Friday 22 November 2013

Stampotique Splat Challenge

All the guys were looking out at yet another Stampotique splat attack!!
This one wasn't too bad only purple, turquoise and a bit of red! The last one was horrendous pickled raspberry pink!!

I created the background using the Gelli plate with Clarity Stamps double bubble stencil. DecoArt Prussian Blue, Dioxazine Purple and Shimmering Sliver Metallic.

 I then masked the bubbles and stamped all the characters into their little port holes.

Then I masked them and started splattering with distress stains Persimmon, Peacock feathers & Seeded Preserves

Great fun!

Craftbarn Alpha Challenge

Challenge 23- Letter Q


Not an easy one but I decided to do Queen which was a great opportunity to use the beautiful TJ Alice in Wonderland stamps, I adore the original Alice drawings of John Tenniel and these stamps are beautiful

I started by printing two copies of the dictionary pages and folding the top one where the word appeared and cutting the heart shape out, I kept the cut out and shaded with distress ink Fired Brick

I then used washi tape to create a layout, and then stamped a variety of images with Fired Brick and Black Soot

Stamps used
TJ- Alice in Wonderland, A Walk through Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Lost coast- Fourth Dimension
Paperartsy- MN83
Prima Finnabair- Triangles & Chequered
Blockheads- feeling Regal 
Paperbag Studios- Diamond & Button Heart
Indigoblu- Jack
Studio 490- Art from the Heart
Justrite- Harlequin Script
Invoke Arts- Scripted Heart

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Clarity Stamps Challenge- Christmas


I decided that I would use the Clarity Folk Trees and wanted to create an Alpine theme

I started by making a print on the Gelli plate using DecoArt Prussian Blue, Dioxazine Purple and Shimmering Sliver Metallic, I applied random colour with a brayer than placed the Prima Grunge Chevron stencil and took a print
Then removed the stencil and took the ghost print which I used as it had more white relief which reflected snow covered mountains
I then stamped the trees with Stazon Royal purple and coloured with Promarker Petrol Blue and finished with a silhouette star

Monday 18 November 2013

Stampotique Challenge- One Layer

Frank knew he would find someone special in the crowd!
I started by stamping Stampotique smile, then covering him with masking fluid
Once dry I coated the background with a mixture of DecoArt Silver sage, Glorious Gold & Rich Expresso metallics
Once dry I stamped the Stampotique heads with Stazon Timber Brown and the hearts in Royal Purple & Black. The hearts were then coloured with pro markers. They didn't cover too well but I liked the texture effect
Then I rubbed off the masking fluid and applied subtle shading with distress inks, Pumice Stone & Milled Lavender 

Wednesday 13 November 2013

DecoArt ArtDeco

I love Angels and on seeing this image I was keen to use the image transfer technique I'd recently learnt on one of Andy Skinners workshops
Well here goes to my first tutorial, if anything isn’t clear or you have any questions please just ask :)
 

I started by applying two coats of DecoArt Gesso to a small wooden Box
Whilst drying I printed the Angel image in reverse, useful to mark the top on the front and reverse of the printout, you can view more of this technique on Andy Skinners brilliant Splash and Image transfer tutorial http://youtu.be/HV8ngTZ-ZVM

Apply the Decoart Faux finish medium to the image and the substrate and allow to dry, then apply another layer to the image and substrate and press together. Burnish well and allow to dry for approximately one to two hours, once dry take a damp sponge and start to rub the paper away, best apply a little pressure in a gentle circular movement and the image will be revealed

 
I then applied the Decoart 2 part crackle, Step 1 was applied and left to dry completely, then apply Step 2 and allow to dry fully
Once the cracks appeared and were completely dry, I applied Carbon black and wiped back with a baby wipe and to get a really distress finish applied heavier on the edges and corners

 
The base of the external decoration was made up of Tim Holtz die cuts from all 3 sizes of the Angel Wings Die, overlaid along the sides and adhered with Glossy accents

I then moulded the Deco Angel wings with paper clay in a mould I had made from a decoration. These needed to be dried overnight and were then applied with glossy accents, again overlaying them with the height descending from the centre, with the access trimmed off

The entire box was then painted with black, whilst wet I curled the feathers around the perimeter of the lid

it was important not to apply too much adhesive too high on the wings as the lid wouldn't have opened!


Once dry I spritzed  the feathers with a spray made from DecoArt Metallic Lustre Silver Spark and Black Shimmer and water see link.... http://decoart.com/andyskinner/spray-bottle-technique/ 
I love this product its such lovely quality, easy to apply and fantastic results

The Deco feathers were then highlighted by fingertip with Metallic Lustres Black Shimmer and Silver Spark which highlights the textures beautifully

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial

 Jools:)

Sunday 10 November 2013

Stampotique Design Challenge- Gesso



I applied a layer of gesso onto a piece of chipboard, and varied the thickness

Stamped Stampotique Daniels Hearts & Hanging Hearts, the textures were added with a palette knife and scrunched carrier bags

I made a large heart stencil and applied the Gesso and distressed the edges with the palette knife, this needed to dry overnight as it was about 2mm depth

Once dry I stencilled CWS tile texture onto the hearts and stencilled the diamonds using Prima Finnabair Checker stencil

I coloured using a variety of Dylusion & Mister Hueys sprays

Then stamped the hearts with clear embossing and used Stampendous Aged Silver embossing powder and highlighted with DecoArt Silver metallic Lustre and Treasure Gold Aquamarine

Friday 8 November 2013

That Craft Place Challenge- Sentiment

 
Take part 10th November
 
 
Frame covered with the open hessian tape both available at That Craft Place

Painted black and highlighted with DecoArt Metallic Lustre silver & black shimmer, The inside was lined with newsprint and distressed with black acrylic, stencilled with DecoArt silver metallic paint

The hills were made from the top of the Lavina Mushroom Dwelling and the main image also Lavina stamps Fairy Houses
The clouds & sentiment are Ditzie Designs( exclusive to That Craft Place) all were coloured with Tim Holtz, Pumice Stone & Black Soot and pro markers

The heart was from invoke stamps and coloured as above & mounted on silver distressed parchment



Wednesday 6 November 2013

Craftbarn Aplha Challenge

Challenge 22- Letter N


After a lot of deliberation, I decided on Nylon
I found a fab image of the molecular structure of Nylon and overlaid onto the dictionary page
this had lovely red and purple colours, so this became my colour theme

I then stamped textures of Fishnets (Visible Image stamps) and nets (Prima) in Distress Inks Chipped Sapphire and Aged Mahogany

I used Dyan Reavleys gorgeous Pin up girl in her glamorous nylons, with Petunias head and added some crazy hair and coloured with Promarkers


Sunday 3 November 2013

Stampotique Fabulous Folds Challenge

Flower Fields

Foraging in the folds, hunting for their favourite flowers!

Folded paper then sprayed with Dylusions and highlighted with Decoart gold rush
The trees were stencilled with distress inks, The characters and flowers were all coloured with promakers and distress ink

Friday 1 November 2013

Rock Hard Hat! and some cracking news!!

I am very pleased and excited to announce that I have been invited onto the Decoart International Design Team!

I was very honoured to be asked by Andy Skinner, Decoarts Executive Creative Consultant. I first met Andy two years ago and was instantly a fan of his style of work and techniques, he is an incredible artist and an innovator of mixed media techniques

Through Andy's workshops I was introduced to Decoart products, which are great quality and always produce excellent results. Their product portfolio is extremely extensive http://www.decoart.com
I am really looking forward to the opportunity of using more of the products as part of the design team

 
For this project I was inspired by a rather unique place we visited regularly when I was a child, Mother Shipton's Cave in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
It is said to have been the birth place of an English soothsayer and legendry prophetess 
But the most fascinating thing for me was the Petrifying dropping well
As I a child I looked in awe at the hats and teddy bears hung in the flow of water slowly turning to stone
Some of the items have been frozen in time since 1853; you can turn an item to stone in as little as 5 months' for more info http://www.mothershipton.co.uk/

I had always wanted a stone hat, so this was my opportunity to recreate it! Hopefully in less time…..

I had acquiring a rather dapper bowler hat, a bit battered but the real McCoy and proceeded to use Andy's techniques Rock my Book to transform it, it’s quite a large scale project for me and the first time using the techniques. But with Andy’s expert tutorials it has probably taken about 5 hours in total

I'm really pleased with the result and love the colours and all of the texture and detail


 

For more information on the techniques used, please visit Andy skinners Book of Ruination online workshop, which incorporates the Rock my Book workshop


Products used- Tando gears, Tim Holtz embellishments, die cuts, pearls and screw heads
Decoart Modelling paste and paints as shown