' ' ' 'Crafty Endeavours: August 2013

Saturday 17 August 2013

Let's hear it for the boys

We are challenged by Impression Obsession to come up with something for the boys. I chose the Pig Bros. Birdhouse image (G1028), and surrounded it with Aluminium sheet to make it more masculine .


I stamped the image using pens and added some color with pencils.

I cut out the frame out of cardstock using 2 sizes of Spellbinder Nesties, applied aluminium tape on it before embossing with a Ten Seconds Studio Kabuka mold.

I embossed the sides of the base cardstock using a mix of powders and created an embellishment with the same mix. This was die-cut with a Spellbinder pinked circle from cardboard, then punched with a standard hole punch in the middle. Thought it looked more masculine than a button, which is my default male embellishment!

Hope you will like it,

Friday 16 August 2013

Challenged by France Papillon

France has been back this week on the Paper Artsy blog with more gorgeous creations. My project is mainly based on her second post.

I followed France's technique but on a smaller scale (6x6 in) and used Tim Holtz Tissue Tape instead of Tissue Wrap. My colours were South Pacific, Limelight and Claret Fresco paints.
Since I didn't have a clock transparency, I substituted a die-cut circle and embossed it with a wooden grain folder. I applied black alcohol ink on the raised areas.

I tried smuding some oil pastel through punchinella, you can see a hint on the left hand side but this didn't work very well for me.

The central flower is made of 2 layers of navy cardstock stamped with a collage stamp from Hot Pick 1206 and embossed in gold. I used Spellbinders Peonies Nestabilities to cut the flower shapes.

For the texture paste areas I made up a stencil with 3 sizes of the Spellbinders Pinking circles and added an impression of a small chain (France did this in her first post), which I painted black.

Thanks for coming by,

Thursday 15 August 2013

Glossy paper, alcohol markers and gum arabic

Yep, I used all those in today's card and it wasn't even planned!


I have printed the image with my inkjet and embossed it with clear powder. Since I wasn't sure how well this would work, I maximised my chances by using glossy paper and increasing the ink volume setting on the printer. This did work very well... But now how to colour ? Glossy paper and watercolours are not the best bedfellows and I can't imagine pencils would work either... I had seen people using alcohol markers on glossy so I tried that with success.

On top of this first layer, I painted Mica powders (Imagination Crafts) in a related colour to give a shimmer to the piece. Depending on how the light is catching the image, you see it/you don't see it.
This is where the Gum arabic comes in... I tried painting the powder directly with a wet brush but the "paint" just pooled. I realised I needed some Magi Blend (Imagination Crafts) or some sort of acrylic medium, but having neither, I tried mixing with gum arabic (used in watercolour) instead.

I have no idea of the long term outcome of gum arabic on glossy though...


Having spent a fair amount of time just colouring the image, I kept the card simple and just mounted it on a standard cardbase.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

Ladybug Crafts Something Floral
Imagination Crafts Flower Power
WOW!Embossing Powder Art Deco

Hope you'll like this,

Saturday 10 August 2013

Cushion Covers

My search for the perfect ink, one that would work on shrink plastic, as well as paper and fabrics turned up VersaCraft inks. I bought a few small pads but never got around to try them out on fabric in a big way. With some left over fabric I made up 2 cushion covers and picked some stamps to decorate them.

 

I first chose large stamps that would give an overall coverage with colour and, using masks, stamped a number of smaller images. I chose 2 different colour schemes for the front and the back so I would get 2 looks.

From Crafty Individuals I have used stamps from CI-207 and CI-237 as well as a freebie stamp from Craft Stamper designed by CI (the seashell).

From this detail picture you will see that this ink does print well enough on fabric, without any loss of detail.  I chose subtle colours to begin with but still, the colours aren't as dark as I would have liked. If you're thinking of buying these inks remember that the stamped colour is noticeably lighter than the colour in the pad, sadly there wasn't anything darker than Chocolate (bar black) that I used on the butterfly above.

I am entering the Crafty Individuals challenge so fingers crossed...

Thanks for coming by,

Wednesday 7 August 2013

Nearly one layer card!

If I intend to mail a card, particularly if it's international mail, weight and thickness are important. But more than for this practical reason, I love one layer cards because it is all about the stamping...

Last week, I pulled out some travel inspired stamps and made a journal page in bright colours. I enjoyed myself so much I decided to create a card, but this time with a vintage, low key colour scheme (you might find this too drab...)


I have used 10 stamps for the imagery (+ 1 for the butterfly stamped on vellum) from varied brands and some that were made for me. For the background texture, I used the Impression Obsession Cover-a-card Grunge, which I inked with Antique Linen Distress ink, adding Walnut Stain along the borders. It provides effortless ageing!

Since I had some mail-related tissue tape I stuck a small piece cut into a flag shape to finish the card.

I am entering this card in the SSS Monday ChallengeThe Artistic Stamper, Lisa.B.Designs, and Stamping Sensations challenges.

Thanks for coming by,