Welcome to today's Guest Designer, Amanda !

Hello and welcome! Today we are welcoming Amanda of Treasured Moments of Inspiration as our Guest Designer. Amanda was the winner of the Three of a Kind challenge and was asked to join us as Guest Designer. So, let's move on to hear from Amanda !

Hi everyone, Amanda here and I am delighted to be here following my win of last month’s challenge

I am a “Craftaholic”! I have been crafting for about 6 years now and love nothing more than escaping into my craftroom to just get all inky and messy. My style is continually evolving and I love trying new techniques and products and create, in my opinion, many “Happy Accidents”! I suppose I would class myself as a mixed media crafter but also like creating within many other genres it just depends what crafty mood I am in. I also do like to collect the odd stamp or two, an obsession that I am considering seeking medical attention for, but I think I am beyond help!!

For this month’s challenge “Small is Beautiful” I have created “The Little Book of the Sea” which is housed inside a small matchbox.

 

Here’s how I made it:-

I first started by die cutting my matchbox using Tim Holtz Alterations matchbox die, for this I used a heavy kraft card.

Then to make my little book to put inside. The inside measurement of the box is 4.5cms x 6.5cms so to ensure that my little book fitted, it needed to be 4cm x 6cms when finished.

I cut a piece of A4 white card into a 6cm strip and then scored at 4cm intervals.

I then prepared my background. The first layer was a layer of blue brusho, I then stencilled the bubbles over using first PaperArtsy Fresco paint in white and then bump stencilled again with shades of blue Fresco paint. When that was all totally dried I applied Antique Linen Distress Ink with an ink blending tool.

 

 I then added some background stamping using blue Archival ink.

Then to add my images. I stamped a selection of sea themed stamps, from Crafty Individuals and Chocolate Baroque, onto white paper using Potting Soil Archival ink and set about cutting them all out.
 

Then to create the pages. You will notice the last page is blank, that is because when folded up it sits under the cover to complete the book.

 

A layer of white fresco paint roughly applied, same stencil technique as above. Then I added some bandage, to mimic fishing net, that I had coloured with the watered down Fresco paints and Vintage Photo Distress Stain and some of my left over cut outs. 

Text has been typed out on my vintage typewriter and applied with 3D glue gel. I even added to the inside of the box for the book to sit in.

I hope you like it.

Love

Amanda X

Fantastic Amanda ! What a beautiful little book and housed in such a gorgeous match box home. There's still plenty of time to join us for the current challenge of Small is Beautiful and I'm sure that Amanda's project has give you even more inspiration. 

Journalling with Frescos !

Hello and welcome to today's Inspirational Post ! It's Sue here with you today, when I sat down to create something for this post Mr Mojo flew straight out of the window ! I read on Dina Wakley's blog recently that when this happens the best thing to do is just do 'something'. Leandra from PaperArtsy was demoing the brayering technique on Sunday at The Stamp Magic show, so with this in my head I picked up my brayer and away I went !

I started by taping the centre of the pages with masking tape and giving the pages a coat of Gesso. I used neutral tones to begin with of Fresco Finish acrylic paints and brayered them on to the pages. The journal is made with watercolour paper so the pages have texture which gives the appearance of canvas when you start to paint on it.

Following on from the neutral tones I started to add some colour, moving the book around and brayering from all edges.

Using Snowflake Fresco Finish I knocked the colours back a little, not brayering over the entire pages but in patches.

 Thinking that it still needed something I used Autumn Fire Fresco Finish around the edges.

I demoed a technique on Sunday at the Stamp Magic show on the PaperArtsy stand where bright colours are stencilled over white. I love this technique so decided to indulge myself ! Using Snowflake Fresco Finish I stencilled some flowers over the pages. This blocks out the colours below and allows you to use translucent paints on top.

 First colour I chose was Blood Orange and replaced the stencil over the white and stencilled again.

Another technique I love is the 'bumping' technique, I replaced the stencil but then moved it slightly down and stencilled over the flower with Snowflake.

I started to build the colours up on top of the white layer, using Yellow Submarine, Tango and Brown Shed Fresco Finish paints, keeping the darker colours towards the centre of the flowers.

For extra definition I used Claret Fresco Finish in the centres.

I thought I was happy with the flowers at this stage so I then started to stamp across the bottom using Darcy Wilkinson's stamps and I've painted them with Limelight and Hey Pesto Fresco Finish paints. I added a little Yellow Submarine to the larger leaves and stamped the little dots using Leaf Green Archival ink.

I changed my mind about the flowers and thought about a technique that Lin Brown shared recently. I used Grunge Paste with the PaperArsty dotty stencil and dabbed mica powder on top of the dots. You can't really see in this photo but the mica powder does add a sheen.

The wonderful sentiment is from one of the Sara Naumann stamp sets. I've also added some doodling with a white Sharpie pen.

The little tag is stamped onto some brayerd card and I've stamped the word Bloom in the centre. Before I stuck it down I used a Gelato from the Steam Punk set and created a shadow. The beauty of Gelatos is if you have used too much you can wipe some away with a baby wipe as they react with water.

If you've stuck it out to the end, here is the finished page !

I hope you've enjoyed today's Inspirational Post and remember you've still got lots of time to join in with the current challenge of Small is Beautiful.

Sue
x

Winner and top 3 - Three of a kind

Hello and welcome ! Today we're announcing the winner and top 3 of the Three of a Kind challenge. The entries were absolutely fabulous and it made the job of the DT so hard ! But, as always we got there in the end, so without further ado congratulations go to:

Amanda

Congratulations Amanda ! 

Your project is fabulous and we loved the depth you've achieved and the contrast between the bright colours. As the chosen winner Amanda  has been invited to Guest Design for Stamps and Stencils at a future date. 

We also have a further winner of the beautiful palette knife from Toni chosen by RandomOrg. So, congratulations also go to:

Shilpa !

Congratulations Shilpa!

Shilpa please email carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk with your mailing details.

Now on to the top 3

Sue

Jennie

Rupa

Congratulations everyone, please email carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk for your top 3 badge. 

All of the winners will also be pinned on the Stamps and Stencils Pinterest Board too ! 

The current challenge is Small is Beautiful and you've still got plenty of time to join in. 

Sue

x 

 

Small Is Beautiful

Hi everyone. Julia here to host June's challenge. Firstly, can I say a huge thank you for all your wonderful entries last month in our Three Of A Kind challenge. It will be a difficult job to choose our winners! Don't forget to check back on Tuesday 9th June to see who our winner is and the top three too.

For this month's challenge you are asked to make or alter something small. This could be a tiny book or journal, an ATC or ATB, a small canvas or box/tin of similar size, a small piece of jewellery - anything, as long as it is small.You must use at least one stamp and one stencil on your project. Please remember we are a mixed media challenge blog and the style of your work should reflect this.

Now let me show you some wonderful inspiration from my hugely talented teamies: 

Julia

Yvonne

Ruth

Sue

Toni

Sharon

What amazing work from my fabulous DT friends! I do hope you feel inspired to make or alter something small for us. Just remember to add in at least one stamp and stencil and then link up with us using the linky below.

It's over to you now - can't wait to see what you come up with that's small and beautiful!
Julia x

An InLinkz Link-up

Altering Found Objects

Hi Julia here with this weeks inspiration post. I love finding objects which others have no further use for and giving them a new lease of life. My post shows step by step (as far as possible!) how I have transformed my latest find. I have mainly used DecoArt products but you can substitute any similar products you have in your collection. I love to incorporate a variety of techniques when creating so please scroll down to see how developed this piece. I should warn you that this post is photo heavy in order to show most steps and supporting close ups!

My purchase from a charity shop which is in dire need of a makeover!


A good price for a useful object even if it needs some tlc!


The final piece - a notepad holder - which is a far cry from the original. I should add that I don't think this photo does the piece justice. Make your own mind up when you've seen the close up shots.


The entire piece is given two coats of gesso with some light sanding in between.


Die cut some shapes from scrap card and trim as necessary.

Glue die cuts into position. I decided not to attach any to the area below where the notepad goes as it may make writing more difficult. I drew a pencil line around the pad so I knew where to avoid anything other than flat decoration.

To make 'stud' style embellishments add 'googly' eyes and half pearls.

Paint everything in your chosen colour then add colour to the die cut sections.

Add stamping using archival ink - you don't need to be too particular! 

Detail shot to show stamped images.

Use a pen lid and acrylic paint to stamp circles over the previous stamping. 

Detail shot of pen lid stamping.

When stamping with paint, always brush the paint thinly onto your craft mat and tap the stamp into the paint. Remember to clean the paint off a rubber/clear stamp before it dries.

Add stencilling and 'stamping' (using the top of a pen) as required.

Detail shot to show stencilling and small dots made by the top of a pen.

Add crackle glaze to all the red stencilling and stamping. Also apply to the die cut pieces and 'studs'.

Detail shot to show dry crackle glaze.

Antique the crackle glaze by rubbing in some acrylic paint and wiping back with a baby wipe. Dry brush some metallic gold paint over some of the crackle glazed areas. When dry brushing always add paint to a dry brush and wipe most of it off onto a scrap of paper/tissue and apply using light strokes in all directions. If the brush is too loaded with paint the effect will not work. Build up layers gradually to enable the previous layers to show through.

Add layers of stamping using a chalky paint and when dry, cover with background paint to blend into the design. Do this several times to build up layers. 

Detail shot to show layers. Note the diagonal line across the centre of the shot. This was made using a credit card and some chalk paint then layer upon layer of translucent paint are added. The final stamping with the chalky paint has only been partially covered with translucent paint.

Use layers of Burnt Umber paint and the dry brushing technique to build up an aged look. In this shot you can see the dry brushing being built up around the diamond plate.

Detail shot to show layers of dry brushing built up around the die cuts. The metallic paint adds a warm tone to crackled areas too.

More detail showing dry brushing with both burnt umber and metallic gold. Note gold layers on the 'stud' and the clip.

The diamond shape is cut from foam board. Use a knife to carve out notches. Make faux screw shapes with a sharp knife. Paint the background and stamp as before. Stencil using acrylic paint and chalky paint. Apply crackle glaze. Age with a thin layer of Quinacridone gold paint.

Detail shot to show faux 'screw' and carved notches. 

Detail showing stencilling, stamping, crackle glaze and ageing layers of paint.

Use metallic gold paint and a sponge to finish the edges of the holder. Apologies the focus is not clear over all the photo!

Allow the sponged paint to overlap onto the top surface to give a 'gilded' edged finish.

The notepad holder already has a hole for hanging it on the wall. I have decided to thread a double length of jute string through this hole to hang the holder with.

Detail shot.

Detail shot.

Detail shot.

I do hope this post gives you an insight into how I alter and transform a found piece. I get great satisfaction from working on projects like this, even if I'm often not sure about where I'm headed until I get there! Many of you already make such projects but if all this is new to you, then why not have a go? It becomes addictive!