Wednesday 22 January 2014

SDC131: Stars Take Two

Over at Stampotique Designers Blog they are having another week of Stars. Some of the entries are stunning i hope you pop over and take a look.

Over at Paper Artsy this week they have a new Guest Designer, Ellen Vargo. I am new to Ellen’s work but she has an amazing eye for colour and abstract design. Over the last three evenings she has shown us how to create tags, cards and then a framed piece of Art.

I don’t understand abstract but i do understand layering and the concept of using lighter colours first and adding darker colours on top. What Ellen has helped me to learn is how to use these techniques with stamps and stencils.

I decided to have a play but instead of using very bright colours and using paint i chose to use Pan Pastels.

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Chose colours, Yellow Ochre Shade, Yellow Ochre, Burnt sienna, Ultramarine Blue, Pthalo Blue, Turquoise Shade and Purple, same as i used on my SDC131 Challenge piece over on my Wordpress Blog. This picture was taken early morning and the colours are not as they appear above, they can be seen in their correct colours here.

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I used half an A4 sheet of card stock from stash and coloured it using the lighter shades first, then added the blues and purple over the top, decided to use a larger piece of foam to get long lines of colour and didn’t blend them.

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Decided to remove some of the top colour by using a mechanical eraser through a stencil (Andy Skinner Hippy Chick). Then used the tip of the eraser to remove more colour by making small circles. Kay from Indigo Blue uses one called a Whizzy Eraser but i managed to purchase one from my local Stationers which also sells the refills called a Jokar.

Went around both the stars and circles with a black pen and then added an inner circle with a white pen, repeated this with the stars but added a stitch border to them. Not too sure if i should have done this as the main image is supposed to be stamped in black so it becomes the main focal point.

Added the book page pieces and adhered them using clear Gesso, then following Ellen’s instructions i blended these into the background by adding some of the colours i had already used.

Stamped images onto the card using Paper Artsy HP1004 and HP1006 plates, the script and the bullseye. Used my new Inkadinkado Gear Bar to stamp the border and the flowers in Misty Blue and White Versacolour Ink for the bullseye, used Jo Firth Young stamps for the main focal image from plate JOFY12. The sentiments are from Get Stamping Magazine Free plate from Issue 6.

Made a mistake when cutting up the background and cut the half A4 into 4 instead of two so have got myself smaller cards which are 4.5 x 3.2 inches.

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I like these more muted cards and will use this technique again and again. As it turns out i actually like this abstract idea so thanks To Ellen and Paper Artsy for my newly learned technique.

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All four of the cards together. Hope you like them too. Looking forward to your comments. xxx

24 comments:

  1. superb colours - nice to see this technique but in lighter shades xx

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  2. Great idea to try this with the PPs! Your cards are stunning!
    Alison xxx

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  3. Your cards came out great with the pan pastels and fab idea to add the stars to incorporate the Stampotique challenge too.

    Sam xx

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    1. Made this very early this morning and wasn't aware of the week 2 Stars Challenge, glad it qualified though lol :-) xxx

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  4. Fabulous designs, love your muted backgrounds.
    hugs {brenda} x0x

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  5. The Pan Pastels have served you well in creating a strong, but muted background. I just saw this "masterboard" technique on Ellen Vargo's site this morning, then the details on the Paper Artsy site. You also had a great recovery from that oops cutting error! I love the size of your cards! Thanks for participating in the Stampotique Designers' Star Tag Two Challenge this week! Kay

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  6. Very interesting post, love what you did! Thanks for visiting my blog today! hugs

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  7. Hi there, wow love the results of your new technique. they look fab. Did you get any luck with the email address for your prize? If you email Nikky at sales@polkadoodles.co.uk she'll be able to get your prize sorted out
    Claire xx

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    1. Hi Claire i had an issue with my laptop which for some reason wouldn't allow the link to work but a couple of days later i had a lightbulb moment and thought doh why don't you email from your phone, so i did and am hopeful it is all in hand.

      You are very kind to offer help, it is really appreciated :-) xxx

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  8. Wow lovely fantastic cards. I love how you have adapted Ellen's technique to your own. Great choice of colours which are met by the stamps you chose to use. Like these very much xx

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  9. These are fantastic, amazing how different they look by using the PP rather than the paints.

    Jo
    x

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  10. They look great, I love the colours.

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  11. I love how you used the Pan Pastels instead of paint - totally different look! Nice job!

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  12. Truly dreamy and beautiful.
    Thanks for joining in with us at Stampotique this week :)

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  13. Beautiful! Thank you for showing your process. Well done with the layering.

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  14. Great cards - such a different look with PP!

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  15. Love the soft blending of pastels on the background. Interesting technique with the eraser too.

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  16. Beautiful cards! They look so subtle and soft. I would love to receive one of these! Julie Ann xx

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  17. Love your muted colours. Great set

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  18. These are gorgeous, I love how gentle the PanPastels look. This is a fab technique isn't it, perfect for any stamps. (puts Stampotique hat on) Thanks so much for joining us at Stampotique Designers Challenge. Sue :-) xx

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  19. I have recently tried pan pastels too and they are so fab! Love what you've done with them here. Beautiful!! Thanks for joining us over at Stampotique's Designers Challenge.

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  20. Fabulous, you are getting some amazing results with your pan pastels.

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  21. Fantastic, love the muted colours. Great that you tried the technique with pans,

    Lucy

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