ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS

Hello Friends,

I made a new Art Jornal page recently using the Free Stencil and Stamp Set from Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine Issue 160.

The main image was added with Structure Paste by Imagination Crafts and then coloured with Zig Clean Color Brush pens and  Starlight Paints also by Imagination Crafts.

 The Background was coloured with Tumbled Glass distress ink using a blending tool and later I smooshed some ink onto my craft mat and used a brush and some water to colour the areas I could not reach with the tool. 

 I then stamped onto the background with Brilliance Ink in White Pearle and Pearlescent Blue.

 I outlined the flower and created a sketchy border using a Faber Castell Black Pitt Pen and then added Glitz It glitter glue in gold into the centres of all of the flowers.

 I added more shading to the leaves and behind the flowers with Specrtum Noire sparkle pens and then Matted the piece onto black cardstock.

 I stamped and cut out the sentiment and adhered it to the bottom of the card.

You can watch my step-by-step YouTube video of its creation below.

 

 

A Question of Love - Art Journal Page

After a long absence from all forms of Art and Crafting (Life get's in the way sometimes). I'm glad to be back and this is my debut post for 2017.

 As February is the month for celebrating Love I decided to make an Art Journal page inspired by Love.

Here are a few photographs and below you can watch my YouTube video where I show how it was created.

I used Spectrum Aquatints in three shades for the background blended with water to give an ombre effect. Once dry I embossed the page with a Texture Embossing folder by Crafter's Companion called "Distress". I lightly sanded this with  a sanding block and then carefully added Antique Linen Distress Ink just over the raised areas.

The stamp set is by Stampendous and called "Hummingbirds" I stamped the two birds and the flower spray onto card, coloured them with Spectrum Noire Sparkle Pens and the flowers with Pebeo Dyna Paint in 354 Irridescent Red Blue.

I cut a heart from a cereal box, painted it also with the Irridescent Red Blue and adhered a generic die-cut from my stash which I coloured gold using a Pentel Hybrid Dual Metallic Gel Pen.

 I printed out the quote and coloured it with a yellow Faber Castel Big Brush Pitt Pen. Cut this into strips. Everything was adhered into place with Liquitex Matt Gel Medium then shaded with a grey IG4 Spectrum Noire Alcohol marker pen and highlighted with a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

Step-By-Step You Tube Video

Art Journal Page and my Entry for the Art Journey November Challenge - Theme = Fantasy

Just thought I'd share with you my Entry for the November Challenge by Art Journey.
The theme this month was "Fantasy" and had to include Art Journey Stamps.
The stamps I chose came from the Silhouette2 set which has some interesting images.




I have used two of the images and this is the Art Journal page I made:-

My vision for the Fantasy aspect was a woman closing her eyes on her troubles to dream that she is being carried away to another calmer land.
I used Masking Fluid to create cloud areas and to act as a resist, then made a water colour wash to create the sky. There are touches of Picked Raspberry Distress ink watered down and blended in for a sky at sunset and I also used Distress Ink in Faded Jeans around the edges to simulate night drawing in. Once dried I rubbed off the Masking Fluid. I stamped and embossed my main images with Wow Black Twinkle Embossing powder. I used a tree stamp by Tattered Angels and the flock of birds was a stamp by Tim Holtz. I lightly coloured the trees with Spectrum Noir pencils. Printed my quote on my computer and adhered it with Matte Gel Medium. To finish I've matted and layered my piece first onto white card and then onto black.

                   Below is a short You Tube video where I talk through my creation process.

If you are interested in participating in the challenge click here: http://artjourneydesign-team.blogspot.nl/p/challenge.html

And if you would like to buy Art Journey Stamps  (They ship world wide) click here:- http://www.artjourney.nl/3220--art-journey-stamps

My ATC Swap With  Claudene - MsKayKrafts on YouTube

I've just finished making 6 ATC cards for a swap with Claudene who is MsKayKrafts on YouTube.
They could be on any theme we chose so here are mine.

I made the first one using the Punky Flower stamp set by chocolate baroque. the background is acrylic paint stenciled over with  Viva Decor pearl modeling paste through the Crafter's Workshop Mini Cell theory stencil. I used a silver paint pen on some of the larger spots in the design for a more metallic feel and added a rectangle of Dry Wall Tape mesh over the top. I stamped,  painted and cut out the flower images and positioned them raised up with foam tape. i glossy accented the light bulbs and added small watch/clock parts to various parts of the flowers and for the filaments in the light bulbs. I also added metal rods over the stems and under my sentiment. The metal butterfly was originally bronze so I used Inka Gold in Silver to change it. I adhered blue rhinestones into the empty sections withing the metal piece. 

The second one is made using Duct Tape in two designs. A zippe die-cut by Mariane's Creatables and a few beads strung onto metal and made into a flower with some mesh bling.

The third is using background paper from Marian Smith Designs, Pink lace, Pearl bead trim and a die-cut bird cage by Memory Box. I added a flower from my stash, Leaves from Wild Orchid Crafts and a bird that I'd purchased on ETSY quite a while ago. I printed the sentiment on my computer and added adhesive pearls to the top and bottom of the cage, As a finishing touch I rubbed glitter gel onto the petals of the flower and the wings and tail of the bird and aged the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink..

For the fourth I made a tiny shadow box and backed it with a Parisian Advert. Inside I placed an Eiffel Tower metal charm and a small flower arrangement. The front was primed with Gesso then embossed with Viva Decor Pearl Modeling paste through the Tim Holtz Baroque stencil. I then sprayed it several times with Lindy's Stamp Gang spray in Pink Cotton candy. I added two carnations, some tiny rose buds and a couple of  tiny rhinestones.

I like to make a British themed ATC when I'm making them for overseas friends.
 This ATC was to celebrating the Ceramic Poppy Art display that was at the Tower of London  this year to commemorate 100 years since the start of World War 1 and all of the British and Commonwealth soldiers who lost their lives.
I added my personal Remembrance poppy and an image of several London icons. On the back  there is an envelope containing some photo's that i took of the ceramic poppies on a recent visit and a print out explaining the event which was extremely moving.. 

The last card was made using a stamp set by Docrafts and is a paper shirt, tie & jacket. I left the front edge of the jacket unglued so I could curl it back slightly to give some dimension and to make the jacket appear as if it was open.

I really enjoyed participating in this swap and I hope Claudene likes the ATC's when they arrive.

A ROLADEX ART CARD FOR LINDA LAPOTKA

My friend Linda Lapotka on YouTube has been making art on Rolodex cards since the beginning of the year and now she's over 300 days into it without missing a day and hopes to continue until the end of the year.

I thought it would be nice to send her a creation of mine that she can either add to her collection or start a new collection with efforts of friends. I know Martina Huppertova is also sending her one.

If you'd also like to join in. Why not send Linda a message through YouTube.

I painted the background with Black Gesso then used Imagination Craft's Sparkle Medium in Blue Sapphire and Old Rose through a home made flower stencil. I doodled  the stems and leaves with a Gelly Roll Midnight pen in green and then added white Gelly Roll pen to highlight the leaves and to add dots around the stems. I also doodled a border and around the sentiment with a pink Gelly Roll Midnight pen. These pens stand out particularly well on a black background. I punched some small yellow flowers and adhered them into the centre of the large flowers and added a pink dot into their centres. Simple but effective and that Sparkle Gel is really so loaded with glitter it's amazing. and one of my favourite products.

Below is a short video of it's creation.

ALTERED BOX

I had a gift to send to a friend so decided to alter a box to send with it . I wanted it to be pretty but at the same time grungy if that makes sense to you. I also wanted to experiment with some new supplies.

I was very happy with the outcome and below I explain more of the process and the supplies I've used.

The box was originally brown kraft coloured so the first thing I did was painted it inside and out with white Gesso.
Once dry, I stenciled on the lid with a baroque design using white modeling paste. On the sides of the box and the bottom I stenciled through the "Art Is" stencil by Crafters Workshop. This was left over night to dry out completely.

For the colour, firstly I used Delphinium Turqoise Starburst Spray by Lindy's Stamp Gang but rather than spraying I applied it with a brush for more control. While still wet, I  carefully sprinkled on a minute amount of Bister in Blue in various places and encouraged this to run around the stenciling with a brush. (Available from Art Journey.nl).This gave a fantastic effect with the shiny turquoise interleaved with the darker blue/black of the Bister. (Remember a tiny amount goes a very long way and the colour is very intense).

I dried everything then used Inka Gold wax paste in Steel Blue and Silver to add areas of extra sheen and to highlight the stenciling. (You need to buff it with a dry cloth to really bring out the shine).

I mixed some clear glass micro beads with some Gel Medium and some of the Lindy's stamp gang spray in a small pot and added it to the box lid in random places. This added extra texture and interest.

For decoration I added Cheese Cloth, silver leaves and white flowers which I'd painted the centers blue to co-ordinate.

The inside of the box was lined with a paper napkin which had a lovely sentiment.

As it was her birthday I included a card which I cut with my ScanNcut machine after making the design in their Canvas Software programme.

ScanNcut have included a new feature update into Canvas, where you can now add a dotted score line to your cuts. This can also be designated as a draw line so I was able to replace my blade with one of their special pens and create faux stitching around my patterned paper. Super fun and a very useful addition. So pat on the head to ScanNcut.

I hope you like my box and below is a YouTube video showing me creating this step-by-step.

Die-Namites Dies October Challenge

Die-namites Dies are holding a monthly sketch challenge to win a $25 gift certificate and this is my entry.

The challenge was to make a card using a sketch posted on their blog as a guideline. The requirement was to incorporate at least one of their dies and some burlap.

I chose to use the Daisy Bunch Die DN-1012 which I die-cut in black card to be a silhouette. (I have cut off and moved one of the daisies from the bottom into a higher position).




As well as burlap, the sketch also had a strip of lace, so I used black for this too, to tie in with the die-cut. My matting layers were also black.

 As my strip of burlap was a mustard colour I chose a similar shade of mustard for the background paper. I used the Tim Holtz Mini Baroque die for my center mat and cut the black matting layer by hand. The lettering was cut with my ScanNcut machine. To finish I added a few black sequins and filled in the daisy centers with Black Pearl Pen by Viva Decor..

I really like the quality of the Die-namites dies and they cut very well. They have  a good selection of patterns to choose from.

If you'd like to enter the challenge you have a few days left to post your entry.  http://www.die-namitesblog.com/  If not there's always next month.