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Do you love mixed media but are afraid to use it in scrapbooking layouts? Lovely Ashli shows a way you can incorporate some mixed media in your layout easily! Just follow the steps and create your own mixed media page!

Rakastatko mixed mediaa, muttet uskalla liittää sitä skräppäykseen? Ihanainen Ashli näyttää tavan, jolla leiskaan saa liitettyä hiukan mixed mediaa ilman, että koko tausta on gessossa. Seuraa vaan vaihe vaiheelta sivun syntytarinaa!

My projects are usually not called complete unless I have some sort of ink, paint or mist under my fingernails at the end. Hi, I am Ashli Oliver, a recovering graphic designer, a homeschooling mother, wife, daughter, coffee addict, knitter and gardener with an extreme passion for mixed media paper crafting and memory keeping. I find great joy in both the creative process and the final piece. Most of my craft time is in the wee hours of the evening when all of the kiddos are in dream land. Although, I am certainly known to grab every snippet available during the day to shuffle some paper around or glue a bit here and there. 

I have been an artist my entire life. I followed my dreams and attended art school here in my home state of Georgia. While I mostly wanted to play with paint and glue, I chose a more sensible major of Digital Multi-Media and Photography. After working in that industry on and off, I put my computer and brushes aside to start my family. Never in a million years did I think that scrapbooking and the paper craft industry would re-awaken the artist in me that I had put away so many years ago. Thanks to a good friend who showed me the ropes just one short year ago, I have jumped into a pile of pretty paper and I am never looking back. 

I am not afraid to play, experiment, and make mistakes. Today's mistake might just be tomorrow's masterpiece. Armed with my beloved pens, mists and patterned paper, I anxiously await my next crafty adventure!

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"Hello, hello! Ashli Oliver (soapHOUSEmama) here from purplemailbox.com. Merry Christmas! I am so thrilled to be here today sharing with you and huge thanks to Riikka for having me! 

So, you know all of those lovely mixed media scrapbook layouts that you see? Have you always wanted to give that a try? That look can be a bit intimidating, yes? Even a bit overwhelming perhaps. Well, today I will show you an easy way to give this mixed media messy fun a try on your next layout. 

Let's get started, shall we? 

After stamping some white acrylic paint onto some textured cardstock, I have brushed water over the entire sheet. Why, you ask? Because when I use my spray mists, I want them to blend nicely and not get all splotchy...

See? Likey so....

A little blot of the excess....

And after repeating that several times, we have this prettiness:

A few drops of alcohol ink... and there we have it! Now, this could certainly be it's own background. But, that may not suit your style or it may be a bit too much. Or, what if a part of your background turned out kinda funny and you are not thrilled about it?

Punch it, of course!

Any shape will do. And, if you don't have punces... you can even just free hand cut some boxes or strips! After punching, ink or stitch those edges to make them look a little more finished:

Now, with my photo and background selected, I head to the scrap bin and pull some lovely little bits:

But before those go down, we must introduce some washi! I do love washi. I have chosen a nice black and white chevron to provide contrast and to help tie in the black stitching I did.

Washi down and our little circles added:

A bit at the top for some balance:

And now for all those scraps! I have cut them down...

And now we layer them up:

Another circle is added to the top to continue on with the balance:

A little title work.

And there we have it!

A super fun, no pressure way to incorporate some mixed-media play into your next layout.

I do hope this has inspired and encouraged you to get a bit messy and play. But, before you do that... I couldn't leave without a bit of Christmas inspiration. After all, this is your creative Christmas calendar. So, with my leftover paper, I punched out some smaller circles, stenciled on some modeling paste and ta da! A fun little Christmas canvas...

Reminding you to just BE...

... Merry and Bright!

And, inspired, of course!

Here's wishing you a very creative and inspiring Christmas! I hope to see you again soon. You can always find me over at purplemailbox.com."