Tick Tock #130

 Today's creation is the other side of the double page in my journal - so same colour background as yesterday's created with Cosmic Shimmer Ink Misters.  I started by stamping with my large script samp in blue Versafine ink. 


Next I glued on a strip of the Tim Holtz Melange Tissue paper and allowed to dry.  I drew in some zigzag details on the left and top right corner with a fineliner and added some texture detail through a mask with some blue ink.

I cut out my clock die (Marianne Designs) and tinted it with some aqua cosmic shimmer pearlescent paint and stuck it onto my page

 I hand-drew the clock hands for a change (there are some that I could have die cut in the same set - but fancied something different today!).  I handwrote Tick Tock at the top and then coloured the letters with my aqua pearlescent paint and added white highlights.  I then wrote 'tick tock goes the clock' around the outside of my clock die.  I next stamped a pair of wings from a Tim Holtz Set using blue ink at the bottom of my page (it was a little bare and needed something!)

 Next for my bird... OK ... he's quite an artistic expression of a bird - but was up for trying a little handrawing today!  He was drawn onto a dictionary page and tinted with the aqua paint and his legs drawn directly onto the page.

 Finally the words - all handwritten and tinted with aqua paint.  I quite enjoyed the freedom of this paint... not many stamps - more freestyling!

If you fancy trying out collage inking and stamping - come and join my workshop in Attleborough next Thursday 6-8pm £15.  You too can come and have fun getting inky and creative!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk

Butterflies and flowers

I've been busy trying to create some Mother's Day cards this week.  I found this paper amongst my stash goodness knows where I got this sheet from!).. and I liked the colours so I used that as my inspiration for this card.  I started by finding a matching green and cut and mounted these onto my 8x8" card.  I then cut out a mixture of different butterfly and flower dies from white card and played around until I found a composition I liked.  Once decided, I then cut out the branch (a Cottage Cutz Die) from Brown and pink card and the butterflies (large one is Marianne Designs, small is memory box) from a piece of card I had painted with pint and red distress inks.

The pink card I cut the blossoms from was one I had left on my craft table in the sun, so the colour was a little faded in places - so no good for matting and layering, but perfect for different toned flowers and as it was a bazzil bling sheet, the front and back were different too, so I managed to get a subtle mix of shades and textures just from one sheet!

My finishing detail was to add a little pink stickles to the centre of my flowers and a little light dusting of crystal stickles to my butterflies.

Don't forget we have the Sweet Poppy Stencils demo tomorrow in the shop at 10am.. hope you can make it!

happy crafting
Jane
www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
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Steampunk Panel Step-by-step - Part Two

Welcome back!  Yesterday's post took us through starting with a blank piece of greyboard and getting it to this stage....

Now we have to be brave and add some colours..oooh scary bit!!  I decided on aqua and bronzy brown shades as my colour theme so I gathered together some supplies.  I picked Cosmic Shimmer Ink Misters Teal Wash and Bronze Blush. 

 I sprayed the bronze blush first - spray generous amounts and then tilt your board so that the ink runs down - this way it catches in all the different levels.  Then do the same with the Teal Wash and spray in the other corners.  Spray it with water to make your ink really run.

You then want to allow your inks to dry - remember that the colours will be a bit muted from the raw wet ink.  

When getting up my courage to have a go at this project, I watched a few YouTube video tutorials on how to get started.  On one someone added alcohol ink to deepen the intensity of colour and then sprayed with water... an odd idea I have never tried..   So in the spirit of being experimental I thought I would give it a go!  I chose Stream Alcohol Ink - one of my favourites!

I applied generously in a couple of spots and spritzed.. it gave a very interesting texture that I really liked!

 Now time to start adding some depth of colour.  You can see here that the alcohol ink wasn't so harsh once it had dried.  I started adding pearlescent paints - I chose to use Luminarte H20 Teal Zircon and Cosmic Shimmer Autumn Twist to compliment my colour scheme.  Mix up the paints so they are quite thick and then apply over areas on your panel.  You can see here it has blue added to the left and the top right and the butterfly and the bronze focussed on the bottom right corner.  This all helps to merge in the vibrant effect from the alcohol ink too.

 Everything now had colour, but there was still no light and shade.  I used Cosmic Shimmer Soft Gold into a thick paint and using a wide flat brush started to brush very lightly over the top of the panel.  This really makes all the die cuts and metal shapes really pop out from the background

 Next I started to also apply Distress Ink Walnut stain with some cut n dry foam and switched back and forth between the paint and the ink to build up light and dark elements.

 You can see the different between these two closeup shots of the cogs the difference that this shading makes.

 And here again is the final finished piece!

 I absolutely loved creating this piece .. and although I still didn't consider it as brave as I wanted to be it was a really good first piece to break the ice and get me brave enough and confident enough that I can create these altered art pieces.  I already have my next project in mind - have my colour palette selected and I think I will do the next one flower based.

So my message for today is definitely to be brave with your artwork - what have you got to lose?  If you don't like it.. who ever has to see it... but you never know - you may just create something you'll be really proud of!

I will have the panel on display in the shop - if you are local - do come and have a look!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk

 

Steampunk Panel Step-by-step - Part One

Something I have wanted to do for ages is an altered book or steampunk style panel... and whilst I've dabbled with some of the techniques on my canvases, I wasn't brave enough to go into it completely and work with adding metal embellishments and getting that fully layered effect.  One of the items I saw quite a bit at the trade show that really inspired me was these types of panels and I came home with a renewed enthusiasm to give it a go.  After all, as I always tell our customers.. if it doesn't come out how you expect.. it's just cardstock.. you can always start again!

I thought I would take you through the journey of creating my first piece (hopefully the first of many!).  It would make a nice workshop too I think - let me know if you agree! :-)  You can see a picture of what I am creating at the top of the post.

 Start with a plain piece of greyboard or chipboard.  This is a 6x6" panel and the cardstock I am using is from the back of a 6x6 paper pack I had.  It's a nice firm piece that I knew wouldn't buckle when using lots of wet mediums.  Your first step is to paint the card with gesso on both sides and allow to dry.  I gave mine two coats.

 The next stage is to apply a bit of texture.  I use a couple of Crafter's Workshop masks and Dreamweaver white embossing paste.  I just added small areas of texture. 

 Once the paste is thoroughly dry, then you can start playing around with layering up your die cuts.  I went through my die collection and pulled out any dies I thought may fit in with my ideas for this design.  I then cut out pieces from all the dies - including some I haven't used on the final piece.. but plenty to play around with - after all, anything you don't use today you can use on a project another day.  The dies I ended up using are the sprockets die from Spellbinders, the elegant posts die from Spellbinders and the clock is from Marianne Designs.  I played around moving die cuts here and there until I found a layout that I liked.  The next stage was to stick all my die cuts down - I used my Cosmic Shimmer Dries Clear Glue - make sure all the fiddly bits of your die cuts are firmly stuck down.

Next you paint it with gesso again and allow to dry.

I've just got in stock some bags of little metal findings that are just perfect for this style of crafting... watch the website for them to appear shortly as mixed bags.... if there's any left after me raiding them of course!!

I pulled out a mixture of metal shapes, charms and beadcaps and again played around moving them around until I found a layout I was happy with.  This is what I came up with!

Once I was happy with the layout, I started to stick the pieces down.  Again I used the same glue - it was only a little tricky when sticking metal to metal - but I think I was just not patient enough with the drying time!  My backup glue was glossy accents - but I only wanted to use this as a last resort as I wasn't sure if it would then act as a resist for my waterbased mediums... will have to test that one out before the next project!

Once everything is thoroughly stuck down, then paint again with the gesso.  Allow to dry and then paint again.  If needs be - give a third coat (I only needed 2) - but you are aiming to ensure that any ink and paint you then apply has a good base to bond to.

 This is how it looks when it is all in white gesso.. beautiful in itself!  the next stage is to get brave and add some colour!

This is where we will stop for part one.  Come back tomorrow for part two when we add the colour!

happy crafting
Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk

Acrylic Paints with Stamps

I'm all out of sync today!  I thought I had a blog project finished today.. only to find out I haven't!  So I've been browsing through old creations to find some that I don't think I've shared with you before (forgive me if I have!).

These were all made using rubber stamps together with Acrylic Paints.  I've used Eco-green paints here - which are a really nice creamy consistency paint to use, and have the big plus of having a wax content so once dry you can buff them to a high shine!.

 This first design is a nice way to start working with Acrylic Paints and stamps - no skills required!!.  I took a good weight cardstock (or use the grey board off the back of your paper pads!) - and using two colours simply paint on.  If you paint one colour first and then use the second colour onto a dry brush and lightly paint over the top you can achieve these whispy lines.  I've then stamped my Pure Elegance Stamp (from Creative Expressions) and some swirls in black ink.  Finally I've added some white gel pen highlights so she stands out from the background.  Then simply mat and layer onto a card.

 This design is using the same stamp again but this time I painted the background in gold and allowed to dry.  Then I have stamped the lady again in black and then painted her in using the eco-green paints.  Again some white gel highlights lift the design and you may need to retrace some of the black outline with a fine-liner pen if it's lost some definition.  The flower is from Marianne Designs. 

I think sometimes crafters are a bit hesitant to work with paints as they feel its more of an artists thing and you need to have skill to use them, but I love working with paint and you can achieve some very effective finishes with very little skill needed... go on give it a go!

happy crafting

Jane

www.aldridgecrafts.co.uk
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