Lisa's Rose Elements stamps and Imagination Crafts Stencil paint on MDF plaque

Hi Crafty Peeps,

Hope you're all well.

This project was a bit of an experiment.

Often I'll have a bit of an idea in my head but no real plan as such.

I was aiming for a Shabby Chic, Vintage style plaque for this.

I've always enjoyed being a resourceful crafter using what I have to hand and experimenting with all sorts of mediums.

Recently I've revisited my early crafting techniques and ideas, using fabrics mixed in with embellishments and textures.

So this project is an example of something I might have created in my early crafting days.

I purposely didn't plan or overthink this idea too much as that tends to take away from the enjoyable free crafting that I love to do.

I started off with an oval MDF plaque from my stash and

 drew around it on some copy paper.

This enabled me to draw a rough inner oval shape which

I wanted to use as a guide once I cut it out.

I used the guide as a pattern to cut the oval shape out of 

a piece of hessian and then frayed the edges.

With the plaque I randomly painted a coat of white Gesso primer followed by some
 Stencil paint in Mallow by Imagination Crafts.

Now I used the stencil paint because it was out on my desk from projects I'd just completed which is why I used it.

The random dry brush painting gave the Shabby Chic appearance I had in mind.

I also painted some white gesso on the piece of hessian before gluing just the center area onto the plaque.

This enabled me to layer things behind if I decided to, which I did.

 I glued some scrap pieces of lace fabric as shown below.

On a piece of  cotton calico fabric I painted a section with the
 Mallow stencil Paint and another with Lime Green.

Then after drying I used stamps from the Rose Elements set and stamped with Versafine, black onyx then dried again with a heat tool before cutting out.

I began layering and assembling the Rose Elements with some pieces of  Seam binding and fine cheesecloth with glitters and fragments similar to Stampendous Fran-tage.

I also had some pink paper doilies that I cut up and tucked into the design.
You can use white or ivory doilies and blend with distress ink

To finish and hang I used a piece of string or you could use ribbon or twine.

        

  

Brusho's and Stampendous

Morning all,

Hope you're having a good week, nearly the weekend.

I've been a bit poorly recently but much better now I'm pleased to say and we celebrated my Mum's 90th this week.

I so wanted to be at Lisa's Brusho class but wasn't well enough to attend.

I'll be at the May class so I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone there.

Anyhow onto my makes for today, I've made three tags using a Brusho background then added a few stamped elements.

I wanted to focus on the background for this project and show you how you can achieve some great results and interest using Brusho's.

I cut my tags from a good quality card stock that will stand up to the water application or you can use watercolour card.

The tag sizes are 8x16cm.

I started by sprinkling a tiny amount of my first Brusho colour, Lemon, into my craft mat, less is more and you can always add more colour!

Then I spritzed this with water, a fine spray is good.

Next I put my tag onto the colour on the mat and pressed it down on different areas to pick up the colour.

You can get some nice effects doing this and decide how much or little you want to apply in this way.

By turning and tilting the tag you can make the colour drip and run if you wish.

Next I blotted onto paper towel.

***TOP TIP***

If you blot into a piece of white card you get the start of another background.

The I dried with my heat tool.

I used my colours from light to dark so I just left the remaining Lemon colour on my mat and added my second darker colour, Orange.

Repeating the same process as before and the drying again.

Lastly I chose a stencil I wanted to use and the added my final darkest colour, Rose Red, to my mat but hardly any water.

For this next process you need to use a sponge to apply the colour through the stencil but the sponge needs to be almost dry otherwise the colour will seep under the stencil.

So to do this I took the colour on my sponge and blotted the sponge onto paper towel or spare card stock before applying through the stencil area.

This stencil was TCW Mini Harlequin.

 

Again less is more and you will see by pressing the almost dry sponge

 how you can add the colour.

I love this technique and it creates such arty interesting backgrounds.

Next I simply stamped the images from the

 Stampendous Perfectly Clear Butterfly Charms Set 

 using Versafine Onyx Black.

To finish I spritzed the remains colours on my mat with water and coloured pieces of seam binding for my tags and dried with a heat tool.

The picture below was from the colours used on the next tag pictured below.

You now have a selection of tags for use on cards when you need them.

The interest is created in the super backgrounds using this technique!

 Above tag uses Brusho colours, Violet, Sea Green and Lemon with

 Imagination Crafts Stencil Bubble Background and

TCW Mini Coffee Splotch.

 

Above tag uses Brusho colors in Lemon, Lime and Turquoise with the

TCW Coffee Splotch Stencil.

Hope you feel inspired to have a go...

Enjoy your day

Back soon

Crafty Hugs

Karen xXx

          

Brusho and Stampendous Butterfly Charms

 

 After the Easter break we're at the end of the short working week...

You'll probably know by now clocks are my thing! Lol
I find it particularly easy to design these little time pieces and very enjoyable too.
So I've done a mini tutorial for you today to show you my thought process and each stage.

I'm a big fan of Stampendous stamps and this Butterfly Charms clear set is no exception.
I also wanted to show you how I've used just one colour of Brusho, 

this one being Light Brown.

I start by die cutting a circle, this one is 12cm, and making a hole 

big enough for the clock mechanism in the center.
I use a good quality stamping card or watercolour card.

I nearly always sketch or plan my designs on copy paper,
this saves wastage and is good for future reference.
This also means I can work out the positioning of any digits I want to add
and planning the overall composition.

Before begining my stamping I marked lightly with a pencil where the main 12, 3, 6 and 9 digits would sit.
The butterflies can then be positiioned correctly.
Next I stamped my design in Black Onyx Versafine.
When I stamped the butterflies I clear embossed them too.

Now the reason I chose just one colour of Brusho was to highlight that there are many other colours contained within some of the individual colour pots.

These little pots are highly pigmented and I have used only the tiniest amount.
The brown is no exception and the colours within this pot work

 particularly well with this vintage feel I was trying to achieve.

 

 

Before starting to add the colour I masked off the postage mark and postcard area, 

this gives more interest to the finished piece.
I sprinkled the smallest amount of crystal on the areas I wanted to colour, 

mainly the center and in between the butterflies.

Then I spritzed with a fine mist spray to disperse the colour.

I added the colour very sparingly and built up to my desired affect by drying with a heat tool in between each application and repeating three times.

You need to dry between applications otherwise the card gets too wet and the colours all just run together.

As I'd embossed the butterflies the Brusho sat around the outer edges creating nice interest.

I didn't want to colour the butterflies.

Once I'd removed the masks I then applied a tiny amount of Brusho just around the outside circle edge of the postcard section.

Using a Versamark watermark pen and clear embossing powder I further embossed the whole of the butterflies another couple of times to make them really glossy and stand out from the rest of the design.

I also outlined them with a pale grey alcohol pen.

Now I usually mount my clock discs onto a CD but for this I used greyboard

 again die cut from the same size die.

The circles can then be glued together and I sponged the edges with 

Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Finally I assembeld my clock with the mechanism and hands.

If you have any questions about the clocks please just ask Lisa or myself.

Hope you found this tutorial useful and like my little vintage design.

Enjoy your day and the weekend ahead.

Thanks so much for reading today.

Crafty Hugs xKx