DIY Wall Hanging/ Bag Tassel

Hi Friends,

Have you guys checked out the January challenge at The Twisted Challenges Blog? The theme this month is: Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue. For the mid month inspiration, I created a quick and simple bag tassel that can also be used as a wall hanging.

• I used a very old background made using Distress Inks (I would have made this at least 3 years ago) and trimmed it to 3.25 by 3.25" size (Something Old).
• I colored the edges using Chameleon Marker - Royal Blue (BL6)
• I punched 2 wholes using a round punch and on one end I tied an old bead tassel (Something old) using some wire.
• I recently received some new years gift from Itsy Bitsy and the gift contained a pack of Little Birdie Eufloria Handmade Flowers in a very light blue shade. I choose one of the blue flowers (Something New) and colored it using Lindy's Starbusrt Baby Blue Eyes Aqua spray (Something blue) and let it dry .
• Once the flower was dry, I adhered it on the tassel end of the base and add a bead on it (which also I received as a gift from Itsy Bitsy on New Year's. 
• I used a butterfly die cut (cut using a die I borrowed from Tejal) (Something Borrowed) and colored it using the same Lindy's Starburst Baby Blue Eyes Aqua and adhered it above the flower.
• To finish the tassel, I strung in a blue thread through the other punched hole.

I hope you liked this simple & quick tassel.

To know more about the challenges & see other inspirations, click here. Last date to participate in the challenge is 31st January 2019.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

&

The Twisted Challenges 

Be a gold - Art Journal Page - #TTC3

Hi friends,

I am back with mid-month inspiration at The Twisted Challenges blog. The theme for August as you know is "Go Bold + Replace Me". So when I opened my art journal to create this page, I didn't start with an idea. Yeah yeah, I was sort of blank and all I knew was that I need to create a mid-month inspiration. But the moment I started applying gesso on  the pages, the spread just unfolded in my mind. 

Be A Gold - Art Journal Page. The Twisted Challenges 3 Inspiration

I am not sure if this saying has been quoted before as I havent read it anywhere and it sort of came up in my mind while I was coloring the background and it made so much sense to me. I often meet so many women who prioritize everyone else in family before them be it parents, spouse or kids. They give importance to everyone else around they and try to find happiness in others happiness. There is nothing wrong in this, however, in all this scheme, where are you? What's your position in their life? Are you their priority? Even if you are, should you not prioritize yourself and do things for just yourself? Don't you have the right to be happy and do things just for yourself? Even some men now a days I see they keep struggling and slogging all day to fulfill wishes of everyone around them, be it their boss (well that's essential part of job), parents, wives or kids.  They forget to give themselves the much needed break and they never do anything just for themselves. So this page is dedicated to all those men and women, who need to take a break, think a little and start giving priority to their own self. 

Steps to Create: 

I applied a coat of Little Birdie 2 in 1 texture paste (as gesso) on the Mixed Media Art journal from Little Birdie. Once the gesso was dry, I colored the page using Prima Art Alchemy Acrylic Paint - Metallique Ancient Coin and Color Bloom Ginger Colral Spray Mist. I didnt cover the whole page with paints and kept it very rustic. 

Once the paints were dry, I stamped the sentiment using We R Memory Keepers stamps and Ranger Black Archival Ink.

I colored the jewels using the coloring tutorial by Sarah Renae Clark using the free Gem Practice Sheet by her with my Creta color pencils. I outlined facet markings on the jewel using white jewel pen and fussy cut the 2 jewels. 

Be A Gold - Art Journal Page. The Twisted Challenges 3 Inspiration

I adhered the jewels on to the page. I stamped the rest of sentiment on white card stock using Concord & 9th Perfectly Penned set and black archival ink. I fussy cut the quote and adhere it to my journal page. I colored in the "G,L,D" in gold and "B,R" in bronze using Sakura Brush Micron to make the alphabets solid black. I added some Nuvo Copper Embellishment mouse through Pie lane stencils to finish my art journal spread.

I hope you are inspired to create and join our The Twisted Challenge 3: Go Bold + Replace Me. Hop on to our blog for rules and more inspiration from my fellow team mates and our guest DT. Last date to participate in August challenge is 31st August 2018. 

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations

&

The Twisted Challenges 

Breastfeeding Week Art Journal Page #2

Hi Friends,

I am back today with another page dedicated to World Breastfeeding Week Celebrations. You can view the 1st page I did on this occasion here. 

Today's page is more representational then actually depicting breastfeeding in actuality. Breastfeeding lays the root of good health in children. It is the foundation of life that the child will live. Breastfeeding prevents a child from various health issues in later life too. So when a mother chooses to breastfeed her child, she is sowing the seeds of a nourished and healthy life. It is also a way of a mother expressing her love and care for her child and hence, I have added hearts to represent a mother's love for her child. 

Breastfeeding Week Art Journal

The theme at Art Journal Journey this month is "Count Your Blessings" and there can be no bigger blessing than Breastfeeding. Entering my art journal for the challenge here: https://art-journal-journey.blogspot.com/2018/08/count-your-blessings.html 

Please share this page & spread the knowledge & importance of breastfeeding.

Love,
Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta
Crafty Flirtations 

Breastfeeding Week Art Journal Page

Hi,

Today I am sharing a page that highlights a cause that is very close to my heart - Breastfeeding. Did you know that 1st to 7th August is celebrated as World Breastfeeding Week every year? You may wonder why is there a need to celebrate and promote breastfeeding? Isnt it the most natural thing every mother does for her child? Sadly not. As per statistics published in The Times Of India Online Edition, only 42% Indian infants are breastfeed within 1st hour after birth, i.e. 58% are deprived of the benefits of early feeding & colostrum in India. Not only that, only 55% infants are exclusively breastfed for 1st six months (WHO guidelines). These sort of statistics for breastfeeding are found across the world in many countries and hence, the celebrations for World Breastfeeding Week. Breastfeeding is not luxury. Its birth right of every child who comes to this world. Its the best blessing a mother can give her child. Hence, I created this page around breastfeeding, as my small contribution to the celebrations this year. You can read more about World Breastfeeding Week by visiting here. 

Breastfeeding Week Art Journal

List Of Supplies:

• Little Birdie Mixed Media Journal
• Little Birdie 2 in 1 texture paste (used as gesso) 
• Lindy's Stamp Gang - Starbust - Baby Blue Eyes Aqua
• Art Anthology Dimensional Paint - Baby Blue Eyes, Blue Topaz
• Designs By Ryn - Fiddlehead set
• Concord & 9th Perfectly Penned Stamp set 
• Ranger Archival Ink - Cobalt
• Tim Holtz Mini Stencil
• Sakura Microns & Brush Pen
• Ranger Glossy Accent
• Silver Inka Gold 
• White card stock
• Palette knife, paint brush, glue, pencil

Breastfeeding Week Art Journal

Steps to create:

• Apply gesso on the art journal page and let it dry.
• Roughly illustrate a mom feeding a baby on the page. 
• Color the page using Lindy's spray. Instead of using it as a spray, I painted the page with a paint brush using Spray color as an ink. 
• Once the ink is dry, do 3rd generation stamping using Fiddlehead stamp and blue ink.
• Apply Art Anthology dimensional paints with help of palette knife and stencil.
• Once the dimensional paint is dry, rub silver Inka Gold over it.
• Color the illustration of mom feeding a baby with black pens and add Glossy accents for dimension.
• To finish the page, stamp (or write freehand) the sentiment and adhere to the journal page.  

The theme at Art Journal Journey this month is "Count Your Blessings" and there can be no bigger blessing than Breastfeeding. I was lucky to be a breastfed child too. Entering my art journal for the challenge here: https://art-journal-journey.blogspot.com/2018/08/count-your-blessings.html 

Please share this page & spread the knowledge & importance of breastfeeding.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

This Too Shall Pass - Art Journal Page

Hi,

Time is one of the most essential and expensive commodities that any person has. It is essential cause you need time to do any work. A lot of us dream for doing so many things in life, but most often, we complain that we dont have time. This is specially the excuse when its about doing something for your personal self - like physical activity or yoga or a hobby or meditation.  However, if you manage your time well, you would never have this excuse and you shall have time for all that you want to do. I also call time expensive, cause once time passes, it is never coming back. You cant relive yesterday - today nor will you be able to relive today again tomorrow. You also dont know what is in store for you tomorrow. All that you have is the current moment that you are living in.

This Too Shall Pass - Art Journal Page 

This brings me to the 3rd aspect of time - "Time Changes" with every single moment. If you are not healthy today, you can change your diet/ activity pattern and get healthy in time. If you are not rich, you can be one if you work hard enough. If you are ill today, take medical treatment and you can feel better tomorrow. Its only a matter of time, how situations and life changes. And that's what the next page in the art journal that I made for Tejal represents.

This Too Shall Pass - Art Journal Page 

"This Too Shall Pass" is Khushboo's favorite quote. Even though I have never interacted personally with her, she is the 3rd musketeer in the trio of Tejal, Saumya & Khusboo and I felt that this art journal would be incomplete without including her favorites. So I requested Saumya to get information from Khushboo. Thanks a ton Saumya for the help.

This Too Shall Pass - Art Journal Page 

As this quote was all about time, all that I have used on this page is clocks. I used various clocks (its just one stamp from Heartfelt Creations, but I think its retired) showing different time points in a day to further re-enforce the fact that time changes. This page is one of my most favorite pages from this art journal.

Supplies used:

• 6 by 7" card stock/ chipboard
• Little Birdie 2 in 1 texture paste (used as gesso)
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Stencil 
• Heartfelt creations  Numeral Clock Stamp and die set 
• Ranger Distress Oxide Ink: Broken China, Faded Jeans, Vintage Photo
• Ranger Distress Ink: Wild Honey, Seedless Preserves
• Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink 
• Basic Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions Paint Pens - 6 pack
• Ranger texture paste
• iCraft Floral Natura Cardstock
• Blending tool and foam, glue, water mister, palette knife 
• Printed sentiment/ quote 

This Too Shall Pass - Art Journal Page 

Steps to Create:

• Apply gesso on card stock/ chipboard base and set aside to dry.
• Apply Ranger texture paste through  stencil on page.
• Once dry, apply Oxide inks with help of a blending foam. Use water mister to get desired effects.
• Once dry, do 2nd generation stamping using clock stamp on page with black ink. 
• Stamp clock stamp on white card stock using black permanent ink and die cut.
• Color the clock die cuts using Distress inks. 
• Adhere the clock die cuts and sentiments on page using glue.
• To finish the page, add faux running stitch on the page with paint pens.

This Too Shall Pass - Art Journal Page 

You can view the other pages by clicking captions below each image.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

I hope you loved this page and are inspired to believe that there is a better time awaiting you in future.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

P.S. The page contains some affiliate links without any extra cost to you 

Believe Floral Mixed Media Canvas

Hi,

I always keep sharing mixed media project but what is Mixed Media you may ask? There are many different style of mixed media art that artists create. So what is my style of mixed media art?

Is it using multiple accents/ embellishments on a project? Is it using all techniques I know 1 single project? Is it using multiple (like 5-6 mediums) on one project? Is it using multiple colors on a single project? No, that is not my style.

My style is more restrained. Yes, my mixed media style is about mixing things up be it techniques, embellishments or medium but in a balance and restrain  so as to accentuate every little embellishment or medium used on the project. That's how most of my projects are. I do use multiple textures in my projects and art journals but I dont go over board either. That is just my style of work. I do enjoy other styles too, but just sharing what I enjoy creating the most.

Believe Floral Mixed Media

To express my style better, I am sharing a 6 by 6" floral mixed media panel with you today. I have used cool colors in shades of blue and purple with splatter of green on this panel, i.e. I have used just 1 color family. For embellishments, I have used just flowers.


Supplies used:

• 6 by 6" MDF
• Little Birdie (Itsy Bitsy) 2 in 1 texture paste (used as gesso)
• Ranger texture paste 
• Penny Black Stencil - Hynotic 
• Lindy's Starbust Spray - TiffanyLou Blue, Hydrangea Blue 
• Cosmic Shimmer Spray - Meadow Lush 
• Ranger Archival Ink - Black
• Catherine Pooler Ink - Grass Skirt, Lemon Ice 
• Ranger Dylusion Paint After Midnight
• Little Birdie Handmade Flowers
• Heartfelt Creation Camelia Carnation Stamp and Die 
• Spellbinders Foliage Die 
• iCraft MDF Sentiment - Believe
• Wink of Stella Clear Pen
• Glue gun, blending tool & foam, paint brush, palette  knife

Believe Floral Mixed Media

Steps to Create:

• Apply gesso on MDF base and set aside to dry.
• Paint sentiment MDF "believe" with Dylusion paint.
• Once the base is dry, apply texture paste through stencil on 2 opposite corners and let it dry.
• Once dry, colour using Lindy's & Cosmic sprays. 
• Stamp & die cut leaves from Camelia Carnation collection or foliage die and color using yellow and green ink.
• Adhere the Little birdie flowers and leaves using glue gun to the panel.
• Finish the panel by gluing the sentiment to the panel. I added a little sparkle to the sentiment using Wink of Stella Pen.

Believe Floral Mixed Media

I would like to enter this project for challenges at:

Mix It Up Challenge Blog: Anything Goes + Optional Twist of Mixed Media

I hope you like my style of mixed media project.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

Books are secret magical world - Art Journal Page

Hi,

I am back with another Art Journal page.

They say that books are a man's/ woman's best friend and I so agree to that. I am a book lover & hoarder. I have more books than what I have actually read. I mostly have books on Cooking/ Nutrition/ Health or Art & Craft. I also have read a lot of fiction. I specially love sci-fi/ mythological/ mystery books when it comes to fiction as they open up a magical world wherein you set forward on a journey along with the characters in the book. I am also little crazy and possessive about my books and take the most care of them. I hate it if a page bends or it soils. I hate dog ears in books. You can say, I have OCD when it comes to books.

Books Art Journal Page 

A book with warm cup of coffee is absolute solace for me. I also know that Tejal and Saumya enjoy reading books and are crazy about books as I am. So when I was creating the Art Journal for Tejal, I knew I had to create a page exclusively with books in focus and use a quote that would specify the dream world that books bring forth with them.

Books Art Journal Page

Supplies Used:

• 6 by 7" card stock/ chipboard 
• White card stock 
• Little Birdie Home Decor Chalk Paint - Pink Ballet (Used in place of gesso as a base coat)
• Carabelle Studio - Alphabet Stencil
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology mini stencil 
• Ranger Distress Oxide Ink: Seedless Preserves
• Lindy's Starburst - TiffanyLou Blue, Hydrangea Blue
• Ranger Archival Ink - Black 
• Your Next Stamp - Bookworm Rules 
• Ranger texture paste
• Blending tool & foam, palette knife, glue, water mister, heat gun, paint brush  
• Sakura Gel pens & Steadtler Fine tip pens 
• Printed sentiment/ quote 

Books Art Journal Page

Steps to create:

• Apply chalk paint on the card stock/ chipboard base and let it dry. 
• Once dry, apply Oxide ink on the left half through Tim Holtz stencil.
• Using a palette knife, apply texture paste through Carabelle Studio stencil on the right half and let it dry.
• Once dry, color the texture paste using Lindy's spray. Use water mister to get your desired effects.
• Stamp the image on a card stock using black ink and color using Sakura & Steadtler pens.
• Adhere the image on the page.
• To finish the page, adhere quotes using glue. 

Books Art Journal Page

I hope you loved this page on books as much as I loved creating it. You can view previous pages from the Art Journal by clicking on links below. 

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

I shall be back with Page 6 soon.

Love,
Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta
Crafty Flirtations

A cup of coffee on a rainy day - Art Journal TTC#2

Hi Friends,

We are back with challenge 2 on The Twisted Challenges blog. The theme for TTC#2 is "Coffee/ Tea+Rains". The rains have arrived in Mumbai and when Saumya came up with the theme, I was super excited but at the same time super confused as to what I was going to create. After a lot of discussion with Tejal & Saumya and lot of deliberation, I decided to do an art journal page.

As I am a coffee lover, I decided to go with coffee + rains. A piping hot cup of coffee makes any gloomy rainy day bright and warm and thats what I have presented on my page. Also, I have been wanting to try may hand at painting with coffee for ages and hence, I used actually coffee powder to colour the coffee cups.

Coffee + Rains Art Journal Page

Supplies used:

• Little Birdie Mixed Media Journal
• Ranger Dylusions Paint: Calypso Teal & After Midnight
• Ranger Distress Oxide Ink: Faded Jeans
• Ranger Distress Ink: Black Soot
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Stencil
• Ranger Texture Paste 
• Concord & 9th Stamp: Perfectly Penned
• iCraft Floral Natura card stock
• Coffee powder
• Steadtler Black Luna Pencil 
• Palette knife, blending tool, paint brush, Steadtler Luna Micro-tip brown pen, Sakura Micron, scissor & glue

Steps to Create:

• Colour a page in the art journal using Dylusion paints.
• Once the paint is dry, draw some water droplets with black pencil colour & apply texture paste through stencil. Set aside to draw.
• Draw 2 coffee cups free hand and fussy cut.
• Colour the cups using Coffee powder. Use black pencil for extra shading & depth. Write inscriptions on cup using Micro-tip pen.
• Distress the edges of the page with Black Soot ink.
• Stamp the sentiment on card stock using Faded Jeans ink and distress edges with help of a scissor.
• To finish the page, adhere sentiment and coffee cups to the page with glue & draw "+" and "=" signs using Microns.

I hope you loved this simple page & my interpretation of our theme.. Hop on the "The Twisted Challenges" to read all about the challenge, rules & some stunning inspiration from other design team members. 

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations

& 

The Twisted Challenges

PS. The blog contains some affiliate links with no extra cost to you

Litlle Birdie Mixed Media Journal Review + 2 Journal pages

Hi all,

During Creativation 2018 in January, the one and only product that caught my fancy was Little Birdie Art and Mixed Media Journal. If you have been following my work, you already know how crazy I am about Art Journals, however no good hard bound journals were available until now in India. Hence, when I saw the upcoming release during Creativation, I immediately inboxed Rashmi Harish, owner of Itsy Bitsy & Little Birdie to congratulate her for coming up with the journals. To my absolute delight, Rashmi promised to send me one of the journals when the actual production starts and as soon as the journals were released in June, I had the Mixed Media Journal come my way (another surprise that Rashmi actually remembered to send me a journal after 5 months & I am touched by the gesture). Thanks Rashmi.

Now lets come to these journals. There are 3 journals - Art Journal in 220 & 440 gsm & Mixed Media Journal and they come in 2 sizes: 5.5 by 7.5" and 7.6 by 10.2". You can read all about Art Journal here. I am going to review the Mixed Media Journal which Rashmi very sweetly sent me.

Features of the journal:

• Made in India 
• Contains 92 pages that you could work on
• Has 16 Canvas, corrugated, white burlap, natural burlap and handmade paper each
• Has 12 Kraft cardstock
• Its hardbound & 100% cold pressed 
• Its handmade and archival 
• Very very cost effective (Rs. 999/- or about 15$ when purchasing in India. For price in US and other countries, please hop on to the Little Birdie Website)

I got the journal on Saturday and I already have made 2 journal pages. 

Page 1: 

The 1st page in the journal is a canvas. Being a fan of embroidery, I decided to embroider a rose in the journal & stamp my name. I decided to keep it simple as I wanted to focus on the rose. 

Embroidery on canvas page in Mixed Media Journal By Little Birdie

Steps to create: 

• I stamped the image from Stampendous Fran's Cling Stamp & Stencil Set - Build A Bouquet Set on canvas using Catherine Pooler Die Ink. 
• Once the ink was dry, I embroidered the flowers using Anchor floss (3 strings). 
• For the flower I used normal filling stitch and did leaves using chain stitch. 
• While I was embroidering, the edges started fraying a little and hence, I sealed the stitches using blanket stitch. 
• As it was impossible to use an embroidery hop in the journal, the canvas wrapped a little in the process, however, I absolutely the wrapped look. 
• To finish the page, I stamped my name using the Concord & 9th Script Stamp and Dye inks. 

Close up of rose

Page 2:

For the backside of the canvas, as you can imagine, all the knots and embroidery backing was visible & being the crazy me, I wanted to hide it all so that when I flip the page, I see a beautiful layout & not all the crazy knots. Hence, I created a page separately on a vellum  and adhered it to the backside of the canvas. I like how the blanket stitch is peeping from sides of the vellum.. Gives a very rustic look. 

Steps to create:

• I stamped as image from Clearly Besotted Thanks a Bunch set using Ranger Archival black ink on Brustro Watercolor paper. 
• I coloured the image using Peerless watercolors & fussy cut it. 
• I coloured a 5 by 7" vellum sheet using Ranger Alcohol inks: Lettuce, Butterscotch and silver. 
• Then I adhered the vellum at the back of the canvas using Range Glossy Accent. 
• To finish the page, I adhered the coloured image & printed quote using glue. 

I hope you love these simple, yet fun mixed media art journal pages. If you love Art Journalling and if you want t o challenge yourself to create art journal spreads on various textured backgrounds, Little Birdie Mixed Media Journal is a must buy. I shall be back soon with more pages in this amazing Mixed Media journal. 

I would once again like to thank Rashmi for sending this amazing journal. 

Love, 

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta 

Dream - Floral Mixed Media

Hi Friends,

I reviewed the Little Birdie Embossing Texture Paste a few days back. Today I am back with a project where I actually used the Embossing Texture Paste for some quick & amazing effects.

Supplies:

• Little Birdie 2 in 1 Texture Paste (use as Gesso)
• Little Birdie Embossing Texture Paste Frosty Fizz
• Little Birdie Flower Pack 
• iCraft MDF
• Penny Black Stencil Hypnotic 
• Ranger Distress Spray Paint - Squeezed Lemonade + Home made spray inks in shades of yellow and light orange  (numerous recipes available online)
• Nuvo Embellishment Mousse - Fresh Copper 
• Palette knife, glue, hot glue gun, flower pollen, heat gun
• Canvas/ Ply 

Steps To Create

• Apply some Gesso on the base and let it dry.
• Adhere mdf with glue and apply Gesso over it.
• Once the Gesso is dry, colour using spray inks and let it dry.
• Apply embossing texture paste through stencil and with palette knife on corners and heat set. 
• Apply nuvo mousse on embellishments and rub here and there on the canvas for added texture.
• Finish by adhering flowers and pollen. 

Hope you loved this quick, simple & beautiful mix-media layout. I absolutely love the texture created using the Little Birdie paste and how it absorbed some of the colour. 

Do leave your feedback in the comments section.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

Beautiful Aquatic Flora and Fauna

Hi,

I am here today with a very special project that is very close to my heart as this is my 1st try with air dry clay and I am super happy with the outcome. All the floral and fauna are handmade without using any moulds and are super easy to make.

Materials Used For Flora & Fauna:

• Daisy Air Dry Clay
• Embossing Tools & Carving Tools 
• Ranger Dylusions Paint - After Mid Night
• Ranger Dylusion Paint - Dirty Martini
• Prima Art Alchemy Finnabair Acylic Paint - Metallic Silver Spoon
• Prima Art Alchemy Finnabair Acylic Paint - Metallic Ancient Coin
• Fevicryl Acrylic Paint - Pearl Silver Metallic 351
• Fevicryl Acrylic Paint - Sparkling Pearl Golden Yellow 907
• Fevicryl Acrylic Paint - Pearl Orange 317
• Fevicryl Acrylic Paint - Sky Blue 63
• Fevicryl Acrylic Paint Orange 17
• Fevicryl Acrylic Paint Sparkling Pear Golden Green 911 
• Inka - Gold Jade Green
• Nuvo Embellishment Mousse - Fresh Copper 

Materials Used For Background:

• A4 size wooden ply or can use a flat back canvas
• Price tags & thread strings to add texture (Inspired by videos from Maremi Small Art by Marta Łapkowska)
• Itsy Bitsy Little Birdie 2 in 1 paste 
• Lindy's Starburst Spray - Hydrangea Blue
• Lindy's Starburst Spray - Tiffany Blue
• Cosmic Shimmer Spray - Meadow Lush 
• Ranger Distress Oxide Ink - Spiced Marmalade 
• Ranger Texture Paste
• Pie Lane wave stencil 
• Ranger Distress Glaze
• Icraft Clear drops 

For Sentiment:

• Concord & 9th Perfectly Penned Stamp Set 
• Ranger Archival Black Ink
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• White Cardstock 

General Supplies:

• Ranger Dina Wakley Gel Medium
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Paint Brush 
• Pallet Knife
• Glue gun

Steps to create:

Though its difficult to explain the process of making this layout, I have tried to describe it in short:

Flora & Fauna:

• Make all the flora and fauna using air dry clay by manually shaping the clay (no fancy moulds needed) and let it dry for 24 hours before colouring. Use some embossing tools and carving tools to add texture to clay pieces. (The Octopus was inspired from the video tutorial from Gabrielle Pollacco).
• Paint the flora and fauna with your favorite colours. Once dry, apply Nuvo Mousse or Inka Gold to highlight the texture.
• Tip: To avoid Acrylic Paint from chipping once dry, mix some Gel medium to the paints before coloring to make them permanent.

Background:

• Adhere some price tags and thread strings on ply with help of gel medium. 
• Thin some 2 in 1 paste and apply on the entire background as gesso. 
• Once dry, colour using spray inks. Once the inks are dry, smoosh Oxide ink on different spots to balance the colours of the flora & fauna.
• Splatter some of the spray ink using brush. 
• Seal the background using Distress Glaze.
• Apply texture paste through stencils on various parts.

Putting it together:

• Adhere the flora and fauna to the background with help of glue gun.
• Stamp the sentiment on cardstock and adhere to background using glue.
• Add Glossy Accent on the sentiments.
• To finish, adhere  clear drops using Glossy Accents.

Hope you all love the layout as much as I love it. If you do like it, please leave some love in the comments below. 

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

Itsy Bitsy Little Birdie Embossing Texture Paste - Product Review

Hi Folks,

I am here with a review of Itsy Bitsy's Little Birdie's Embossing Texture Paste. Itsy Bitsy launched this paste in February 2018 during the opening of their 2nd Mumbai Store. When Rashmi Harish, owner of Itsy Bitsy showed me swatch of the Embossing Texture Paste, I knew I had to buy one.

About Embossing Texture Paste:

• Comes in 12 amazing colours. 
• Can be applied on various surface such as paper, metal, wood, glass etc. using a palette knife. 
• Once you have applied the texture paste, you need to heat set it to get the crazy amazing texture. 
• It's water resistant when dry but not washable. 
• On heat setting, it dries to matt finish. 

Off the 12 colours, I brought the Frosty Fizz Embossing Texture Paste and here are the swatches I created to test the various effects with different mediums before I could incorporate in my project.

I applied Embossing Texture Paste through a stencil on Kraft Card-stock and heat set it. I absolutely love the bubbly matt finish of the paste. Would add amazing texture on any mixed media project . The more you heat the paste, the more bubbles it creates. A thicker layer of paste would give you bigger bubbles as compared to thin layer of paste (P.S. the small red dots are that of pixie red glitter that were on my stencil & got incorporate in the design).

After heat setting the Embossing Texture Paste on white Card stock, I sprayed it with Lindy's Starburst Spray Hydrangea Blue. It produced a fun shaded effect.

I blended some Distress Oxide Picked Raspberry Ink on Card stock and applied Embossing Texture Paste over it through a stencil. As Oxide inks are water reactive and stay wet longer, the paste absorbed some ink and on heat setting I got a pretty pink and white textured effect. 

I blended some Distress Ink Picked Raspberry on Card stock and applied Embossing Texture Paste over it through a stencil. Distress Inks are water reactive but dry quickly as compared to Oxides and the absorption of Ink was lesser by the paste in this case.

After Heat setting the Embossing Texture Paste on card stock blended with Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide Ink, I applied some Wilted Violet Distress Oxide Ink and sprayed it with water. The paste absorbed some of the pigment from the ink and gave an amazing purple look.

Similar effects were achieved when I applied Candied Apple Distress Ink on heat set paste and sprayed with water. Similar effect can be achieved with any dye inks. 

My Verdict:

• The Embossing Texture Paste is a must for all Mixed-Media artists.
• Adds amazing texture to projects. 
• Absorbs inks from the background if the background inks are water reactive
• If you want to retain the colour of your Embossing Texture Paste when applied on water reactive ink blended backgrounds, seal the background with mediums such as Distress Glaze or Gel Medium before applying the paste. 
• Stains or absorbs pigments when applied on top after heat setting. 
• At Rs. 249/- its absolutely worth the money. I am soon going to buy the rest of the shades for my mixed-media adventures. 

I had absolute fun using this product. Will soon share a Mixed-Media project where I used Embossing Texture Paste.

Hope you find the review helpful. 

Love, 

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Itsy Bitsy or Little Birdie nor have I been paid to write this review. This review is purely my personal opinion based on my experience of using this product)