Autumnal Match Box

Hello and welcome back ! It's Sue here and today I'm sharing an Autumnal match box. This was a sheer fluke in terms of where the idea came from, I had just finished a box of matches and was about to throw the box away when ......

 I had an idea and grabbed the Gesso ! The sun also came out at this point so apologies for the shadows !

 I also grabbed my Amsterdam acrylics, which seem to be my go to at the moment. The Gesso creates some wonderful texture and the paint, applied with a baby wipe, really highlights it.

 A real change about too are the stamps I've used, the above is a Tim Holtz stamp that I've only used once but I do love the script. I've used Amsterdam acrylic to stamp on to the box.

 Some bits of washi tape are added then some stencilling, using cut 'n' dry foam as the box isn't strong enough to stand me pounding on it with a stencil brush !

More stencilling and stamping, with Tim Holtz stamps and a Wendy Vecchi stamp, all done with Amsterdam acrylics. A little bit of smudging with Gesso then stamping the script stamp again and embossing with white EP. 

The handle is made from jute that I've plaited and the leaf is made from Grunge Paper ( I still love the smell !)

 I even dug out my Distress Inks to shade the leaf and rubbed some Archival Ink around the edges to colour the cut edge.

The text is stamped onto Smoothy card and the stamp is from a Lin Brown set. 

One final shot to show how everything goes all the way around the box.

I hope you've enjoyed today's Inspirational Post and remember you still have time to join us for the Spooky fun with an Autumnal Twist challenge.

Double Ombre !

Hello and welcome back ! It's Sue here with you today sharing an inspirational post on the current challenge of Ombre. Shading from light to dark is a favourite technique of mine but I had no idea it had it's own title !

I also love working with shades of one colour so that's where the thought process started.

I've used Fresco Finish Acrylics, gathering a selection all of varying shades. I started with a piece of white grey board which I gave a coat of matt medium to so it was protected against the liquid I was about to use.

I started with Snowflake working on a diagonal and adding the next shade while the paint was still wet.

While the board was drying I used the same technique on 4 small canvases that I taped together while they were painted.

While the canvases were still taped together I stencilled over 2 of them, still keeping to the Ombre technique of starting with a light colour and working towards a darker colour.

Now the white board was dry I stencilled across the bottom half, again using the Ombre technique but through the stencil. A little bumping also highlighted the stencilling.

Once everything was dry the canvases were mounted onto the board.

The text is another one from an Alison Bomber set, stamped in Watering Can Archival ink. I prefer the grey against more delicate colours.

Using Snowflake as the base for the stencilling allowed the colours that followed to have a subtle shade difference.

Adding just a small 'bump' when stencilling really makes it stand out from the background.

I hope you've enjoyed today's post and you still have time to share your Ombre projects with us.

Glue, glaze and stencils

Hello ! It's Sue with you today sharing an Inspirational Post and I'm sharing what I did with my second book that I keep for using the pages in mixed media projects.

I started by cutting out a piece of the front cover large enough to house an ornate key.

 Now normally I would reach for the Gesso before I do any painting but on this occasion I didn't feel it was needed as I used Amsterdam acrylic paints which are opaque. The cut out section was lined with some washi tape to neaten up the edges.

 I finished off painting the cover using bright colours !

 Next up is heavy gel medium, it's a long time since I've used this technique and I'd forgotten how messy it is !

 I've used a selection of Dina Wakely and Donna Downey stencils, spreading the gel over them in various places on the cover.

 Until the whole cover is covered, then it's left to completely dry.

The cover is then painted with Gesso and  before it dries it's wiped back to leave the Gesso inbetween the raised areas of the gel. The idea being you see the colour beneath through the dry gel.

 Once the Gesso was dry I then turned to glazing the cover, Burnt Sienna then Burnt Umber Amsterdam paints were used. Leaving the glaze on the cover for around 2 minutes then wiping it back with a baby wipe.

 I backed the front cover with some white card then bedded the key in some matt medium and sprinkled Art Stones on top and left it overnight to dry.

 There is such lovely texture on the cover now so it had to be Treasure Gold to highlight it ! I've also used some Artisan Powder by Prima.

 Back to the key, I've used the glazes again to colour the Art Stones.

 I also used the glazes in blue and red to highlight some of the colours underneath the stencilled gel.

So now both books are revamped and when all the pages are used I have 2 covers to house journals.
I hope you've enjoyed today's post and you're inspired to dig out an old book and give it a go ! 

Funky Foam Stamps and Gelli play

Hi, Ruth here with an inspiration post all about making your own foam stamps and using them with a Gelli or Gel Press plate. For those of you who might follow my instagram posts you'll be aware that I joined in with a daily challenge in March set by the very talented Birgit Koopsen. It was all about getting to know your Gelli plate following daily prompts.....I can highly recommend it, so many fab techniques and inspiring posts by other creatives. I definitely got hooked on using my Gelli plate and one of my favourite prompts was all about making your own foam stamps.

I used funky foam which had an adhesive backing and I got lots out of one sheet which cost about £1. I cut them freehand and found the organic nature of these very effective when using with a gelli plate, the 'rougher' the better. The first few I made I stuck to cardboard but then remembered I had some wooden blocks that I'd salvaged from old fashioned rubber stamps that I didn't use anymore so they got a new lease of life.

I also used some heat moldable foam which I've had for years.

I was so inspired I made a short video that I shared on instagram...it's less than a minute long (it has to be for instagram) and I thought I'd share it here.

I now have lots and lots of background papers that will form the basis of my cards this year...and I can't stop making even more papers. Here are a selection of them.

I also used another fab prompt on this one - egg boxes!

A tag this time, I love the way the foam removes some of the paint

Lovely mix of green paints on the Gelli plate

Once dried I added a thin layer of pearlescent green

before pulling the print.

Such a variety of prints

Another version using the leaf and circles stamps

These last 2 cards used the moldable foam impressions I made. First I enhanced the buttons theme

lastly I added some splashes of gold to this pearlescent painted paper.

I hope I may have inspired you to have a go at making some foam stamps..... and getting to know your Gelli plate is highly recommended!! There is plenty of time to join in with our 'In the Meadow' challenge this month and as always thanks for stopping by. Ruth x

Inspiration Post - Fabric Collage

It is Cec here and today I am bringing you a fabric collage that makes use of lots of bits and pieces you have lying around along with some stamping and stenciling on fabric.  There is absolutely no right or wrong way to create this type of collage but I do recommend that you just dive in and start adding things because I wasted time trying to lay everything out ahead of time.  I did decide where the stamped and stenciled pieces were going to be but for the rest, I made it up as I went along.  I also did not want it to look perfect so I didn't take a lot of care lining things up or making sure the edges were at right angles and I sure succeeded  - LOL.

First I decided how large I wanted to make the finished piece and then cut two pieces of canvas fabric a bit smaller.  They were sandwiched with a piece of quilt batting in between and then I stitched around the edge a couple of times moving the fabric so my stitching was not straight.

The next step was to stencil a butterfly (IndigoBlu) onto some lightweight canvas fabric using a variety of acrylic paints - Pink Iced Gem that I mixed with a bit of Mulberry Bush, Wimberry Pie and Townhouse Teal (all IndigoBlu).

When this piece was dry, I added it to some quilt batting and hand stitched around the butterfly.  I used some double-sided tape to hold the canvas to the batting when I turned it to the back but would not do that again because it is hard to stitch through glue.  Another time, I would leave it un-turned and frayed as it is in the photo.  I would also stencil the butterfly straight on and not on an angle.  I glued a bunch of teeny seed beads (Michaels) randomly around the butterfly.

There was some leftover pink paint on my kraft mat so I mixed it with some Light Molding Paste (Golden) and used a feather stencil (IndigoBlu) to add some textured stenciling to a piece of frayed muslin.  When it was dry I decided it was too bright so I laid the stencil over it again and inked it with some Victorian Velvet Distress Ink (Tim Holtz).  The fabric was then stitched to a piece of quilt batting.

Another piece of muslin was stamped with a little bird from a set called Vintage Outdoors (Stampendous) using Cornflower Blue Archival Ink (Wendy Vecchi for Ranger).  This was also stitched to some batting and some seed beads (Dollarama) were sewn in the corners.

I went to my sewing stash and grabbed a few scraps I thought might work together and started to assemble the collage on the fabric background starting at the bottom and working my way up.  I won't describe every little thing I did because the idea here is that you make this your own and use whatever you have available.  There is lots of hand stitching with embroidery floss, including some french knots.  I sewed some buttons on as well as some seed beads.  I also added some wool and fibres.

Sewing the beads took me right back to the time I made a Japanese fan out of seed beads on a bathing suit for my daughter's synchronized swimming competition and the judges at the first level didn't like the colour of the suit (it was the colour of muslin so the fan would pop but they said she looked like she was not wearing anything under water) so they made her get a new suit before the next level of competition.  All those little beads and I had to start over and only had one week once the new suit was made for her.  Needless to say the fan idea was out and sequins were pressed into service because they were faster to sew on.  But I digress . . . .

After I sewed and/or glued everything on my fabric canvas background, I prepared my stretched canvas by adding some clear Gesso (Liquitex) on the top to create a border and on the sides.  I purposely put it on thickly and used my brush to create some bumps for texture.  When the Gesso was dry I added some Blood Orange Fresco Finish (Paper Artsy) and then when that was dry I gave it a spritz with some Aged Mahogany Distress Spray Stain (Tim Holtz).  Finally I glued my collage onto the stretched canvas using Super Thick Slap It On (IndigoBlu).

I had fun making this collage and hope I have inspired you to try your hand at stamping and stenciling on fabric.