Dia de los Muertos Mini Art Journal

Hello, Crafty Friends!!

No, This is not a late Halloween post. This is actually right on time! Because this is a Day of the Dead (or Dia de los Muertos) themed project. 

Day of the Dead is a Mexican Holiday that celebrates family, love, and remembrance of those who passed. And ironically is not just a "day" but three days long. Each day is reserved for the remembrance of a child lost (Oct. 31) or an adult (Nov. 1) and for visiting of the souls at the graves of the departed loved ones (Nov. 2). Graves are cleaned and decorated. These shrines are often adorned with marigolds and sugar skulls and the favorite food or drink of the deceased. You can read more about this amazing holiday here.

I have come to love this wonderful holiday. I am drawn to the traditions, bright colors, flowers, and of course, sugar skulls. And though I am not of Mexican descent, I still have a huge respect for the culture. What's there not to love?? So I made this Dia de los Muertos inspired Art Journal to show my love for this amazing and beautiful holiday!

Supplies Used

Big Shot Machine (Sizzix)

 Eileen Hull Passport Die (Sizzix)

Eileen Hull Leaves, Spring (Sizzix)

Crafty Chica Sugar Skull Framelits Stamps & Die Set (Sizzix)

Crafty Chica Hola Flower Stamps & Die Set (Sizzix)

Crafty Chica My Happy Life Cardstock Pad (Sizzix)

Creative Station Lite (Xyron)

Eileen Hull Blends- Nutmeg (ClearSnap)

Tim Holtz Distress Ink-Vintage Photo (Ranger)

140 lb. Mixed Media Paper (Strathmore)

VersaFine Onyx Black Ink Pad (Tsukineko/ Imagine Crafts)

Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers - 60 pk (Kuretake/ Zig)

Chipboard

Hemp Twine

3D Dots (EK Success)

Tacky Glue (Collall's)

I start by cutting two pieces of chipboard down to 4.25" x 5.5" pieces. Then, I run both pieces through my Xyron Creative Station Lite machine and add adhesive onto both sides of each of the chipboard pieces.

I also cut my patterned paper, from Crafty Chica's My Happy Life Cardstock Pad to 4.25" x 5.5" pieces.

I peeled the protective film off and adhere a sheet of cardstock onto both sides of each cardboard piece.

I also repeated those same steps onto a 3" x 6" piece of chipboard. But only applied paper to one side of the chipboard piece.

Then, I laid both pieces onto my Eileen Hull Passport Die and cranked it through my Big Shot machine. Tip: Make sure to put whichever paper /side you want on the outside of your cover to be faced down against the blade.

Here I have the basic parts of the book all cut out.

I add tacky white glue down the spine and adhere the front and back covers together. To ensure and good grip and proper alignment I like to use mini clothespins to hold my pieces in place.

Then, once the glue set I inked the edges of the entire book with an Eille Hull Blends applicator in Nutmeg.

I stamped the skull image from Crafty Chica's Sugar Skull and Hola Flower Stamps & Die Sets 

onto mixed media paper using VersaFine Onyx Black ink.

Then, colored them in using my Zig Clean Color Real Markers.

Once I was pleased with my coloring, I die cut the images using the matching dies that came in each set.

I die cut a few leaves out of green cardstock using Eileen Hull's Leaves, Spring die.

I folded down the center to create a spine. Then folded at a diagonal to create the veins in the leaf.

I inked over the raised creases with distress ink and a blending tool.

Then attached the leaves, twine bow, and sugar skull onto the front cover of my book. Then I attached the flowers over those. I added foam dots under the skull and one of the flowers for a bit of dimension.

Now that the cover is done, I moved onto the inside.

I die cut the insert pages from the Eileen Hull Passport Die out of plain chipboard. Then simply folded and creased each chipboard page.

I fastened each page to the spine using hemp twine. I inserted each individual strand through the hole in the page, then, through the hole in the book. 

I gathered the strand on the outside of the spine and tied at a basic knot.

And here is my finished book...

I left all the pages blank because I plan on using this as a mini art journal. Chipboard is great at holding its shape against moisture. All I need to do is slap coat of gesso onto the page if I plan to paint. The gesso helps to prevent the paint from getting sucked up by the chipboard and makes your paint spread further. 

I hope you enjoyed this project for today!! 

Happy Day of the Dead Everyone!!

~Mitsyana

Sabor Papel - Mi Amor

Hello, Crafty Friends!! Today I have something bright, colorful, and exciting!! Craftwell has teamed up with the awesome people at Sabor Papel for the month of May and together we will be bring you some amazing projects because we will be celebrating Cinco De Mayo all month long!

Supplies Used

Teresa Collins Cut'n'boss Machine (Craftwell)

Teresa Collins Pocket Dies- Lover's Lane, Thankful Holiday (Craftwell)

Sentimentos Amor- Amor (Sabor Papel)

Corazonzitos- Amor (Sabor Papel)

La Guitarra- Ole (Sabor Papel)

Creative Station Lite (Xyron)

Mega Runner (Xyron)

1.5" Stacker Maker (Xyron)

Hypnotic-Black Magic (Core'dinations)

Black Cardstock

Versafine Onyx Black Ink (Imagine Crafts/ Tsukineko)

VersaMagic Jumbo Java Ink (Imagine Crafts / Tsukineko)

Sponge Daubers

Beige Organza Ribbon

Skull Brad

PITT Artist Pen XS (Faber-Castell)

Cutterbee Scissors

Paper Trimmer

Corner Punch

Liquid Lacquer

For my project I made this gorgeous "Amor" card with Sabor's vibrant papers... I absolutely love the Amor collection! It's filled with romantic patterns and cool and ghoulish skeletons. The sheet below is called Sentimentos Amor. 

I simply cut sections of this sheet with my scissors. I used the skeleton couple as my focal point and  the assorted flowers as embellishments. I inked the edges of all my cut-outs using a PITT Artist Pen to hide all the white edges and give them a more finished look.

To accentuate my cut-outs I used the doily from the Teresa Collins Lover's Lane pocket die set, and the leaves and  berry stem from the Thankful Holiday Set using the backsides of the Sentimentos Amor and Corazonzitos papers. Then I inked the edges with black and brown ink using a sponge dauber.

Then I ran my cut-outs through my Xyron Creative Station Lite machine to turn all my cut-out into stickers.

I also cut the border strips form the Sentimentos Amor sheet and ran them through my Xyron X.

For my background I used a corner punch to give the corners a ticketed edge. I used my Xyron Mega Runner to attach my Laguitarra sheet to a black mat. The guitar are one side (backside) but the other side are really lovely images of music sheets. This will be the side of the paper I incorporate into my card.

Now all I need to do is assemble my card ... I simply peel and stick my cut-outs. I tucked a few flowers behind my doily to add a little more color. 

Then I attached my die cut leaves and stems with Liquid Lacquer. I also tied my bow and attached a skull brad (again with Liquid Lacquer) and then attached the bow onto the card front with, you guessed it, more Liquid Lacquer.

And here is my finished card...

I hope you all love today's project!! I really loved putting this one together and absolutely love how it turned out!!

Stay tuned for more exciting projects from Craftwell & Sabor Papel!!

Until next time...

HAPPY CRAFTING!!

~Mitsy

Dia del los Muertos Card

Hi Crafty Friends! After being sick with the stomach flu, which luckily I was the only one to catch, I was finally out of bed and able to have some much needed play time.

I made this Dia del los Muertos inspired card.

For this Project I used several cutting files from Designs on Cloud 9.

Skullies

Ribbon Banners

Pretty Roses

Web Background

I airbrushed all paper pieces with my eBrush Machine which added depth to my flat roses and leaves, skull, banner, and even my background behind the spiderweb. I used the black outlines as a guide and airbrushed color where I thought the shadows would fall.

I hand drew all additional details on the skull (the scallops around the eyes, the  spider web, hearts, and all scroll work).

angled view 

Added foam adhesive under skull for more dimension.

I font I used is called Black Castle MF and you can download it HERE for free.

This was a just a quick post... seeing as that I am still sick and in need of more rest.

Wish me luck with 4 kids! 

Have a happy scrappy day!!