Art Journal - Blue & Cool Colours

Another Art Journal play, this time in my Pink Pig Journal. This is one where I may follow a prompt or play with some products. And unlike my Arteza journal, I am not so fussed about the outcome - it's the playing and process that's important with this. 

It's the second attempt at videoing myself and I am still having teething problems. I had an issue with the focus of the camera and paused the video to sort it. Then forgot to start it again. That said, it gives an idea of how I put it together.

To start with, the prompts I have cut up in my box are from Mixed Media Arts. I don't use them too often, so there's plenty to work with. This time I chose Blue and Cool Colours. I don't generally just randomly pick one, as I still struggle with that. When I use them, I need to give myself a feeling of knowing what I can do. 

To go out of my comfort zone I use Everything Art (click here for their courses). I dip into the 100 steps and have signed up for the Care December. Kasia and Jamie give more than just a word prompt. They give you prompts for the techniques and products - and often a video - so I feel a bit more supported. 

I tried to show the products more - but still feel that I need to work on that. And as the video missed some of the process, I will give you a full list further down. And it seems Blogger only allows videos of under 3 minutes - so am going to have to give that some consideration too.

After the video paused, I used Structure paste through the stencil you could see. And then Lunar Paste through the Whitewash stencil. And on the other side, a couple more of the Elizabeth Craft Designs stencils with Chipped Sapphire Distress Oxide. I also did some stencilling on the coloured part of the shell.

The edges of the pages were painted with the Turquoise Cascade and Nearly Navy Inks.

Products Used:

Rice Paper - I use this to clean up ink, and then it provides me with a quick background like this one

White stamping card

Cadence Satin Finish Decoupage Glue

Amy Design Ocean Wonders Shell die set

Cosmic Shimmer Watercolour Ink - Peacock Teal

Cosmic Shimmer Pearlescent Watercolour Ink - Nearly Navy, Turquoise Cascade

Cosmic Shimmer Pixie Powder - Aqua Lagoon

Cosmic Shimmer Pixie Sparkles - Blue Wish

Cosmic Shimmer Lustre Polish - Snow and Ice

Cosmic Shimmer Luna Paste - Moonlight Ocean

Imagination Crafts Sparkle Medium - Midnight Ice

Imagination Crafts Structure Paste

Imagination Crafts Stencils - Whitewash, Chevron + not sure of the other one

Elizabeth Craft Designs Art Journal SO40 Pattern Stencil Pack

AALL & Create Stamp Set - #351 Alphabet Splatter

Distress Oxides - Weathered Wood, Iced Spruce, Mermaid Lagoon, Chipped Sapphire

Thank you for popping by. 

Please feel free to follow me here on my blog, on Twitter, FaceBook,  Instagram or Pinterest.

Happy crafting, 

Cxxxx

AALL & Create - #327 Ribbit Ribbit

I am relatively new to AALL & Create stamps. Am probably more drawn to those created by Tracy Evans and Bipasha, but love how all the designers have their own styles.

This stamps set is by Tracy Evans, and is called Ribbit Ribbit. I have another project with this stamp set which I have blogged previously. Click here for a look, as I have used different elements from the stamp set on that one than I have here.

I created the background by first spraying using Distress Oxide Sprays in Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet and Mermaid Lagoon. I then used some of the smaller stamps from the set to add more texture using the same colours in the ink pads. The Lotza Diamondz stencil was then used on top. 

The main stamp and the wording were stamped with Spectrum Noir Finesse Waterproof Dye Ink Pad in Pebble.

Click on the image to see the video demo, and please feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Happy crafting, 

Cxxxx

Colourful Parrot

 Along with the Peacocks, the Amy Design: Colourful Feathers range also features Parrots. Here is a card I have made with one of the 3D Push Outs, and I have used the tail feather die from the Peacock set to create a stencil for inking through.

In this sample, I have worked with ovals as that is the shape of the decoupage. The Distress Oxides I used were Picked Raspberry, Kitsch Flamingo, Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio and Peacock Feathers.

For the video, I demoed using a circular decoupage, with different colours. I cut a piece of stamping card, just marginally smaller than the piece I wanted to ink onto, and cut a circular aperture (oval for the sample) roughly in the middle. I then placed this onto my piece for inking, and sealed around the edge with low tack tape. 

 

I then used my brushes to ink through the circle, and briefly heat set it. Having previously cut the feathers die in stamping card, I laid this over the circular opening, and inked through it to create the pattern. The colours of ink I used in the demo are Candied Apple, Squeezed Lemonade, Mowed Lawn, Tumbled Glass and Mermaid Lagoon.

I cut a frame from the same card as the base to go round the inked area, and I cut a mat to go under the decoupage.

If you would like to watch the video demo, then please click on the main photo above.

Thanks for popping by, and I hope I have given you a little inspiration. Feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. For all the videos, pop over to the Hixxy Studio YouTube channel to subscribe. And FB lives are streamed on both the YouTube channel and the Hixxy Crafts FB page. The main items I use can be found on the Hixxy Crafts website - have a look under the Hixxy Studio tab.

Happy crafting,

Cxxx

Glue - and other things that begin with G

It's the start of a new fortnightly challenge at Use Your Craft Stash, and the theme is anything beginning with G or H. As ever, you need only one thing beginning with G or H, and you need to use your stash!

I decided to have a go with my Gelli plate. I've had it ages and not really used it. In searching for inspiration to use it, I came across using hot glue to make your own masks. So, I dug out my glue guns - I have several - and had a go.

I found it easier with the larger gun, and used that for the circles and rectangles ones, and the little one was used for the more abstract one. It's really easy - just squeeze the glue in whatever pattern you want, onto a silicone mat, and that's it.

   

I used these paints, as I wanted Green and Grey (for the G's) and I also wanted another colour in there too.

  

I made a creamy/peachy Gerbera, using the XCut Glorious Gerbera die set.

  

The sentiment is by Papermania, stamped with Stazon Cloudy Sky, filled in with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, and then covered with a silvery grey glitter glue.

So, my inspiration for this week has used Green and Grey, my Gelli Plate, my Glue Gun and Glitter Glue. Come and join us - we'd love to see you.

Happy crafting,

Cxxx

E is for Extremely Tricky!

So, we're at the start of another 2 week challenge. And of course we are now at E/F. Same as before - you can make anything you want and use anything you want from your stash - providing at least one thing starts with an E or an F.

I like to take each letter individually and see what I can dig out from my stash, but I have to admit that E was a tricky letter for me. That said, I finally found my inspiration and managed to create my project for this week's inspiration - and Easel card with an Envelobox.

One of the things I found most tricky was trying to find colours. Originally, I was against using Emerald, but in the end I dug through my ink pad collection to see if I could find any inspiration for colours starting with E. And this is what I found - Emerald and Elderberry - Green and Purple - and I actually quite liked it. To be fair, I didn't use the ink pads (except for the sentiment) but it gave me a starting point.

I really wanted to use my e-Brush - an airbrush brought out by Craftwell about 5 years ago that works with Spectrum Noir pens. So I then had to colour match with my pens. I used JG3 (Emerald/Green) and LV2 (Elderberry/Purple). While I was looking through, I also picked out a couple of lighter colours to go with them - LG1 (a pale green) and CR2 (a light pink).

I had a piece of Mylar into which I cut a circle (easier to do if you have multimedia type dies). I used scrap paper to mask off the area around. I started with the LG1 and sprayed the bottom part of the circle, and then CR2 to do the top.

   

I then used a stencil over the top. This one is a mini stencil by Imagination Crafts that was in a Crafter's Inspiration Magazine. It's a double so I wasn't too worried about it being coloured by the ink. And to be fair, it will still work in the same way. So, over the top of the circle and stencil, I sprayed JG3 and LV2.

  

And the result was really quite lovely. 

I also airbrushed a piece of card using the lighter colours to use as a background.

This topper was then used on an easel card. This was cut using Crafter's Companion Circle Easel card die set. The purple mat was Embossed with an old embossing folder from Crafter's Companion - Embossalcious Everday 6x6 Floral Frenzy. The green fancy mat was cut from Core'dinations using the dies that came with the Easel card set.

 

 

For the envelobox, I followed the instructions for a 5.5" x 5.5" card, so started with a 9" square, and scored at G and levels 1 and 2 on each side.

  

 

I decorated the top of the box in the same way as the easel card. I also added some extra mats and layers, and (although not a lot shows) I found a piece of card in my old demo stash that was inked in the right colours (quite by accident) - I am presuming it would have been with Spectrum Noir Harmony Water Reactive Ink in Plum Pudding and Holly Leaf. I used an Edge'able (Jardin) to cut in either side. it just peeks out below the circle.

  

So there it is - my Emerald and Elderberry circle Easel card with Envelobox, with E-Brushed topper,  Embossing and Edge'ables - and a few pearls for Embellishments!!

 

Happy crafting!

Cxxx

Anything Goes!

Monday morning, and another new challenge over at Use Your Craft Stash on FB! We've gone for and Anything Goes theme this week - so..... Anything Goes. Whatever crafty project you are making with your old stash, join us and enter the challenge- just remember to add your photo to the album and tell us what stash you've used. Here's my inspiration for the week.

At first, I was thinking "We don't have a theme! I don't know what to do!", but then though, what do I really want to play with from my stash? Two things came to mind - rice papers and my melt pot. So

I used them to create the canvas.

The rice paper is an A4 one from Stamperia called Rose Garden with Fence, and I've used a 10x12 canvas.

As the canvas is larger than the paper, I used a palette knife to splodge white gesso and Imagination Crafts Menthol Starlight paint, onto the canvas. Then, rather than using a brush, I used the knife to spread it across the canvas. The paper was then stuck down with IC Satin Decoupage Plus.

The next step was to make some embellishments using the Melt Pot. I found the receipt in with the instruction book, telling me I bought this back in 2013, and I bought all the stuff to go with it - I have loads of large tubs of UTEE and some small ones too. I have the large tub of clear. I have the beeswax with a separate pan, the texture treads, inks designed to colour UTEE and a few moulds. But I am obviously out of practice as I managed to get the stuff on me twice - and that is very painful.

I never throw the unused UTEE out - and consequently I have a collection of things I never used, or ends of batches that I pour into little silicone moulds to set and keep for later. I wanted green leaves for the canvas, so gathered all the green and light coloured pieces from my scraps boxes, chucked them in the pot, and poured it into the moulds. There was a lot left over, so that has been saved for another day.

   

I didn't have much pink, so used the little bit I had, and mixed it with white, blue raspberry and clear UTEE. The little balls are UTEE Flex. The UTEE can be quite brittle when set, so this helps to stop it shattering if dropped.

Once made, the top can become matt from being in the mould. You can heat with a heat gun which slightly melts it and makes it glossy, but I decided to drag something else out the cupboard - my Cosmic Shimmer Mica Powders - which I dusted over the top. I used Golden Pear and Pearlescent.

 

And then, as always happens with me and mixed media, I forgot to take any more photos. But the next steps were stencilling the corner details on using Sheena Create a Flower A Leaf of Graph Paper stencil and IC Shabby Chic Relief Paste in Sage and Ashy Rose. I dusted these with Mica Powder too.  A little bit of stamping with an IC art stamp and Distress Oxides in Bundled Sage and Worn Lipstick added a little more to the background (but would have been better if done before the stencilling. And then I attached the embellishments with Finnabair Art Basics Heavy Body Gel, as they are quite heavy in relation to the canvas.

And there you have it. We hope to see all your amazing creations this week. 

Cxxx

I have entered this into: 

Mix It Up Challenge Blog #37

Love to Craft Challenge Blog #46

A little something to pass the time.

Today being Sunday, I decided to do something just for me and because I can. Back at Christmas time, I was buying a few bits and pieces and picked this up this little MDF Craft Room Door Hanger from The Wooden Shape Company. It measures roughly 19cm by 8.5cm. It's one of those things that has been rattling around in my stash, just waiting for me to have some time. I have done a step by step for anyone who is interested or really has nothing better to do - but feel free to skip it. This is the finished product:

This is how it came - the hanger and all the pieces. As you can see, I didn't use all the embellishments.

I then had a trawl around to see what I could decorate it with, and decided to go with some Imagination Crafts Rice Paper, left over from another project, and some Starlight Paints.

First step was to gesso both sides of the hanger before applying the rice paper using Imagination Crafts Decoupage Plus Satin.

    

  

I used lots of little scraps of leftover rice paper to cover the back in a similar way.

   

It took me ages to find a layout I liked - and even then didn't follow it completely when I assembled it. And I only used some of the colours of paint that I got out - and a couple of the Imagination Crafts Art Stamps.

   

I used the stamps with Distress Oxide, building up some layers with Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo.

    

More texture was added using Imagination Crafts Baby Bubbles Stencil and Shabby Chic Texture Paste in Linen. When this was dry, I went over with more Vintage Photo Distress Oxide.

       

The MDF embellishments were painted with Topaz, Antique Gold, Clotted Cream and Salmon Starlight paints and attached with hot glue. I finished it off - as I always seem to do - with some flat backed pearls and ribbon.

Stay safe and take care,

Cxxx