Daisies in Distress

Good afternoon, peeps!  What a gorgeous day it is and if there are any daisies in your garden, the sun will certainly make their faces turn to the sky!

Here are some daisies that I put on a card for wor Sheena's shows on Create and Craft TV tomorrow at 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.

I created a classic, water splattered Distress Ink Background and then stamped the daisies and their leaves on top.  I then removed the colour from within the images using plain water on my brush and then blotting it off with kitchen paper (faux bleaching technique).  The next stage was to colour the images with Distress Markers and I also used some white wax pencil on the flowers.  The background paper is printed from Sheena's Paint Fusion CD, which has a wonderful collection of all sorts of goodies to use on your cards and in your mixed media work.  The die cuts are from a Cheery Lyn die (I think - I take them from the packets and store them on magnetic sheets so they can become somewhat anonymous!)

I hope you enjoy the shows tomorrow - they are defo going to be worth missing a little sunshine for!!

Thanks for looking today.

Hugs

Look into the Fuschia

Good evening, peeps!  I had meant to write this post much earlier today and then 'things' took over, as they have a habit of doing.  Anyhoo, here I am at last to show you a sneaky peek of the sort of thing you may see on Sheena's shows on Create and Craft TV on Saturday 8 June at 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.  Here is one of the samples I made using Sheena's Paint Fusion Fuschia image and there are lots more from my talented Design Teamies:

The background and images were painted with the wonderful Pebeo Acrylics (can you tell I'm totally sold on these?) on Centura Pearl card (the matt side) and the Matt Gel was used to dilute the paints to create the misty background.  The text and the corners are from the Aging Beautifully stamp set.

I'll be back tomorrow with another sneaky peek but thank you for looking today.

Hugs

Sheena's DT Call Out

Good morning, peeps!

If you are a Facebooker you have probably already seen the news, which is that wor Sheena is looking for two more members of our little Inkoid gang.  If you're not a Facebooker, just go to this link or you can use the link here to look at Sheena's blog where I've no doubt that the ever busy Gopher will be posting something of this news today.

Anyhoo, if your interested in applying to join our slightly crazy Inkoid group (did I say 'slightly'?!), here's what you have to do:

To be on the design team you should be able to commit to:

1. Producing high quality samples sometimes at short notice and within deadlines
2. Maintaining a blog
3. Supporting Sheena and fellow Inkoids with ideas and suggestions when requested

Here are the rules for this call out - please make sure that you follow them, thank you.

Please remember "wor Sheena" is a stamper at heart and therefore your examples should include stamping:

Create an album using YOUR NAME as the title by clicking the Photo tab on the Facebook Group page that I have provided a link to above and provide 3 examples of your work. Samples can be anything not just cards - choose examples that showcase your skills.  If you have any of Sheena's stamps, it would be good to use them since that would show us how you interpret them but, if you don't have any of them, just do the best you can with what you have.

Give brief details of your crafting experience as the album description. Please include your blog link if you have one.

Please use the photo description to give brief details of how you made your creation.

The closing date for this call out is: 20 June 2013

Entries will be reviewed by Sheena and the current Inkoids and 2 new Inkoids will be chosen to join our little gang :-) .

I do hope you feel inspired to have a go - I know it feels scary to know that people are looking at your work  with this kind of decision in mind but we're not that scary....honest!

Well I'm off now to do some more work for the next show that Sheena's doing on 8 June.

See you soon.

Hugs

A daffy canvas

Good evening, peeps!

There are literally only hours to go before wor Sheena is on the telly showing her new sets of stamps and lots of other goodies to tempt us all!  In fact Sheena is probably closing on Peterborough as I type - I do so hope that she's having a good journey.  Anyhoo, here's one of the samples she'll be carrying with her:

Even though we're focussing on the Luminarte products for this show, I wanted to paint a canvas - solution? put a coat of gesso on to the images first.  Once that's dry, you can simply paint over with the H20s - simples!  I also used the crackle stamp from the Ageing Beautifully plate around the edges of the 12" x 12"canvas and finally edged the whole thing with Pebeo Empire Gold Gilding Wax - I just love this stuff and the tiniest bit goes such a long way!

Of course the wonderful new clear Rock-a-Blocks were used to overstamp the painted images with Dove Grey Stazon to add back some definition.

and, finally, let's take another look at some of those violets:

A real clean and simple card this but I just love this violet plant and its lovely flowing lines so I simply embossed it with WOW Brass EP and painted it with the H20s.

I hope you enjoyed a last sneaky peek before Sheena's shows at 10.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. when she's sure to be demoing up a storm with these lovely floral stamps.

Hugs

Daffodils and Bluebells

Good afternoon, peeps!

I have two cards for you today both made with the wonderful new stamps from wor Sheena that will be given their debut on a screen near you on Saturday at 10.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.

First of all, here are the daffodils:

I'm sure this will show better when glimpsed by those wonderful camera people at Create and Craft TV because, in my dodgy photo, the light was reflecting off the WOW brass embossing powder on the top corner.  Anyhoo, the background is created with Distress Ink and the flowers are painted with H20s.

Now for the bluebells:

These beauties are on the same sheet of rubber real estate as the daffodils and what I really love is that, in addition to the main stem of bluebells, there are two separate little 'bells' so that, if you're stamping multiple stems of flowers like I have here, you can make them look different just with a little masking and the addition of the separate flowers - clever Sheena.  The wonderful new clear Rock-a-blocks make a difference with this task as well!

The background clouds are created with Tumbled Glass Distress Inks and the bluebells are painted with H20s (seems like I'm working to a formula here - Distress Inks for the background and H20s for the main feature.....well, I might surprise you with something different tomorrow!).

Thanks for looking today.

Hugs

 

Violets are blue....well, a bit purple actually!

Good afternoon, peeps!

Well, the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming on my blog as well as in the garden.

Wor Sheena has been busily drawing away again to bring you some new stamps that are all glorious florals with Spring in mind and a touch of the Art Nouveau thrown in.  They are on big A5 plates and can be seen in the flesh on Create and Craft TV on Saturday at 10.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. so don't forget to tune in.

Another big surprise for us all are clear, yes, crystal clear Rock-a-Blocks, YAY!!  This means that, if you cut your rubbah close to the design, you can overstamp painted designs and build pattern, such as on this card:

Ordinarily, I'd only be building patterns with Clarity stamps because I can see right through them but now, with the clear Rockers, I can build patterns with me rubbah, woo hoo!!  I'm sure you'll see them in action with wor Sheena on Saturday.

She'll also be featuring the lovely Luminarte products.  I was pleased to see that, despite my lousy photography, I did at least manage to capture a little of the mica sheen on the background, which was produced with my treasured H20s - the posy was painted with them too.

Thanks for looking and I'll see you tomorrow with some more.

Hugs

My favourite flowers

Good morning, peeps!  Oh where did the sun go?  I don't think he'll be putting his hat on and coming out to play today! :-(

Anyhoo, I thought I'd show you some flowers I painted (with the help of Sheena's Paint Fusion stamps but, like yesterday's samples, not using PF techniques) that always make me think of Summer sunshine and they are my very favourite flowers.  First on the list are poppies:

They are, of course, painted on to a Pebeo canvas board (this one is 18 x 24 cm) with the wonderful Pebeo Acrylic Paints.  It was so easy to make the clouds in the sky with a stencil brush and the High Viscosity Acrylic (the stuff in the tubes).  The flowers themselves were painted with the Deco Matt Paint.

Number 2 favourite flower is the daisy:

This one is on a 20 cm square canvas and using the Deco Matt Paint for the background and leaves but using the Studio Acrylic Titanium White.for the daisy flowers themselves to give greater opacity.  I always think that daisies look such cheerful flowers but then you probably always knew I was strange!

Sheena will be showing us what she's doing with these stamp designs on Create and Craft TV tomorrow at 8.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. so please don't forget to tune in.

In the meantime, you can check out what my Teamies Lisa, Tracy, Fiona and Caroline are doing.

Thank you for looking today.

Hugs

Paint Fusion-esque

' Evenin' All!  I think someone else may have said that?

Just thought I'd pop in with a quick post about Sheena's shows on Thursday at 8.00 a.m. and 2.00 p.m. (it also looks as though one of the shows is being repeated at 10.00 p.m.).

Here are a couple of the projects I've produced for this one:

This is a 20 cm square canvas on which I've used the Pebeo Acrylic paints and the Paint Fusion Sunflowers image but not the Paint Fusion technique - believe it or not I have never actually practised that technique (hangs head in shame!) but the point is that you don't have to use that technique for these stamps, they are very versatile.

.... and this is the top of the box....

This was a big project but worth it!  I really fancied painting a box all over with lilacs!  Again, this is a Paint Fusion stamp but not the Paint Fusion technique although, with this one, it was very similar but I just couldn't think of another way to successfully paint all those tiny lilac flowers.

I'll be back tomorrow because I have some more to show you but thanks for looking today and don't forget to watch wor Sheena on Thursday!

Hugs

Last sneaky peek

Good morning, peeps!

I thought I'd just pop in and show you a final sneaky peek before Sheena's shows tomorrow.  There is a correction to the timings from my previous posts, the shows are at 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. and, as well as the lovely canvasses from my fellow teamies and the lovely lady herself, you might just catch a glimpse of this:

These iris are so easy to paint with the help of the stamp images.  The scrolls at the top right were produced by layering the Pebeo Acrylic Gel medium on to one of the stamps from the Flying Colours Stamp Set.  When it's dry, you can simply peel it away from the stamp and layer it on  to your canvas.  I just rubbed some of the lovely Gilding Wax over the result to show the relief.

The frame is from the usual place but unfortunately the glass didn't make it intact on the journey to wor Sheena so I hope that the canvas itself wasn't damaged in the fray!

I hope you enjoy the shows tomorrow, you can be certain that I'll be watching along to keep you company!

Hugs

A little bit Oriental

Good afternoon, peeps!  I hope you're all having a good day - things are getting better here and the snow is going away slowly so maybe Spring will come soon!

I have some more samples to show you that I've made for Sheena's shows on Saturday at 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 and 7.00p.m. (unless Create and Craft TV change their minds that is!!).  These three pictures are intended to be hung together:

As you can see, they were all produced with Sheena's fabulous Magnolia Blossom Stamp Set, which also has a wonderful corner design as a part of the set as well as smaller flowers and I really find it a very versatile set.  All the canvasses were painted with the wonderful Pebeo Acrylics that Sheena will be introducing to you on the shows.  They are 10 cms square and are mounted on those lovely £1.50 mirrors from that well known Swedish department store - such a brilliant bargain!  The charms are from my stash.

Whilst I'm showing you canvasses that are meant to be hung together, here is another project I created for the same shows where you don't have any choice but to hang them together because I firmly glued them that way!!

These are painted using four of the other stamps from the A little bit Floral series - all equally wonderful and large enough to use in wall art.

Thank you for looking today and I do hope you'll tune in to Sheena's shows or record them if you're going out - there are sure to be many useful tips from wor Sheena to help you!

Hugs

On the canvas

Good morning, peeps!  Have you got snow today?  It's been snowing quite hard here in Yorkshire but at least it hasn't settled on the areas of ground that have already been cleared after the last lot - it's just sitting on top of the snow that's still lying around!

Anyhoo, let's move on to what's been going on inside Whitehouse Towers lately and I've been busy with me brush adding images to canvas to create wall art!  That's going to be the subject that wor Sheena will be covering in her shows this coming Saturday 30 March at 11.00 a.m., 3.00 and 7.00 p.m. - quite a marathon for the lovely lady!

Now, many of you might be saying to yourselves, 'Oooo, I couldn't paint pictures to hang on the wall' but let me tell you, peeps that with the lovely Sheena's help, her stamps and the new acrylics from Pebeo - you definitely can!

Here's one of my attempts:

This one uses the 'Floral Corners' stamp set, with a little help from 'Flying Colours' and 'Silhouette Grasses'.  The butterflies were stamped on to acetate with black Stazon and then painted from the back and the swirl from the Silhouette Grasses set was stamped straight over the blue acrylic paint with Olive Archival Ink.  Add a trellis cut from a Spellbinders die and finish it with the lovely gold wax that you'll see on the programme and you're done - all that remains is to mount it over one of those £1.50 mirrors from that well-known Swedish department store and it's ready to hang on the wall!.....simples!!

My lovely teamies Tracy and Fiona have been much more adventurous than I have with this mixed media game, to say nothing of the Lovely Lady herself so why not go and pay them a visit to see what they've been up to?

I'll see you again tomorrow with another sneaky peek but thanks for looking at this one.

Hugs

My first canvas

Good frosty, sunshiney morning, peeps!  What a glorious morning it is - cold at the moment but the sun is so bright it's sure to warm up later.  We'll be taking this handsome dude for a walk:

He's not ours - we've borrowed him whilst his real Mummy and Daddy take a holiday but he's a very welcome visitor.

Anyhoo, on to the crafty stuff and this will be the last post of the current batch of samples before Sheena's shows on Create and Craft TV tomorrow.

This is the first attempt I've ever made at producing a canvas with stamps and I dusted off a box canvas I seem to have had forever:

I created the branch using an Existencil stencil (these will be on tomorrow's show).  I think I made the paint too liquid because, despite my best efforts, it spread under the stencil.  However, all to the good because it gave the effect of an old and gnarled wisteria branch so all was not lost!  I then stamped bunches of leaves from Sheena's Silhouette Garden Stamp Set using the Luminarte Primary Elements pigments mixed fairly thickly with liquid gum arabic ad painted the result directly on to the stamp.  I did the same with the wisteria, which is from the same stamp set.  The butterflies were stamped with black Stazon (they're from the Flying Colours Stamp Set ) and then painted with the same paint mix but, this time, I added accent beads for a bit of texture, as I did to the centres of little flowers in the grass ( from the Always Floral Stamp Set ).  The shading in the grassy area of the design was created with another of the stencils called 'Oceana'.

Here's another card to complete this post:

As you may have guessed, I did some more tile cleaning to create the background but this time added some splashes of gold with a Luminarte Colour Concentrate - you just whack it down fairly hard on to the card to create this effect - a bit like being at playschool really!  I stamped and embossed the dragonfly ( Flying Colours Stamp Set ) with WOW Pearl Gold Sparkle embossing powder and did the same with the scroll ( Flower Power Stamp Set ).  I then added acetate wings to the dragonfly embossed in the same way.

I'm so looking forward to Sheena's shows tomorrow and will be tuning in to C & C TV at 11.00 a.m. for the first show ( 2 hours! ) and then again at 3.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. for the Paint Fusion shows - hope to see you there!

Thanks for looking today.

Hugs

More with the Primary Elements

Good morning, peeps and happy Saturday!

Well, my flabber has been absolutely gasted this morning because I went to visit the lovely Sheena's blog this morning and lo and behold there were piccies of some of my DT items.  Thank you Sheena and Goph, I am truly flattered!

So, at the risk of being boring I shall repeat two of them here - I showed you the mirror yesterday:

I confess to having nicked Goph's photo because it's soooo much better than any that I took in a hurry because I had to make the post.  I hope he'll forgive me.  This box is a perfect illustration of the wonderful, intense colours that can be obtained with this medium  in this instance they were blended with Crystal Lacquer, as they were for painting the mirror I showed you yesterday.  The box has first been painted with ordinary emulsion paint.

....and now for a card.....

This is another 'cleaning up the tile' background (see yesterday's post) and this time I mixed the mica powder with liquid gum arabic to paint the flowers from the Always Floral and Flower Power stamp sets.  They were then cut out and secured to the background with brads.

Sheena's shows are on Monday 18 February on Create and Craft TV - the first is the Craft Clinic show at 11.00 a.m. for two hours and then at 3.00 p.m. and 6.00 p.m. she'll be doing some Paint Fusioning.

Well that's it for today, peeps.  Thank you for looking and enjoy your weekend.

Hugs

A bit bigger than a card!

Good afternoon, peeps!

Well, I've been closeted in my craft room again playing with a new medium - well, new to me anyhoo.  These are the Luminarte Primary Elements which Sheena will be demonstrating on the Craft Clinic on Create and Craft TV at 11.00 a.m. on Monday.  She'll be on again at 6.00 p.m. as well and if you're looking for fabulous iridescence and wonderful, intense colour, this is the medium for you.

The project I have to show you today is a mirror from that well known Swedish department store:

Can you spot a camera in the hands of yours truly reflected in the mirror?  I put my watermark over it but I don't think I'm fooling anyone!  Anyhoo, the good news is that I said 'camera' YAY! no more taking piccies with my phone so things can only get better from here peeps!

Just to prove that I haven't given up making cards here's one that I used these wonderful pigments on:

 

This photograph doesn't do the wonderful colours justice but the fabulous background was made from cleaning up the paints left on my tile with a piece of card - waste not, want not and all that!  I just embossed the butterflies and scroll with WOW Black Glint Embossing Powder to complete the picture.

I'll see you again tomorrow with more colourful goodies and thank you for looking today.

Hugs