Friday 31 July 2015

Purple Passion


This is my DT piece for the That's Crafty challenge Purple Passion.

In my journal I have added the Memory Box Heartwood stencil in 3 places using DecoArt Media Modeling Paste.  When dry I spritzed with various Glimmer Mists, Dylusions and Cosmic Shimmer Mists.  I added Glimmer Waxes to highlight the texture.  Next came a few smears of DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze and final touches were 2 vintage photos with some pearls and punched birds.

So if you would like to be in with a chance of winning a £20 Gift Voucher pop over the the That's Crafty Challenge Blog now.

Monday 27 July 2015

Bloom




This is my latest piece for the That's Crafty blog - That's Blogging Crafty.

I already had several hand carved stamps.  I brayered some Carbon Black paint on my craft sheet and dipped the stamps in the paint before randomly stamping over my That's Crafty Alterables Whiteboard  10.5ins x 8.25ins board.  This is my preferred way of getting the paint onto stamps, as I’m less likely to gunk the stamp up ith paint ths way.

I then applied a coat of paint  using dabs of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics  Quinacridone Mageneta and Napthol Red Light brayed  together so there were patches of the different colours.

Next came the DecoArt Modeling Paste applied with a palette knife over the Peony blooms only of the Donna  Downey Signature Stencil Bloom Group.

When dry I gave the petals and the gaps between a coat of white paint then mixed the Napthol Red with the White to create different shades of pink and applied them to the petals to give a sense of light and shade.  

To make the blooms pop more from the background I went into the space around the Blooms with Cobalt Turquoise, Green Gold and Hansa Yellow Light 

Finally I added my text Bloom


Sunday 19 July 2015

Odd Bird




This is my latest piece for the That's Craft DT its a journal spread.  

Materials
Gesso
That's Crafty Dinky Stencil – Abstract Bird
DeeocArt Modelling Paste
Palette Knife
DecoArt MEddia Fluid Acrylics – Cobalt Teal, Titanium White, Cobalt Turquoise, Magenta, Quinacridone Gold and Carbon Black
Paint Brush
Glaze
Stampendous “Marks” stamps
Arcival Inkpad Black
DecoArt Metallic Lustre – Brilliant Turquoise
Wood Birds from stash
Ranger Dabber Pearl
DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze
Text stickers from stash


I started with a coat of gesso and when dry added DecoArt Modelling Paste through the Abstract Bird stencil with a palette knife in 2 places and allowed to dry. 

My base coat is DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics in Cobalt Teal and Titanium White, I dipped the brush alternatively in the Cobalt Teal and White to get a finish that was not too even and smooth in colour.  I added touches of the Cobalt Turquoise to get some more depth and shadow.  

I mixed equal parts Glaze and Quinacridone Gold paint and covered the pages

 I left it for about 1 minute and then wiped over with a bay wipe which left smears of rusty gold in nooks and crannies.  

Next step was stamping the Stampendous “Marks” stamps randomy in Archival Black Ink.  And then I finger painted some smooshes of Magenta around the edges and added a touch of the Metallic Lustre to the Abstract Bird texture. .

I took 3 wood birds from my stash and painted them in the Pearl Dabber then added the DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze.  When dry I added another coat of pearl for texture and adhered the birds to and my text stickers to my pages. 

Friday 17 July 2015

Inside you can be Anything



This is my DT card for the  for the latest That's Crafty challenge to use  Stencils and Masks.  My masks are of course the That's Crafty Dinkys - Punchuinella, Harlequin Background and Teardrop Ovals. My main stamp if from the Prima Nature Garden Set which I've coloured with watercolour pencils.  The phrase is by Catslife Press.  For a chance to win a £20 Gift Voucher head over to the That's crafty challenge.

Monday 13 July 2015

Home is Where the Heart Is




I am so delighted to be able to use the new Stencils and Chipboard products launched today which are being produced and sold exclusively by That’sCrafty.   
The stencils, called “Dinky Stencils” measure 12 x 7.5cm which makes them perfect for small projects such as cards and ATCs but also large projects where using  lots of different larger stencils can cause one stencil to smudge the previous one.  I rarely use more than a small area of each stencil so these are perfect for me.  They are so easy to line up as well so you can extend the size to any you want. I also love the way they have a hole punched in the corner so you can put them all on a ring to keep them tidy and handy.  The price also means I can get lots of different patterns for my money. 

I decided to make a panel featuring whimsy houses but instead of  using patterned paper to make the houses I would create my own with paint and stencils. 

I started with a piece of chipboard 26.5 x 21cm.  I love the way these have rounded corners.  

I gave my board a coat of gesso.

To create the background I dabbed spots of the Paper Artsy Fresco paint in   Mermaid, Waterfall and Antartic over my board and using my brayer smoothed the paint over

While this dried I put a base coat of the Paper Artsy Fresco paints in  Moonlight, Pumpkin Soup, Vanilla, Rose, China, Sage and Smurf onto paper, I used the backs of 6 x 6 patterned paper I no longer liked as this was the right thickness  
Using the Dinky Stencils I went over the painted papers with a palette knife with a mixture of paint, and DecoArt Modelling Paste or paint and DecoArt Texture Crackle about 1 part paint to 12 parts paste to create a range of patterned papers.  

I cut the patterned papers into an assortment of shapes to make houses, roofs, chimneys, windows and doors of the whimsical houses and applied them to my base with Gel Medium. 

I cut a number of circles from old text paper and stamped the heart from the Trust the Magic stamp set onto card 3 times with archival ink and fussy cut them out and stuck them to my board.

When the houses were dry I added shadows and highlights with Pan Pastels, Oil Pastels and Pitt Brush Pens, and doodling with the Fude Pen and White Sharpie.

I am also entering this into the Love to Create Challenge #14

Monday 6 July 2015

She Walks in the Flowers


This is my second Guest DT piece for That's Crafty over on the That's Blogging Crafty blog.



I chose a canvas board rather than a frame canvas as it is easier to apply texture through a stencil on board and I’m all for an easy life.  Although the board is pre-gessoed I added more Gesso as I knew I would be adding lots of water and wanted to protect the board

When the gesso was dry I stamped the Stampendous Glance stamp onto the canvas board with Archival black, I did not want the “hair” on the stamp to govern what I wanted to do so I left that area unlinked. I then masked it. I love this stamp as it’s size means it can be used on a range of sizes including large ones like this canvas.  It also means someone else does the face drawing for me, not my strength!  

I added flowers using texture paste through the Paper ArstyLin Brown Stencil moving the stencil around till the board was covered and left it to dry.

I coloured my flowers with various colours of Gellato then spritzed them with water and smooshed the colour with my finger.  If you are not a finger painter using a brush is fine.  Leave to dry and apply a fixative.  Be especially  careful mixing between cool (blue, green, purple) colours and  warm (yellow, red, orange, pink) colours as this can create mud, if unsure stick to just cool or just warm colours.

I used the Pitt Big Brush pens to add shading to the petals and the white Sharpie pen to add some highlights.

I coloured the face using a mix of Gelatoes  and Pitt Big Brush Pens and redefined  the features with a Fude Pen.

I added extra texture paste to the hair with a credit card and painted it with the DecoArt Media paints.

Final touches were to edge with the Ranger Acrylic Paint Dabber in Black Tie and with some watered down black paint flick splashes of black across the canvas.