Te Quiero Mucho Daddy

Hi everyone and a very special "Happy Father's Day" to all those magnificent men out there. I'm up on Art Anthology's blog today with my project that is dedicated to my daddy, of course, and the photo I have of him is when is was about 3 years old. I'm not going to spend my time explaining a lot about my project as at the end of my post there is a Snapguide tutorial for your pleasure to check out my step x step process on the creation, but I really wanted to just share a bit about this amazing man that I call daddy.

My daddy has always been somewhat of a hero to me. As long as I can remember he has held at least 2 jobs at once, sometimes working 3 at the same time. He was always a machinist of some sort, but on the side line he also was a singer/musician... drummer. At the age of 40 he decided to go to school to become a cosmetologist... what ??? Something so completely different then he was used to, Three years of schooling and then got his license he began to start styling hair at night after a long day on his machinist job. Then when he turned about 60 he decided to go to optometry school.... again WHAT ????  Also, still playing the drums and doing hair on his off time. Now at the age of 82 you would think this man would relax, but he is still working, occasionally goes and gives back to the American Vets and cuts there hair for free or spare change, beats on his drums when he can and works cleaning a local laundromat in his community. 

I'm sure that is where I get my working drive that I have, and thank you daddy for that. The one thing he always said to me when I was little is "smile"... it's something that costs absolutely nothing and is priceless to give to another person, (of course when I was little I didn't understand and quite frankly it would get on my nerves ... lol).  As my daddy is getting older it's sometimes very difficult to watch him at times be in pain or cranky and not his vibrant self, but deep beneath all that is  his smile, never changing, always welcoming and warm. 

Daddy I will always be indebted to you. Te quiero mucho daddy. 

I'm entering this project in the following challenges: 

Frilly and Funky - Your my Inspiration ..... that would be my daddy of course

Country View Challenges - Hearts.... my heart belongs to daddy

Mixed Media Monthly - Rustic #28

Check out How to Have Fun With Mixed Media by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

 Happy crafting day to all my friends. I am here to inspire you with some ideas for some quick cards to make. Sometimes you don't have alot of time to spend on creating that custom made card and I'm here to tell you that's possible with just adding a bit of mixed media to your card background. Using plain white card stock allows you to create your own color palette to match your gift bag or present. Art Anthology has provided a really pretty mood board for color and idea inspiration:

These colors are so pretty for the spring and scream happy  happy happy. So I used them for my color choices for cards.  

With the use of stencils, I sponged on some 3D paints from Art Anthology (photo on the right) and the other card was 3D paint mixed with Art Basics Snowflake Paste. 

The image on that card was stamped with black archival ink on water color paper and then colored using Art Anthology's Colorations sprays and I watered them down for a nice pastel effect.  The stamped image is from Oxford Impressions. 

The last card I stamped my title and stars with embossing ink and heat embossed with white on water color paper, then spritzed the page with water and using watered down Colorations Sprays I painted the background. Stamped my cupcake image with  and added Snowflake paste and seed beads for the frosting. Quick easy cards that didn't take alot of time but were fun to make. Hope you were inspired. 

For a full listing of supplies check out my post on Art Anthology's blog 

Wishing you a weekend filled with happiness ..... xoxo Toni

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Hard to believe it's already May and it's such a pretty time of year. Everywhere you look gardens are bursting with greenery and color so my project today I decided to create something also bursting with color. For my design team project with Art Anthology I wanted to utilize a tutorial I watched quite awhile back from Holly Young on YOUTUBE showing a DIY video on how to make some wonderful flowery fluff simply out of crushed styrofoam.... so thank you Holly.

I started with a 8x10 canvas and used the inside of the canvas to provide dimension to my project. 

The background was first stenciled with texture paste using a brick stencil. 

The chipboard pieces were prepped with gesso and then painted silver and smudged with black soot DI to give it a pewter look. Flat side pearls were added to the gate to provide rivet appearance. 

Reindeer moss was added as the greenery then to make this cute flowers out of the crushed styrofoan and then all the cute little blooms were added to the moss. These blooms were quite easy to make. Don't let them intimidate you. Just put on some cool music and grab yourself something to drink and sit back and create. 

Ideaology pieces were added to the piece for interest, as well as mini art stone here and there for more texture. 

Be inspired by natures art, go outside and take a walk, get some sun, breath some fresh air, then come back inside and get messy with your products. Creatively yours, Toni

Entering this piece in the following challenges: 

Country View Challenge- Flower Power 

Frilly and Funky - Put on your Inking Cap

City Crafter Challenge-You Can Do It #360

Simon Says - The Great Outdoors 

Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes 

Mixed Media World - Anything Goes with a Twist-Watercolors

For your pleasure here is a Snapguide tutorial to share my process for this project. 

Check out How to Get Creative With Crushed Styrofoam by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

Mechanical Love

Happy Saturday everyone, today I'm up on the blog with some mechanical love my next design team project for Art Anthology. Inspired by the wonderful mood board this month.

My 12 x 12 layout features my father back in the early 60's on his job as a metal pourer. 

This layout has layers of different textured papers as well as rusty elements with the cogs and light fixtures. 

Chipboard pieces were altered with Art Anthology paints mixed with craft sand, heated with heat gun to a bubbly goodness. 

Addition of washi tape as well as muslin for the matting under the photo creates a more masculine look. 

Grab yourself some of your old photos and create beautiful layouts adding layers and textures. For your pleasure please enjoy my Snapguide tutorial below and also drop by Art Anthology blog for some unbelievable inspiration and techniques for using our products. 

Entering in the following inspirational challenges: 

Country View Challenges - Rust 

Sandee & Amelie's Steampunk-Anything Goes, Steampunk / Industrial

Eclectic Ellapu- Vintage or Shabby Chic

Check out How to Add Rusty Goodness to Your Chipboard Pieces. by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

Creating Rusty Effects.

We have a beautiful mood board to provide the creative inspiration this month at Art Anthology, The deep rich tones of patina'd items with the wonderful textures of rust opens a plethora of ideas for creativity.

My design team project for Art Anthology is an egg crate that I found in the trash and decided to alter it for an Easter project. The thing that really captured me with this egg crate is all texture on the material the crate was made from. 

I primed the surface first with gesso and then began to transform this item into a pretty spring piece. 

Filled with textures the once egg crate became a Easter decor piece.

The cross was created from air dry clay and then altered with crackle paste then painted with Art Anthology's paints for the antique effect. 

With the use of floral fillers and assorted flowers, the piece came together right in time for the Easter season. 

For a step x step tutorial on my process with this piece, please feel free to check out my Snapguide tutorial below. Also for a full list of Art Anthology products used and much more inspiration from our design team using our mood board, please jump over to our blog HERE.

I will be entering this piece in the following wonderful challenges: 

Country View Challengs - Rust 

Crafting By Design - Anything Goes 

The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge-Whats' Your Superpower.... My Faith 

Try It On Tuesday - Botanical

Artistic Inspirations-Easter

Rhedds Creative Spirit-Anything Goes

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes 

Check out How to Alter Trash to Treasure by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

Altered Antique Photo Album - Part 1

Hi everyone, it's my turn today up on Art Anthology's blog with a new design team project. I recently purchased this very old photo album at an antique store and had just the project in mind. I was able to photocopy some very old pictures that my mother had of relatives I have never actually met. They were from long long ago and I have always treasured the photos but had not done anything with them, so I knew this photo album would be a perfect place to preserve these memories.

The album was in pretty bad shape but I loved how sturdy it was and held together with metal fasteners.  I recently enrolled with the infamous Finnabair with her on line class "Art Transformations" and thought I would give it a go on this album cover. I'm not going to go in detail with my entire process, for that you will just have to sign up for the class HERE, Believe me you won't regret it, the class is filled with wonderful creative inspiration and insight from the precious Finnabair. 

What fun this was to give an old broken down album some new life. The inside pages are thin and discolored (yessss I loved that) but that post will be the next one when I fill the pages with my special photos. 

For now I am loving the way this turned out and I hope this inspired you to make someone elses junk your treasure. 

For now wishing you  wonderfully inspirational week, treat yourself to some fun antique stores that allow your imagination to go wild. And if your looking for some inspiration, don't hesitate to drop by Art Anthology's blog to see what the other designers are up to. Creatively yours, Toni

Grab yourself a cup of coffee and sit back and enjoy my Snapguide tutorial below

Check out How to Give New Life to a Very Old Photo Album. Part 1 by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

Collect Beautiful Moments by Toni

Hi everyone, it's time for a new design team project for Art Anthology and it's springtime here in the U.S. so I decided to create a butterfly canvas with pretty cool colors. I recently purchased some Finnabair Sculpture Medium and created the wings using cheesecloth molded into shapes of wings. 

The Art Anthology products took very well to the textures. I also purchased some Prima Art Decor Moulds and created my own embellishments to enhance the canvas. 

There are lots of different techniques and products used on this piece and it provided for some wonderful messy fun !

Wishing you a creative month and hope you "Collect Beautiful Moments" along the way. 

For more gorgeous inspiration on how to use Art Anthology's products check out our blog HERE.

Check out How to Create Dimension & Texture Using Sculpture Medium by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

Learn, Love and Create

Oh my goodness I am so very excited to be taking this class hosted by the fabulous Finnabair. For all my mixed media, scrapbooking, art enthusiast friends, you might want to check this out.  Come on and let's get messy together. The class went live on 3/1/2017 and I can't wait to get started on my project this weekend !!! For class registration go here for Art Transformation 

50 Shades of Greige

Hi everyone, I'm up on Art Anthology's blog today with a new design team creation. There is a new color trending right now on Instagram and Pinterest and it's called "GREIGE" and it is all the rage. It's a calming organic color mixed between grays and beige tones, and it's gorgeous.

My photo features my brother and the colors of the photo provided inspiration for different shades of greige. 

The use of texture provided the paints and sprays to cause shadows and highlights which is exactly what greige is all about. 

The background began with a collage of sheet music cut in strips and then texture paste added. The chipboard pieces were embossed with Distressed embossing powder that provides a gritty wonderfulness. 

The use of recycled items in your art is always fun, so I've added some old guitar strings as well as cardboard box pieces to add interest to my canvas. 

And there you have it, 50 Shades of Greige, hope this has inspired you to become a crafty chemist with your colors, mixing together different hues to create possibly that next trending color out there. Happy crafting and for more inspiration check out Art Anthology's blog to see what the other magnificent designers are creating. xoxo Toni

For your pleasure I have provided a Snapguide tutorial of my process for this piece. 

        Check out How to Create 50 Shades of Greige Canvas by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

XOXO from Toni

Happy love month... it's February and everywhere hearts and flowers are popping out. I'm up on Art Anthology's Design Team today and decided to devote my creation to my love of steampunk.

Using a couple of clearanced wooden letters from my local craft store allowed me to go crazy with all my products from Art Anthology. 

Loaded with wonderful unexpected objects and textures provided my imagination to be unleashed. 

Many of the embellies were handmade from paper clay, such as heart, wings, knobs and clock. The textures were achieved using my glue gun, seed beads, floral rocks, cheese cloth and crafting sand. 

Gears were diecut from grungeboard and then loaded down with sand, paint, and inks. The rivets were created using my glue gun and then topped with beautiful metal effects silver paint by Art Anthology. 

Stenciled textured paste, seed beads and more hot glue art provided more interest and texture to my piece. 

And well, the aged patina'd effect that I was able to achieve with the use of Art Anthology's Dimensional paints was wonderful. I hope you have been inspired to use the abnormal, unusual to provide a bit more interest to your projects. Wishing you hearts and flowers this month of love. xoxo Toni

I am entering this piece in the following wonderful challenges: 

SanDee & Amelies Steampunk Challenge - New Stash Forgotten Stash 

Mixed Media World -Anything Mixed Media Goes 

We Love To Create - Antything Mixed Media Goes 

Rhedds Creative Spirit - Anything Goes

Eclectic Ellapu - Anything Goes 

SanDee & Amelie Steampunk - New Stash/Forgotten Stash (Letters are new, metal embellies, clay embellies forgotten stash 

For your pleasure I have created a Snapguide tutorial below for you to follow along on my journey with this project. 

           Check out How to Unleash Your Inner Steampunk by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

Love Always

Happy Sonday to everyone, I'm up on the design team blog today for Art Anthology with an altered frame I purchased at my local dollar store.

Don't you just love the dollar stores, lots of wonderful items you can take and customize to your own likeing. And if you don't like them you haven't really invested a whole lot of money in the product so no worries. I've had this photo of my daughter for quite awhile and means Valentines Day is coming up thought this would be a fun project to work on. 

Lots of textures using crackle medium and paste, along with cheesecloth and chipboard pieces that were grunged up a bit. The flowers were altered with different shades of pinks and reds and highlighted with gold metallic paint. For a full list of Art Anthology products used, please visit the blog HERE. 

The key was created with a mold I made using Amazing Mold Putty, you can view a Snapguide tutorial HERE that I created to check out the process. I of course added more texture paste to the key and different shades of paint to provide that old vintage look, then finished it off with wrapping some gold wire around it. 

And to add a bit of bling I alcohol inked some crystal rhinestones to add here and there to the frame. I hope this has inspired you to get creative with your mediums, have fun and enjoy the journey.

Love Always, Toni

For your pleasure I have provided you with a Snapguide tutorial to view the process of my creation. 

Check out How to Create Textures Using Mixed Media Products by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.

Happy 2017 !

Hi everyone, it's my turn up on the blog for Art Anthology and I'm here to share with you an art journal page I created. Now I don't do New Years resolutions because I can't ever keep them, so I always try to choose a word that will motivate me to be a better "me" for that year. This year I chose "CONFIDENCE", I tend to be a perfectionist and that sometimes allow my failures to hinder my dreams. So I'm focused on trusting my abilities knowing full well that I'm a work in progress and only through trials and errors do we grow and excel in all aspects of a human being.

Using some yummy texture with modeling paste provided my foundation. I decided to go with a cool color palette and created my main focal butterfly as a 3D layered piece. 

With the use of acrylic sheets I stamped my floral images and adhered with Glossy accents to the page. 

To add more bling I used Metal Effects paint in Gold along with German Glass Glitters in coordinating colors through the page. For a full list of Art Anthology products used please visit Art Anthology's blog here. 

Wishing you a year filled with "Confidence", try something new, think out of your box to expand your horizons, and above all, embrace your imperfections. For your pleasure sit back and enjoy my Snapguide tutorial below. xoxo Toni 

Check out How to Create an Art Journal Page With a Personal Touch by Toni Burks-Grijalva on Snapguide.