Alphabet Soup

Hi Lovely Followers!

Managed to create a mixed media page for the latest Artist Trading Post Challenge, Alphabet Soup. This is the first time i have entered an ATP challenge, all of the design team created wonderful and inspirational pieces so i just had to have a play.

Visited their bricks and mortar shop last Saturday, i got a couple of the new Princeton Catalyst Tools, a Colour Bloom Spray called Precious Stone and a Silver Aladine IZink.

Called next door to see the lovely Ecclesbourne Railway. We were served the best latte from a vending machine in the  Pullman Restaurant i have ever tasted, highly recommended place to visit!

Our journey to Wirksworth took us through hail, snow, sleet and the sunshine you see above, the weather turned out to be rather glorious, even for our return journey.

Alphabet Soup 

My project didn’t flow, struggled with every bit of it but i hope you enjoy the images.

Once again i used a lot of product, the new Catalyst wedge and spatula are fantastic, i will be adding to my collection. Easy to clean and they make using pastes over stencils so easy.

The above image is after i had sprayed the base with Precious Stone Colour Bloom spray and then sprayed over the TH Measured stencil with Shimmering White DecoArt Mister Spray.

 

Used a TCW 210 number collage stencil over the top  of the sprayed background. I applied DecoArt Crackle Paste through the stencil using the Catalyst blade and then while the stencil was still in place i used the Catalyst Wedge over the top to add some shapes to the crackle.

When this was dry i sprayed Violet and Turquoise DecoArt Mister Sprays over the top, dried them and then added my new favourite TH product, Brushed Pewter Distress Stain.

The macro image shows the texture from the crackle paste and the very subtle colours of the Precious Stone spray and the DecoArt Misters. You can also see the lines the wedge left, i really like this effect.

I am so sorry that the timeline of the project has gone from background to finished but i went back and forth to it over a few days and didn’t like what i was seeing so didn’t take too many pictures.

I did however enjoy the embossing of the metal tape,  the black paint over the top of the letters, rubbed back to give that aged look. Applying two different DecoArt Antiquing Creams, Patina Green and Raw Umber to add even more aging.

Using the new TH Mixed Media thinlits dies as stencils was wonderful, i added one of them to the bottom left hand corner over the top of some of the embossed and aged metal tape.

Added three different washi tapes down the centre of the page, then added three stamped words from Stampotique and Tim Holtz.

I really dislike the flower i made using the Tattered Floral Bigz die, something wasn’t right i think it was the colours of the layers it didn’t match the rest of the style. Went ahead with it anyway.

The centre is from an old jewellery necklace took apart. Still it doesn’t look right…

 

I made some paper rolls from old medicine information sheets, i used one for the base of the flower, coloured it with Iced Spruce Distress Re inker and then some of the Silver IZink over the top, love the shine and one for the stem which i covered with the embossed metal tape.

Macro of a couple of the metal covered letters.

After leaving the page to sit for a couple of days i realised it was the white of the flower centre that was bugging me so i stamped over it with a new mini Finnabair stamp called Dot Grunge.

Happy mail arrived this afternoon and my new Dylusions Sentiments stamp set Laugh ‘Till You Leak arrived. Used one of the sentiments on my page.

Hope you are not too disappointed in my Alphabet Soup, it came together very last minute. I might even add it to a piece of mount board, maybe that’s what’s missing! If i do will update the post.

Looking forward to your comments and feedback be it good or bad.

Thanks for dropping by.

xxx

Valentines Tags

I am sorry for my lack of blog posts, haven’t been feeling too well and have been trying to sort out my crafting area at the same time so i don’t fall over anymore! My crafting area hasn’t been sorted for about 10 years. I did a mini sort out last year but have had further purges and now have a much more streamlined stash.  The next stage is making it easier to access the most used items, this is a work in progress.

My last make was our Valentines Tags which i finished on 13 Feb, wrote most of the post and then just didn’t get around to finishing it, bad blogger!

So today i am finishing writing and adding the list of stash i used. Please get yourself a cuppa and sit back and i hope you enjoy the read.

List of items used to make the Tags:

Pan Pastels Blue and Turquoise

Inkylicious Elements 2 Stamp Set

Crafters Companion Splats and Stains Stamps Set

Stampotique Moth Fab and Checkers

Brilliance Ink Pad Pearlescent Sky Blue

Adirondack Cloudy Blue/Cool Peri and Denim

Archival Ink Pad Cornflower Blue

Distress Stains Old Paper/Spiced Marmalade/Picket Fence and Chipped Sapphire

Fresco Chalk Paints Nougat Blood Orange/Claret and London Bus

DecoArt Misters Red and Orange

DecoArt Media Paints Quinacridone Gold/Metallic Gold

DecoArt Lustres Majestic Purple and Lavish Green

DecoArt Stencils Tie dye and Timeless Treasures

Glitzcraft Glitter Frost Pastes White and from their Satin Finish Royal Blue and Copper

Stabilo All Black Pencil

From my older stash:

Ribbon

DCWV Vellum Quotes Stack

Small staples

Letraset Alphabet rub ons

Shiny tape with different designs

Uni Pin Pen and White Signo for the doodles

Card Stock to make my own Tags

Cereal box to make the smaller hearts

Old book pages

The Journey of layering and stencilling begins.

The hearts had already been sprayed with lots of lovely Cosmic Shimmer Sprays, OH chose the colours green, blue and copper for our Tags, so went with the colours already on the hearts. Added some lilac textured ribbon onto the top of the heart and glued down using watered down PVA Glue.

Added the Vellum sentiments over the top, used small staples to keep the stubborn edges down and then adhered them onto another piece of card as they kept curling up too much. When dry applied Ruby Treasure Gold around the edges.

 

Cut out two hearts from a piece of cereal box using an old sheet of stickers for the template.

Added a very thick layer of the Glitzcraft white glitter frosting and immediately sprayed the red and orange DecoArt Misters over the top. Left them to dry which took about an hour because of the sprays being added.

Didn’t like the colour as i had sprayed too much of the orange, my mistake, so added a layer of Blood Orange, Claret and then London Bus Fresco Paints to make them more red, then a layer of the Quinacridone Gold.

Liking this large Tag which i used as a mop up from the DecoArt Media Mister sprays.

The Tag backgrounds were made using all the different stamps from the Inkylicious Elements set 2 plate and a couple of the new Crafters Companion Texture stamp sets.

For each different stamp i used a different shade of blue ink.

Both Tags have similar backgrounds but i used two different DecoArt 12 x 12 stencils called Tie dye and Timeless Treasures to add some texture, both of these themes have meanings to us and our relationship.

The Glitzcraft Satin Paste is easy to use and dries very quickly. Both the copper and royal blue are beautiful colours.

Forgot to mention i wanted to warm the background of the Tags a little so brayered some Fresco Nougat over some of the areas before adding the glitter paste.

This gave me an idea, i also brayered over the dried glitter paste to take the colours down a little. The paste now looks like a very fine crackle not a glitter. Really like this effect and will definitely employ this technique again.

Macro shots of the hearts which show you the added DecoArt Gold Metallic paint and a hint of Picket Fence Distress Stain. Glad to see some rust tones to the finished hearts which i quite like.

Back of the copper Tag, used Distress Stains and some of the Inkylicious Stamps to create an area to write on.

Back of the royal blue Tag where i used Distress Stains again and also Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue ink pad and a stamp i got from a bundle i purchased from the lovely Astrid last year.

So you’ve seen the creative process and now for the Tags themselves.

This is the one i sent to my wonderful OH, i added the lovely Moth Fab from Stampotique and a couple of other stickers. Also added a few of the Letraset letters and the chevron style accents.

This is the one i received from OH. Added some doodling onto this heart and Checkers from Stampotique who was stamped onto old book paper and coloured with some very old pens.

As a final touch some doodling was added around the edges of both Tags.

Phew, that was a very long post! Apologies if you didn’t make it to the end but i wanted to share how i used all the products.

Thank you so much for your patience and for dropping by and leaving such encouraging comments.

Will be back in a few days once the stash has been tamed and i am ready to create once again.

xxx

Speed Craft Challenge #12 Animals

Hi Everyone It’s the lovely Donna’s turn to choose our theme this time over at the Speed Craft Challenge and she has chosen Animals.

We are being sponsored by the lovely people at The Old Design Shop for this Challenge.

I hope you will join in for a chance to win 3 of their digital designs from their Etsy shop.

I decided to go all out digital with my project. I used a free animal design sheet from our sponsors site that you can see above.

Used this as a background by copying it three times and placing it next to each other on my iCard sized card.

Used Serif CraftArtist 2 Professional as the software and digi kits from Daisytrail to add birds to my design.

The sentiment reads ‘Dancing In The Rain’.

My project took me 14 minutes 58 seconds so nearly ran out of time on this one.

Please pop over and see the wonderful inspiration from the other Design Team members here.

Remember to add the time it took you to complete your project somewhere within the post of your blog, if you don’t you won’t be able to be entered for the chance to win some goodies!

Hope you enjoyed your visit today, thanks for dropping by.

xxx

20 Year Old Belt

In June 2014 i visited a local craft store to see Andy Skinner and Mark Gould demonstrate some new DecoArt products, i have to say that i was blown away by their versatility and value for money. I purchased a lot of the new Mixed Media Paints and Mediums and started playing with them immediately i got home.

I loved the products so much i have recently become part of the DecoArt Blogger Outreach Programme as i wanted to spread the word via my blog. Being part of the Programme allows me to order free products and so when you see any of my blogs where i mention DecoArt please be aware that the items i am using have been provided by DecoArt, however my views on these products are my own.

Please go and visit their two blogs, the links are below, where you will find lots of projects and information on all their product range and i hope like me you will begin to love using their products.

DecoArt Blog

DecoArt Mixed Media Blog

 

My lovely OH wears a belt he purchased from M&S about 20 years ago and despite the new belts he has received over the years always reverts back to this one.

I noticed cracks had started to appear and white areas had started to appear and the stitching has faded so asked him to let me have it for a few hours so i could try to make it look a little bit better.

I like their All Purpose Paints very much as they give fantastic coverage and the pair of shoes i painted a while ago are still looking beautiful.

Using the Black Tile paint and a medium paintbrush i added 3 layers of the paint to both sides of the belt. The above images show the belt after one layer has been added.

The above images show the belt after 3 layers of paint have been added.

Then added 3 layers of the most wonderful varnish you will ever use it is called Soft Touch and it is so tactile you will sit stroking whatever you have covered it with and won’t want to give it away lol.

 

The Black Tile paint is a satin finish but when you paint over the Soft Touch Varnish it becomes more matt, you can see the difference in the images above and also how fantastic the belt now looks on the edges that were all rough.

My happy OH modelling his newly painted and varnished belt ready for another 20 years of wear and tear.

Hope you have enjoyed your visit today and am looking forward to reading your lovely comments.

Thanks for dropping by.

xxx

Darcy’s February Calendar Challenge

Time for more fun over at Darcy Wilkinson’s Blog with her February Calendar Page Challenge.

Darcy writes:

So the rules for February are..

1.. Keep a part of the original picture and incorporate that into your design

2, Technique - Paint effect caused by using cling film or bubble wrap

3. Add some corrugated card

4. Blog your calendar page and link up from Feb 1st 2015

 

My image for February is a hand drawn face i made last year in my learning to draw journal, took a picture with my phone then played with it using the Pixlr-o-Matic App adding a filter on top of the image, emailed it to myself and then printed it out onto a calendar page using software from my computer

 

by printing off my own calendar image instead of buying one the paper i have used is copy paper which makes for interesting and unexpected outcomes.

Used bubble wrap and Snowflake Fresco Paint from Paper Artsy to cover everywhere except the face, i cut out a large circle from the Tim Holtz movers and shapers circles die to protect that area.

Went over two of the corner areas with DecoArt Quinacridone Gold, then used more bubble wrap technique over the top. Tried the cling film technique but wasn’t successful and left me with the colour being removed from the face and surrounding areas.

The image looked terrible but decided to go with it’s imperfections as it added a little more interest to the page.

For the corrugated part of the Challenge i had some pieces from cutting out some of the Tim Holtz on the edge die Pennants.

Coloured the corrugated pieces with Quinacridone Gold and Turquoise DecoArt Media paints then stamped over the top using the Zendoodle Filler stamps by Lindsay Mason.

I drew the lines of the face back in at this stage as i really did want the face to be the focal image.

Went over the top of the corrugated pieces with Treasure Gold in a few different colours, added the February 2015 to the frame and then added the page to my textured backgrounds journal.

February page in the journal all finished.

Thank you Darcy really enjoyed this months Challenge and will be working on March’s very soon.

Thanks for dropping by, looking forward to your lovely comments.

xxx