Monday 22 November 2010

Second Ezee Pzee Design Team Project

For my second project I decided to use a canvas. I started by colouring the background with some USArtquest Mica watercolour paints. After it dried I stamped and embossed a large flourish stamp in gold.

I covered the right side of the canvas with gel medium and placed some fantasy film over the top and heat set it with my embossing gun, then stamped and embossed the flourish stamp over the top again.

I added some snowflakes on the left with a stencil and molding paste. When they dried I painted them with the pearl white mica watercolour paint, then added some iridescent foil over the top. At the bottom I adhered the Tim Holtz musical tissue tape and painted over it with the mica watercolour paint to make it blend in more. To finish the sides and top I applied some opalite embossing powder and heated it.

The Ezee Pzee toy soldier was first coloured with colorbox fluid chalk inks, his face with acrylic paints,  and the hat band and strings were painted with a gold leafing pen. I wanted it to be more vibrant so painted it with some varnish. I attached gold metallic cardstock behind the epaulets and the areas in the front of the uniform, then added glossy accents to fill the areas. The buttons are little green pearl embellishments.

Since I did not have the cut-out piece for the mustache I had to draw my own on black cardstock and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I had a bunch of the little googly eyes from previous craft projects and added them (sorry he is a bit cross-eyed as they kept moving when I scanned it LOL!).

I added a piece from an old earring as an emblem on his hat and a feather to finish it off.

First Project for the Ezee Pzee Design team

I received my wonderful box of goodies from Kathy at Engravit the company that makes the Ezee Pzee die cuts.  It was filled with an array of items to play with and I got started with the first project.

I decided to make a Christmas card as I am way behind on my list.

I took a piece of 130Lb cardstock and did the "stamp smoosh" technique which I learned from Cathie Allan, using Clearsnap's Fluid chalks. I stamped and embossed the Poinsettia  stamp then coloured it with Smooch Inks. I edged the panel with a red marker.

The little Elf was coloured with Acrylic Paints and I added some distress ink to the toy bag to give it definition. I added some smooch ink over the top of the Elf's clothing and the bow. I attached metallic cardstock pieces behind the words, and the elf's ears and eyes, and a bead for his nose.

The saying was stamped and embossed on an extra piece of the background and edged with the marker.

Thursday 18 November 2010

Ezee Pzee play time

As you may have noticed I was chosen for a spot on a design team called Ezee Pzee by Engravit. I was really happy to be on the team as this is a local company and they have a good variety of chipboard pieces.

Prior to being chosen I had bought a pack of the chipboard and last night I decided to play with a couple of them.

For the first item, I took the little mitten and sealed it with some SoJonia sealer, then painted it with some green metallic paint. I added some lovely red velvet rick-rack as the cuff.  I have some winter saying rub-ons and applied one of them to the body of the mitten.

I took a piece of cardstock that I had stamped ( a scrap I was not happy with!) edged it with a red marker, then applied three snowflake stickers that I got at the dollar store. I attached the mitten with some sturdy 465 3M tape.
In this same package there was a little sleigh/sled and I could not think of how to use it, then I finally decided to make a Christmas Card with it.

I took a piece of white cardstock and stamped and embossed the snow covered tree and added some Stickles glitter to simulate snow. I coloured the remaining portion of the cardstock with some light blue chalk for a sky look.  I discovered some Christmas frames with other embellishments at the dollar store, and chose one with red elements and applied the frame over the stamped image. This was applied to a red card front with double-sided foam tape.

I took the sled and sealed it then painted the main part with red acrylic paint and coloured the runners with a silver Krylon leafing pen. I coloured a piece of thin twine with a dark brown fluid chalk stamp pad using a Clearsnap stylus and black foam tip. I attached it to the front of the sled add some little gold and green embellishments to the sides. Again I added some Stickles glitter around the sled. To finish it I used another one of the rub-ons on the body of the sled.

I took a photo turn and attached a screw brad in the hole and attached it to the side of the frame, and hung the twine over it, and adhered the sled with some double-sided foam tape at the bottom of the card.

Canvas ATC"S

In my Art-Ventures group, Carol S proposed a swap for ATC's on canvas. Luckily I had a couple of canvas ATC bases and joined the swap. As it turns out only 3 of us joined in so I had sufficient to complete the swap.

I decided to do the same technique but in different colours.

I painted the bases with gesso and let it dry. I coloured the first one with green paint, let it dry then added blue over the top. I let it dry a bit then spritzed it with rubbing alcohol and then dabbed over it with a cloth, allowing some of the green to show through. For the second one, I painted the base with orange, let it dry then added a burgandy red over it and followed the same procedure as the first, allowing some of the orange to show.

After they dried completely, I embossed them with a dreamweavers stencil and embossing paste and set them aside. When they were dry I used leafing on both. On the the orange/red one I applied a variagated orange colour, then I added some green apple smooch ink to the vines and to cover some of the areas missed by the leafing I coloured with Pumpkin Smooch ink.

On the blue one I  coloured the vines with the Green Apple Smooch, but the silver on the flowers was a bit glaring so I coloured over them with some Ocean Soul Smooch ink, let it sit for a few seconds then gently wiped them with a kleenex.

To complete the cards I printed and cut out two images from Moonlight Journey and placed some little frames over them. Both were coloured with some metallic rub-ons in coordinating colours to match the backgrounds.

Monday 15 November 2010

Scraplings

I joined another swap to make some Scraplings. Basically these are a miniature card which are normally 1.25" X 4.25" because they are made from off-cuts after making a card or other project. The premise is to use all your scraps to complete the Scrapling.

This is a great way to use pieces that you would normally throw away.

This particular swap has a red/green/white colour scheme, but how we create it is entirely up to us.

I ended up making three as I was actually enjoying the whole process.

For the one on the left, I stamped an image with Vivid ink, outlined it with a green marker and attached it to the green cardstock. I added a red die-cut and a pearl embellishment which I coloured with alcohol ink.  I wrapped some green thread around the card and added some white pearls. To complete it I stamped the saying with fluid chalk ink and attached it with double sided tape.

The middle one was just a fun idea I had as the image is one of my favourites. I stamped the base with some green Versafine ink using a background stamp. I stamped the face with warm red fluid chalk ink and cut it out. I added some velvet rick-rack at the bottom then inserted the face just above it. I stamped and embossed the word Zen and the Z's on a piece of scrap cardstock and coloured it with the red fluid chalk and outlined them in green. I made a crown out of a stamped scrap piece of paper and added it above the Z's. For the final touch I took a punched flower, another scrap piece and added a little paper gem to finish off  the bottom.

The last card was stamped and embossed in white on the red card base. I took a sticker and attached it to a piece of white cardstock and clear embossed it. I coloured around the sticker with two colours of green fluid chalks. I then stamped a swirly snowflake stamp in red over the area, and wiped off the overstamping on the sticker. I framed it by using Be-creative (Sookwang) tape and Hunter Green Glitter Ritz. I had some little butterfly embellishments but felt it needed something so I attached a couple of tiny beads for the body and glued it to the top. I added some gem pieces to the bottom to complete it.

I am not sure which two I will be sending to my partner but I guess I can decide that when the swap closes.

Thursday 11 November 2010

I'll Be Home for Christmas Tags

On AFTCM  I joined a swap to make two tags for a partner with the theme" I'll Be Home for Christmas". The size and interpretation of the theme is entirely up to us.

The first tag I made, I fell back to using one of my favourite colours-blue. I had some cardstock that I had already coloured using stamps and fluid chalk inks with a touch of gold. I cut this to size in the shape of a house and stamped the image by Paper Inspirations with Versafine Black Onyx ink and coloured some of the areas. I stamped a piece of vellum with the Hero Arts Music Sheet stamp and attached it to the top to simulate a roof. I then edged the piece with a blue marker.


On the same cardstock I added some Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender ink, cut pieces to fit around the edge of the image then stamped the various word stamps using stamps from Hero Arts and TPC Studios and attached them to the sides and bottom with double-side foam tape.


For the top I stamped "Believe" from a Tim Holtz stamp and edged it in gold and attached it with the double-sided foam tape. I then punched some snowflakes, added glitter and glued them to the top and sides of the word.


To make the second tag I started by cutting the cardstock template in a house shape with a chimney.  I coloured the background with red and green Clearsnap fluid chalk inks. I  stamped an Inkadinkado snowflake flourish stamp and embossed it with green glitter then repeated it in a couple of areas and embossed it in white.


For the chimney I used a portion of a Christmas stamp by Stampington and Co., stamped it twice and added it to the left-hand side and added glitter to the top to simulate snow. I also added some metallic tape to the top of the roof.


I took a small chipboard frame and embossed it with pearl green embossing powder and stamped a holly stamp into it while hot. I added some red Stickles for the berries, then inserted the picture of the little girl courtesy of Trish B, added a piece of transparency over the top to protect it and attached it to the tag.


I coloured a piece of cardstock with green fluid chalks, stamped and embossed the saying by Rubber Stampede and attached it with double-sided foam tape.  To complete the tag I added the little poinsettia  embellishment.


 I hope my partner will be pleased with the two tags.

Wednesday 10 November 2010

Easel ATC

On DCI I am participating in a swap where we are making an ATC with an easel.

I started by printing of some Bingo ATC backgrounds by Lisa Vollrath. I then stamped and embossed a Tim Holtz flourish in Gold on the right-hand side. I coloured the edges of the ATC with Vivid and Adirondack inks to add some depth.

I cut some light blue/gray cardstock to fit the top of the ATC and coloured the edges with the same inks. I then stamped and embossed the word stamp Postcard (Lost and Found Stamps) in gold. I attached this to the top with double-sided tape.

I printed off an image from Moonlight Journey's Autumn sheet and cut out the girl after adhering it to some cardstock and attached it with double-side foam tape.

I took some printer paper and coloured it with the same inks as the ATC and stamped a word stamp (Lost and Found) then ripped it in half and adhered it to the bottom of the card. To finish it off I coloured some paper flowers with Smooch Ink, added a little heart shaped gem to the centre and attached it to the top of the scroll.


I then made the easel and attached the ATC to the top portion. I added some decorative paper to the inside of the easel. I cut another piece of the blue/gray cardstock coloured the edges with the blue inks, punched a circle from different decorative paper and placed a little embellishment in the centre. I attached this at the bottom to make a stop-guard for the ATC.

Home Decor for Christmas

I have not taken any classes since my local rubber stamp store closed last year, but we now have another store Scrap 'N Bean that is offering various classes, so I decided to take this one last week, you can view the class picture at Engravit (scroll to the bottom of the page).

The three blocks of wood are covered with decorative paper then distressed by sanding and adding ink to the edges. The Embellishments are covered with Judikins glaze and coloured with alcohol inks, the snowflakes are Ezee Pzee die-cuts which have been cut down into various sizes and attached to the piece.

I added my own twist to it. I added glitter to the snowflakes and added some Magenta beads as berries on the leaves. I still have to add ribbon and raffia to the edges.
Sorry the picture does not do it justice as it came out quite light when I photographed it.

Monday 8 November 2010

Altered CD Jewell Case

In the AFTCM group I am doing a swap where we alter a CD case and make a booklet to go inside with a winter theme.

I started by cutting some lunamatte paper to fit inside the front portion of the CD cover folded in half; which would be the booklet. I used two pieces so it would not be too bulky.

I stamped images, coloured them with Copic and Tombo markers, added glitter to some of the pages and added colour with my inkpads and Clearsnap stylus, and edged some with my markers. I finished it by sewing the centre together with some blue metallic thread.

For the front of the case I covered it in some silver toned paper. I stamped a Magenta image with brown memories ink added some white and silver glitter around the edges, I attached this to the centre. For the left edge I stamped and embossed the saying and edged it with a marker, and added some snowflake stickers.

For the inside right I took a piece of cardstock cut in a circle the size of a CD and covered it with black paper. I inked it with several colours of Opalite inks then stamped a snowflake background (Pedlars Pack) with Brilliance Moonlight White. I then took a snowflake cut-out and stamped and embossed a snowflake image on it an attached it to the centre of the circle. I added a little tree brad at the top and taped the circle to the area where the CD would be placed.

I also wanted to include a little extra item with the CD case. I recently bought some die-cuts made by a local company Ezee Pzee (Engravit.net), one being a snowflake. I took this and embossed one side with Peacock glitter embossing powder. On the other side I painted it with white acrylic paint and then embossed it with a different colour of glitter embossing powder. This is hung over the tree brad and can be removed to use on the Christmas tree or as a package topper, or whatever else the recipient chooses.

I also painted the black portion of the CD holder with a silver Krylon leafing pen, as I felt that the black was a bit glaring against the images.
This will be mailed and on it's way to my partner sometime this week.