Take Risks for DecoArt Media DT

My post for DecoArt Media today is a fairly quick one as I've been suffering with a bit of creative block this month. I've called my tag 'take risks' as I've had a go with colours I wouldn't normally touch! Pink and purple are sooooooooooooo not me. I've also been mastering my drippage technique (video soon) and this tag was a lot of fun to create.

DecoArt products used:

Media Fluid Acrylics: Cobalt Teal Hue, Primary Magenta, Dioxidine Purple
Media Modeling Paste - White
Andy Skinner Stencil - Alphabet Spaghetti

Other:

Butterfly stamps and dot stamp
Printed words (these were a freebie with Mixed Up magazine)

Doily

Brad

Black pen

Twine

Here's how I made it:

1) Randomly cover a tag with the three paint colours using a brayer. Don't over-mix the colours.

2) Stencil over the top using the Andy Skinner stencil and white modelling paste.

3) When completely dry, apply drips of Magenta and Teal paints down the tag.

4) Paint some card with Cobalt Teal Hue paint and stamp with two butterfly images (Prima). Over-stamp with Magenta paint and a dot stamp to add detail. Apply to the tag with a doily underneath.

5) Add printed words, some twine and some doodles created with a fine black pen.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Katy x

Hawaiian Princess for Stampendous

The new Laurel Burch stamps by Stampendous went down a storm at Creativation (CHA) and this week the blog team are celebrating these new releases with our makes. I created a tag using the

Stampendous products used:
Laurel Burch stamp set: Blossoming Woman (LBCRS01)
Dreamweaver stencil: Plantain Leaves (DWLG656)

Other products:
Watercolour paints
Memento Ink: New Sprout
Permanent black inkpad
Black fine pen
White gel pen
Twine

Here's how:
1 Stamp Blossoming Woman onto a tag - I stamped her offset from the centre. Stamp the flower twice onto a separate piece of paper.
2 Colour all the images with watercolour paints (I used a loose style with lots of water so the paint bleeds in places - I like the natural effect). Cut the flowers out. Stamp the woman again onto scrap paper and cut out to make a mask.
3 Place the mask and stencil the leaf design all around in New Sprout ink.
4 Remove the mask and add shading all around the main image with grey watercolour.
5 Add the flowers on 3D foam squares for depth and add some white gel pen dots to the floral details. Finish with yellow twine.

Don't miss the inspiration from the rest of the team on the Stampendous blog this week!
Katy x

Delightful Dog Tag for DecoArt

Hello again friends! Another DecoArt Media DT make from me today, a layered collaged tag featured my sweet little pup Jet. I used to do a lot of scrapbooking and although I gave it up years ago (something not apparent from my patterned paper hoard!), I still like to include photos sometimes on mixed media projects and journal pages.

DECOART PRODUCTS USED:

Media Fluid Acrylics - Burnt Umber, Transparent White, Yellow Oxide, Pyrrole Red, Payne's Grey

Americana Stencil - Pixelated

OTHER ITEMS:

Large and small tags

Cardboard and paper scraps
Metal shape

Washi tape

Wide lace

Brayer

Photo

Fine black pen

Below I'll show you how I created the grungy background. Once done, I simply layered lots of bits and bobs on top. A smaller tag has Yellow Oxide paint applied through the Pixelated stencil and is edged with the same paint using a sponge, as is the main tag. The corrugated card panel is dry brushed with Burnt Umber paint and the hearts are painted with a mix of Pyrrole Red and Payne's Grey (to make a deeper red hue) to add a splash of colour. Doodled lines finish the whole thing off.

I don't have a step-out of the whole project but wanted you to see how I created that rather nice shabby background on the large tag.

Mix Burnt Umber and Transparent White paint to make a yummy chocolate colour. Spread with a brayer onto a surface such as a tear off palette.

Tape a piece of wide lace to a tag.

Brayer over the lace with the paint - this was the result. Grungy!

Quickly take the lace and place it painty side down it onto a second tag. Go over firmly with a clean brayer - the paint on the lace will transfer as long as you work fast before it dries.

This is the result of the lace 'print' - this is the tag I used in this project. Saving the other one for another time!

Wishing you tons of painty fun! 

See you soon,

Katy x

A Cracking Tag!

We are using our crackle for the latest That's Crafty challenge and I’ve created a distressed tag using the fantastic crackle paint from DecoArt. This is a great crackle product, it’s really sturdy and cracks really well. The secret is to get a nice even coverage that isn’t too thin and to use a darker colour on your base layer which will show through the cracks.

This video shows you how to do create the distressed crackle background used on my tag – hope you enjoy it!

To finish I just added a circular wash of yellow paints, some stamped images, some background stamping and a computer-generated piece of text.

Look how fab that crackle is!!!

Materials used:

DecoArt Media Crackle Paint, Black Gesoo

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics: Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Yellow Iron Oxide, Primary Yellow

PaperArtsy Hot Picks stamps

Stampendous Andy Skinner stamps: Industrial
Archival Ink: Coffee, Jet Black

Embellishments: keychain, light bulb, mini brads, photo turn

Scrap of chipboard

Palette knife

Hope you like this piece, was a ton of fun to make,

Katy x

That's Crafty Zest Zing Challenge!

Sharing a couple of makes for the That's Crafty Challenge Blog team today. The latest challenge theme is Zest Zing - so we want to see those bright summer shades!

I created a tag and a card for the challenge, using the same materials (listed below). Each is pretty simple using paint and stamping, along with a little bit of stencilled detail.

Products used (mostly available from That's Crafty):

PaperArtsy stamps: Darcy EDY09, Lin Brown 06 &28

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish: Limelight, Zesty Zing, Coral, Tango
DecoArt: Gesso, White
Archival Ink: Jet Black, Watering Can
That's Crafty Dinky Stencil: Bubble Wrap (076)
TCW 6x6 Stencil: Citrus Montage
Homemade circle stencil
White gel pen and black fineline pen

Good luck in the challenge!
Katy x

That's Crafty! Challenge - Birds

It's challenge time at That's Crafty and I'm delighted to have been invited to be on the Challenge DT, making my debut today. The theme for this challenge is birds - I love birds so not too tricky for me this one. You can find all the challenge details here.

Here's how I made my birdie tag:

1) Swipe a white tag with a Tumbled Glass inkpad, applying lightly and randomly.
2) Add details with the That's Crafty stencil and Broken China ink applied through it with a sponge or Cut-n-Dry Foam.
3) Stamp the leaves with Archival Leaf Green.
4) Stamp the birdie and 'Tweet. Chirp' in black onto the tag.
5) Stamp the bird again onto patterned paper, ink with Ripe Persimmon and Mustard Seed inks and add some detail with a white gel pen.
6) Stamp the phrase, edge with Broken China ink and glue in place as shown.
7) Finally, edge the tag lightly with Ripe Persimmon and Hickory Smoke inks.

Products used - all available from That's Crafty:
Carabelle Studios stamps: Dans l'univers des Fuilles by Zorrott
Dina Wakley stamps: Scribbly Birds
That's Crafty Stencil 012: Quatrefoil 2
Distress Inks: Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Ripe Persimmon, Mustard Seed, Hickory Smoke
Archival Ink: Jet Black, Leaf Green

Plus: newsprint-style patterned paper, white gel pen

Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the challenge!
Katy x

Stampendous Hop Fashionista Tag

All this week Stampendous are having a blog hop along with Nathalie Kalbach to showcase some of her gorgeous Stampendous stamps!

Here's your hop list for the last day of the hop:

Stampendous Blog

Tina Walker

Pam Bray

Lea Fritts

Katy Leitch - you are here!

Tenia Nelson

Nathalie Kalbach Blog

There are three lucky commenters during the hop that will each win a prize package that includes all three of Nathalie Kalbach’s Foam, Cling Rubber and Stencil Stamp sets. This is open to everyone! To be eligible comment on each blog post on the Stampendous blog and that of each designer’s blog post on the hop this week. Give a shout out to your place of residence, we want to see how far our hop goes around the world! We’ll announce winners on Monday June 20.

***

Hopefully all this week you've been enjoying our blog hop with Nathalie Kalbach and friends. Today I have a tutorial for you featuring Nathalie's Fashion Dame stamp set. This set comes with a lovely stencil which I've also used on this project.

Here's how I made it:

1) Cover a tag with pattered paper. Stamp the Fashion Dame image for placement. Add some elements cut from patterned paper and some washi tape.

2) Scrap yellow, pink and peach paint onto card with a credit card - when dry stamp the clothing onto the painted card and cut out.

3) Use the stencil that comes in the stamp set to add some areas of stencilled colour with Cantaloupe and Angel Pink inks.

4) Stamp the Dame again onto mixed media card, sponge her with Desert Sand ink on the skin areas and add some blush to her cheeks with Angel Pink and a Fantastix. Glue her to the tag over the image you stamped for placement then add the clothes.

5) Swipe the white ribbon with Cantaloupe and Angel Pink inks. Tie through the top of the tag. Ink the edges with London Fog ink.

To finish: Add a cluster of embellishments.some sequins and some word stickers to complete the tag.

I hope you like my tag. If you want to see more inspiration with Nathalie's stamps make sure you check out the Stampendous blog.

Thanks for visiting today - the whole Stampendous team hope you've enjoyed the hop this week. Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win some awesome stamps!

Katy x

Products used:

Stampendous products:

NKCRS07 Stampendous Nathalie Kalbach Fashion Dame Cling Stamp Set

STF082 Versafine Onyx Black Inkpad

Other products:
Tando Creative Chipboard Tall Tag

Memento Inks: Desert Sand, Angel Pink, Cantaloupe, London Fog
Yellow, pink and peach craft paints
Creative Impressions 3/4" white crepe ribbon
Fabscraps and Marion Smith patterned papers
Washi tape
Embellishments (e.g. buttons, snap, sequins, pins)

Bee Tag for ColourArte

Sharing my tutorial on the ColourArte blog - using Twinkling H20s and a very old but fun technique...

The stamps used are from Stampotique (bee) and Visible Image (words).

Please pop over - I'd love you to leave me a comment if you've enjoyed it :). Feedback is always helpful!

Katy x

Art with Mona

Today I am combining two of my fave Rubber Dance stamp sets - my brand new Artist set and an old favourite, the beautiful Da Vinci set. I've created a multi-layered tag celebrating all things art.

For those amongst you as a pedantic as I... yes, I am aware that paint didn't come in tubes in Da Vinci's day - but neither is this tag an original old master, so that's my excuse and I am sticking with it!

I used my beloved kraft card as the base (in case you were wondering - which you probably weren't but I am going to tell you anyway - I love the kraft card from docrafts and it's the only one I buy).

Here's how I made it:
1) I started by cutting three kraft tags. I stamped the largest tag with the paintbrushes from my Artist set in Potting Soil Archival. I stamped the smaller tags in the same ink with other images from the set and added torn book pages to all the tags.

2) I then used black Archival to stamp splatters (part of one of the heart stamps), the art definition stamp and the coffee ring stamp here and there on all the tags. I edged all the tags with Ground Espresso Distress Ink (which, incidentally, may be my new fave).

3) Stamp Mona Lisa onto white card and colour her with watered down Distress Inks (Tattered Rose is the perfect tone for Caucasian skin). Stamp the paint tubes and brushes and 'Art' word and colour them too,

4) Layer up all the bits and bobs as shown - I used foam tape on the tags and Mona, and Pinflair Glue Gel (a bit like silicone glue) for the cut out embellies to make the tag really 3D!

I am not sure I've done the great master justice, but I love my tag anyway! Any celebration of the joy of art makes me happy.

Katy x

I used these awesome Rubber Dance stamps:

Artist

Round in Circles

Da Vinci

Collage Mix (I just used the Art stamp off this one)

I Heart Art (I used the stamp bottom left to create the splatters)

My ColourArte Day

It's my turn to do a tutorial again on ColourArte today and I created a pretty layered background using Twinkling H20s.

There's a full step-by-step tutorial on the ColourArte blog.

Katy x

New Challenge at Rubber Dance

Yep, another month has rolled on by and so it's time for another Challenge over at the Rubber Dance blog.

Here's your swatch for this month - and your (optional) theme. Don't forget you can win a great big bundle of Rubber Dance stamps AND you don't have to use Rubber Dance stamps to enter.

I created a quick tag this month with a whimsical feel - a sort of forest sprite peering from amongst the leaves. I used the same technique on the leaves as for the wreath I posted yesterday - so follow the link there for a step-by-step. The background is simply stamped with the Burlap image from Rubber Dance and a speckly stamp that comes with the For the Birds set.

See you soon!

Katy x

I used these awesome Rubber Dance stamps:

STOP PRESS: A little gift for my readers - use code katy2015 to get 15% off your total order at Rubber Dance!!!

Burlap

I Love Leaves

Twiggy Leaves

For the Birds

Collage Mix

Tim's Tag - June

Despite my New Year resolution I've been very lax in doing my Tim's Tag this year, but I managed to have a go at June. Sorry if you are getting deja vu - yes it is yet another sea-themed piece. I'll get bored soon and make something different!

My background is a slight variation on Tim's version. I used the method of printing with the stencil - my first print was quite dry - giving the more defined circles you can see. Then I added a fair bit of water and printed again, first rotating the stencil 90 degrees. I didn't ink my tag first as I wanted a cleaner look. I added a strip of sandpaper and distressed/inked the edges as Tim did. My Distress colours are Salty Ocean and Evergreen Bough,

My seahorses and starfish are stamped onto card that I coloured with Cosmic Shimmer Mists. The heart (Finnabair) is coloured with Abandoned Coral ink and the foliage (Tattered Pinecone die) with Peeled Paint ink, I finished it off with a Tattered Banner die cut and Tim Holtz phrase sticker.

Simple tag but I am really pleased with this one,

K xxx

Little Pink Dress

This little creation started out as a version of Tim's June tag - but I went so far astray I didn't feel I could enter it! 

I am going for a few challenge instead: 

Craft Stamper challenge instead - theme texture - as there's plenty of that!

Mixed Media Monthly - choice of 13 themes as below - mine is tic tac toe (used a die, a bow, a stencil and stamps)

And Country View June Challenge - Shabby Chic

Here's how I made it :)

Paint the top and bottom of a die cut mannequin (Tim Holtz) with DecoArt Crackle Paint. Use DecoArt Antiquing Cream (Black) to age the crackles - apply the cream all over the paint then wipe back with a baby wipe so it's just left in the cracks. Cover the body part of the mannequin with a thin coat of Picket Fence Distress Paint. Ink the edges with Dusty Concord (body) and Black Soot (painted parts).

Cut some fabric flowers to fit the mannequin. Layer the skirt working from the bottom up. On the torso stick the petals flat following the contours of the body. Die cut a butterfly from vellum and heat emboss a stamped image (Rubber Dance lace) with white embossing powder.

Ink a Tim Holtz stencil with Seedless Preserves and Dusty Concord, spritz with water and 'stamp' onto a tag. Ink with matching Distress Inks, add a sprinkle of Purple Brusho and more water to add depth of colour. Fill in any 'bleached' areas with more Distress Ink then add some background stamping in black ink (Pink Paislee and Tim Holtz stamps) and white pigment ink (Rubber Dance lace).

Distress the edges of the tag and stamp a greeting (Wendy Vecchi). Layer onto a cream tag, add the mannequin - she now has a dyed seam binding bow and a pearl necklace. Finish the tag with more seam binding through the hole.

Hope you like my little tag :)

Katy x