G is for .....

Continuing on with the ATC ( artist trading cards) A-Z techniques in ArtVentures, the next one is G, and I chose Gesso Newspaper Transfer for my technique.

I started with laying down a coat of gesso on some watercolour paper. The technique tutorial uses hot press, but I only had cold press so that is what I used. I tore up some scraps of newspaper and applied it over the gesso, waited a bit then pulled it off; continued doing this placing the newsprint in different ways, until the piece was covered. Note:This is really a "trial and error" to determine how much gesso to apply and how long to leave the newsprint on the surface.

I then applied various colours of Dr. PH Martin watercolours over the paper after the gesso dried, (the tutorial uses fluid acrylics, but again I had none so I substituted the watercolours).

After the pieces were dry I cut out an black and white image which is a freebie on Elizabeths blog, then coloured it with damp paintbrush and distress inks and attached it to the ATC.

To complete the card I edged it with a gold marker, applied some gems and German Scraps trim. I did not have any gold, so I coloured some black pieces with a Krylon gold paint pen. I also did not have enough of one pattern, so used two different styles, therefore a couple are a bit different.

O'Halloween House shape

A third Halloween swap on AFTCM was to create a house shape with a Halloween theme. Did I mention that I don't really do much Halloween art? The reason I joined these swaps is because I liked the ideas and the challenge.

I discovered a template at this blog a couple of years ago, and decided to use it for my house shape. I printed it then traced it on to a transparency, then using the transparency I traced two copies on to 130LB cardstock and cut them out.

The first one, I coloured with Frayed Burlap Distress ink and Black Soot on the chimney. I used the bottom half of a door stamp from Stampourri inc, which has a wood grain, and stamped it lengthwise all over the house shape with Black Soot Distress ink.

I coloured the little fence with the Black Soot then filled in the remaining white areas with Clearsnap Orange pigment ink. I coloured the window frame with the orange pigment ink and outlined it with a dark brown marker. I attached a piece of transparency behind the window and added the image behind it.

I stamped two little bushes (also by Stampourri inc) and coloured them with my Lyra pencils and Smooch ink. I printed some Halloween images from Digicats and Dover Art
and added some Glossy accents to some of them to give them dimension. I attached these to the fence along with a couple of stickers mounted on some cardstock scraps.
To complete the house I punched a circle and placed a spider image from a sheet of scrapbook paper behind a scrap of transparency-added some glitter to the web with a gel pen.

The roof edge was covered with sequins, then I added glossy accents to ensure they stayed in place and sprinkled some autumn colored glitter over the top.

For the second piece, I coloured the house with Dusty Concord Distress Ink, with Tea Dye and Black Soot around the edges and top. I stamped a Shutter stamp (Stampourri) across the surface with Black Soot Distress ink.

I coloured the fence with Black Soot and filled in the remaining white areas with green pigment ink and coloured the window frame with the same colour of pigment ink then dabbed on some Black Soot to give it a worn look. Attached a scrap of transparency behind and an image.

Punched a hole for a top window, embossed a piece of transparency with clear embossing powder and placed it behind the area with an image inserted underneath.

I coloured a little Maya Road chipboard tree with Tea Dye Distress ink and glued it to the fence, and added a cat and a sticker which was attached to scrap cardstock to give it more body.

For the roof edge, I covered it with some Black Embossing Puffs to give it a darker and more dimensional look. Final touch was to attach a little bat to the chimney.

Trick or Treat Toilet Paper book

Another Halloween Swap on AFTCM is to create a mini book using toilet paper rolls with a Trick or Treat theme.

I had saved several toilet paper rolls and decided to use 6 of them to create my book. I flattened them by hand, ran them through my pasta machine then coloured them with dye inks. I then cut some Halloween scrapbook papers to fit around them and glued them on. Cut some coordinating colours of cardstock to insert inside the pages.

To complete them I printed images from Dover Art Publications and Words from Lisa Vollrath's freebies, and glued them to each page, along with and some dollar store stickers. The ghosts on the inside front page are a piece of "ribbon" I bought at my local rubber stamp store.

I created the background for the covers by covering some printer paper with dye inks, sprayed it with Goosebumps spray  then when dry, added another colour of dye ink over the top. I cut some cardboard a bit larger than the toilet paper rolls, and attached the backgrounds, then finished the insides with some orange cardstock. Added some dew drops to the edge (clear ones I coloured with alcohol inks and markers), and images, words and stamps (Stampscapes and Tim Holtz).

Punched 2 holes in all the pages and the covers. To bind the book, I used clear zip ties, coloured with a black alcohol marker. (I got this idea from the wonderful creative Cathie Allan who writes for The Canadian Scrapbooker, Scrap and Stamp, demos for Clearsnap, and teaches fantastic fun classes!).

To complete the edges I added some eyelash fibre, and some ribbon that I coloured with Clearsnap fluid chalks and pigment inks to get the colour I desired, then added some buttons and spiders to them.

For the inside of the pockets, I created some tags. I used dye and brilliance inks for the backgrounds, and added images from Dover Art, and digicats blog, sayings from Lisa Vollrath and on one I used my one and only Halloween stamp. The stamps in the background are Stampscapes and Tim Holtz.

Halloween in a Teacup

On AFTCM there are a few Halloween swaps on the go, one being Halloween in a Teacup.

I was going to do a 3-D version, but due to postal costs decided to make it a double sided type of card with a pop-up in the middle.

I was low on ink in my printer, so I created my own template for a Mug and made handle a pumpkin shape.  I coloured the front with dye inks using the direct-to-paper technique using a Clearsnap stylus and foam tips. Stamped the Stampscapes stamp around the top then added images from Dover Art and Vintage Paintworks. Cut out the nose, eyes and mouth on the "pumpkins" with some punches.

The back is coloured with pigment ink and stamped with Stampscapes & Stampendous stamps, added a touch of Smooch ink to the rays in behind the pumpkin witch. Images are from Dover Art. 

I remembered that I had a bunch of "googly eyes" and decided to add them to the pumpkin handles.

The inside is stamped with Magenta and Stampscapes stamps, then images added from Dover Art and Lisa Vollrath's sayings.