Thursday 28 June 2012

Pockets On The Beach With A Depth Of Distress. . . .

Strange title I know but all will become clear - I hope!

This week the challenge at Sunday Stampers is to show some pockets. I had a few ideas for this but one I really favoured was to use a pocket off an old pair of jeans. Whilst catching up with my blogging I saw a gorgeous piece based on the same idea so felt I couldn't do the same - don't want to be thought of as a copy cat (my husband already thinks I'm a mad cat woman so I suppose if the cap fits. . . . !). My next idea was the obvious one of putting a pocket on a project, but what to put in it?

Luckily I then saw that Artful Times had a new challenge with a seaside theme and it was just what I needed to help decide what to put in my pockets!

I recently made ATC's for the first time ever so thought I'd do some more of those. I find them quite challenging because they are so small but I think I may have the bug!

I love the beach - not sitting sunbathing (which I hate) but walking along them in all weathers. I was born near the sea and I think it's remained in my blood ever since. When I lived in Wales I was less than 10 minutes walk from the beach and I miss it so very much. My goal is to move back to a coastal town or village one day.

The challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp And Show is to show depths of distress. The natural move for me would be to reach for the distress ink pads - which I did of course! - but all these themes reminded me of my sadness when I left the beautiful coastal National Park I lived in. One day. . . . . . . . . .

I'm also going to show my work at a dedicated ATC blog called Fun With ATC's to hopefully get some suggestions to put me on the right road for making these gorgeous little pieces - what is it about small things? They're like magnets to me!! The challenge asks you to show stamping on your ATC's.

At Try It On A Tuesday the challenge is for anything goes so I will link up there with this piece too. I always like an open challenge - no panic as to whether you've hit the required mark or not!

I based my project on the colours of the beach and the sea, some of them can only be found in more exotic waters than our own though!!  Here's my entry for all these challenges:

The various elements used to make the ATC pouch and ATC's. The letters for the front don't appear here as they were a later addition - I thought the front looked unfinished before they were added.


The front of the ATC pouch with a thick jute string tie. The background card was coloured using a combination of Distress Inks, Dylusion Sprays and gold shimmer spray. I love the way the mica appeared to react with the dyes - a bit like putting salt on wet watercolours. The letters were die cut from some scrap backing card and covered with glossy accents (I HAVE to get it in somewhere!). All edges were inked with walnut distress ink.
The first ATC was put on the front. The background used distress inks & gold shimmer - love the 'cloud' effect which appeared after adding shimmer spray. The images were stamped in coffee archival ink. Edges inked with walnut (now more favourite than victorian velvet!).

The open pouch showing two 'pockets' to hold the ATC's. Backing cards were all coloured as previously described. The stamped 'waves' were highlighted with a white pen. The beach words were stamped with coffee archival ink. Jute string was added to hide the fold in the centre.

This stamped image was added because it reminded me of a spiral shell and all the words are beach related.

Both ATC's have inked backgrounds. Stamping has been done using a various archival and versa colours . The 'waves' on the right have been embossed with pure white powder to imitate foam on the waves - the stamp was free with Craft Stamper. The ATC on the left has water bubbles stamped in 'versa color'. The words were stamped with versa color and some  were randomly embossed with clear powder to make them stand out more. The beach huts and the paddling lady are made from shrink plastic.

Close up to showing the shrink plastic lady. She was stamped with stazon and coloured with pencils prior to being shrunk. A hole was punched before she went in the oven so a jute thread could be tied on. The beach huts were produced the same way.

The original sized lady and shrunk counterpart!
The remaining two ATC's. Backgrounds the same as before. Stamping done with coffee archival. Tickets stamped on kraft card. The lady was coloured with watercolour pencils and a water brush.

Please leave a comment if you wish - any tips are very gratefully received I can assure you!





23 comments:

  1. Delicious! I also lived my 'early years' near by the sea and i also miss the sea and the beach very much (i hate sunbathing too!). Your work brings me back the smell and the feeling... Very well done!

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  2. What a fabulous project Julia, super inking and stamping. I live right on the coast but I'm embarrassed to say I take it for granted, I really should go down there for a walk more often - not today though, it's a 'pea souper' xx

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  3. Wow you have combined all the challenges perfectly, and love the use of shrink plastic :)
    Thank you for including Artful Times in your fab creation :)
    Von x♥x

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  4. I too love to walk along the seashore - don't get there often enough. Your whole project - every single component - is stunning.

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  5. This is such a fabulous piece of work, so much to see and so much texture. I love the shrink plastic beach huts and lady and the way you made the waves is inspired! A x

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  6. HI, wow, fantastic use of colour and the images are spot on, I totally feel like I should be on holliday looking at them.
    mark

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  7. WOW Julia, this is a fabulous project, so many details on each piece. Love the shrink plastic lady and beach huts, a great addition.
    Thanks for joining us again at TioT and congrats on being in our Top 5.
    Avril xx

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  8. This is absolutely brilliant! I love how vibrant the whole project is. The ATC on the front is my favourite, but I also love the shrink plastic lady and beach huts, and the seagulls. It all ties in so nicely together! Love the "wish you were here" sentiment too. It's a really fabulous project! M x

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  9. Fantastic work, you are such a talented lady. And I agree with you about beaches, they are for walking along. I'm very lucky to have one half a mile from my door.

    Cassidy

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  10. WOW! This is fab, and your ACT cards are really good.

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  11. These creations look great Julia...the depth is there! Great use of colors too.

    greetings, Alie :-)

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  12. Think you're getting there without help Julia. Using a limited colour palette has certainly helped to tie all the projects together, and there are some really iconic seaside images used imaginatively here. Well done on your recent win too. Hugs, Buttons x

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  13. Absolutely beautiful work! I so love all of your ATCs...great stamped images and I love your designs. I also love the pockets that you've created for your ATCs. So much detail. Beautiful textures and colors! You should be proud of your work...it's amazing! Thanks for sharing with us at Simon Says Stamp and Show. <3 Candy

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  14. Just love these and the colours and images are just right

    Xxxxx

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  15. Absolutely fantastic! Love the wealth of detail, and the blues and greens! Just great! Valerie

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  16. Don't think you need any tips, your work is FANTASTIC! Absolutely adore this piece(s). Glad we got you into ATC's now! How about some scrapbooking??? hehehe BJ

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  17. WOW this is fabulous

    Love the colours, textures and detail

    Thanks for playing with Artful Times this week

    Sam xxx

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  18. Fantastic project, beautiful colours & design! x

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  19. Beautiful work Julia. You certainly have been busy. Hugs Rita xxx

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  20. Gorgeous art hun, love that shrinked lady... Thanks for joining in with the Sunday Stamper x

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  21. Wonderful creations, great bright colors.

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  22. What a fantastic artwork!!! The colours and images are so beautiful!

    Lg siljan

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  23. So bright and so very very summery and WOW what a lot of work. But what a fabulous keepsake you have there. Would brighten up any of the dreary wet days we have been having to call "summer".
    Thanks for joining us at Artful Times, sorry I am so late - Hugs, Neet xx

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Juliax