Baby Blocks all Wrapped Up

Just putting up the baby blocks as a few people wanted to see them finished.

Yes I only finished two sets, I left the third until we visit that baby as I was itching to get out my embossing powders.

Linking up to WOYWW at Stamping Ground

Deep Sea Collage

The latest paper artsy challenge is "Baked Texture" which inspired me to get out my embossing powders and play. I love using embossing powder. it is like a form of alchemy turning dull grains into molten reflective magic. I love the unpredictable and invisible process of applying virtually invisible Versamark and then coating and melting the granules to discover what will happen this time. Anyone who has visited me much knows I love the new baked texture powders by Seth Apter and Emerald Creek. I only have Deep Sea and Vintage Beeswax but I have mixed in a few of my other powders to create different effects. First I covered the baseboard with a few scraps of sea themed paper and Paperartsy fresco paints in blues and greens. I misted a little dark green from an old ink spray that usually produces big splotches. There are a few dark speckles on the final piece but most of the base colours are not very visible and I didn't take photos, sorry. I was only intending to play a little when I started out. I have include lots of pictures of all the effects and details.

I knew I wanted to use the beeswax and deep sea. I had the blue book spine and the shell and two fish scraps. I tore out several nautical pages from an old almanack. I also inked a piece of seam binding and stamped some text onto it and I used one tiny piece of design tape. I stained and glued down some pieces of the book paper and then applied some rock candy in some areas to create crackle . While it dried I stained and embossed some of the book paper fragments.

Each piece of book paper ended up with a very different look with all the various media used. The top fish is sitting on a piece that had 3 coats of beeswax. The bottom one is on a piece stained with distress stain.

This piece has only one coat of the vintage beeswax. The pale blue under the beeswax is a touch of blue distress stain. You can see the deep sea baked texture clearly here at the top.

All the heating the embossing demanded was too much for the rock candy and some of it flaked off. You can see the effect above in the bottom left hand corner. It just added to the sea texture so it looked quite good. I used a coat of beeswax then a coat of the sea embossing mixture to create a deep blue sea under the bottom fish. The 'Sea mixture" is lots of Deep Sea Baked texture, a pinch of Wendy Vecchi Fern green and Sky blue and a slightly bigger pinch of Ranger Antiquities Verdigris. 

I love the way different elements float and emerge in and out of focus. The different coloured layers all affect each other just like underwater. The Deep sea under the Vintage Beeswax is much greener. The blue area at the top of this picture is  Deep Sea baked texture under the Vintage Beeswax and on top of blue distress stain. It is very hard to describe any collage without using terms associated with water drift, float, swim all work so well to describe the way the elements and layers sit together and move between each other. 

In this section the gilt publishing company name on the old book spine glimmers just under the fishes tail. I had not noticed when I began that the publishing house was called Nelson! The book paper lists the tides and Rear and Vice Admirals in keeping with the nautical theme.

I wanted to use antiquing cream to emphasise the cracks in the rock candy and create a contrast to all the creams, greens and blues. Red Oxide ended up suggesting coral which was a pleasant surprise.

I thought the whole panel was too dark so I added a touch of white. After randomly sprinkling in a few spots I added individual specks of white from a pot of Stampendous Frantage to create bubbles for the fish.


Adding this to:
Paperartsy challenge #14 Baked Texture
Country View Crafts Challenge Sun Sea Sand
Emerald Creek Great Outdoors #ECAUG2018
That's Crafty Animal Magic challenge

Embossed Magic Card

My second embossed card uses my all time favourite Vintage Beeswax embossing powder. This powder adds a yellowy translucent tone that ages any paper perfectly it looks textured and all the bumps catch the light beautifully.

I used the same technique on this card as the robin egg card but this time I used the Seth Apter/ Emerald Creek's Vintage Beeswax embossing powder on the raised embossed areas. It completely changes the tone of the paper. It is much darker and richer looking. The beeswax has a very different effect to the normal clear powder I used on the Robin egg card. it really does add a yellow wax encaustic look. Adding a single layer on the 'Magic Garden' element gives it texture as well as deepening the colour  of the paper.

I was tempted to emboss the little boy but I didn't want every element to have similar tones. I also left the book paper fragment with just a hint of green ink and no embossing. I have had a great time experimenting with the resists that embossing offers Vintage beeswax really is magic! I am off to play with my Deep Sea powder now . . . watch this space.


Im linking this to Paperartsy's Baked Texture challenge

Robin Egg Embossed Card

I was playing around with embossing this week and made a couple of cards. In the first I finally used the egg stamp Yey!

I have also used an embossing folder that I have had for ages and never tried out. I was prompted by both Paperartsy's Baked texture challenge and Vintage Journey's resist challenge. It all turned into quite a stash project. I started with patterned paper from my stash. I stamped some text to add detail to the green and cream open spaces on the paper. I embossed with the folder adding a little extra embossing with the folder at the bottom to make a longer piece. I used 2 coats of versamark and clear embossing powder to create a resist and then inked it with gathered twigs DI. I love the grungy, gritty effect created where small particles of embossing powder have stuck to the debossed areas and resisted the ink.

The snippet of book paper is from an old encyclopedia. Luckily I still had the bird entry

I avoided the bottom section with the embossing powder so the ink covers it all and creates a darker area giving a different effect. The card is finished off with my stamped fusycut egg, a coloured scrap of book paper and a pensive young lady from Tim Holtz Paper dolls. These colours all relate to the colours of the egg and the card is mounted on cardstock called - "Robin Egg." How appropriate was that!


Joining in with
Vintage Journey's challenge How Can you Resist
Artistic Stamper's challenge Anything Goes

Embossing folder used is Anna Griffin 'Aviary'
Stamp set Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous 'Bird Feather'
12 x 12 patterned paper by Bo Bunny 'Et Cetera - Watermark'
Robin Egg cardstock is by Kaisercraft

WOYWW

Managed to get organised for calling in to Workdesk Wednesday. Desk is busy but organised today I am busy making gifts for new babies. I gave a great nephew a little set of handmade picture blocks for a welcome gift and it became a tradition I am now bound to. I dont mind as they are simple and fun to make but it is harder when the babies come in batches! Three to make this month. Thankfully I can make the blocks cuddle the babies and leave my work all done. I am glad I dont have the work of all three mums all crafting would be out the window. Must crack on now and get these all covered. Its picking the papers that always takes me the longest.

Hope to get time to visit more desks this week and thank you to all who visited and commented on mine last fortnight. Happy crafting x
WOYWW 481

Using your Old Stamps Up

I truly think stamps are addictive. Once you get the bug you cannot stop coveting or simply buying the next one. Several times a year there are new stamps released and there will always be those that you decide you just cant do without! It is easy to spend hours chasing down some stamp used in a project you have admired on someones blog or Pinterest. There are always new exciting products coming out. You could easily spend your days shopping rather than making. Often I find myself looking at a stamp and thinking of all the things I could make with it. Its so easy to persuade yourself that the new shiny stamp will make the best ever project and forget the multitude you already have.

Often your own stamps become invisible, you forget them amongst the thousands. Lets be honest, it probably goes beyond the hundreds. I think it is important to spend more time experimenting and creating than shopping and using what we have I will exercise our imagination. I will certainly be richer! I do not like to think of the amount I have spent on stamps since I started using them.

I am setting out to use more of my stamps. To be creative with what I have. It will be my own personal challenge. I am sure I am not alone in having many stamps which I have not used in years or even some which remain in their cellophane waiting for their first taste of ink.

Four months until the end of 2018 I will try and go cold turkey with the shopping and use as many of my virgin or neglected stamps as possible. For fun I will post the total in the New Year. Please feel free to join in!

To start off I am using a set lusted after for over a year and finally bought, in January! Bird Feather by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous. This lovely set has 2 birds, eggs, a beautiful twiggy nest and a large feather. Ironically the stamp that pulled me in most was the smallest, the row of Fig 1-7. This is the only stamp I have used since I bought the set.

I haven't made a clean and simple card in ages so I am trying to keep this nice and easy. I did use watercolour cardstock as a base because I have run out of white cards.

The larger bird from the set is stamped on the edge of the card. I have stamped a bit of nest so he appears to be sitting on the edge of his nest. The figs 1-7 are stamped in the same sepia archival ink. The stamped image is heat dried so I can wet the card. The final element is a quick spritz with water then a little sprinkle of infusions in "Slime." I mounted the finished card front on green coloured cardstock.  I have added no sentiment to the front as I can stamp whatever is appropriate inside when I use the card.

I love the infusions splatter and I do love this stamp. Not sure what the fascination with figure numbers is. Perhaps it comes from hours poring over old botany and other books with beautiful engraved black and white illustrations.

Im linking this up to Crafty Creations challenge #372 which is Anything Goes

I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls

Frilly and Funky has been challenging us to make something using some type of marble effect, arches or columns. I managed to include all three.

I was interested to see if I could make a marble effect with distress ink. The green patterned paper I used has a faint crackle design. I put several colours of distress ink onto my craft mat and spritzed it once or twice then applied it to the paper using a crunched up cellophane bag. I mopped off any dark spots immediately so the effect was quite soft. Then I stamped a tiny hint of cracks using some of the dark green distress ink from my mat. My arch was cut with a Movers and Shapers die creating two openings in a three fold card.

I have managed to get columns in on the front using a lovely old stamp by Beeswax. On the other two panels I stamped small areas of Latin text and some stonework in Watering Can Archival ink

I wanted to use one of the arches cut from the paper to make a kind of Roman icon image on the back section. I have tried gilding random areas on previous projects but for this I wanted to try and make a totally gold background around a stamped image. First I stamped the image in black archival ink. Then I carefully painted size all around it with a very fine brush. The size is like a tacky glue. The idea is that the gilding should only stick to the sized areas around the image.

Next I applied an imitation gold leafing sheet right over the whole thing. Then I wiped away the gold leafing in the image area (I used my fingers as I was wearing cotton gloves for the process). And Yay it worked!

Finally I coloured the image with distress ink mixed with a little water. Again I used a very fine brush. I love the delicate effect of distress colouring with the lush gilding. I think it adds a real touch of magic to the image which has the drama and mystery of all Lynne Perrella's stamps. The finished 'Roman icon' is coated with a glaze to stop the gold leaf from tarnishing (you don't need to glaze real gold leaf only the imitation stuff).

This stamp is called Sweetbriar which is the name used for Sleeping Beauty in lots of traditional versions of the Grimm's fairytale. I wanted this fairy tale woman to be surrounded by tendrils of ivy. My ivy leaves are die cut from green patterned paper and darkened with green distress inks.

The leaves are shaped on a foam mat and then glued individually on top of the stems (cut from a branch die) on the front and back panel. The figure can then be viewed though the ivy arches.

The edges have a tiny touch of texture and glint from a mix of embossing powders (Ranger Antiquities California Stucco, clear and regular gold powders, and some Stampendous Frantage Aged Silver). I often combine my powders to create something that tones in with my project. I love the way the frantage leaves big splatters of gold randomly over the paper.

I really enjoyed making this card and following my inner fairytale.

I am linking this card to Frilly and Funkie's challenge

And also
Stamping Sensations who are challenging you to Use your 'current' favorite stamp.
The Artistic Stamper  whose August Cretive Callenge is anything goes so long as a stamp is the centre of your project and for me it usually is.

Stamps used:
Latin Text from Woodware
Stones from Paperartsy - Architecture Plate 3 (Ink and the Dog A6)
Arches  from Beeswax
Sweetbriar Lynne Perrella stamp by Stampington

Dies used:
Sizzix Susan's Garden Thinlits set "Leaves, Fern & Ivy"
Memory Box Graceful branch oval
Sizzix Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers sized arch

Tape it Up Card

A quick post to join Simon Says Stamps Tape it Up Challenge. A chance to use up another green background and my favourite new background stamp, Botanical and Batik. The butterfly is a Victorian scrap and the washi tape is by the V&A. I think its a William Morris design. I just love the colours and enjoyed picking them out with other products.

The edge is embossed with Aged Silver  Frantage by Stampendous another new favourite.

I dont use washi tape much so this was good prompt to step out of my comfort zone. Great to find a home for this beautiful butterfly that I have been hording for ages.

Link for the Monday SSS challenge
Also joining in with the Wednesday SSS Challenge which is Distress It
Adding this to Paperminutes Washi Tape Challenge

Hope you are enjoying cooler weather and inky fingers, thanks for visiting.

Mint, Sage, Claret and Gold Lynne Perrella Card

Working my way through the many backgrounds I have made for the Paperartsy topic 13 Challenge which was to use this colour combination. I would not have naturally been drawn to these colours but I am now thinking that they would make lovely Christmas card colours. This is the first finished project to come out of lots of painting inking and embossing.

I had a sage coloured piece of cardstock which I embossed and edged with gold embossing powder. The paler 'mint' piece is coloured and stencilled with crimson pearl Brilliance Tsukineko ink.  I then stamped text using the same ink. 

One of my favourite Lynne Perrella ladies is stamped onto another background piece and fussycut out. This piece is book paper painted with green and cream paint. The top of the lady's foliage was a little off the page so I stamped a tiny crimson house from another stamp in the set and placed it on her headdress to cover this. 

I finished off with some design tape from Tim Holtz. This piece has text in just the right colour I love this mention of "Medals for Chrysanthemums." Seems appropriate for this very floral lady, she certainly looks determined enough to win in life. I also edged this piece in lots of gold embossing powder emphasising the torn edges.

Finally joining in with Paperartsy's Topic 13 Mint, Sage, Claret and Gold  Challenge.

WOYWW Still Lots of Green

I was not planning to post this week but I thought it was fun to share the many green experiments.

Finally settled on a project for the Paperartsy Challenge. Funny things challenges apart from the obvious connections they create they are often a personal challenge will this prompt work for me? Mint Sage Claret and Gold has filled my head on and off this fortnight. Who knows if it would ever have occurred to me as a colour combination without the online prompt.

I was more persistent than usual with this one and finally one of my backgrounds sparked an idea. Now I am waiting on the gold edging to dry before it all goes together. I thought I would gather all the others together but looking back to last Wednesday I see there were more! I don't think I will be using this colour for a while now. Although I guess all these green backgrounds will appear in my cards.

Thanks for visiting my desk and all your comments last week. hope you are having fun at your desks.

Linking up to WOYWW

Oxide Ink birthday card

Got out some of my oxide inks to make a quick birthday card with a Crafty Individuals stamp set I love using. This card is intended for an Irish friend whos turning 60. Hares have a special place in Celtic mythology and are seen as magical and wise animals. In my mind anyone reaching 60 has the right to be considered very wise. The hares in these stamps are quirky but suggest the intelligence I equate with these animals.

I did start photographing the process while I began with smooshing oxide ink onto my mat and misting and dipping. I made a few extra pieces at the same time to use for my hares and sentiments.

Then some stencilling. I stencilled circles and then wet them and removed some ink to get a subtler effect.

At this point I got distracted and forgot to photograph for a while. I added some numbers using a stencil and Peacock Feathers oxide ink. Next I stamped a some random text in Manganese Blue archival ink. Happy now with my background  I stamped plants at the bottom in Potting Shed  Archival ink. I used the same ink to stamp the two lovely hares onto one of my spare background pieces and then fussycut them and edged them in brown distress ink. I had a little fun creating some embossing powder from a mixture of ancient antiquities Verdigris and Frantage Aged Aqua embossing enamel. I love the large white pieces that create a kind of splatter and it has also has blue glitter for a little magic. I stamped sentiments on more of my spare background peices and edged them with the embossing mixture. When I arranged them I decided it looked far too busy. Instead I used a small circle die to cut a hole in my card. Then I mounted the card on a larger peice of teal cardstock.

I die cut number 60 from spare smooched paper and glued it into the teal circle. The finished card front is attached to a pale blue card base and the sentiments are all stamped inside. It looks a little like hares are gazing up at a blue moon.

After choosing hares for their magical qualities I had to join in with the August challenge at That's Crafty whose theme is "Animal Magic."

I also think hares are quite wild enough to join in the "Wild Things" Simon Says Stamp Challenge this Monday.

Finally as the number 60 was the whole point of this card I am playing for the first time with Stampotique and thier current Challenge - "Number It"

Animal magic
Wild Things
Number It

Wednesday's Workdesk lots of Mint, Sage, Claret and Gold

Checking in with Whats On Your Workdesk Wed again. More time is spent at your desk 'not making a project' than producing a project. The things that turn out to be a project for me they are the ones that fly along. I think I resolve things when I have a clear path in mind an end rather than a starting point. I know that is not how it works for everyone. I admire people who can just start to play and end up with something amazing. I am definitely a planner.

WOYWW is a great prompt to share the stuff you do that may not otherwise see the light of day - stuff that might be interesting to others but is not 'a thing.' I suppose Journals are a bit like that but people tend to post pages that are resolved from their journal rather than those still hanging in the air. Well here's today's desk:

Ive been playing with lots of paint, ink, infusions, embossing powder, lots of different media but all in one palette Mint, Sage, Claret and Gold. Paperartsy's latest Challenge suggests these colours. So far its all experiments.

I am not sure where they will go. last month I spent ages trying transfer techniques. All interesting but none that I used to make 'a thing' with. I am enjoying this play and I like a lot more of the results. I am planning to carry on for another day and then tidy up and actually use them.

Hope you having fun at your desk this week. Thanks for calling in to mine. x

If you haven't heard of WOYWW Its been going since 2009. Julia Dunnit, who began it, says she started it "because I'm nosey and wanted to see what other people have got and what other people do at their desks whilst I'm busy procrastinating."

Bit like most of the Internet then!  I like this outlet for the chaos that sometimes reigns on my desk or head.