Inspiration Post - Bright Heart

It is Cec here and I am presenting the Inspiration Post this time and have created a very bright heart to share with you.  I usually like to make my inspiration posts follow the current challenge but since I live in Canada where we do not celebrate Bonfire Night, I decided this post would be about something colourful and not something directly related to the celebration held on November 5th each year.

Here is how to make this canvas with the products I used:

• Using Mod Podge or some soft gel medium coat an 8"x8" canvas board with white tissue paper that has been crumpled up and then opened up again
• Cover the tissue with a coat of White Gesso (Liquitex)

• Spray the canvas with Lemon Zest, Squeezed Orange, Bubblegum Pink and Cherry Pie Ink Sprays (Dylusions)
• Soften the look slightly by spraying the canvas with White Linen ink spray (Dylusions)

• Mix some Medium Yellow Acrylic Paint (Folk Art) with some Glazing Medium (Liquitex) and brush on random sections of the canvas

• Add some stenciling using a Bubble stencil (Tim Holtz) and some Translucent Embossing Paste (Wendy Vecchi)
• Coat a wooden heart (cut by my husband but a chipboard hand cut or die cut heart could be used) with White Gesso (Liquitex)

• Rub some Passion Fruit, Mango and Lemon Gelatos (Faber Castell) on the heart and then blend with a wet finger
• Cover the heart with Mod Podge to seal

• Use a floral stencil (Plaid) with some Crackled Texture Paste (Wendy Vecchi) to add some stenciling to the heart

• When the stencil is dry repeat the Gelato step

• To pump up the colour ink with Picked Raspberry. Carved Pumpkin and Mustard Seed Distress Ink (Tim Holtz)
• Use gel medium (Golden) to mount the heart on the canvas

• Create a trio of curly wire (mine is wire found inside telephone cable that I confiscated from my husband)
• Use Worn Lipstick Distress Spray Stain to colour a white paper flower and then add it to the heart along with the wire (they are there but hard to see in the photo), a couple other flowers, some leaves and a feather

There you have it, a bright colourful canvas that should cheer anyone up on a dreary day - I hope you will give it a go.

Inspirational post: Playing with Lift Ink

Hello there! Rachel here today to show you my results of playing with stamps, stencils and lift ink plus re-inker. I know  its pretty old hat now but I was a bit late to the party and wanted to play!
My project is very a cute fishy themed card using stamps from Elenazinski at Paperartsy.

I started with a piece of yupo and some alcohol inks and applied the inks to the yupo using a felt applicator.

Next I added some more alcohol ink direct to the yupo and added some blending solution allowing it to run.

I then used the felt and applicator to try and pull the green into a more recognisable plant like shape. If you squint a bit you might be able to see! 

Next I got the alcohol lift ink out and my stamps of choice - I figure these stamps are pretty open to be a great choice for the technique but here's what I managed to achieve.

I applied the lift ink to the stamp then stamped onto the yupo and off again onto the card. After stamping on the yupo you need to carefully dab any excess ink off. 

Next I used a stencil and some lift ink re-inker and applied that on some clean felt using the applicator tool.

I really like this result!

Finally I added the cut out stamped images and made it look like an underwater scene, in my mind the fish at the bottom are more ghost like and harder to see then those at the top! I added the sentiment as a bit of a play on my family name.

Inspiration Post - Sun Prints

Hi everyone, Ruth here this week experimenting with a 'Sunprint Kit' that I've had for a while and just never got around to using until now. The kit contains photosensitive paper (cyanotype) which you expose to light. The resulting images can then be used in a number of ways and as this months challenge is 'Anything Goes' I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to dabble.

The kit is fairly readily available and comes in a variety of sizes and the one I've used is the smallest 10x10 cm. It's great fun for children and suitable for 6 years and over...so I thought I would be safe to be let loose with it!

It's so simple, card + paper + object + expose to sunlight and you can use a negative or a 3D object. Here in the UK we have had a glorious summer and I wanted to preserve some of the lovely foliage and flowers that have bloomed in the garden. Yes it took a little experimenting as the sun was so bright I overexposed some of the papers and also wasted one as I didn't separate 2 of them...but got it down to a fine art by the end, 1 minute! Once exposed you rinse in water and dry the paper.

All 12, 'disasters' included. Some images were very crisp as I used sunlight through a window, but some wafted a bit when I tried leaving them outside but I really liked the variety achieved. So how to use them?

I've recently inherited a huge pack of index cards which I'm really pleased about as I've seen a few challenges recently using them. I scraped glass blue and venice blue fresco paint on to a card.

I brayered some tango paint on and knocked back with snowflake paint.

Stamping and texture paint through a stencil, vintage book paper and stitching, also some of the Tyvek lace I created for this months challenge piece.

Trim the print and add a little more stitching, first piece finished.

For the card I wanted to echo the blue again and returned to one of the first techniques I ever tried, versamark stamping and mica powders.

I hope you can see the lovely shimmer, I decided to use one of Lin Browns grasses stamps as a background and keep the decoration simple.

I also used a kraft IC on this card, a little stamping, stitching and silver paint splashes....to be honest they are more like blobs as the paint was far too thick but I rather liked the effect....happy accident.

I know there are other supplies such as toners for fabric and paper if I wanted to step it up a notch but I'm happy enough with these results. I hope you've enjoyed my first experiments and as it's an anything goes challenge, dig out something you've had for ages and just have a play, we'd love to see what you create and there's plenty of time to join in. Ruth x

Inspiration Post - Captains of Industry

It is Cec here and I am sharing an Inspiration post with you.  Since there is still a couple of weeks left before our current challenge called Industrial/Grungy ends, I thought I would show you how to make a simple mixed media canvas with an industrial vibe.

Here are the steps to creating this canvas - the products I used are in brackets but you can use whatever you have available:

1.  Coat a 6" x 8" canvas board with White Gesso (Liquitex).
2.  Use a brayer to add layers of paint - Space Cadet. Lake Wanaka and Cinnamon Fresco Finish (Paper Artsy) leaving some bits of white showing.
3.  Repeat this on a piece of heavy card stock using more of the Lake Wanaka paint, which is the darker of the two blues.

4.  Using Watering Can Archival Ink (Wendy Vecchi) add stamping with stamps from Faded Fragments (Seth Apter) and Shine Bright (IndigoBlu).

4.  Add stenciling with the Watering Can Archival Ink and a stencil called Measured (Tim Holtz)
5.  Paint small wood strips with Gunmetal Gray Metallic Acrylic Paint (Folk Art).

6.  Using Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger) stamp three gentlemen from Curious Possibilities set (Tim Holtz) onto heavy card stock and fussy cut.  These fellows remind me of rich Captains of Industry from the late 1800s and early 1900s such as J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller.  The term often overlapped the term Robber Barons - hmmm! 
7.  Ink image with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink (Tim Holtz).

To assemble:

1.  Using Soft Gel Medium (Golden) glue wood strips to card stock panel to create corners.
2,  Add card stock panel to canvas board with dimensional foam.
3.  Add image to panel with dimensional foam.
4.  Using Soft Gel Medium add a variety of metal embellishments - Gears and Ruler (Bead Landing), Brads (Making Memories), Light Bulb Clip that I cut apart (The Paper Source).

There you have it, another Industrial/Grungy project.  Remember that lots of layers of paint makes for a grungy look and the metals can be anything you have on hand even if they don't match one another - just take alcohol ink, embossing powder or paint to them to unify the colour if that is what you want.

Inspiration - Fe Fi Faux Fun

It is Cec here and I am bring you the inspiration post this week.  Since the Let's Fake It challenge still has one week to run I thought I would bring you some faux backgrounds that you can create for your projects using products you probably already have in your craft stash.

I have made my samples on 4 1/4" x 5" pieces of heavy card stock (Recollections) and haven't prepped the card stock with anything.  I did get a bit of warping so I would suggest that you use water colour card or whatever you have that can take a lot of wet media.  In all cases, I am providing the colours and brands that I used because that is what I had on hand but feel free to use whatever you like.

Crackle

1.  Coat substrate with an even layer of Liberty Blue acrylic paint (Accent) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Cover with a medium to thick coat of white school glue (Elmers) and allow to dry for a couple of seconds.
3.  Cover with a coat of Khaki acrylic paint (Craftsmart) painting in both directions and allow to dry naturally.

Make sure that the two paint colours you choose are contrasting so the cracks show.  For more open cracks, you can thin the second paint colour slightly with water.

Wood

1.  Score the card stock every half inch on the back side.
2.  Turn card stock over and paint completely with Khaki acrylic paint (Craftsmart) and allow to dry completely.
3.  Run a Coffee Archival Ink pad (Ranger) down the length of the piece from top to bottom and again from bottom to top and then repeat with a Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) ink pad.

Do not press too hard on your ink pad because you don't want to cover your paint layer completely.

I had made a different sample first using Pumice Stone Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) instead of paint for the first layer along with the Walnut Stain DI and it looked great but I accidentally put the crackle piece on top of it not realizing that it was still damp and it turned the whole wood piece a hazy grey.  Once it was dry again, I re-inked it with a Coffee Archival Ink pad (Ranger) and this is the result.  I didn't toss it because it looks kind of cool.

Metal - Rust

1.  Paint card stock with Gunmetal Grey Metallic Acryllic (Folk Art) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Using a sponge add some Raven's Black Metallic acrylic paint (IndigoBlu) and some Harvest Copper acrylic paint (DecoArt) in random spots.  Blend the edges with more Gunmetal Grey where needed.

Metal - Tin

1.  Paint card stock with Vodka Martini Metallic acrylic paint (IndigoBlu) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Using a sponge add some Raven's Black Metallic acrylic paint (IndigoBlu) and some Gunmetal Grey metallic acrylic paint (Folk Art) in random spots.  Blend the edges with more Gunmetal Grey where needed.

Instead of using a sponge, you could spatter the other paint on.  I think I would spatter next time so more of the silvery first coat showed through.

Metal - Patina

1.  Paint card stock with Harvest Copper acrylic paint (DecoArt) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Use a Gears embossing folder (Tim Holtz) to emboss the card stock.
3.  Paint with Patina Green Antiquing Cream (DecoArt Media) and allow to dry for a few seconds.
4.  Dry brush with White Gesso (Liquitex) and then use a baby wipe to randomly remove some of the colour leaving the copper to show through.

Travertine (Stone)

1.  Use a palette knife to spread Molding Paste (Golden) over the card stock making it thicker in some areas and then allow to dry completely.
2.  Paint with Tapioca acrylic paint (Folk Art).
3.  Spray with Gathered Twigs Distressed Spray Stain (Tim Holtz and quickly blot with some paper towel.
4.  Splatter with some watered down Coffee Bean acrylic paint (Folk Art)

Leather 1

1.  Paint card stock with English Mustard acrylic paint (Folk Art) and allow to dry completely.
2.  Mix Espresso acrylic paint (Craftsmart) with equal amount of washable school glue (Elmers) and paint over the first coat of paint.
3.  Immediately lay a piece of cling film or dry cleaner plastic that has been scrunched up a bit on top of the wet paint and pat it down with the palms of your hands and then peel it off carefully.

The bigger the folds in your plastic are, the more interest there will be on your faux leather.  You want to lift larger sections of paint off with the plastic rather than small bits. 

I made a green sample first but there wasn't enough contrast between my paint colours and I didn't handle the plastic well enough so I need more practice but love the effect.

There you have it - a few faux techniques that you can use for your projects.  I will use these small samples to create tags and when I stamp on them I plan to use an archival ink.

If you want to fake it and create something faux for the current challenge, you have until Wednesday, June 6th at 20:00 pm UK time and you can find the challenge HERE.

Inspiration Post - Feather Collage

It is Cec here and I am bringing you the inspiration post today and in keeping with the current challenge, Wax Lyrical, I am including some wax on my project.  I have created a little collage and here is how it came together.

I started with a 6"x6" canvas (Above Ground) and gave it a coat of white gesso (Liquitex).

Next I added some stenciling with Molding Paste (Golden) through a Bubble stencil (Tim Holtz).

I forgot to take a photo but the next step was to paint the canvas with Khaki Acrylic Paint (Craftsmart) and then spray it with Gathered Twigs Distress Spray Stain (Tim Holtz).

Once the canvas was dry I added some Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) to the raised areas and the edges of the canvas.  Now it was time to prepare all the collage elements.

Using Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger), I stamped a feather (Inkadinkadoo) onto a torn scrap of buff coloured card stock.

Once it was stamped I crumpled it up a bit and smoothed it back out and then inked all over with Tree Branch Archival Ink (Wendy Vecchi) making sure to highlight the creases.

Next I shaved a bit of beeswax (ArtMinds) with a cheap grater from the dollar store into a tin cupcake tin and heated it on top of a portable element.  The beeswax was painted on the feather piece and then I used my heat gun to smooth out the streaks.

Here are a few tips from my experience working with the beeswax:

• Make sure you are in a well ventilated room (I just opened the window of my studio).
• Use an old paintbrush that you don't mind dedicating to wax because some wax will stay in it when it dries but it can be used with wax again - it will melt once you add it to hot wax.
• Work quickly because the wax dries very fast.
• Use a heat gun to smooth out the streaks left by the paint brush.
• Try not to manipulate your piece after you have finished heating it because once it is dry, the wax can crack - learned this from experience when I tried to distress the edges a bit more.
• Use archival ink because distress ink may bleed when you add the hot wax - I didn't test it so it is just my assumption.

I changed the colour of a piece of crochet lace from my stash by dragging it through some watered down Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) and then giving it a few sprays of Burnished Brass Moonshadow Mist (Lindy's),

Using some Crafter's Clay (Martha Stewart) and once of her silicone moulds, I created a little medallion and once it was dry I painted it with Worn Penny Metallic Acrylic Paint (DecoArt).

I created the sentiment on the computer, inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Tim Holtz) and added a brad (Making Memories) to one corner.  The heart was in my stash and was hand cut, inked with Vintage Photo DI and then had some stenciling added with Tree Branch Archival Ink through a Splatter stencil (Tim Holtz).

To assemble the collage, I added a torn piece of natural paper from my stash and topped it with the lace and then the feather panel.  some copper wire from my husband was wrapped around a stick and added to the top.  A rusty washer and the sentiment were added in the right side and then some fibres (EK Success) with the heart and medallion were added on the left side.  I used a soft gel medium (Golden) as an adhesive for all my elements.

I don't know how the wax will behave if I use it to embed items on a collage but stay tuned because I am going to give it a try.  With a 50% off coupon from Michaels, this was a much more affordable alternative to encaustic wax.

I hope you like my little collage with beeswax and will give it a go yourself.