Above and Below

Hello and welcome to my blog  :)   I have a few pages from a couple of calenders that I made a couple of years ago as Christmas presents, the calenders and the stamps are from Chocolate Baroque.  The first two pictures feature stamps from the Mermaid Queen, Underwater Kingdom and Seadragon sets; Distress Oxide ink, black Versafine ink, clear EP, alcohol pens, pearlescent paints and a stencil from my stash.

For both designs I stamped several focal images, to create a scene, in black ink and embossed them with clear EP.  I then coloured them with the pens and paints.  I laid the stencil over the page and used a blue DO ink to create a patterned background that gives the effect of water currents.  

For the next two pictures I have used stamps from the Seashore Dreams and Seaside Scenes sets; sepia Versafine ink, clear EP, and colouring pencils.  

For both pictures I stamped and embossed the focal images using sepia ink and clear EP.  I added a border of shells either side of the focal images stamping and embossing in the same way.  I then coloured all the images with my colouring pencils.  


Thank you for dropping in today, I hope you've enjoyed this post.  Feel free to browse my blog further/ leave a comment - it would really brighten my day if you did!  I hope you'll visit my blog again soon  :)

My Rusty Bulb Project from CCA

Hello and welcome to my blog  :)  Today I'm sharing a lovely little mixed media project I've recently completed that I got from the Creative Craft Acadamy, it's a design by Aida Domisiewicz.  I bought a kit with everything I needed to create this artwork, including an online workshop with the artist.  

  

This project is based on an inverted canvas design.  The first step was to tear up some Tim Holtz designer tissue paper and cover the edges of the canvas.   I painted over the tissue with the same medium I  had used to attach it then painted over the whole thing with brown and blue translucent paints from the kit.  This gave the project an aged rustic look whilst being able to see the patterns of the tissue.  

The next step was to fill the light bulb with copper glitter, tiny glass beads and some copper sparkles.  The plastic bulb is very static so the glitter sticks to the inside giving a nice covering.  I then took a piece of thin wire and rolled it around a paint brush handle to create a coil for the filament that goes inside the bulb.  I kept one end of the wire long enough to thread up through the top of the bulb and attach it.  It was then time to attach the bulb to the substrate which I did with some multi purpose gel medium.  

Now it was time to start attaching the embellishments, which is always fun!  I began by attaching the metal embellishments, some of which I had added the paints and some gilding wax to.  I also added some sparkles, micro beads and glitter to the dragonfly as well.  

The original project wasn't as 'blingy' as mine, I have used more of the glass beads, glitter and sparkles, putting my own spin on it.

I had a real blast creating this project!  I learnt a few new techniques as well as using some old favourites.  It now hangs in my kitchen where it looks good with my industrial lighting.
Thanks for dropping in today, I hope that you've enjoyed this post and that you'll visit again soon  :)  

A Selection of Hearts

Hello and welcome to my blog  :)  I'm sharing some 'mini art' with you today in the form of Artists Trading Hearts.  I created them as samples for several Chocolate Baroque tv shows last year, using their stamps and as usual a multitude of techniques.  

For the first project I have used stamps from the CB Harmony Tree and Small Graph sets, CB White Board ATHs, Distress Oxide inks, Sepia Versafine ink, clear EP, watercolour paints, a gold pen and some die cut leaves from my stash.

I blended DOs directly onto the heart then stamped the tree and masked it.  I stamped over the entire heart with the small graph image then removed the mask and painted the tree.  I stamped a few words randomly then covered the whole piece with a clear varnish.  I added a few die cut leaves from my stash, shaping them before attaching them with 3D glue gel.  I stamped a sentiment onto a piece of coloured card and embossed it with clear EP.  I then cut and shaped it into a banner, added some gold dots with a pen and edged the heart with golde.  I added a small leaf to the banner and attached it to the heart.

This project uses stamps from the CB Rememberance Tree set, pearlescent spray inks, Versamark ink, gold EP, gold pen, heatproof acetate, holographic glitter.

I sprayed the pearlescent inks directly onto the white board heart, using brown and blue colours.  When dry I stamped and embossed the tree image in gold onto the heart, and did the same with some words and sentiments onto acetate.  I cut around the words and edged the bottom edges with gold pen, then used the gold pen around the edge of the heart. 

 I added glitter to the tree branches to give it a frosted look.  I then attached the words and sentiments.

The first two hearts were created in Autumn and Winter colours so I decided to create a bright, colourful piece to represent summer.  For this project I have used stamps from the CB Butterfly Mind set, metalic acrylic paints, purple Soft Form Paste, black Versafine ink, a stencil from my stash and a white Posca pen.
I began by placing a large butterfly stencil directly onto the heart substrate and spread the purple paste through it then left it to dry.  I painted the heart between the paste lines and added white pen detailing.  

On a piece of white card I stamped several images in black ink and embossed them in clear EP.  I then painted them with metalic paints in bright co-ordinating colours and added white pen as detailing.  I stamped and embossed  a sentiment, cut around it and painted it.  When everything was dry I cut all the images out, shaped them with a ball tool and attached them to the heart with 3D glue gel.  I added silver pen around the edges of the heart and sentiment panel.

Thanks for dropping in today, I hope you've enjoyed this post and your visit to my blog.  Feel free to leave a comment ( I'd love it if you did!)  and to browse more of my projects and artwork, and I hope to see you here again soon  :) 

Natural Reflection

Hi and welcome to my blog  :)  I have a pretty scenic card to share with you today, it was one of my samples from last year for Chocolate Baroque.  For this project I have used stamps from the Harmony Tree, Sunburst Scenes and Landscape Edges sets; Versamark ink, white EP, Koh-I-Noor watercour paints, Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink and a white paint pen.
 

I began by taking a piece of Kraft card and stamping the large tree, the small tree and the windmill in Versamark ink and embossed them with white EP.  I took a white Posca paint pen and used it to link the stamped images and create a countryside scene.  I then stamped and embossed some words and birds in the sky of the background.  On a spare piece of Kraft card I stamped and embossed a stone wall image twice.  I painted all the images and background with the watercolour paints then cut the walls out. 
  

Next I took a white base card and stamped the stone wall image all round the edges using Vintage Photo DO ink.  I used a brush and water to smudge the ink and create shading on the walls.

    

I blended some DO ink around the edges of the focal panel then attached it to the base card.  I took the painted walls and attached them along the bottom edge of the focal panel with 3D glue gel.  

I think this card is a good worker card, meaning that it would suit virtually any occasion and any recipient - male or female.  

Thanks for stopping by today and visiting my blog.  I hope you've enjoyed this post, feel free to browse more of my projects or leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!  I hope you'll come back and visit again soon  :)