Andy Skinner Creative Team sample

It's my turn to share a project for the Andy Skinner blog today and I have made a plaque that simply used mountboard as the main substrate for the backing.

Backing board

Using the mountboard I sealed wit with gesso, dried, sprayed with water and quinacridone gold mixed, laid on washers with neat quin gold on the back of them sprayed and dried.

Next I blended raw umber round the edges, spritzed with water and dried again before dipping in watery paynes grey.

When this was dry I stamped using some of Andy's Illusionary Artists Tech Trauma 

background stamps ....

 ... and then spread crackle paste through Andy's Old Film stencil (which I have cut into pieces) and left it to dry.

Later I rubbed in some english red oxide antiquing cream and rubbed it back to blend it in more with the background.

Arched frame

I took the frame from the Sacred Secrets set and sealed the frame itself and the backing with gesso, dragging a piece of plastic down it on this second piece. When the frame piece was dry I brushed on some white crackle paint and left it to dry.

On the backing piece I spritzed with water, painted on some paynes grey and spritzed it again before drying it, then stamped the arabian arched window from the Gothic Grunge set restamping the edges with just the wall parts of the stamp.

Later I painted in a little colour to give it more definition.

I took the frame painted on patina green antiquing cream, rubbed it back and then sanded and distressed the edges with ground espresso distress ink.

I stamped King Spook (from the Spook stamp set) on a leftover piece of painty card and cut him out.

Flowers

Taking a large piece of watercolour paper I spritzed splattered, dripped and dried quinacridone gold several times. I also dipped some steel washers in the paint and laid them on the paper to get the circular marks.

When fully dry I die-cut the tattered florals bigz die and a couple from the thinlits small tattered florals to make up the flowers. I dipped the reverse side in some water quin gold and then rolled and scrunched each one and left them to dry before unrolling them and layering them up.

Once I had assembled them I stamped using Andy's text stamp from theTech Trauma set and dribbled and spritzed more quin gold to give them light, dark and contrast.

Flourish

I use a bigz die to cut the flourish from bubbalux foam, daubed it with texture sand paste and a mix of quin gold, raw sienna, paynes grey and raw umber paints. 

I love the way this product softens and moves and can be formed into bends and shapes before it goes cold and hardens again - please be careful when it is hot, handling it can cause burns.

I lengthened the flourish .....

... and bent it to fit the space I wanted it to go in.

I assembled everything together adding some of the washers that had been textured and rustified.

It came together really well although this was not quite like the hazy picture I had in my head to start with lol, but I'm still pleased with the outcome.

Products

The Arch from the Sacred Secrets set.

Stamp sets by Andy Skinner

Tech Trauma

Gothic Grunge

Spook

Stencil - Old Film

Kit - Sacred Secrets

Media fluid acrylic paints - Quinacridone Gold, Raw Umber, Paynes Grey, Raw Sienna, Cadmium Orange

Mediums - Decou-page Sealer, Texture Sand Paste, White Crackle Paint, White Gesso, White Crackle Paste, English Red Oxide and Patina Green Antiquing Creams.

Tando Stencil Binder

It's 'Crackle' week over on the Tando Creative Blog and I am sharing a binder I made Di.

I painted the binder in a Brenda mix of vintage pink. both inside and out, using the DecoArt Premium Acrylics.

Next I glued some tissue wrap on the front and back panels and when dry I dipped them in watery titanium white, titan buff and primary magenta several times drying between each dip.

I then vintaged it by mixing a dirty glaze using premium matte medium, burnt umber and dark grey together with some water and painted it all over.

I made the oval vintage lady embellishment and created the label by applying some titan buff acrylic paint to my craft mat and then squidged the chipboard shapes into it to get a bit of texture on them, then stamped with one of Andy's IA Tech Trauma texture stamps. I inked the edges of the photograph with brown distress ink, adhered it to the oval shape and then covered it all with a layer of clear crackle glaze. When dry I rubbed in some white and brown antiquing cream.

There's a magnet under the flap to keep the binder closed when it's not being used,

Now it's ready to be filled or given to someone as a special gift.

Eileen Hull Wrapped Journal and collage paper

I love this little wrapped journal, it's perfect for passport size pages. I've used Eileen Hull's wrapped journal die with Tim's collage paper, ephemera and frame and it all went together really easily and is my sample for Country View Crafts Project Blog today.

Glue collage paper to back and front of the journal using decou-page sealer, let thoroughly dry.

Using a sanding block sand down the outside edges getting rid of all the excess paper.

Ink the edges with brown distress ink.

With sharp knife cut through the tissue along the scored lines (which is the outside of the journal).

Bend the scores round slightly.

Seal the inside and outside of the journal with decou-page. As it dries just bend the score lines a little to achieve those lovely rounded sides.

Glue magnets to the inside and outside of opposite covers - you choose which will be the front wrap and which will be the back wrap. I chose the longer side over the top to take the frame I wanted to add.

Take the small green backboards frame by Tim Holtz and sand the edges. Blend peeled paint then ground espresso distress inks around and over them.

Take a couple of the flower ephemera pieces from the Tim Holtz Botanicals set, ink the edges and seal both sides with decoupage sealer to make them stronger
Find a small butterfly - this was from my downloaded box of butterflies. Seal it as above.

Put the pieces together with some string glued to the back frame for tying the journal. Add other pieces to your collage if needed - I used some coloured cambric fabric and a single self generated and printed word.

Use a screw punch or pokey tool to remake the holes for the elastic .... 

.... and thread it through the spine.

I was lucky my front panel had some lovely flowers positioned perfectly to lay the frame over.

It's now just waiting for me to make or buy some booklets/signatures for the inside.

I think this would make a lovely garden journal, especially if you like going out visiting places like Kew and Wisley Gardens.

 This is going in my shop space, so fingers crossed I get a good price for it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy creating your own special art.

Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it. 

Rumi

Tando - Anything Goes - Acrylic Pour - Give Away

For my 'Anything Goes' sample over at the Tando Creative blog I have used one of the pieces from my first ever experiments with the new DecoArt Pouring Medium.

There are some videos available to see on the DecoArt blogs here, here and here and of course google or search acrylic pours and/or look on youtube for ideas and help with techniques.

Process Steps

I chose my colours ....

.... and mixed them with the pouring medium. I then carefully tipped them into one cup to make a 'dirty pour'.

I tipped it upside down on the substrate.

This was the result. I decided it was rather sea like so that became my theme.

Next I stamped and masked the bottom of the tag using some Andy Skinner stamps  (Fossils) ...

... and added a little colour using the media fluids and a little tinting base.

I found a painty scrap of card and stamped the gorgeous octopus from France Papillon's Illusionary Artists Creepers and Crawlers set and added some white paint spots then gave it a wash of paynes grey.

It was here I decided to test out the clear modeling paste and the faux encaustic look and scraped some over the top of the tag and embedded the octopus into it. I also added some small flat backed glass cabochons. (sorry photos went missing).

I had used distress ink to edge the jelly fish and I love how it moves with the wet modeling paste to create a sort of shadow around the creature.

I added some remnant rubs and I carved the word 'sea' with a pencil then inked it with a black posca pen. I could have given this another coat of the modeling paste here but decided to leave it as it is. So with a painted vintage brad and some baker's twine it finally came together.

The creature looks suspended over the background which is precisely the look I wanted.

I'm really pleased with the look again of this acrylic pour and faux encaustic piece of art. 

What do you think?

Before I go ...............

Thanks to the lovely people at DecoArt I have a set of the fabulous Fossils stamps to give away.

Leave a comment below and you will be entered into the random org draw. The closing date is Saturday 1st September at midday BST and the winner will be announced on Monday 3rd September.

Good luck.

xxx

Peace - Media Board

This panel stated life as a sample for the Stitches Trade show back in February. I used DecoArt media paints and mediums with some of Andy Skinner's stamps including the new Gothic Grunge set.

Process steps

1.      Seal with tinting base.

2.      With a plastic card scrape small amounts of cadmium orange, diarylide yellow, pyrrole red, titan buff, titanium white across the substrate, first in one direction then in the other.

3.      Using the same colours plus raw umber use two different stencils and blend and bump them to create different tones of pattern across the background. (Tando small dots and swirl)

4.      Dribble the leftover paints top to bottom and dry between colours.

5.      Add some cobalt teal to titan buff and repeat step 4.

6.      Take a small piece of card and monoprint with titan buff and titanium 

 white and watch the card pull off onto the substrate.

7.      With a palette knife scrape some white crackle paste around the edges  of the board.

8.      When dry rub some teal antiquing cream into it and rub of again.

9.      Stamp using titan buff, raw umber and pyrrole red stamp some text across the background.

10.  Stamp arch onto tissue paper and adhere to the background and add some remnant rub words.

11.  Seal with a coat of satin varnish.

Now I have used it to make a small handbound sketch/watercolour book. For speed and efficacy I added some patterned paper to another board and sealed it with the satin varnish.

Having bound the pages using a coptic stitch so the book will lie flat when it is being used I bound the spine with white tape and glued the first and last pages to the inside covers.

This is now ready to go in my shop space.

Keep the creativity in your HeART.