Soft Pencil Thursday - Mandala

Hello, it is another Soft Pencil Thursday. This is one of my favorite days of the week. This week we were asked to design something other than a card, with one of the Mandala digi stamps. I was assigned to my favorite Mandala digi that Elizabeth has in her store, it is called Eternal Flight. I swear that she must have ESP or something. Thanks Elizabeth, I had a blast coloring it. In fact, I had so much fun, I made two projects with it. I was so glad to have time to do that, so that you all can see their versatility.

For the first project, I altered a composition notebook. I decided that the image would be perfect for that purpose and I made it my prayer journal. This way, I can make notes when I am reading if I don't understand something, or if a particular verse or two stands out more than usual. Plus, I must confess (yes the pun is intended) that I thought that it might inspire me to read the good book more often.

I used Stampin Up markers and ink refills to color/water color the image. Here are the colors that I used: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, and a combination of Brilliant Blue and Lovely Lilac to create the violet color on the butterflies. The fancy trim on the book binding was made with my new favorite Martha Stewart border punch, called Lattice. The ribbon, which serves as a book mark is retired SU Delphinium Grosgrain. Oh, how I will miss it when I run out of it! The butterfly accents were also made with a Martha Stewart Punch called "Butterfly Trio". I cut out my circles with my Creative Memories cutting system. The tutorial on how to put this whole project together can be found in the resources section of the Splitcoast Stampers website which you can find if you click here. See below for a close up photo of the Mandala.

The second project I made is a decorative element for my dining area that will hang on a shelf made for me by my grandfather. I got the idea to make this when I was browsing the dollar spot at Michael's craft store. I found a package of chipboard type coasters with different designs on them. I thought round....Mandala, gotta see what I can do with it. So, I printed the image out small until I came up with the size that I wanted. Yes, it took several tries. Oh well, it's only ink. I then, cut the image out with one of my Circle Nestibilities Di-cut, colored it with some coordinating colors to match my dining room, then mounted it on a slightly larger circle. Next, I traced the outline of the coaster onto some Bashful Blue CS, and cut it out. I applied all of this together with snail adhesive. The final touch was to punch a hole in the top and add an eyelet with my Crop-a-dile. I love that tool! Then, of course a loop to hang it with and a bow for decoration. The ribbon used by the way is Stampin Up Navy Grosgrain 1/4". The first photo below is a close up of the final project.

This next photo is just to show you what I started out with. The coaster that I altered is obviously on the right.

This final photo is one of the whole shelf that I am hanging the decoration on, it is over on the far right side.

I hope you enjoyed what I showed you today, and I hope you go visit the blogs of the other DT members, as they may have a different Mandala than I did and different projects. I know I can't wait to go browse them! As always, you will find links to their blogs over on my sidebar, and also a link to the Soft Pencil Designs Store.

Before I go, I just want to apologize for only posting one time over the past week. I am so incredibly busy getting ready for Christmas. I will try to post more between now and Christmas.

Until next time........................ Blessings, Lisa