Pennant -February

This month the pennant has the same background fabric adhered to the base. For February the theme is the magic of glitter.

I came across some trim that had hearts on it and thought since Valentine's Day is in February that it would be perfect. I actually added the trim and some other embellishments but was not happy with it because it was to dark a blue and did not seem "vintage" enough, so back to the drawing board.

I threw the trim in a bucket of water with bleach and it removed enough of the colour to make it a light pink/lilac. I attached it to the edge of the pennant.

As with the previous one I had an image already printed and wanted to choose colour tones from the picture, so the lighter colours were better suited. I took a large snowflake die and added glitter to it and glued it to the top of the pennant, then attached the image with some stickles added.

I stamped the sentiment "Dreamer" with white pigment ink on a piece of white cardstock and embossed it with white embossing powder. I then coloured it with Milled Lavender distress ink and buffed it off; rounded the edges with a punch and attached it to the pennant.  To finish it off I added a snowflake die and a button with a gem on top and dangling heart at the bottom.

A to Z techniques- V for Vellum-tous

A- to Z on Art-Ventures I used a technique that I learned from Cathie Allan a number of years ago called Vellum-tous.

The technique was originally done on a card but it worked for the ATC.
I cut a piece of White vellum a bit larger than the ATC base and stamped and embossed an open image with white pigment ink and embossing powder. I coloured the image with markers on the front of the vellum,  colouring the portions that I wished to be dominant.

I flipped the vellum over and took a  background stamp and stamped it with with a clear embossing pad and embossed with clear embossing powder. Make sure you hold the vellum up while heating, as the embossing on the other side gets hot and melts.

Using a stipple brush and dye ink colours I stippled around the stamped image on the back of the vellum. If you also want to colour the open areas of the stamp as it could change the colour tones that you used with the markers.
When satisfied with the stippling, I bent the edges over and attached the vellum  to a white ATC base with vellum tape. ( You could also use glossy accents). You can also try it with pastel coloured bases for a different effect. I stamped a V on Vellum scraps using white pigment ink and embossing powder and glued it to the ATC.

I chose different colours of Dye ink for each of the ATC's, to show the different looks. I forgot to scan the other two which were done in yellow and blue.

Butterflies and Dragonflies Easel Card

On AFTCM I joined a swap to make and easel card with the theme of Butterflies and Dragonflies with heat embossing on it.

I started with white 130LB cardstock and colored two pieces with fluid chalk inks using Cathie Allan's "stamp smoosh' technique.

On one piece I stamped the Stampendous dragonfly with green pigment ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. Cut around most of it leaving an area on the bottom right, flipped it over, then traced around some chipboard letters to spell out the word "FLY". I cut around them, ensuring that there was areas joining the dragonfly and letters to the panel. I edged it with a green marker, and stamped some corner stamps at each corner.

I embossed the chipboard letters with green pigment ink and clear embossing powder and attached them to the front of the card panel.

To hold the front in place and create an easel, I cut a piece of embossable window plastic and folded it in half, attached it to the back panel and then to the front. I attached a little 3-D butterfly at the corner of the front panel.

To complete the inside I stamped a saying and attached it over some butterflies wings.

I colored a piece of ribbon with pigment inks to coordinate with the colours I used on the card. and attached it to the back (covering it with another piece of cardstock to hide it) then tied it in place to keep the card closed.

4 X4 Puzzle Swap

On AFTCM we are doing another 4X4 swap. This time we are to use jigsaw puzzle pieces on the item.

I started by colouring a piece of 130LB cardstock with various colours of pigment inks. I then stamped it with a Hero Arts  stamp then embossed it with the matching embossing folder, colouring the flowers with Smooch ink. I adhered a picture from moonlightjourney.com in the centre of the wreath.

 I took some puzzle pieces and embossed four with Opals embossing powder and two with blue pearlised embossing powder. I reheated each one and stamped on them with silver metallic ink. When they cooled I glued them around the image.

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.

A-Z techniques

For May the alphabet is B. I chose to do the Black Magic technique for this swap.

I took a piece of black matte cardstock and stamped a solid Magenta image in white pigment ink and heat set it.

I used Lyra coloured pencils to colour in the image, leaving a bit of the white showing around the edge of the image. I made some dots around the edge of the image with a white gel pen.

To complete the ATC I added some Sookwang tape on the sides and covered it with Glitter Ritz.

Ezee Pzee Design for March

This month's Ezee Pzee project was planter. I started by sealing the pieces and painted the inside of the box. I then attached some Mariposa Scrapbook paper to the outside of the pieces and glued it together.

I coloured some of the flowers with acrylic paint then embossed them and added washers and stickles. The large daisy type flower was coloured with smooch ink and H2O's. The centers of the flowers are some little embellishments I found at my local stamp store and others are washers that I coloured with alcohol inks, and some are some coloured reinforcements for 3 ring binder pages.

I stamped the Pedlars Pack butterfly on cardstock that I coloured with various shades  of green, two in black & two in gold. I added some of the strings of beading to the centres. All of them were attached to the box with double sided tape after bending the wings a bit.

The large flower from Ezee Pzee is done with pigment ink, fantasy film, clear Utee and Opal embossing powders then stamped into with a turquoise pigment ink while hot. I glued one of the embellishments to the centre and added a leaf that fell off one of the other flowers.

For the opposite side I found a saying that I liked and printed it off. I then took a chipboard label holder and covered it with green acrylic paint, embossed it with two colours of distress embossing powder then with Perfect Pearls. I placed the saying behind it and put two screw brads through the ends; attached it with double- sided foam tape.

Inside the planter I scrunched up a plastic bag and then cut a piece of corrugated cardboard to size and put it on top. I decided to place the flowers in little flower pots that I had on hand and to make them stay in place I glued some sea glass to the bottom of the stems, put some foil wrap around them and place them in the pots. i added some Indian Moss over the top to cover the foil.

The pots stood up quite well and I added a little butterfly, some ladybugs and a wee frog.

Calendar Pages-Prototype #2

I was back in my craft room last night and still not sure about the first prototype that I made, so I started playing around with an another idea, part of it being inspired by Cathie Allan's article in the October issue of Scrap and Stamp Arts.

I decided to make a page that would reflect a little bit about Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day in the US) and did the stamp smoosh technique again using blue tones at the top for the sky and red, creamy brown and yellow at the bottom.

I printed the poem In Flanders Fields written by John McRae, a Canadian Doctor who served in WW1, and placed it on a piece of red card stock.  I stamped the birds (Tim Holtz) on the "sky" portion to represent the larks mentioned in the poem.

I have a lovely Poppy stamp (Embossing Arts) and thought I would use it. I started with a piece of white cardstock and used the "smack down" technique from Cathie's article using a large and small tulip stamp by Magenta Style and gold pigment ink and Mica Magic burnt orange.

I placed the cardstock in the Cathie Allan Postion-it and stamped the poppy head in Blackbird fluid chalk. I coloured it in with some of the burnt orange ink and the tip of a smooch ink applicator. I highlighted with gold lame smooch ink, did the centre with mollasses smooch ink, then added siren smooch ink over the entire piece. With the cardstock still in the positioner I stamped the image again with the blackbird fluid chalk ink.  I did three of these and cut them out.

I took a piece of white cardstock and cut it to look like a cross and added a little red punch flower to it, and placed it on top of the poppies. This again has all the images taped on it as I am still debating about what to do for this swap.

Any comments or critique appreciated. Let me know which one you like best if you were the recipient of this calendar page since I am still torn as to which way to go with the pages. 

Witches Hour Torso Tags

I just joined a new group Art for the Creative Mind and have already signed up for a couple of swaps. One of the swaps is where we make two torso shaped tags with the theme Witches Hour i.e. Halloween.

The first one I coloured with Clearsnap fluid chalk inks but it was not intense enough, so I spritzed the top and bottom with Glimmer Mists and went over the centre with some Mica Magic Burnt Orange ink. I stamped the Stampscapes Crooked Limb stamp with the Smokey Gray Versafine ink pad, then I added the images and saying from Vintage Paint Works which were one of the free downloads on their site.

To complete the tag, I added some little confetti stars at the top and some maple leaf punchies at the centre and bottom.

For the second tag, I started by punching out a circle and placing the negative part on the tag, and colored it with some yellow pigment ink then some silver over a portion of it, then added some iridescent violet mica watercolour paint over the same area.

I masked the circle with the punched out piece and using the tonal applicator stamp (Stampscapes), I added colour, starting with Clearsnap's Vivid yellow along the centre up to the top, then Marvy Matchables inks in Salvia Blue, Blue, Pale Violet and Green.

I stamped a Stampscapes fir tree, crooked limb stamp and a cloud stamp with Clearsnap's Coal Black Ancient Page. The Owl image is from Vintage Paint Works. The remaining images are from Dover Publications; (You can sign up and receive free samples each week from them by following the link).

Although I don't normally make any Halloween art, I did enjoy making these two tags.

I have embossing powder..

The swap using various mediums is continuing on CC Swaps. This month it is-"I have embossing powders and I know how to use them".

I decided to revisit and old technique that I had learned a few years ago. I took a piece of light grey cardstock and stamped with a Hero Arts stamp in white pigment ink and winter white embossing powder. After heat setting it, I went over it with purple fluid chalks using the Clearsnap stylus and foam tips.

I took another piece of cardstock two inches longer and folded it over at the 2 inch mark, embossed and coloured again with a different Hero Arts Stamp. I attached the two pieces together with double-sided tape.

I stamped and embossed an image by  About Art Accents and a fan image by Inkadinkado and attached them to the front. I then took a piece of the same cardstock and stamped the word stamp by  Above the Mark and coloured the piece with the fluid chalk ink and outlined it with a marker. I cut out a slot and added a piece of purple metallic cardstock behind, then adhered it with double-sided foam tape.

I stamped, embossed and coloured the inside of the front page. I then took some text weight paper and attached two pages to the inside and added another stamped embossed piece to the front of the pages on the inside. So far there are only two of us signed up for this swap and the other player loves Oriental images so I am sure she will be happy with this.

March Charm

We are continuing the Charm swap on CCSwaps.

For the March one I took a small chipboard square and made a hole with a Japanese Screw Punh. I covered the chipboard with platinum pigment ink, then embossed it with platinum UTEE ( Ultra thick embossing). While it was hot I stamped into it with gold ink.

I then took a small chipboard butterfly from Scrapware and covered it with clear embossing ink and embossed it with Christmas Night glitter embossing powder. I still wanted more of a dimensional effect, so I coated it with Glossy Accents (Ranger).  I attached this with some glue to the centre of the charm and added the ring.

B is for.......

We are continuing on with the Alphabet swap on CCSwaps so this month we make something starting with the letter B, for theme, technique or medium.

I came across a blog with some beautiful exploding boxes on it (http://magic-boxes.blogspot.com/) and the lady was kind enough to provide a tutorial on how to make them. I thought I would give it a try and use butterflies as my theme.

The only problem is that the measurements are in millimeters and I am still not too great at the conversion from metric to inches!! I did fine with making the box but wasted quite a few pieces of cardstock getting the lid to the right size. My boxes certainly need more practice but I am happy with my first attempts. The first one I tried was my "protoype" for the technique. I used light weight blue card stock for the box and the lid and 130Lb for the inserts. I got a bit heavy handed when scoring and ripped a bit on one of the sides but left it as I knew I would be keeping it.

I stamped a leaf stamp (Magenta) and added some little die-cut flowers. The butterflies (Stampendous)  were stamped in black pigment ink and embossing powder and coloured yellow and green then added some glitter.

The next box: I stamped the butterflies on both sides using  Christmas Night glitter embossing powder and coloured them with markers and glittered the top with some Stickles. I stamped a leafy scroll on the side and bottom pieces after doing direct-to-paper with pigment inks and added some "jewels". I then cut slits in the bottom insert and attached the butteflies with pieces of acetate, and glued a butterfly to the lid.

The picture of the lid is fine (oops! I think the edge piece was a bit loose-will fix that!)  but the others are not the clearest as of course I had to take pictures of them with my camera and I am not that familiar with our camera since I don't take a lot of pictures. The colours are more intense in real life.

Book Study - Cosmos Paper

This is the third technique that Carol has introduced in our book study of Julia Andrus' book Paper Transformed.

Julia states that this technique is best done with areas smaller than 4"x4". She uses either illustration board or 3 - 5 layers of card stock glued together. You can colour the substrate with inks, markers, watercolours or coloured pencil. If you choose anything other than pigment ink, you need to apply Perfect Medium, VersaMark or clear embossing ink to the surface, then generally cover with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) over the surface and melt. 

I did the base of mine using various inks and 130LB cardstock cut to ATC size (3½” X 2½”); you can also use chipboard as your base.  

I used Versamark to add the UTEE on all but the one that were covered with pigment ink and heat embossed them, then repeated this same technique twice. 

When cool I tapped them with Perfect Medium and brushed Perfect Pearls over the surface, covered them with UTEE and heated them. In this step the UTEE likely won't stick to the surface because of adding the PP's (Perfect Pearls). so if you use a heat gun to emboss, start by heating it well away from the surface to prevent the embossing powder from flying away, then slowly move in to melt it completely. (Carol used an old frying pan to melt hers then applied the heat gun.)  On a couple of the pieces I got a bit too thick a coating of the Perfect Pearls, but this just gives it a different look.

These are the colours and inks I used on my pieces:

Top Row: 

(L)-Mint & Sky Blue Pigment Inks/Forever Blue & Forever Green PP's

Middle- Canary & Pink pigment ink/Lemon Sparkle PP and Carnation Pink Pearlex

(R)- Apricot & Peony pigment ink/Heirloom Gold & Raspberry Sparkle PP's 

Middle Row: 

(L)Rose Mauder & Vermillion Lacquer Nick Bantock dye inks/Heirloom Gold & Rust PP's 

(R) Green, Sky Blue and Spring Green Vivid Inks/Kiwi & Blue Smoke, heated cooled then added some Kiwi PP and UTEE and heated again.

Bottom Row: 

(L)-Tangerine Colorbox Fluid Chalks, smear of Mica Magic red; Green Patina, Forever Red PP's, heated cooled then added some Fuschia Pearlex and UTEE and heated again.

(R)Tsukineko Brilliance  Lavander and Purple overstamped with Brilliance gold/Forever Purple & Pewter PP's.

One tip I have when using cardstock is to apply double-sided foam tape such as Mactac carpet tape to the back before embossing with the UTEE as this prevents the cardstock from buckling. 


If you wish, you can also stamp into the piece by heating it again then stamping into it with a stamp covered with clear embossing, coloured craft or Brilliance inks. Be sure to let it cool before removing the stamp. 

Have a Heart

Another swap I am participating in is to use hearts on a project. I was trying to think of something a bit different and decided to make a mobile.

I used 3 different stamps and stamped them twice, the smallest one was done with Colorbox Fluid chalks, then I stamped it again and cut out the tiny heart and coloured it with Mica watercolours and attached it with double-sided tape to the heart.

The Middle one was stamped with Colorbox pigment ink and embossed with red embossing powder, and the small patterned pieces cut out.

The third one I stamped with dye inks using Cathie Allan's Stamp Smoosh technique. I stamped a quote on each side using a different stamp relating to friends.  I added heart sticker, then embossed both pieces with glitter embossing powder.

I strung all the pieces together using nylon thread (the kind that looks invisible) and added beads to give it a little more dimension. The thread was a great idea until I accidently cut it and then tried to tie another piece to the end..... Believe me it really is Invisible!!! I used a dental floss threader to put the beads on the thread, which is a great and cheap tool. There are 25 in a package for about $4 it makes it so much easier than struggling with the beads (see picture below).  The picture of the mobile is not the greatest, as I hung it in my craft room and put a piece of craft paper behind it but if you click on the picture you will get a better view.

A special card for Jamie-Christmas 2009

Every year I make a special card for my nephew Jamie. He keeps every card I make him and displays it at Christmas time.

In 2009 I took a class with Cathie Allan at Western Education (my Idol for RS techniques!!) this one was called "soft filter" and decided to make Jamie a card using the techniques.

We used a key ring to attach the tags, ribbons and bells. I did not have a keychain so I used a bullnose clip. The slide mounts were coloured with fluid chalks and then stamped with a holly stamp and coloured with mica watercolurs. The pics were attached behind and adhered to the tags.

The pictures Left to right, my mother,(Jamie's Gran), my sister and brother-in-law (Jamie's parents) and the final one is him and his brother and sisters many years ago.

The background is stamp-smoosh with 3 different colours of fluid chalks. The images were stamped with Ancient page and coloured with mica paints. The filtered look of the image is done by applying white frost pigment (or white Brilliance) over the top with a colorbox stylus applicator. The saying is stamped with pigment ink and embossed with pearl embossing powder.

The tags are stacked together with the bullnose clip, and the bell and ribbons attached.

A mask of the tag was made and applied to the card front and the whole card was coloured with the same fluid chalk colours, using a Colorbox stylus. Stamped the holly all over with Ancient page, then stamped all over with mica paint. The tag mask was removed, and the other portion of the mask (from the tag mask) was placed over the card. The tag area was stamp-smooshie backgrounds with the same fluid chalks, stamped the holly and coloured with mica paints. Repeated the filter technique then stamped two images and colored with mica paints.

A small slit was made on either side and a ribbon inserted to tie the tags in place on the front of the card.

As you can see the tags can be removed and the card is left with the other image and the bow.

Inchie frame completed

I received the rest of my inchies the other day via Carol, who met up with some of the gals from OZ who passed them on to her.

I was in a creative mood today so I decided to finish up a couple of ATC's and work on my frame.

The frame is painted with gesso and blue acrylic paint, then sprayed with Tattered Angels glimmer mist. Unfortunately the "glimmer" does not show in the picture. After it dried I stamped my favourite corner flourish by Inkadinkadoo with Colorbox Goldrush pigment ink and embossed with gold embossing powder.

I colored the flourish piece at the top with purple acrylic paint then painted it again with
US Artquest Mica watercolour paints. Added a sun charm and a couple of gems to finish it off.

I then completed the other two inchies and the centre panel. The centre is done with Breezy Blue embossing powder as the base then sprinkled with purple and gold E.P., heated then stamped into it with a large background stamp. I then rubbed some metallic rub-ons over the top. The embellishment is an old button that I had in my button box.
The inchies are (top left-clockwise) Trizzy, Autumn, Carol, Me, Mel, Linda B, Me, Vicki, Chris, Rhonda, Lynne and Tracy. I am so thrilled to be the owner of these beautiful miniature pieces of art and to finally have them all in the frame.

Inchie swap

I have signed up for a swap on the Dream, Create Inspire group where we are using a frame from Blumoth Crafts. Eleven people joined the swap, and we create the inchies using a colour scheme and and in some cases a theme chosen by each person. We have two inchies, the centre and the frame to complete our own when we receive our inchies in the swap. I have decided to wait until I receive my inchies before completing the frame.

I coated the inchies with gesso then used Acrylic paints, Metallic Paints, Lumiere paints, Perfect Pearls, Pearlex, and some of my stamps and stamping supplies such as Smooch inks, and pigment inks to do the bases. On some I used molding paste, others I used papers and even some netting type paper.

The embellishments are scrapbooking pieces, old buttons, old pieces of jewellery, brads and other "doodads".

I am really looking forward to seeing all the tiny works of art that everyone makes and the completed frames.

Mini Memory for Carol

I am on a roll with these Mini Memories and am thoroughly enjoying the creative process so much.

Carol A. chose the theme of birds/birdhouses and the colours mint green, white and pale mauve (with a condition that we could use pale pink in lieu of the mauve).

I started by painting gesso on a 3x3 chipboard square. I then added mint green pigment ink and embossed with mint pearl embossing powder. I stamped a background stamp into while hot using Old Rose pigment ink.

I recently picked up some small wooden house pieces at my little dollar store and thought they would be perfect for a bird house. My hubby drilled a hole for the entry and the perch. I painted the house with gesso, then white paint, then pink paint on the roof. I added some sequins for the tiles which Annie sent me a while back. To finish off the roof I added a piece of white german scrap paper which my friend Mel sent me.

I added a piece of the stick from a Q-tip as the perch. I took a washer and coloured it with pearlescent turquoise Lumiere` paint and put this over the entry. I stamped a leafy type Magenta stamp on the body but felt it needed more dimension so I took some Glossy Accents and added some green seed beads (which looked more mint green in the bottle). Felt it needed a bit more so when the green beads dried a bit I added some pink seed beads to give it a bit of a floral effect.

The little bird is the one that was originally on Trizzy's Mini Memory and I attached it to the roof to make it look like it was coming in to the bird house. The final touch was to add the word home with some little alphabet beads.

I hope Carol does not mind my taking artistic license with the colour combo, as I tried to stay as close as possible to her colour choice with the supplies I had on hand.

Mini Memory for Heather`

I decided to get a start on September's Mini Memory, which is for Heather. Her theme is birds and butterflies and the colours are white and violet.

The theme was not a problem, however, the violet was as I think of blues (i.e. the flower). However, as a colour it can be a mixture of red and blues, so as usual I just did my own thing and hope that Heather will not be disappointed with the colour.

I started by painting a chipboard coaster with Gesso, then painted it with African Violet acrylic paint, toned down with some white acrylic. I then stamped the flourish stamp in frost white pigment ink and winter white embossing powder. After that I painted it with Mica watercolours in iridescent violet.

I have some Magenta chipboard pieces and I painted a bird with the two colours and crackle medium.

I also had some mini canvases so thought I would use it for the centre. Painted it with gesso, then added molding paste and smooshed it around with a rubber stamp. I added some Pearlex pearl white to it when dry, then dabbed some of the African Violet paint mixture over that with my fingers.

I attached the canvas to the coaster, then the bird. I rummaged through my stash of beads and bellies and found three feather beads and added them to the bottom of the canvas. In the picture the background flourishes look different but in "real life" they are white.