INTRODUCING: Crafty Kit Club with an Altered Journal: Steampunk themed

I am so uber excited to share today's project.  

Literally, I am almost busting at the seams.....

<<<running to put comfy jammies on before I go any further>>>

When I started the NEW Pinque Peacock Venture, Crafty Kit Club, I had a feeling I was going to thoroughly enjoy creating samples for fans and friends to oogle over.  The Design Team is just as excited to play with the Monthly Kits, too.  

I didn't anticipate how much fun the first kit was going to be to play with though!!!  Yes, I know, you are probably thinking, "Wow!  Doesn't take much to get Jessica in a good mood".  You would be right!!!  Things tend to get a little hectic around the homestead and crafting time for personal enjoyment has become scarce.  

My days are filled with Mom Taxi trips to and from the schools for the 4 kids who are school-age (K, 1st, 4th, and 12th).  The Bright Side?  We live close to the school.  The Down Side?  We live less than a mile from the school which leaves us ineligible to allow the kids to ride the bus.   Four separate start and end times for each grade means lots of trips to and from.  I am hopeful that when our youngest is in 1st grade, which is still 2 years away, some extra time will be freed up for me to do more.  But for now, when I get some extra time to go to my craft room and get messy, I am excited!  And, the finished project is always a delightful reminder of the time I used wisely!

So, what about this kit, right?

The April Kit is an Altered Journal/Notebook Kit.  

It is available in two styles for you to select from.  

The first style is a Girly/Bling/Shabby kit with lots of sparkle and bling, and papers and cardstock in shades of pinks, blacks, and whites.  

The second style is a Masculine/Steampunk style kit, with lots of bronze, brown, copper, and gold tones accented with some black and kraft cardstock.

There are some extras that you get to select to make your kit more personalized to your design taste as well.  

If you senses are intrigued and you would like to play with one of the April Kits, be sure to SWING OVER to the Crafty Kit Club {CLICK HERE} and order one today!  They are super reasonable in price and there is a flat shipping charge on all the Monthly Kits.  You can select to order Month to Month, or get a discounted price on the kits for being a 2 month, 3 month, or more than 3 month subscriber!

NOW, ONTO THE FUN PART OF THIS POST!!!!  

Sorry to leave you in suspense....

AND get ready for some cool step by step instructions (lots and lots of pictures)

I worked with Kit B, the Steampunk styled kit for my project.  

I started out by first tracing the outside of the book onto the cardstock I was using for the covers.....

.....then moved on to measuring and cutting.

I used my corner punch to round them to fit the composition notebook edges.

I adhered the inner covers (kraft card stock) first and let the book rest overnight to be certain the pages wouldn't stick together from the Mod Podge.

psssssttt.....The brayer tool by Mod Podge is really neat to have and worth the small cost in my opinion!

I opted to select my additional sheets (kit extras I mentioned earlier) from the Prima Engraver stack since there were a lot of clocks and a few map images at my disposal.

I adhered the back cover just as I did with the inner covers.....using Mod Podge and the brayer to smooth out any bubbles.  Before applying the front cover though, I decided to do some stamping and embossing first.  Here I used the map image from the Unity Stamp set called Travel Notes.  I used a gold metallic embossing powder to bring more metallic shine to the book.  I love how it looks against the Core'dinations Black Pearl card stock, don't you?

I moved on to my 6x6 squares of the Graphic45/Core Timeless squares.  

The clocks on the paper are raised and a nice slight bit of sanding brings them to life.

Now for GETTING MESSY & SOME DISTRESSING ACTION!!!

I painted the cardboard arrow from the kit with some Crackle Paint - Antiqued Bronze.

It was a bit too shiny, so I dulled it down by adding some TH Embossing Powder - Antique Linen and zapping it with my heat gun.

Much better now!

I tore the gray square to fit in the lower corner and upper corner of the front cover.  

(I also used the corner punch for the top piece to again, match the composition book)

I then grabbed my sponge dabber box and inked it up with some Tim Holtz Distress Ink - black soot.....

then Dew Drop in a Copper.....

then Dew Drop in Gold.....

And this is what they look like all mingled together against the Journal ....

During the whole process, I changed my mind about a dozen times when it came to placement of the pieces and embellishments.  But, that is the norm with me when designing.  Do you do that with your projects?

I stamped a few of the clock images from the Unity Stamp set called "the TIME is NOW" and embossed it with a white embossing powder and then just a dash of some TH Distress Powder-Vintage Photo.  

It was time to go ahead and adhere the cover to the book.  Again using my Mod Podge and brayer!  <<< I really love that thing....lol.

The stamping created a connection in the middle of the journal that joined the two corner pieces together.

(I ultimately opted to ink the top corner piece in the same way as I described the way I did the bottom corner up above in this post)

I had in mind that I would use the sentiment "Take Note" from the For the Record stamp set and decided to stamp it directly onto one of the clocks on my cream colored 6x6 square (Timeless Collection).  I just fussy cut the "half-clock" out for my sentiment "tag"

To play more with my fun crackle paints, I first lightly sanded my chipboard square from the kit (to hold the paint well) and then

I painted a coat of Tarnished Brass over it and left it to dry.  Once it was dry, I went around the edge with the Copper Dew Drop.

I fussy cut a few clocks from the Prima sheets I selected and used my corner punch on them.

Now it was time to lay it all out until I could get it "Baby Bear" aka Just Right!

Here is where I changed my mind a few dozen times....

I will spare you the agony of showing pictures of all the options I tried before committing to one design!

I did commit once I placed the gears down and used some Glossy Accents to hold them in place.  No turning back now!!!

For a finishing touch, earlier in the process, I had bent the metal oval embellishment from the kit to fit the bind of the journal .  These are from Miriam's Crafting Supplies and she has a wide selection to choose from.  You will see these, along with other Partner products, in the kits often!

and added some 3 Girl JAM (another Product Partner) Tuxedo Black Crinkle Ribbon to the bind (tied in a bow) as well as at the bottom (pleated).

....and this is what I came up with as the Finished Design!!!!

Here is a close up of the sentiment (by the way, I also dabbed some Dew Drop Copper to the clock after cutting it out)

A side view to show off the gorgeous hat pin I created with the supplies that were in the Kit as well!  Buttons and Paper Roses too!  The Paper Roses are from another Product Partner, Adele at Glimpz of Memories!

So there you have it folks!  I am happy to read your comments on my tutorial and how well you like the Kits.  And, again, here is the link to the Crafty Kit Club if you want to get one for yourself!

Crafty Kit Club {CLICK HERE} 

Remember to 

Keep Crafting, 

Because 

♫ CRAFTING ♫ 

♫ ROCKS ♫ 

\m/-_-\m/ 

:O) Jessica

Hopes of Spring

!!! HAPPY MONDAY !!!
Blends and 3 Girl JAM-mers

Happy Monday to all of my friends and readers.  I am happy to share some Spring Inspiration over at the 3 Girl JAM Blog today!

Today, the temps in Northern Ohio are better than they have been recently.  The snow is almost completely melted and I am anxiously awaiting the first flowers to pop up from below the earth and show us the bountiful colors of Spring.

In the meantime, my hope for Spring Colors led me to create a Spring Themed Tag.

3 Girl JAM Crinkle Ribbon is a fabulous way to had COLOR to your projects.

The March Challenge Theme with 3 Girl JAM is "Yellow, Green and Orange"

and you can see highlights of these colors here in my tag.

is was a perfect way for me to show how much I LOVE HER!!!!

I had a lot of fun using some "mixed media" techniques on this project.

I started with a #8 Size tag that I purchased from Miriam's Crafting Supply.

I sprayed a lot of different mists until I got my desired background

I used the grass die to cut a small patch to place on the bottom of the front of my tag.  I used the October Afternoon collection-Woodland Park.  This was a sweet gift to me from our 3GJ Leader and my Sweet friend, Julie!

I also decorated the back of my tag and used several dies and coordinating papers from the same collection.

I then used my Fireworks embossing folder (available at Pinque Peacock) to give an appearance of a sunburst in the upper left corner.

 I added more color by using my Pebbles chalks as shown here

I had a few colors of pre-cut butterflies, but wanted a pop of pink and red.  I sprayed the small butterfly using my Spritzer by Colorbox and some Pink Perfect Pearls.

I love my Unity Stamps and used this darling Flower Bouquet with some white embossing powder for contrast.

For the sentiment, I used watercolor paper and my TH Distress Ink.  The sentiment is from a Gift Set of stamps that I received with a purchase a while ago at Unity Stamp Co.

I used Goblin Green to tie a nice "tail" at the top of my tag and it was then COMPLETE!

Here is a link to all the fabulous colors of 3 Girl JAM Crinkle Ribbon:

JOIN THE FUN CHALLENGE

The 3 Girl JAM Challenge for the month of February is
"Yellow, Green and Orange"


You'll always find LOADS of inspiration at the 3 Girl JAM Challenge Blog!
Stop over for wonderful ideas from the Design Team and all those who are linking up!

We'd love for you to Link your Projects to JOIN THE FUN and for a chance to WIN a Gift Certificate to Shop at 3 Girl JAM!!!!

For more 3 Girl JAM Product and Project Ideas, be sure to check out the 3 Girl JAM Pinterest Boards!

$$$ SAVE $$$

~*~*~ AWESOME DISCOUNT ALERT ~*~*~

Stop by 3 Girl JAM to shop around and place an order
for any of the amazing products that are

a MUST HAVE in your stash!
SAVE 10% OFF Your Order ---Just use the Discount Code JB10 during checkout!!!

Thanks for Stopping In Today

Remember 

to Keep 

Crafting, 

Because 

♫ CRAFTING ♫ 

♫ ROCKS ♫ 

\m/-_-\m/ 

:O) Jessica

~~~ Mixed Media Tag with the *NEW* Lace @ 3 Girl JAM ~~~

!!! HAPPY MONDAY !!!
Blends and 3 Girl JAM-mers

I am happy to be the Design Team Member posting at 3 Girl JAM today!

I was super excited to get to play around and create a Mixed Media Tag for a swap I am in with a fun group on FB.  I spoke with my swap partner about her "favorites" and she was super sweet to give me a lot of ideas to work with.  As soon as she said "pinks, blues, silvers, whites, and greens", I grabbed the NEW Lace from 3 Girl JAM!!!  

This lace is beyond Gorgeous and I can't wait for it to be released so all my friends can play with it in their creations, too.  The colors are scrumptious and I adore the mixed colors Julie created and will have available!

Now, because I didn't have any "official #10 Tags", I improvised.  I grabbed for my medium thick chipboard and cut out my tag shape at 4 1/8" x 8 1/2" to meet the swap requirement.  Alexandra, my swap partner, was so understanding and okay with the idea of a more sturdy tag!  YAY!!! (I didn't think to take a pic of it before I started, though....DOH!)

I first painted a thin coat of white acrylic paint on both sides of the chipboard and let it dry.  

I wanted a lot of texture and dimension, so I grabbed for my Studio Calico "Huey's Masks (elongated hexagons)" and my gesso.  I placed the mask flat and at an angle, then took a plastic spatula to spread on the gesso.  After smoothing it out, I lifted the mask and allowed for the gesso to dry before my next phase.

I sprayed a thin mist of Colorbox Spritzer - Glacier Lake on the surface.  Because it was a very dark tone, I sprayed a tad of my Pink Perfect Pearls and then wiped some of the excess spray with a paper towel, using single strokes from the top of the tag to the bottom.  

I wanted to spray a bit of my "homemade" pink spray next, but I couldn't get my mister unclogged (LOL).  Again, I improvised.  I tapped the tip of the spray "straw" onto the tag in various places.  I loved that the drops followed a path down the indentations of hexagons from the mask I used.  So, I continued this step several times until I got my desired effect.

I sprayed a bit more of the Glacier Lake again and wiped off the excess.  I then used a little of my "homemade" green mist in the lower left and upper right corners to offset the blue and pink a bit.

Now, to show the colors of the lace against my semi-finished tag.  GORGEOUS, RIGHT?

I wanted to stick to the colors Alexandra requested and started hunting for some gorgeous elements to use on the tag.  I grabbed my new doilies and my beautiful metal embellishments from Miriam's Crafting Supplies along with one of my absolute faves from her shop....flat back pearls. 

I sifted through my entire stash of designer papers, not really certain which ones I would use, but selected some that were matching the color scheme I was working with.  

I chose to work with the pink fleur de lis paper and the black and white Eiffel tower papers from the Carta Bella Paris Girl 6x6 pad.

Before I applied any embellishments, I decided to stamp and emboss a gorgeous rose bouquet first.  I used the bouquet of roses from the Echo Park set called "better with love" by Unity.

I used a white embossing powder and staggered my image several times around the entire tag.

To give the entire tag more, I went around the outer edge with some of my Distress Ink - Vintage Photo.

I started to embellish the tag first, by pleating and adhering the wider blue/green lace just under the hole at the top.

I then created a second row of lace, using the same technique, but with the thinner pink lace this time.  

For the center of my tag, I first adhered the small silver doily to be a backdrop for the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Squares I cut with my Big Shot.  

I also cut a 2" circle with my hand punch.  I inked the edges of all cuts with my Distress Inks in Tattered Rose, Shabby Shutters, and Weathered Wood.

I picked out the Eiffel Tower stamp from the Unity 12/12 KOM, "Everyday Fairytale" and inked it with some Embossing Ink.  

After stamping it to the chevron print paper from the Carta Bella, Carta Bella Paris Girl 6x6 pad, I sprinkled some silver embossing tinsel and activated it using my heat gun.  

I fussy cut around the edges and placed that onto my layers in the center of my tag.

To give more depth to the center layers, I placed some of the flat back pearls around the edge of the circle that was still exposed and looking quite bare.  

I love the added color this gave the area and wanted more . . . . more is better, right?  The metal corner embellishments gave me the same desired effect and added more dimension, too.  

I added the same colors of pearls to the lower corner of the tag and decided I could put them away!

I created a cluster of paper flowers below the tower after adding some larger white corner embellishments to the bottom left and the upper right (just under the pleated lace) of my tag.  

I added a small grouping of flowers to adorn the top corner, too.  

I wanted to offset the large cluster of paper flowers on the bottom, by using some of the FABULOUS Crinkle Ribbon from the 3 Girl JAM Shop.

I created a triple bow on my 3 Girl JAM Bow Maker using the Red & Blue Mixed Ribbon from the  Red, White & Blue Bundle along with the Christmas Candy Ribbon from the Seasons Bundle.

Using some twine, I added a key charm to the center of the bow as I was making it with the Bow Maker.  A final touch --- adding the binder ring!

ALL IN ALL, I give Mixed Media Projects a TWO THUMBS UP!
Now, if only I could conquer the management of more time to work with Mixed Media, I would be ONE ECSTATIC CRAFTER!

The 3 Girl JAM Challenge for the month of January is
ANYTHING GOES with Ribbon!
A Crowd Favorite!

You'll always find LOADS of inspiration at the 3 Girl JAM Challenge Blog!
Stop over for wonderful ideas from the Design Team and all those who are linking up!  The Challenge will remain open until January 31st .

We'd love for you to Link your Anything Goes Projects to JOIN THE FUN and for a chance to WIN a Gift Certificate to Shop at 3 Girl JAM!!!!

For more 3 Girl JAM Product and Project Ideas, be sure to check out the 3 Girl JAM Pinterest Boards!

~*~*~ AWESOME DISCOUNT ALERT ~*~*~

Stop by 3 Girl JAM to shop around and place an order
for any of the amazing products that are

a MUST HAVE in your stash!
SAVE 10% OFF Your Order ---Just use the Discount Code JB10 during checkout!!!

Thanks for Stopping In Today

Remember 

to Keep 

Crafting, 

Because 

♫ CRAFTING ♫ 

♫ ROCKS ♫ 

\m/-_-\m/ 

:O) Jessica