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.   

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.

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.