From Paint Mop-Ups to Beautiful Tags: Mixed Media Inspiration from Your Craft Desk

 

 

 

Hello friends! Ericka from Strangely Creative here, and today I'm sharing two mixed media tags that came together completely by accident.

Some of my favorite projects don't begin with a plan. They begin with leftover paint, scraps on my desk, and a little curiosity about what might happen if I simply started layering.

These tags are the perfect reminder that creativity doesn't always start with brand-new supplies. Sometimes it starts with the pieces we almost throw away.

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🎨 Saving Every Drop of Color

The inspiration for these tags actually started while I was playing with my Lindy's Gang Victorian Garden Sprays on watercolor paper. As I was spraying my background, I realized I had applied a little more color than I needed. Instead of letting those beautiful pigments go to waste, I grabbed a couple of blank tags and used them to soak up the extra ink.

It's one of my favorite stash-saving tricks. Not only do you avoid wasting product, but you also end up with beautifully unique backgrounds ready for another project.

 

Once the tags dried, I loved the soft blends and organic movement of the colors so much that I decided they deserved to become finished pieces.

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📖 Adding Layers of Story

Next, I reached into my stash for some old book pages that I had previously painted with watercolor and sealed with melted wax. The wax gives the paper a wonderfully soft, semi-translucent look that adds incredible depth when layered.

 

Rather than cutting the pages neatly, I tore them into random pieces and adhered them to the tags. Torn edges always feel a little more organic and help the layers blend naturally into one another.

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✨ Creating Texture with Simple Supplies

One of the things I love most about mixed media is that almost anything can become a mark-making tool. For these tags, I grabbed bottles of black and gold acrylic paint fitted with precision tips and simply started drawing loose, playful squiggles across the surface.

 

There was no pattern to follow and no right or wrong way to do it. Those imperfect lines became another layer of texture that helped tie the collage together while adding movement across the tags. Sometimes the simplest marks are the ones that make a project feel finished.

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🌸 Finishing Touches

To complete the tags, I added the beautiful AALL & Create Anemone Whispers florals along with sentiments from the AALL & Create Motivation Station collection.

 

Those final elements brought everything together while still allowing all of the layered textures to shine. 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope this inspires you to embrace the unexpected, save those colorful leftovers, and spend a little time simply playing in your craft room this weekend.

Happy creating! 💛🎨

 

 Topflight Stamp Supplies

AALL & Create - 92 - Anemone Whispers Shop at: TP

AALL & Create - Motivation Station Shop at: TP

Lindy's Gang - Victorian Bouquet Shimmer Shop at: Lindys | TP

AALL & Create Garden Scene

Hello!  You've got Colleen here with you today, as we focus on AALL & Create products at Topflight Stamps!  Flowers and butterflies from AALL & Create Gravel Script Ephemera are the stars of the stage on my card.  The background was created with several Lavinia Dye Inks, swiped on a piece of watercolor cardstock, then liberally spritzed with water.  The colors I used are:  Della Blue, Bermuda, Green Parrot, Pixie Green and Olive.  When the piece was dry, I sprayed Lindy's Stamp Gang Fairy Fluff over it to create a sparkly scene.  The final touch is a sentiment from Lavinia Sentiment Stickers - Uplifting Collection.

Have a wonderful day! ~ Colleen

Supplies used from Topflight Stamps:

AALL & Create Gravel Script Ephemera

Lavinia Dye Ink - Bermuda

Lavinia Dye Ink - Della Blue

Lavinia Dye Ink - Green Parrot

Lavinia Dye Ink - Pixie Green

Lavinia Dye Ink - Olive

Lavinia Sentiment Stickers - Uplifting Collection

Lindy's Stamp Gang - Fairy Fluff

AALL & Create Cat Birthday Card

Hello, Lisa Hoel here. This week at Topflight Stamps our brand focus is on AALL & Create. Their wide range of products allows for a wide range of creative makes! I fell in love with the funny cat in the Hocus Pocus stamp set and planned a card around it.

The base is a gel print from my stash and I used sparkle texture paste and the Secret Stars stencil to add some see-through texture and glam to it. Watercolored and fussy cut, the cat presides over Bubble Talk die cuts and the festive birthday washi tape.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the Topflight Stamps store for a wide selection of different and hard to find stamps, stencils and other paper crafting supplies from all around the world! Also keep an eye here on the Topflight Stamps blog. There is new inspiration posted often!

Topflight Stamps Supplies Used:

AALL & Create stamp set - Hocus Pocus

AALL & Create stencil - Secret Stars

AALL & Create die set - Bubble Talk

AALL & Create washi - Birthday #54

VersaFine Clair ink pad - Nocturne

Gel Press print

watercolors

 

Deliver Joy

It's Tuesday which means you've got Kathi to share a project with you.  This week's spotlight is on AALL and Create's wonderful products. I used the new-to-me Deliver Joy Clear Stamp Set 1376 by Janet Klein with the Building Silhouettes Die 58 — both by AALL and Create to create this 6" square card.

Use Tuxedo Black Memento Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko to stamp the girl and the postbox from the Deliver Joy Clear Stamp Set 1376 by Janet Klein for AALL and Create onto alcohol ink-friendly cardstock. 

Fussy-cut the images and color them with alcohol markers (I used both Copic markers and Olo markers, which are listed on my blog). Use a black pen to edge them. Set both images aside.

Use the Building Silhouettes Die 58 by AALL and Create to cut watercolor paper, which I used because I wanted the buildings to have texture from the start! Be sure to retain all of the windows and doors that popped out after die-cutting.

Place low-tack tape or Post-It Notes under the roofs of the Building Silhouettes die-cut. Brush or sponge brick red dye ink over the tape onto the roofs. You'll notice that I also used tape to cover the chimneys and chimney pots. Remove and discard the tape.

Place low-tack tape or Post-It Notes to cover the newly inked roofs. Brush or sponge light grey dye ink over the tape onto the buildings. Brush or sponge light tan dye ink onto over the tape onto the building. Brush or sponge black dye ink over the tape, along the edges, and below the windows. Also used it to add black ink smudges to age the Building Silhouettes die-cut. 

Remove the tape from the Building Silhouettes die-cut. Use a black chalk pencil to create tiles on the roofs. Use grey and lavender chalk pencils to add shading and shadows to the roof.

Apply double-sided tape to the window openings on the reverse of the Building Silhouettes die-cut. Place the reserved cut-outs into their openings, then use watercolors to color them.

Select a piece of patterned paper from the Ombre 6x6 Patterned Paper Pad by Craft Consortium. This will become the background layer.

Adhere the Building Silhouettes die-cut to the patterned paper background. Adhere Washi tape to the base of the card front. Adhere the fussy-cut, colored girl and the postbox as shown.

Use Nocturne VersaFine Clair Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko to stamp the "warm wishes" sentiment from the Deliver Joy Clear Stamp Set 1376 onto the Building Silhouettes die-cut as shown. Trim the panel to 5.75" square and edge with Nocturne VersaFine Clair Ink.

Position the "Par Avion" sentiment stamp from the Deliver Joy Clear Stamp Set 1376 on the right side between the buildings. Use Nocturne VersaFine Clair Ink to stamp it. Position the "Deliver Joy" sentiment from the Deliver Joy set and position it on the top left. Ink the stamp with Nocturne VersaFine Clair Ink and stamp. Realize that it's a little crooked and hit yourself in the head. Hard.

Adhere the card front to a black 6" x 6" square card.

Please pop over to my blog, Kat's Tales of Stamping, for step-by-step instructions and complete supply lists. 

Topflight Stamps Products Used:

Deliver Joy Clear Stamp Set 1376 by Janet Klein for AALL and Create

Building Silhouettes Die 58 by AALL and Create

Ombre 6x6 Patterned Paper Pad by Craft Consortium

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko

Nocturne VersaFine Clair Ink by Imagine Crafts/Tsukineko

Thanks for visiting today!

One Stamp, Two Looks: Summer Watercolor Play with Tracy Scott 108

 

Hello friends! Ericka from Strangely Creative here, and today I'm sharing a project that combines two of my favorite things: summer crafting and watercolor play.

One of the things I love most about summer break is finding a little extra time to experiment in my craft room. Between running kids to activities and enjoying the slower pace of the season, I've been spending some time practicing watercolor techniques and exploring different ways to use my supplies.

For today's project, I pulled out the beautiful PaperArtsy Tracy Scott 108 set and challenged myself to create two completely different cards using the same image and the same Lindy's Gang Magicals.

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🎨 Card One: Soft & Dreamy Watercolor

For my first card, I stamped and heat embossed the floral image using white embossing powder.

 

I wanted a soft, flowing look, so I used a simple wet-on-wet watercolor technique. First, I applied clean water to each petal, then dropped in color from my Lindy's Gang Magicals and let the pigments move naturally across the image.

This technique is one of my favorites because it creates beautiful blends without requiring a lot of effort. The colors soften into one another and create a delicate, almost dreamy effect.

Once the flower was dry, I added a sentiment from the PaperArtsy Sara Naumann 41 set and finished the card with splatters of gold acrylic paint.

There is something so satisfying about those final splatters. They always seem to bring everything together.

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✨ Card Two: Bold & Bright

For my second card, I wanted to create something with a little more contrast and drama.

This time, I heat embossed the floral image using gold embossing powder, which immediately gave the design a warmer and more elegant feel.

I used the same watercolor technique but reached for slightly brighter, more vibrant colors. It's amazing how simply changing the embossing color and increasing the color intensity can completely transform the look of a project.

 

To finish the card, I added a sentiment from the PaperArtsy Sara Naumann 51 set and repeated the gold paint splatters to tie everything together.

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🌿 Same Stamp, Different Results

This project was a wonderful reminder that you don't always need new supplies to create something fresh.

By changing:

• The embossing color
• The intensity of the watercolor
• The sentiment

you can create a completely different mood with the exact same stamp.

 

One card feels soft and peaceful.

The other feels bright and bold.

And honestly, I love them both.

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Thank you so much for stopping by today! I'd love to know which version you prefer: the soft white embossed flower or the bold gold embossed one?

Have a wonderful weekend filled with creativity, sunshine, and a little time to play.

  

Topflight Stamp Supplies 

PaperArtsy - Sara Naumann 41 Shop at: TP	PaperArtsy - Sara Naumann 51 Shop at: TP	PaperArtsy - Tracy Scott 108 Shop at: TP	Embossing - Bright White Ultra Fine Shop at: TP	WOW! Embossing - Clear Embossing Pad Shop at: TP
WOW! Embossing - Metallic Gold Rich Pale Shop at:  TP

AALL & Create Quirky Post Birds

Hello!  You've got Colleen here for an Anything Goes week at Topflight Stamps!  I had fun with AALL & Create Quirky Postage die set to create a backdrop for little bird postage stamps from PaperArtsy Scrapcosy ESC19 set.  I used two shades of purple cardstock with the postage dies and stacked them, arranging in sort of a quilt style.  The birds were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, trimmed and colored with alcohol markers.  I layered some of the stamps with foam adhesive tape to pop them up.

Have a wonderful day! ~ Colleen

(The photos below were taken with my iPhone in the light tent and the purples just look so different than the pic above!)

Supplies used from Topflight Stamps:

AALL & Create Quirky Postage die set

PaperArtsy - Scrapcosy ESC19 stamp set

Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Mixed Media Father's Day Card

Hello, Lisa Hoel here. This week at Topflight Stamps our theme is Anything Goes! I made a Father's Day card to give to my husband. Blue is one of his favorite colors. Surprisingly, I used no stamps for this card – just stencils and die cuts. ;-)

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the Topflight Stamps store for a wide selection of different and hard to find stamps, stencils and other paper crafting supplies from all around the world! Also keep an eye on the Topflight Stamps blog. There is new inspiration posted often!

Topflight Stamps Supplies Used:

AALL & Create stencil - Components

AALL & Create die set - Skycrossed Paradise

Studio Light Grunge mask - X background

PaperArtsy Fresco paint - Twilight

Creative Expressions Wordies Sentiment Sheets - Birthday

texture paste