisioned so I decided to use thread. 

Using Vintage Photo Distress Crayon color Tim' Holtz's Craft Thread. With a baby wipe run thread thru wipe and then randomly apply Distress Crayon to length of thread. This adds the perfect amount of grunginess. With needle thread thru arms and tie off. Attach arms to body same way. 

To finish off your Santos Doll drape her with your choice of jewelry. 

I used a variety of pieces from Tim Holtz's Assemblage line as well as an Idea-ology Philosophy tag. The medal came from my stash and was the perfect adornment. 

Here you can see some of the wonderful rust effect. I added highlights using Cracked Pistachio Distress Crayon. 

I really enjoyed watching this piece come together and am already planning my next one possibly for my mom, but shhh don't tell. I hope I've inspired you to explore making your own Santos Doll. As always thanks for stopping by!! Happy Creating ~ Jennalee 

Celebrating Friendship

Hello!! Jennalee here today with a project to commemorate my recent trip to Creativation 2018 and meeting Jess of Two Mad Dahlias in real life. Have you ever met someone online and then met in real life and you are instant best friends? Thankfully this was the case with Jess and not just because I was staying at her house for a week!!  So naturally, I needed to make a piece to celebrate this friendship. As I was digging thru my Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts stash I ran across the Tudor Rose Singles and Petal Corners Mini and my wheels started turning.

I began by prepping all my chipboard pieces. For the Petal Corners Mini I heat embossed 2 of them with Hammered Metal embossing powder. Using my finger I added some Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide to give it an aged look. I wanted some more age and texture so added some Cracked Pistachio Distress Crayon. I left some chunky bits of crayon on the Corners. 

I cut the Tudor Rose Singles in half and then sprayed two coats of white spray paint on all the pieces. Once the paint was dry I randomly applied some Distress Crazing Medium with my finger. Once the crazing medium was dry I added some detail with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. 

For my base I used a medium Tim Holtz Etcetera Tag. I cut my background paper to size and stitched around the edge with gold thread. I  then applied the background paper to the tag using Distress Collage Medium. 

I then added a bit of detail to the top right and bottom left corners of the tag using a palette knife to spread gesso thru the Tim Holtz Layering Stencil- Floral. 

To begin my layers I started with a Tim Holtz Pocket Card. I added a small piece of ephemera and a stamped spool image from the Haberdashery stamp set. On top of this I added the Tudor Rose Singles. I used one half of the largest cut out and one half of the medium size cut out. I adhered them to the top left and bottom right of the tag using Distress Collage Medium. 

I then built up the main layer by layering this awesome photo of two vintage girls from Tim Holtz's new pack of Found Relatives on a piece of background paper from the Memorandum Paper Stash. Using a paper distress to distress the edges of the background paper and Vintage Photo Distress Ink for detail. I layered the photo and a ticket from an ephemera pack and stitched them together with my sewing machine. I then adhered the Petal Corners Mini using Distress Collage Medium. 

To finish I adhered the photo layer to the tag using foam dots. To finish off the tag reinforcer I used two pieces of floral Design Tape from the Rose set and adhered to the tag using Distress Collage Medium. 

The final touch added was this quote from a movie both Jess and I enjoy. Bonus points if you can name that movie!! 

I love the texture and chunkiness the Tudor Rose Singles add to this piece. And the added vintage detail from the Petal Corners Mini complete the photo. The best part is that I still have enough left from both sets to make another project down the road. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me today. Happy Creating ~ Jennalee 

It's a Good Day to Craft

Hi!! Jennalee here today with a fun mash-up from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts and 7Gypsies. Our theme was "Small World". I was digging thru my stash of awesome Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts and ran across the Mini House Shadow Box #1 and from there my idea took shape when I started looking thru the awesome 7Gypsies pieces we were sent. 

I started by painting all the pieces of the Mini House Shadow Box a mint green.

I then added 7Gypsies Architextures Junque Pack - Attic. I added a touch of Ivory acrylic paint to the raised parts of the Architextures sticker. 

Picture courtesy of 7Gypsies website 

One of my favorite parts of the 7Gypsies line is their packaging. It can easily be incorporated into your project. I used the packaging from the Architexture stickers to line the floor of the Mini House Shadow Box and the outside walls. I cut to size and applied using Distress Collage Medium. Added a coat of Distress Collage Crazing Medium. Once the Crazing Medium dries enhance crazing with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.

The idea for a sewing themed Shadow Box came from one of the tiny clippings off this charming scrapbook paper Go & Be. 

Picture courtesy of 7Gypsies website 

The "A Good Day to Craft" clipping made me think of spending a day in my studio surrounded by my favorite supplies. I cut the "good day" clipping and added a bit of Burnt Copper Leaves around the edges to make a frame. 

To complete the roof I added strips cut from the To & Due paper. 

Picture courtesy of 7Gypsies website

Then it was time to decorate my little studio shadow box. I used charms I found in the jewelry section at Michael's. I got a little too excited and forgot to take pictures before throwing out the packaging. Oops!! I added a couple vintage buttons from my stash to complete the piece. 

I love the shadow boxes from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts!! This was my first time working with products from 7Gypsies and I think it's safe to say it won't be my last. 

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me today. And remember it's always "A Good Day to Craft". 

~Happy Creating Friends~ Jennalee 

Items used:

Gypsy soul laser cuts:

Mini house shadow box 1 

7 Gypsies:

buttons

distress crazing medium  

dress form 

Good day to craft

Beach Dreams

Hi Everyone, 

Jess here with a fun postcard inspired post for you. 

I've been dreaming of the ocean.  I grew up near the beach and every summer all the girls in our family used to spend a week in York, Maine.  I am now in Arizona and don't get to the beach nearly enough.  I think this postcard is as close as I will get this year.  Here is how you can create your own. 

I started with a piece of paper mounted on a piece of mat board.  I randomly added crazing medium and then added Distress Crayon to show off the cracks.  

Both umbrellas were colored using Distress stains.  I did not prime them with gesso.  I wanted them to look slightly faded and the stain seeps into the chipboard.  Once the stain was dry I covered them with Emerald Creek's clear embossing powder. It's not completely covered.  I left some blank spots so it looks a bit tattered and sun faded.  

The waves are all embossed using various embossing powders and then layered.

The sand dollar was punched with white acrylic paint using a dry brush so some of the chipboard color is still visible.  The starfish and shells are embossed. Don't the starfish look real?

The sand is torn paper that is inked with Disttess Ink and then glued in layers. I love how her foot is buried in the sand. All of the little pieces are tucked into the sand. 

 My sentiment is the finishing touch; 

I added some shadow around it, and the lady.

Anyone want to take me to the beach this summer?

Jess

Special Delivery

Hi Everyone,

Jess here. 

Once again I was a bad design team girl and didn't take step out photos.  Here's the thing, these cabana houses are so easy to assemble I just got carried away.  They just fold together.  A tiny bit of glue or double sided tape and they are done in a flash. 

I started by using some tissue wrap and crazing collage medium to adhere it to the house.  Once the collage medium was dry I used Distress Crayons and Scribble Sticks to add color.  

I love making my tissue have wrinkles.  I smush and scrunch it until I have enough wrinkles. 

The roof was stamped and then colored using Distress Oxide inks.  

The roof edges and the bottom of the house have some washi tape.  

The little postman, a bingo house number, some verbiage, and my teeny house is done. 

The cabana houses come in a set of 5! Such an awesome deal.