Mandala Design

Hello everyone, I hope you had a great weekend.   The snow & ice we had late last week has all melted again and Spring is trying to come back.   Yay! 

I still have more designs using the fabulous new Indian designs by Chocolate Baroque.   Today I have a Mandala created with images from Indian Textiles.   My creative Aunt Saakje introduced me to Mandalas many years ago.  She creates the most beautiful designs in needlework without patterns - amazing & inspiring work!

While this isn't as symmetrical as I wanted, it is bright & again I had fun using these fabulous stamps.

Click to Enlarge Photo to see more detail

I created the background by spraying Pink Dylusions Ink, spritzed with water & blotted.  I blended Peacock Feathers Distress Ink around the parameter once it was dry.   After drawing lines from corner to corner  I stamped the main image four times with black Stazon ink.     I stamped a small flower from Indian Textiles with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink between the main images.

I bleached the main images and then coloured with Dylusion inks using a fine point water barrel brush.  I spent some time with black pigment & white Gellyroll pens to highlight.  I found the outlining relaxing & meditative which creating Mandalas should be.     I edged the background with a Gold Leaf pen.  I added lots of rhinestones and the metal center piece to finish the design.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Shirley

Rising Bubbles & a Faerie

Hello everyone,  I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

I have a card today using another one of Designs by Ryn's exciting new Water Effects Texture Designs.    This time I've used Rising Bubbles, another very cool stamp that will be flying off her shelves!  I also used Three Leaves Set (a fav of mine) & one of the Faeries from the Dancing Faerie set.

I blended Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Inks over the background.  I flicked a bit of water to create drops, that are hard to see in the photo.   I stamped 2 of the leaves from Ryn's  Three Leaves Set, stamping off the ink to create a little depth.    I stamped Rising Bubbles in black & highlighted with a white Gellyroll pen.  I stamped the Faerie from Dancing Faeries Set, coloured with Prismas pencils, cut out & attached as show.

In this design, I feel the Faerie represents Ryn - a kind person, free spirit and talented artist on her adventure in the tropics of South America.   She was in a magical forest where she saw bubbles and decided to design a stamp from what she saw.

Ryn returned to her homeland recently to meet the demands of rising sales to creative people all over the world.  Her customers are friendly & generously show their beautiful creations on Ryn's Facebook page.   They appreciate her unique designs & extremely high quality stamps.    Unfortunately she also came home to learn that another stamp business has copied a popular idea.    It makes me so sad as Ryn is a very good person and would never do that to another artist or business.    Greed is not pretty.   Beware of imitations, they are also not as 'pretty'.       

Thank you for your visits, they are appreciated.    I hope you have a great day! 
Shirley

Rain Drops by Ryn

Hello Everyone, I hope you are having a great day.     We had freezing rain overnight, it looks quite magical outside with heavy ice everywhere!    I hope the buds on our flowering trees are strong enough to survive.     

We are very excited about Designs by Ryn's new Water Effects stamps that have just been launched. 
Ryn's popular Waterdroplets have been flying off her shelves and I'm sure these Rain Drops will too, they are so cool ! 

To create the background I started with water colour paints - wet on wet (tutorial here).  I added a little salt in a couple of spots for added texture.   After letting it dry I stamped Patio Stone with Seedless Preserves, Shaded Lilac & Salty Ocean Distress Inks.   Next I blended Seedless Preserves & Salty Ocean DI over Studio Calico's Circle Graph Stencil.  I stamped the Rain Drops with Black Soot Distress Ink and highlighted with a white Gelly Roll pen.

I embossed Black Eye Susan with black, coloured with my Tom Bow markers, added glitter and cut out as shown.   The sentiment that works perfectly with the Rain Drops is from Chocolate Baroque's Loving Sentiments set. 

Design by Ryn's stamps are extremely high quality, deeply etched, they stamp out beautiful every time.   If you are interested in purchasing Ryn's stamps, please visit her webstore for more information.   Also Ryn's Facebook page is updated ongoing with lots of inspiration & the Design Team Blogs are posted on my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the weekend,
Shirley

Doodled Bird

Hello everyone, I hope your week is going well.

I shouldn't talk about the weather as it's not a happy subject here.  It's mid April so I just had my snow tires removed this morning, only to drive home in heavy snow !     But we will stay positive and expect to be rewarded with a wonderful summer :) 

I haven't been able to garden as much as I would like, but I had fun with paints, texture paste, stencils and doodling to create this quirky card.

 

The background started with Dylusions inks that were mopped up on water colour paper from another project.   Next I used a light molding paste with TCW's Whimsical Vines stencil and painted over with Acrylic & Silks Acrylic glaze paints.   I also used Distress Ink and the mini Circle Explosion TCW stencil.    

The bird is a little Rubber Stamp Tapestry stencil that I picked up thinking it would be fun to use it for doodling.    I used Acrylic paint with the stencil & added the hat and doodles with black pigment and white gellyroll pens.      

Thanks for visiting & have a happy day!

Cheers, Shirley

Indian Design with Mixed Media

Hello everyone,   I hope you are all doing well.

I have another card today using Chocolate Baroque's new Indian theme designs, which I had fun creating with mixed media.

I'm joining in the Make it Monday challenge as the theme is to 'create your own background'.

I started with a sheet printed from Chocolate Baroque's Leafy Brocade printable.  It's a new download design package & they print out gorgeous.     Of course you can't see it too well in this design as I've added layers, but it shows through.

I adhered the brocade design sheet to heavy watercolour paper using Modge Podge but any Matt Gel Medium should work.   Once it was dry (I use my heat gun)  I added a light layer of Gesso.  Next I used my Neocolour Crayons (water based) in blue & light green shades, spritzed with water and let the colours run.

Once dry again I stamped the flower & small border from Indian Textiles, the small building silhouette from Indian Elephant and "Bliss" is from Artistic Affirmations in black Stazon ink.   I coloured the flower with Prismas, which was a little more difficult to blend over the crayon than normal, but it worked.   I outlined with a white Gellyroll pen & also added glitter, gems, stickles & liquid pearls to the flower.

Next using the TCW mini Harlequin stencil I added Viva Decor Modelling Creme (mother of pearl light blue, it's beautiful).  Make sure you wash the stencil right after using this creme as it dries hard very quickly.  When the stencilling was dry I used a light molding paste around parameter of the background, dried & then I painted over with acrylic paints.  And the final touch was to add UTEE using a wet brush and then heat gun.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day!
Shirley

A Coral Reef

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.    I've managed to get time out in the gardens the last couple of days.  Yesterday it was 4 degrees (Celsius), windy and we even had some light snow flurries, but I hung in with warm clothing.   

I wanted to create a Coral Reef with few 'Sea Creatures' by Designs by Ryn and here is what I've come up with.

I added Peacock Feathers & Broken China Distress Ink to the background using the Acrylic Block technique.  (simply add ink directly from the pad onto an Acrylic Block and spritz with water and 'smoosh' onto your white cardstock).

I stamped the medium Coral from Ryn's Coral Set many times over the background using Colourbox Boysenberry, Harbour & Frost White pigment inks.   I stamped off the ink and added more coral into the background to make it appear as if it was in the distance.   Next I stamped the single fish from School of Fish set.

I embossed the small & medium Starfish and the small Sea horse from the sets on water colour paper with silver.  I coloured them with my Tombow markers, cut out and added as shown.

Hello is from Impression Obsession A3579.

If you get a chance to visit the rest of Ryn's Design Team, their blogs on posted on my sidebar.  Also Ryn's Facebook page is updated regularly with inspiration using her stamps.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Flowering Dogwood

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great day.   I've been pruning shrubs in the gardens and it feels great!   It's cool & we still have snow hanging around here & there but the sun is shining which always feels good.   

I would like to welcome the new followers here, thank you for your support that makes blogging so much fun!  

It's been a little while since I've had a chance to participate in a challenge over at Impression Obsession but I've managed to create something for their current "Spring Fun" theme.     I've had this beautiful (Spring) flowering Dogwood image in a drawer unused for a long time.   How does that happen?  Too many stamps & not enough time!   I finally inked up the stamp and put my Prisma Pencils to work!  

Impression Obsession stamps used:   CAC 018 - Greenery & Dogwood 3 - H12004

I stamped the Dogwood onto Kraft paper with black Stazon Ink, coloured with my Prisma Pencils and added glitter to the centres.   I stamped the Greenery Cover a Card stamp with Versamark onto a piece of light yellow Basic Grey paper & blended green Pan Pastels over top.     As you can see,  where there is Versamark ink the pastels are darker.    Greenery was my first CAC stamp & I have many more as I love using them, but this one is a favorite! 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Shirley

Indian Designs with Zingy colours

Hello everyone !  I hope you enjoyed the long weekend.

Chocolate Baroque has launched two new fabulous rubber stamp sets this month -  Indian Textiles and Indian Elephant.   We're having so much fun creating with these gorgeous designs that inspire the use of vibrant colours & lots of bling!

Today I'm showing two cards that feature the Peacock image. 

I created the background with Orange Dylusions ink and also blended Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink over a TCW Mini Solace Stencil.    The background images are from Indian Elephant which are stamped with black Stazon Ink.  I bleached the colour from the images & painted with my Tombow markers using a brush & water.  I also highlighted with a white Gellyroll pen.

I painted the Peacock from Indian Textiles with my Tombow markers, cut him out and attached as shown.    I used Spellbinder Majestic Elements S4-383 for the die cuts.    I added glitter, rhinestones & liquid pearls for accents.

This second design while still vibrant is more subdued in colour.

I used Peacock Feathers (Turquoise) Distress Ink with an Acrylic block for the background.   I stamped the decorative textile image from Indian Textiles and a flower from Indian Elephant with black ink.  I coloured the flowers with my Prisma pencils and painted the peacock with Tombow markers.  I used gold UTEE around the edge.  Next, lots of bling & feathers are added!

Here is a look at the two rubber A5 stamp sets that give you so many possibilities and are on an introductory offer for the month of April.

Indian Elephant                                                                                 Indian Textiles

Please visit the Design Team Blog if you would like to see fabulous designs by my talented teammates using these stamps.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!
Shirley