Sparkle and Shine...

This is my creation for the Country View Crafts challenge, this month the theme is Sparkle and Shine...
check out the blog

I started by painting a canvas using Eco Friendly acrylic paint in Grape. I used the black side of some Cut N Dry foam to give a textured finish.

When this was dry I roughly drew some circles using a Zig glue pen and applied some gilding flakes to add some shine, and created some drips using silver ink.

I wanted to capture the feel of Autumn, so with some craft metal I die cut some acorn leaves, shaped them around a pen and glued them to the canvas.

Now for some sparkle, I have a reel of madeira thread, it's called Jewel Holographic, really sparkly, tricky to capture the effect with a photograph!!

After some experimenting, I cut off a couple of metres, and wrapped them around 2 fingers and twisted together to create some circles.

We had some maintenance to our heating system recently, and they were using a soldering iron, a few drops fell onto the floor, so I rescued 2 blobs of solder. Nice and shiny, so I glued these onto the canvas.

Lastly for some more sparkle and shine I attached 5 glass crystal pendants to the side of the canvas with some craft wire.

Great fun, hope you enjoy...

Nautical

This Month's challenge at Country View Crafts Challenge is Nautical.

As I do not have anything Nautical in my stash, I thought I would do some Zentangling.

This was then coloured using watercolour pencils and Copic markers and backed onto some chipboard.

Using my computer I designed the wording and used a Spellbinder label to cut it out.

Really enjoyed taking part in this challenge... and really proud to be mentioned in last month's challenge!!

Mini Art Journal

I was feeling a bit blue today, so I made a page for my Art Journal.

I made this a few weeks ago, using 3 pieces of card, rounded off the corners, folded in half, made some holes and stitched together.

I created the page by painting the surface with white Gesso. When this was dry I used a few derwent Artbars to create the background colour.

Using some stamps, I added some layers around the edges, and with a stencil and some acrylic paint created the circles.


I found the quote on pinterest, unsure who it is by, but it speaks volumes......

Summer

Found this great new blog, Mixed Media Card Challenge blog

 So I started with some watercolour card, and created the background using a yellow and 2 blue Derwent Artbars. When this was dry I stamped 2 patches of burlap and created the white circles using a top from an ink spray bottle and some acrylic paint.

With some PVA glue I created the half circles and added some Ranger Distress Glitter in Peacock Feathers. I am not really a glitter person, but really liked the effect.

With a Martha Stewart mould and some paperclay, the leaves were made. The face was created from a mould of a figurine, these were painted with acrylic paints and highlighted with guilding waxes.

The letters are from a Spellbinders alphabet die set.

This was backed onto some purple card and I added some free hand squiggles with a jelly roll pen.

Finally to finish I added 3 purple jems to one of the circles.

Great fun, glad I took part...

Autumn/Steampunk

Found this great blog

http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/autumn-or-steampunk.html

The theme for their latest challenge is Autumn colours or Steampunk or a combination of both.

So, I decided to do a combination of both.

I started with a small square of calico and put this under the tap to make it damp.

Using an old Big and Juicy ink pad I smeared this onto my glass mat and rubbed over the damp calico and left to dry.

After some thinking, I decided to stamp my steam train with white embossing powder, was'nt sure if this would work and was surprised how well it came out!!

I have a sheet of laser cut cogs, so coloured these with some alcohol markers.

The light bulbs and steampunk man come from images on Serif Craft Artist.

This was backed onto some cardboard and sits proudly on my bookcase.

Great fun!!!

Word Play Part 2!!

Here is my second entry for the Country View Crafts challenge,

http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/were-into-august-and-new-challenge.html

I have been playing with some water soluable pastels and some Derwent Artbars, I found that by scraping the sides of the pastels with a craft knife, this creates little piles of colour. When I spritzed some water onto the colours it created this cool effect.

When the water was still wet I scraped some Derwent Artbars, some of this remained, and some watered down onto the card.

I added the words with a white jelly roll pen onto coated cardstock, and backed this onto some black card.

Really pleased with my experiment!!

Word Play

This is my entry for August over on the Country View Crafts blog.

http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.com/2014/08/were-into-august-and-new-challenge.html

The challenge is Word Play. I saw this quote some time ago and wanted to incorporate it within my art.

I started with some chipboard and sprayed using Dylusions ink spray in black. When this was dry I stamped and embossed 3 light bulbs.

I used white and yellow soft pastels around each bulb and blended using a paper stump.

The inside of the bulb I decided to use Daler Rowney thick body acrylic paint in yellow and white. I mixed them using a cocktail stick and applied to the middle of each bulb giving dimention.

The words were hand written using a Zig chalk writer in yellow.

I wanted to add further elements to this, but decided against it as I wanted my eyes only to be drawn towards the bulbs, hopefully to fully understand the words!!

I really enjoyed this challenge, I am sure I am not alone in saying we all have dark times in our lives, and there is always light to be found...

PaperArtsy Challenge...

This is my creation for the PaperArtsy challenge this week.

Check out this link to a stunning creation http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2014/07/welcome-back-gd-liesbeth-fidder-project.html

I have never tried out the peeled paint technique using acrylic paints before and was so inspired by Leisbeth's project.

So I painted a piece of board with Eco Crafts Acrylic paint in Lake, Clam Shell and New Grass. When this had dried I stamped some musical elements onto the board.

Using my fingers I applied some Vaseline to areas of the stamped images, when this had dried I painted the project all over with New Grass.

When this was dry I rubbed away where I had placed the Vaseline, really pleased with the result. I cut out 3 circles in different sizes and embossed these with a musical score embossing folder.

I painted these with the same brand of paint in Old Gold and rubbed some New Grass to highlight the embossing.

The figure was the result of playing with some Martha Stewart Paperclay and a mould that I had made. I painted this with the Old Gold and highlighted with New Grass.

I stamped some musical notes with Memento Ink in Bamboo leaves, and also embossed with some gold embossing powder.

I finished off with a metal nib.

I was really pleased with the result, and would like to thank Liesbeth for the inspiration, and for sharing the wonderful creation. I will be trying out this technique again!!

Stencil It...

This is my creation for the Country View Crafts challenge month, the theme is Stencil It.

I have wanted in incorporate fabric into my crafting, so with a small piece of calico I sprayed with Dylusions Ink Spray in Cut Grass and Orange. After this had dried I placed my Crafters Workshop stencil called Circles onto the fabric and sprayed through Black.

To keep the circular theme going, I then applied Texture paste through a Memory Box stencil called Rings and Puddles.

I was really pleased with the result as this was the first time I have used fabric!!

I stamped the crown and lion and cut them out and wrote the lettering, the word different was from my Brother lettering machine.

I found some old packaging that I have been saving to back the fabric onto. I made my own stencil using a bit of scrap card, I drew some squares and rectangles and cut them using a craft knife.

Using eco green crafts acrylic paint in Periwinkle and Lake and a piece of phat foam applied to the backing.

The embellishment is from Creative Expressions that I painted with the Lake acrylic paint, I cut 3 dragonfiles and glues them onto the key.

Great fun...

Wood..

This is my creation for the folks over at  Artful Times the challenge is of wood or on wood.

I started with some wooden packaging that came with some wooden embellishments. I painted this with blue and purple acrylic paint and when dry added some cream acrylic paint.

I like Dragonflies, and during some research, I found one called Purple Darter, I have some stamps of dragonflies but wanted to make my own design.

I had a strip of balsa wood and cut this up into small squares to simulate the body and painted them.

I attached to the base. Using a piece of blue velum, and some parchment tools, I created the wings. I have never tried parchment craft, really pleased I did as it was great fun.

The letters come from the Tim Holtz alphabet die, the metal embellishment comes from Bo Bunny.

Lastly I added 2 eyes using Cosmic Shimmer coloured pva.

Country View Crafts' Challenge Blog

http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/a-new-challenge-and-some-new-designers.html

I was looking at the Country View Crafts' webpage, and they have a blog and a monthly challenge. This month's theme is Men Only.

So I thought I would make a bookmark.

I started by using Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge and distressed some cardstock. I have a wonderful set of stamps by Artistic Outpost called London Underground, so I stamped some of these using Memento ink in Rich cocoa.

The bus came from the London collection, a set of dies from X Cut.

To finish I added an aged copper screw brad from Creative Expressions.

Hope you enjoy..

Sunday Stamper- Girl Talk...

I have been working on this week's Sunday Stamper challenge on Hels Sheridans blog.

I distressed some cardboard and painted using Eco Green Crafts acrylic paint in pink and brown. After this was dry a added some white stripes using some scrap card.

Not sure where I got the stamps from but they include a mannequin, I stamped this onto tissue using Staz on Cherry Pink. This was then stuck onto the base using Maimen Acrilico matt gel.

I stamped the style 472 and 5/3' and made the embellishments using Epiphany Crafts epoxy shape maker.

From Serif I printed off some ladies and using Glossy Accents glued them to a microscope slide.

The hanger is made from some wire and beads.

Hope you enjoy..

Owl Challenge

Well here is my little creation for the folks over at Artful Times. The challenge this time is 'Owls'.

I started with a 5x7" canvas and attached some backing paper.

I don't have any owl stamps or images, so looking through my stamps I found 2 Clarity Stamps that I had'nt used for a while.

The first one is a 1.5" thin strip consisting of small flowers and leaves and has a slight curve, so I stamped several times a outline of the owl.

I nearly scrapped it at this stage as the body looked a little rotund, but I thought he has just had his dinner so he will look a little fat!!

For the ears I used a decorative corner stamp again from Clarity. I drew his beak with a red fountain pen and added his feet and some branches using my black micron pen.

I have some Creative Expressions Dazzlers, so I used these for his eyes, to finish I attached some Woodware self adhesive decorative lace.

Using some white acrylic paint, I dipped the edge of some cardboard and stamped some lines on the right hand side.

Really glad I took part in this challenge, hope you like!!

Dont It Make My Brown Eyes Blue

 This is my creation for Hels Sheridan's blog, the theme for this week's Sunday Stamping is Brown and Blue.

I started with some packaging from some chipboard shapes, I painted this with some brown acrylic paint and edges the sides with Cosmic Shimmer guilding wax.

On some scrap card I stamped 2 butterflies using Vintage Photo D Ink, and added some thin white lace that I coloured using Faded Jeans D Ink. with a pair of scissors a distressed all the edges of the card.

The dragonflies were die cut, I stuck 2 together to give a little dimention. I stamped the letters with blue embossing powder and stuck these all to the edge of the box.

New Stencil...

I distressed some scrap card with D Inks in Picked Raspberry and Seedless Preserves, then sponged Black Soot through a Memory Box stencil called Rings and Puddles.

I found some scrap decorative papers and stuck them to some chipboard packaging. When dry I sanded around the edges and distressed with some Black Soot.

I had some left over paper embellishments that I had created from Serif craft Artist, and with some words from my old dictionary.

These were stuck down and added to the base card.

Hope you enjoy...

Mail Art Challenge

This is for the Artful Times challenge, and the theme is Mail Art.

I started by lightly spraying with Dylusions Ink spray in Cut Grass and Stams Away ink spray in Pansy.

Using a set of flower stamps, I stamped using Distress Inks in Seedless Preserves and Picked Raspberry. The first stamp was onto copier paper, and then stamped a 2nd generation on the project.

Some years ago I purchased an old fountain pen with a view to trying to repair it, that never happened!!. I found this while trying to find something else, so I have a bottle of ink and used it as a dip pen.

I drew a box for the address and added some squirlies around the edge, really like the effect, must practice more though.

I am really pleased that I took on this challenge as I have learnt some new techniques.

Mixed Media Canvas

Discovered this great blog
http://rheddscreativespirit.blogspot.co.uk/

They have a monthly challenge and May is Anything Goes, with a really fab prize for the winner of some box wooden shapes from Fernli designs. WOW!!!

I enjoy canvas art and normally work on 5x7", so this canvas was a big challenge for me being so big.

I first painted with acrylic paints.

Some time ago I purchased the model railway coach that was damaged with a view to altering it. I sponged some acrylic paint and highlighted with Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers. The windows were highlighted with Creative Expressions Guilding wax in purple.

Digital crafting is cool, so I found some images and printed and cut them out. I then added to both the coach and the steam loco.

I used some sepia accents and Pinflair Ice diamonds for the body of the loco and added some Apatite gemstones coming out of the chimney.

Artful Times Challenge Blog

I found this great blog

http://artfultimes.blogspot.co.uk/

and they have a Fortnighly challenge, the latest is called Spray Away.

So I have some Stamps Away spray mists in my stash and have never really used them.

I started with some blank cardstock and sprayed with Amber, then with my Crafters Workshop mask I sprayed over with Rose, Midnight, Sapphire and Pansy.

The steam loco is my own stamp that I made, and stamped using Archival Ink in Plum, and added the Thinking of You sentiment.

I tried to replecate steam by removing some of the inks with water and highlighting wih a white pencil.

When this was complete I backed this onto purple card.

Sunday Stampers- Eternal Flame

Here is my entry for the Sunday Stamper challenge on Hels Sheridan's blog.

I started with some blank card stock and using Mustard Seed and Spiced marmalade d.inks distressed it up.

I have some smashing squirly stamps, so stamped them using Spiced marmalade and Festive Berries, after that using a corner punch on two of the ends.

The letters are Tim Holtz grunge range, first time I have used them!!

I then backed this onto an old cardboard box and distressed this with Festive Berries.

Great fun, Hope you enjoy...

Union Flag...

I saw this technique recently on YouTube..

So using d.inks in Faded jeans and Fired brick distressed some plain card stock.

I then stamped the flag and embossed with clear embossing powder.

When this had cooled a rubbed over some Black Soot.

Hope you enjoy!!!

Sunday Stamping Challenge

Here is my little creation for the Sunday Stamping Challenge over on Hels Sheridan's cool blog!! The theme this week is Nature.

I started my stamping some Dragonflies and embossed with Heat It Up in Blue Glass.

Using D Inks in Salty Ocean, Broken China and Tumbled Glass distressed the card and stamped some flower stalks in Peacock Feathers.

Tim Holtz Fragments are cool, I glued on on to the nature entry in an old dictionary I had.

I had some glass bottle tops, so I added a big blob of PVA and poured on Pinflair's Ice Diamond and let them dry before adding a few drops of Adirondak alcohol inks in Raspberry and Peach Melba

Hope you enjoy...

Hand Made Stencil/Mask...

I was sorting out some of my stash today, and I had a piece of packaging. Not wanting to throw this away I thought I maight be able to make a mask.

Using my glass mat I marked out the corners of 5 squares and punched out some holes with my Crocodile punch that has 2 sizes of holes.

I then distressed some card using Spiced marmalade, then with Rusty Hinge I applied through the mask.

Must do this again and will try a Harlequin design..

New Blogger!!!

Dream Tag

My first entry for my blog.

I have created this using Dylusions Ink Spray in Cut Grass, and then stamped using Distress Ink in Mowed Lawn.

The frames and letters are from Spellbinders and added some bees that were stamped and cut using the Brother Scan n Cut.

Great Fun!!!