Wednesday 30 March 2016

Wonderful Wednesday: Red and green should never be seen!

Hello,

If you are in the UK I hope you have not had too much damage from Storm Katy!  We had a little repair to do on the fence but that was all, so we got off lightly.

Today I am going totally different from my last very vintage post for a challenge over at That's Crafty Challenge Blog...

* Red and green should never be seen!

I have never really understood that saying as there are so many beautiful red flowers in the world and they generally have green leaves!  So that is what I took as the inspiration for my project.

I went for a card this time as I wanted to try out a new stamp that I absolutely fell in love with when I saw it, a rose art stamp from Imagination Crafts.  A card also gave me the opportunity to use some fun mediums to create backgrounds.

I started by creating my green background for the rose stamp.  I used 3 different shades of green inktense blocks and rubbed them across the card.  After spritzing with water I sprinkled on some brusho powders (leaf green and emerald) and spritzed them a little more.  I wanted to try to keep some of the speckled look so heat dried the whole piece.  After making sure it was totally dry I stamped the rose with versamark and embossed with red powder...


I wanted the background to also reflect the rose so coloured another piece of card in the same way but using reds this time.  Then I used a 'Bed of Roses' embossing folder by Sue Wilson to add pattern and texture and cut it to size using a pierced square die.

Gold gilding wax was added to highlight the texture and then I put a little bit on the rose image as well to tie it all together.  Both pieces were then matted to help define the images.

A piece of ribbon was added before putting the image onto the card with 3D foam tape and then a sentiment stamped and embossed in gold to add the final touch...


Here is the finished card...


So I think red and green is a fine combination!!

I will be back on Friday with something different again, we will be going a bit fantasy.

Have a lovely rest of your week,

Jane x

Sunday 27 March 2016

Mixed Media World: Vintage Mannequin

Hello all!

I am really proud to be posting this today as back in December for my very first challenge I entered a fantasy themed hanging icon into the Mixed Media World challenge, and I was the winner!
As part of my prize I have been asked to be a guest designer for the latest challenge which is the theme of 'Vintage', you can have a look at the challenge by clicking on this link - Mixed Media World.

I love vintage!  When thinking about this post I realised that my love of vintage comes from my enjoyment of history and literature (which I studied at A Level and did history as the main subject of my teaching degree).  I really enjoy watching period dramas and the fashions have always interested me (although I wouldn't have wanted to wear them!).

So I decided to create a mannequin with a vintage theme in the style, colour and materials included.  This is by no means a factually accurate design, more of a creation that contains (I hope) a feel for the theme.

I started with a paper mache mannequin from IndigoBlu that I had previously decorated but wasn't happy with.  After taking all the old bits and pieces off I painted the whole piece using black gesso to get it back to basics...

Then I painted it with Goldfinger paint and added some gilding was to make it looked aged.  To create the dress I used an old white cotton sheet which I cut and tore into pieces.  I tested how I wanted it to look first before coating the pieces with sculpture medium from Finnabair then draping them onto the mannequin.  I built the pieces up and added some lacy roses which I also coated in medium then gave it a blast with my heat tool to get it started before leaving to dry overnight...


When it was totally dry and had gone hard I painted the whole piece using whisper Americana Décor paint and then added Pebeo gold gilding wax to high light the texture once the paint had dried...



To decorate I wanted to add items that I associate with the vintage feel.  I chose pearls, roses and lace to match what I had already added and wanted it to be in a sepia colour tone that would make the whole project look old.  I wanted one really large rose to be a centre piece and created this using a stamp and die set from Sheena Douglass (A Rosy Outlook).  The die was cut out 4 times then stamped with sepia Versafine.  I coloured it using tea dye and vintage photo distress inks with a clear sparkle pen then put it together, reducing the number of petals in each layer.  I added some micro beads to give more texture and a sort of rusted look.  The rose was sprayed with some gold ink as well (just for luck!!) then sprayed with a clear varnish...

  

The other flowers were a selection of pre made paper flowers and some crochet lace flowers which I layered together then added a pearl to the centre.  I also found some lengths of white lace.  I again sprayed them all using spray inks (Prima Bloom)...


I also added some antique gold spray after this photo was taken, which is why they all look darker on the finished piece.

Once these were all prepared I assembled them onto the mannequin using glue gel so that I still had the opportunity to move things if I wished...



Because I wanted it all to tone together, instead of leaves for foliage I added gold and cream stamens and also curled pieces of gold wire.  When I was happy with the arrangement I added copper and bronze micro beads between the different elements (and more pearls) and also some rust coloured glitter using soft gel medium.  I also added a bit of decoration to the base.  Finally I finished off by adding more gold gilding wax to tie all the elements together.  I took quite a few photos to try to capture the overall project...










I had lots of fun making this project and hope you have enjoyed it too!

Thank you for reading and looking,

Hope to see you next time,

Jane x 










Friday 25 March 2016

Funtastic Friday: Dream On...

Hello!

I hope you have had a good week and if you are having a bank holiday that you are doing something nice.  I am not sure what we will be up to as unfortunately the weather forecast is not good.  At least it will be good crafting weather!!

Today I am posting a project to enter into the Mixed Media Place challenge.  They have a mood board to inspire what you create...

http://mixedmediaplace.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/dream-on-march-challenge.html

This gave me the perfect opportunity to use a set of stamps that I have had a little while but had not got round to using.  I loved the soft colour palette, and flowers and butterflies are one of my favourite themes, so I loved making this project. 

I have quite a few photos so will try to keep the text to a minimum.

I started by painting a paper mache hanging icon with white gesso then stencilled glass bead gel from Golden through a TCW stencil (mini swirly garden)...


Once this had dried I attached some metal flowers and leaves using 3D matte gel and also some 3D balls from Powertex using the medium as well...


This was then painted over with white gesso again to form a blank canvas, the metal elements required an extra couple of coats...


 I looked through my paints and sprays to find colours that I felt captured the mood board.  I used tattered rose and tumbled glass distress paints for the base, then used sprays to darken the corners.  Tattered rose distress stain and Lindy's Stamp Gang (turbine teal and whale blue).  Then I added some linen distress stain and flicks of watered down gesso...


 Next I wanted lots of glitz to create a frosty morning type of effect.  I used frozen lake and frosty the snowman Wow! embossing powders across the corners before adding micro beads in splash and silver.  To add even more glitz I added some of the Finnabair glitters using more matte gel and some gems...


The main elements to go on top were from the Finnabair stamp set 'Dream On'.  I prepared a piece of paper using the main spray inks used on the icon and then stamped the butterflies and sentiment using versamark and heat embossed with silver powder...
 


After cutting out the butterflies I cut out and matted the sentiment onto silver card, then stuck them all on using glue gel...







 
I was really pleased with how this turned out and I got the look that I had imagined from the mood board.   Unfortunately the camera never seems to pick up the sparkle.
 
My next post will be on Sunday at 2pm (GMT) instead of Monday as it is a special one to link up with another blog, so I hope you will pop over to take a look!
 
Have a fantastic weekend,
 
Jane x 

Wednesday 23 March 2016

Wonderful Wednesday: Spring Bird Houses

Hello, I hope you are having a good week so far!

Here on the Isle of Wight the weather has been lovely the past few days, actually feeling quite warm, but as is usually the case when a bank holiday approaches the weather is due to take a turn for the wet tomorrow!

So to keep us thinking sunny thoughts I have decorated some lovely little bird houses from my MDF stash.

I started by coating all my pieces with white gesso (I use Finnabair's heavy white as I love the coverage and a pot seems to last me a long time)...


To make them a bit different I added some light modelling paste to each using a different stencil...


Once this had dried I chose a selection of chalk paints from Cosmic Shimmer as well as some Pebeo paints that I had and painted all the bird houses and the small pieces that go with them...


To finish off I added a touch of gold Pebeo gilding wax to all the pieces then stuck them together using glue gel.  Thin velvet ribbon was then used to hang them...






 
 
They were all very simple to make but a bit time consuming due to the amount of painting!  I am hoping to have these on sale at some of my craft fairs, but if not I think they will make a nice addition to my white tree that usually sits in my hallway, especially when I make up some of the rest.
 
Hope to see you Friday,
 
Jane x 

Monday 21 March 2016

Mixed Media Monday: Peach Flower Frame

Hello and welcome to Spring!

As it was the first day of Spring yesterday I wanted to show you something that went with the changing seasons today and as I always connect Spring with more sunshine and lots of flowers I thought I would post some pictures of a frame that I made a while back. 

I have quite a collection of MDF and this frame was one from Anna Marie designs.  It was really simple to put together and I added a touch of acrylic glue to make sure it held together perfectly...


After the frame had been put together it was painted with gesso as a white base and then modelling paste stencilled through onto parts of the frame.  Then I stuck a selection of metal and resin embellishments onto 2 corners of the inner frame then coated it all with gesso again. 
Once this had dried I used spray inks to create a peach colour on the frame, keeping one corner lighter than the other by spraying darker ink on the bottom corner and adding extra ink where needed...



The sentiment was from Clarity and stamped with a brown ink pad and a spritz of ink added.  It was die cut with a rounded corner square  then mounted onto vintage gold card.  A few paper flowers were sprayed with matching ink and then the whole piece was co ordinated together using gold gilding wax...



I particularly like the colour of this frame and I think that pastel colours are also particularly spring like.

Enjoy the start of your week,

Jane x

Friday 18 March 2016

Funtastic Friday: Leaf Card

Hello again!

Today I am not entering any challenges but gave myself a sort of challenge instead.

I regularly do craft fairs and one of the areas I am always aware of is trying to cater for presents and cards for men.  Usually I will end up with cards that are either brown and vintage or have gears and cogs on.  So yesterday I set myself the task of creating a card that would be suitable for a man but was not in those styles!

I recently bought some 8" x 8" embossing folders from Crafters Companion that are textures, and my favourite of these is a leaf vein folder, so I decided to use this as a starting point for my card.  I love flowers so thought about how I could change this and decided to focus on the leaf theme.

The start of the card was creating the background which I wanted to be quite an important feature.
I used a 'Falling Leaves' stamp set from Hobby Art, using the more solid shapes with Adirondack meadow and Versafine olive inks, stamping 3 times with each impression to get a variety of shades...


Once I was happy with this I used Peeled Paint and Mowed Grass distress inks to blend around the edges and part way into the middle of the piece of card.  I then used Lindys stamp gang sprays (sea grass and rusty lantern) to add some extra colour.  I wanted to use the embossing folder to add interest to the background but decided to use the deboss rather than the emboss side, putting versamark across the folder before running it with the card through my die cutting machine.  Then it was covered with gold embossing powder and heated to highlight the veins...


As I really liked the background I did not want to add too much else to the card. 
I chose 2 larger open leaves from the stamp set which I stamped in green then cut out.  These were coloured in using distress ink and spectrum clear sparkle pen.  I then over stamped them again in versamark and heat embossed them with gold, this had mixed results, some embossing better than others but I didn't mind the effect.  Finally I wanted a larger sentiment for the card so chose Phil Martin's bracket birthday verses. 
First I sprayed some white card with the same colours used for the background then stamped with black Versafine as I wanted the sentiment to be a focal point.  This was then matted and layered using square dies with rounded corners.
The card was put together using glue gel so extra height could be added to the leaves and sentiment and the final card size was 8" x 8"...




A reasonably simple card, but hopefully one that would be suitable for either a man or a woman.  I love the background created by the folder and will experiment with the emboss side as well soon.

Have a lovely weekend,

Jane x

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Wonderful Wednesday: A Mixed Materials Notebook

Welcome to the mid week post!

I have only got photos of my finished piece today as I only decided what I was making as I went along with this project.

I will be entering my notebook into the following challenges...

* Creative Carte Blanche - Triple Trouble, 3 things that don't go together (corrugated paper, lace & metal)
* A Vintage Journey - Destination Inspiration Travel Bag (board, metal, pale purple & rust effect)
* Mixed Media World Challenge 12 - Vintage
* That's Crafty - Stencils and Masks



I started by painting a piece of 6" x 6" chipboard with white gesso, then used Andy Skinner's 'French Elements' stencil with white crackle texture paste. 
Once this had dried I attached a piece of torn corrugated cardboard along the bottom using 3D matte gel.

The whole piece was then painted using shy violet chalk paint from Cosmic Shimmer.
To highlight the texture I dry brushed some Miss Moneypenny paint by IndigoBlu across the project then added Pebeo gold gilding wax.  A piece of crochet lace was then glued to the bottom of the board.
A flower was then stamped and die cut from the Heartfelt Creations sunflower collection and coloured using dusty concord and seedless preserves distress inks.  After being shaped it was attached to the board along with a selection of paper flowers using 3D gel.
A rusty look was created using bronze micro beads and rust coloured glitters, and was added to the project mainly around the flowers, along with some lilac and bronze half pearls.
The final element was the metal.  I used gold coloured wire which was cut and then curled around a brush to create spirals and placed around the flowers focal point.



The whole project was then put together using the Cinch machine to bind it into a journal or notebook.

So overall quite an eclectic mix of materials were used for this notebook!

I will be back on Friday and hopefully will remember to take some step by step photos this time. 
I hope you enjoy the rest of your week,

Jane x








Monday 14 March 2016

Mixed Media Monday: Box of Gears!

Hello and welcome to a new crafty week!

Today I am posting my industrial project that I had promised last week.  I enjoyed getting a bit more grungy and dark with my crafting this weekend (although I have got other projects on the go at the same time that are a bit more floral).

I will be entering this project into the following challenges:

* Countryview Challenges - Industrial
* Sandee and Amelie's Steampunk Challenge - Steampunk/Industrial
* Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - G is for Gears

I recently bought a kit from IndigoBlu that included 2 lovely MDF boxes, so decided that I would alter the smaller of the two for this particular theme.
To start with I painted the entire box using black gesso as I felt that would be a good base for this style...


Then I embossed some black card with a Spellbinders M bossability folder and cut pieces to fit the top and sides of the box.  These were then stuck down with an acrylic glue...


Sorting through my stash of crafty embellishments, I chose some chipboard, MDF and metal gears/cogs which I applied to the box using 3D matte gel...


This was then painted over with more black gesso...


Using silver paint from IndigoBlu I dry brushed the box to add a more mechanical feel, highlighting the texture as well...


I wanted to add even more tone and metallic look to the colour so then used Lindy's stamp gang sprays (steel shimmer and rusty lantern) and added some silver Pebeo gilding wax...


To finish it off I added black and silver micro beads and a sentiment from the Heartfelt Creations collection, All Geared Up, then a few more silver toned gears for an extra bit of dimension...





Hopefully I have managed to create an industrial feel, I do love using those cogs and gears!!

See you Wednesday,

Jane x