Colour Perceptions - Teal

On ArtVentures,  July's colour was Teal and my perception of it is relaxing and restful.

I started by colouring a piece of white cardstock with Memento Zeal Teal ink. I then placed a stencil at the top right and coloured over it with the same ink.

I stamped the Penny Black stamp in the centre with Tsukineko Versafine Deep Lagoon. I added a piece of Tim Holtz tissue tape on the left edge and coloured it with both inks.  To finish it, I used a Versamrk embossing pen on the bottom and embossed it with Stampendous Aged Teal Embossing Enamel.

Colour Perceptions - Grey

In the ongoing swap with ArtVentures the latest colour is grey, and as always, various shades and layering.

 I started by swiping the base cardstock with Pewter distress paint, then applied Tsukineko Flannel Gray Memento ink over it. The pewter acted as a resist so you can see a bit of sparkle when holding it up.

I used a copic grey marker to colour some computer paper and stamped the Do Crafts stamp in Tsukineko Versafine Smokey Gray, cut around it, and applied to the base. (In hindsight, I think I should have done something different as this piece doesn't really blend in and seems to be hovering above the lady).

I  printed an image in grayscale that I got from Elizabeth's blog, layered it on some cardstock, cut it out and attached below the previous stamped piece.

I coloured some cardstock with a lighter grey copic and stamped the Inkadinkado Ruler stamp with the Versafine Smokey Gray ink, cut it to size and applied it with double-sided foam tape.

To finish off my ATC, I rummaged through my stash of flowers and found some paper ones that I had for years. I had some silver and white ones. I coloured the white ones with the darker grey copic, attached them over the silver one. To complete it I added some tiny grey buttons from my button tin.

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.

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.

Calendar Pages-Prototype #1

I joined a calendar swap and started working on my prototype for the month of November.

Where I live we quite often have snow in November, so I was thinking of a cold or snowy picture when I started creating this page.


I started by taking some 80Lb cream cardstock and Clearsnap fluid chalks inks and did a background using alabaster, ice blue and lavender using the Stamp Smoosh technique I learned from the wonderful Cathie Allan. You load a solid stamp with ink and smoosh it around on the card stock until all the ink is gone and keep repeating this until you are happy with it.
 
Using Tsukineko Versafine Imperial Purple ink,  I stamped the church stamp and added the large tree at the left, both from Stampscapes Since we have a lot of Birch trees here I decided to add a few using a stamp (Stampendous) stamping the first image, masking it off and then adding more to make a grove of trees.
 
It looked a bit naked so I took a stamp with a road, hills and trees (A stamp in the Hand), masked off part of it and stamped it below the church. 
 

I also decided to add a moon using a negative image of a punched circle. I started by colouring it with a grey coloured pencil, added some Twinkling H2O buttercup. then Pearl-ex express white pearl and iridescent violet. This stuck out like a sore thumb so I took the fluid chalk alabaster and dabbed it over the moon with a stylus and white applicator, which toned it down.  

 

Since this is a prototype the calendar grid is only taped on till I decide whether or not I am completely happy with what I created.  

D is for

We are continuing on with the Alphabet series and this time it is D. I chose distressing ink, dimension, dictionary words and Dream as my theme.

Lacking for any better ideas I decided on making a notebook. I started with the front cover and took a piece of cardstock and did direct-to-paper with the colorbox stylus and distress inks. I then stamped the image from Third Coast Rubber Stamps with Versafine inks. I masked it and stamped the wings (Tim Holtz) first with Brilliance sky blue then overstamped with Mica Magic gold. I left the mask in place and stamped the Dream background stamp with versafine ink.

I stamped a stars with gold mica magic. I had stamped a word stamp at the top left but did not like the effect so took some sequin waste and gold paint to cover it.

The word dream is done with chipboard letters from the dollar store embossed,  some stamped into while hot and one is covered with silver tape that I embossed in my Cuttlebug and coloured wih alcohol ink.

For the inside cover I took another piece of cardstock and covered it with dictionary words and covered it with an acrylic paint wash and edged the sides with copper acrylic paint. I  then added stamped images (Tim Holtz) and the quote stamp (Quietfire Designs). The little girl image is a piece I had in my stash for years, and it was from a magazine ad for collectors plates.

The back is just covered with some scrapbook paper that looks a bit aged and distressed.

C is for

On CC Swaps we are continuing with the Alphabet for a theme, technique  or medium. the one I did is C for crackle, corners and Cat.

I started by painting the back of a mini canvas with acrylic paint, then crackle medium then a coat of white acrylic paint. I then rubbed it with some distress vintage photo ink.

I cut a piece of acrylic to fit in the "frame" then cut a piece of 130 lb card stock and coloured it with Brilliance Sky Blue ink  and stamped with Ancient Page Coal. I inserted the stamped piece and the acyrlic in the frame portion.

I then took some corner pieces and coloured them with Pinata Burro Brown ink and glued them to the corners.

I stamped the little cat with Onyx Black Versafine and embossed it with black embossing powder; coloured it with a light grey Prismacolor pencil. I colored the bow and added glossy accents for dimension. I placed some thick pop-dots on the acrylic and attached the little cat to simulate him looking out the window. The acrylic has a bit of a glare at the top, so it is hard to see the little bird.

I have a brayer

I joined a swap in CCSwaps called "I have a brayer and I know how to use it!"  For this swap we were to  make a card for our partner, but I missed that part and started off by making a large tag. I realized I had goofed later on so back to the drawing board.

 I brayered yellow Vivid ink (Clearsnap) on glossy card a bit more than halfway. I punched out a circle and laid it on the cardstock. I brayered on butterscotch Vivid over the yellow, but lightly over the circle area. I then brayered raisin Adirondack (Ranger)over the top portion.

I tore a piece of paper and laid it on the bottom portion of the cardstock and brayered with aqua Vivid then removed the paper and brayered Big and Juicy Hydrangea (Ranger) over the very bottom.

I stamped the trees (Stampin' Up) and the geese (Stampscapes) with Ancient Page Coal Black (Clearsnap). I added some red Marvy Matchable ink over the top portion with a sponge, for more depth. I outlined the edges with a dual marker.

I brayered another piece of scrap cardstock with the yellow and butterscotch Vivid and stamped and embossed the saying (Stamp Oasis) with Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko) and black embossing powder), outlined the edges and attached it with double-sided foam tape.

I had some brayered and stamped pieces left from another project that I did not like so I cut them up and added them to the inside of the card. I stamped another saying(Wordsworth) on yellow cardstock and attached it beside the scrap pieces.

     

Black and White pattern

The latest swap I joined is to create something with a black and white pattern repeated. I have not done any canvases for a while so thought I would do one for this swap.

I painted the canvas with gesso then added dimension with an old plastic doily and molding paste. When it dried I painted over it with white acrylic paint.

I printed off an image from moonlightjourney.com and cut it out. I then took a piece of black cardstock and another piece of white cardstock and put them through my Cuttlebug embossing folders. I put the black piece directly on top of the wet molding paste and it acted like a glue. I went over it and the picture with Judkins Microglaze to seal it. Added the white cardstock and the picture.

I stamped a hounds tooth stamp that I just bought at Michaels from the $1 bin, on white cardstock with Tsukineko Onyx Black Versafine ink. I cut three strips to go around the edge of the picture and attached them with double-sided foam tape. I punched out the flowers and added some centres to them.

I took some chipboard letters, painted them with gesso, then white paint and stamped them with the hounds tooth stamp.

A surprise for Jessie

My friend Jessie has had lot on her plate lately and our group decided to plan a surprise book and each of us made a page and mailed them off to be made into a chunky book.

Jessie has received the book now so I can post the pictures. I was happy to participate in this book as Jessie is so encouraging and such an inspiration to me.

I know Jessie loves colour, grunge, texture...well just about anything goes in her creative world. I decided to make my page in reds hues as I had a freebie image that I really liked.

I started off by painting the page and added the image when it dried. I then took some cheesecloth and soaked it in some decoupage type glue and draped it around the right side of the picture. I added some red acrylic paint over the top, then added some acrylic gold mica flakes over parts of it.

The left side still needed "something" so I added some crackle paste and again coloured it with red and brown acrylic paint. As a finishing touch I dabbed some light gold acrylic paint around the whole piece.

I completed the page with the little heart button and some velvet ribbon in a ribbon slide.

The back is just painted with acrylics. I ripped out a piece of Mulberry Paper and stamped the sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink and added it. I was going to do more with the back but feel the sentiment says it all.

Fish Tip-in

The latest Tip-In theme was Fish and I chose to go whimsical, a I am sure it was not meant to be a page with fish and water.

I started out by colouring the page with Brilliance Sky Blue ink then added the Inkadinkadoo stamp around the edges in Versafine Black. I didn't like the look, so I then added a dark blue pigment ink over it.


I had some Cuttlebug embossed pieces that I had done a few weeks ago and chose the circle one to colour with the Brilliance Sky Blue ink and put it in the middle. I then added the fish image and the little girl talking on the phone.

This reverse side was painted with some turquoise metallic paint. I added the Jelly Fish image from Dover Arts. I Then glued a fish to the little girl and attached it to the Jelly Fish.

Made some bubbles with a dot stamp and white pigment ink. Added fake sand at the bottom and some fish swimming above the little girl.

Tim Holtz style

Sweetpea has just recently started a monthly swap where we use a style of various artists. Last month was Misty Mawn and this month is Tim Holtz. Luckily, I have a lot of the mediums he uses, and I signed up 3 times.

The first piece is AI (alcohol inks) on glossy cardstock, stamped with an archival black inkpad.

The colours of AI's I used were Wild Plum, Butterscotch and Stream.

The second technique was the Wrinkle Free Distress Inks on a tag. I used Worn Lipstick and Mustard Seed Distress Inks. I stamped the images from Stampington and Inkadinkadoo in Versafine Onyx Black, and added the little washer to one of the flourishes. The grungeboard key was painted with Old Patina Perfect Pearls.

The third technique is using Distress Embossing Powder. I stamped the image with Fired Brick Distress ink and embossed it with Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder. The Distress EP is totally different from others, and it only changes colour a bit when embossed and has a "sandpaper" feel to it.

I then coloured it with Old Paper, Tea Dye, Fired Brick and Old Burlap Distress inks. Finished it off by colouring the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink.

The Grungeboard embellishments were coloured with Peeled Paint and Fired Brick Distres inks. I attached the vintage buttons (courtesy of Annie Mackay) with some thin wire.

NGS Art Lottery

The theme for the NGS Art Lottery was flourishes/swirls. I purchased a new stamp set by Magenta which fits the bill. I decided to make an Artist trading card for this month.

I started by stamping the background using a technique I learned at my Local Rubber Stamp store, taught by Cathie Allen. It is called "stamp smooshie-smooshie". Basically, you load your stamp with ink, "slap" it down on the cardstock and then rub it around.

I added some flourishes in the same colour of Colorbox Chalk inks that I used for the base. Then I added the bird flourish Stamp in Versafine Onyx black. I stamped the image again on a piece of cardstock that I coloured with the Direct-to-Paper technique; cut it out and placed it on top of the bird portion of the stamped image on the ATC using thick double-sided tape.

This month's winner was Melissa, so I will be sending it off to her along with the two pages from the Chunky book house pages.

Misty Mawn Style Canvas

Sweetpea is running a Misty Mawn Style swap in CCSwaps. The instructions were:

"These works of art should be created on either canvas board or the stretched canvas. Size - no smaller than 4" x 6" - no larger than 8" x 10". The backgrounds should be hand painted . . . the images may be cut from magazines, paperback books, etc. Please adhere with a good strong bond! Gel medium works VERY well. Please use some stamping on this project . . . background stamps, flourishes, writing, etc."

As usual, I jumped in with both feet and signed up for this swap as I love a challenge!

So anyway, here is what I did to make the swap piece:

1. I had some canvas boards and decided to use one of the 5" X 7" ones. I coloured it with acrylics and stamped a large hero art background tree with gray Versafine ink. I then stamped some flourishes with gesso and fluid chalk inks. Also added some "writing' with a stamp and fluid chalk ink.



2. I used magazine pieces and some left over printables for the image of the woman.



3. Now I can't draw if my life depended on it, but I was determined to try something on this canvas, so I drew the tree, the bird, the sun and the woman's legs using white paint as the base, filled them in with acrylic paints, then outlined them with black acrylic paint.



4. I went over the body of the woman with a bit of gesso and some of the acrylic paint (watered down) then dabbed it off a bit. I did this, as it seemed to make the image blend into the background a bit more.

This is my first attempt:




I felt it still was not quite right so I added more stamping, this time in black and some more colour around the edges and in a few other places. I think I am happy with it now.


I had absolutely no clue as to how to do this type of swap, so I did the best I could with it and had a lot of fun. Now whether it is acceptable or not ... who knows? Any comments or critique would be appreciated.

June Tag Your it

This is an ongoing swap where we make a piece of art for the person whose name was chosen.

This month the "It Girl" is Autumn and the theme is mermaids/mermen or anything related to the ocean. I do not have any mermen/maids stamps so I printed off some images and made a deco page for her.

The background is some of my monoprinted cardstock. I stamped the front with Versafine blue, added some gold mica flakes and some Shimmering Sand to the bottom and attached the merman image. On the back I stamped cattails ( did not have a seaweed stamp, so I substituted - artistic license!!) coloured it green and added some green and yellow Crystal Lacquer to give them dimension. Again I added the image and Shimmering Sand at the bottom.

Printed Pages ATC's

I signed up for a swap where we are to use printed paper on our ATC's.

I chose the Ads from the newspaper for my background and painted them with some Mica watercolours. I then rubbed some Brilliance ink on cardstock and stamped my images with Versafine.


I had one extra piece of cardstock with the printed paper left so decided to play around some more and here is what I came up with. This one was rubbed with Mica Magic and Distress inks, then I put some transfer foil around the edges. The image was stamped with Colorbox Fluid Chalks.