Izbzee

Thanksgiving Hydrangea Wreath

What a fun project this was.  I'm so excited to share it with you.  You'll find all the assembly details over on The Artistry.  

Beautiful rich fall colors, faux wood plaque and more.  Hope you'll enjoy looking at it as well.  

It's Swatch Time

I recently purchased another set of Poetique Refillable Brush Pens -- now that I know I get get them to work in the eBrush.  Life just got a little better and I'm looking forward to creating some new backgrounds with the markers and some new silk screen stencils I have sitting on the craft table.  




I reached out to my contact with the company that sells the pens  and learned that the company does not provide a swatch sheet for their pens.  SO,......  I decided to make my own and then I won't have to figure out what colors would work best for the project being created.  

You could do the same using Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets.  Easy peasy and the 48 count set still fits on a single sheet of paper.  I also liked the fact that I could print the template on a piece of 140 lb watercolor cold press paper (cut to US letter size) with ease using the rear tray feed on my printer.  

The pens in the  four trays  aren't in numerical order or necessarily ordered in the same color family... so I did a bit of re-ordering by numbers with the pen color name facing up. The 48 count  box has a good assortment to choose from.  I am also excited to know that there are ink refills available for each of the pens.  The brush nibs work really well and you can accomplish most of what you want to "paint" with this single nib.  

This made it much easier to create the chart.  Pen numbers and pen name are in the row below the swatch of the color.  some of the colors are pretty intense and others are lighter.    


Leave a comment or reach out via FB messenger if you would like a copy of the file.  A swatch chart will be available for the 24 pen set shortly.  

In the meantime, have a crafty sort of weekend and coming week!  

 

Create One-of-a-Kind Backgrounds with Layering Stencils - Creative Fabrica

via www.creativefabrica.com

I'm in love with this stencil. Hope you'll enjoy the results of using it too!

It's been a productive week...

or at least a productive couple of days!  Birthdays for this month are creeping up and so it was a mad dash to get a few done. A mix of digital and hybrid.  Love all the fun that can be created using the SCAL 5 Pro software and a few fun files and dies from favorite vendors.  

Using the Gradient feature in SCAL 5 Pro, you can create a full rainbow of color and fill the text with lots of fun!  Moving the individual sliders you can play with the color movement as well until you're satisfied with the shift. 

Purely digital and so much fun.  

Let the Skycut plotter/cutter do the cutting of a chunky font and you create the background on the card base using distress inks and blending tools.  Embellish with a single cupcake (digi is from Creative Fabrica) colored with pencils are markers of your choice.  Add a little glaze to the cherry for some shine.  

Digi image from Creative Fabrica (watercolor collection).  Print 2 cut using SCAL5 Pro to set up.  Once the image is printed, use a Spellbinders' border die.  Round the corners of the back edge and add a bit of additional color to the edge with a strip of paper in a complimentary color.  

 

 Hoping you will be able to spend some time in your creative space this week.  Enjoy every moment of it.  Happy Crafting!  

Stencil Art

While preparing another article for The Artistry, I decided to try something I haven't done for a while.  I got out the eBrush and the Tombow markers to see how they would work with the silk screen stencils I was making.  

SUCCESS!  
The design for this stenciled card front is from Ikonartstencil.com and is one of the free files they have on their website under the resource tab. 

There are quite a few files available in pdf or svg format.  I used SCAL5 Pro to set up the files for printing.  The next step of creating the silkscreen stencils is a breeze.  I'll have a full tutorial on that coming up in a couple of weeks on the Artistry.  

I love the option of being able to reuse the stencil multiple times.  Using the eBrush allows for even more flexibility in colors and easy clean up especially when applying the color to paper.  Similar results can also be achieved using acrylic paint and a foam brush, but the clean up for the markers is much easier and quicker.  (wink - no brushes to clean!)

Thanks for dropping by and hoping you're enjoying some creative time or have some scheduled soon.  Keep nurturing your own creativity!  It really is good for the soul!

 

 

 

 

Father's Day 2021

While we weren't able to spend the day with T's dad, we were able to spend some time with all but our oldest son and his wife over the weekend.  We delighted in seeing each of our grandchildren... and oh how they have grown!  We had our first "official" family gathering since the pandemic just a couple of weeks previously - with all of the family at my Mom's funeral.  We enjoyed a family picnic with extended family at a nearby park after the services.  

Our gathering this past Sunday, however, was just our family.  We enjoyed a nice dinner, lots of talk and the kids enjoyed watching a movie and playing in the yard... I'm so glad that it finally cooled down a bit and we could enjoy sitting outside.  Oh, what a joy it was to resume what we hope will be our monthly family get-togethers again.  

 

Before we got together, I was able to spend a little time crafting and created this card (sparked by something I saw on Pinterest) using SCAL5Pro and my new Skycut C24 plotter/cutter.  Cutting all the speech bubble (CreativeFabrica.com) was a breeze and even creating the gradient and sentiment for the front of the card was a breeze using the print and cut option offered in the software.  The boys seemed to like their cards and the personalized messages in them.  

The tie-dye look on the star was achieved using some Poetique refillable watercolor brushes.  They're easy to use and blend very well.  

We're still getting used to our new norm of not having Mom with us any longer.  It's strange not to share the progress on current projects or listen to the DVDs she enjoyed so much. We know that she's happy and celebrating with the heavenly watercolors -- the sunsets of late have been absolutely gorgeous.  We feel so blessed to have been able to be her caregivers over the last 5 1/2 years.  

2021 Spring Tags Challenge - day 4

Day 4 reveal is underway!  Thanks in advance for stopping by to check out the new tag and to catch up on the rest of the tags, drop by the FB page for more.  

This tag started out on stark white AC smooth cardstock.  Once again, dipping into a 6 in pad of paper for some additional interest, 2 strips were cut from 2 papers and secured to the tag.  Dry-brushing some white acrylic over the tag, softened the papers a bit and pulled the two patterns together.  Edges of the tag were blended using some Old Paper distress ink.  

The focal piece for this tag is from Dreaming Tree's Lavender Greetings. Cut from white cardstock, the 3 pieces of the image are colored using Ohuhu markers and Craftwell's eBrush.  The colors are rich and vivid.  

Once the coloring was finished, a small embossing tool was used to add a little more texture. If desired for a little shimmer, add a touch of Pearl Ex to the floral portion of the cuts and a few drops of Crystal Nuvo. 

 A wrapped ribbon on the stems finishes off the focal piece.  Add a few mini gems (nail art kit), sequins and Nuvo drops as desired to finish it off.  Let dry and add your ribbon hanger.  

Birdhouse - more color

Not quite finished yet, but getting there.  The last post for this birdhouse featured adding the color to the roof.  For this post, I added a bright cheery yellow Ohuhu marker to the house in hopes of bringing some cheer to what is normally a pretty dreary January around here.  More details and the final project coming soon.  

Once again, I used the eBrush and the hacked adapter.  If you're a copic marker user, make sure that you have a second adapter on hand. 

Need to hack an adapter?  This youtube video that Mitsyana (UpOnTippyToes.com) created is a super reference video.  You'll find more helpful hints on the eBrush page on Facebook.  Link below.    

Craftwell, is offering a special deal this first week of January!   If you've been wanting an eBrush, now's the time to get it! 

Head over to the Facebook eBrush, AirBrush Fun page for all the details.  The special is only good until January 9, 2021!  This is a fabulous deal, so don't miss out.  Order yours today!  

And while you're waiting for your eBrush to arrive, hope you have some creative time set aside for some play time.  I'm looking forward to sharing more eBrush fun with you in the weeks ahead as well as other fun ideas that have been filling my mind in recent weeks.  

Birdhouse project - adding color

It's been a couple of weeks and a trigger thumb flare... so working on this project has been a bit of a hit and miss as far as crafting is concerned.

The new markers posed a bit of a problem in that they didn't fit into any of the adapters made for the eBrush, however I was able to hack one of the Copic adapters to work.  You can learn how to hack the adapter in this youtube video  The barrels of the markers are the same shape as the copic markers but differ just enough not to fit into the adapter.  

The  markers are from Ohuhu. They're a good price for the larger bundles and are juicy from the get go.  The only drawback to using them is you would need to buy bundles in order to replace individual markers once the color was used up in an individual marker.  They aren't refillable and the nibs cannot be adjusted like some other brands.   

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The color I got while spraying was perfect with a limited amount of fiddling to find the sweet spot for each of the pens I used.  
This is a sneak peek of the roof after using the eBrush and a warm gray to color. 

More to come as I continue to work between the flares....  In the meantime, I hope you're carving out some creative time and nurturing that part of your being this season.  

2020 - 12 Tags of Christmas Tag 11

This challenge is drawing to a close and you really don't want to miss any of the other contributions.  So hop on other to our Facebook page and take a peek at all the phenomenal designs that have been shared.  There are a LOT! 

I"ve kept this year's tags on the simple side for sure.  Maybe next year there will be a little more time to spend creating.  I've got a few ideas sketched in the "idea" book that I hope to have a chance to bring to life in the coming year.  

Here's Tag 11 -- The design is a copycat shape of a previous tag (.  The stamp is from Crafter's Companion and is colored with Ohuhu markers and set on a wobble.  I really like the little bit of action on this tag.   The sentiment is Print 2 cut.  Text on arch  inside and outside.  Font is from CreativeFabrica.  You could use print 2 cut, draw or the foil quill for the lines.  I decided to hand draw them with an ultra fine sharpie pen.  

thanks again for stopping by.  Hoping your holidays are filled with joy, wonder and creative time!