A single rose can be a garden - Art Journal Page

Hi Friends,

Life is a balance of good and bad times. Happy & sad moments. We may rejoice one moment whereas in the other moment we may be faced with a difficult situation. And only those friends who stand by you and be with you in the most difficult times of life pass the test of friendship. True friends never leave your side in either good or bad times. They are always there for you and they become an integral part of the world. 

The page 2 in the art book that I make for my friend Tejal revolves around this truth of life. Though I have never met her in real life, she has been my constant support & true friend in both thick & thin times of life over the last 1 year. We chat almost daily and I cant thank her enough for the amazing friendship. I choose another one of Tejal's favorite flowers "Roses" for this page as a rose depicts these feelings in true sense. The beautiful, fragrant rose flower depicts the beautiful moments of life whereas the thorns depict the difficult times of life. 

I used 2 different styles and colors of roses (red to depict happy times and black to depict difficult times) to build this page. Red is also one of Khushboo's (Tejal's friend) favorite color and black Tejal and my favorite color. I used glitter & shine on the red side to give an extra edge of happiness to good times of life. 

Supplies used:

• 6 by 7" card stock/ chipboard 
• iCraft rose & circular rose stencil
• iCraft kraft card stock
• Ranger texture paste
• Pie Lane red pixie dust
• VersaMark Ink
• Ranger Black Embossing Powder
• Distress ink: Black Soot, Candied Apple 
• Dress My Craft Sparkling Dust 
• Itsy Bitsy 2 in 1 texture paste (used as gesso) 
• Circle cutter or die 
• Finger dauber, palette knife, foam tape, glue, water mister, blending tool, heat gun 
• Printed sentiment/ quote 

Steps to create:

• Apply gesso on the card stock/ chipboard base and let it dry. Blend Candied Apple Ink, mist with water and dab with cloth (this ensures very light shade of ink on the base).
• Apply texture paste through stencil on the right upper half of the page, sprinkle red pixie dust and set aside to dry.
• Cut circles (2" diameter) from kraft card stock. Apply VersaMark ink through stencil using finger dauber and heat set using black embossing powder.
• Adhere the heat embossed circles on the page using glue & foam tape for dimension. 
• Apply glue on the right edges of the page and sprinkle with Sparkling Dust.
• Finish the page by adhering the printed sentiment/ quote.

Please do let me know what you think of this page. I hope you like it as much as I loved making this. 

View Page 1 Details

I would like to enter this art page at 

• Art Journal Journey. Theme: Flora & Fauna

I shall be soon back with Page 3 of this art journal.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

To Great Friends - An Art Journal Page

Hi friends,

They say friends are the family you choose for yourself & God has blessed me with some amazing friends who are now like family to me. Recently, I wanted to make a gift for my ever helpful, crazy, amazing crafty friend "Tejal", something that was personalized and woven with  elements that she & 3 of her friends (Saumya, Khushboo & myself) liked.

As Art Journals are my absolute favorite to make, I decided to make a mini, personalized Art Journal or Art Book for Tejal including our favorite quotes, motifs, colors & flowers or things that we like.

I used a 6 by 7 ready chipboard album to create this art journal as I wanted something sturdy and strong as it was going to travel all the way to Ahmadabad from Mumbai, but you could use a 300 gsm card stock for same. This art book contains 10 sides (5 pages back to back) all together. Here's the cover page of the journal.

Tejal's favorite flowers are Hydrangeas. So, I decided to use them as focal point on the cover page. However, when I started making the cover, I realized I didnt have  any Hydrangea stamps. I was on verge of giving up the idea of using Hydrangeas on the cover, when it dawned on me that I had Hydrangea Lawns pattern paper from Dress My Craft that I could use for focal point. The entire page is built around colour scheme of Hydrangea flowers using the heat embossing resist technique with Distress Inks for background as its my absolute favorite technique for background.

Supplies Used:

• 6 by 7" card stock/ chipboard 
• Dress My Craft Hydrangea Lawns 6 by 6 paper pack
• Penny Black Blooming Gardens stamp set
• Distress Inks: Seedless Preserves, Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers
• VersaMark Ink
• WOW! Clear embossing powder
• Itsy Bitsy 2 in 1 texture paste (used as gesso)
• Dress My Craft Frosted Sugar Powder
• Glue, scissors, foam tape, heat gun & blending tools
• Printed sentiment 

Steps to create:

• Apply gesso on the card stock/ chipboard base and let it dry. Once dry, apply Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers ink using blending tool. 
• Once the Distress ink has dried, stamp the flowers using VersaMark ink and heat set using clear embossing powder.
• Apply Seedless Preserves (over Peacock Feathers) and Peacock Feathers (over Cracked Pistachio) ink to create a beautiful resist technique background.
• Fussy cut the flowers from Hydrangea Lawns pack. Distress the edges using Seedless Preserves ink  and adhere to the base using glue & foam tape.
• Apply glue to the edges of the page and sprinkle with Frosted Sugar Powder.
• To finish the page, adhere the printed sentiment/ quote. 

Hope you love the cover page from this art journal. I shall be back soon with Page 2 of the journal.

I would like to enter this art page at 

• Art Journal Journey. Theme: Flora & Fauna
• Mix It Up Challenge. Theme: Emboss Resist

Love,
Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta
Crafty Flirtations. 

Quick card using Mayura Collection Paper

Hi Friends,

The Craft Studio launched their 1st paper pack "Mayura Collection" under their brand name "iCraft" a few weeks back. Dinesh & Forum very kindly sent me a complementary pack of the papers to try. 

About Mayura Collection:

• This pack comes in 12 by 12" size
• Has 30 printed sheet
• 4 of these sheets are UV Embossed, Textured Embossed, Foiled and Matt laminated
• The pack also includes 4 motif sheets, 1 sheet of quotes and 1 envelope template 
• They are ideal for making cards & Scrapbooks

The motif and quotes sheet make it so ease to whip up cards in no time. Sharing with you a card that I made in less than half an hour (only cause it involved fussy cutting). 

Supplies:

• iCraft Floral Natura Paper
• iCraft Mayura Collection Pattern paper
• Scissor, foam tape, glue, embossing tool 

Steps to create:

• Cut and score Natura paper to create 4.5 by 5.25" top folding card base.
• Cut one of the pattern papers to 4.25 by 5" size and adhere on top of card base with glue. 
• Fussy cut 2 floral motifs from motif sheet. Shape one of them using embossing tool and adhere on top of the other using foam tape for dimension.
• To finish the card, adhere the motif (using glue) & quote (using foam tape) on the prepared card base.  

Hope you like this quick card.

Love, 

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

Bees come where flowers blossom - Art Journal Page

Hi Friends,

Last time I shared process of creating the above rustic & grungy art journal page with you all. However, once I finish the page, I realised I adhered the sentiment sticker upside down and being an art journal, I had to correct it so that when I flip through the journal, I can read it correct. So, I removed the sentiment stickers & edited the page to add flowers & some bees. Here is the updated page & process for same (beyond what is described in the previous post).

Supplies:

• White card stock
• Floral Die Cut Outs
• Ranger Distress Oxide Inks: Twisted Citron & Salty Ocean
• Ranger Distress Ink: Black Soot
• Ranger Black Archival Ink
• Concord & 9th Perfectly Penned Stamp
• Sakura Micron, Markers & Pencil colours for colouring, Water Mister, Heat Gun, Glue. scissors

Steps To Create:

• Smoosh Oxide inks on the craft mat, mist with water and colour floral cut outs by dipping them in ink. Dry them using heat gun. Repeat the process till you achieve the desired effect. Add some dots on flower center using black Micron. 
• Smoosh some Black Soot ink on the craft mat, dilute with water and make splatters on the page. 
• Draw some honey bee on card stock, colour using markers or water colours and fussy cut.
• Stick the flowers and honey bees on the journal page.
• Add shading around the flowers using colour pencils.
• Finish the layout by stamping sentiment using black ink. 

I hope you love this updated version as much as I love it. 

Please leave your love & feedback in the comments section.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

Quick Rustic And Grungy Art Page

Hi Friends,

I am back with another quick & simple art journal spread with a little grungy & rustic look.

Supplies:

• Gesso
• Ranger texture paste
• iCraft stencil
• Ranger Distress Ink: Peacock Feather, Stormy Sky, Bundled Sage
• Dymo Label maker
• Palette Knife, Blending Tool, water mister, kitchen towel, paint brush 

Steps to Create: 

• Apply gesso on the journal page with paint brush and let it dry. (Tip: Apply thick coats on some places for added texture). 
• Once the gesso is dry, apply texture paste through stencils with help of palette knife and let it dry. 
• Once dry, blend distress inks on the page using blending tools.
• Mist water and dab on various places using kitchen towel to pick up some ink. 
• Make sentiment using Dymo Label maker & stick on center of the page.

Hope you love the grungy & rustic look of this art journal page.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

Seek Magic - An Art Journal Page

Hi Friends,

Sometimes all it takes to create an art journal is a few Distress inks, a stencil and stamps. I am here to share a simple and elegant art journal spread. 

Supplies:

• Ranger Distress Ink: Peacock Feather, Stormy Sky, Picked Raspberry, Candied Apple, Black Soot
• Ranger Black Archival Ink 
• Dylusions Stamp: Doodle Delight DYR40927
• Concord & 9th Perfectly Penned Stamp
• iCraft Stencil
• We R Memory Keepers M,A,G,I,C mini alphabet stamp sets
• Sakura White Gelli Roll Pen
• Water Mister, blending tools, heat gun, paint brush  

Steps to Create:

• Blend Peacock Feather, Picked Raspberry and Candied Apple ink on the journal using blending tools.
• Mist with mini mister and dry using a heat gun.
• Apply Stormy Sky ink over Peacock Feather section through a stencil in some parts. 
• Apply Picked Raspberry over Picked Raspberry section and Candied Apply over Candied Apple section through a stencil in some parts.
• Smoosh some Black Soot ink on a craft mat, dilute using some water and make splatters on the journal page using a thin paint brush. 
• Stamp various images from Dylusions stamp at different heights from bottom of page using black ink.
• Stamp the sentiment using black ink. 
• To finish the layout, add highlights on the sentiment using white gel pen.

Hope you all like this art journal page.

Love,

Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta

Crafty Flirtations 

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 

Photo Transfer on Wood

Photo transfer is a technique to transfer an image (most often an actual photo print) on a canvas, wood, MDF or clay to create personalised gifts. Today I am sharing a photo transfer project done on a piece of wood. When you transfer a photo on wood, it gives a vintage look to project due to the rough texture of the wood.

Project created for Our Idea Book By Dr. Neha Sanwalka Rungta 

Supplies:

• Piece of wood
• Photograph or a Picture printed using laser printer 
• Transfer mediums/glue such as: Gel Medium or Mod-Podge or Mod-Podge Photo Transfer Medium
• Sand Paper

Steps to create:

• Sand the paper with sand paper to get ride of any prominent edges. 
• Apply an even coat of Gel Medium or Mod-Podge on the wood.
• Place your photograph, face down on the wood and press it lightly with a cloth to remove any creases.
• Keep it aside to dry for 24 hours. 
• Once dry, spray water on the image and light rub with fingers to peel of the paper to reveal a beautiful photo transferred project. (Tip: spray water on one part of the image and work on one part of the image at a time).

(PS. This article was 1st published in the June 2017 issue of "Our Idea Book" Magazine)