Do more of what makes you happy ........

Good morning ........

It's Friday!!!  It's a Bank Holiday weekend for us ..... fingers crossed the weather stays nice.

It's also time to remind you about this month's Craft Stamper Take It Make It Challenge.
As always the theme is Anything Goes, just remember though, you must include some ACTUAL rubber stamping on your projects.

I've been playing with some new JOFY stamps ..... I love this large flower! There's also a matching stencil which is great.

Something else I've been playing around with is the gesso resist technique.  A different way of using your pots of gesso.

I started off by stamping the words in the background using white gesso .....

Using a paint brush I applied a thin layer of gesso directly onto my stamp and then stamped the image in the usual way.   You could use a brayer to apply the gesso, or another way of doing it is to paint a thin layer of gesso onto a craft mat and then use it as you would an ink pad ..... taking your stamp to the gesso.  Whichever way you choose, stamp your image and then immediately place your stamp into water, you don't want the gesso to dry on your stamp.

Once the gesso was dry, I used Distress Sprays over the top to build up the colour. 

I mopped up the excess ink and you can see that the gesso has resisted the colour and the text shows through .... cool eh!

Once the spray ink was dry I used the new JOFY stencil and some white paint to add the large flower.

When doing the resist technique with gesso you can get a flat surface, as opposed to using the emboss resist which gives a raised finish. 
It's then easier to add more layers over the top with stencils, or rubber stamping.

I let the stenciled paint dry and then took the matching rubber stamp and stamped the outline over the top using a black ink, and heat embossed with a clear powder. 
I also stamped some smaller flowers around the edges and heat embossed those with a sparkle powder

I finished off with a few sparkly sequins and added a stamped sentiment ......

OK ... now it's your turn.  TAKE a stamp and MAKE something fabulous!

As with all the Craft Stamper challenges there is a prize .... two in fact.
Our Designer Winner, chosen by the DT, will get their winning project featured in the Craft Stamper magazine, a Winner's Profile post on the Craft Stamper Blog, and an invitation to be a Guest Designer on a future Craft Stamper challenge.

Our second winner is randomly chosen from all the eligible entries, and they receive the Blog Challenge prize which this month is ........ this amazing Eileen Hull die from Sizzix

Seeing as I'm hosting this month's CAS Mix Up challenge, and the theme is Gesso Resist it would be a shame not to link up my card there too.

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your Friday and have a lovely weekend.
I'm joining in with another journal wokshop tomorrow which should be fun.

Cheerio until next time ........
 

Products used:
Stamps: JOFY 89, JOFY 93, JOFY 38 (for the words) - PaperArtsy
Inks:  Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versafine
Stencils: JOFY stencil PS185 (PaperArtsy)
Other: White Gesso, Distress Ink Spray - Picked Raspberry, Scattered Straw, Sparkling Sand Embossing Powder - JOFY Dockside Trio (WOW!); Crystal Sequins