Stars - canvas board

This is my second DT sample for the Stars challenge running over at Country View Crafts and I chose to use one of the canvas boards I like to play with and an easel to make it a standing card.

Process Steps

1. Scrape white modeling paste with a palette knife over the background and let dry.

2. Choose your colour palette and inks or paints.

3. Create watery washes of the colours you want to create the background with and dip, spritz and dry until you are happy with it, then randomly stamp a background using
a contrasting colour of paint.

4. Use a stencil and distress ink to add another layer to your background and then spray with Americana matte sealer and whilst still wet sprinkle in some glitter, I couldn't get it to show up in the photo but adds a lovely effect for the theme.

Collect together embellishments. I used Picture Star stamps from Artistic Outpost and Wild West by Tim Holtz as well as altering star die-cuts and a wooden frame.

 The frame has a rust finish using the decoart paints and some texture sand paste.

I stamped onto patterned paper as well as add some behind the frame, I love the girls feet hanging out the bottom as a quirky touch.

The gold card easel can be seen behind the canvas board and will lie flat for postage too.

This reminds me of my two young granddaughters who love their ballet and dancing lessons.

To find out more about the challenge please click the link here and see even more inspiration on the challenge blog.

Have a great weekend and keep warm.

hugs Brenda xxx

Make your own frames 1

I recently did a workshop locally where my lovely group of ladies spent the morning making their own frames using card, wood and plastic. I sadly didn't get any of their finished makes photographed although Joan did send me one of hers with her gorgeous dog Tilly all framed up. So I'll start with this simple design first. I haven't embellished it although I am very tempted to add some more to it but as this is of my daughter and her boyfriend I thought I would leave them to be the stars of the show.

This is simply a greyboard backing painted with gesso and distressed with ground espresso distress ink. I added the Tim Holtz easel to the back.......

... and used his cameo and oval dies to create the  frame to go over some simple core'dinations paper backing. I love this photo of them both taken in San Francisco when we were all on holiday together in August.

And here is Tilly, you can see that Joan set her frame in a landscape position whereas I had used a portrait one.

Sorry for the lack of posts at the moment with DT pieces and the Mixology weekend being so near I am struggling for time and it doesn't help when Mr Mojo decides to take himself off and leave me all alone either.

You will be seeing some more frames from me as I am cheating and using them all as individual posts to help keep me going.

I hope you have a great week. and keep warm with the sudden very cold morning frosts and cold snap we seem to be having here in the UK.

hugs Brenda xxx

Cracked Up

The fabulous Alison has chosen the theme for November and as the title says it's all about being 'Cracked Up'.

Share your crackled projects – whether your crackle is stamped, painted, texture paste or any other kind of crackle. To be a winner or Pinworthy mention your project must be in a vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journaling; industrial or steampunk style (and I include timeworn in there too).

So following a visit to the new Ikea in Reading I bought some of these little frames and had fun using DecoArt media acrylics, weathered wood crackle medium and chalky finish paints to achieve this effect. Sadly or happily (whichever way you want to look at it) I got into the moment making several of these and didn't record the process in photos. But here goes with some explanation.

I began by giving the whole frame a coat of relic chalky finish paint. When it was dry I gave it a coat of weathered wood crackle medium and left that to dry.

Next came a coat of Everlasting chalky finish and when dry I finished with some brown and clear wax

Having decided I wanted to make this everlasting calendar for December I cut the pages to size, found some scrapbook rings and began creating collages on the pages.

The above one is the frontispiece and here are a few of the pages already made.

I painted up some leftover scraps of card with white crackle paint and used it to die-cut the larger snowflakes below, inking over with ground espresso and spritzing it with water.

I peeled a little of the crackle away to make the snowflakes look more distressed .......

..... and added remnant rub snowflakes over the top.

A small scrap of the crackled card was used as a mount for the 'traditions' below and also became something for the skate to sit on. Here in the UK lots of ice rinks open up for the festive period and have become very popular both before and after Christmas.

Here is how these pages look on the frame, each has the date of the month on.

Al paints and mediums are from the DecoArt range and can be found at Country View Crafts.

The prize this month is an Art Journal Kit from Tando Creative and it is all ready for you to have a go at adding crackle to it.

The incredible Creative Guides over at AVJ have posted some amazingly creative projects, so it would be lovely if you could pop over to leave them some love and we look forward to seeing your entries.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a 'cracking' weekend.
EEEEK it's only two weeks to Ministry of Mixology!!! Everyone is getting so excited, I know I am.

Take care.

hugs Brenda xxx

Experimenting with DecoArt products - Star media board

This STAR media board came about just by playing with some media fluid acrylics, and metallic lustres that were sitting on my desk as a result of trying to get my make and take sorted for Ministry of Mixology this month and if you are booked on, NO this is nothing like the piece we will be doing lol. This does however fit the theme the lovely Rachel has chosen for the Country View Challenge for November.

I didn't record my steps as it was a playtime but from what I can remember I had applied black gesso, black modeling paste through a stencil and then glued chipboard and wooden pieces onto the media board and was playing with the paints and hated what it became so it had another coat of black gesso and I put it aside to dry. When I came back to it the layers went something like this -

- with a damp brush I brushed on champagne ice metallic lustre.

- I applied a watery wash of transparent red iron oxide.

- I brushed lavish green metallic lustre over the stars ....

..... and iced espresso over the STAR letters.

- next came a wash of phthalo blue particularly over the frame.

- followed by a gentle brush of champagne ice just over the background.

- then a wash of translucent white over the top and only on the background.

- then a wash of quinacridone gold just over the background.

- I finished by rubbing in some champagne ice on the edges of some of the wooden pieces to highlight them.

I'm not sure whether I like the results or not - I need to leave it for a day or two and come back to it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Have a great week and if you get a moment please pop over to the CVC challenge blog to see all the details and inspiration to start a month of STARS.

hugs Brenda xxx

Happy Halloween

Just a quick share of some of my projects I have made for halloween this year and the display in my dining room - it's the teacher in me I can't help putting little things out to add interest for the season.

These are out on my porch. We rarely get any Trick or Treaters but just in case we do I put some bits out and the grandchildren have liked seeing it all. They'll definitely be out tonight in their costumes.

Have a wonderful day and .....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

Hugs Brenda xxx

MIxedUp - new online magazine

Yay I have been published again and this time in a new online digital magazine called Mixed Up produced and hosted by the fabulous Katy Leitch.

The very first edition was published on the 1st October, have you got yours yet? It has this project in it, called Richly Rusted and I have a step by step tutorial to show you how I made the chipped paint effect background on the Tando Creative media board.

The magazine is available through pocketmags.com and is stuffed full of articles by some lovely artists like Helen Chilton, Tracy Weinzapfel, Jenny Marples and so many more. There's also a creative play section, a submission call, a Halloween gallery and an interview with the amazing Andy Skinner. Lots to grab your attention and fabulous projects for your inspiration.

If you have a copy and seen my autumnal owl project please let me know what you think.

Thanks for taking a look.

hugs Brenda xxxx

Spooky Pink - Apothecary Shrine

This started off as a demonstration piece for my last Country View Workshop where we made the first Halloween shrine and for some reason I decided to use the pink paints with the fabric and hardener. I've rather enjoyed adding the bits to make a spooky pink affair to fit the current CVC challenge.

I used the Gothic 31 stamps from Artistic Outpost for the ghostly lady, the mouse and the 31st button.

The background is special, some of you may recognise the technique which I am teaching at Ministry Of Mixology in Coventry next month using DecoArt media fluid acrylic paints. I stamped the image on the boards before adding them individually and adhered them into the back of the shrine. You can see the texture achieved by using DecoArt's fabric hardener and coloured it with the media acrylic paints.

 Some apothecary bottles, candle stick, a rat with Tim's seasonal chit chat stickers for the words finish off the spooky feel.

Another little decoration to add to my display for Halloween.

I hope you can join us over at the CVC challenge and show us your spooky creations.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

hugs Brenda xxx