DREAM

Crafter's Companion have two shows this Friday 3rd May at 9am and 2pm showcasing the fabulous 6" x 6" Die'sire Embossalicious Embossing Folders.

My first piece is a canvas board using the Embossalicious Floral Frenzy folder which I have dry brushed with white acrylic paint. I have added my embossed panel to a crackle background.

I have then added a flower as my focal point using a stencil and embossing paste and then adding Treasure Gold to the raised areas once dry.

The Die'sire Large Sunflower and Small Sunflower dies add wonderful dimension to the bottom corner of my canvas. I coloured the edges of my petals with walnut stain Distress Ink to coordinate with my embossed backdrop. I have aslo added some wonderful metal leaves and wooden letters to add DREAM.

I love how you can see the embossed background through the embossing paste and I love how the white paint really lifts the embossing.

Three wooden flying birds have also been added to the top corner again coloured with a touch of Treasure Gold.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x

A Trip To Paris

Simon Says Stamp and Show invite you to join in our challenge this week with something travel themed. Whether you just want a reason to create something with your Tim Holtz travel blueprint stamps or perhaps a card inspired by the colors of the tropics? Want to wish someone bon voyage or decorate a notebook for your next road trip? This is the challenge for all you well travelled crafters!


I decorated a canvas board this week with a journey to PARIS.

Full on texture from me this week using Wendy Vecchi's white embossing paste accompanied with the Fleur de Lis and Eiffel Tower die cuts. I took myself off to the romantic city of PARIS this week, well in my creative head anyway, with lots of help from Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean Distress Paints, with touches of Pitch Black Paint Dabber.  I just need to stop dreaming now and move on!

 I die cut the Eiffel Tower and Fleur de Lis from thick packaging and painted with black Paint Dabber.

Touches of brushed pewter and tarnished brass Distress Stain were added to the top. 

At this stage I added all my elements to my canvas board. I used a couple of hearts from a previous project, hence the colour. Any colour at this stage does not really matter as we will be covering all the elements with Gesso. I added TRAVEL using Studio Calico alphabet wood veneers, PARIS cut from thick card using the word play die, heart veneers, bottle cap and some of my own metal finds.

Once everything is adhered, apply embossing paste around the canvas board using a palette knife.

Once the embossing paste is dry paint over the canvas with mowed lawn and salty ocean Distress Paints and when completely dry add black Paint Dabber to some of the areas, wiping away any excess with a baby wipe.

At this stage I decided to also add two flowers from Prima , and sprayed areas of the canvas with Dylusions Spray Inks vibrant turquoise, melted chocolate and black marble.

To add a few highlights I dry brushed Gesso over the raised areas and also rubbed over with touches of gilding wax.

For more great ideas please pop over to the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog and take a look at my fellow team members they have created some inspirational projects. Remember there is also the chance to win a $50 prize from Simon Says Stamp.  I always look forward to seeing your creations each week.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, much appreciated.  Enjoy your week. Tracy x x 

  


Products Used:

Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste
Tim Holtz Alterations - Fleur de Lis and Eiffel Tower Die, Word Play Die
Distress Paints - Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean
Dylusions Inks Sprays - Vibrant Turquoise, Melted Chocolate, Black Marble
Pitch Black Paint Dabber
Distress Stains - Brushed Pewter, Tarnished Brass
Claudine Hellmuth Gesso
Studio Calico Alphabet Wood Veneers
Studio Calico Heart and Arrows Wood Veneers
Bottle Caps
Prima Parchment Petals Antique

 






  
  

ONE OF A KIND

I've decorated a tag this week for my DT creation for Creative Expressions using That Special Touch Flower and Butterfly Mask.

I applied Wendy Vecchi's white Embossing Paste through the stencil for added texture and dimension and set aside to dry.

Once completely dry I then coloured my tag with salty ocean and mowed lawn Distress Inks, flicking water onto the ink and dabbing with kitchen towel to remove the ink in areas.

I love the blotches in the background they add another layer of interest to my tag. I also added some random text to the top of the paste for further interest and I applied charcoal pencil around my flowers to lift a little from the backdrop. For further dimension I also added a Dazzler to the top of my tag and stamped "one of a kind" using black Archival Ink and Tim Holtz Simple Sayings Stamp Set (coming soon to Creative Expressions).

A wooden butterfly has been added to the bottom of my tag and I have also added some random machine stitching to the tag for further interest.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy the weekend. Tracy x x

PAPERBOY

This weeks sample for Artistic Outpost uses the fabulous PAPERBOY plate.

I used the background stamp from the PAPERBOY plate to stamp randomly around my background using Distress Ink. I then coloured the background piece with brushed corduroy ink to add to that aged feel and distressed the edges, adding walnut stain for added definition.

Two banners have been added to the top stamped with sentiments from the KUDZU KAFE plate. I also added more background stamping to each banner for a further layer of interest, adding black soot Distress Ink to the edges of each banner.

My focal images have been stamped with black Archival Ink and I have added a couple of splats to add to that aged feel.

I matted and layered my stamped piece onto a piece of black card and then onto a piece of card stamped with the background stamp, more splats, colouring with Distress Inks and distressing the edges with a paper distresser.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x

100 Proof Press/Hydrangea Hippo Blog Hop

100 Proof Press is teaming up with Hydrangea Hippo for a marvelous blog hop that includes inspiration from both DT's. We would like to invite you to join in on our blog hopping fun. There are lots of chances to win PRIZES from both 100 Proof Press and Hydrangea Hippo.

Facebook Page - Hydrangea Hippo
Facebook Page - 100 Proof Press

Blog - Hydrangea Hippo
Blog - 100 Proof Press 

If you arrived here from the Hydrangea Hippo blog (Jennifer) then you are in the right place. 100 Proof Press are offering a fabulous $25 gift certificate and Hydrangea Hippo are offering a fabulous kit from their Etsy store. Simply leave a comment on each of the blogs listed below to be in with a chance of winning these fabulous prizes. The hop will be live for both 23rd and 24th April and winners will be announced on the 100 Proof Press and Hydrangea Hippo blogs.

I decided to decorate a bag this time around using the calico bag that was included in our goodies from Hydrangea Hippo.

I stamped the LARGE SHARP OWL from 100 Proof Press onto a piece of calico using black Archival Ink and machine stitching around the edges for further interest. I also added a metal letter 'O' to the body for a touch of dimension. I added a piece of hessian to the back of the owl and adhered both pieces to the bag.

I stamped OWL onto the bag with black Archival Ink and added the wonderful flowers from Hydrangea Hippo which I coloured with Alcohol Inks to coordinate with my bag and embellishments.

The lace which I tied into a bow and coloured with Distress Stain is also from Hydrangea Hippo along with the lace trim at the top of my bag and the small rose buds too.

To complete I also added OWL to the top of my bag to echo the text at the bottom of the bag.

Should you get lost along the way I have included a full list of the hop. Your next stop on the hop is Nancy.

Jennifer (Hydrangea Hippo)
Tracy

Nancy

Amy

Teresa

Heather

Caro

Christine

Candice

Irit

Sara

Holly
100 Proof Press

Jennifer (Hydrangea Hippo)

Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy the hop. Tracy x x

For The Love Of Colour

All colour mediums have one thing in common; they allow us to truly customize our creations and this week Simon Says Stamp and Show has a simple challenge for you this time around, simply use any colour medium in your creations and share. What could be more fun, time to get those fingers inky, pull out those pencils, markers, distress paints, alcohol inks or whatever takes your fancy and join in the fun this week.

A mixed media canvas held my attention this week, using sprays, kitchen towel, charcoal pencil and more.

There are so many colour mediums to use but Dylusions Inks Sprays were my colour choice this week using fresh lime and vibrant turquoise. Looks can be deceiving, there are many layers to this project adding into the mix Wendy Vecchi's White Embossing Paste, PaperArtsy Beach Hut Fresco Finish Paint, silver Paint Dabber and a charcoal pencil. When creating these type of pieces I always find it as easy to make two as I do one piece of art, so I have created an extra little piece to give away to inspire our readers too.

I have added a few step by steps to showcase the layers that were involved in creating my mixed media canvas.

1. Colour canvas (I decorated two) with Dylusions Ink sprays. Spray the canvas with water first then spray the inks, the colour blends beautifully this way. Mop up any excess colour with kitchen towel. Repeat with more spays of colour if desired and mop up the colour once again. Do not throw away any kitchen towel that is now coloured with ink, we can use this later. Nothing wasted here!
2. Place Wendy Vecchi's Lovely Leaves stencil onto the canvas and spritz with water and remove, dab with kitchen towl and you will be left with a shadow, the water gives a bleached out effect, removing colour from the sprayed area.

Now time to use that coloured kitchen towel that we now have from all the mopping up of colour from the canvas.

1. Tear a heart from scrap paper. Adhere the heart to the canvas using multi medium matt.
2. Take the coloured kitchen towel and tear into small pieces and scrunch up each piece, this will add further texture to the heart. Mix PVA glue with water (appox. a 50/50 mix) and adhere the pieces of kitchen towl to the heart. Once completely covered set aside to dry overnight. Be warned you will have extremely inky fingers lol.

 

The next step is to add yet another layer of interest. Apply a little PaperArtsy beach hut Fresco Finish Paint to a non-stick craft sheet, place the background stamp from the Birds Of A Feather Stamp plate uppermost onto a flat surface. Using cut 'n' dry foam apply beach hut paint to the text area of the stamp. Please note you do not want to overload the stamp with paint.

Add the text randomly around the canvas. Use the stamp as is, do not mount onto an acrylic block, this way you achieve a more random effect, perfect for a mixed media canvas.

From this picture you can see the subtle stamping from the Fresco Finish Paint, adding yet another layer of interest to draw the eye into the canvas.

I continued the random stamping around my canvas until I was happy with the arrangement.

Now for my next layer, I used Wendy Vecchi's Wildflowers and A Bird stencil, applied embossing paste through the stencil, applying with a palette knife. If you are not too confident with applying the paste you could cut the flowers so that you have two separate stencils.

I love the texture this adds to my canvas, creates such a tactile piece.

I decided on two flowers, I felt they fitted perfectly in the bottom corner of my canvas.

I added a further layer of stamping, adding more random text using black Archival Ink this time around.

There was still something missing for me and after much thought I decided that I needed a little definition around the edges of my canvas so I added black charcoal around the edges using a pencil and smudging with my finger.

This is my completed canvas, I added more charcoal around my flowers along with a touch of random stamped text to the flower heads.

I added charcoal around my heart to lift from my background, adding silver Paint Dabber to the raised textural areas on my heart, to highlight further how tactile and textural the heart really is.

I stamped "Spring is here" onto white card, coloured with salty ocean Distress Ink, adding more charcoal pencil around my sentiments for definition. I also added one of Wendy Vecchi's black crows, highlighting with silver Paint Dabber.

To complete I added more charcoal pencil around the flowers for added definition and added a touch of salty ocean Distress Ink to the flower heads.

I have created this mini canvas as a giveaway to anyone who would like to give it a home. Simply leave a comment saying you would like the canvas and I will draw a winner at the end of the week.

For more great ideas please pop over to the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog and take a look at my fellow team members they have created some inspirational projects. Remember there is also the chance to win a $50 prize from Simon Says Stamp.  I always look forward to seeing your creations each week.

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment, much appreciated.  Enjoy your week. Tracy x x 

Products Used:

Dyan Reaveley Dylusions Ink Sprays - Fresh Lime, Vibrant Turquoise
Artistic Outpost Birds Of A Feather Stamp Plate
PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paint - Beach Hut
Paint Dabber - Silver
Claudine Hellmuth Multi Medium Matt
Wendy Vecchi Stencils For Art - Lovely Leaves, Wildflowers and  A Bird
Wendy Vecchi Embellish Your Art - Crow
Wendy Vecchi White Embossing Paste 
Non-Stick Craft Sheet
Cut 'n' Dry Foam
Archival Ink - Black
Distress Ink - Salty Ocean

Baroque Lace

We were given quite a selection to work with this month from Creative Expressions, one of the stamps I received was the BAROQUE LACE stamp which coordinates with the Spellbinders Decagons die.

I began by embossing a piece of black card with the Couture Creations Venus Crest Embossing Folder and then applying Patina Gilding Wax over the raised areas to highlight.

I stamped the Baroque Lace image onto coordinated card using black Archival Ink and then cut out and added to a coordinated matted layer, colouring the edges of the matt with black soot Distress Ink. I also added three tiles DREAM, IMAGINE and INSPIRE, adding touches of the Gilding Wax to the tiles.

A teal Dazzler has been added the centre of the Baroque Lace mounted onto a metal flower from my collection. I then added a wooden dressform which I painted black with a pitch black Paint Dabber, adding touches of the Gilding Wax to the top along with a Fancy Key Charm embellishment again coloured with the Gilding Wax.

To complete, I added a large double bow in coordinated ribbon, adding a further Fancy Key Charm to the centre.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x