International Art and Soul Challenge 85

The challenge for this fortnight is Under the Sea and can be anything so long as there is an under-sea theme.

My immediate thought when I saw this challenge was to reach for my Josephine Wall Enchanted Dreams CDRom. Having said that, there weren't so many under sea images there, but I found one that's lovely and went with it.

I love the images on that CDRom, but I'm generally disappointed by the background papers supplied - they always seem rather plain and drab compared to the gorgeous, vibrant images. This time, I decided to make my own but not using digital means. I started with my 6in gelli plate. I added an all-over layer of Distress Ink, and printed it on to copy paper. Then, I chose a stronger, bluer shade and again applied a layer to the plate, but before printing to paper, I used a stencil to remove areas of ink. The result was the wavy pattern. I wanted to add a subtle hint of seaweed, so the next stage was to use a stencil of long fronds (from Crafter's Companion) and I added Distress Oxide ink through that. The result was definitely subtle! To get the stronger shades at the edges of the background, I stamped with Versacraft Ink. That's the most opaque of the inks I own, and it definitely gave the desired effect. I used some Creative stamps for this. They're supposed to be watercolour greenery images, but I think they pass for a stylised sea weed!

And, apart from some matting and layering, that's it.

I do hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 43

Our challenge for this fortnight is Layer it Up or, in other words, not clean and simple!

One of my acquisitions at Ally Pally in April was a stamp from Dimension Fourth which is a segment of a map of around Paris. My son's girlfriend lived in Paris for a year as part of her degree, and I know she loves the city, so to be honest, I bought the stamp with her in mind.

I used it with some images from Crafter's Companion Destinations CDRom.

I stamped and shaded with various Distress Inks, and, as you can see, used several layers.

I hope you can join us this time.

International Art and Soul Challenge 5

This fortnight's challenge at International Art and Soul is to distress something! Other than that, it's up to you.

Now,  distressing is not a favourite technique of mine. I'm not particularly fond of things looking aged or damaged, so it's something I find rather hard.

The background uses some Coredinations card which I've distressed with sandpaper. (My go-to technique for distressing!) The image was stamped using a stamp from, I think, Woodware using Memento ink. I then added some background colour to the cream card using Promarkers scribbled onto a perspex block and then sprayed with some clear alcohol, which I then applied to the card. In honour of the theme, I then distressed the edge of the image and later the mat using a pair of scissors. It's not at all obvious, but that's not too surprising given that I didn't want to overdo it.

To complete the effect, I've added a wooden butterfly. I shaded it roughly with Distress Ink and a little Alchemy Wax around the edges, and then stamped it with more Distress Ink using a Docrafts wood-mounted stamp I've had for ages.

And that's it! I do hope you can join us this time. I'd really love to see your distressing techinques and understand why people love these techniques!

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge 176

This time, at Crafty Cardmakers our challenge is to produce something that's an Explosion of Colour! It's my turn to host, and I'm looking forward to visiting lots of you to see how colourful your explosions really are. It's not an accident that I call this blog a Rainbow ... I love colour - the brighter the better!

So, when I was asked to make a birthday card for a friend's niece and given the remit that she loves fairies and bright colours, I immediately thought of this challenge.

My friend chose the image from my collection. It's one I've had for a long time. It's from Pollycraft - I don't even know if she's still in the digi business, but my friend said, 'It's very Holly!' I coloured the image with Promarkers and added some sparkle to her wings with a Crafters Companion glitter marker, I edged it with Distress Ink in Spun Sugar and Festive Berries. The background paper is from my Flower Power CDRom, and as you can see it's a veritable rainbow of colours. I designed the sentiment layer in Photoshop Elements and added an element of the background paper, and completed the 8 by 8 card with some butterflies cut using Spellbinders dies. They're actually three-layer butterflies, with the middle layer cut in some shimmer paper in pink which doesn't show very well in the photo but which gives a lovely effect.

I hope you can join us this time.