Challenging myself to try something new

Well, it's 1st February and that means it's time for a new Clarity challenge;  and this month we're going all flower power.

I wanted to try out my new stash;  some Pebeo Vitrail and Fantasy paints.  I've never used them before, so I watched a couple of YouTube videos before going for it...

I started by cutting a 7" x 7" piece of board and mod podging on some kitchen foil.  This I hoped would reflect the light through the paints and allow them to glow.

Once dry, I dragged grunge paste through the poppy stencil, and set aside to dry.

I used Vitrail lightening medium with the colours to maintain their transluscency and stop them being too dark.  You can see here how I've poured on the Vitrail paint and mixed in some Fantasy Moon.  This contains loads of mica,  and manipulates into some fabulous patterns when it mixes with the Vitrail paint.  Set aside to dry again;  this does take a while with these paints, so you need to be patient.  I worked on this piece over several days;  doing a layer each day. 

To add more definition to the design, I brushed on black acrylic paint making sure to get plenty in the crevices before wiping off the excess with a baby wipe.  Repeat as many times as needed to build up the required depth of shadow.

Now I poured over another layer.

And dry brushed on some gold acrylic to subtly highlight the poppy design.

Now I wanted to add something to ground the poppies.  And you know when you don't listen to that little voice that says maybe you should leave well alone?

Definitely overcooked!  What can I do now?

To start with, I scraped a tiny bit of red ceramic paint onto the poppies to further highlight and define them.

Then some gilding flakes.

There's nothing else for it, but to go for another layer of paint.  Some Fantasy Moon this time to provide some coverage, and some glitter medium to highlight the flowers and stems.

Oooooh,  I think I might have just brought this back from the brink of disaster.

Touch up again with a little ceramic paint and the gilding flakes.  Use double sided adhesive sheets to stick to the mounting board...

And here it is finished in a plain Ribba frame from Ikea. 

Not perfect, but I feel proud of what I achieved for my first play with these products.  I'll definitely be trying them out again.

Looking forward to seeing your take on this month's theme.  Good luck!

Till next time.  Xxx

Love shopping?

Hello there.  Hope you've managed to stay warm and dry during these last few days.  Here I am with the first of my samples from the last Claritystamp shows on Hochanda. 

 Using a 7" square of Sheena stamping card I started by masking off a panel.  I always find it best to cover the rest of the card with some copy paper.  I know from experience that if I don't, it's all too easy to end up with ink splodged somewhere it shouldn't be.  Then I stamped my first 2 handbags into position using black archival.

Cover these with post-it masks.

Then stamp and cover up again.

Repeat until you've filled the panel.  

And now you have choices:  leave the post-it masks in place while you work on the background, or...

Use masking fluid as I did, because I found the post-its kept moving. 

I used a mini blending tool to apply mustard seed, picked raspberry and mermaid lagoon distress inks.  I then removed the masking fluid and doodled a border on both sides of the panel.

All that was left to do was add my sentiment using the word chain alphabet and run round the edge with a black sharpie pen and mount onto a card blank.  Hope you like it.  I'll be back soon with another of my samples.  Till next time.  Xxx

A Christmas bauble

Hello there!  I am finally almost ready for Christmas;  after a hectic few weeks, the presents are bought and wrapped and I just need to pick up the turkey and the last few food items on Friday evening when I finish work.  And that will be it...  what's been forgotten or not done by then, won't be done.  

After Barbara Gray showcased my Christmas card on her blog yesterday, I thought I'd blog a little step by step in case you want to have a go.

First, I stamped the small moonfairy into place with black archival.  I found it easier to mask him off using masking fluid, rather than using a post-it.  Then, I stamped the bauble and sentiment into place.

Put the outie mask into place.

My advice would be to mask off the rest of the card with copy paper to make sure you don't get any ink anywhere else.  And how does she know this???

I brushed peacock feathers distress ink into the bauble, working round and round from the edge, building up the colour slowly.  I left the centre paler to highlight and to create the illusion of depth and dimension.

Remove the mask.

Now use the innie mask to cover up the bauble.

Next, I lightly brushed picked raspberry distress ink through the top right and bottom left corners and stamped the snowflakes into place;  allowing them to drift down from the top left to bottom right corner.  I used paradise teal and vibrant fuchsia archival inks;  as I love the clean, crisp impression you get with archival ink.  you could however just as easily use your chosen distress inks.  You can now remove the masking fluid;  it just rubs/peels away.

You can see below the Faber Castell polychromo colours I used to colour the moonfairy.

A little glitter to add sparkle to his wings, and all that's left to do is to edge with a black sharpie pen and mat onto a card blank.

So here is the finished card.  I hope you like it.  Maybe you feel inspired to mix some of your new Clarity stamps with an old favourite.

And here is the same design in a different colourway.

So there you have it;  a clean and simple design that's reasonably easy to achieve. 

And now I wish you all a truly fabulous Christmas and a Happy New Year.  With all that's going on I'm sure you'll join me in praying for peace around the world.  Till next time.  Xxx