LESSology Challenge #64: Creative inspiration of Lisa Bzibziak

There are definitely lots of fun things around your home that you can use for LESSology Challenge #64: Let's get organized. Shall we check out what design team member Lisa Bzibziak was inspired to create? 

This month at LESSology it's all about getting organized.  I'm dedicating my project to Mitra.  After all... she's the one that put that first can of spray paint in my hands!

This is what I started with:

I got these pieces at a local church run second hand store.  I sent these pictures to Mitra for some advice... and she gave it freely.. and then they sat... for many months.... two candlesticks and plates from a tiered stand with no ... well... stand... so when this challenge came up I knew right away what I was going to do:

Some black chalkboard, turquoise, and gold spray paint... some Inka Gold and some epoxy and I gave the plates back their tiers.

I added to the top... in Mitra fashion, an old faucet knob and a pretty metal rose (I bought this in Cave Creek in a little Mexican Import shop).

So, here it is with some stuff on it... probably not necessarily the stuff that I will keep on it, but it's one option...

So there are a few more items on here that I altered a bit... some canisters that I saved from the garbage and modge podged some paper on them, an old salsa jar that I modge podged some washi tape and glitter on and my favorite... a little jar that I bought at Hobby Lobby... it was a clear blue jar and Mitra and I sprayed the inside with some mirror paint and oh man oh man... I'm gonna make some more of these!

So thanks for taking a look at my project... I think I'll be wielding a spray paint can more often now... although I think I better invest in a good mask because I do think I inhaled a little too much in the way of fumes... please do play along with us this month-I can't wait to see what you make!  And be sure to check out the LESSology Blog again tomorrow for some more organizing awesomeness!

LESSology Challenge #63: Creative inspiration of Lisa Bzibziak

Birds and musical notes go so well together. Just check out design team member Lisa Bzibziak's creative take on LESSology Challenge #63: Musical chairs. 

Welcome to the October Lessology Challenge, Musical Chairs!  I was excited about this one because I love the wispiness of music notes... the feelings they stir up.  I decided to create a card that I've now decided may end up in a frame just 'cause I like looking at it.

I got this music note paper from a friend that was cleaning out her room... and as a rescuer of unwanted craft supplies, I happily brought it home.  I also knew that this bird, sentiment and music notes from my Skipping Stones Best of Birds set would be perfect!  I embossed them with gold in the corner and then I proceeded to treat the edges of my card with some Inka Gold... love that stuff!

So... have I told you how awesome the little inserts from the Tim Holtz stencil packages are to use for die cuts?  They are such pretty brown colors and I will never throw another one in the garbage!  I used some for my embossed sentiment and I used it for my heart doily.  And I had a few of these white Petaloo flowers waiting for their turn to be glued down on something so I smeared some Inka Gold all over them too and added them.

And do you see this purple flower?  So, I had this card all done... it was all white and gold and brown with a tiny touch of SeaGlass... and I loved it.  And then I found this poor little bunch of purple hydrangea flowers that I had previously picked up from my front porch.  They had apparently fallen off of my wreath on my front door, made their way into my kitchen and sat there waiting to move up to my craft room and onto some project.  And then Sunday morning there they were still sitting and I picked them up, lifted up the garbage can lid and just before I tossed them in I thought of this card.  Ran upstairs and decided that purple was just what this card needed! 

So I added the petals from my wreath and then dug out these purple resin flowers I've had forever in my stash because I don't use purple a lot  (yet somehow twice this past weekend) and added them.  And I loved it even more!  So this just proves that my habit of saving everything because I might just use it on a project is sound and practical.  Now if only I could convince my husband of this.  

Isn't this bird with its music notes perfect?

Thanks so much for looking today!  I can't wait to see what you create using beautiful music notes!

LESSology Challenge #62: Creative inspiration of Lisa Bzibziak

Hello friends! Ready for another round of creative inspiration for LESSology Challenge #62: Handmade invitation? Let's check out what design team member Lisa Bzibziak came up with! 

Well... this was not my plan for this challenge.  My plan was to cut out the floral part from this invite and use it on an invitation for coffee card... and when I went to actually cut it I decided the entire invite was so pretty and had an idea for a gift for the Bride & Groom. 

So I pulled out one of my handy dandy canvases and went to town.  I prepared my canvas by painting it with white gesso.  When that was dry, I modge podged the invite onto the canvas.  After that dried, I dry brushed some more white gesso over the edges of the invite. Next, I took some of my gold glitter paint and painted over the whole thing... I love that paint because it's clear and just leaves a trail of glitter.  I kind of let it be heavier in some areas than others.

My final treatment on the canvas was to use some clear texture past and my new favorite Tim Holtz Lace stencil over the parts of the canvas and since it was clear I was able to also have it go over the invite... I will do this again for sure... love the way it looks!

I then used many other parts of the invite, such as the card with location and hotel information and the strip that held it all together.  I used these for the leaves (with my new favorite leaf dies from MFT) and my plan was to have the back show because it was plain, but when I flipped them over and saw the printing on the other side I decided that was perfect because after all... it was part of the invite and that's the whole point, right?  And the "D" was over the part of the strip that held it together.

I cut out the flowers from the response card (which I obviously did not send back... slapping myself on the hand) and added some more lacy texture paste to that as well.  And my new best friend?  Inka Gold...smooshed it all over those pretty flowers and really enjoyed looking at my gold fingertips for a while...  yup... LOVE!

So... I can't wait to see what you make for this invite challenge!  Hope you play along with us this month!

LESSology Challenge #61: Creative inspiration of Lisa Bzibziak

 

Hello friends! Have you been gathering up your paper/fabric bags to create something fabulous for LESSology Challenge #61: Bag Collector? Have a look at how designer Lisa Bzibziak saved an old burlap bag from the trash bin and turned it into a piece of art!

This month's Lessology Challenge was a no brainer for me!  A few months ago my sons were visiting and we stopped into a second hand store.  As they were bagging up the many treasures we picked out, they used this bag leftover from someone's vacation to bag up some of our items.  It was in slightly better shape than this as I had started cutting it apart before I thought to take a pic but it was mostly torn and in pretty rough shape.

I hung onto it because I had this idea to make it into a wall hanging because I thought the design on it was interesting and then along came this month's Lessology Challenge:

 

So I washed the bag and then let it air dry as it's made of a burlap material.  Then I cut it apart... I cut the front to use for this project and saved the back piece for later... I mean... who can't use some extra burlap??  Originally I was planning on stapling it onto the 12x12 canvas but it turns out the doublesided redline tape works very well and allowed me to stretch the material around the canvas where I wanted it and then I can hide a few well placed staples on the back.

I used some acrylic paint to pull the skull and Ace of Spades to the front so the rest of the decorations wouldn't overpower them as much.  I also colored in the leaves that were printed on the bag in green with my previously purchased Neon Sharpie.

And then I embellished away with some paper flowers and leaves I cut with my Cricut, and a few other items from my stash.  My Sis-in-Law gave me a little baggy of rusty keys she found at her house-everyone always brings me their "garbage".

I wanted to pretty up the edges of the frame since there were lots of tears and holes in that part of the bag so I used some more redline tape and wrapped some gold ribbon around the edges.

So I'm pretty happy with my new wall art that I'll put on the wall in one of our guest bedrooms and see if the boys notice it when they come for their next visit... after all... they did roll their eyes when I told them I had plans for the ratty old thing.

I can't wait to see what you make!

LESSology Challenge #60: Creative inspiration of Lisa Bzibziak

Hello friends! Fancy some bling on your cup/mug? Why not make your own like designer Lisa Bzibziak did for LESSology Challenge #60: Mug Shot?

So this month's challenge here at Lessology is Mug Shot... decorate a mug or a cup.  When I was away at an event this Spring, we had these cute little plastic "throwaway" cups on our table and I couldn't bear to toss mine so I brought it home with me figuring I'd use it on my workspace to throw all of those extra little things... sequins I find after I've put that particular baggy away or that managed to escape and dive off the table and my toe finds it a little later; extra cuts from glittery paper that I'm sure I'll use on a future project but I'm not sure quite what to do with them; gems that fall off of my creations on that off day I didn't liquid glass every single thing I added to the card and I find them on the floor not sure what they went with.. but I may find where it's missing from or I could still use it... too lazy to put it away and certainly can't throw it out.  At the time, the place for all of that stuff was in the lid of my stamp cleaner and I figured it was time to be able to use that again.

When this challenge came up I looked at it and thought... well.. a container for such pretty and valuable items such as these should be ... well.. pretty!  And I really have always wanted a bejeweled goblet.  AND I did have all of these gems that I got very inexpensively somewhere yet have been sitting in my gem drawer unused for at least three years now... if not longer.. why.. never the right size or color for a project I'm working on... always something better... and plus... once I use them they are gone...so... 

I also added a glass heart or two that are clear ... the one above looks pink-ish but that's because I've already filled the cup up with pretty items and the color is showing through.. kinda cool.  I used some black shimmer trim around the top... just 'cause.. I mean... I definitely have enough jewels left over to finish it off, but I thought that glittery trim might finish off the top nicely.

I also found a couple of these pretty colored acrylic butterflies in my stash of old jewelry baubles and they made the perfect addition.  I believe I bought the earrings that these hung from back in my Prince/Purple Rain/Hair Band/Perm/Zebra pants days.

Let me say... I am definitely not the one to call on if you want a mosaic done..lol!  But for what it is and if you don't look too close.. I think it turned out pretty.  A couple times today I caught myself stopping my work just to look at it sparkle and daydream a bit.

And see.. it's only half full!  It's like a little cup of treasures that I'll dig through here and there when I'm trying to decide what little nugget I need to finish off a project.

So... your turn.. and I cannot wait to see what you create!

LESSology Challenge #59: Creative inspiration of Lisa Bzibziak

How's it going with your neon-inspired projects? Don't have anything neon in your stash? Maybe pick up a few neon Sharpies like what design team member Lisa Bzibziak did for LESSology Challenge #59: Neon-inspired. 

So.. Neon... not my usual favorite pigments.  When I saw this one I thought... what in the world am I going to do... I didn't even own anything Neon.  So I stopped off at Office Max and bought myself some Neon Sharpie's.  I had gotten this new stamp set from CTMH, Ornate Blossoms and thought it might look pretty cool colored up in Neon colors... and I think I was right!  I made it into a page for my journal for one of the month dividers.

I especially loved this sentiment from Unity Stamps and I borrowed my mom's Neon embossing powder to stamp it onto it's base.  You may be wondering what in the world are my upcycled pieces. I actually had the foresight to take a pic!  

So I had this packaging that would have otherwise all gone in the garbage.  I cut the scalloped frame and two butterflies out of the cardboard and punched some dots with the plastic and I'll tell you... I have plans for more of it so it hasn't gone into the garbage yet.

I painted the frame black with some acrylic paint and that was my plan for the butterflies also... and then I flipped them over and saw the beautiful colors already on them... so I just colored the white bits with more marker and left the pretty parts as part of the butterfly.

I punched dots out of the plastic and treated them as sequins and along with my clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh I think they look pretty cool.  I love that the dots from the plastic are really clear so I could place them right over the sentiment without covering it up at all.

  

And the cool technique with the pink around the edges... I used my Vivid Pink alcohol marker and a waterbrush with 70% alcohol in it and did some "watercoloring" and then after it was dry (once it's not cold, the alcohol is dry), I used a piece of burlap with the alcohol on it and pressed down on the pink to create the texture....one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, lift... learned that one at Copic Bootcamp.

Thanks for looking and I can't wait to see your Neon creations... I think I'm coming around to the Neon! 

LESSology Challenge #58: Creative inspiration of Lisa Bzibziak

Hello friends! There are so many fun ways to incorporate chalkboard fun on your projects...like in a pocket letter. Let's check out design team member Lisa Bzibziak's take on LESSology Challenge #58: Chalkboard Fun!

This month's Lessology Challenge is all about Chalkboards.  I had all kinds of ideas but I finally settled on this one.  I bought this chalkboard paper some time ago from Stampin' Up 'cause I thought it would be cool... and it is... but until about a month ago it sat all packaged up doing nothing.  I've also been wanting to create a pocket letter... all the rage right now and they seem like so much fun... and guess what... they are!!  This is a gift... and it might be for you... so I'm not gonna give away all of the secrets... but I'll show you a few.

So when I sat down to start it we had just heard that we lost a wonderful man and musician, so he was on my mind.  I used some chalk to create a little bit of a solar system around the crown and hard to see, but I speckled it with a little bit of glitter pen.  I added the handwriting with a gel pen because none of my chalk pens had a small enough tip.  So... here's to Prince... it still makes me teary... but I'll leave it at that..

I bought some chalk ink at the same time I got the paper, but I wasn't happy with the way it stamped... it seemed so faint and maybe I just didn't know what I was doing, but I decided I liked the look of these soft embossing powders on it... kind of chalky looking I think, but definitely pops...which is what I wanted.  This card is full of things that I love.. the gold doily... the cacti, the gold bling and that cute little pup... one of my favorite digital images from Craftin Desert Divas.  I think they'll be loved where they are going too.

LOVE this stamp from Unity... I think it's a good one to repeat in the mirror every morning....

Another Unity stamp ... this owl... so cute!  Don't you love her glasses??  And the sentiment... I think I've been heard to say that once or twice.  Throw in some of my favorite Gold dotted washi tape, gold shimmer trim and a leftover star from some gold project...lol... I've had a few of those... I colored him (outside the lines too) with some colored chalk.

So you may be wondering where the heck the upcycled item is on this project... here it is.  I had to get a new cord for my Ipad.  I have two cords that look like someone chewed them.  Yes, I do have a dog that tends to gnaw on inappropriate items from time to time... but this was not him... anyway, I bought the cord and when I opened up the box there was this AWESOME silver shiny cardboard that was part of the packaging.  LOVE it!!!!  And of course I saved it.   I cut three of my cards out of it and embossed them with different folders. I have some left over too but not nearly enough ... I think I could use an extra cord... don't you?  The cute sentiment is from The Sweet Stamp Shop... with the font it might be hard to read, but it says "I Can't Adult Today"... tee hee!  I really can't.

And here's another great Unity stamp... I just love some of their sentiment stamps...this is one of my favorite quotes and was so excited when I found it.  Another good reminder on those tough days. That cute little lion is from Reverse Confetti.

So I'm not gonna show you what's in the pockets behind the cards, but I will tell you while I was working I cut some extra items and added a few more goodies.... like I said... I don't want to give away all of the secrets.  There's also a good chance I added a few more items to the front before you even read this...that's just how I am...

Can't wait to see what YOU create for the Chalkboard Fun challenge!