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Wednesday 30 March 2016

Blue Inspiration









This is my second entry to the Chocolate Baroque colour challenge #21  http://chocolatebaroquechallenge.blogspot.co.uk/.  I find the colours of this challenge so inspiring and so many ideas for projects are running around in my head!  I decided to make a very large tag wall hanging for this entry, about A4 size.  I used the CB Poppy Meadow stamp set again; Distress inks - Wilted Violet, Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean; H2o paints; Versafine Majestic Blue ink; stamps from CB Words of Inspiration and Butterfly Thistle; die cuts and an embossing folder.
Starting as usual with the background panel I blended the DI's onto white card.  I then used a small stamp to randomly faux bleach with water, then over stamped the image in blue ink.  Next I stamped another small image in the violet ink randomly over the panel, then blended the ink around the edges of the panel.  I matted the panel onto coordinating card, then edged that with blue ink.  On another piece of white card I stamped a large Poppy image twice in blue Versafine ink and heat embossed in clear powder.  Next I painted the images with the H2o paints, and cut them out when dry.  I stamped two words onto white card and heat embossed as before.  I painted over the words with Peacock Feathers DI and cut around them, then blended violet ink around the edges.  I painted a spare piece of white card with one of the H2o paints and die cut a butterfly from it.  Next I stamped a butterfly onto more white card and heat embossed as before, then painted it with DI's and water before cutting it out.  I then die cut some letters from the same card as the mat for the background panel and edged them with blue ink.  To create the tag I shaped the top of a piece of white card by drawing around a pot and cutting freehand.  I then embossed it in a folder and blended violet ink around the edges.  I attached the tag to some thick card to strengthen it  and shaped the top.   I punched two holes in the top of the tag and threaded some ribbon through.  I attached the panel to the tag with strong glue, then attached the Poppies, butterflies and words with dimensional glue.  I'm really pleased with this project, it's a really pretty piece of Home Decor that could be made to suit any colour scheme.   

Tuesday 29 March 2016

Poppies in Salt









This is my first entry to Chocolate Baroque's colour challenge #21.  I absolutely LOVE this colour combo, and I had great fun creating this card.  I bought some new CB stamps with my winner's voucher and this was the perfect opportunity to try them out!  I have used one image from the Poppy Meadow stamp set as the main focus of the piece, and part of another for embellishments.  I also used Aqua Tints, glitters and salt, and a new Tando Creative stencil.  I also used Majestic Blue Versafine ink.  On a piece of white card I created a colour wash with the Aqua Tints, blending the colours into each other.  I then sprinkled salt all over the wet card spritzing with water any areas that seemed to have already dried.  I left the background panel to dry naturally.  When it was dry I rubbed the salt off the panel revealing the beautiful random patterns that had been created.  I then stamped the main focal image twice using the Versafine ink.  I stamped it two more times onto another piece of white card and heat embossed with clear powder.  Next I painted the Poppy seed pods and leaves, then fussy cut them without the fine grasses.  I added glitter (multi, green and purple) to highlight all the images, then attached the seed pod cut outs with dimensional glue as 3D images.  I matted the panel onto black card then layered it onto a white base card.  I stamped part of another image from the set onto white card 3 times and heat embossed as before, then painted, glittered and fussy cut the three small Poppy flowers.  I used two strips of the background panel that I had trimmed off earlier to create a band across the  card near the bottom, matting it onto black card.  I then attached the flowers to the band with dimensional glue.  I love these stamps, they're so delicate and detailed.  I love this card for the mix of the beautiful stamps and the gorgeous patterns from the salt.  This card is great for a special birthday, get well and a lot of other occasions too.

Wednesday 23 March 2016

A Cottage Garden Bookcase











This is the largest project I have attempted so far.  I decided to 'upcycle' an old bookcase that originally belonged to my parents, so it's as old as I am!  I had some new Paint Fusion stamps that I had been waiting to play with, and I wanted to coordinate the bookcase with our newly decorated hall and stairs.  This is the second time that I've 'upcycled' this bookcase, and probably the last.  It took a whole weekend to do this project, mainly because there is a lot of drying time involved, and obviously a LOT of painting!  I have used stamps by Sheena Douglass from her Paint Fusion range; acrylic paints;  emulsion paint; PVA glue.  I mixed some green, yellow and white acrylic paints to match the colour used in our hall.  This was my undercoat and I painted the whole bookcase with it.  When that coat was dry, I covered it with PVA glue.  As it dries the glue starts to crack and split, like old painted wood.  When it was almost dry and had formed a 'skin', I painted over the glue with a cream emulsion paint.  The green undercoat shows through the cracks, giving a vintage, shabby-chic look to the piece.  Next I decorated the top of the bookcase using the Paint Fusion technique, a mixture of stamping and folk-art painting.  I stamped the Lilac flowers and leaves, grouping them at the corners, then stamped the Ivy along the edges.  I then painted all the stamped images with acrylic paints.  When everything was dry I gave the whole piece a coat of clear varnish to protect the artwork.  This was the first time I had used these stamps and I am really pleased with the result.  The bookcase looks exactly how I wanted it to, breathing new life into an old favourite.