Pansies are for Loving Thoughts

Good afternoon, peeps!  I'm a bit later than planned with today's flowers from the wonderful new Victorian Florals Collection by wor Sheena.  This collection is being launched in the Weekender Event on Create and Craft TV this Saturday and Sunday.  At the moment the show times are:

Saturday - 0.00 a.m., 12.00 and 6.00 p.m.

Sunday - 11.00 a.m., 2.00 and 7.00 p.m.

Today I've chosen the Pansies, a flower that I love so I looked up the meaning of the flower and it represents 'loving thoughts'......aaah!  There's probably not enough of those around......anyhoo, on with the artwork:

For this card, my pansies are the purple and yellow variety and I thought I'd create a background for them using the Daisy Chain Border embossing folder, which I painted with Spectrum Noir Aquatints then faux bleached the colour out of the daisies and just painted the centres yellow.  The pansies on both of these cards are also painted with the Aquatints.

This card has the same flowers but a very different look and colour scheme:

The background for this one was created with Distress Inks and then 'splatted' with water and blotted to remove the colour.  I also used Forest Moss Distress Ink to sponge through the Shady Meadow Stencil.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed today's loving thoughts from me and I'll see you again tomorrow - only two more sleeps before the shows start!

Thank you for looking today.

Hugs

Sneaky peeks, day 2

Good afternoon, peeps!

I thought you might like another little peek at some of the new stamps and dies that wor Sheena has been busy creating.  Apart from seeing what I've done with them, you can see the good lady herself on Create and Craft TV beamed straight to a TV set near you live from CHA in California at 3.00 p.m. on Monday 12 January - I forgot to tell you that yesterday - doh!!

Anyhoo, here is today's little offering:

The dies I've used on this one are The Old Tree, Country Fence and the smaller of the two corners from the Hedgerow Corner set - all really versatile sets to have!  The background and background stamping was done with Spectrum Noir Aquatints.

Thank you for looking today and I'll see you all again soon!

Hugs

New launch not to be missed

Good afternoon, peeps!

Well the weather is dreary and stormy outside but inside my craft room it's summer!  Wor Sheena is over the pond all set to launch a series of new stamps and coordinating dies at CHA - yes I did say dies as well!  They are fabulous and it's an absolute delight working with them.  Here's the first of my sneaky peeks:

 

I love these Wild Roses and the die set includes the leaves and the stamens - I've enhanced mine a little with some Ranger Liquid Pearls, The curvy frame is another die in the series and will be eternally useful for all sorts of card designs.

Here are some more Wild Roses in a different setting:

The whole series is full of wonderful images all connected with nature and I'll be back tomorrow to show you some more!

Thank you for looking today.

Hugs

More mixed media

Good morning, peeps!

Well are you all ready with a cuppa to sit down and watch wor Sheena?  I'm so looking forward to the shows!  If you are watching, look out for these samples:

This is painted on a stretched canvas and I think I just about chucked everything at this before I finally painted it with the Pebeo Acrylics (on the shows today if you're quick - they often sell out!).  There are plasterboard tape, butter muslin (or cheese cloth as some call it), crumpled tissue paper, modelling paste, die cuts, grunge board shapes (Tim Holtz) and silk flowers....oops! nearly forgot the beads!  When the paint was dry I dry brushed over the highlights with gesso and finally added some Pebeo Gilding Wax to other highlights.

This box could be for a man because it's not fussy at all but is painted with the special effects paints that are in the mixed media kit launching today on Create and Craft TV.  The shape stretched diagonally across the lid is one of the new stamps that you'll see today.

And finally:

A door hanger for the lady herself.  The wood is primed with gesso and then painted randomly with Spectrum Noir Aquatints.  The stamps used for the tree and leaves are new for this weekend's shows and the leaves are painted with H2Os.

Enjoy the shows and thank you for looking.

Hugs

Two today!

Good afternoon, peeps!

Well, wor Sheena's shows are getting very close now with the first one being tomorrow at 9.00 a.m.  so I thought I'd show you two cards today and they show two differing ways of using the elk stamp (at least I think it's an elk!).  This one shows the magnificent beast painted with the Aquatints then cut out and mounted on Collall 3D Glue Gel, as are the ferns also (from the Optimism plate).  The background is created with the Aquatints using the salt technique on Watercolour card.

On this card the elk is just a silhouette because I've painted over the image with Black Gesso.

He's standing on rocks made with torn black card and I've used the Silver Aquatint from the Essentials set to create highlights on the elk and the rocks from the effect of the Northern Lights.  The other image is from the Sheltering Tree plate.

Thank you for looking today.

Hugs

Sneaky Peek at a Stencil

Good afternoon, peeps!

This post is a slight departure from the norm in that there are no rubber stamps involved, which is definitely surprising for me!

These deer relaxing in a glade at sunset (or is it sunrise?) were produced from one of eight stencils that will also be launched on wor Sheena's Weekender show starting on Saturday on Create and Craft TV.  The colourful background is of course the wonderful Aquatints that I've been waxing lyrical about (well I might just like them a teensy bit!) and the shadows were stencilled through with black pigment ink.

The show times again are:

Saturday 4 October at 9.00 a.m., 12.00 noon, 6.00 & 8.00 p.m.

Sunday 5 October at 7.00, 11.00 a.m. 2.00 & 7.00 p.m.

and I'll be watching/recording all of them - hope to see you there!

Hugs

Sneaky Peek the Third

Good evening, peeps!

Yes, I'm a bit late with today's blog post, it's been a bit of a hectic one but here I am finally with another example of what you can do with these lovely Spectrum Noir Aquatints:

Now you're probably thinking that I've used the pastel set here?  Wrong!  This is Sheena Stamping Card (brilliant stuff!) coated with Gesso then when it's dry, spray with water and start painting with your chosen colours.  The Gesso stops the Aquatints from soaking into the card so you get a softer effect.  I tell you these inks are really, really versatile!

Do watch the shows and see wor Sheena demonstrating some of what you can do with them.  The shows are:

Saturday 4 October at 9.00 a.m., 12.00 noon, 6.00 & 8.00 p.m.

Sunday 5 October at 7.00, 11.00 a.m. 2.00 & 7.00 p.m.

There'll be lots of other goodies to spend your money on as well, including a brand new range of stamps.

I hope you enjoyed today's sneaky peek and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Hugs

Spooky!

Good morning, peeps!

Well I promised I'd be back today with another sneaky peek at the lovely stamps wor Sheena has been drawing to help launch the equally lovely Spectrum Noir Aquatint Inks on a Weekender feature starting this Saturday on Create and Craft TV.

So here's a ghostly one then!  I stamped this beautiful Viking ship in sparkly silver embossing powder, which gave this shadowy look against a background produced with the Beautifully Grunge set of Aquatints with the addition of the silver from the Essentials set.  I've even used the silver ink to stamp the Best Friend Swirls around the edges.  I just painted it on to the stamp with a flat brush - easy-peasy!

The sentiment is from one of the new stamp sheets too.

I do hope you'll join me in watching the Weekender shows starting (I believe) at either 8.00 or 9.00 a.m. on Saturday morning - sorry to be vague but the times aren't yet published on C & C's website.  Whatever, the shows will be full of beautiful art from Sheena and my teamies and wonderful demos from the lady herself - see you there!

Thank you for looking and do leave me a comment if you have time.

Hugs

I've been bursting to tell you about these!

Good afternoon, peeps!

Yes, I've been so excited about this new addition to the Spectrum Noir stable - it's Spectrum Noir Aquatint Inks!  They're a watercolour ink that has the most vibrant and intense colours but also beautiful pastels as well.  These liquid water paints can be mixed to create bespoke colours and they will blend together seamlessly.

In terms of what you can use them for it's probably easier to list what you can't use them for because they're so versatile.  My fellow Inkoids and I will be showing you projects all of this week until the paints themselves are launched on Create and Craft TV by the lovely lady herself, Sheena Douglass in a Weekender event.  That means that shows start at 9.00 a.m. on Saturday morning and continue through the weekend - I'll update you with times as soon as I hear them.

Anyhoo, without more ado, here is the first card from me:

It's something totally different for me but it was great fun to do.  The Aquatints come in packs of six colours and the packs include paint brushes and six pipettes.  I used the pipettes to drop colour on to the Sheena Stamping Card and then blew each blot around with some of that compressed air in an aerosol can.  I tried just blowing through a straw but the compressed air produced more spidery splats, which I preferred.  The sentiment is from one of Sheena's new stamp plates that are also being launched on the show and the black splats are from the Ageing Beautifully plate.

Thanks for looking today and I'll see you again tomorrow.

Hugs