My First Art Journal Page!

Hi all, I'm back today to share an art journal page I made yesterday, my very first one! I had watched a few YouTube videos by some very talented people (Vicky Papaioannou and Mimi Bondi) and felt inspired. I dug out my unused acrylic paints, and nipped out to WHSmith to buy an inexpensive journal, and set to.

First I lay down some strips of torn book pages, I found an old copy of The Hobbit in our bookshelves that was literally falling apart, so didn't feel too guilty using this. I stuck them down with Mod Podge, and let dry. When that was dry, I covered the pages with some white gesso and again, left to dry.

I then played with 3 acrylic paints, one by DecoArt - Citron Green, and two from PaperArtsy, Cherry Red and Turquoise. I applied them randomly over the pages using my fingers.

Once I was happy with the general look ( I have no idea what I am doing haha) I left to dry, then gave it another wash with white gesso, this time using a baby wipe so it was not opaque, just toned down the paints.

Then it was time to choose which stamps, and embossing stencils to use. I ended up using this wonderful image from Visible Image from set 'No Space for Dreams'.

I used two Dinky Stencils from That's Crafty - Bubbly All Over and Star Shower, using the three paints I had used for the background. I then added some more Dinky Stencils using the Raindrops Background in PaperArtsy Chalk acrylic paint.

I stamped and embossed the birds from two Visible Image sets, 'Learn to Fly Again' and ink splats from a retired set using Memento Luxe ink in Teal, and clear embossed.


I stamped the main image using Staz On ink onto white tissue paper, and applied with Mod Podge, it dried clear and I was pleased to see there was no discernible edges from the tissue paper.

I did the same with the fab sentiment, also from Visible Image called 'Free Soul'. Around the edges I used a background stamp also from Visible Image, stamped in Memento Luxe Black, and clear embossed.

Finally I went over both pages with DecoArt Ice Crystal translucent glitter paint, and when dry, I added some super glittery Opal Dust.

I really enjoyed making these pages, and I didn't make too much of a mess!

I would like to enter this into the following challenge-

That's Crafty - Bling it Up!

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

I'm Back!!

Well Blogland, it has been rather a while since my last post...June last year! Well, my only excuse is I lost my mojo a bit, I ended up doing a lot more hours at work, and had less time to craft, then the festive period arrived..as I work in retail, in a busy Wines dept for Waitrose, I had little to no time or energy to craft. Coupled with the fact I had begun a WSET Course in September, well, I had little time for anything!

Thankfully, now, I have handed in my course work, and feel free to indulge in more pleasant pursuits! My only worry was, could I still craft? And could I remember how to make a blog post? It was fine in the end, I didn't even need to call a teen to help me out!

Last night I created a mini canvas using some lovely stamps I received for Christmas, by Visible Image.

I used the stamp set 'Sparkle in the Rain' for this little glittery creation. I stamped the lovely lady in Versamark and embossed with Sliver Glitter EP from Stampendous, and fussy cut out. I repeated this, and glued them both together, to make a more sturdy topper.

While the glue was drying, I used my Glue pad to stamp the rain and sprinkled Glamour Dust onto it. I then Sliver Glitter embossed the sentiment onto black card and cut out. To 'ground' her I cut some little daisies off a daisy ribbon and some leaves from some leafy ribbon, and glued them on randomly.

Finally I added some silver sequins, the lady and the sentiment. She is sitting on my shelf above my much neglected craft area, sparkling at me.

During last week I also made this card, using Brushos and more Visible Image stamps from their new release, called Create It! and Outside the Lines. I love the way the Brusho colours turned out, and the stamps are embossed in WOW! Silver Glitter powder.

I would like to enter these cards into That's Crafty Challenge -Words, and Sweet Stamper's Challenge - Add a Sentiment, and A Vintage Journey - Words that are Special, and We Love to Create - Mixed Media
I must say it is nice to have a bit of crafty mojo back, I hope you've enjoyed my little makes today.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More

Hello again, two posts in one day! I made a card for last weekend's Less is More challenge on Sunday, and didn't get round to blogging it, as I'm day off today, I'm having a catch up! The theme this week is purple - I have used Brushos with resist stamping using Visible Image stamps.

I masked the butterfly, and stamped several times and embossed in clear embossing powder. I then sprinkled on the purple brushos, and spritzed with water.

I then matted onto some silver mirri card, and attached to a card base, added another Visible ~Image sentiment, and voila, card made!

Thanks for stopping by today, I'm off for a lie down after all this blogging!

Pauline

Brushos and Visible Image

Hi all, it's been a long time since my last blog post, I've been busy one way or another, and have not felt much like crafting. Well, I got my stamps and brusho paint crystals out at the weekend, and had a dabble, to kick start my mojo.

I created the background using Ultramarine Brushos on wet watercolour card, and left to dry. I then had a tinker about with stamping with water and adding the brushos to it, but it didn't work too well with this splashing horse image, I think it may be too detailed. So I then tried stamping with the Brusho paint, and it worked a treat!

I stamped the sentiment in Versamark, and embossed twice using gold detail embossing powder, then added some specks of shabby white embossing enamel over the top.

I matted onto a piece of  blue swiss dot bazill card, and attached to a card base.

A nice quick card (minus drying time) and flat for posting too!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

That's Crafty - The Sea (the horse is splashing in the sea)

Stamplorations - Blue

Sentiment stamp and horse stamp are by Visible Image.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Express Yourself..

Hi all, it's been a while since my last post, I have been creating, but just not got around to blogging or sharing! I made this card the other week, experimenting with some stamps and a new to me technique - shaving foam technique.

I made the background using Brushos on the shaving foam instead of inks, and I had mixed results. As I used the Brusho powders in their crystal state, they tended to 'scratch' along the surface of the card when i removed the foam. This piece I used was one I was quite happy with, the rest went in the bin!

 I stencilled a mesh design using a Tim Holtz stencil and some Mahogany distress ink, then stamped the fabulous eye image in a circle to imitate a flower. The eye and sentiments are from Visible Image.

 I went around the edge of the panel with some glue pen in wiggly lines, and added some gold glamour dust, then I added some to the eye flower and the 'R' in Art.

I stamped the 'express yourself' stamp 3 times, and cut in a random fashion. I then backed them onto black card and attached with some foam pads.

If you haven't seen Visible Image stamps before, check them out! The stamp quality is superb, and customer service is amazing too, you can find their store here - Visible Image.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Hiding in my Craftroom - Layers

Love to Create - anything Goes Mixed Media

Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

CAS Sketches

Hoi all, a quickie from me today, I made a card for the CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge, this is the sketch -

And here's my card -

I made some backing paper with shaving foam and distress inks a little while ago, and I have loads of it to use! So I used a snippet here, and stamped the musical stave in Dusty Concorde distress ink, and overstamped that with the sentiment - both stamps are from Visible Image, from their Soul Music set.

The inks I used in the shaving foam are fired brick and milled lavender.

Well that's all from me as I am popping out soon, thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - Sentiment

Hi all, it's saturday, and that means a nice new challenge at Less is More! This week the challenge is a one layer card, with the sentiment as the main focus.

Well, I have plenty of large sentiments from Visible Image, and I chose this fab sentiment!

I used a large 6x6 card base, and sprinkled some Leaf Green and Terracotta Brushos onto it acros the card diagonally, then lightly spritzed with water to release the magic. When dry, I sprayed with Phill Martin Cosmic Shimmer in antique gold, it has a greeny/gold tint to it.

Then I stamped the sentiment in Versamark, and used some green/gold two tone embossing powder, it also left a golden shimmer over the whole card, I tried to catch it in the second picture here, but it doesn't really do it justice.

Well, a nice, quick and easy card to make, and shimmery too!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Less is More - Sentiment

More Mixed Media Challenge - Green

Simon Says Stamp - Make your own background

Make my Monday - Square Card

Ooh La la Challenge - Sentiment

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Live in the Moment...

Hi all, I'm just popping by with a quick make I did yesterday, using a freebie stamp from this month's Craft Stamper magazine, by Visible Image. It is a smaller flower image that matches the larger one in their shop, which I already have.

I inked a piece of white card using distress inks in Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers and Blueprint Sketch, and then sprinkled some water droplets to 'bleach' a bit of the colour out.

I then stamped the little flower around the edge in Versamark, and embossed with Sparkle Puff powder from Stampendous, it's very sparkly in real life.

I then stamped the sentiment from one of VI's new release Live in the Moment and again embossed with the sparkly powder. Finished it off with some flat back pearls, and job done. This is a nice flat card (apart from the pearls) so should be a nice easy one to post!

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Colours of The Wind

Hi all, just a quickie from me today, I made this a little while ago using Brushos and some Visible image stamps. Apart from the drying time for the Brusho background, this was a very quick card to make.

I gold embossed the leaf and sentiment, and then highlighted around them to make them pop a little bit.

I sent this to a crafty friend for a swap, now I know she has it I can post it!

I would like to enter this into:

 Crafty Catz challenge of no DP ( made my own background) and CAS.

Ooh la la Challenge - CAS

Hiding in my Craftroom - CAS


Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Brushos and Mixed Media...

Hi all, I'm here today sharing a mixed media style card, which for me is fairly new. I really like how this card turned out, and the mixed media style seems to be anything can go anywhere!

I made a brusho background with green and yellow (I think), and sprayed with  Tattered Angels Dazzling Diamonds, then sponged some Rusty Hinge Distress Ink through a Tim Holtz hessian style mask randomly. I then cut the piece out to size where I liked the pattern more, and stamped the birds from Visible Image stamps.

I stamped the sentiment, also from Visible Image onto a little off-cut, and added some fussy cut birds.

Onto the main panel, I used some sparkling grunge paste in Champagne through a Tim Holtz harlequin mask, in a random pattern, and left to dry. Before drying completely, I sprinkled some gold glamour dust onto the diamond shapes.

I really enjoyed dipping my toes (or rather my fingers!) into the world of Mixed media! This card is winging it's way to a male friend in Denmark!

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline.

My First ATCs!

Hi all, I am here today to share my very first ATC cards! There has to be a first for everything, and this is something I have always shied away from - the size, I thought would just be too small to make anything worth using, or looking at! How wrong I was! I was inspired to try my hand at ATCs for the challenge over at That's Crafty.

So I have made 5 ATCs, all using either a brusho or sprayed stamped background, and all stamps used are by Visible Image. I got all my Brushos from That's Crafty store.

For my first ATC, I have used some orange and green DecoArt paint sprays. Over the splatters, I stamped this lovely grungy Flower INKognito in Versamark, and embossed with gold detail powder. The sentiment was stamped in Tuxedo Black, curt out, and distressed with Walnut Stain, and I stamped the ink spots around the edge using a stamp from Free Your Imagination set, and gold embossed.

For my second ATC, I have used an off-cut from a previous project, and I'm so glad I kept this piece! I stamped the cracked glass image in Versamark, and clear embossed. Then, I sprayed the card with water, and sprinkled a few colours of Brusho pigment paints, and they reacted beautifully with the water and the design. The finished sheet looked like stained glass. All I needed to do here was to trim the offcut to size, distress the edges with Walnut Stain, and stamp the sentiment from the Sunshine set. I inked around the edges with Mowed Lawn distress ink, and a bit of Walnut Stain, and stuck it on with foam pads.

For my third ATC, I used a Brusho background, over which I stencilled a Tim Holtz flourish design, in Festive Berries and Fossilized Amber Distress inks, then sprayed lightly with water, and patted dry with some paper towel for a softer effect.

I then stamped in Versamark the beautiful chandelier image from Chandelier Set, and black embossed. The sentiment is from the same set, but I got it a bit wonky. Never mind, mistakes make us wiser! Finally I added some gems and distressed the edges with Walnut Stain ink.

For my fourth ATC, I used a Brusho background, and used my new That's Crafty Dinky Stencil Metal Grid Background, with Mowed Lawn and Salty Ocean distress inks.

I stamped the watch in Aged Gold embossing enamel, using the image from Time after Time set, but I can't find it on the website so it must have been discontinued.

Around the edge I gold embossed the dotty edge from the mini Grunge Flourish which was a freebie from a magazine, but you can get a similar stamp from Visible image in their Edgy set.

I stamped and embossed the word Time twice - first in detail gold, then again in black.

 

For my final ATC, I again used a Brush background, and stamped the heart shape from Molly Rules stamp set and gold embossed. I stamped the sentiment in Tuxedo Black, and cut roughly around it. I edged it in versamark, and gold embossed. I then used my Versamark pen to gold emboss the little heart in the square.

Well, I have had a lot of fun today making these ATCs, and I have lots of backgrounds ready for a whole batch more!

I would like to enter these into the following challenges:

That's Crafty Challenge - ATCs

We Love to Create - Mixed Media, Anything Goes.

Fantasy Stampers - Love is in the Air  - for the last ATC only, (I love you just the way you are).


Thanks for stopping by today,

Pauline

Less is More - Berry Colours

Hi all, I'm sharing my little make today for this week's new Less is More challenge, to use Berry colours. Now, I love berry shades, especially deep purples and raspberry reds, and once I start creating with them, I can't stop!

For this card, I used some scraps left over from another project, which I still need to blog, and my new dies from MFT (available at Dies to Die for) Blueprints 20. I actually cut and assembled 7 of these mini quilts, and found it very therapeutic, like an extended jigsaw puzzle!

The main body of the quilt was made using some background paper I had made using a Visible Ink stamp, Flower INKcognito, clear embossed, then spritzed with some Deco Art paint sprays in Purple and Primary Magenta  for an embossed/resist technique.

As the  background card had already been made last week, all I needed to do was cut and assemble.

The raspberry mat was also cut using a cross stitched rectangular die, also from the Blueprints 20 die set. I added some purple twine and a deep purple button, and the sentiment is from Uniko Studios,  All Occasion Sentiments #1, stamped in Hero Arts new Ombre ink pad in 'Lilac to Grape Purple'.

I stopped short of adding any further bling or glitter, but it's difficult for me haha! I love the bling!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Pauline

Playing with Copics and Cheshire Cats!

Hi all, I'm just sharing a fun card today, made using the Cheshire Cat image from Visible Image stamps, coloured with Copics.

I've taken the picture on my phone, as it's very gloomy here, and my camera is playing up. Quite impressed with how ok it looks! The background was made using Brushos in Emerald Green and Purple, onto a watercolour card, then spritzed with water. Finally I added some gems to the eyes around the card for some sparkle!

I stamped some random smiles around the edges in Dusty Concord Distress Ink, and layered with some purple Bazzill. This was my first play with Copics, and as such, although I like the colours, I don't like the brush nib - everybody else loves it, but I'm not a fan! Yet!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Simon Say Stamp - Furry Friends

Crafting from the Heart - anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - One Layer - Masculine

Hi all, I made a couple of cards this morning with my new favourite toy - Brushos! They are so easy to use, and produce such pretty results, I love them!!

I've made a couple of masculine cards for this week's Less Is More challenge, and this week is the dreaded one layer plus the other dreaded Masculine! Hmm, well, that's handy, as my son is 11 next week, and I still have to make him a card. This is the card I made for him:

I have used the stamp set Robot Data Set, by Visible Image, and stamped the robot, the binary code and sentiment in Versamark and embossed in clear powder onto a large card base.

Then when it was cool, I sprinkled some Emerald Green Brusho over the binary code parts, and sprinkled some Black over the robot.

Then i lightly misted so the powder didn't get pushed around too much by the spray. When dry, I added some Stampendous Vintage Silver embossing pwder, and heated from underneath. This stuff gets everywhere, it looks like grit, but makes such a great addition to grunge stuff up.

I thought the sentiment didn't stand out enough, so I edged it in a black fine liner, not too pleased with it now, oh well, I will leave well alone next time!

As I was on a roll, I thought I would use a new mask I bought recently, and try the Brushos through it. It is more patchy than a thicker medium, but I like the effect.

I taped the stencil to the card base, then either side I also placed  two pieces of plain paper to shield the rest of the card from any stray powder or spatters.

Then I sprinkled some Olive Green and Terracotta onto the card, and spritzed gently.

I added some Glamour dust to the numbers and clockface shape to give it a bit more definition.

I tried to capture the sparkle, but it's a very dull day here.

And here they are together.

So a productive day all round, I made my son's birthday card (the robot) and I made a spare :-)

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Less is More - Water

Hi all, I'm here today with a couple of CAS cards today for the Less is More challenge, where the theme is One Layer and Water. I tried to post both cards, but it wouldn't let me as it has the same link.

 I don't do CAS very often, as I do like a lot of layers and embellishments, but sometimes it's nice to create something a bit more, well, simple! These came together really quickly, using my new Brushos pigment paints. I made up a rainbow of water-colours, and quite simply, painted them into the centre of the first card, then spattered them onto the second card.

I added the birds and sentiment from the Visible Image set OZ Dorothy set over the top.

On this card, I also used a Visible Image stamp, from the Free Your Imagination set.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline

Feathers Appear...

Hi all, I'm back for another post! I'm on a day off today, so I thought I'd make the most of my new found crafty mojo!

I've been playing with my new Brushos from That's Crafty, and my new Visible Image stamps. I have made a card for a friend, a fellow Kate Bush fan - the card is inspired by the interval curtain at Kate's shows last year, which featured a large black feather to the top right hand corner. The second part of the shows were based on her Aerial album, which heavily features birds - at the end of the performance, Kate transforms into a bird! Really hoping the DVD will be released soon, as I would love to watch it all again. Here is a pic of the curtain that inspired my card.

For the background I used Brilliant Red Brusho pigment paint, and sprinkled a little bit of Dark Brown onto it, then spritzed with some water. The wonderful thing about this technique is that you never know how it will turn out, and that's half the fun. The brown pigment spread like a little flock of birds, perfect!

 

After drying, I stamped the feather image and the small flock of birds from Free Your Imagination set in Versamark, and black embossed and added the sentiment from the Angels are Near set.

 

I applied some Mod Podge around the edge of the card, and added these little black sprinkles by Cosmic Shimmer in Ebony Ice - they get everywhere!! I spritzed the whole thing with Mister Huey Pinstripe Grey and Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Dazzling Diamonds. Finally I mounted onto a card base which had been distressed with Black Soot DI.

I've had a lot of fun getting messy making this, it's a very large card measuring 8 x 8 inches!

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers & More - Make your own background
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Ruby's Rainbow - Anything Goes
Craft Stamper - Use a Stamp
That's Crafty - Clean and Simple

Thanks for stopping by,

Pauline