Graphic 45 Magic of Oz Home Decor

If you are looking for the Really Reasonable Ribbon September Blog Hop, 

please click HERE.

Hello, G45 Fans! Raise your hand if you are ready for fall! Fall comes slowly here in southern California, if it comes at all. I dream of cooler days and crisp nights, which may arrive sometime in December! I decorate my house for fall as soon as the calendar says “first day of autumn” no matter the hot weather!

I have created a cute scarecrow table decor piece from a few old books and the adorable Magic of Oz Deluxe Collector’s Edition Collection. This piece requires very little in the way of supplies. You need some old books, the Magic of Oz collection pack, some ribbon, a piece of black cardstock, and your favorite adhesive.

Let’s get started!

You will need three old books, each approximately 8-10 inches tall, and about 1-2 inches thick. I chose two books of about the same size and one a little larger, but you can create your book stack any way that you wish, and make it as tall as you wish.

Tip: You don’t really need “old” books for your “old books” project! You can use outdated textbooks, self-help books that were not much help, or even current books that are not really worth re-reading or passing on. There is a lot of garbage published these days, and I like to give these poorly written books some new life! {smile} You can find hardcover books at your Friends of the Library store, at yard sales and swap meets, at second hand stores, or in the back of your closet!

If you wish, you may ink the edges of your books with black archival ink. One of my books had a tan cover, so I inked it. The other two had dark covers so I did not bother. I also smudged some ink onto the edges of the pages.

Tip: Many hardcover books have a dust cover. Once that is removed, there may be a really pretty cover that you can use as is. You can also paint the book covers or use mixed media techniques to “jazz” them up!

We will cover our books with pretty paper. Trim Magic of Oz papers to the height of your books and wrap them around the cover. Use your favorite adhesive to secure the paper to the covers. It does not matter if the paper does not fully cover the back of the books since no one will ever see the back. The back becomes the bottom of each book. (I used Magic of Oz Parcel Post (reverse) and Poppy Fields to cover my two smaller books.)

Tip: Since Graphic 45 paper has a white core, ink the edges of your paper with an ink that matches the theme or tone of your project.

Once you have two of your books covered, glue them together (or use a strong double-sided tape).

Wrap a length of ribbon around the right edge of the stacked books, securing the ribbon on the bottom. I used a piece of green wire-edge burlap and a piece of green and ivory gingham.

Wrap the largest book with paper and glue the stacked books to the top. (Please note that I originally glued a chipboard phrase to my bottom book, but I changed my mind and removed it later.) I used Emerald  City (reverse) paper to wrap the bottom book in the stack.

Use sharp scissors and a craft knife to fussy cut images from the Magic of Oz Signature sheet and Scatterbrained Scarecrow sheet. Rub all the edges with black ink or a black marker. Set the images aside.

Tip: Small, sharp scissors are necessary when cutting intricately printed images from the paper sheets. If you are skilled with a craft knife it is very helpful for getting into hard to reach places. To help the pieces look finished, hold each piece with the right side facing away from you, and run a black, brush tip marker around all the edges.

Cut black cardstock to 12” x 6” and score at 6” to make a 6” x 6” top-fold card. Trim Yellow Brick Road (reverse, blue gingham) paper to 5 ⅞” x 5 ⅞” and attach to the card front. Trim the image shown from the There’s No Place Like Home paper to 5 ½” x 5 ½” and attach to the card front.

Trim a piece of black cardstock to 4” x 6” and score at 1” and 3” on the short side. Place adhesive onto the two smaller sections. Score and fold so that the adhesive is on the outside.

Attach the piece of black cardstock from the step above onto the inside bottom edges of  your card to create a triangular stand out of the card.

Glue the bottom of the card/stand to the top left of the book stack, as shown.

Use foam adhesive to add a fussy cut scarecrow to the left edge of the 6x6 card. Add a few crows to the top edge of the card, as shown.

Trim a piece of black cardstock to 1” x 4” and score at 1”, 2”, and 3”. Fold the piece to make a triangular “stand.”

Glue the scarecrow image to the triangle, as shown. Make sure to glue the stand to the scarecrow's midsection.

Glue the scarecrow in a sitting position to the front right of the book stack. The little cardstock stand will help the image to sit up properly.

Glue some fussy cut flowers below the sitting scarecrow’s feet and to the right edge of the top book in the stack.

Trim the image shown from the Journey to Oz sheet. Use a silver gel pen to add some sparkle to Dorothy’s silver slippers and her wand. Rub the edges with black ink.

Fun fact: Did you know that Dorothy’s slippers are silver in the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum? They were changed to ruby slippers for the movie version to take advantage of the new (at the time) Technicolor process. Graphic 45 goes back to the original book and shows Dorothy in silver slippers.

Cut a piece of black cardstock to 7” x 4 ¼”. Score from the top at 1”, 3 ½”, and 6”. Fold the cardstock to make a triangular stand.

Glue the stand to the left front of the book stack.

Attach the image to the front face of the stand. Add a fussy cut flower to the upper right corner of the “friends” image.

Add another scarecrow to the center book (use the reclining scarecrow). Add the Magic of Oz banner to the bottom book.

Add an image cut from Journey to Oz paper to the right edge of the stack. Glue various fussy cut flowers to the project as desired.

Create large bows from the green burlap and the green plaid and glue them to the right side of the book stack, as shown. Fluff the bows as desired.

Feel free to add paper to the back of the card stands as you wish to have a finished look, especially if the back of the project will be visible.

Feel free to add other fussy cut images to the project, or you could add pre-made flowers or other embellishments. Make the project your own! You could even experiment with a different paper collection!

Once all the items are added, this home decor piece is approximately 11” tall, 9 ½” wide, and 6 ½” deep. It is a very substantial piece and would look grand on an entry table or sideboard!

Thanks for looking!

Graphic 45 Supplies Used:
Magic of Oz Deluxe Collector’s Edition

Other Supplies Used:
Cardstock: WorldWin Papers Smooth Black
Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon Moss and Cream Plaid, Amazon Moss Green Wired Edge Burlap (similar)
Sakura: Silver glitter pen
Archival ink: Clearsnap Colorbox Black
Adhesive: Hot glue, ATG, Scor-tape, white glue

Old books: stash

Really Reasonable Ribbon September Blog Hop

Welcome to the Really Reasonable Ribbon September Blog Hop! You should be coming to my blog from Bonnie's Blog. (For the complete blog list, scroll to the bottom of the post.) After visiting me, hop over to the spectacular Ginny's Blog next!

At the end of the hop, comment on the RRR Blog post, answering the question listed, for a chance to win the September Ribbon Club Assortment shown below. (The Design Team appreciates your comments, too!)

The September Ribbon Club Assortment is called Halloween Assortment. I love that there is a green and a purple ribbon selection this time! (I didn't use them, but...I like them so much! And, no,I am NOT hoarding them!)

I thought it would be fun to make another 6x6 home decor canvas (panel) with this month's ribbon club! I have made a few of these in the past and they are super fun to make, and look cute on my entryway table. {smile} 

I used Authentique Twilight papers, which are NEW and cute, and oh, so vintage!

I wrapped a 6" x 6" piece of thick chipboard with the polka dot paper from the 8x8 Twilight paper pad. Wrapping chipboard or canvas with the paper gives a nice, finished edge.

I flipped the Black Satin Swiss Dots ribbon over to revel the back, which is just a plain, matte black. I then wrapped the ribbon around the canvas as if wrapping a package. I topped the black satin ribbon with the Halloween Candy on Tangerine Grosgrain ribbon. It looks like the candy grosgrain has a black border. This is a fun way to customize your available ribbon.

I trimmed a piece of 6x6 paper to cover the back of the panel to hide the messy bits.

I matted the image, cut from the Twilight 12x12 Eight paper, with black cardstock. I then wrapped a 4 3/8" x 3 3/8" piece of chipboard with the pumpkin  paper and attached the image to the chipboard, then glued the image to the main panel. I added a little sticker sentiment to the lower right corner of the image, and another to the center left edge.

 I used a paper doily to tuck under the image. I rubbed the doily shape with some gray ink to make it look a bit dingy.

I created bows with the Black Satin Swiss Dots ribbon and the Tangerine Satin with Grosgrain Edge ribbon. I glued the bows to the top left corner of the canvas, then added some paper flowers and other embellishments to the bow.

Thanks for looking! Now, hop over to Ginny's Blog to see what she has for you!

Here is the RRR Blog Hop Order in case you get lost!

Really Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings (REMEMBER, LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE RRR BLOG FOR A CHANCE TO WIN!)

Bonnie
Gloria - YOU ARE HERE!

Ginny

Cheryl

Karen

Kathy

Linsey

Trims: Really Reasonable Ribbon September Ribbon Club (Black Satin Swiss Dots, Halloween Candy on Tangerine Grosgrain, Tangerine Satin with Grosgrain Edge)

Printed paper and stickers: Authentique Twilight
Cardstock: WorldWin Papers Black
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts, Prima, The Paper Studio

Bone: Tim Holtz

Charm: Funkie Junkie Boutique

Bingo tiles: stash

Berries: floral supply

Ink: Clearsnap Colorbox Pigment Wild Hare

Chipboard: Grafix

Adhesive: white glue, hot glue, ATG tape, Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L 3D foam squares, Scor-tape

Monthly Coloring Series Tutorial - September 2019

Welcome to the 2019 - 2020 Coloring Series Tutorials! We will be coloring at least one image every month starting this month (September 2019), and going through August 2020. We will be coloring a mix of digital images and hand-stamped images from Power Poppy, found HERE. 

Each new coloring project will be posted on the 5th of each month. (I am not really working ahead, and life can happen, but this is the plan at any rate!) This new series will be a bit different from the last series. The new series will be more of a tutorial style, with more information about each image, the colors used, helpful tips and tricks, etc. (If you missed the 2018-2019 series, click HERE.)

For each tutorial you will need images to color, stamped or printed onto cardstock that is made for alcohol markers. Each month I will share the image used, with a link to where you can purchase it.

The paper I use is Hammermill 100# cardstock, but there are other brands that will work, including Copic X-Press It cardstock. I prefer the Hammermill because it is a brighter white than the Copic, which reads a bit on the gray side to my eye. Plus, the Hammermill is a lot cheaper and it's a bit thicker. It goes through my Epson Eco Tank ET-3700 printer very well, as long as I choose the "presentation paper" setting, or a cardstock setting. 

If you are hand-stamping your images, use a Copic-friendly ink such as Tsukineko Memento dye ink. Since you will be printing or stamping onto a very smooth paper, you will need to allow a bit of ink drying time before coloring. I try to wait 15-20 minutes before coloring my printed or stamped images. 

My images are colored with Copic Markers and Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils. I use a combination of the Ciao and Sketch markers. They are EXACTLY THE SAME markers, except the Ciao is a bit smaller (they hold less ink) and come in fewer colors. The Ciao are also a bit cheaper per marker. I use the Prismacolor Premier 150 pencil set of pencils to add some shading, detailing, or highlighting. We may create a few projects with pencils ONLY during the course of the year.

I also use some white pens, such as Sakura Gelly Roll, Signo Uni-Ball, or the Posca paint pens. Any of these will work for our needs and can be found on Amazon, or at most art supply stores. 

Before we start, please keep in mind that I am NOT an artist or illustrator. I am a self-taught colorist. I am going to share with you what works for me. You may have something that works better for you, and that is perfectly fine. Now, let's get started with our project!

We will be coloring an image from the Bountiful Bouquet digital stamp set, which is a $6 download. (Another thing to note is that I do NOT get anything from Power Poppy by sending you there to purchase stamps! Nor do I get any free product for my own use. I buy what I want to work with out of my own funds, and I share my projects with you for FREE.)

We are also using a digital sentiment from the Cuppa Buttercups digital stamp set, which is a $5 download. You may use any stamped or digital sentiment you have on hand. However, if you wish to use a digital sentiment, please add it BEFORE you print your image!

If you have never worked with digital images before, please check out THIS tutorial. 

I use Photoshop Elements to size my images, add sentiments, and to print. There are loads of programs, including Microsoft Word, that you can use to size and print your images. I won't go into all that here as you can Google that information for yourself. 

I sized the image to approximately 5 3/4" tall, making it roughly 4" wide. I added the sentiment to the lower left area as shown above. The sentiment is slightly smaller than 2 1/4" wide. I printed in black ink. 

I always print one copy onto regular computer paper so that I can check the size, positioning, and so forth, plus make some notes to myself. This image contains Black-eyed Susans (also called Rudbeckia or Coneflower), Pokeweed Berries, and Persimmons. I decided the jar was pottery and should be painted in a check or gingham pattern (which changed as I colored).

Once I know what flowers my image contains, I do a Google search for actual images. I found that there is a type of Rudbeckia called Cherokee Sunset Black-eyed Susan, which is more orange and deep burgundy! Very pretty. I also liked the hot pink stems of the Poke Weed Berries. I printed my source images onto computer paper, in color so I would have them for reference as I color. You can just view the images on a computer, laptop, or mobile device if you want to save your colored printer ink!

While I am looking for source material, I print my image onto cardstock and set it aside to dry. You can choose to print your image at any size, or even copy the style of the last series and add the month instead of a sentiment. To see how I printed the 2018-2019 series, click THIS link.

The next step is to make some color swatches and choose our colors. I pulled out my Copic (and Prismacolor) charts and some strips of cardstock. I use the same cardstock that my final image has been printed on. I always have scraps of it about the place. (For the Hex Chart shown, click HERE. For the FREE blank Copic color chart, click HERE. For the Prismacolor Hex Chart, click HERE. There are lots of FREE Prismacolor pencil carts out there. Find one you like on Google and print it out.)

Using your color charts and your source photos, make some swatches to help you choose your colors. Try for a light, medium, and dark blend. I usually have 3-6 markers in each blend, unless it's for a tiny area, then I may only have two.

Once I have my colors chosen, I swatch them again, making sure I can blend from dark to light. I also see if I may need a few pencils to deepen shadows or to add highlights. (I really need to create a swatch book so I don't have to swatch so often before a project!)

If you need some coloring instruction, YouTube has a plethora of videos teaching all sorts of art fundamentals, Copic and pencil coloring, and more. If you prefer a guided class, I can recommend Kit and Clowder online classes, or Vanilla Arts. Both artists have free and paid content.

I decided the light source for my image would be bright daylight, sort of coming from the top and front of the image.

To color the petals of the black-eyed Susans, I used Copics Y38, Y17, Y32 (listed dark to light). I added Prisma pencils PC118 and PC916 for some extra shading and highlight. 

I color dark to light most of the time. I add in my shadows, and then blend gradually lighter. I go back and add more shadows and highlights as needed. There are many schools of thought about coloring. Should you color dark to light, or should you color light to dark, or should you cover the whole image with the lightest color first, and so on. You pick what works best for your style!

For the flower that looks like a Cherokee Sunset Black-eyed Susan, I used RV69, R38, YR68, Y38, PC1095, PC118, PC916. I blended the deep burgundy reds into the orange to get this look. 

This is a tough blend and it wanted to bleed all over the place! I had to allow some dry time between layers of ink to keep it from making a mess! This is the point when you may want to toss your project in the trash! But, keep going! It does look a bit ugly before it gets awesome! Push past the ugly stage!

For all the flower centers, I used RV69, E49, E79, RV69, V15 in a stippling (dot) method. I added white gel pen for highlight, then colored over it lightly with the PC1095. 

Before coloring the Persimmons, I added a highlight mark using Y02. This was just to remind me to make sure to add a highlight.

I wanted to vary the colors of the persimmons, because they are not uniform in nature! Therefore, one is more orange, one more peach, one more yellow, and so on. I used a combination of R22, YR12, YR02, E95, E93, and Y02. I added PC938, PC1013, and PC1001 for more dimension. 

Another thing to note: close up photos will show every imperfection in your coloring! Keep that in mind if you post your work Online. Especially if you use colored pencils. The wax bloom with show up in the photos sometimes...and it does not look that great! 

Next are the pokeweed berries and stems. I used B39, B21, and a white gel pen for the berries. This is another tough blend. But, if you can achieve it, you have great highlights on the berries, and you won't need to use much of the gel pen! 

For the stems RV19, RV17, RV10 and PC994. I went back later and darkened some of the berries that were more in shadow.

The persimmon branches are E29, E27, E25 with white highlights. The persimmon leaves and the black-eyed Susan stems are YG17, YG25, YG23, YG03, YG01, and PC109, PC912, and PC989. 

The stems (where the fruit attaches to the branch) are RV69, RV25, YG25, YG01, PC989, PC1078, and PC1095. The stems are a sort of "non-blend." If you look at them in nature, they are a mix of brown and green as the fruit ripens. 

I had a mistake with the pitcher, so I ended up coloring it a solid blue rather than the gingham I had planned. I ran the really dark blue into an area that should have been white, and there is no taking that back! Rather than get in a fuss and toss out the project, I switched gears a little. I used B39, B37, B45, C03, B21, PC901, PC906, PC904, PC1086, and PC938 for the pitcher. I used a white gel pen for the highlights. 

For the shadow under the pitcher, I used W03, W01, W00.

Now that our coloring is finished, you may stamp a sentiment onto the panel, if you did not print one at the beginning.

I cut the finished image into a rectangle using a die, but you can do it by hand with a trimmer. The finished image is 6 1/2" tall and 5" wide.

I found some envelopes that would fit a card that is a little smaller than 9" tall and 6" wide, so decided to construct a card from the finished image to fit that size envelope. 

Let's make a card!

Cut blue cardstock to 8 3/4" x 5 3/4". Cut a second piece to 9 1/4" x 5 3/4" and score at 1/2" from the top edge. Use the resulting tab to attach the two pieces of cardstock together to make a top-fold card that is 8 3/4" x 5 3/4".

Cut dot paper (Authentique Pleasant Three) to 8 5/8" x 5 5/8". Wrap the bottom edge of the dot paper with an 8" length of orange plaid ribbon. Top the ribbon with an 8" length of fall colored ric-rac. Attach the dot panel to the card front.

Double mat the image with blue and orange cardstock, cut slightly larger (blue 6 5/8" x 5 1/8" and orange 6 3/4" x 5 1/4"). Attach the image to the card front as shown above.

Make a bow from the orange plaid ribbon and hot glue it to the center of the ribbon stack, as shown. Add a few enamel dots or flat pearls to the image panel.

Trim two pieces of white cardstock to 8 5/8" x 5 5/8" and attach the panels to the inside of the card. 

We are keeping the project fairly flat so that it fits into our envelope.

A 6” x 9” envelope weighing up to 1 ounce requires one $.50 first class rate stamp. For each additional ounce, you'll have to pay $0.21. Since this card is just a little lumpy, I may add a little more postage, just in case. I may also slip a piece of scrap cardstock into the envelope to cover the front of the card and prevent anything poking through.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope that you were able to follow along with the tutorial. Please come back next month to see what we will color for October!

Also, I mentioned that our images would be a bit different from the last series. I plan to use some images that are NOT flower bouquets, plus all the bouquet images will be in some sort of container this series! Please leave any comments or questions below! I want to hear from you how you liked this first tutorial. But, please, do no beg for video tutorials. They are not really my strong suit, and I have to really plan ahead if I want to do one...so no guilt trips, ok!? {smile}

Digital images: Power Poppy Bountiful Bouquet, Cuppa Buttercups
Cardstock: Hammermill 100# Digital Color Copy; blue, orange (unknown)
Printed paper: Authentique Pleasant
Markers: Copic (see list above)
Pencils: Prismacolor (see list above)
Gel pen: Sakura Gelly Roll White
Enamel dots: Carta Bella It's a Boy
Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon Orange Plaid
Ric-rac: from my stash
Die: Spellbinders Grand Rectangles
Tools: We R Memory Keepers Guide Layers
Adhesive: ATG tape, Scor-tape, hot glue