'Colour'

Today I wanted to share something I made for myself, and it's a work in progress.  My first little Art Journal.

I painted the chipboard pages in white gesso, and on some of them, swirled the end of a paintbrush in the texture to make some patterns that show when they are covered in paint.

I mixed some acrylic paints, to make a bright orange, pink, and yellow, and painted the pages with my fingers.  (Yes - finger painting!)

The cover has the lovely lady from the 'Mr Darcy' Stamp set from Indigoblu, coloured with distress inks and pan pastels.  It is then stamped with bubble wrap, lids from bottles or sprays, and something like credit card edges to ground the image and add interest to the page.

The 'Art' wording is also from Indigoblu, and I then added some chipboard flowers, cut out text, and stick on pearls.

The techniques used are from watching the wonderful Kate Crane's dvd's,  I was inspired to have a go myself, I love the bright colours and way everything pop's off the page.

The little castle is a charm I took the ring off, it just added a little something to the page.  Some of stamped rings on the page are highlighted in gold paint,  and the little dots in white are from a uniqlo pen. 

The word ART, is stamped with flitterglu, and foiled with 'peacock feathers' from Indigoblu.

Here are two of the internal pages.

 

 These pages are similar to the cover, with bubble wrap stamping, backgrounds, doodling, stamping with household objects, and finger painting.  They are blank and ready for me to add journalling when I am ready to.

If you haven't tried it since you were a child, finger painting is one of the most relaxing ways to get lost in your craft (and the cheapest!)

I thought I would enter this for the 'Colour' challenge over at 'Simon Says Stamp & Show'

If you fancy having a go, you can get Kate's dvd's here:

I know I had fun!

Best Wishes,

Nikki
 

Torn and Tattered. .

Over at Craft Stamper Magazine there is a new 'Take It, Make It' challenge, where you can win fab prizes and if you win, see your work in the magazine!  The inspiration for this months challenge is by Helen Chilton, and it's her Terrific Tearing article which is on page 78 of the May issue.

I immediately sprung to life when I got my copy, as there's nothing more fun than a bit of ripping and tearing to make you feel great, especially if it's allowed!

This is my finished card for the challenge, it uses Papermania Kraft Basics 12 x 12 papers, and Papermania Urban Stamps (Bird Print).  The number's paper is called Mackenzie by Kanban, and was from the lovely Pink Tulip Creations.  The embellishments are all from Indigoblu (cogs, wire heart).  I have used Tim Holtz Distress ink in Black Soot around the edges of my torn paper.  And the glitter is from http://www.glittermagic.co.uk/, it's anti-static and a really lovely glitter to use, it doesn't stick to the stuff you don't want it to! 

I stamped the central image on white cardstock, and distressed it slightly.  The frame was torn, and I added a peeled back 'door' with fastening.  The cardstock is all distresssed, the flower's are printed with music from the same stamp set, and the main large flower is hand torn and layered.

There is still plenty of time to enter as the competition has only just started, and you have two months to enter, so pop across to Craft Stamper and have a go yourself!

Best Wishes,

Nikki xx
 

Happy Accidents!

Hi all,

I just wanted to share this little birdhouse with you, and the process I went through to get it looking like it does now.  I love the saying 'There are no mistakes in Art', as it is so true!

I'm not the neatest of crafters, have been known to drop my inkpad face down on my work, or get ink up my arms then lean on something, but it just goes to show that you can make something of your mistakes, or 'Happy Accidents' as they are known in crafting.

After painting with gesso, (Gee So Good) I mixed my own green acrylic paint colour, which actually started off more like a luminous yellow.  So that was the first layer.  I then added some white to the green, and painted again.

I used the fabulous Kroma Crackle on the roof, which goes on clear and dries white.  This toned down the green beautifully, so I realised I needed to do the rest of the house again, so mixed some gesso with water, and painted over it for a fourth time.

I used IndigoBlu's Crackle stamp, in Memento London Fog ink, to add extra distress to the sides and front.  I then stamped the sentiment in Stayzon on the front RIGHT (yes, the right), of the birdhouse).  I didn't press hard enough....

Have you seen my handmade flowers? .  . . I did buy some paper flowers, which are then stamped with text script, and distressed, but the red circular large flower's are handmade, just by taking three circles of card, making each slightly smaller, and torn round the edges.  If you crumple the card up, and put a brad through the centre, it makes a lovely flower.  And hardly costs a penny.  I distressed the edges of each petal on one flower, and left the other with just the text.  The brads are just some I had in my collection, but I had to get a little steampunk in there somewhere. . .

There is another 'accident' under the flower's on the roof, I stamped a postage stamp upside down. . .

The lovely lace border is one of my favourite stamps from Indigoblu and is in their latest collection.  I stamped it in brown ink, and distressed it with Forest moss distress ink.  The house is edged with Inka Gold, which is rubbed on, to give a gilded aged look.  I also used the forest moss distress ink to just rub over the Kroma Crackle again, and the sides of the house, to age it even more.

The swallow's stamp IS my favourite, it's on the 'Mr Darcy' set, and I use it quite a lot for a small stamp!

So you see, if you think you have made a mistake, or aren't happy with your project so far, just keep going, paint over it again, or make it into something different.  Just let your creativity take over.  You will learn from your mistakes, what mixes with what (and what doesn't!), and you will know what looks good.

Tomorrow's blog...... The wonky clock! 

Bye for now - Happy Crafting! 

Nikki
x

 

More pictures. .

Hi everyone, hope you all had a lovely Easter Sunday.  As I took pictures in the dark nearly last night, I thought I'd upload a couple more of the tag I made yesterday, so you can see the distress ink technique better and the resin.

 

Can you see the lovely pattern using Dettol spray on the distress ink left?  It was funny, I couldn't find my water spritzer and as I was working in the conservatory and not my workshop upstairs, (I seem to be spreading out around the house), and so the Dettol was the first thing I could find with a spray nozzle in the kitchen.  It sort of raised itself on the tag, and almost bleached out some of the colour. 

You can see the shine on the Ice Resin in the lovely fob bezel, and the detail in the tiny tag and key.

IndigoBlu are recommended distributors of Ice Resin in the UK, if you fancy having a go with it, it's a brilliantly clear resin, jewellers grade, and is easy to mix and to use - don't be frightened by the thought of using resins, it's not like it used to be.  It's very low odour, and non-toxic.  It's a tiny bit sticky when you spill it, but hey, we all make mistakes!

 

Well, hope you like the tag, I certainly had fun making it.  I have a little birdhouse project on the go at the moment, and will be back this week with progress pics, but I'm not quite sure what I want to do with it, I have the base colours down, but I've got a little stuck. 

 

 



 



I'll explain the techniques and products used soon!   More to come on this one, not sure what to stamp next. . .

 

Have fun whatever you are doing, see you soon. x