Back to Black

Well its finally like summer here in the South Coast of England. We are expecting 30 degrees this weekend!!.

I took my artwork outside to photo and am a bit disappointed with the picture. In real life I'm pleased how it turned out. I made it specifically for the That's Crafty Challenge which this week is Back to Black.

I first painted the canvas with black gesso and then added die cut corners from black card before coating again with gesso. I used a stencil from a recent edition of Cards and Papercraft, with Pebeo Dyna Paints. The butterfly stamp was from the same set which I stamped and embossed with WOW! Embossing Powder Metallic Gold Sparkle.

I just wish you could see it in real life to see the shimmering effect!

Other challenges I am entering

Artistic Stampers - Floral Fantasy
CountryView Crafts - Flower Power

Messing About with ATCs

Its been a long time since I made some ATCs. I don't why as I love the fact you can go wild and experiment with techniques in such a small space.

I was inspired to make these cards by Lynn Kopas' work and whilst no where as fabulous as hers, I really enjoyed making these.

First I stuck on a layer of hessian type material and then added found objects, beads, shells and other trinkets. I covered the whole piece with Gesso. For the first time I used a texture paste and a stencil to create the flourishes - I am now hooked!

Once dry I spritzed blue and green inks onto different areas and stamped the butterfly image.  To bring out the texture I dry - brushed gold acrylic paint onto shells and flourishes.

I think I may be making more of these!

I am entering them into the following challenges:

That's Crafty Challenge Blog - ATCs

Stamps and Stencils - Oh So Blue

We Love to Create - Anything Goes

Love is still around!

I know Valentine's Day has now passed us by, but I couldn't resist creating this card. You know when you think about crafting in your sleep? Well this is one such creation.

To create this card I used the materials below.

First I painted the thick card with acrylic paint and used the ink spray to add the red colour.  The purple spots were created with a stencil. Using various WOW! Embossing stamps I ramdomly stamped over the background in black ink. I used a white pencil to highlight the string of hearts. Finally I stamoed the flower image onto the card and then again onto plain card so I could decoupage the image.

I think all good ideas come to you when you are sleeping!!

Challenges I am entering:

Artistic Stamper - Love

Rhedds Creative Challenge - Anything (Mixed Media)

Mixed Media Card Challenge - Love

Unruly Art Quest - Heartfelt

Opus Gluei - Be My Valentine

Spring Butterflies

Over the weekend I found a bit of time to have a play with some different techniques and materials.And this is what I came up with.

First I painted kraft card with Gesso. I then used the butterfly stamp with Staz On ink so that I could watercolour the images with Distress Pens.  The text stamp was randomly used over the card as well as applying Bundled Sage ink through a stencil.  Finally to make the butterflies really stand out I used Glossy Accents on them.

Challenges I am entering:

Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Flying Things

Make My Monday - Distress It
Fantasy Stampers - Distress It