Colourful dancers

Hello there.  Woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow, but its raining now and the skies are grey.  So what better than a colourful piece of art to brighten the day?

So here goes with another of my DT samples using the lovely new Claritystamp dancer stencils.  If I had to choose, then I think this one is  my favourite.

Difficult to see in the photo, but I started by embossing the stencil onto a sheet of watercolour paper.

Using this faint outline as a guide, I painted the dancers with masking fluid.

Once the masking fluid was dry, I started to layer up washes made with diluted acylic paint.  I used this rather than distress inks because I wanted the colours to remain true rather than blending together.

I left each layer to dry naturally before adding the next.  I even added some rock salt to some layers while the paint was still wet for extra texture.

I love how you can get blends where the colours overlap even though the actual paints haven't mixed together.  I then sponged some archival inks through the words stencil in the same colours.

A few little stars and splattered on some extra paint too.  Rubbed off the masking fluid to reveal the dancers still white beneath.

Just added some definition with a couple of grey pencils and simply mounted onto a white card.

Hope you like it.  Till next time.  Xxx

Masculine

Hello there!  I can't believe how fast the time is speeding by;  its June already!  And a new month means the start of a new Clarity challenge.  This month we're asking you to make something for one of the men in your life;  now we all know how difficult that can be...  

Rather than revisiting some of my favourite "male" stamps, I decided to go for something different, and use the galleon and ocean swirl set that I bought a while ago, but which were still pristine and unused, (and no doubt, feeling unloved!)

I played about a bit to find the right colours and stencil for a gelli print I could use for my background sea.  In the end, it was Paperartsy Fresco Finish paints in Caribbean Sea and South Pacific, and System 3 Gold acrylic.  In my opinion, you really need a mega mount to produce perfectly layered gelli prints;  it makes it so easy to line up each layer so that you get that lovely hand printed edge.

I then brayered Peacock Feathers distress ink onto the gelli plate for the sky;  now you would be lucky to get this lined this up without a mega mount.

Then I stamped the galleon into place using black archival ink.

Then, using the same paints, I pulled a couple of prints with the Ocean swirl stencil on card and then on parchment.  I tore these out to create the wild, crashing waves.

A bit of whitework on the parchment swirls to add highlights, and to suggest the foaming crests of the waves.

  

I laid these out along with the stamps to make sure I was happy with the composition.

Then I stamped both the swirls into place with versamark and used one of the fancy Frantage embossing powders.  I particularly love this one with its little flecks of gold. 

I added a drop shadow with a light charcoal pencil;  you can see below what a difference it makes.

Using a versamark pen, I emphasised the crests of the waves with a little embossing powder too.

 For the final flourish, to create a really wild, raging sea I coiled some strips of card to make swirls of various sizes, then glued into place.  Now some of you will know that this is a technique we did at a recent retreat with Maria Simms.  And you will not be able to believe that I actually did more curling!  I can hardly believe it myself!

And that's it.  Simply edged with black and mounted on to a plain white card blank.

I hope you like the finished card.  I did enjoy the whole process of making this one;  playing with different ideas and techniques, and letting it grow and develop as it went. 

Now I can't wait to see what you're going to come up with.  There's some really great work entered into the challenge every month, and it gets harder and harder to choose our top 5.  No need to worry if you're a beginner though;  the winner is chosen at random, so everyone has the same chance to win that £50 Clarity voucher.     

I have set myself a challenge too:  to be back soon for a chat and share another of my cards.  So hopefully it won't be long till next time.  Xxx

Its all about the layers

Hello there!  Its been a while, so I thought I'd better pop in to blog one of my cards from the last Claritystamp show on Hochanda.  This one uses the fab oriental trellis stencil:  I just love it!

 

I started by cutting a piece of stencil card to 3"x 5" and pulling grunge paste through the stencil.  Once dry, I started on the real fun bit;  layering up the colours.  Just go with it, making sure to choose an opaque base colour;  I used Bougainvillea.

 

 

 

Paint the colour on quickly, then wipe some off with a baby wipe.  What's left in the crevices starts to highlight the design and texture of the stencil.  Its good to use at least some translucent colours so you can see through to the colours underneath. 

 

 

Don't be frightened to put in some really bright colours.  You can always 'knock back' the effect with the next layer if you don't like it.

  

 

 

You can see here how the brighter colours underneath still show through this darker translucent layer.

 

 

 A little bit of white will always help to emphasise the design of the stencil.

 

 

Going with the flow...  going dark again.

 

 

 

Once you've achieved the depth of colour you're looking for;  concentrate on highlighting the stencil design.

 

 

Dry brushing a tiny amount of gold acrylic will really bring it to life.  I stamped and gold embossed one of the word chains onto some parchment to finish.

 

And here's another card I made in the same way using a different stencil.

 

 

I hope you like them, and that you feel inspired to try this technique out for yourself:  its so easy, but very effective. 

 

Hopefully I'll be back in a few days with another of my samples.  Until then, happy crafting everyone.  Till next time  Xxx  

Are you an angel?

Hello everyone.  Hope you're having a lovely weekend.  Did you manage to catch Barbara on the TV on Thursday;  if not you can now get them on catch up on Hochanda.com 

 

I just love the artist set of stamps.  I thought I would start by blogging my favourite piece.

Not quite sure where this idea for an angel with paintbrush arms and legs came from.  Here's my little practice one made out of copy paper and tissue, where I made sure that I could actually do what I pictured in my head!  

Yes, crack on Barbara, this will work.

I planned to make a little canvas, so I started with an old book page and sprayed on some white Dylusions ink spray to start to soften and obscure the print.

 

As I wanted a very random effect, I didn't mount the "You are a brilliant work of art" stamp, but just used it in my hand.  With such a large stamp, this makes it easier to vary the pressure and the areas of the stamp used.  I used vintage photo distress ink here.

Then I used the palette and the paintbrushes to add more texture;  stamping with Paperartsy Fresco Finish in Limelight, and trying out some Paperartsy rusting powder.  This didn't come out as expected (need to play more with this to better understand how it works;  watch this space).  At this point I thought I might have ruined it, but decided to keep going.

More random stamping in garden patina and cactus flower archival (these are new Wendy Vecchi colours), and chalk and snowflake Fresco Finish paints.

Once dry, this was mod podged onto a small canvas board.

 

I stamped out my words and letters on stencil card, "an" was done by masking off the unwanted letters in "brilliant."  The check frame was stamped on copy paper.  

I arranged everything on the canvas board until I was happy with the layout.

Now I set to work on the angel.  I decided to use Annabel's head for the finished piece and stamped her in black archival.  Let's make two;  just in case...

Then I stamped the paintbrush into position on another scrap of stencil card for her body and legs.

I used the other paintbrush for her arms, curving it on the mount before stamping into place. 

The wings were made using an NDC butterfly and angelina fibre.  I forgot to take a photo here, but its very easy.  If you're not sure how to do it, take a look at Barbara Gray's You Tube video here.

Wemt round the edges very gently with a blending tool and a tiny bit of garden patina.  Don't want to overdo it...

Edge the words with a ruler and a black Sharpie pen so they match the letterboxes before mod podging into place.

Mount onto a larger canvas board using an adhesive sheet.

Colour the angel with spectrum noir pencils, then cut her out.

I then cut a long strip of pink organza and gathered it along one edge.  This was attached in place around the neck of the angel.  

 

I then added the arms and glued everything into place using pinflair glue gel.

  

 

She's cute isn't she?

 

 

I hope you like the finished piece and that maybe it has inspired you to look at these great little artist stamps in an entirely different light. 

 

I'll be back soon.  Till next time.  Xxx

A bottle of memories...

Hello there.  I hope you are all well.  Looking forward to 3 extra Clarity shows with Barbara Gray on Thursday, so don't forget to tune into Hochanda at 11am, 3pm and 5pm;  or set to record them if you can.  There's some great new goodies!  Today I thought I would blog this bottle from the last show as a step by step.  I really want you to be able to look and think  "I could do that!"

When I saw the poppies, I just knew I had to make something special.  We lost my dad in November 2014, and poppies were his favourite flower;  so for me they always have an extra significance of remembering...  

  

I sponged on Paperartsy Fresco Finish paint in Chartreuse (this was from a limited edition set, but you could try Limelight for a similar effect), gradually getting lighter as I moved up the bottle.  This is a translucent one for a softer finish.

 

 

It only takes a couple of minutes to dry, and you can help it along with a heat gun too.  Ready for the second coat now;  chartreuse (or limelight) again, but not coming quite so far up the bottle. 

 

Next I mixed tinned peas with chartreuse and sponged again.  Just not coming up so far as the previous layer to get a graduated effect.

 

 

The final layer was done with a mix of chartreuse and Hyde Park paint.  This was a lot darker so I had to blend well.

 

 

Then I sponged on some Flitterglu (this is from Indigoblu and is fab for gilding glakes).  I used variegated copper gilding flakes;  the mix of golds and greens in this colourway are fabulous.

Looks pretty cool I think, but this is only the start.

 

 

At the same time as I did all the steps above, I also prepared some tissue which would be used to decoupage the bottle.  The meadow grasses and poppies were stamped in black archival, and the flowers coloured with spectrum noir pencils.

 

 

These were then cut out, ready to be mod podged onto the bottle.  You can see from the pictures below that the cutting out doesn't need to be perfect.

Decoupage the grasses and poppies onto the bottle with mod podge, then seal with a couple of thin coats used as a matt varnish.

 

I also used some of the same tissue to cover an MDF heart and rubbed gilding wax round the edges and a touch of glitter.

 

A piece of wire and a few beads to make a hanging loop for the tag, and that's it!  I always enjoy the challenge of making something more than just a card.  I hope you like it.

 

I'll be back soon to blog my samples for Thursday's shows and for the new Claritystamp challenge which launches next Tuesday.  You still have time to enter this month's challenge on the theme of love to be in with a chance of winning a £50 voucher to spend on Clarity goodies.  Now, wouldn't that be nice... 

 

Well the sun is shining, so we're off out for a walk to make the most of our last day off work.  Its back to normal tomorrow!  Till next time.  Xxx