Welcome to today's Guest Desinger, Elli !

Today we are welcoming back Elli who was the winner of the Texture, Crackle and Paint challenge and was therefore invited to join us as Guest Designer. Let's move on to hear from Elli !

Hi there!

I'm Elli and I'm very happy to be a guest designer at Stamps and Stencils. I’m a stay-at-home mother of two lovely children. And I have a wonderful husband, who supports me in all my adventures.

Been through many hobbies, but since I discovered scrapbooking and especially mixed media, they turned into a real passion. In my projects I love trying out new techniques and designs and adore playing with textures, layers, colors, stamps, splashing and flowers!

For the current challenge "Lucky Star" I created a Mixed Media Watercolor Glitter Canvas "Little Sparkle".

I made step-by-step tutorial so you can follow the whole process how I created the canvas. 

 1. I started with stamping the ballerina and the ballet shoes from the Gabrielle Pollacco's Haute Couture Stamp Set, sprinkled some clear embossing powder and hot embossed with the heat tool.

 2. Next, I added some color using the Lindy’s Magicals and Prima Color Bloom Mists. First I sprayed some water over the canvas, then sprinkled some pigment powders and added more water and mists. And let the colors blend.

 3. Then, I stamped two kind of stars around the ballerina.

 4. Next, I added more texture by applying modelling paste through a Starburst stencil.

 5. I mixed some pink art sugar and 3D Matte Gel to cover the dress and the shoes. Then I added some glitter nail polish for more shine.

 6. Next I hot glued a lot of sweetheart blossoms and roses and colored them with magicals pigment powders.

 7. Then I distressed the edges and highlighted the flowers with Inka Gold. I also added some white, red and black splatters around the ballerina "masking it off" with a piece of paper.

 8. Next I glued some Art Pebbles, edged them with a turquoise mist and let the color flow down. I added some highlights with a Gloss Paint Marker and the Faber-Castell Artist Pen Big Brush.

 9. At the end I added more texture and shine with Mini Prills, Gala Glitz, Glitter Embossing Powders and homemade glitter mix.

And voilà - here is the finished canvas:

 Hope you like it!

You are very welcome to visit my blog at Made With Love by Elli . Here you can find more close-ups and the full list of supplies I used. Have a nice day!

Hugs,
Elli

I'm sure you'll all agree Elli's canvas is absolutely gorgeous ! You still have time to join us for the current challenge Lucky Star.

Inspirational Post ~ DIY Stencils

Hi everybody ! Toni here, it's my turn to put together an Inspirational Post and I'm hoping to inspire you to have a go at making your own stencils. Let's get started.........

I firstly wanted to find out which materials would be good to make stencils with. I wanted something that would be durable and easy to cut. I chose to experiment with, a plastic file divider, a piece of acetate, some plastic packaging, a clear plastic wallet and a piece of Mylar.

 First up was the plastic file divider. In order to make it a more manageable size, I cut the divider in half. I then used a craft knife to cut out a simple design.

I chose a simple shape, and repeated it, making it larger and smaller and reversing it from time to time. I tried to just go with the flow, not so much concerning myself with accuracy. I recommend using a good sharp blade and a cutting mat. Once finished, I sprayed the back of the stencil with re-positionable adhesive. I then used a cosmetic sponge to apply paint, onto a Distress Spray background, I'd prepared earlier....

I was quite pleased with the results. The stencil worked very well with no leakage of paint. I also had a go at die cutting another piece of the file divider, with one of Tim Holtz's Thinlits. It cut well with a couple of passes through my Big Shot.

Next up, I used the plastic packaging. This was thicker than the file divider, so I decided to die cut it with one of my Bigz Dies, Tim's Tattered Leaves. The die cut through the plastic very easily. These were the results...

The resulting stencil is very sturdy and I think it would be easy to use with modelling pastes. The edges of the leaves were nice and crisp, with no paint leakage.
I then decided to try something different. This time, I used a piece of the plastic wallet. I chose a picture of a woman from a magazine and used the plastic and a black pen, to trace around her outline.

I then used my craft knife to cut around the outline. I kept the inside pieces from her arms. Once again I used repositionable adhesive on all of the pieces. I then arranged the stencil on my background, and applied paint with a cosmetic sponge.

I think there's a lot of potential for making stencils with this method.

The next stencil I tried was made of Mylar. I slightly cheated with this one as I used a design I had cut on my Scan n Cut machine. I developed the design using a programme on my ipad called Brushes. It really is very simple. If anyone out there would like to know more about this, feel free to leave me a message on this post and I'll get back to you. Any way here are the results....

Mylar, comes in different thicknesses and can be bought quite easily on the internet. My last experiment was with a sheet of acetate. I firstly drew a design, onto a piece of white paper and placed it under the acetate sheet. I then used a craft knife, to cut around the design. The acetate cut quite easily, but was more flimsy than the other materials. I also made a short split in it, as I was removing one of the petals. After that, I used a pair of scissors to snip away any that were still attached.

So there you have it! I hope you've managed to last to the end of this post! If you have, then I hope you'll have a go at making some of your own, unique, stencils. Until next time, happy creating!x

Winners - Chirpy, chirpy, cheep, cheep

Hello and welcome back ! It's time to announce the winner and the top 3 of the Chirpy, Chirpy, Cheep, Cheep challenge. So, please congratulate....

Rupa !

We thought Rupa's sign was absolutely beautiful and the fact that it hangs outside her studio is just the perfect place. Please email carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk for the details of your Guest Designer spot. 

Now on to the top 3:

Hazel

Drea

Kate H

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!

The current challenge is Lucky Star and you've still got plenty of time to share your projects with us.

Lucky Star

Hello, everyone! Welcome to a new challenge here at Stamps and Stencils. 

Branka here and I am your host this month.
I have chosen the theme 'Lucky Star'.

For this challenge we would love to see a mixed media project that has star/s in it somewhere. You can create anything you like as long as you include a star. Don't forget to use stamps or stencils or both! Can't wait to see what you create!

Here is some inspiration from our design team:

Rachel

Branka

Cec

Sue

Autumn

Toni

Now, it's over to you! We're looking forward to see your 'Lucky Star' mixed media projects!

An InLinkz Link-up