WOYWW #94

 Blimey, Wednesday already!! Where do these weeks go? Happy WOYWW to everyone,heres my offereing for this week. Get yourself off to our Glorious Leaders site,Julia Dunnits  The Stamping Ground, if you don't know what this is all about and come & join the fun- legal stalking & snooping, lol.


   
On my desk this week, is a lot of untidiness!For putting this card together, I have a ball of Eyelash wool, a couple of square punches, my Tim Holtz ruler, and another clear gridded ruler,scalpel, Titanium non-stick scissors, dst, Memento Tuxedo Black inkpad,and Provocraft Silent Setter.

           The main image
(Illuminata, Inkadinkado) was stamped in Black Stazon on an alcohol ink background, using Blues & Purples, with Copper Mixative. I also stamped it onto an oil pastel background, also in blues & purples.

Silent Setter

The background panel is a Magenta stamp, 26019-R, stamped and heat embossed in gold on black paper.This panel was attached with dst to the front of the card base, a square black one.  The Illuminata image on alcohol ink was matted onto black card, then mounted on top of the Ornate panel. Then I cut and punched some random sections of the oil pastel print, coated these in Glossy accents and sprinkled with a few seed beads.These were then stuck over the corresponding parts of the original image, some with glossy accents, so they sit flat on the surface, and some with a little silicone glue to add dimension.

 Some blue eyelash wool was wrapped around the front of the card, and the phrase' Unique Art', Paperartsy, was stamped onto some offcuts of the Alcohol inked image.  I stamped the two words separately, by covering one with lowtack tape while I inked the other word, then peeling the tape off before stamping.They were then heat embossed using Black detail powder. This allowed me to cut both words into a tag, which had a copper eyelet added before being threaded onto the eyelash wool & knotted in place.

Next on my desk this week, is another bargain for you. I ordered theses Promarkers on Sunday, from Cowling & Wilcox, and they arrived yesterday.They are a bargain, because at C & W, these 5 packs are only £5.95. The 12 packs are only £11.85. And no, that is not a misprint. They really are that cheap. They do charge p & p, but if you enter this code : PROM211  in the promotional Code box, you will get FREE P&P until April 30th. They have all the packs too, not just a few.

 And thanks to everyone who liked my review of Paper Transformed last week, I am glad it was useful to you. As & when I get time, I will review a few other good craft/stamping books I have for you.
Quick reminder to all here in the UK, the clocks go FORWARD one hour this weekend!!!!

Artful Crafts Guest Artist

 

I have to say a HUGE thank you to the lovely people at Artful Crafts, and especially Tina,(Scrapdiva Tina) for asking me to be a Guest Artist on their blog in their Sunday Scrapping feature. I was soooo excited when Tina asked, and positively fit to burst when I saw the feature today!
I also want to say an enormous thank you to my Beloved Husband Doug, who kept telling me I should have a blog, so I finally did as I was told, lol. Probably the first (and last) time ever, :). My blog is not quite a year old yet, but I have 'met' so many wonderful, funny, talented and inspiring people through Blogland -so thanks also to each and every one of you-all your comments are truly appreciated, and encourage me further. Visiting your blogs inspires me to try other techniques and styles, and I love being part of the worldwide community of friends I have found in Blogland.

WOYWW #93

Happy WOYWW, pop over to Julia's blog at The Stamping Ground to join in,if you are new to this. So here is my desk for today.
The stamps I have used are four Botanical plates, unmounted, and I have had them for a few years, and long since forgot where I got them from, sorry. A few months ago I made up some crackled background paper to use  with stamping, and I thought the botanicals would work well. I used watercolour paper, I bought an A3 pad from The Works (Yes, I know I shop there a lot!). The first coat of acrylic was a pale yellow/ brown, which I got by mixing white and Wheat. This was coated with a layer of crackle medium, then an off-white top coat. I stamped in a mix of inks, Versafine Sepia & Olympia Green, Adirondack Espresso, and Memento Tuxedo Black.Just staring the painting process now, using H2O's, will be trying Promarkers, and maybe watercolours on some of them.
As I haven't got any finished projects, and haven't been shopping anywhere to find any bargains, I thought I would share one of my absolute favourite craft books with you this week.I'm sure I'm not the only one who has occasionally ordered a book, only to get it & open it and think, hmmm is that it? Wish I hadn't bothered.
Well this book definitely does NOT fall into that category.

The title is  Paper Transformed, A Handbook of Surface Design, Recipes & Creative Paper Projects, By Julia Andrus. The link will take you to it on Amazon.It contains an amazing number of techniques for ways to transform paper with paint, ink, pearls, glosses, glazes- you name it, its here.

All the finishes and effects are displayed as tags, this one shows 'cosmos paper'-simply put, a tag is inked, covered in Perfect Medium (or Versamark works the same) , and coated with UTEE 3 times. Then coat once more with medium/versamark, lightly brush on Perfect Pearls/ Mica Powders. Then sprinkle with UTEE again, and start heating from a distance, so it doesn't blow away. As it melts, bring the gun closer.The micas begin to sink into the UTEE. I have done the three first layers, then coated again with Versamark, flicked on some mica powders, sprinkled with UTEE and heated. This worked the same, and I didn't have to worry about the UTEE blowing away.

A page on overstamping, gilding and crackle effect.

There are pages on ageing, distressing and creating fake metal looks and effects, like rust/verdigris etc.

Batik effect

The last half of the book has projects using the effects & techniques shown in the first half of the book..

The book is 174 pages long, and every page is a delight.

There is something for everyone, and all the techniques are explained clearly in at most half a dozen steps, so they are not difficult, but they ARE all stunning. Even the cover is full of scrumptious looking projects, and unlike some, they are not just showing the best from the book on the cover!

This is one book that comes off the shelf regularly, and I guarantee it is an investment you will not regret.( You could always put it on your Birthday wish list, lol.)It costs just under a tenner on Amazon,which seems the average price. By the way, Julia Andrus has her own website,which I found earlier, and it looks stuffed to the gills with wonderful ideas.

Images of the Orient

This is a really simple card, using 9 squares punched out with a Woodware Lever punch, which punches 1 3/8
squares.They are arranged on black card in a grid with a narrow gap between them.This was then matted onto a medium blue card, then onto a Square Black card base.They were all punched from an assortment of stamped images, keeping to a blue/purple colour range. I felt it needed something to offset the visual weight of the Gold Kanji letter in the bottom right, and fortunately the Oriental coins I have are a pretty good colour match.This had a couple of strands of Mizhuiki cord threaded over a piece of cocktail stick, all held in place with a couple of glue dots.

We do not remember days...

I used the Far East paper stack again on this card, to provide the background panel. Unfortunately I have no idea who makes the Crane image stamp, I bought it off E-bay a while ago as an u/m stamp. If anyone does recognise it, please leave me a comment, and I can update this. The sentiment stamp is by Oyster Stamps, and is all on one stamp. I had to split it into two, as my scrap from the stamped panel wasn't wide enough for the whole phrase! The image panel was coloured using mainly blues & purples, with a little yellow- dye ink on a craft sheet, misted with water.The image was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, as was the sentiment.The image was then matted onto a medium blue cardstock, and the Far East paper onto black card. The stamped image was added to the panel, then all mounted onto a gunmetal card base. The two halves of the sentiment were also matted onto black, then positioned on the image. I added three different sized oriental coins with silicone glue.

Double the fun

These are some more images I stamped & coloured of the Morning Glory, but I wanted to create some different backgrounds from the alcohol inked ones. I decided it was time to play with some mica sprays I have to give me some pastel backgrounds.








At first the colours seemed a little too strong for what I  wanted, but how to tone them down?

Then I looked at the box of tissues by my workdesk.

So I dropped a tissue over the card, and lightly pressed it down. When lifted off, I was left with a lovely muted sheet of card, which still retained its mica sheen.






     I also got some interesting texture effects depending how much pressure was put on the tissue-

As usual, I got carried away with the technique.....




But, best of all, I had lots of lovely coloured tissues....which I also put aside to dry, and now I think these may come in very useful for working with the canvases! Oh, and the tissues also have a mica sheen to them!

Using my trusty stamp positioner to place my image to its best advantage....

WOYWW #92

 Happy Whats on your Workdesk Wednesday to everyone, if you have found this at random, pop over to the Stamping  Ground to see what its all about, and maybe join in.

 The first of the items on my desk this week is a Mothers Day card, made with an Elusive Images plate, Morning Glory.It was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black onto an alcohol ink background, then coloured with Promarkers.The base card was covered with paper from the Papermania Antique Cream pad, the image matted onto dark blue card, then layered with foam tabs. Purple dotted organza ribbon tied around the spine. The sentiment was computer printed onto vellum, heat embossed, then
attached to blue card with heart brads.




The second card using the same stamp, this time onto a pink alcohol ink background, matted onto pink pearlescent card. A sheet from The Far East paper pad was used to cover the base card.I used black peel-offs to create the line frame around the panel, and 3 small chinese coins added to the top right corner.

The third card, this time on blue/green alcohol inks. Matted onto dark blue card.The embossed background is a Quickutz embossing folder, Diamonds & Dots, which I embossed to the width of the card by putting the folder through the 'bug sideways.Dark blue gingham ribbon added, a sentiment stamped and matted onto an offcut of the lattice background, which was cut to a tag shape.I added some narrow blue ribbon tails, and a bow.

                                                                                

This is the card from last week with two of the fibre butterflies added. They were given anthers made from mizhuiki cord, with a tiny bead on the ends. I added a peeloff oriental sentiment, as all the stamps I have were just a little too big for the space.





The last thing I want to share with you, will probably have lots of you rushing off to your nearest branch of The Works!

I found these in there last week- tiny canvases with easel, as you can see, 99p each! The canvas measures 3 1/2 in (9cm)  x1 3/4 in(7cm), and is 1 cm thick. I have a couple of projects in mind for these, for a birthday gift later in the year. Though I shall probably get a few more, 'just in case', lol.

WOYWW #91

This is a semi- finished project on my desk this week, using the Butterfly panel I have used before, but this time done entirely with Angelina fusible fibres. The panel was matted onto black card to give it a little stability. I also wanted to create a shoji screen type panel, and had had in my mind for a while now to do this with mulberry paper and heat embossing. I didn't take into account the fibrous nature of the paper, which attracted, and held on to, all the embossing powder! So I had to resort to peel-off lines, as I wanted the shiny look of embossing. I then decided the panel looked too plain, so added some flowers in black peel-off in, and spreading over, some of the squares. To add colour I used ordinary pencil crayons, as anything wet, like Promarkers/inks etc, spreads in the fibres. I think I shall try this again, next time using giftwrap type tissue paper- I should be able to emboss that without difficulty.
The various textures give a lovely tactile element to this card.

I also made myself a handful of extra butterflys using the fusible fibres.










Last thing on my desk for this week is a few Inchie
squares, punched from spare pieces of the panel I used in the Birthday card below, covered in Anitas 3D Clear Gloss, with a few Accent beads scattered into the wet medium. I found using an old document pocket to work on made the squares easy to remove - the gel doesn't stick to it.

Just to make you smile....

As I see many of us are owned by cats, I thought I would post this You-Tube link, for a series of small cartoons called Simons Cat..  I have cried with laughter at some of them. I can  guarantee that if you are ( or have been) owned by a cat,  you will definitely recognise your puss here! The first one I ever saw was Cat Man Do, and Santa Claws is hilarious, but I could not pick a favourite, they are all hysterical. They are only a couple of minutes long each, and there are about 10 of them, so go get a coffee (or tea) and settle down for some feline therapy.

Birthday Wishes

This card was made for Silvercrafters husband, whose birthday it was this week.The main panel is dye ink on glossy card, a la Tim Holtz. I used an assortment of images from Paper Artsy and Stamp Francisco .Clocks Plate 1 was used on the main image, and Clocks Plate 3 provided the 3 inchie squares, the phrase 'To live is so startling...' and the clock embellishment. The fancy script on the right hand side comes from Winter Wonderland Plate 1.The eyes, single key, ART and tape measure from Stamp Francisco. I gave the stopwatch a coat of Anitas 3-d Clear Gloss Finish,which is like Glossy accents. I have had it for a while, but not used it before.I have just used clear embossing powder on previous projects, but wasn't really happy with the end result. Using the Clear Gloss, I could create the look of a glass front on the stopwatch, rather than an all-over shine.The three inchie squares are placed on-end, and the middle one mounted with a foam tab to give a little dimension. The key in the top right corner was coloured with alcohol ink, and is the plastic sort sold for putting on cakes, etc. The base card is from PDA card & paper,called Galaxy,which is available in a number of colours with  gold or silver flecks.