Take a Technique ....... add a bit of Texture

Happy Friday folks,

Things are gearing up for a nice busy weekend over here ...... the TT Race Week starts tomorrow, my brother arrives on the island on Sunday, and we're off to a birthday bash BBQ ..... weekend sorted!
Before all that though there's still a list of crafty stuff to be done.

It's the first Friday of the month ..... a brand new Craft Stamper magazine hits the shelves (have you got your copy yet ..... you'll love the projects in this months issue!)

That means there's also a brand new Take It Make It Challenge ........ and this month it's the turn of Take a Technique .......

We want to see some Texture on your projects

There's lots of ways to add texture .... it could be texture paste or embossing paste, or use a technique such as embossing either with an embossing folder or use embossing powder.  Use textured card or paper, add stitching or fabric (lace, ribbon etc.) ...... basically anything to give your project that 'touchy feely' style.  Don't forget to include some stamping on there too!!

My texture is on a wall plaque.
I've used Grunge Paste through a stencil and also some paper flowers covered in Gesso, and then the whole thing has been painted over ..... creating lots of gorgeous, different textures. I was inspired by a project I did on a recent workshop run by a friend of mine ..... thanks Jill!  This is what I was playing around with last weekend on our crafty get together ..... and I couldn't share it earlier.  I told you you wouldn't have to wait long!!

It started out as a plain paper mache hanging board from PaperArtsy.  I arranged a few paper flowers on there and added in some punched foliage.  You don't need to worry too much about the colour of your flowers or whether they all co-ordinate ..... what you're really looking for is the shape and the texture of them.  I layered some on top of each other to add a bit more more depth too.
Once I was happy with them I then stuck them into place using a wet glue.

Next came the texture paste ..... I filled in more space around the edges using a brick wall stencil and the Grunge Paste. Once all this was dry I covered the whole thing with Black Gesso, making sure to cover the flowers completely ..... I told you you didn't need to worry about the colours!  Once the Gesso was dry I painted over the top using Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Acrylic paints ..... I love these, they cover so well.

My final colour was Inky Pool .... but I've also used some purple shades and a touch of turquoise on there too.  Just keep painting over the top until you're happy with the colour.
Some of my gesso wasn't quite dry when I started with the paint, especially around the flowers, so there's also a touch of the black in there too

Once the paint was dry (it doesn't take that long .... you could use a heat tool if you can't wait), I rubbed over the textured bits using a touch of White Fire Treasure Gold to bring out some of the detail

See the depth created by layering up the paper flowers ...... nice!

The splatters are from some watered down silver paint and just a touch of white (everything is getting the splatter treatment at the moment .... I love it!!! It's great for covering up mistakes too!)

I then stamped my words onto a piece of white card, embossed using a clear powder (more texture) and then added some colour using Distress inks

You can see there's a little bit more stamping in the background .... the pretty little Wendy Vecchi flower, to add a bit more detail .....

I attached this onto the handing board and finished off  with a pretty painted wooden button

I hope you like it, and feel inspired to give the challenge a go.

Here's where the idea came from ...... it doesn't have to be a wall plaque this technique works fab on cards to ..... this is what I made on the workshop

Now it's your turn ..... remember there's fab prizes up for grabs.
This month our sponsor is Rubber Dance Art Stamps 

And the prize is ......

And there's the Design Winner ..... chosen by the DT.  They get their project published in the Craft Stamper magazine (a two-page spread no less!), they get a Guest Designer spot on a future challenge and a Winner's Profile on the Blog ..... fancy all that ..... then have fun and get stamping!!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy your Friday and have a fab weekend!

Cheerio until next time

Linda

xx

Happy Monday!

Hi guys,
Hope you all had a good weekend and managed to enjoy some of the glorious weather that was around.
Saturday was gorgeous here. It did get off to a grey start but once the sun came out it was beautiful.  Just as well, because we were at a BBQ/Lobster Party in the afternoon.  Stephen was put in charge of cooking the lobsters, and I somehow managed to end up as Sous-Chef.
Lots of beer and wine, two small gas stoves, two rather large pans of boiling water, one mean looking meat cleaver and 50 (yes, I said 50!!) LIVE lobsters.  What could possibly go wrong!

Well actually, nothing! Surprisingly.
We made a great team.   (How is it that men like to cook outdoors, but when it comes to cooking in the kitchen that's our job!?)   We managed to cook, serve, and everyone managed to eat, 37 of the lobsters ....

 - as well as 2 large legs of lamb plus all the usual salads, bread, desserts etc., that you get at a BBQ - nom! nom! nom!  The remaining lobsters were cooked yesterday (Sunday) and then Steve and Sarah, who hosted the BBQ, did a take-out service for those that wanted it.  So it was lobster and salmon again for tea.  I don't want to see another plate of seafood until at least November!!!

Even though we had a busy weekend I did manage to spend some time in the old craft room.  I've been playing with paint and inks, masks and Gesso, Flitter Glu and Flakes, Fran-tage embossing powders - I've had a ball!  And what's really good is, the end result is for ME!!

I've been making so many projects recently, for other people, using the dress form, some of which I really didn't want to give away (is that naughty of me?), that I thought it was time I made one for myself.  So here it is .....

..... it's an 8x8 canvas, and there's just about everything on there.  It looks like I'm still in my pink phase too. 
I didn't really have a plan when I started out, except that I knew I was going to use a dress form somewhere on there, and there had to be lots of texture too (Ooh!  Now why is that I wonder?  Maybe I'll say more later ...... !?!??)
Most of the inspiration for this came from Hels Sheridan.  I love reading her blog, there's so much inspriation and loads of ideas on there, she's such a talented lady.   If you're not already a fan pop over and take at look - you don't know what you're missing.

Right how did this come together .......
I started by randomly painting the canvas with pastel shades of acrylic paint.  I just kept adding paint until I was happy with the look.   Once it was all dry I used one of the Prima masks and inked through it with Worn Lipstick Distress ink.  I then used another mask, this time with Gesso to add a bit of texture. (Love this stuff - note to self .... Need a new BIGGER pot!) 
The new Fran-tage Embossing Enamels have been sat on my window ledge for goodness knows how long so I thought it was time I gave them a go.  I used them with a stamp and Versamark ink, just like you would any other embossing powder, and, you can just about see, I also added some to the edges of the piece of corrugated  card, just by sprinkling it on where I wanted it and then heated from underneath so as not to blow it all away.  I used the Shabby Pink, but there's lots of fab colours available.

There's a little bit of gilded crackle (an Indigo Blu stamp), and I've edged the whole of the canvas with Flitter Glu and flakes (Manchester Tart),  again to add a different texture.
The dress form is a Tim Holtz rubber stamp, stamped directly onto the canvas and then just the top half stamped again onto a piece of card, this time in Worn Lipstick DI.  It's then been cut out and attached over the top.
She's been dressed with a little more of the Fran-tage, ribbon flowers and some tulle.  Her wings are an Indigo Blu butterfly stamp done in two layers, one card, one acetate.

I stamped one of my favourite Tim Holtz sayings, cut it out and layered it using the Spellbinders Labels 18 dies.  You can see the black layer has also been put through an embossing folder and then sanded back, more texture.
Also the large paper flower in the corner has been Fran-taged (I'm hooked on this stuff now).  It was stamped, completely covered in Versamark then 2 layers of the Embossing Enamel.  A smaller rose has been added to the centre.

To finish it all off, I used some more paper flowers (Prima), vintage seam binding, some decorative pins, a couple of  metal charms, a few Chit Chat words, and finally, I covered the sides with strips of inked and distressed scrapbooking papers.  I said there was a bit of everything on here.  And the best bit is, it can stay on my craft room wall, for now. Yeah!!

Phew, that was a long one for first post of the week.  I'm hoping to be back later with another one.
I'm off across to the UK tomorrow evening so I need to get a few things done before then.

Thanks for popping by today.
I notice that I've got a couple of new followers again over the weekend.  Hello and Welcome to Shelagh and Brenda.  It's lovely to have you along and I really appreciate you taking the time to read my posts.  It's so nice to know there's someone out there.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll see you all again later.

Bye for now

Linda

x

Fifty Shades of ....... PINK!

Well not quite fifty, but I've used a few ........

Hi everyone,
It's time for my IN THE PINK  entry.  This is a brand new fortnightly blog challenge and is hosted by two very talented ladies Christine and Sylvia (AKA  Posh Priscilla and Pretty Patricia - the 2 PP's).  Check out the Blog here, you'll find some great inspiration from the ladies themselves, and there's already loads of fabulous entries too. Lots of Pink lovers out there.

It's the first challenge and it's basically anything goes .... but it has to be PINK!

Well, mine is certainly that .....  it may be a little OTT even for me!  I think I've just about thrown everything on there, and most of it is in fact, pink.

As you can see the dress form has come out (again!), and I've dressed her up this time in some white tulle, Tim Holtz fabric flowers from his Lavish Trim pack and the new range of Prima papers - Rondelle.  This paper pad is absolutely gorgeous, there's a bit of everything in there - florals, dots, flourishes, script and it's all shades of pinks, peaches, creams, teamed up with the black. Just stunning!
Anyway, back to the card.
The background is spritzed with Distress inks - Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick with a touch of Perfect Pearls.  I've used a leafy mask and inked through with Black Soot DI.  I've also used the same mask on the paper, only this time I used a spatula and put white Gesso through to add a little bit of texture.  
The whole thing is finsihed off  with ribbon, vintage seam binding, a few gems and a large paper flower - all pink of course.  The sentiments are from Tim Holtz and are stamped on pieces of the same background card.
I'm afraid if you're not a Pink lover then this card isn't for you!

While we're on the subject of Pink here's a couple of projects I did for Kay to display on the Indigo Blu stand at Donnington Park this weekend.

 

These are a little bit PINK too.  If you want more details, and a closer look pop over to the Indigo Blu Blog, I've done a full post with details of what I've used etc.,  and you'll also find out what's in the box - any ideas?

Well, that's me done for today.   It's back to a Christmas theme again tomorrow, I've made my first Christmas card (my own that is).  It's for the Penny Black Saturday challenge, I can't Blog it today as it's not quite finished yet. Tomorrow - I promise.

Enjoy the rest of Thursday.

Thanks for popping by.

Linda

x