Steampunk Valentines

Hello everyone,  I hope you are doing well.

I have two designs to show today using Chocolate Baroque's fabulous new Punky Hearts set.

The card above has a batik painting look to it (at least to me it does).   I used Sapphire Distress paint in the background.  I stamped gears from Steampunk Butterfly with Sapphire & Mahogany Distress Inks.

Next I stamped the roses with Cobalt Archival ink and bleached (using bleach, water & brush and blotting with a paper towel roll) where I wanted to paint.   I used Distress Paints to colour and highlighted a little with a white Gelly Roll pen.   I embossed with a cog folder on the white mat.

 And below is the large steampunk heart from the fabulous stamp set:

I created the small background with Tea Dye, rose and Bronze Distress Sprays.  I stamped using the hearts with Walnut Distress Ink and painted with copper acrylic paint and a harlequin stencil.

The large heart was embossed with copper and painted with Tumbled Glass and Broken China Distress ink (using water and ink on my craft mat).

The large background was created with Broken China Distress Paint and stamped with a fragment from Harlequin Fragments with Broken China Distress Ink.

My husband likes both of these designs, I think I'll give him the bottom one for Valentines Day.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge #7

Hello everyone I hope you are having a great day,

I have a 'quick make' below for Chocolate Baroque's Colour Challenge #7.  

I used Brushos for a quick background using three of the challenge colours and then stamped the tree from Fantasy Trees with brown ink.   I also used a Tom bow marker to paint the grass and leaves.

Below is the inspiration design (by Glenda) using this months colours.   We would love it if you can join us for a chance to win a CB gift card.  All the details can be found at the Chocolate Baroque's Colour Challenge blog.

Thanks for stopping by,
Shirleyx

Playing with Brushos and Dylusions Inks

Hello everyone I hope you are having a great weekend.

I had more playtime with Brushos crystal inks and this time I decided to combine them with another favorite medium - Dylusions inks :).   The cheery colour makes me think about Spring.

I sprayed Dylusions, sprinkled Brusho's here & there, and spritzed with water where I wanted the crystal to move.  I painted the Moth with Brushos and highlighted with white acrylic paint (thanks for the idea Ryn:))

Design by Ryn stamps:  Luna (the moth), Hanging Droplets Set and Trickling Water 2.
Design by Ryn stencil:  Maidenhair Fern
Memory Box stencil:  Texture Disperse

Chocolate Baroque Stamps:  Joy & Art are from Artistic Expressions set

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!
Shirleyx

True Love and Be Mine

Hello everyone,

I have a couple of designs today using Chocolate Baroque's new stamps sets Punky Hearts and Fluttering Hearts.  

The background above was created with Salty Ocean, Shaded Lilac Distress Inks using an acrylic block and water.   I also used a Tim Holtz heart stencil with Distress Ink.     I stamped the bubbles from Decorative Edges with Seedless Preserves Distress ink and the large heart from Fluttering Hearts with Shaded Lilac Distress Ink.

The images were stamped with black Archival ink and bleached with a little bleach & water and then coloured with Dylusions inks mixed with water on my craft mat.

I dry embossed the heart on the balloon and centres of the flower hearts on the back with a stylus and foam mat.  I also highlighted with a white pen and added stickles.    'With Love' is from Mackintosh Sentiments.

I used the lovely balloon again for this design below but stamped a different sentiment in the centre:

I blended Distress Inks using ripped card stock as a mask to create the background above.  I also stamped two fragments from Texture Fragments and flowers from Patchwork Landscape.  The balloon from Punky Hearts was painted with Tom bow markers.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Vintage Texture Collage

Happy Weekend everyone, I hope you are doing well.  It's a snowy day here.

I have something different to show today, a textured collage on a 8 x 10 canvas.  I think this was inspired by Finnabair or maybe from what I've seen at blogs and/or Pinterest.   I'm drawn to vintage designs, but I don't create them often.

I struggled a little with this.  At one point it was brown and blue and the end result is after a few layers of Gesso to 'start over'.   

Materials:

• light molding paste with and without using stencils
• gel medium
• lace
• flourish die cuts (Tim Holtz)
• drywall tape
• metal embellishments, buttons and rhinestones
• Silks acrylic glaze
• Acrylic paint
• Gesso
• Dylusions inks - purple and turquoise
• Stickles
• silver embossing enamel
• the vintage photo is one that I found on Pinterest, it did say 'free printable'.

I started with a collage of paper to create depth but it got lost under everything else. 

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirleyx

First Play with Brushos !

Hello everyone,

I was quite happy to find a set of  Brushos recently and bought them as a Christmas gift to myself.  These crystal inks are produced in the UK, not stocked anywhere in Canada (that I could find) and sell out quickly overseas.   They create the most wonderful vivid colours using such a tiny little amount of the powders sprayed or mixed with water.   I love to use water based paints, inks & sprays so these are 'right up my alley'.  

I used stamps by Designs by Ryn for both of these cards.  The sentiments are from Chocolate Baroque's Amazing Birthday set.

One of my talented teammates Eileen Godwin has produced four fantastic video tutorials featuring different techniques using Brushos.   I used her tutorial Brushos - Part One as a guide for the background above but I didn't use "goosebumps" as I don't have them, I've never seen them here.

I painted Day Lily and Rising Bubbles using the paints on my craft mat with a little water and also directly on the flower.

A different technique was used for the background below:

A fun technique using Glimmer Mists, Brushos and plastic wrap which Eileen shows at her tutorial Brushos - Part Two was used for the background above.     I also painted Raindrop set and Flying Hummingbird 2 with the Brushos.

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Mixed Media with Circles and a Flower

Hello everyone I hope you are having a great weekend.    It's very cold here, but at least we are seeing the sun again.    I  can deal with cold by dressing for it, but I find the lack of sun makes my brain foggy and drains energy.

I have a card to show today that was great fun creating.   I gained the inspiration to start using mixed media again from Astrid's gorgeous artwork and detailed tutorials.

I started with mixed media card stock and took the following steps to create this card design:

• Covered with Tim Holtz tissue using gel gloss medium and wrinkled when adhering (see Tim Holtz's January Tag)
• Painted with Distress Paints, spritzed with water
• Sprayed with Distress Spray, spritzed with water
• Stenciled circles using white acrylic paint
• Added outline to circles with black Neo-colour crayon, blended with water & brush
• Covered background with Gel Medium
• I distressed the edge and painted with black acrylic paint

The Tattered Blossoms (dies with co-ordinating stamps) by Heartfelt Creations were coloured with Distress Ink and 3D Stamp Paint.  The centre is tiny beads adhered with Glossy Accents.  Branch die cut is by Tim Holtz - Sizzix, coated with clear Glimmer Glaze.

'Art' is from Chocolate Baroque's Artistic Expressions set, coloured with Distress Spray and painted with Distress Crackle paint

I'm joining the challenge at The Mixed Media Card Challenge, as my card fits the theme - this is the first time I've used Distress Sprays over Distress Paint and I used tissue in the background.

I've also used the Tattered Blossoms stamp for the first time so this card qualifies to join into the fun challenge over at Darnell's  Blog- Never Before Used Stuff Challenge

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day,
Shirleyx

Fluttering Hearts in Pink

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a fabulous & creative 2015 so far.

I have a design to show today featuring the heart & butterfly from Chocolate Baroque's new gorgeous Fluttering Hearts stamp set.  I also used stamps from other sets that compliment the new one very well.

The background was created by blending Persimmon and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks.  I over stamped with flowers from Sunny Sunflowers using the same inks.

The flowers, leaves, butterfly and heart were embossed with Gold, painted with Tom bow markers, fancy cut (decoupaged) and layered as shown.   I used leaves from Sunny Sunflowers and Fresh Blooms.   'Beauty' is from the fabulous Artistic Expressions set, which I use a lot.  I added gold embossing power around the edge of the background with a glue stick (& heated). 

Thanks for visiting and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Chocolate Baroque Colour Challenge # 6 and a Free Dowload

Hello everyone

I have a design today using the free gorgeous digital download paper in rich jewel tones that is available at Chocolate Baroque's Colour Challenge Blog.

The background is the printed digital paper.   I stamped a beautiful flower from Pretty Poppies, coloured with Prisma Pencils and attached as shown.   

We would love it if you could join us at Chocolate Baroque's Colour Challenge #6 for a chance to win a £15 gift voucher at Chocolate Baroque.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Mixed Media Canvas with Fluttering Hearts

Hello everyone and welcome to 2015!

I have a canvas to show today featuring stamps from Chocolate Baroque's gorgeous new Fluttering Hearts set.

I took the following steps:

• Adhered Tim Holtz tissue on canvas with gel medium
• Covered with Gesso
• Added texture with Tim Holtz hearts stencil using light molding paste
• Painted with Distress Paints and Silks Acrylic Glaze
• Added texture with acrylic paints using bubble wrap and a Memory Box dotted stencil
• Stamped images from Fluttering Hearts on tissue paper with cobalt Archival Ink
• Adhered tissue with gel medium
• Painted images with acrylic paints and highlighted with white Gelly roll pen

Here is a look at both of the new stamps sets Fluttering Hearts and Punky Hearts that are new this month:

I don't play with mixed media as much as I would like, something I hope to change in 2015.  Below is the entire 10 x 10 canvas.  I wasn't happy with how the photographs were turning out so I cropped it (above).

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirleyx