Seaside Canvas

Last week, I demonstrated this canvas on the FB live for Hixxy Studio. The full video is on the YouTube channel (click on the final picture for the link), but I have a few pictures of the stages to share here. I have recycled an old box canvas for this project - you can just make out the stripes underneath the layer of white gesso.

For the sea, I used white tissue paper and decoupage glue to create some texture like the waves.

For the sand, I used Imagination Crafts Icy White Paste because it has a grainy texture.

I used acrylic paints mixed with Gesso to paint both parts of the canvas.

 

I used Amy Design Maritime Fishing Net die to cut out the mesh from funky foam. I used white as it is easier to add colour to - with acrylic paint. I tore this up to add to the top of the canvas. To adhere it, I used transparent texture paste.

More paste was used to add the twine. You will see in the finished picture that I tweaked it and pulled it around once the picture was on. 

The photo was mounted onto a piece of card torn from a box. I ripped the edges of the card to expose the corrugated parts. And finally, I added shells.

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,

Cxxxx

White "Queen Bee" Card

Good morning!! Today I have an almost white-on-white card to share. There is a little yellow there for the bee, and to add a little to the background - but it's mostly white.

When I do white-on-white cards, I try to use a variety of textures and tones of white. Here, the base is a straightforward white card, onto which I have matted Centura Pearl Snow White - Hint of Silver and white hammered card. The yellow mats are just white stamping card with Scattered Straw Distress Oxide. I embossed the pearl square with an old Verity Rose embossing folder called Cupcake. The lacy detail is provided using a die called Rose Frame from the Romantic Roses collection by Precious Marieke, cut from white linen card.

And the gorgeous bee is an IndigoBlu mini stamp called "Queen Bee". She is stamped with Spectrum Noir Finesse Waterproof Ink in Flagstone, and the yellow is created using Scattered Straw as before. I have added glossy accents to her wings.

To see the video just click on the picture above.

Take care and happy crafting!

Cxxx

Pause, Relax, Unwind

I have recently been trying out art journaling as a way to just create and try to unwind. I started with Everything Art's 5 day re-boot. I enjoyed having a go, so signed up for their 100 small steps. I have completed a few of the days, but have come to the realisation that I am not enjoying the process at all, and that the journaling side is really not for me. I also was falling out of love with my spiral bound journal, as I just wanted to cover the whole page with colour - and that was virtually impossible. It also meant that the two pages did not flow together. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the Pink Pig journals, and have invested in both an A4 and A3 version so that I have scope for much larger areas - but, for this, I wanted something fairly compact and not spiral bound. I have ended up with Arteza's 14cm square (roughly 5 1/2 inches) watercolour sketchbooks. The paper is 230gsm - and seems plenty heavy enough for what I want to do.

Rather than trying to follow a prompt - which I think was another thing I was struggling with - I decided on a colour palette, and just spent some time looking through my stamping stash to see what jumped out. I ended up with the mandala - Spectrum Noir Colorista Background 3 stamp - texture stamps from Crafter's Companion Textures collection, and words from Crafter's Companion Destinations.

I used Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Ground Espresso Distress Oxides for the background. I stamped the mandala with Harmony Waterproof Ink in Pebble (was meant to be Rustic Brown but picked up the wrong one). It didn't stamp very well, so I went over it with a brown Sharpie. I then painted it using my ancient watercolour tin. 

I have to admit to being happier with the outcome of this than perhaps I was with previous pages. We'll have to see how it goes - and whether I can follow my own advice to pause, relax and unwind. 

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

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

More Flowers and Keys

Another canvas using the Flower and Keys stencil.

I covered the canvas with Gesso, then added Sand and Bright Maroon Starlight Paints. I then added rice paper (design 407) in the top left corner, and used watered down Cafe Creme Rusty Patina to knock it back. For the stencil elements, I mixed Rustique, Verdigris and Cafe Creme Rusty Patinas to make the drop shadow, then went over the flower with Ruby Gold Sparkle Medium and the Keys with Cafe Creme Rusty Patina. Once that was dry, I added some Verdigris and Rustique Rusty Patinas to the keys.

Around the edges I used Artsy Stones, Ruby Gold Sparkle Medium and all three colours of Rusty Patina.

Back tomorrow with more samples!!
Cxxx

Script Cheeseboard

Am loving these little cheeseboards. This one was really simple to decorate - but I love the way it turned out. 

I covered the whole of the board with rice paper (design 388) - love this design! I then added Chocolate Shabby Chic Relief Paste through the script part of the Feather Stencil. Around the edges I used the same paste with a brush to provide a frame. And finally added a ribbon bow. It was that simple.

Will be back tomorrow with a couple more samples.

Cxxxx

Vintage Cheeseboard

I had great fun with these lovely little MDF cheeseboards, making samples for the launch of the Imagination Crafts One Day Special on Hochanda on Thursday.

For this one, I used Clotted Cream and Antique Pink Starlights to paint the cheeseboard, then added rice paper over the top (design 448).  Over the top of the paper, I added some crackle effects with Crackled Feather stencil and Antique Pink Starlight. The large keys are Magi Cutz, and I coloured them with a mixture of Rustique Rusty Patina mixed with Black Gesso. On top of this I added a little Verdigris and Cafe Creme Rusty Patinas. I did the same with the edge of the cheeseboard. To finish, I added a little ribbon. 

Will hopefully be back later to share another sample.
Cxxx

Vintage Charm

So, this week sees another great One Day Special from Imagination Crafts. The theme this time is Vintage!! As ever, there are gorgeous Rice Paper and Stencils, alongside Starlights, Rusty Patinas and Shabby Chic Relief Pastes.

This is one of the 10x12 Canvases cut in half and painted first with White Gesso and Green Starlight paints, then sprayed with Blue, Green and Orange Mix Media Sprays. Have to say that the Orange Spray got a little lost in the strong blue and green pigments. I then added a piece of rice paper (design 407) over the top, which adds more interest to the background. 

I used Zinober Gold Starlight paint through the new Feather stencil that MJ shared on her FB live last night, and then Ruby Gold Sparkle Medium, slightly offset to create a drop shadow. The postmark was added in the same way. The script is from the same stencil,with Linen Shabby Chic Relief Paste. And finally, the "Dream" word is one of the Magi-Cutz with Zinober Gold Starlight and Ruby Gold Sparkle Medium.

The ODS launches on Hochanda at 6pm Thursday - make sure you tune in!!

Cxxx 

Parisian Last Chance

So, we're heading for last chance on the Parisian One Day Special, so be sure to tune in at 5pm. Here are my last two samples.

The first is another canvas using rice papers, Starlights, Alchemy Waxes, Magi-Cutz, Mix Media Sprays and stencils. 

And the last is a very simple ceramic heart covered with rice paper, stencilled over with Relief Paste, and edged with French Lavender Alchemy Wax.

Don't forget - last chance at 5pm.

Cxxx

Paris Cards

Two more show today for Sue with the gorgeous Parisian themed One Day Special - 1pm and 5pm. As well as canvases, I made a couple of cards for the shows.

For the first one, I used Starlights (mixed with a little glycerin) on my Gel Plate withe the Damask Stencil to create the two background pieces. On one of those pieces, I added rice paper. And the front topper was also made using rice paper. The white background at the very back is from running the stencil through the Gemini.

The second card is the one Sue showed on the first show on Friday - using Transparent paste through the stencil to create an embossed effect, then rubbing Alchemy Wax over the top.

I will hopefully be back before the last chance show with the rest of my samples. 

Cxxx

Paris Amour!

It was great seeing all the fab samples and demos on Hochanda yesterday. Sue is back this morning at 9am with more techniques to share.

Here's another of my samples - another canvas. 

For this I started by spraying the canvas with water, applying white gesso then adding Rich Gold, Clotted Cream and Kiwi Green Starlights. Then I added the rice papers, and over the corners I used Malahit Relief Paste and Sage Shabby Chic Paste through the French Damask stencil.

I used the Crackled Feather Stencil to add some crackle texture around and over the rice papers - this was with the Peridot and Inca Gold Alchemy Waxes. There are a few Magi-Cutz on there for added decoration, and some punched circles.

The canvas is edged with Inca Gold Alchemy Wax.

Hope you catch the shows.

Cxxx 

Voila!!

Did you manage to catch the launch show of the Parisian themed Imagination Crafts One Day Special? Some great demos and fab samples from the team.

This is another of my samples, using one of the rice papers, Magi-Cutz, the script from Les Ciseaux stencil with Gold Relief Paste and of course Starlights in Banana Yellow, Hot Pink and Rich Gold.  Artsy Stones add a little bit of texture.

Sue will be back at 8pm tonight and again at 9am, 1pm and 5pm tomorrow.

Take care,

Cxxxx

Paris Tag

So today's the day. Sue will be on your screens at 6pm for the launch of the Imagination Crafts Parisian Hochanda One Day Special. Today's share is an MDF tag.

For this, I used Rich Gold and Green Starlights with White Gesso to cover the tag, then added rice paper to the bottom left corner. I then masked off the scissors in the stencil, to leave the flowers, and used a combination of Gold and Malahit Relief Pastes. For the flowers, I rubbed French Lavender (Purple) Alchemy Wax over the relief paste. 

The little Paris and France circles are Magi Cutz covered with paint and wax. Lots of ribbon to finish off!! 

Don't forget to tune in to see Sue with lots more samples from the DT and loads of demos!

Take care,
Cxxx