Wildflowers card for Country View Crafts

I have a card today using the gorgeous wildflower stems from Tim Holtz, I just adore the shapes of theses blooms and the added greenery. I am also sharing it over on the Country View Crafts Project Blog.

Process steps

Spritz the back of the doily stencil and sprinkle over sunset beach infusions. Lay over the card panel and rub over with a dry piece of kitchen paper. Remove, heat dry and edge with age mahogany distress ink.

 Gather together some ephemera pieces to make a little collage .......

 ..... and adhere the flowers and sentiment over the top.

If I were to make another of these now it would take less than half an hour but the thinking time and die-cutting time (I cut 6 different colours of flower!!!) took me several hours to get it right. BUT .... I actually really like it now I've got it done.

Thanks for taking the time to pop by today and ......

xxx

In the Neutral Zone for A Vintage Journey

It's Nikki's turn to host the challenge at A Vintage Journey and she want us to be in the neutral zone. 

Time to banish colour and use blacks, whites, greys, beiges, creams and browns, just what I love for some shabby projects.

I love sewing and haberdashery themed projects but rarely make them so I thought what better way than give me an excuse to get the sewing machine out, a little fabric and dress form and sewing associated stamps than to create a journal. Now I have somewhere to stay fairly neutral and to use collage papers, old patterns and vintage images to fill it.

Having cut one of Eileen Hull's wrapped journals I set about getting the covers sorted first.  I used DecoArt gesso and premium acrylic paints to create some texture and mottled colouring, adding layer upon layer until I was happy with it.

I sealed the whole surface with varnish so it will take more wear and tear.
The products are listed at the end of the post.

I used Stamperia papers to line the inside and yes ok I have included a little colour here but I know I will also use pastel tones on some of the pages I create over time.

Next came the collage front cover. The stamped dress form from Tim Holtz took centre stage and I collected together some ephemera, fabric oddments and used the sewing machine to leave some hanging threads.

I really like the way the dress form stands out prominently having been stamped with white acrylic paint on some dark brown card, it's a fabulous contrast.

The collage layers came together with me sitting and playing with small pieces of papers, ephemera and fabric until it looked balanced. I always know when it looks 'right' and I just have to spend time arranging and rearranging until it fits like a jigsaw puzzle for me.

 I decided to do something very similar for the back cover as I had this dress form left over.

Some more words to inspire me when I look to add some pages.

I added two small but very strong magnets to hold the journal together and covered them with a strip of tissue tape so that you don't see them when you open it.

I'll add my signatures soon, but this is what it looks like standing up.
There's a little button sewed onto the dress form as an embellishment and some words that open up the world for my imagination to run wild.

If you'd like to see more inspiring projects pop over to A Vintage Journey to see what some of the rest of the team has been making and please join in if you choose to use a neutral palette in one of your projects this month.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by - and ....

Supplies

DecoArt Premium Acrylics - raw umber, burnt umber, burnt sienna, dark grey value 3, titanium white, titan buff.

DecoArt Premium white gesso

DecoArt Media ultra matt varnish, matte medium

Colour theme at Tando Creative - Gasoline Alley Tag

I love using a colour palette for inspiration and this time I had the stencil as well as this tag was for one of Di's Hochanda shows.

So here's how my muse took me.

Process Steps

1. Cover tag with DecoArt decou-page paper - I used text from Victorian Romance. Adhere with matte medium and seal the surface of the paper with it. When dry sand back the edges to get rid of any rough edges.

2. Paint a layer of  gesso, black and white mixed together to create a light grey  over the tag and wipe back to reveal some of the text.

3. Stamp some designs over the thicker gesso areas using watering can archival ink and scrape some white gesso over the tag with a palette knife and add a very small edging with it too using the side of the palette knife.

4.  When dry daub, spritz and dribble some paint through. I used quinacridone violet mixed with titanium white and also cerulean blue mixed with paynes grey and titanium white to get two more colours from the photo palette.

5. Blend some black modeling paste through the stencil on the tag to look like an advert.

6. Use a stabilo pencil and wet brush around the edge of the tag to add a 'frame' it.

7. Stamp and cut out a vintage car and the fuel vendor to add as embellishments.

8. Give it a coat of matte varnish.

I have shared this project over on the Tando blog too.

Thanks for stopping by and ......

xxx

Supplies

Tando size 8 tag.

Tando - Andy Skinner new 15 cm stencil - Gasoline

DecoArt media fluid acrylics - quinacridone violet, titanium white, cerulean blue, paynes grey

DecoArt Mediums - black gesso, white gesso, matte medium, ultra matte varnish

Stamps - Tim Holtz Travel Ways, Documented, Vintage Auto

AVJ Tag Friday

It's another of those Fridays when the contributing Creative Guides from A Vintage Journey have fun and produce a tag for the line up that has no boundaries other than our favourite genres to work with. Of course I went very vintage and mixed media.

This tag came out of nowhere, in fact I wasn't even planning to make it that day but I had seen something on Pinterest that I liked and I had a brainwave, you know one of those epiphany moments of how I could use my decoart products in a different way. I grabbed a Tando greyboard tag and decided to experiment.

I was quite happy with the ways things went but I want to experiment a bit more before I write up the process steps. But here are some close ups. The colours all came together beautifully and set the vintage atmosphere.

 The metal stars were given a quick coat of quinacridone gold with a little cerulean blue to age them and you can see an old swirl stamp from Tim Holtz, I still love the shape of this one.The clock piece on the side is a piece left over from another project from at least a couple of years back.

When looking for the collage elements this little piece of lace just fell out of the box, so I had to see if it would fit and it did. I just coloured it by spritzing it with water and adding cerulean blue and transparent red iron oxide. It does actually look a little greener in real life.

Would you believe this little wildflower also fell out of the pile of bits I was going through, definitely another serendipitous moment and it went beautifully over the foliage stamped in the background - another old stamp of Tim's.

All the elements fitted the background perfectly and I had left it light enough in the middle to provide a good contrast to the darker collage pieces.

Finally a word band and some rusty wire. I was totally living in the moment creating my tag for today and I really love the outcome.

Another fabulous Tag Friday line-up is over at A Vintage Journey for your perusal.

Thanks for following me and stopping by and ....

xxx

My beating heart

Sharing a project I made at a class with the lovey Monika Maksym a week last Saturday. I so enjoy taking workshops with other tutors, especially when I learn something new which I did with Monika but also as it keeps my feet grounded in what it's like on the other side of the fence.

The shabby crackled doors open to reveal an amazing heart which was made from a mould ......

... layered onto a heart shaped board with a crown.

We used chalky finish paints as well as media fluid acrylics from DecoArt and three different types of crackle medium.

My heart was painted with prussian blue and raw umber before dry brushing a light chalk paint, some silver and then flooding it with a wash of quinacridone gold.

I won't give any other secrets away as those are for Monika to share but .......

 ... this looks amazing on a shelf in my workroom.

Such a lovely way to spend a day with like minded people and enjoying the processes of making art.

Thanks Monika for a fabulous day and .....

xxx

Crackle Circles - Tando Creative and DecoArt

Another of the long thin tags for Di's outing to Hochanda last December. I love mixing up vintage with mixed media techniques and effects.
First I found the photo for this tag which is from my own collection of old cabinet cards.
So we have some dip, drip and dry and crackle circles in the background and then some vintage feel with the collage and colours. It fits the bill methinks.
I've saved this tag to fit the new theme over on the Tando blog this week which is called Photo Booth.

1.  Seal substrate with light coat of gesso.

2. Stencil circles using white crackle paint and leave to dry naturally.

3. Dip, drip, daub, spritz and dry with watery washes of fluid media acrylics. I used quinacridone violet, dioxazine purple, dark grey value 3 and translucent white.

4. Stamp using watering can archival inks.
5. Blend watering can around the edges.

6. Tear and add some small pieces of tissue tape.

7. Gather some small pieces of ephemera for using as a layered collage.

8. Find a vintage brad for the tag hole.

9. Cut and mount a heritage photo and add it to the collage layers.

10. Add some pertinent words or a phrase.

The beauty is in the detail.

 You don't need many bits of paper/ephemera to create a collage. I think three pieces was just enough here.

I stamped the sentiment onto patterned paper and coloured part of it in with a purple distress marker.

I'm thinking now that I could have added even more detail by altering the vintage brad, maybe painted it or rubbed over some metallic lustre.

Torn Tissue tape adds a lovely detail. Two pieces placed like this creates an uneven line across the surface making your eye move around more at the bottom of the tag.

The crackles really pop on the circles with the dark paints showing through them.

This was the second in a series of three of these tags made for Di for one of her Hochanda outings. You may have seen the others but if you missed them they can be found Here and Here.

xxx