Hey, y’all! It’s June 1st, and that means it’s time for the Tres Jolie Kit Club June Kits to be revealed! YAY! I always love this day!
June is also Tres Jolie’s anniversary month! We are 5 years strong thanks to our customers! Join us all month long for sales, weekly challenges, new chipboard items, more limited edition kits, a special summer banner kit, and a free gift with purchase. We have added new members to the design team and the website has a new look!
Make sure you have your Tres Jolie Kit Club kits so you can create your summer memory crafts and preserve your summer memories! Be sure to get your kits before they’re gone! Or, better yet, subscribe to Tres Jolie Kit Club so you will never miss a kit! Be sure you follow us on all social media platforms (Tres Jolie Kit Club links at the end of the post; Corner Scraps links to the right) and have joined the Tres Jolie Kit Club Facebook Café so you won’t miss a single announcement or project created with these kits.
Now for the June 2023 Kits!
The June 2023 Scrapbooking Kit is filled with the Vintage Man Collection from 3 Quarter Designs. This collection offers you a fabulous variety of designs for vintage and steampunk-themed projects. You will also find fabulous Finnabair Mechanicals and coordinating Tres Jolie Chipboard – a lovely assortment of patterned papers and perfectly coordinated embellishments!
This month’s Mixed Media Kit offers you a chance to play with oil pastels! And to go with them, there is a canvas panel, a stencil, and some Lindy’sMagical powder!
Our card kit is filled with A4 embossed papers and gold foiled kraft card embellishments from Hunkydory. As well as A4 kraft card blanks, white envelopes, and a gold Transfer Me sheet from Dress My Craft. There is enough for you to create some fantastic cards, tags, and ATCs – a wide variety of “mini” projects! Who doesn’t like creating a variety of projects from one kit?
These kits are for the beginner to the advanced, clean, and simple to mixed media maven. No matter your style, there is something for everyone. We know you are going to love it!
Now (drumroll please!), presenting the June 2023 Tres Jolie Kits:
*Scrapbook Kit*
*Mixed Media Kit*
*Cards, Tags, and More kit*
Don’t forget to stop by the Tres Jolie YouTube channel and see our video reveal of all our kits.
Love them, right?!?! You can still get one of your own (some kits are in very limited quantities). Become a subscriber and you will never miss out on our gorgeous, coordinated kits. Just visit Tres Jolie subscribe.
The designers at Tres Jolie have created some amazing layouts/projects with this kit.
Here is a little tease from me:
Please stop by the other designer’s blogs and check out their sneak peeks. They are listed below:
We have a new mood board challenge for the month. Here are the rules:
Place your entries in the June 2023 challenge folder on Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page. This challenge ends on June 30th, 2023 at 11:59 pm CST. All entries must be in this folder to be eligible for the prize (to have everyone eligible to win, we are limiting the same winner to once every 3 months).
Don’t forget to follow us on all our social media:
All the designers will be revealing their projects on the Tres Jolie blog all month long. Make sure you join us for tons of inspiration, including video and photo tutorials. Also, check out our newest chipboard designs that were just added to the store.
Hey, y’all! For my final project of April, I have some quick and easy MemoryDex Cards for you! I used up scraps I had leftover from the Easel Cards I made at the beginning of the month, finished off the flower pack from the Scrapbooking Kit, and added a little splatter from the “Fairy Wings” paint in the Mixed Media Kit!
There isn’t a lot of “instruction” for these easy-peasy cards, but I do have a process video for you to check out where I go over briefly what I was using and doing!
As I started cutting my cover stock to size, I decided I would use up as much as I could, and that led me to create a tiered set of cards. All three cards are 4 inches wide, but their heights are 3”, 3-1/4”, and 3-1/2”.
I already had quite a bit of the flowers and foliage cut out from my Easel Cards, but I wanted a few larger pieces, so I cut the tags from one of the patterned papers, the hearts and scalloped edge circles from the cover of the elements pack, and picked out a few of the words from a page in the elements pack.
I picked out one sheet of patterned paper to cut to the same sizes as my three bases, punched the MemoryDex holes along the bottoms, and glued the two layers together.
I tried to keep each card similar to each other, but not identical, so I sorted the pieces I planned on using before gluing everything together.
I also wanted to add a little dimension to the layers – help them stand out a bit – so I used a blending brush and inked up the edges of the ephemera pieces before attaching them.
Because I had already opened the Little Birdie flower pack from the Scrapbooking Kit when I was playing with color, I decided I wanted to finish it off! (If you haven’t heard, I don’t like having partial flower packs!!)
I had one cluster, but three cards, so what else was there to do but dismantle the flower cluster and distribute the parts across the cards as evenly as possible?
After I had all my layers glued down and my Little Birdie flowers on, I realized I needed to add a little “something” to the flowers to create a more cohesive look – all it took was a light brushing of ink from my blending brush! Well I could have easily called the cards done after adding the sentiments, I still felt they didn’t look quite finished – so I added a little butterfly, and splattered on some of the “Fairy Wings” Sparks paint.
Thank you for joining me here today! I hope you enjoyed these quick and easy MemoryDex cards and they gave you some ideas of what you can make using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit – or scraps you have left from other projects!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! Have you heard the news this month? Tres Jolie Kit Club has teamed up with Clear Scraps!! How awesome is that?!?! Have you had a chance to check out the other (Tres Jolie & Clear Scraps) designer’s project this week? If not, go check them out!
Last week you saw a couple of Clear Scraps wooden blanks I used while playing with color, this week is my “main” or “feature” collaboration project – Tres Jolie Scrapbooking & Mixed Media Kits + an acrylic “Wave” album from Clear Scraps! As soon as I opened my package from Clear Scraps, I knew, knew, what I had to do with the album! It was a real test to my ADHD to finish other projects I was working on – that had a time limit – before tearing into the Tres Jolie Scrapbooking Kit and the Clear Scraps Album! Are any other ADHDers out there? You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?
I have a tutorial video for you too! I do my best to explain everything I’m doing and how I’m doing it! Make sure you check it out so you can make your own file-journal-album type thingy! Maybe it was because here in the States it was tax season when I started it – all I know is I really wanted to create something pretty and functional to help me get organized () for next year!
I can’t give a “good” answer to why I wanted to add a hidden pocket/faux window to the cover, I just did! Thinking back, I believe it started with the window idea and morphed into not wanting the window to actually show what was inside – so I made a pocket instead of just covering the backside of the front cover.
I found a round lid from a container I had been saving, and it was the perfect size for my window! I just traced the lid on a piece of scrap paper to use as a mask while stenciling, and traced the lid onto the section of patterned paper I wanted to use for the “backing.”
To really make sure I had good adhesion, I mixed some 3D Matte Gel from my stash with some of the “White Sand” Texture Paste and “Fairy Wings” Sparks paint from this month’s Mixed Media Kit before adding it to the cover using the Craft o’Clock stencil also found in this month’s Mixed Media Kit.
I used JudiKins Diamond Glaze to attach all of my paper to the acrylic pages throughout the project. Diamond Glaze has a strong hold and it dries clear – well it dries clear unless the paper “soaks” it up! I wasn’t sure exactly how the Diamond Glaze would work with the paper and acrylic, but it was the best I could think of to hold everything together – so I used it and hoped for the best! In the end, I’m happy with my choice! Even though the glue dries clear, it leaves darker, water-stain-ish areas on the paper – and I’m okay with that because it just adds more aging to the entire project!
I glued the patterned paper circle on first so I could make sure it lined up with the un-stenciled area on the cover, then I added the sheet of patterned paper I had picked to cover the entire inside of the cover. The circle and the floral print are from the same 12×12 sheet, and, shockingly, I had thought this through! With the floral print showing through the cover, the tea-stain look – the same pattern for my window circle – is what shows within the pocket!
After I had my faux window pieces in place, I cut out the piece I wanted to use for the pocket and cut an extra strip of patterned paper out for the (inside) top edge of the pocket to reinforce it. When it came time to attach the pocket, I laid a bone folder in the center of the acrylic cover before adding the pocket. This creates just enough gap to keep the pocket loose enough to remain functional.
To finish off the details on the cover, I added some of the flowers and foliage I had fussy cut from a few of the 6”x6” sheets of “First Kiss” papers in the scrapbooking kit, splattered on some of the “Ginger Magic” Sparks paint from the mixed media kit, and then gave everything a light-medium coating of Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze for protection. Once the Krylon had dried, I added a few of the 49 & Market Epoxy Stickers – adding some Diamond Glaze for extra adhesion since they are on the cover.
The back cover is far simpler – in fact, all of the other acrylic pages are! For the rest of the acrylic pages, I started out with some light stenciling using the “Ginger Magic” Sparks paint, but as I went along, I wanted to try and add some dimension to the pages, so on the side that was still “plain,” I added random stenciling, reverse stenciling, and/or splotches using the “Fairy Wings” Sparks paint. On the sides that had the “Ginger Magic” stenciling, I sprayed a light coating of Krylon Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze to protect the paint, but I didn’t need to add the Krylon to the “Fairy Wings” side since that would be where my pockets were going to get attached.
Besides the vintage feel of the “First Kiss” Collection, the “vintage” tape was why I didn’t mind the “water stains” caused by the Diamond Glaze – I had already planned on making everything “old”!!
I used some Duck Brand Clear Laminate and alcohol inks to create my aged tape – because I have had a roll of Duck Brand Clear Laminate sitting around for about six months! The laminate is self-adhesive, not too thick, and flexible! Plus it is in a 12” wide roll, so I inked up a 6”x12” section, then cut it into four, 1-1/2” wide strips for the bottom edges of the pockets (Packing tape or gift wrapping tape can be used just as easy to create vintage tape!). This gave some reinforcement to the edge of the pocket that the holes went through and the bottom “hinge” of the pocket.
For the pocket construction, each page is created using one of the 12”x12” sheets. I determined what sections of the pattern I wanted to show, traced the wave edge of the acrylic sheet where it needed to go, made light marks if needed at the straight edge, and added 5” from the straight edge for the pocket front. Where the straight edge of the acrylic page was marked is where my first score line went, then I added a second score line 1/2” over on the front of the pocket. The reason for the two score lines was simple. The first one is the main fold line of the pocket, but because I needed to account for the book ring holes, I added a second one to create the functional part of the pocket.
In that 1/2” section, I added some double-sided tape and glue and sealed it up – leaving me with a nice sturdy edge to punch my holes though!
For the accordion fold edges of the pockets, I cut two, 4-1/2”x2” strips for each pocket – eight in total – scored at 1/2” and 1-1/2”, then added a 1”x5” strip of the laminate (without alcohol ink) between those two score lines. I added the extra 1/2” to the laminate so I could fold it over the top of the accordion edge to give it some extra strength. After the laminate was in place, I added a score line right down the center of the strip, then folded everything at the score lines to create a W.
I decided to add a separator to my pockets – to create two sections inside – so all I did is grab up a couple of 8-1/2”x11” pieces of cardstock from my stash and cut them in half. This gave me the four dividers I need for all four pockets. I added a strip of patterned paper to the inside of the front (straight edge) of the pockets and the top, front edge of the divider to reinforce them.
I checked and re-checked that my divider was the right size, attaching one accordion side, doing a dry (glue-less) assembly, and marking how much needed to be shaved off to make sure my divider didn’t buckle in the pocket. Then, after I was sure everything would fit, I added my second accordion side, did another glue-less assembly (because it would be far easier to remove the accordion ends and make a new divider now!), quadruple checked for fit, then finally I glued the divider to the accordion sides and set it off while I worked on the closure.
I have added this quickly-created graphic to show you where the pocket and divider are glued to the accordion sides. The pink-ish lines represent the edges for adhesion – hopefully, this is a far better explanation than I could have ever done trying to use words!!
For my pocket closures, I wrapped a 1-1/2” wide by 5-3/4” or so long strip of patterned paper with some of the laminate – cut in a 4”x3-3/4” square. After getting my magnet in place with a little Fabri-Tac, I add some of my homemade vintage tape, then the 4” width gets wrapped around the latch (1-1/2”+1-1/2”=3” plus an extra inch for overlap), and the edge of the latch (with the rounded corners) lines up with [one of the] the 3-3/4” edges – this leaves about two inches of the paper unwrapped, making it easier to ensure good adhesion when glued into the back of the pocket! Or, at least in my thinking because I find it easier to glue paper to paper than laminate to paper!
Starting about two inches from the edge of the latch with the magnet, I add about 1-1/2” of score lines – my scoreboard has 1/8” spacing, so I made about 12-13 score lines. I had cut the laminate wrapping the closure just long enough to reinforce all the score lines on the latch and to go about 1/2” or so past the last score line. Since some of my score lines are “inside” the pocket, this also ensured that all areas of the latch “outside” the pocket had the laminate protection. Then, all that was left to do is glue the latch in place – center along the back – using some Fabri-Tac because of the laminate, add a couple of clips at the edge to hold it together while the glue dried, and add my paperclip magnet catch to the inside of the front of the pocket.
I used jumbo paperclips and glued them in vertically so that as the pocket got full and expanded, the magnet would be sure to catch on some part of the paperclip!
Once my latch and paperclip were in place, it was finally time to glue the center divider and accordion sides in!
Although, for my pockets, the eyelets are both decorative and functional, I consider them only decorative because adding a little glue between the accordion folds would create the same effect – to help create the V shape when the pocket opens. And, honestly, you don’t really need to add glue or eyelets, the pocket isn’t going to not open in a V, but I think it does help to keep the “strain” [of the accordion folds] off the front of the pocket, if that makes sense.
And, for some extra decoration and a way to hold more papers without covering up all the stenciling I did on the acrylic pages, I made up a few hidden or covered paperclips! (You can search YouTube for “covered paperclips” or “hidden paperclips” to get a list of different videos!)
Thank you for joining Tres Jolie and Clear Scraps this week! We hope you have been enjoying the collaboration projects and they have given you some ideas of what you can create using Tres Jolie’s beautiful kits and fabulous Clear Scraps products!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! This week I wanted to dive into the Mixed Media Kit and just play with the colors! Sometimes colors or color combinations can be daunting, especially when sitting in separate containers! You might find yourself asking questions such as: “Do they really go together?” “Can I put orange, blue, and green together?,” and “Are there other colors I have around that can be used too?”
Then there’s the biggest question of them all: “What happens if…?!?!”
Hopefully, my project this week will provide you with a few “answers” and spark some ideas for you!
Make sure to swing by YouTube and check out just how big of a mess I can make!
For this first project I played around with, I used a Clear Scraps wooden blank, the paints, texture paste, and stencil from the Mixed Media Kit, and some flowers from both the Scrapbooking and Cards, Tags, & More Kits. (y’all know Tres Jolie is having a collaboration with Clear Scraps this month, right? Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the Tres Jolie and Clear Scraps “official” collaboration projects coming up!!)
I coated the “You n Me” frame with some white gesso and then started my color experiment using a gel plate! I have always loved how gel plates allow a thinner layer of paint(s) to be applied, and how easy it is to put your layers together and lift it all at once! For the two base ovals, I only used the paints on the gel plate, but for the main feature, after I had my color down, I rolled some white gesso on, then lifted. The white gesso gave the paints a more faded look – and since I liked it, I kept it!
After all that gel plate “work,” I added some random areas of stenciling. Now, with the stenciling on, I had to figure out how I wanted to go about adding some color to it, so I grabbed up a sponge and just started dabbing. I think the sponge worked great, it created a nice even coverage, but it also allowed for more control over how thick the paint went on – plus, it just worked better for me over the uneven surface of the stenciling!
For the frame, I lightly and unevenly added some of the “Fairy Wings” paint using a brush. I didn’t want a “perfect” coat of paint, I figured this project should look as aged as the photo (the photo was taken 20 years ago this month!). To help protect the photo from dust, fingerprints, etc., I added a layer of acetate and glued everything in place.
The white flower cluster came from the Little Birdie Crafts flower pack in this month’s Scrapbooking Kit, then I decided I needed to add a little more color, so I popped in some of the green flowers from the Cards, Tags, & More Kit (for me, it was the rest of the green flowers from last week’s cards). Then, because I was adding them to the other three projects, I decided a little extra texture from art stones would be a nice final touch.
Before I give an overview of the ScrapBerry’s Bird and Butterfly blanks found in the Mixed Media Kit, I am going to very quickly cover the daffodils in the clockfaces.
I hadn’t tried adding dried flowers to thinner resin pieces before, so I was experimenting with the process – and that process involved a bit of trial and error to work out the best way to cover flowers that are thicker than the mould! It also resulted in some gaps and uneven resin areas, but since I love old and vintage, I always figured I’d just work them into the design!
So, in short, I dried my flower in silica gel crystals, sprayed them with preservative for storage, then added them to my moulds.
With that covered some, it’s time to go over the remaining projects!
For the bird blank, I coated the wood with the black gesso from the kit, added some spray adhesive from my stash, then pressed the metallic flakes into place. After the glue had a chance to dry, I brushed off the excess flakes and started adding some stenciling. Then, I got the bright idea to add more metallic flakes to the texture paste while the stencil was still in place! It mostly worked. Mostly.
In continuing with my color experiments, I mixed some of the “Fairy Wings” paint into some 3D Matte Gel and added some extra sparkle with a bit of “Golden Marble” Pixie Sparkle. Well, I had hoped for extra sparkle…
Anyhow, the green behind the daffodil is really very subtle, and it doesn’t stand out a lot. But, this week was about experimenting, so it’s okay!
I wasn’t entirely happy with my bird base and the metallic flakes, so I came in with my sponges and added a few light areas of the paints. It wasn’t an all-over coating, just a few areas for some blending.
To try and get the details of the clockface to stand out a little more, I used a brayer to roll some black gesso on, then after the gesso had dried, I rolled on a couple of layers of the “Fairy Wings” paint and sprinkled some “Golden Marble” Pixie Sparkle to try and get a little more “pop.”
In addition to my daffodil clockface, I also have a Sharon Ziv window frame mould piece coated in a layer of white gesso and two layers of the “Ginger Magic” paint from the kit.
After I adhered the frame and clockface to the bird, I wanted to add a bit of shadow and a vintage look, so I grabbed up some “Burnt Sienna” Liquid Acrylic Paint and a water bottle. And, this is where I discovered there were a lot more gaps in my clockface than I originally thought! All of the darkest areas of Burnt Sienna are not on the surface! The paint ran through holes! Unexpected, yet kinda cool too.
This project needed something else, so I added the entire pack of the “Mango” 49 & Market flowers from the Scrapbooking Kit and some art stones. I don’t know if I can call this project “finished,” but I hope it gave you some ideas to pull from!
Next up, my “Shiplap Milk Can” Clear Scraps blank. I used almost the same technique on the background as I did with the bird – except I used white gesso instead of black gesso. I added my metallic flakes, then added stenciling – but instead of pressing more metallic flakes onto the texture paste, the flakes are mixed in because I worked on the stenciling for the milk can right after doing the bird and I just scraped the metallic flakes off the stencil right as I was working! After the texture paste had dried, I came in with my sponges and paints and blended things together a bit. (**Note: The gel used for the art stones isn’t dry yet in the photo!)
I hadn’t originally planned on adding the butterfly to this piece – I wasn’t sure the purple would go with the blue and green of the metallic flakes – but once I saw it together, I knew it had to be done! (The butterfly has a variety of purple powders all mixed together on top of the black gesso coating!)
However, I did have to add something between the background and the butterfly, so I grabbed up a flower mould, painted it “Ginger Magic,” sprinkled on some “Golden Marble” Pixie Sparkle, and stuck everything on. I added some “Burnt Sienna” for shadow and art stones for texture.
Now, for the fourth and final color experiment project – the ScrapBerry’s butterfly blank!
I used black gesso to prepare the blank, then added layers of color using my gel plate. After the paint had dried, I added some stenciling, then added more paint to blend the dried texture paste with the background using my little sponge pieces.
I will say, without a doubt, this clockface is a favorite “thing” I’ve made! The daffodil in this mould piece had lighter petals and against the purple background?!?!? It came out fabulous!
The purple background is made of a variety of dry mediums mixed into some 3D Matte gel spread across the back, and to get the details of the surface I used my brayer again and rolled a couple of layers of “Ginger Magic” on after the black gesso had dried.
On this project, I added a Finnabair Mould Frame and a Sharon Ziv window frame mould piece – the Finnabair frame coated in “Ginger Magic” and the Sharon Ziv window coated in “Fairy Wings.”
I used 3D Matte Gel to stick the mould pieces on, and after that had set up, I added my “Burnt Sienna” shadows and some art stones. Of all of the pieces, I think this one would benefit most if I add some more “Burnt Sienna” to the art stones – but since I’m not 100% sure (and the gel hadn’t dried yet!), I have left them “plain” for the time being.
Thank you for joining me here today, I hope these four projects gave you some ideas of how you can use the colors from this month’s Mixed Media Kit together!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! I hope you’re having a fabulous February and have had a chance to play with your kits! This week I have a project for you I made using the February Mixed Media Kit! I grabbed up my kit, added some extra mould pieces, mechanicals, and paints from my stash, and created my Mecha Love mixed media piece!
Make sure to check out my video to see what I did!
To start building up some texture, I added some of the sand texture paste using the stencil from the kit onto the canvas board. I didn’t cover the entire surface with stenciling, I just added the stenciling to a few random areas. In the video, you will see that I added black gesso after the sand texture paste had dried, but that was because I hadn’t planned on adding the cheesecloth so soon! If I had thought I would be adding the cheesecloth to fill in the areas without the stenciling I would have waited to add my gesso. Anyhow…I had been rust-staining fabric around the same time I received my February kits, so my cheesecloth got sucked into the process – even if that rust staining doesn’t show much on this canvas – and while I was playing with different ways to build my canvas, I just happened to lay the cheesecloth down in a way that sparked inspiration! I ran with this new inspiration and used some matte gel to adhere some of the cheesecloth to my canvas.
Since my cheesecloth led me on a slightly different path than what I had planned originally, I decided I wasn’t going to add gesso again until I had the majority of my mould pieces in place. I grabbed up a variety of gear mould pieces from my stash – made from a wide range of materials since I tend to pre-create pieces when I have extra resin or clay from a different project or I just need to use up old material – and started layering them up using some 3D Matte Gel. I had some broken bits and pieces in the mix, so I just used them as filler to create some lift under areas they wouldn’t be seen, you could just as easily use scraps of cardboard or chipboard as filler! After I had all my gears in place I added the resin frame from the kit and topped it with the large heart from Finnabair’s “Love Machine” Mould (from my stash). I let the 3D Gel dry overnight, then I came back with my matte gel and some more cheesecloth, adding more to the background and laying it across a few areas of the mould cluster. After the matte gel had dried, I added black gesso to everything.
Now it was finally time to start getting my colors built up! I started with some “Linen” Impasto and a lot of water! All I knew was I wanted to create some type of gradient or ombre effect, so I kept the layer of Impasto heavier on the top half(ish) of the canvas and more watered down on the bottom half(ish).
After the Impasto had dried, I mixed some Tres Jolie “Red” Acrylic Paint and DWM “Fuchsia” Glossy Spray and added this mix to the canvas.
When my paint and glossy spray mix had dried, I came back with more cheesecloth and added it to areas of my resin pieces and canvas. You can see some of the rust-stained cheesecloth on the finished piece still because this final layer of cheesecloth didn’t get completely covered by mediums!
After the matte gel had semi-dried (being fully dry wasn’t necessary!), I returned with some of the Copper and Graphite texture paste from this month’s kit and used them more like paint than paste. I added the copper to a few areas (very few!) of the cheesecloth I had just placed and the gears on the heart, and I added the graphite to the gears. I didn’t want a lot of build-up, I just wanted a bit of color.
After those pastes had dried, I came in with the Platinum Crackle Paste from the kit and added it to the bottom half(ish) of my canvas, then I set everything off to air dry for about 24 hours. When I came back, I had lovely crackles and it was finally time to get the Brown, Red, and Yellow Rust Effect Paste on the (mould) gears, the resin frame from the kit, and slightly spread out onto the canvas.
When I had my rust how I wanted it, I added some “Red Wine” Metallique Paint to my heart and on the top half(ish) of the canvas background. For the background, I really kept the metallique paint watered down, I didn’t want to completely cover what was already there, I just wanted to add a bit of variation.
Once the “Red Wine” was dry, I added some “Vintage Silk” and “Indian Pink” Finnabair waxes to highlight a few areas on the heart. Finally, I grabbed up the (partial) package of Mechanicals from my stash, kept them “as is,” and adhered them to the gears “on” the heart mould using 3D Matte Gel.
Thank you for joining me here today on the blog! I hope this project gave you some inspiration and ideas of what you can do with the items in this month’s Mixed Media Kit! I tried to use the texture pastes in a variety of ways to help you see them in action if you haven’t experienced the joy of crackles and rust effect pastes yet!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! Yesterday was the first day of winter (Winter Solstice). Today is the 4th-5th day of Hanukkah (the 5th day of Hanukkah will start at sundown tonight if my counting is correct – if I’m wrong, feel free to correct me!), Christmas is on Sunday, Kwanzaa starts Monday, and 2023 is ten days away! It’s been a year I tell ya! Don’t worry though, this isn’t my last project for 2022, I still have one more for you next week!
This week I made some ornaments for you using this month’s Cards, Tags, & More Kit and the Mixed Media Kit. Although, the Mixed Media Kit ornaments took a while to dry and haven’t been 100% completed. They weren’t part of my original plan – I had only planned on the three “double” ornaments made using the papers and cardstock from the Cards Kit. (Check out the video to get the details about all the hows and whys!)
My ornaments are also for the mood board challenge – what is a better holiday tradition than handmade ornaments or décor? For me, Christmas Trees need the ornaments my kiddos made – even if it has been close to a decade since the last one was made!
For the blog, I’m just going to talk about what your seeing in the photos, the video is where you can watch my thought process in action!
All of the clear plastic ornaments are 4 inches, and none of my inner, paper ornaments are over (approximately) 2-5/8-inches in diameter.
For this first ornament, I cut four circles, in each size, out of one of the sheets of patterned paper and one of the cardstock sheets from the kit. After I had them together – not all the way “closed” – I added a touch of embossing powder along the edges, then I glued a hat pin along the centers, using a small bead as separators.
I wanted to add a bit of a frosted look to this ornament, so I grabbed up some Finnabair Crushed Crystal and dabbed it onto the inside, keeping to the outer edges so the center would remain mostly clear, allowing the inner ornament to show. I used a combination of hot glue and 3D Matte Gel to hold my ornament in place – the hot glue to tack it in place long enough for the gel to dry – and after all the mediums had dried, I glued my halves together.
This ornament was my “experiment” with Foundry Wax – I had assumed the plastic would not hold up to the heat needed for the Foundry Wax, but I experimented so you wouldn’t have to! My official stance is – don’t use mediums that need to be heat set!
This second ornament is made up of four circles cut from one of the patterned papers and four circles cut from one of the cardstock sheets. I used a touch of paint along the edges, nothing that stands out, just a bit of White Pearl Metallic Paint. Once again, I didn’t close up my inner ornament until I had glued in what I was using to suspend it within the clear plastic ornament – in this case, a bit of gold (costume jewelry) chain. I added the gold Little Birdie wreaths to the sections that were made of the cardstock, used my hot glue and 3D Matte Gel to start the process of holding everything in place – then decided that wasn’t enough!
As I was looking at this ornament, I decided it need a little something more – not frosted like the first one – but something, so I grabbed up some glitter and added it to the top and bottom of the ornament, trying to create the look that the chain was coming out of the glitter “mound.” After I had the two halves glued together, I still thought there should be more, so I did something rare – I added glitter to the outside of a project! I just used some (regular weight) matte gel since it wouldn’t run the way glue might to hold the glitter in place, and set it off to dry.
For my third and final (actually finished) ornament, I used a small doily die to cut out four pieces of patterned paper and four pieces of cardstock, then glued them together the same way I did all the circles in the other two ornaments. Since this patterned paper is a darker and busier print, I only added a touch of the Bubbly Embossing Powder from this month’s Mixed Media Kit to the edges and wrapped the “Holly” and “Jolly” Tres Jolie Chipboard words around the center. The chipboard words are embossed in a layer of the Bubbly powder, and an extra layer of Lindy’s Holly Berry Red Gold on the bottom half-ish to create a bit of a gradient effect.
I was attempting to create the illusion that the inner ornament was floating within the outer ornament, so I used a length of fishing line to suspend it inside – just adding a few small beads to give it a little “extra.” I didn’t add any mediums to my outer ornament besides the bit of Vintage Gold Finnabair Wax – after adding a light coat of clear gesso – at the top where the hook will go.
Alright, as I stated in the video, I have a photo here for you of the two ornaments that had the Distress Mica Sprays and some glittery mediums in them – that took for-EV-er to dry! They are dry now, but they weren’t dry soon enough to do anything else with – that would also need time to dry! They were unplanned, I just needed something to experiment on before doing “things” to my planned ornaments! I’m hoping that I will finish these unplanned ornaments before next December!
Thank you for joining me here in my corner, I hope you enjoyed these ornaments and they gave you some ideas of what you can make using this month’s kits.
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! Is everyone ready for Halloween? I am because I don’t have anything to get ready for! The kids are all 21+, so Halloween has been their business for a while.
I love making Halloween-themed decorations! I don’t know why exactly, I think it must speak to the GenX “goth” side of me! Anyhow, the Mixed Media Kit this month from Tres Jolie Kit Club has just what you need to get going on your next Halloween (or goth!) décor piece – a bat base, foil transfer sheets, purple glitter paint, “Black Hole Black” Magical Powder, and some Distress Crackle! You could easily use just the mediums from the kit to decorate the bat base, or you can start with the bat and see what you can build up on it.
I have lots of layers – and had loads of dry time to go with them all – but I had fun and love the end result! Watch my video to see how this bat came together!
The first thing I did was give my bat base a coat of heavy black gesso, and after that had dried, I added some sand texture paste – in a random, patchy fashion – then coated that with more of the heavy black gesso. You can easily add the sand texture paste on the bat base first, then coat everything with the gesso – I just didn’t think of the sand texture paste until after I had the first coat of gesso on!
The next layer to go on was some of the FolkArt Purple Glitter Paint from the kit this month. It is a rather thick medium, so to make sure I got it between all of the rough spots of the sand texture paste, I watered it down some and spread it out.
After the FolkArt paint had dried, I started adding patches of the foil transfer to the base. As I mentioned in the video, if there wasn’t an extra tip in the package for the glue pen, I probably would have made a puddle of the glue on my media mat and then brushed it on; but, since there was a spare tip in the package, I used the glue straight from the pen! I really liked doing it this way just because it wouldn’t go on smoothly!
Once that glue had dried, I used a palette knife to drizzle on a layer of the Distress Crackle Paint and to just smooth it out across the surface. I didn’t want a thin, brushed layer, so I drizzled just enough to make a nice coat but without overflowing off the sides.
After the crackle paint had completely airdried and those cracks had formed, I gave a surface a light spritz of water, sprinkled on some of the Black Hole Black Magical Powder, and spritzed on more water. It doesn’t take a lot of powder! That Lindy’s Black Hole Black really deepens as soon as the water gets to it! I kept it watered down and let it flow into all of the cracks, then just dabbed off any areas that I didn’t want it – like on top of where the foil spots were.
While I let the Lindy’s dry, I started prepping all of my resin pieces. All of the bones started with a layer of white gesso, followed by a layer of Finnabair “Linen” Impasto Heavy Body Acrylic Paint. All of the other mould pieces started with a layer of black gesso and then were coated with a mix of “Ink Black” Liquid Acrylic Paint, FolkArt Purple Glitter Paint, and some Cosmic Shimmer “Fireworks Burst” Pixie Powder. I just mixed everything together to darken the pieces while giving them some shine at the same time. I also took this opportunity to give my bat a spray of some Finnabair Pixie Dust to hold the Black Hole Black Magical Powder in place.
With my bat set off to dry again, I started working on adding some dimension and color to my bone pieces. I started by adding some Burnt Sienna Liquid Acrylic Paint, watering it down, and just letting it catch in the textured areas of the mould pieces. After that paint had dried, I started adding more layers of color and some shine using the “Decayed” Distress Crayon and spreading it on my bones.
Because the Amun skull with the little bird skull I added on has so much detail on it, I came back with the Burnt Sienna, darkening some of those detail points – such as the nose ridge, nostrils, and eye sockets. Since it was going to be a little easier to work on before adhering to the base, I added a couple of waxes to Amun. I used some Sepia Antiquing Wax on the horns and added some Old White Matte Wax to create some highlights on the skulls. Then, because I had the Distress Crayon on my bones, I coated them with some MicroGlaze so the Crayon wouldn’t reactivate with water, and added everything to my base using some 3D Matte Gel. And, since I would be waiting for the 3D Gel to dry, I grabbed up my (regular) matte gel and some art stones and spread them on to add more texture.
With the gels dry, it was time to add more layers of color while I worked toward what I had been picturing in my head! I used more of the Purple Glitter Paint, the Black Hole Black Magical Powder, some of the Cosmic Shimmer Powder, and more Burnt Sienna to create the darker shadows around the bones.
After all of those mediums had dried, I came back in with some more of the Distress Crackle, mixed in some purple mica powder, and spread it out across the bat. Next up, more foil!
I was on a mission to try and lighten the area behind the resin pieces so they would pop more, so I added some White Pearl Metallic paint, then I had to fix some of the shadow areas with more Burnt Sienna!
I finally reached the end of this project! All of my wet mediums were dry, and it was time to grab my waxes and add the finishing details. I started with some Old White Matte Wax, then built up on it with some French Lavender Matte Wax, Electric Violet Metallique Wax, Royal Robes Opal Magic Wax, and some Ash Grey Antiquing Wax to finish it up.
Thank you for joining me here in my corner! I hope that you enjoyed this Mixed Media bat and it gave you some ideas of what you can do with this month’s Mixed Media Kit! Don’t forget to get yourself a kit if you don’t have one already – or get yourself another while supplies are still available – and HAVE FUN!
Stay Crafty, Friends!
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! I just love the papers in this month’s Scrapbooking Kit from Tres Jolie Kit Club! The mix of white with a touch of light grey is perfect for building or expanding on.
Now I know, if you’ve seen the mood board you may be wondering how I came to a pink and grey mixed media panel from a mood board filled with autumn colors and décor with a “Vintage Fall” twist (Shabby is a form of “vintage,” right? I’m not the only one that thinks that, am I?). Well, I’ll tell you – it all started with the sweater pillow – and I do have some leaves on here!
I will admit, I love the mix of white and grey – I adore Farm Chic décor – but I don’t usually lean towards pinks. In fact, there are probably people who know me that are very confused right now seeing this pink! However, contrary to popular belief, I don’t hate pink, I just won’t wear it (unless it’s socks!) or decorate with it. (Fun fact: I will put pink in “strange” areas – my phone cases, Kindle cover, wallet, etc.)
Check out my video to see what I did to get this project all put together:
This month’s mood board is filled with beautiful autumn colors and fabulous textures to inspire your project! Mood boards aren’t really meant to be “copied” – they are, as the name suggests, designed to invoke a mood in you. How do they make you feel? What parts catch your eye?
As I mentioned, I saw that cable knit pillow and then just ran with it! I just thought something like that would be a fabulous background. Truthfully, I didn’t even notice that the mood board had some pink flowers on it until after I had finished my panel!
Make sure you join us for the October 2022 challenge! Place your entries in the October 2022 folder on the Tres Jolie Kit Club Café Facebook page before October 31st, 2022, 11:59 pm CST. All entries must be in this folder to be eligible for the prize (to have everyone eligible to win, we are limiting the same winner to once every 3 months).
For my panel, the first thing I did was get the paper I had picked out collaged down to the canvas using some Liquitex Matte Medium – although any collage medium would work such as Mod Podge, Distress Collage, etc. I didn’t trim my paper until after I had it glued down and it had a chance to dry. It is a little less stressful if I am not worrying about every edge being perfectly lined up!
After the matte medium dried and I cut down the edges, I started the stenciling process. I used my “Victorian Tiles” stencil first, with a mix of regular (Ranger Opaque Matte) texture paste, then came back through and added some areas of Distress Crackle Paste. I also grabbed up a leaf stencil and added it to a few areas between and on top of the previous stenciling. Then, and this might be the most important part for me, I let it all dry overnight! It is possible to use a heat gun on texture paste, even crackle paste, but allowing anything “crackle” to dry naturally has always given me the best results. Drying too quickly just doesn’t allow the crackle to crack as much. Then, the next morning, I came in with the leaf stencil again, lined it up on the previous stenciling, and added some extra crackle paste and some “Kitsch Flamingo” Embossing Glaze – then set the panel off to dry and crackle before coming in and melting the glaze.
To finish off preparing the base, I added the two skinnier ScrapBerry column pieces and little “bricks” along the top – cutting one of the columns in half (I used a pair of wire cutters, and with a little squeeze it snapped right apart!). I didn’t want my canvas perfectly symmetrical, so I used one of the halves and one of the bricks on the left, the other half, the whole piece, and the second brick on the right. Then, after the glue had set, I coated the entire background in clear gesso and set it off to dry while I started work on the flowers.
For my flowers, I started by gathering up some white roses and leaves from my stash and dismantling the pink flowers from the kit – separating the green parts from the pink. Then the prep work began!
I started by coating all my white flowers and leaves, along with the two long leafy pieces from the 49 & Market flower pack, with some white gesso. Then I grabbed up a sheet of the paper from the kit to cut out some extra leaves from one section, and I fussy cut a few of the larger pink flowers from the other side of the sheet (it is the second, matching sheet from the pack that I used for the background).
Now things were really about to get messy!
I coated all of the die-cut leaves in Distress Translucent Grit Paste – working carefully with the now wet paper – to crumple, uncrumple, and shape the leaves while placing them on my background where I planned on building up all the flower clusters. I also took this opportunity to add the Translucent paste to the fussy-cut flowers so I could shape them, add a layer of protection, and get them in place.
For all of my green pieces from the flower packs and the white roses and leaves from my stash, I made a mixture of white gesso and opaque matte texture paste to coat them in, placing the long leaf pieces from the 49 & Market pack on my background and setting the rest off to dry.
My next step was to get some extra color on all of my flowers and foliage!
For the fussy-cut flowers on the background, I used a combination of Tattered Rose Distress Oxide and my Kitsch Flamingo and Cocktail Party Distress Crayons – just using a water brush to add a bit of color and definition to the fussy-cut pieces.
Then, to add a bit more depth to the pink flowers from the kit, I made a “puddle” of the Kitsch Flamingo and Cocktail Party Distress Crayons mixed together and brushed them onto the inner edges of the petals. To get the color to feather out a bit, I just gave the flowers a light spray of water and let them air dry.
For the six smaller 49 & Market flowers that I pulled off their stems, I put them in a little palette and let them soak in some Cocktail Party Distress Mica Spray.
To get all of my other pieces various shades of gray, I started coating them in a mix of Grave and Crypt Distress Grit Pastes with some Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Spray thrown in!
After they were all coated with that mixture, I decided they needed more gray – the Pumice Stone has a tan-ish tone – so I sprayed them with a combination of Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood Spray Stains and Oxides.
Even though a lot of my water-reactive mediums are mixed with texture pastes, the colors on the flowers were not! So I took this opportunity to give everything a coat of Workable Fixatif so I could continue working without worrying about my colors moving.
Now I had to add some color to the 49 & Market leaves I had already attached to the canvas. For those, all I did is make a mix of Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood Distress Crayons on my mat watered them down and used my water brush to brush the colors on.
After a spray of Workable Fixatif on the canvas, I started the process of getting all of my flowers and foliage in place using some 3D Matte Gel.
While the 3D Matte Gel started drying, I worked on all of my mould pieces. After coating everything in white gesso and letting that dry, I started adding all of the other mediums.
For my large, pink keyhole frame, I started with a base of Tattered Rose Distress Paint, Translucent Grit Paste, and Finnabair Texture Powder for a little extra texture to make up for the watering down of the paste. While that mix dried, I started work on all of my gray pieces, using a mix of Grave and Crypt Distress Grit Pastes, and Finnabair’s Cool Gray Rust Effect Paste. After all those pastes were dry, I coated them in a light layer of Hickory Smoke Distress Paint, gave them a light mist of water, and dabbed off areas of the paint to allow areas of the texture pastes to show through and add some variation of color.
While the paint was drying on the gray pieces, I went back to the pink piece and gave it a light, inconsistent coating of Kitsch Flamingo Distress Paint, some spots of Cocktail Party Distress Mica Spray, and some water. After all of that was dry, I came back with Kitsch Flamingo and Cocktail Party Distress Crayons, adding them directly to the mould piece, and watered them down so the colors could flow where they wanted as they air dried.
To finish up all of the gray mould pieces, I added some Hickory Smoke Distress Spray Stain, mixed it up with some Graphite Texture Paste, spread it around some, then sprayed them all with both Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood Distress Oxide Sprays before that paste has a chance to dry.
Now it was finally time to get everything on the panel and finish it up!
After all of my mould pieces were in place, I added some areas of DecoArt White Crackle Paint, tucked in some pink sisal, added more crackle paint, got my Ingvild Bolme birds in place, and added a little crackle paint to them.
After the 3D Matte Gel had a chance to set up overnight, I mixed some Payne’s Gray watercolor paint with some water and Liquid Color Fluid Medium and used a pipette to get that mix under all of the flowers and mould pieces. For any areas I wanted to make a little grayer, I mixed the Payne’s Gray with some of the fluid medium and brushed it on, watering it down some if I needed to.
For all of the “shadow” making, it was just a process of adding the mediums, adding water if I needed to, and tilting and turning the panel until I had the colors where I wanted them – drying a little at a time to start getting the color set as I went.
For the cabochon [mould] pieces, I used a mix of white gesso and Tattered Rose Distress Paint as my base coat then added some Kitsch Flamingo Distress Paint before adding them to the canvas. Once on the canvas, I added a thin layer of crackle paint to them, blending it onto the canvas around them.
On top of all the crackle paint I added, I started to give some extra color and definition to all of my pieces using Distress Crayons – Kitsch Flamingo and Cocktail Party on the pink areas, and Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood on the gray pieces and birds.
To add a little extra sparkle to the flowers, I brushed on some Finnabair Pixie Effect Paste – it has the pink flakes in it to go with the canvas, but it also has some light teal-ish flakes for a bit of contrast.
After everything was dry, it gave me a chance to stand back and take a look to see if there were any areas I wanted to add a bit more Payne’s Gray to.
The last step was to add the final touches with some Finnabair Waxes, and I was finally done!
Thank you for joining me here in my corner. I hope my non-traditional, vintage-shabby-fall, mixed media panel gave you some ideas about how you can interpret the October mood board and what you can do with this month’s Scrapbooking Kit.
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
Hey, y’all! After much toil and trouble, I finally got this grungy journal put together! You see, mentally I have an order of operation for my projects – my first project of the month for Tres Jolie Kit Club focuses on the Cards, Tags, & More Kit, and my second project is for the mood board – this month ran a little different though because <gestures at everything>!
Anywho…I finally finished my mood board project! I’m GenX and that means I lived through Nirvana and weird metal jewelry and all things flannel, so I couldn’t help but get excited about the papers this month – Grunge Reinvented by 3 Quarter Designs.
The general construction of this journal is like most junk journals, so my video focuses on how I put the cover together, a bit about the open spine, and some highlights on what is in the signatures.
Video As Soon As All The Technical Difficulties Stop!!!
Isn’t the mood board fabulous? Rust, film, watches – so much grungy and/or steampunk inspiration here! Make sure to join in this month and share your creation in the August Mood Board Folder by the end of the month.
My cover consists of corrugated cardboard, chicken wire, chipboard, cardstock, decorative paper, and tons of mediums. I shaped my corrugated cardboard, dyed my white Artisan (linen blend) cardstock, added some Finnabair decorative paper to it, glued everything together, poked the ends of my chicken wire through so they wouldn’t stick out, and added layer upon layer of paints, stains, powders, and pastes to the cover until I got a color combination I was happy with.
I added some resin stars made with my Finnabair “Stars and Moons” mould, and coated them with some of the “Statue” Foundry Wax. I added multiple layers of embossing powder to the cardstock phrase and used the “Statue” Foundry Wax to create a “frame” around it. Then I used the “Sterling” Foundry Wax to create splatters on the cover and the phrase.
When I started this Grungy Journal, I didn’t know exactly how an open spine would work, and I wanted to make sure the herringbone binding had something sturdy to hang on to, so I used the metal hangers that I had removed from the hanging folders to wrap the binding around, then I used some JB Weld epoxy to really make sure it was a sturdy and solid attachment to the chipboard cover pieces.
I used a variety of alcohol inks and mixatives to stain my herringbone binding to grunge it up and found this “Exposed Tape Binding” open spine tutorial by Molly Brooks inspirational and very easy to follow along with (this was my first open spine!). However, because my signatures weren’t going to be evenly stacked – as seen in Molly’s tutorial – I added a single stitch through the herringbone binding to keep my signatures in place.
I used some sari silk to create my tie closure – sewing it as a tube, knoting one end and leaving a few inches unsewn so I could lay it flat between the chipboard and mixed media cover I created. While I did make sure there was a lot tucked in and glued down, as I kept working on my journal, I decided I wanted to reinforce the edges where the strain would be.
For the reinforcement, I folded the sari silk back on itself and added some E6000 and bookbinding tape.
Then I punch two holes through, making sure to go through the layers of sari silk, added some Chicago [style] screws (they look like the posts from traditional post-bound scrapbooks), and a couple of washers – with some more E6000 – to make sure I had a tight fit and some Loctite for the threads.
With all the different junk journal tutorials available for construction, I am just going to highlight what can be found within my Grungy Journal. I have the standard variety of papers and envelopes, and I made clusters to use as decorations and/or tuck-in spots. For the button images from the cut-apart sheet, I used my awl to poke the thread holes out, then added some of the bookbinding thread I had cut off after I tied my signatures in place – and topped it with some Glossy Accents to create a faux enameled/epoxy surface. In fact, I added Glossy Accents to a lot of the cut-apart pieces to give them that faux surface, which really gives a sense of depth to the images!
For the chipboard filmstrips from the Grunge Reinvented collection, I layered up four different embossing powders. First I used some Lawn Fawn “Fake Tan” ink, added some Rocky Road & Ancient Amber Baked Textures, and while it was still hot and sticky I added more Rocky Road, melted that, added some Chunky Rust Baked Texture, and then finally some Rusty Hinge Embossing Glaze – always on top of the still hot previous layers.
For my clusters, tuck-ins, and pockets, I used a combination of glue, my tiny attacher, and stitching to put them together and attach them. When I did use the tiny attacher, I made sure the underside of the staples would be covered, that way they wouldn’t come out (as easily!) and there wouldn’t be any rough edges.
I used a combination of papers from the scrapbooking kit, papers from my stash, and even pieces from the hanging folders that had been cut off when I was cutting them down to size.
I have a variety of textures throughout the journal – using paper doilies, vintage crocheted squares, stitching, and a variety of fibers and trims.
In addition to my tuck-in spots and pockets, I added in some envelopes and belly bands. I even have some pieces of grungy handmade paper in a few spots!
To make sure there was ample writing space, my middle signature is filled with papers that have no decorations, pockets, or tuck-in spots. I just stitched two pieces of sari silk together (they have light interfacing on them to give them a little stability) and ran the whole stack through my sewing machine before adding the holes for the bookbinding thread to attach it to the open spine.
Thank you for joining me here in my corner. I hope you enjoyed this Grungy Junk Journal and it gave you some inspiration on what you can do with this month’s Scrapbooking Kit and some ideas on how to interpret this month’s mood board!
Stay Crafty, Friends
Did you get a kit? Share what you made in our Facebook Group!
(the photo was taken 20 years ago this month!). To help protect the photo from dust, fingerprints, etc., I added a layer of acetate and glued everything in place.
C.J.'s Corner Scraps 