Abstract Art - Spotlight Technique - Art Journal Page

I've been working in my Art Journal again and I was inspired to try what I call "The Spotlight Technique" which I saw originally in a U-Stream Class given by the lovely and talented Limor Webber.

This technique involves creating a colourful background to which you add various interesting stamped images.

The next part is the hardest and was very much out of my comfort zone as it involves covering a vast amount of your lovely artwork with black acrylic paint.

Take a circular object (I used the inside cardboard tube from  a Kitchen Roll and also a small plastic desert pot) and choose several places in your artwork that you think are the most interesting. Using the circular object as your template, draw around them with the black acrylic paint, brushing outwards and joining several circles together.

This draws your eyes into the spotlighted areas and creates a very interesting effect.

The finished background before adding the black acrylic paint

Interesting areas enclosed by circles of black acrylic paint creating a "Spotlight" effect.

Below is my YouTube video showing the step-by-step completion of this page.

click on the above image to watch

GUEST DESIGNER FOR CRAFT STAMPER CHALLENGE BLOG

As part of my prize for winning last months Craft Stamper Magazine Take It Make It Challenge number 6 I was asked to be a guest designer for their number 7 challenge which was all about making a mono-printed background but using an acrylic block instead of a Gelli Plate (You don't always need to spend a lot of money to create a similar effect). The rest of the design could be anything you choose.

Here is a link to their Blog Post showing my design and others who participated:- http://craftstamper.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/take-it-make-it-march-inspiration.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+CraftStamperMagazine+(Craft+Stamper+Magazine)

This is the card design that I came up with:-

As the mono-printed background was so random I decided to use up some scraps from my stash to continue the eclectic theme of Art.

 I took a piece of strong white card and added several colours of acrylic paint to my block then used a breyer to lightly roll over  the paint to spread it in various directions. I  layed the white card carefully on top of the paint and smoothed it down on the back with my hand. This transferred the paint onto the card. Once it was dry I added some stamped swirls with red StayZon ink

To embellish I used some punched strips I had left over from other projects, some washi tape and some die-cut hearts. I freehand cut a large heart from a trash piece of corrugated card,  peeled some of the top layer off for a rustic effect and painted it with white gesso.

 I.stamped paint brushes, pencils and the word "Art" using the Brushes & Pencils rubber stamp set by Art Journey onto white card, coloured them with Spectrum Noir marker pens and then fussy cut them out. I made the word "Art" into a flag and adheared it onto a cocktail stick for the wooden flag-pole. I then tucked these pieces into and under the heart to make up my composition and I die cut a crown from gold mirror card which I adhered to the edge of the heart with foam dots and glued on some blue rhinestones and tiny red hearts.

I doodled a border around the edge with white paint pens and a Faber-Castell black Pitt pen and glued on more tiny hearts. I stamped "Go Create" onto slightly larger hearts and used these for my sentiment. Then to add onto the eclectic feel of the piece I used a die-cut heart from Cheery Lynn, which I cut apart and glued small sections onto the central heart to give it an old worn vintage feel. 

I have also entered this card into the That's Crafty March Challenge - Anything Goes. - So wish me luck.

 http://thatscraftychallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/anything-goes-challenge.html?utm_source=That%27s%20Crafty!%20Newsletter%2012th%20March%202014&utm_campaign=That%27s%20Crafty!%20Newsletter%201st%20october%202013&utm_medium=email

A FEW CARDS I'VE MADE 

I had a bit of a card creating spree so I thought I'd quickly share 3 cards with you.

The first two are to send to the parents of new born babies and the 3rd is a sympathy card.

The first card was for a baby boy and I used digital papers & decoupage from the "Forever Friends™" - New Arrival CD Rom by Docrafts Digital Designer. This was a very timely freebie from the March 2014 edition of Docrafts Creativity Magazine.. I printed out and distressed the edges of the papers and inked with Broken China and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. I added faux stitching to the inner paper circle layer and a die cut flourish by Cheery Lynn Designsand a few flowers from my stash which I also inked with the Broken China. To finish it off I added a couple of paper butterflies and a small sentiment banner under the bear to act as his seat. This was so he's not just floating in thin air. Finally I added a blue ribbon to the bears neck and some blue rhinestones around the scalloped circle and for the bodies of the butterflies.  

For the inside I added a matching sheet of paper from the CD and inked the edges with Mowed Lawn Distress ink. I printed out my sentiment onto white card and die cut into a scalloped circle. I inked this edge with Broken China and added two more butterflies with rhinestones as I had on the front of the card.

I used the same CD to print out the papers as before only this time in pink. I distressed the edges and added Pickled Raspberry and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. This time I positioned the bear closer to the bottom edge and then added a punk rinnon bow, paper butterfly and pearls around the edge of the scalloped circle. Again I added the faux stitching with a green fine knib pen and some die-cut paper flowers & leaves from my stash

Again the inside was the same as the blue version but in pink

The third card was for the husband of a dear friend who sadly passed  away recently. I wanted to make something simple yet elegant. I stamped the Lilies and the sentiment on to thick white card using the Woodware Calla Lily FRS215 Clear stamp and StayZon Ink. I coloured the leaves with green metalic marker pen and painted the Lilies with a light cream acrylic paint. Once dried I added Glossy Accents to the Lily heads for a lovely shine. The centre of each Lily was filled with liquid aplique which puffs up when heated. I matted this panel onto first black then silver mirror card. I die cut a frame with the Sizzix Framelets 657903 die, then cut this in half and adhered each half to the edge of my layers. This whole section was then adhered to the card front with PVA glue.

I  typed out my sentiment on my computer then printed & die-cut it into a square which I matted with black card and adhered onto the centre.

I hope you like my creations and would love to hear your comments.

MAKE ART WITH HEART

I've just finished a two page Art Journal spread that I made by recycling the packaging cellophane from the flowers that my hubby bought me for St. Valentines day. I was determined to use it somehow in a project and I wasn't sure where I was going with it at each stage. I had fun playing and I was pleased with the outcome.

This is a matching double page spread, but each side, although complementary to the other, is totally different.
I apologise for the glare in some areas of the pictures. It was very hard to photograph as the light was reflecting on the cellophane. 

I cut  parts from the cellophane wrapping that I was able to save and adheared  pieces to my page as a border with Tacky Glue.. I then added a border on the inside edge with red, black & white doodled squares using Faber Castell Big Brush Pitt Pens. I free-handed the words I wanted to say in black Pitt Pen and coloured in the gaps with Naphthol Crimson Liquitex Ink and added white dots with my Sakura Gelli Roll pen. Using a die cut as a stencil, I used  Naphthol Crimson Liquitex paint to stencil the tiny hearts in the centre & top of my page. I then glued some larger cellophane hearts that I had fussy cut onto the centre of the page and added some cross hatch stamping using a Jofy stamp with white colorbox Ink for more texture.

For the opposite page, I firstly adhered a strip of the cellophane to the left hand side of the page as a border and then painted the centre with a light grey acrylic paint that I'd made by mixing white and a tiny amount of black together. Once this was dried I over stamped in a dark grey dye ink using a textured background stamp  in the Boofle range by Papermania. This helped to match it with the grey textured background of the cellophane on the previous page. I then painted a white scalloped border with Gesso and stenciled the tiny hearts onto it as before. I glued on more fussy cut cellophane hearts to form flowers, buds & leaves. I stamped seed heads along the bottom border with a stamp by Chocolate Baroque and then stamped tiny swirls along the flower stems with another stamp from Inkadinkadoo, I added  doodling with my white Gelli Roll pen and cross hatch stamping to the large petals and  various other parts of the page. 

 I have posted a video on YouTube of my Step-By-Step process and you can watch it directly from here by clicking below. I hope you will become a subscriber to my Channel. (There is a link on the Right hand panel).

MASCULINE VALENTINES TREAT BOX WALLET

Today is Saint Valentine's day and I'd like to share a project that I made to give to my husband to celebrate this special day. My hubby has absolutely no feminine side, so I wanted to make my version of this treat box wallet in a grungy masculine style that I thought would suit him better and I'm pleased to say he really liked it.

I used a tutorial by Arlene of mybutterflykisses on YouTube for making the box and you can watch this and find all of the cutting sizes here:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMCj-r-VAUQ&list=UUPo-HlgBo8lxdPWCF62E-2A&feature=share&index=12

She has made some lovely versions of this box herself in a more girly & vintage style which you can see in her video.

I made my wallet out of recycled cereal box which I covered in metal tape, purchased from a hardware shop, which I'd  put in an embossing folder and run through my die cutting machine. I then painted the whole thing with black gesso and then used Inka Gold in Lava Red to pick out the high points and give it a metallic look.

I freehand cut two hearts out of corrugated card, painted them with white gesso then added some Ink Gold Lava Red. I adhered them together and wrapped them with twine. I adhered some cheese cloth to the lid then some red netting. I then adhered my hearts on top of this and added metal cogs and small watch parts randomly. I stamped my sentiments on white card with individual alphabet stamps, cut these into strips and adhered them into place.

I added a button and elastic hair tie closure

I constructed the small box for the inside treat following Arlene's instructions and again covered it in the embossed metal tape and painted it as before. I adhered this into place, centered on the inside bottom flap of the wallet.

I lined the box with red tissue paper, then filled it with delicious heart shaped chocolates.

If you would like to see the step-by-step process of giving the chipboard a metallic look and making the button closure; you can watch my YouTube video below.

I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a quicky to announce that I've just heard that I won the Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge No. 6 with my Ombré Plaque from my last Blog Post. Yippee!!!!!!!!! - I can't begin to tell you how happy I am. I'm bouncing off the walls.

I'm going to have my entry published in the superb Craft Stamper Magazine plus have a future Guest Designer spot for the next challenge. I've also won two fabulous Art Journalling DVD's by Kate Crane, which I can't wait to watch, as you all know how much I love to Art Journal.

Thank you Craft Stamper for choosing my work.

Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge #6

Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.

For one of my new years resolutions I thought I would participate in some challenges in 2014 to stretch my creativity and where better to start than with a challenge from the wonderful Craft Stamper Magazine.

This months challenge is to use the Ombré Technique with stamping. The definition of Ombré for those who may not be familiar with the term is: having colours or tones that shade into each other - used especially of fabrics in which the colour is graduated from light to dark.

I have created a plaque using a gorgeous Paper Artsy stamp set by Jofy which I love. 

To create the Ombré background I blended several colours of Tim Holtz Distress Inks onto white card graduating down the page from light to dark. ( Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean & Faded Jeans).

I then, used a stiff paintbrush to flick tiny droplets of water all over the page then blotted with kitchen roll. Distress Ink reacts with water so this created a nice bubbly variation to the colours to add more interest. 

After this I distressed the edges of the card with the Tim Holtz Distress tool. 

I stamped my design using the Jofy stamps with StayZon black ink, masking certain areas as I went along with Post-it notes to achieve the design I wanted.

I drew over the stems again with a dark green Promarker pen then added tiny dots to the seed heads with a Wink-of-Stella clear pen for some sparkle.

Using white Colorbox Pigment Ink I took the crosshatch stamp from the same set and randomly stamped over the background

I  stamped the heads of the flowers several times more onto plain white card and coloured these with bright Promarker pens before I cut them out and decoupaged them with foam adhesive squares to add dimension to the flowers.

I did the same again with the centers of each flower to add another dimensional layer then covered these with Glossy Accents for a lovely shine. I also added more of the clear Wink-of-Stella pen around the edge of each flower.

I stamped the message with Black Soot Distress Ink onto thick white card then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

I  blended the same various distress inks in the Ombré fashion over the words then cut them into individual word strips and adhered them to the top of my plaque. I darkened around the edges with a black graphite pencil to make them stand out.

The final step was to adhere the panel onto black card.

Here you can see a clearer view of the Glossy accents shining in the centre of each flower,  the water droplet effect with Distress Ink on the background and the distressed edge of the white card.

Win or lose, I had great fun creating this little plaque and I really like the Ombré look. I'll definitely be using it again in future projects.