Celebration at ABAC. . . . . .

The very first challenge blog which gave me a DT position was the hugely creative Anything But A Card and I still have a very soft spot for them. When Susan asked me if I would contribute to their final challenge post, there was no way I could let her down! Most good things come to an end at some time or another and that's where ABAC now find themselves. I'm sure all the wonderfully talented DT will move onto pastures new. 

The theme for their final challenge is Celebration. I went for a favourite thing I like to make - a tag! I always enjoyed the freedom ABAC allows its' designers for their projects so decided to edge slightly towards the darker side with a skull even though it's not Halloween! I cut the tag from an existing Gelli Plate print and here's how it ended up:

A Gelli plate print is altered with DecoArt media fluid acrylic, Inktense pencils and a little machine stitching. Here's how the print looked originally: 

Several stencils were used to create the image along with DecoArt Fluid Acrylic in Cerulean Blue. 

The whole tag was given a coat of Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide (DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic). You can see in this image how it changes the blue gelli print. 

Sections of the print are embellished with a black Inktense pencil. Shading and line extension can also be seen. 

A teal green Inktense pencil is added to various sections of the print to alter the original blue print. 

On the left, a stencil and pencil is used to create square shapes. Black machine stitching can be seen on top of the pencil - just!! 

Black rub-on letters are used for the wording. Love how the stencils create shapes within shapes. 

I hope you like my rather quirky Celebration tag! Make sure you pop over to Anything But A Card to see the wonderful creations from members of the DT. Susan: thanks for asking me and for running such a fab challenge blog! 

Time Flies. . . . . .

Good morning everyone. It's time for a new challenge at Stamps & Stencils today. Our host is the lovely Yvonne and here's what she has to say:

'Time Flies................ is our new challenge theme. For this challenge we would like to see clocks/ watches/ or any time related element as a focus on your project. Remember we are a mixed media challenge blog and we would like you to include some stamps and stencilling'.

I wanted to use another of my gelli print backgrounds so first I selected one that had a vague link to clocks - well, it has a number of circles on it so I figured that would work for me! Here's the gelli plate print I cut into a tag shape:

I felt the colours needed something else and I wanted to get rid of the white areas so out came the trusty Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide by DecoArt (Media fluid acrylic range) and a layer was added but wiped away in some areas:

I love the way the colours warm up and the white areas change completely.

Next, some stamping to bring the areas of the gelli design together into a more cohesive unit:

I find Archival ink works really well on acrylic paint but it does need a little blast from a heat gun.

Detail shot to show how the stamping just ties things together.

For the time element, a weathered clock and hands is die cut from foam board. A coat of gesso is added followed by a layer of Texture Sand Paste which is roughly applied with a brush.

When dry, the clock is painted with a mixture of Silver and Dark Grey Value 3 Media Fluid Acrylics. I forgot to take a picture of this and the next step sorry! A coat of Quinacridone Gold mixed with a little Carbon Black is then added.

This image shows how the clock and hands look after the coat of quinacridone gold and carbon black. The blue shading in the background has been applied to the gelli print using a pencil to add extra definition.

The hands are layered and 'held' with a tiny black gem.

To continue the 'Time' theme, a well known phrase is added using rub on letters. I really like how these work and I'm looking forward to playing with some printable transfer paper which acts like a rub on.

A faux screw brad is aged with a little colour and applied over the tag hole.

The gelli print was created with DecoArt acrylics and stamps by Stampendous.

The edges of the tag are sponged with a little Carbon Black Media acrylic to frame the piece.

I hope you like my slightly quirky 'Time' based piece! Please do go over and see the wonderful work by the other ladies on the DT.  You'll find them at Stamps & Stencils - you won't be disappointed I promise!

 It's your turn now. Please do try to join in won't you? We have worked hard to develop this blog (after an abrupt ending for us elsewhere!) and we'd love to see you playing along with us from time to time.

Thanks for your visit. x

Stampington Spotlight At Our Creative Corner

Hi everyone. I have a post over at Our Creative Corner which spotlights digital image ephemera from Stampington. I'd love it if you popped over and had a look. Just click HERE. I've got a little sneaky peek for you too:

Thanks so much for dropping by and I hope you like the full project.

Happy Holidays. . . . . . . . .

Good morning all. Two posts in as many day - amazing for me! It's time for a new challenge at Stamps & Stencils and our host this month is the wonderfully creative Toni. Here's what she has to say:

'It's that time of year where you may be thinking about dusting off your passport and digging out your swimsuit! Yes it's holiday time! Whether you're a lover of the seaside or someone who enjoys a city break, we would love to see your holiday inspired projects. This could be journalling, altered art, or even a good old card. Just remember that we are a mixed media challenge blog and your project should reflect that and as the name of our blog  suggests, don't forget to include some stamping and stencilling.' 

I decided to make a little travel journal which could be used to record details of visits, photos, sketches and whatever else might take your fancy. I recently bought the Eileen Hull Passport die and was eager to use it. Here's what I made:

A journal which ties at the side to keep everything safe inside.

The journal has a solid cover with a good deep spine. There are holes for three signatures and these could be quite generous if you wished.

To start, three colours of DecoArt Fluid Acrylic are roughly brayered onto a piece of card. No need to be particular and white bits don't matter!

I used these three colours - sand, sea and sun for the perfect holiday!

Two cover pieces are cut with the die and folder embossed with some travel/holiday type words.

After folder embossing, the front cover is coated with Versamark followed by clear embossing powder. This was done twice to achieve good coverage.

The front cover raised sections are brayered with DecoArt Chalky Paint to give more definition. Again, I did this twice for good coverage.

The back cover is treated slightly differently. The chalky paint is brayered onto the embossing folder and the card is embossed. The black paint appears around the letters which is quite a good outcome. The whole of the cover is then powder embossed as before.

The inner covers are painted with Hansa Yellow Medium as used on the outside.

Inside pages for signatures are cut using the die. The inside of the spine has the same stamped design as the inside covers. The little pockets are visible here too. The grosgrain ribbon is to keep the journal closed.

The pages are cut in similar colours to some of the paint used on the outside. They are ordered together then tied into signatures through die cut holes on the pages and the spine. It would be easy to add more pages if necessary.

On this journal I've left the strings outside. It would be possible to cover them or make more of a feature with ribbon, cord, lace etc. The spine is also powder embossed for extra durability. The edges are finished with black acrylic and a piece of cut n dry.

Detail shot.

Detail shot. Love how the colours glow next to the black.

The white areas on the background give a rather good graded effect and again, the colours pop next to the black.

Love the bright colours and the wipe clean covers!

Please remember to pop over to Stamps & Stencils to see what my fabulous teamies have been making to inspire you.

So, it's your turn now and I can't wait to see you what you make for our holiday theme this month.

Mexico Moods. . . . .

Today sees a new challenge at Our Creative Corner. We are combining our July and August challenges so you have a whole summer to create for this one!The Design Time have split into a July team and an August team so you get two doses of inspiration in the coming weeks.

Our challenge for the summer is called 'Mexico Moods' and here's what we'd like you to do:

'We want you to grab any inspiration you like from these wonderfully exotic photographs...

Go for colours, shapes, textures, objects or style - There is certainly plenty of inspiration to choose from here in this selection of glorious, vivid, colourful photographs.

Join us in the summer holiday mood....!!!'

I just love all those gorgeous colours in this image and that's what I decided to take as my inspiration. Here's what I made:

The colours from the inspiration photographs really caught my imagination. I decided to use a selection of the bright colours because they just sing together even though you may not normally think of putting them together.

I used several colours of DecoArt Media Fluid acrylics and applied them roughly to a piece of card using a brayer.

Layers are built up using stencils and stamps along with DecoArt Chalky Paints which work perfectly in this way.

Apply a thin layer of the paint to a craft sheet with a brush. Tap stamp into the paint and apply to card in a random manner. Use cut n dry foam with the stencils and paints. You must remember to clean your stamps immediately after use.

The sweet little girl is stamped onto a piece of card that I used to clean off my brayer. This 'scrap' card was stamped and stencilled in the same manner as the base of the tag. The paler colours make a good contrast to the zingy, bright colours in the background. I really like how the stencilling and stamping shows through the black archival stamped girl.

The small flowers are punched from the bright background scraps. The edges are inked and a small gem is used as the flower centre. The wings have been made using two layers and have been left unglued so they have more dimension.

The word is stamped onto a scrap and die cut into an oval. The little green studs are simply the scrap centres from a die cut which have been painted using the same shade of green from the background.

Three pieces of die cut lace are added to the bottom - again, these are cut from the bright brayered background.

A black pencil is used to 'ground' the little girl - no good to have her floating around on the tag!

The white stencilling is done with DecoArt Translucent White fluid acrylic - love how the other colours still peep through this layer from underneath.

The blue stencilling here is fluid acrylic again. The pale blue 'spots' on the left have been stamped using the DecoArt Chalky paint.

Detail shot.

Detail shot.

The stencil used is by Andy Skinner.

Hope you like how I took my inspiration from the colours in the moodboard. For further details of the challenge and the inspiration from the 'July' Design Team, pop over to Our Creative Corner.

We are lucky to have two sponsors for this challenge and they will be awarded to two lucky randomly generated winners:

As well as providing a prize for a randomly generated winner, Stampington are also very kindly offering a $2 bonus gift that can be used on e-crafting to everyone who enters the challenge'. How generous are they?!

Our second sponsor is the wonderful Tando Creative:

Looking forward to see what you create for us this summer! Thanks for dropping by.