Papers and paints

Here is a second set of makes with the Craft O'Clock So Lovely When You Smile collection. 

First a Mixed Media creation, using a large MDF tag from a the That's Crafty sampler pack.

I prepared the tag with Gesso and then applied several colours of Paper Artsy Fresco paints with palette knife and brush.
Then I stencilled in several places some texture paste tinted with more Fresco paint through the Crafter's Workshop TCW454S stencil.
I layered pieces of the different papers and muslin, and added my frame sprayed with shimmering grey ink and highlighted with gold paint. Inside the frame I placed a paper doll, chosen for her smile...
Finally a bird die-cut from the Chipboard pack echoes the fussy cut bird from the extras sheet, which I painted in watercolours (the paper will accept the paint very well in small doses).
A sideways look at the tag :

My second offering of the day is a very simple design suggested by one of the 8x8 paper, this elongated flower composition screamed Slimline card to me and I couldn't think of anything to add but matting and layering to enhance the image so I just added a sentiment to finish.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenge.

7th Anniversary Day 4 Fall Leaves

Welcome to Day 4 of our STAMPlorations Birthday's celebrations !

The russets, yellows and brown of Autumn go so well with gold that I wanted to add some foiling in my make. One of the easiest way is with a stencil, some acrylic medium (this can be matte or gloss) foil and either a foiling machine or a laminator.

 I started with a manilla tag and applied  Fresco paints (Paper Artsy) roughly to the tag, spreading with a brayer. I then applied paints through the Leaf Prints 3 stencil and layered some acrylic medium on top here and there for the foiling process.

To foil I just sandwich the foil and the tag in a folded piece of paper, and run it through the laminator.

For my focal point, I stamped some leaves from the Trendy Leaves set inked with several colours of dye inks and fussy cut them. I shaped them and popped them on foam pads to add dimension and placed them on a piece of doily. 

Finally I added a Dymo label and a Nuvo Drop finish. 

A closer look at the shine from the foil...

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The STAMP girls are showing inspiration for all the challenges on the STAMPlorations blog so pop by and don't forget to comment along the way for a chance to win (before the 8th of November)!

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Whenever you shop for STAMPlorations products you can get 20% off with my code: STAMPGIRLCRAFTY 

AND during the Anniversary all orders placed with my code will include this not-yet-released stencil, Just Plaid square stencil (10 mil):

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Thanks for coming by,

I am entering the SSS Monday, We Love To Create, Stamping Sensations, Bleeding Art Challenge and SSS Wednesday challenges.

 

Crackled powders

Today I am on the STAMPLorations blog with a tutorial taking you through my process with Crackle paste and dye based powders (Brushos, Infusions, Bistres etc...).
This is the first of 3 Mixed Media tutorials I am putting together for STAMPlorations.

So, hop on over to the STAMPLorations blog to read up all the details and I will be back next month with another Mixed Media tutorial.

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the SSS Wednesday challenges.




       

Textured Gents

Today is my turn to inspire you to enter our Country View Challenge on the theme, "Textures" chosen by the lovely Miriam.

My make is effectively a pendant to my first inspiration make, it's here if you missed it, but this time I used more masculine colours and embellishments and, of course, 2 different techniques for textures.

On the left, I used dry embossing with 2 embossing folders (Cuttlebug script and X-Cut Chronology  Clocks) directly on the greyboard (after applying the gesso). Although the standard die-cutting machine sandwich needs to be adjusted for the thickness of the greyboard it will still emboss beautifully.

On the right I applied grungepaste with a knife and stamped into it with a bricks stamp (Katzelkraft) and a lead window design from a Prima Finnabair stamp set (Finnabair cling Trust the Magic). Whilst I was doing it I decided to throw in a bit of Infusion powders before the paste dried.

I then sprayed the Infusions and let the colours run down and merge into each other taking care of the right hand side colours.
For the left hand side, I used Distress Oxides all over in Fossilized Amber, Fired Brick and a little Walnut. To highlight the  texture a bit more, I added standard Distress ink in Walnut on the high points of the embossing. I didn't get the depth of colour expected but I forgot how gesso has a tendency to suck the dyes from above layers!

I flicked some water and some black paint to finish the background.

The focal image are 2 Paper Dolls I combined on top of torn vellum pieces, mat and die-cuts.
Finally I added some cardboard cogs I had painted and rusted previously.

Your turn to create something textural to enter our Country View Challenge and be in with a chance to win a £20 voucher to spend on craft stash!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Craft Stamper TIMI, Creative Artiste, SanDee & amelie's Steampunk, We Love To Create  challenges.

Textured dolls

A new Country View Challenge is kicking off today and the theme, chosen by the lovely Miriam, is Textures. The world is your oyster... so many ways of creating textures and so much fun to be had!

Today I used stencils to create the main textures, first with texture paste and the chicken wire stencil and then for added dimension, I added embossing powder on top of the texture paste through the Prima doily stencil.

But going back to the beginning... I created the background on a heavy cardstock panel which I gessoed and stuck a piece of fabric like material on the right.

I painted a large portion of the panel with Prima Texture Paste Clear crackle for fine texture.

The stencilling came next and when dry I used the heat gun on the embossing powder (Seth Apter, Emerald Creek Baked Texture in Vintage Beeswax.

I then applied Paper Artsy Frescos paints all over the panel which revealed the crackles.

A bit of stamping with archival inks finished off the background.

The focal point is a cluster around a Tim Holtz Paper doll, one of the largest in the set. Behind is a doily, aged with Distress inks and a Vintage ad from a Prima Ephemera pack. Under the dolls' feet are 2 die-cuts. I created a cluster with a piece of muslin, 3 flowers made with the Prima Fairy Garden Mould and sprayed with shimmer sprays and some micro beads, the whole held in place with acrylic gel medium.

Once again this project didn't turn out the way I had envisioned but I had a lot of fun making it and so will you when you join us in the Country View Challenge! Plus there's a £20 voucher for grabs, just saying...

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the We Love To Create, SanDee & amelie's Steampunk, SSS Wednesday and Bleeding Art challenges.

Come aboard!!!

This summer whizzed by and it's time for our September Country View Challenge! The theme is Planes, Trains, Automobiles hosted by Miriam. It had been a while since I played in my journal so...

My precious Treasure

I am delighted to be featured on the A Vintage Journey blog today as a Pinworthy guest after my Snowman wowed the DT.

I have to say when I discovered the chosen theme for Vintage Journey's challenge in March, I felt panic... using some of my Treasure... How will I be able to cope?!! But cope I have and it is certainly better to use these precious items rather than keeping them for that elusive special occasion!

Today my main treasure is a beautiful resin frame by Prima.

I started with a gessoed canvas and applied texture paste through 2 stencils.

I added pieces of cardstock and die cuts before coating everything with black gesso for a dark base.


For colours and shimmer I used DecoArt Extreme Sheen paints as well as Paper Artsy Frescos, in shades of blue, violet and green.




To add interest to the background I did a bit of stamping and embossing, all in shimmering or glitter EPs.

The frame was treated in the same way with a coat of black gesso followed by some Extreme Sheen paint.


For embellishments, I finally opened an old packet of glitters and sequins and used them alongside some Glitterbitz and micro beads.
I created a few metallic embellishments with bottle caps, the top one has also a glass bead that magnifies the image but doesn't photograph too well!

Supplies:
Stencils: The Crafter's Workshop Garden gate and Dutch Doobadoo A5 Fabric
Paints: DecoArt Extreme Sheen paints, Paper Artsy Frescos
Mediums: Pebeo White Gesso; DecoArt black Gesso, Golden Gel medium
Stamps: The Artistic Stamper Chicken wire and Harlequin
Embossing powder : WOW Sea Glass, Cosmic Shimmer Ultra Thick Silver Pearl and Tropic Red.

Another look at the completed piece at an angle...

I hope you will be inspired by my treasure....
Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Mixed Media Monthly, WOW Embossing powders, We Love To Create, Creative Artiste and The Artistic Stamper challenges.

Mixed Media page

Today I'm showing a Mixed Media piece I created for the Craft Barn blog.

This one involves quite a lot of techniques and products, but if you follow my step by step it is still easy to create.

Stencil blog hop

Welcome to the Stamplorations Stencil Blog Hop! 8 new designs by Sanna Lippert have been released and will be showcased along the hop.

First up, a colourful card where I made my own "patterned paper" with the ARTplorations Leaves 2 stencil.

I took a bit of texture paste, coloured it with acrylic paint and applied with a painting knife through the Leaves 2 stencil.


For more interest and dimension, I then covered the paste with Wow embossing powder in Olive. Before using the heat gun, the paste must be dry!

I cut a piece of pink hand made paper with 2 of the Stitched Snow Hills dies and added my sentiment from the Fond Expressions 2 stamp set.


For my second project, I played with my Gelli plate to create a distressed background.

I applied a first layer of blue paint and placed a piece of canvas on top to create texture.
I spread a second layer of paint with pinks and lavender on top of the DRIED blue layer and placed the Flowers 2 stencil over the plate.
Immediately, using a scrap piece of paper, I removed paint through the stencil.
When the second layer had dried I applied a final layer of paint, in a deep Lavender shade, and lifted my print, which pulls up all of the dried layers together.
This is what I obtained:

I wasn't happy with the lack of contrast between the stencil motif and the rest of the print, so I started again this time with an orange colour instead of the pink (I didn't take pictures but followed the same process). The stencilled motifs were barely visible so I added stencilling directly on the print.

I cut a piece of the print to fit my card base and added double sided adhesive around all around to create an embossed "frame" with Wow! Grape embossing powder.

My focal image is using the top 3 petals of the Flowers 2 stencil motif and the stem and leaves of the Leaves motif. I used Pan Pastel for the petals and Distress Oxides inks for the green. It is matted on the smallest die from the Crazy Double Running Stitch set.

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You have until the 4th of December to join us on the Stamplorations Stencil Blog Hop and leave comments for a chance to win prizes.
Winners will be randomly drawn from comments left on the STAMPlorations blog and participating designers blogs. There will be 1 winner of $20 gift certificate and 2 winners of their choice of 3 Sanna Lippert Designs stencils.

Have fun hopping!
I am entering both cards in the SSS Wednesday and Polkadoodles challenges.