Winter Snowman Painting | Shimmerz Paints

Hello Shimmerz Fans!

Nicole here and today I have a fun, wintry project share! Recently I was inspired by a water colored snowman I saw online and knew that I wanted to paint something similar! Here's a quick look at my final watercolor piece:

I wanted to challenge myself and use just one product for this piece.  One that was cool toned and reminded me of snow and winter.  This entire piece was painted with different shades of Spritz, Walkin' a tight Heliotrope.  I sprayed bits of this color into my palette and watered it down to get the varying shades, with the darkest being the color directly from the bottle. Overall, it took many layers of color, beginning with the lightest and layering darker shades on top, drying each layer in between.

Just look at those shimmery pine trees!!! Once all of my layers were exactly how I wanted them, I got out my brown Micron pen to draw on his arms, white Signo gel pen to add the snow flakes and North Star, orange colored pencil to add his carrot nose and a black glitter gel pen to add in his eyes, mouth and buttons.  Here is a close up of my final painting:

Thanks so much for joining me today!

I hope I've inspired you to try this technique! If you do, be sure to share it with us!

If you purchase this color (or any color!) in the Shimmerz shop, be sure to mention my name in the comment section during checkout to get a free mini product!! Who doesn't love a free-bee?!?

 

You & Me Travelers Notebook Layout | Freckled Fawn

 Hello Lovelies!

Nicole here and today I have a very colorful travelers notebook layout to share with you!

This layout features the beautiful papers and charms from the November paper and embellishment kit from Freckled Fawn! Here's a quick overview of my final layout:

 My most favorite paper in this month kit is this vertical multi color/blocked sheet! I wanted to use that along with a piece that was more on the neutral side, so I chose the one with the teal scallop border. The busier papers I tend to use for my photograph so the more plain sheet I can use for any stamping, in this case, my title. 

I layered my photo with a coordinating 3x4 scallop card and added a large scaled scallop piece at the bottom of my photo that I trimmed from the same 12x12 sheet that I used on the other side of my layout.  I added the super cute floral charms from the November kit under my photo on some thread. To finish off the left page, I added in some enamel triangles & dots, a chip board sticker and a "today" wood veneer.

 Because the left page was so busy, I kept the right very plain.  I stamped my title in coordinating inks and embellished around it with November's enamel dots.  At the bottom of that page, I added in a strip of matching paper, a ticket that I punched from the November pocket cards, cardstock label for some journaling, foam arrow stickers and the enamel triangle stickers.

To finish my layout, I added some gold ink splatters.  Here's a look again at my final layout:

 Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope you got inspired!

Travelers Notebook Layout | November Freckled Fawn Kit

Hello Lovelies!
Nicole here and today I have a super fun travelers notebook layout to share with you!  For this layout, I'm using the November Freckled Fawn Papers and Embellishment kit! This kits is full of brightly colored papers and embellishments this month and its one of my absolute favs! (I feel like I'm starting to say this about a lot of their kits lately lol!) I love all the bright colors! Here's a close up of my final TN spread:

Because of the size and shapes of my pictures, I decided to go with the horizontal approach this time.  I wanted to keep the two pictures together, so I decided to put the bulk of my embellishments and title on the bottom solid blue paper. I chose a few papers from the kit and hand drew some sketchy trees and fussy cut them out to create my own matching ephemera pieces.  I created a little winter scene with my title, "Hello, Winter." I then added my chipboard sticker banners, enamel dot stickers, flag label stickers and white snowflakes with my gel pen.

For my top page, I layered my photos with a couple strips of patterned papers that match the trees. I used a scallop boarder punch to add more detail.  I added snowman and mitten ephemera from my stash, one of the adorable orange rubber houses, a few of the label stickers and several white foam heart stickers. I finished the layout by adding a white boarder around both pages.

Thanks so much for joining me today!
I hope you enjoyed and got inspired!

Holiday Cards with Shimmerz Paintz

Hello Shimmerz Fans!

Nicole here and today I have not one, not two, but four different card projects to share with you! Today is officially December 1st and the Holidays are if full swing!  Time to not only check those lists twice, but to get out those holiday cards to family and friends! Shimmerz makes it super simple to make traditional and non traditional cards because the shimmer helps is sparkle for the season!

Today I used minimal colors on each card to show you just how easy it is no matter what colors you may have!  Here's a look at my final projects:

When I began each of these cards, I used a piece of water color paper, that I eventually cut down to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  I wet each piece with water and misted and slopped color on with my #8 brush.  I found the bigger my brush, the more dramatic look I got.  Here's what my backgrounds looked like before I cut them down and embellished them.

Once they were dry, I trimmed them down and began my stamping. I picked large size images from my Holiday stamp collection to make a bigger impact.  I stamped them on my card fronts and heat embossed them with different embossing powders.  For the Cardinal card, I just stamped and embossed the image on the card, then used my watercolors to paint it.  Here are some close ups of my final projects:

The colors that I used on today's projects are:

Inklingz in She Packs a Punch, Greener Pastures, Can't Elope

Creameez in Ride the Tide and For Shore

Original Shimmerz paints in Winters Mist, Coal and Pixie Dust

Spritz in Walkin' a tight Heliotrope

Vibes in  Deep Blue Sea

Thanks so much for joining me today!

Have a great weekend!

Family Scrapbook Layout | Freckled Fawn

Hello Lovelies!

Nicole here and today I'm featuring the beautiful November Freckled Fawn Paper and Embellishment kit!  If you already are not aware, Freckled Fawn recently added 12x12 papers to some of their kits! This months kit is absolutely one of my favorites!!  It's full of color, dimensional embellishments, the cutest foam word stickers and so much more! Before I show you how I created this layout, here's a look at the final project:

I began with the solid teal paper and added white gesso to the background. This helps to dull the color a little bit so when I add my water colors on top, they show up a little bit better. Here's what it looks like before I started adding my layers:

While that was drying, I cut my title, "Family," on my Silhouette and backed it with various papers from the kit.  I then began to build my layers.  I used this months 3x4 cards to back my photo of my husband and boys.  I also saw the red 3x4 card with a scallop on it and the card with the large house and decided to fussy cut them out to use as embellishments. I also fussy cut some of the small yellow flowers from one of the 12x12 papers as well.

I then decided to use the "dad" foam sticker, but I wanted to add some color to it so it stood out. I used my Vicki Boutin mixed media crayon in red to coordinate it with the rest of the papers and embellishments.

 

Lastly, I added a rubber house, enamel dots and a label from the November kits and enamel hearts and a heart chipboard sticker from past kits. I finished the layout with my journaling and some tangled thread and that was it!

Here's one last look at the finished layout:

Thanks so much for joining me today!

Be sure to check out the two kits offered...

the Embellishment Kit + Papers OR the Embellishment Kit + Journaling Cards!

"Have Faith" Bible Journal Entry | Shimmerz Paints

Hello Shimmerz Fans!

Nicole here, and today I have a Bible Journal entry to share with you!

Today I'm in Hebrews 11:3 which says "by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible."

Here is an overview of my entry:

This entry spoke to me that He has created me and made me who I am today. That He has a plan for me in His vision and that everything happens for a reason. I'm only given things in life that He knows I can withstand. As I was reflecting on this journey, I find that I need to have faith and no matter what comes my way. He will always provide. 

For this entry, I wanted to paint bold flowers. Colorful and eye catching asa reminder to "have faith." I began by prepping my page with clear gesso. I used a mixture of AcriTonez, Vibez and original Shimmerz to create whimsical flowers and a halo to remember to always have faith and to be beautiful, no matter what comes my way.

 When creating my flowers, I mixed together Pinkadelic, Jiven Jade and Blue My Top to get the different colors of pink and blue for the flowers and green for the leaves. I used Vibez in Sunset Strip and for my halo and original Shimmerz in Coal for my flower centers.

Lastly, I complimented these colors with a few ephemera pieces, stickers and washi from my stash.

Thanks so much for joining me today!

If you use your Shimmerz in your next Bible entry, be sure to share it with us on social media! 

I would love to see how you're using them!

Hand Painted Papers and Embellishments | Shimmerz Paints

Hello Shimmerz Fans!!

Nicole here and today I'm super excited to share my Travelers Notebook layout with you!!!  If you follow me on Instagram (@colebys1981 if you would like to find me :) ), I shared a week or so ago hand painted fall flowers that I was making. It turns out that I was creating larger elements to fussy cut for ephemera and smaller elements to use as a patterned paper!!! Guys, these Shimmerz were perfect for this project! 

Here's a look at my final spread:

Seriously, how beautiful are these colors?!

I used just 5 Inklingz...which are hands down my fav....they are:

Penny 4 Your thoughts, Greener pastures, Miner, Miner 49er, Mochachino and She Packs a Punch.  I pulled small amounts of color from their pots and put them on a palette so I could mix them and dilute them easier.  For my larger pieces, I would start with a diluted layer and build the color each time, making the top layer the strongest color.  I did the same for the flower and branches as well.  

For the patterned paper on the left side of my spread, I scaled my images down and added acorns and clusters of berries to fill in the white space.  I did keep it very clean and simple so that when I added my larger pieces, they didn't make the layout look too busy.  I just love the perfect, imperfect look of hand painted designs likes these!

Here are more close up's of my final project:

Thanks so much for joining me today!

I really hope you try this out and create your own patterned papers and embellishments!

If you head over to Instagram, be sure to follow me and tag me when you post your Shimmerz projects! I would love to see them!