Hearts For Stampendous And DecoArt

 Hello everyone. Today I am honoured to take part in a blog hop with Stampendous, DecoArt and Princeton Artist  Brushes. There is lots of information to absorb so you may need to make a coffee/tea before you start!

Here's the introduction to the hop:

'Our great friends at DecoArt , Princeton Brushes, and inspired by Willow Wolfe are joining with us this week to show you what you can do with stamps and acrylic paint! You'll be amazed how these simple craft items make amazing things! Artists from all over the world will be playing with Stampendous, DecoArt, and Princeton. Prepare to be amazed!

Of course, there are prizes! DecoArt is sending three sets of their Media Fluid Acrylics, Princeton Artist Brushes, through Willow Wolfe, is supplying a Select Brush Set and a Catalyst Wedge, and we'll be adding a Stampendous Creative Palette so you can practice all the great techniques you'll learn this week!'

There is also another treat for all you blog hoppers. The amazingly talented Andy Skinner (Creative Director for DecoArt amongst other totally creative things!) has produced  a piece of art which will go to one lucky person who comments on the blogs this week. The name will be drawn on Thursday and announced on Friday - wish I could comment too! Here's the gorgeous prize:

A mixed media piece using DecoArt Media Products.

For today's hop, I decided to alter a wooden heart tag using products from Stampendous and DecoArt:

I made a print using the Stampendous Creative Palette and three of their wonderful rubber stamps and DecoArt Media acrylic paint. I used an interference colour to subtly change the appearance of the print. I love the interference gold from DecoArt! 

I decided to use a wooden heart shape so prepared it first with several coats of DecoArt gesso.

The print was glued onto card and the heart was used to cut out the exact shape required. This piece was then glued onto the wooden heart.

DecoArt have brought out a wonderful new Media range and one of my favourites is this translucent white paint. I used it to tone down the magenta on the print. Note how the design still shows through clearly.

The remainder of the print was used to die cut some flower pieces. The piece at the bottom right is the scrap from the cutting process. I cut this down to a small margin to use behind the flower. The edges of the die cuts were edged with dark ink. Some DecoArt crackle glaze was added when the flower pieces were dry. Burnt umber was applied once the glaze was dry.

The flower was constructed and applied to the tag. 

The centre of the flower was created from a rusty bell and some twine. The bell was first flattened with a hammer!

The scrap from the die cut was coated with a further layer of DecoArt Interference paint followed by some Crackle glaze.

Some die cut 'trellis' was cut from card painted with warm cream Traditions by DecoArt. This was followed my more crackle glaze. A black pencil was used to shade some areas of the print and tone the colour down.

Rusty wire was curled and used here there to complete the heart.

I made a heart from Fimo clay. This was stamped whilst still soft and allowed to dry. When dry, the heart was painted with DecoArt Metallic paint, followed by a wash with carbon black Traditions paint, then finally it was crackle glazed.

The word Heart was made on a little old label making machine.

Hope you like my first blog hop piece! For more details of the hop, scroll down for all the information. Remember, there are prizes to be won even for those in UK so why not click on those links and get started?

Visit each blog, leave a comment! • Like Stampendous, DecoArt, Princeton Artist Brushes and inspired by Willow Wolfe on Facebook! • We've also got a Pinterest Board started!

Please repin our projects onto your boards and be sure to tag us when you do (#Stampendous, #DecoArt, #PrincetonArtistBrushes, #byWillowWolfe) - we'll be tracking. Your comments on the designers' blogs are your entry into the drawing! We'll randomly choose three blog posts from all the designer posts this week and then choose a winner from each to receive a prize package. BUT I have a few bonus goodies hanging around my office for some lucky people who SHARE our Facebook posts and Pinterest Pins! We'll draw three winners with U.S. Mailing Addresses. BUT because we have so many international players this time, DecoArt has agreed to mail out three nice sample packages to international commenters as well. YAY! Ready for your trip around the world??? Let's get Hoppin!

Claudia Neubacher (Vienna, Austria)

Kristine Reynolds (California, USA)

Iliane de Fockert (Elly) (Niedersachsen, Germany)

Julia Stratford-Wright (Suffolk, UK)

Julie Robertson (UK)

Asia King (Oxford, England)

Jessa Plant (Arizona, USA)

Kathi Rerek (New Jersey, USA)

A few of the bloggers this week are new to hopping, so if you have an issue with any of the links, here's a little tip! If you get a page that says "Sorry that Page is not here" or something similar, try clicking on the header of the blog, or look for something that says Home. The hop page should be near the top of the day's posts. We will fix broken links as the day goes on, as well, so check back here if you are really lost.

The Official Rules are here.