Saturday, January 16, 2016

January Leading Lady Virginia Lu | Take Three

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Our January Leading Lady, Virginia Lu is back for her triumphant third performance!  If you missed her smashing debut you must see it...CLICK HERE or her sensational second performance with so much fabulous artistry CLICK HERE.  Today, Virginia certainly showcases her incredible versatility and depth of skill and scope of talent!

Without further ado, Virginia....

Hello, dear Winnie & Walter friends! I am excited to share my 3rd post as The January Leading Lady.  I am having SO much fun and keep coming up with lots of ideas as I play. Does that ever happen to you? When you have the “right products,” your ideas simply FLOW. Now that Christmas is over, does that mean you put away your Christmas stamps and dies away? Well, not so fast! Look what I made with some of my Christmas-themed products!

First, I came up with a sophisticated masculine birthday card with the Christmas supplies! It all started with the stenciled background by using Scenery: The Peppermint Zone Creative Screenings.  The multi-colored stripes were stenciled with Distress inks. I purposely masked off the star (with True Multifaceted Star Cutaways ) in the center.

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I then embossed the stars from Comfort and Joy. With the added vellum star from the Cutaways, this card came together rather easily.

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It was embellished with silver DMC strings and tiny star confetti ( Martha Stewart). After making this card, I used similar supplies to create a set of birthday cards. You can never have too many masculine cards on hand, right?

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The stars from Comfort and Joy are so versatile! I also chose some pattern paper to make the star dies to create the focal point. To add some hidden bling, I added a gold strip from Goldie Trim Cutaways. It was easy to mass produce once you have all the design elements in place.

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The sentiment is from The Big, the Bold and The Happy. Even though the design is the same, each card is unique and different. And that is the beauty of hand made cards. Next, I have a few art journal pages to share. This flower page is the perfect antidote to make in the middle of winter.

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Making the stenciled background on the top page was just as fun as stamping flowers! I absolutely love the Scenery: Madison Creative Screenings. Those scalloped borders make the page all that much more “happy”! The In Bloom: Anna's Flora stamp set is the ticket to a happy garden scene. I stamped all the flowers and then clear-embossed them with the help of MISTI. You can see a shiny outlines from the clear-embossing - love that!

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I colored the images with my Zig Markers. Because it is an art journal page, I totally owned my creative licence and did not feel pressured to strive for perfection. I added doily and stencilled paste (Gesso mixed with Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink) at the bottom. The sentiment “discover beauty” is a Rub-On from Ranger.

After making a happy garden page, I was pulled back to the reality! I was inspired by the snow scene near my house and came up with a winter scene. The trees in the wood totally inspired me! And how cool is that Scenery: Into the Woods Creative Screenings!? I prepared the background with Gesso and Mister Huey Color Mist (see photo below).

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After the foundation was covered with the Gesso and dried, I applied the white embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi) all over. Once it was dried, I put the Scenery: Into the Woods Creative Screenings back in place. Then I applied Vintage Photo Distress Ink mixed with Gesso OVER the bottom part of the trees.

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For the final embellishments, I added sequins and glitter on the “snow.” The sentiment is from the same Rub-on as my previous page. Aren’t our 4 seasons amazing or what? I hope this prompts you to try out new techniques, supplies, and designs.

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My last post (whaaat!!!?) is coming up on the 23rd. I know, time flies when you are having fun! Here is a peek!

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Thank you so much for stopping by!

23 comments:

  1. Super fabulous projects, Virginia! Love the details you added to each of your projects - from the intricate dies, alternative use of Christmas themed sets, the gold accents, and the fabulous scene of your winter page!

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  2. REally wonderful eye-candy here, Virginia .. LOve the masculine birthday cards!! Thrilled that I have every product you've used for them =] =] Can't WAIT for these birds!
    =]

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  3. Wonderful projects today, V! Love your masculine birthday cards, always something I struggle with, and your journal pages are so fun and different! Well done, my friend!

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  4. Virginia is really taking so many of your products to amazing heights. Love her versatility and vision.

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  5. WOW WOW WOW, so blown away by these projects, Virginia, I'm speechless!

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  6. WOW Virginia, you are really into mixed media now! That winter wood is GORGEOUS! And the card is super cool!

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  7. Gorgeous creations Virginia!! Love your mixed media works!! And awesome way to use Christmas supplies for the birthday card!!
    -Berina
    Moxie Craftie

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  8. WOW so totally awesome.. I REALLY REALLY love that first card.. so creative Virginia.. great post..

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  9. Wow--your projects are fantastic!

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  10. Amazing projects, all of them! Love your designs and color combos!

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  11. Beautiful cards! I love that technique using the gesso - -thanks for a great tutorial!
    Take care!
    Michele

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  12. Virginia! such awesome projects...I love all your beautiful details!

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  13. Really love those masculine cards as I am always struggling to find something for my grandsons!

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  14. I'm dazzled with the way you've transformed Christmas themed images into other occasions; the stars are stunning, the winter scene, breath-taking! And your journaling...another round of gorgeous! Your peek of the birds has me intrigued...
    ~carol

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  15. Gorgeous projects, Virginia! I love how you played with your stamps, dies and stencils...so beautiful! Stunning mix of colors on every card, too...WOW!

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  16. Beautiful projects Love your use of the peppermint stencil. Been eyeing that for a long time.

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  17. Looks like you had heaps of fun making these projects, Virginia. Great inspiration!

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  18. Love what Virginia did with the die cut star and pattern paper, each card from the series has his own identity. Also love the mixed media projects, those trees look amazing!

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  19. Oh my goodness, what stunning cards ... and gorgeous art journal pages, Virginia's creativity is amazing! Anita :)

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  20. These are all so lovely. The first card is just wonderful! AND really, Virginia, your art journal pages are amazing!

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  21. Love your cards & that journaling page is just beautiful!!

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