Butterfly Beauty

Warmer weather calls for butterflies doesn't it ! SSS Monday want to see butterflies and they are such a universal theme, for adults and children, men and women, that it's one of the best to use to make cards for the "just in case" stock.

I created a small masterboard, with several layers of paints (Fresco by Paper Artsy) on a textured paper designed for oil pastels. I don't paint much in oil pastels and as this paper stands up well to wet media and the texture is nice it makes sense to re-purpose it!

I stencilled some texture paste, tinted with South Pacific Fresco paint, with a Crafter's Workshop stencil.
At this point I decided the background was too dark and added more paint in lighter shades.
I stamped a script stamp with white paint (Crafty Individuals CI-436) which yielded an imperfect distressed impression.

Finally the focal images were stamped, the butterflies from Crafty Individuals (CI-437)  which come as 2 steps images. I used black dye ink for the outlines and Fresco paints for the insides of the butterflies.

The sentiment is from the Rubber Dance Happy Birthday set, stamped with Versamark and embossed with detail white embossing powder.
Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Penny Black and more,  WOW Embossing powders,  We Love To Create and Tando Creative challenges

Clean and green

Sometimes it's nice to make something CAS with lots of white space. It feels like a holiday, and allows going back to Mixed Media and messy art refreshed and renewed!

Paper Artsy challenged us to use some white space, which doesn't need to be white, just empty, and this is what I did:

I intended to try stamping a background with an acrylic bloc, ink and a spray of water.
After several tries, I came up with a plan B that afforded me much better control: I used the reverse of a rectangular shaped polymer stamp and didn't need the spray of water, the most uncontrollable aspect of the technique!
The focal image and the branches are from the Paper Artsy set (HP1008) and I stamped partially the collage image, selecting only the face.

I don't know how I managed to resist adding anything else !

Thanks for coming by,
Also entering That's Crafty,  Casology, Stamplorations and SSS Wednesday challenges

Spring flowers

For my second Spring inspiration piece for this month theme at Country View Challenges I wanted to use one of the rubber stamp set from Paper Artsy's latest release.

For the base, I used an 8x8 piece of cardboard coated with gesso.

The grass colour has been built with South Pacific, Yellow submarine and Limelight Fresco acrylic paints fading the colour upwards with water. The sky is Lavender Fresco also faded into nothing using water.

The stamping was all done with black dye ink and I used all of the stamps in the EKC02 set, bar the sentiments. I created some rough masks by stamping and cutting the bigger blooms on a scrap piece of paper in order to place them in the foreground.

I added colour with white gel pen and yellow to orange colour pencils.

I really enjoyed building my wild flower field and the EKC02 makes it easy, as the small individuals flowers and smaller stalks are great to fill in between the bigger blooms.

If you're inspired, you can enter your own Spring make in the Country View Challenge
Thanks for coming by,
  Also entering the We Love To Create, SSS Monday and Vintage Journey challenges with my Mixed Media make.

Dotty about flowers

Today I have another flower filled post for you. I am duty bound to enter the Indigo challenge this month to show off my stamps from the Colour me range, as I have been lucky to win a prize !

I did lots of experiments with the stamps and, although I won't show you everything today, I'll reveal that the flowers look really good with Brushos and micas powders as well as stamped with ink. Watercolour was a flop, but then, that's just likely to be my technique rather than the designs!  I haven't tried with embossing powders or... well, still lots to try yet!

Several stamps called for a multi-panel card, which is an excuse to use my Accordion die...


On the cover I used the Lily on glossy cardstock coloured with inks using foam applicators.

















The papers all come from magazines freebies, the polka dot paper is actually pink dots on a yellow background although under British weather it looks grey!


From left to right, the first panel, is the Daisy stamped with dye inks and coloured with pencils.


 
 
The second panel is the Dahlia but it is actually the reverse side, coloured with alcohol markers.

The third panel shows off the detail of the Daisy stamp, with dye inks on glossy cardstock.

The stamps are slightly bigger than shown here as I had to fit the square panels of my accordion pages and cut them down.


 This is what my alcohol markers panel looks like on the front compared to the reverse:
 
I don't know about you but I thought that pink was too aggressive  and when I saw the watercolour effect of the back... I just had to use it!

The clue in the name (Colour me) tells me these flower images would be perfect made into small colouring books for crafty friends!

Thanks for coming by,
  Also entering the Stamping Sensations, SSS Wednesday and Polka Doodle challenges.

Resistance

I'm always attracted to door stamps so when the D letter came up at the Craft Barn dictionary challenge this was a no-brainer...

Prompted by the Paper Artsy and the SSS Monday challenge, I used a resist technique with wax paper to create a wall around my door (I used a Crafty Individuals stamp as my Paper Artsy door was too big for my panel) . I embossed the wax paper with the Tim Holtz Brick wall folder then placed it over the card and, protecting the iron with scrap paper, ironed on the design.

Then it's just a matter of applying Distress inks with blending foam. Easy peasy...

For the "pink" twist I added my letter D in a salmon pink so it didn't jar too much with the earth colours of the picture.

Thanks for coming by,
  Also entering the Artistic Stamper challenge

April in Amsterdam

Stamplorations challenges us to use splatters for this month's Theme & Sketch. I love a good splatter so I couldn't resist.

I was going to print a sentiment on the card front but I chickened out as so many things can go wrong with printers. In the end I have managed to print the sentiment inside, after endless setting changes. My printer doesn't like non standard sizes!


Stamps used:
Paper Artsy HP1601 ,  ESN10
Docrafts: Ticket Stubs 6x6in, chevron from All Aboard Air Mail set 4x4in

I then used Brushos on the background and splattered both the water and the powder. I use a small brush to dip in the Brusho pot and tap on top of the water. The idea of piercing a hole in the lid fills me with dread as this stuff stains like mad!

To get all the buildings on the card I had to extend the stamping over the spine and I thought it looked rather nice.




What do you think?
I suppose I should show you the whole thing flat too!











Thanks for coming by,




Also entering That's Crafty and We Love To Create challenge

All things spring

Time for a new challenge at Vintage Stamping Challenges.

Our theme this month is All things spring and I am showing you a late Easter make using the Animal Landscapes border 01 by Flonzcraft. This set has 8 different borders of which I used 2 for this  simple scene I framed with an old aperture card.


This is what I did, step by step:

I marked lightly where my oval aperture would lay on a piece of white cardstock and stamped my rabbits and poultry in black ink. Note that the rabbits are stamped in a downward curve, a benefit of using polymer stamps as they can be curved.

I had to do this first so I would know where to shade my hills next, using masks and several shades of inks from yellow to green. You can use standard paper to create hill masks, indeed the feathery line of torn paper can be a bonus, but here I used an adhesive release paper. It's very smooth and acts like a silicone mat for the ink.
For the sky area I created a sun mask with a circle die and applied blue ink fading it towards the horizon. I then removed the mask and applied a little bit of yellow on the sun.

I lined up my cardstock behind the aperture and measured where I needed to cut my panel to fit.
Once glued in place I added the sentiment stamped in red ink.

I hope you will join us for this spring theme at Vintage Stamping Challenges, you could win a $20 voucher to spend at Flonzcraft, our lovely sponsor. Your make doesn't need to be Vintage but will need to showcase some stamping (rubber, clear, foam etc...) but NO digis.

Thanks for coming by,
  I am entering the Craft Barn and the SSS Wednesday challenges with my spring make.

Spring in my step

So my dear readers, if you have missed the clues, I'm joining the DT of Country View Challenges, hence the spring in my step, since I am over the moon to join this talented bunch. Well, that and the fact that our challenge theme this month is Spring.

For my first post I made this tag with Brushos (Leaf and Moss green, Yellow and Ultramarine) on a gessoed background:

I stamped both small and large motifs of the Eastern Grasses set (Chocolate Baroque) in varied green inks. I used first and second generation prints to get a sense of depth in my spring morning impression of a field.
The Spring sentiment is from another Chocolate Baroque set stamped in black Versafine.

Hope this inspire you, but there is more inspiration from my new team mates over at CountryView challenge if you need it! So come on and join us with your own artwork, full of the joy of Spring!

Dictionary Letter G

Having chosen a Giraffe to illustrate my R word last time, "Ruminant" for those who missed it, I now find myself devoid of imagination for the latest Craft Barn Dictionary challenge, the letter G.

Back to a predictable word then, I give you... Garden!

The focal image is a stamp by Crafty Individuals (CI-415 ) and the sentiment is from Paper Artsy (ELB02 set).
I have coloured the garden with watercolour pencils and I have used water to soften the colours mainly on the bigger pink blooms.

The G is a rub on, chosen for its size as I was running out of space on this page!

Thanks for coming by,
 

All packed

I saw the Vintage Journey latest challenge and had to try their Destination Inspiration Travel Bag made up of cardboard, Lilac colour, rust and metal on a hanging panel:

My substrate is cardboard, from the recycling bin.

The background is a masterboard painted with several layers and colours of Fresco paints (Paper Artsy).
Designs were added with stamping using Snowflake and Blueberry Frescos as well as some stencilling through die-cuts (hexagons and circles, both Papertreyink cover plates).

My focal sentiment is a Paper Artsy stamp from the Hot Pick 1203 set and I used a Martha Stewart corner punch top and bottom.

In the bottom right corner, I used Grunge paste with a brick wall stamp (Katzelkraft Transportation stamp set). When dry I spritzed mica sprays and finished with Treasure Gold.

On to the rust... by far the lengthiest aspect. The key and keyhole are die cuts (Sizzix Hardware findings by Tim Holtz ) from gold coloured metal and painted with acrylic in yellow, red oxide and blue.

A layer of crackle and some more acrylic paint. Blah...

Some alcohol ink in a dark grey, better.

A dash of Treasure gold in Onyxite... not perfect as an imitation rust but I liked the look so I stopped tinkering!

A closer look, in the sun :


Thanks for coming by,

Also entering the We Love To Create, Stamplorations, Tando Creative (W2) and the Craft Barn challenges.

Box

First let me thank all the lovely people who took the time to leave very flattering comments on my last post. My Dictionary challenge page seemed to have had great appeal, helped in large part by the giraffe's fluttering her eyelashes. She even managed to seduce a visitor into subscribing, Suchi, who receives my warmest welcome.

 

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I am having a hard time finding appropriate themes that say "Spring" without doing flowers or rabbits (there is a good chance you will see both of these in a future post!), so I am choosing what I think of spring colours for the Live & Love Crafts March challenge.

Crafty Individuals wanted to see Boxes of some kind (any kind) and I took up the challenge inspired by Nefertiti's upcycling of a cat's food container. I even pushed myself and fussy cut the little darlings (CI-449) just to show some willing in the face of her extensive scissor work!

The box comes from the recycling bin, and I used a sheet of paper from the Crafty Individuals Weekend in Seville pad (Background Paper Book 8)  and a piece of hand made paper (not by me!) on the lid. For the sides I used Tim Holtz Tissue tape and Trimcraft tape (Curiosity Corner collection), coloured with an alcohol marker in lavender.

A bit of Gelato smudged around the box creates a frame for my "picture".

For embellishments, I used very old purply blossoms from my stash and after a bit of shaping, glued several layers together to form the flowers you see here. I finished them with an adhesive dot.
A few die-cuts (coloured with the same Gelato), a piece of muslin and voilà... "c'est dans la boîte!"

Forgot to say, I gave dimension to my fussy cut pair with an embossing tool and a cardboard backing. It creates shadows around their bodies, really bringing them to life.

Now I need to decide if and who I give this to...

Also entering the Allsorts challenge.

Not a cow

For my entry in the Craft Barn Dictionary challenge I have selected the word Ruminant, and introduce a creature, namely a Giraffe from Rubber Dance, who are having a colour challenge in march.

I stamped the giraffe first, in a mix of colours using water based pens, and masked the image with masking fluid (liquid frisket).

I stamped and embossed in white a texture stamp (the grid stamp is also from Rubber Dance) and then set about colourising with Brushos in Moss green, Leaf Green, Lemon and Orange.

I underlined "white" embossing powder because, having done a test piece, I was reminded how, on some cardstock, the dye from the Brushos sinks deep into the card both vertically (i.e to the back) and horizontally and therefore shows through your nicely clear embossed areas that you thought were protected!

Final touch, as usual, the dictionary definition and the letter, this time die cut (My Favourite Thing).

The fog has disappeared so it's time to enjoy a taste of spring,

Also entering the SSS Wednesday, Stamplorations and Penny Black and more challenges.