Destashing with Mixed Media

What is the correct plural of the word "yeti?"  I have seen both "yeti" and "yetis" used as the plural form.  For now, let's just say that "yeti" is both the singular and the plural.  I have a very good reason for this.  The reason is...I ran out of "S" stickers in the font that I wanted to use on this scrapbook layout.  :)

Supplies: paper from Lily Bee; stickers from Bo Bunny; paint from Deco Art; colored pencil from Faber-Castell; pen from Zig; upcycled postage stamps & bubble wrap.  Loosely based on the sketch from page 33 of the January 2015 issue of Create magazine.

The topic of this scrapbook page may be yetis...oops, I mean yeti, but what I really want to talk about today is destashing with mixed media.  Now, I have a love/hate relationship with mixed media.  I love all the "playthings" (paints, mediums, tools, etc.) associated with the style.  But I hate waiting for wet media, such as gesso, texture paste, etc., to dry.  Still, I know that using mixed media can be quite green, so I decided to give it a go on this page, and I'm happy with the result.  I think I've found some mixed media techniques that require little to no drying time--hooray!

First off, I modified my patterned paper background by stamping with acrylic paint on bubble wrap.  Can you see it in the photo above?  Acrylic paint dries quickly, especially if you only use a thin layer.

Before putting the paint away, I also used it to make these snowflake embellishments.  Treating the negative pieces of some Bo Bunny snowflake stickers as stencils, I applied acrylic paint to patterned paper.  Again, I kept the layer of paint quite sheer, since I wanted the herringbone pattern to peek through from behind the paint.  After the paint dried, I outlined the snowflakes with colored pencil--a medium that requires zero drying time--and cut out the finished embellishments.

I also added swipes of acrylic paint and red pencil to the borders of a couple photos.

Finally, I used the mixed media trick of embellishing with found objects--postage stamps, in this case.  Even though I used mixed media techniques (stamping, stenciling, colored pencil, found objects), I was able to create this layout in a single sitting.  It was great to get some use out of my mixed media supply stash, so I'll definitely be making more pages like this one in the future.  Who knows, maybe my love/hate relationship with mixed media will someday become just a "love" relationship. 

Party Time!

I have a Christmas page to share today.  I know that Christmas was a while ago, but I thought I might not be the only person who is still scrapping holiday photos.  Plus, even though my subject matter may not be up-to-the-minute, my inspiration is.  I love all the new party-themed scrapbooking supplies that debuted at CHA 2015 last month.  But being me, I decided to go the "green" route and decorate my page with actual party supplies instead of purchased scrapbook embellishments.

Supplies: patterned paper from Little Yellow Bicycle, cardstock from Neenah Paper; ink from Clearsnap; pen from Zig; reused Christmas wrapping supplies.

Side note: yes, my son is wearing shorts in that Christmas photo.  He always wants to wear shorts at home, even in the dead of winter.  I think it's because he's so active, he never seems to get cold.  We do make him dress warmly when we go out of the house, though.  Anyway, back to the scrapbook page.

As much as possible, I try to save and reuse gift wrap. That includes these green paper shreds, which were used as packing material in a gift that I received.  Most of them went into my gift wrap box, to be used again next Christmas.  However, I did set aside a few shreds to use in scrapbooking, and they made their way onto this page.

I also try to save gift bows to use again.  Instead of reusing this one to adorn a gift, though, I placed it on my page.  It makes a fun dimensional embellishment, and it squishes down well to fit in my album (as this photo shows).

Are you excited about the "party trend" in scrapbooking supplies?  I think these supplies are cute, and I'm sure you'll see me using them again sometime soon.