PaperArtsy Blog - Topic 19 - Cute Critters

Hi everyone, I'm contributing on the PaperArtsy blog today where I'm sharing Party Cats card for the cute critters topic.

You couldn't get cuter or more fun than Elena's Zinski Art Christmas stamp set ZA50, the purrrrrrfect party animals! 

My background is a mix of Infusions, they are Olive Tree and Frankly Scarlet.

I did my paint splatter with Iceberg and Snowflake Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics and I also used the Snowflake to stencil in the background through Sara's Christmas stencil 114 with a stencil brush.

Intial colouring is with Inktense watercolour pencils, I've used a dabbing action to achieve the mottled appearance of the fur. You can see the stenciled pine leaves here, they make a nice border around the card. 

I added a touch of coloured pencil over the watercolouring here and there but I didn't need much. These two Infusions colours are gorgeous in the background and perfect for Christmas colour schemes.

There are more close up photo's and steps on the PaperArtsy blog and lots of inspiration over the two weeks of this topic if you love stamping cute characters.

Have a lovely weekend!
Chris

PaperArtsy - New Stamps Release - Seth Apter Mini's

July 2019 New Products
Eclectica³ Collection {Seth Apter}

Hi everyone, I'm sharing my projects with Seth Apter's new mini's #41-48 for the release tonight on the PaperArtsy Blog.  I very much admire Seth's art which is all about layering and his new mini's are perfect for making that easy and enjoyable as they all go together so well.

You can create depth and textural interest with the stamps by stamping in different colours and overlaying with black and further down the post you can see how I created my base layers with very quick and easy techniques. 

My first make is a large Birthday Tag. I stamped with all of the stamps over my base layer in various coloured inks and finally with black. 

Outlining some of the stamped images in white pen helps to bring them forward and add interest. Glossy dimensional glue has been added to the die cut letters and on the circles on the focal star from Seth's stamp set ESA 03 for extra shine.

I used a couple of Seth's embossing powders to create yet more texture on the die cut scalloped frame and on the wood star embellishments. 

I cut a smaller tag from the same base layer outlined in white and also die cut some stars to add to the painted and glossed wood stars. I cut out the word 'create' from EM42 and used it for my sentiment.

I love the grunginess of some of the mini's in this collection. EM47 has those lovely grungy lines!

Similar to the tag above but slightly differently embellished and using the text 'your story' from MA46.

For this tag, I used the stamps with a gel plate print and the bolder design mini's work particularly well with the gel plate. The words are taken from MA46.

I love the texture you get with mono prints, I used thin brayered layers of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics for this tag.

A die cut mono print is decorated with the same technique of outlining and this time made into a card, I like the more feminine colour scheme from this part of the print, colours tend to get mixed on the gel plate so you can end up with quite a variety of colour schemes which is perfect for batches of tags or cards that all look a little different.

The die cut heart is covered in glossy dimensional glue which I used to highlight areas of most of the samples.

Another card from a mono print.

All the ribbons I added were dyed with Infusions; damp the seam binding ribbon, sprinkle with Infusions powders and dry off. 

I started off with a master board base layer adding various complimentary colours of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics with a large brush, a few sprinklings of Infusions and finish with a lighter colour or two on top to bring it all together. This is a nice base for stamping all over with all of the stamps in various colours of ink.

The final touches are stamping in black and some outlining in with fine liner pens.

My second substrate is an easy splatter and squish method! Spatter watered down Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints Blue Lagoon, Terracotta and Claret on to two sheets of Heavy Weight Smoothy cardstock, smoosh them together paint sides facing, pull apart then allow to dry.

Repeat the process using Infusions in Slime, Royal Blood, Violetta and Olive Tree diluted in water. I stamped in black over these pieces and used for some of my layers and die cuts.

I usually keep a few paints in this little wood crate on my desk, it's patiently been waiting for some colour and pattern and the Mini's are lovely for creating random abstract patterns

I didn't mount the stamps on a block just dabbed on Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics and randomly stamped around the box, overlapping and not thinking about it too much. I really enjoyed finally getting some colour on this crate and I have another slightly bigger one to do next, perhaps I'll use the orange and pick selection I already have in the box and add a selection of blue/green paints to that one.

Chris x

PaperArtsy Blog Challenge - Topic #4 - Whimsy

Hi everyone, I have a couple of projects on the PaperArtsy blog tonight where the current topic (4) is Whimsy so I've used some sweet stamps from the Squiggly Ink range. My first set of PaperArtsy stamps many years ago was from this line so I had a look back at that project to see what I was doing back then and that post you can find here. 

My two cards are entirely different in style, I love working with bright colours which is how my first card went but I was particularly pleased with the softer more feminine finish of the second card. There are more photo's, thoughts and explanations over on the PaperArtsy blog and details of how you can join in the challenge.

Have a lovely weekend,

Chris x

Paperbabe Stamps Challenge 42 - wings

 

We have a new challenge up on the Paperbabe Stamps blog today and this time the theme is 'wings' so there are lots of lovely possibilities for this one. I hope you can join us, there's a great prize from Kim and you don't have to use Paperbabe Stamps to enter.

I've made a new home card for a friend using the 5mm Mixed Media Polka Dot Stencil and the Whimsical Woodlands sets 3 (bunny) and 4 (butterfly). I like creating backgrounds using the small element stamps thatKim always designs in her sets and I also find them very useful, this time I used a tiny heart which I stamped in various ink colours in between the stencilled dots. I've also embellished the dots with pen on the background and on the roof of the little house.

 

The main part of the house has the wings element with the stamped butterflies. I went over the stamping with a wink of stellar glitter pen for some sparkle. My card base is made from two postage stamp edge square die cuts measuring around 4 inches and I've simply scored the back piece near the top to make a hinge and added adhesive tape above the score line to hold them together.

Bye for now,

Chris x

 

Paperbabe Stamps Challenge 41

Hi everyone, it's the start of the new challenge on the Paperbabe Stamps blog and this time we have a sketch challenge to follow.

As always there's a great prize to be won and anyone can join in when if you don't have Paperbabe Stamps.

I needed a belated Birthday card this week (whoops) and Kim's great 'Birthday Wishes' stamp set has all the birthday greetings covered together with candles and gorgeous confetti style stamps too, it really is a versatile set. This time I've used the stamps with Brilliance pink and yellow inks and stamped the sentiment in Black Archival brushed over with a Wink of Stellar pen. I added stickles glitter glue to the bubbles in the background and added some PaperArtsy Infusions to the main panel and to the card base as well.

I've finished off by mounting the panel on dimension tape and adding some glitter paper punched stars.

Have a good weekend.

Chris x

 

Paperbabe Stamps Challenge 36

Hi everyone, challenge 36 starts today on the Paperbabe Stamps blog and this time we have a lovely inspiration photo as the theme.

I went with the lovely colour combination from the inspiration photo above and first created a distress ink background which I stamped over using the Birthday Wishes and Butterfly Pieridae stamp sets and the peony single stamp

I always find the perfect birthday greeting combination in the Birthday Wishes stamp set and at the moment I can't use the Butterfly Pieridae set enough it also has that sweet little heart I've used in the background hich is just one of the gorgeous and useful little stamps that Kim always includes in her sets.

I hope you'll join us in the challenge this time and there's a lovely prize to win as always.

Chris X

 

 

 

Paperbabe Stamps Challenge - Sketch

Hi everyone, we're starting a new challenge on The Paperbabe Stamps blog today and this fortnight we have a sketch to work to.

As always there's a lovely prize from Kim so I hope you can join us.

I made a card making up all the elements from the sketch using Butterfly Pieridae stamps together with the mixed media stencils - Polka Dots. I worked some distress crayon in various colours into the large Polka stencil for the torn card piece which I embellished with black pen doodling little spirals.

I removed ink from the purple card piece with a baby wipe through the smallest dot stencil and highlighted with white pen. The large polka dot butterfly is stamped with Luxe ink and again after cutting out is embellished with black pen.

Have a lovely weekend.

Chris X

 

Paperbabe Stamps May Release

Hi everyone, for Paperbabe Stamps May release we're introducing the gorgeous Butterfly Pieridae stamp set. I've been eagerly awaiting butterflies from Kim :-D, they're one of my favourite types of stamp and this set is really beautiful with a great mix of styles of butterfly and ways to build them.

As you can see from stamp sheet above, there are layering options with the stamps with solid shapes and overlay stamps and it's always great to have the stamps in a variety of sizes which is useful for background stamping which is how I've used them to create my background pattern.

There are even stamps to create a butterfly in flight which is very easy to do by stamping the slim wing and half of a butterfly over the top, it's very effective and gives lots of options to create scenic panels.

I did my stamping in various Memento Luxe and Versamagic inks over a distress ink background and I embellished the stamps further with white pen. I also added little hearts, solid and outline which are included in the set and the sentiment I stamped over distress ink. The butterflies are a nice easy shape to cut out too which I've done with my pink and black layered butterfly.

I also used the set on an Artcuts wood heart, the background is layered pencil which has then had a coat of pastel ground and then stamping in distress ink. The large butterfly is also coloured with pencils and a bit of distress ink. I like how the distress ink reacted over the pastel ground giving an aged and muted effect, it reminds me of fabric.

Well that's it from me today, there's wonderful inspiration from Kim on Paperbabe Stamps blog and the stamps will be on sale at Paperbabe stamps tomorrow.

Chris X