Hello!

This week I've gone pastel for a summery piece of artwork that's really quick and easy to create.

I used another of my leftover MDF pieces for this, again the inner section from a frame style upright, covering it with one of Melina's pretty floral papers.

I stamped a bird and just the top section of one of my favourite floral images several times on white stamping card with black ink. I coloured the images with markers and cut them out.

I assembled the panel, layering up the flowers to add dimension and glued a piece of scrap MDF to the back of the bird to make him stand out more.

Have a great weekend and see you next week.

For this week's make I decided I would use some greyboard panels which come in a set of 6 (yes I know I have only used 5 as I have no idea what I did with the remaining one!) using lots of different Stamperia products that are in the That's Crafty! shop. These tags panels have a white surface on one side and a natural greyboard surface on the other meaning you can work on one side without having to add another layer first. This post is about building layers to create your final piece, the layers do not have to be dimensional but by layering colours, techniques and products you create a sense of movement and texture in your projects.

Panel 1: To create the background I started by using a blending tool to add Blue Navy ink around the edges fading it in towards the center. I then took the same ink and applied it through the Letters and Numbers stencil to add a darker colour and more interest before using the same ink pad with the text stamp from Clocks stamp set to small areas of the panel.  

I then decided which elements from the Girl and Flowers and Elements Ephemera I was going to use and played around with the placement. BEFORE adhering them in place I then was able to position one of the rub on elements from Inspire set that goes with the ephemera into place. It is important when using the rub ons you make sure the layers beneath it are properly dry otherwise they are difficult to get to stick in place.

Next I glued the epehmera in place before adding a quote and the doodling with a black pen around the edges of the panel and key elements of the die cuts - note the  micron pen I used does not cover the rub ons very well. Finally I added some diluted black paint splatters.

Panel 2: 

For this panel I chose to tear one of the A6 rice papers diagonally before adhering parts to the tops right and bottom left of the panel. Next I added some stencil detail with Blue Navy ink through the Book Stencil before edging the tag with more of the Blue Navy ink using Borders 2 stencil. I then added ephemera, doodling and a quote. 

Panel 3:

For this panel I inked the white surface softly with Cream ink before adding torn elements from the text rice paper in the A6 set. Next I added some text using Coffee ink through the Post Card Stencil before adding ephemera and a quote. I then edged the tag with some of the Coffee ink before adding my doodled lines.

Panel 4:

For this tag I used the Turquoise ink pad to add colour to the tag before adding some of the Cerulean Blue around the edges. I then spritz through a stencil and having added say too much water so it ran underneath dabbed the surface dry adding more texture from the uneven lifting of the dye based inks. Next I added some stamping with the Cerulean Blue ink and the clocks from the clocks stamp set. Having created the background I then added the ephemera  and quote. Note; if a piece of ephemera is too big for your project cut it up - the house is one piece cut asymmetrically giving me the two elements that I added to the tag. Finally I added my doodled lines. 

Panel 5:

For this tag I added I added torn strips of the text rice paper to 3 areas of the tag before inking over the whole surface with Cerulean Blue. Next I added some stencilling with the Blue Navy ink through the Music stencil before adding my chosen ephemera and word quote. I added my doodled lines and then some black splatters to finish the piece.

To complete my tags I took some paper from the Our Way paper collection and inked the edges top c-ordinate with the ink I had used on the front of the panel.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and it has given you some ideas about how to layer your different products to create varied backgrounds.

Happy Monday lovely That's Crafty Creatives!

Let's get properly in the holiday spirit this week with a vintage-themed Travel Journal using the gorgeous re-release Around the World Collection from Stamperia and my Journal It Templates Set 1.

I traced around the large journal template onto white card, marked the spine and cut out. I added a strip of Tyvek to the outside spine using double sided tape, then to decorate the outside and inside cover I used the 12 x 12 Around the World paper pack. I edged with Ground Espresso Distress Oxide, and also added the Distress Oxide  to the inside spine. 

I placed the template back onto the cover and marked the stitch holes for 3 signatures, then punched these out with my pokey tool. For the pages I used 3 sets of 10 tea-stained papers from my stash. I used the inner page template from set 1 to create the pages and again used the template to mark the stitching holes and poked out with my pokey tool. To stitch the signatures to the cover I used a pamphlet stitch with black cotton and a thin needle, fastening off on the inside. 

For the centre signature I create a pocket page by folding the left centre page back on itself by approximately 1/2 inch and then gluing the top and bottom edges to the right hand centre page with That's Crafty! Multi Purpose Glue. I added some folded tea-stained papers in the pocket.

To decorate the front cover I used both the 12 x 12 and the 8 x 8 Around the World papers, layering some of the cut-aparts, gluing onto to card stock to add depth. For the inside covers I chose two of the tags from the 12 x 12 papers, glued to card and cut out I then added glue to the bottom edge and to the left and right edges depending on which cover it was being added to. I added a post card from the papers into each pocket. To finish I added a drop of glue to the back cover and stuck some twine down to use as a closure.

 

A lovely project and one that really suits the Around the World Collection. Happy Crafting!

Stick to the panel.

Add white dots to the mandala with a Posca pen.

Then choose some of the waste bits from the smaller mandalas on the sheet and colour them with pens and then add back in to the design.

Enjoy!

Helen

 

Hello!

This week I have a piece of mixed media artwork to share that was inspired by walks in the countryside when the fields are full of poppies amongst the wheat and oats grown near where I live.

My chosen substrate is actually a leftover piece from the centre of an MDF frame Upright as these are useful for smaller pieces of artwork when you don't have much spare time.

I took one of Melina's gorgeous masks and applied a pattern to my surface with white texture paste.

I then gave the surface an undercoat of Evergreen Multi Surface Paint as I wanted a darker shade as the base for my next crackle step.

I brushed on a coat of That's Crafty! Crackle Glaze and once it was tacky, about half an hour in this hot weather, I added a coat of Lime and Green Multi Surface Paints.

I stamped my chosen poppy 3 times on smooth white stamping card and coloured the images with satin inks. My technique to get a vibrant shade for the poppy heads is to first brush on a couple of thin layers of red ink. Once thoroughly dry, I then load up my brush with colour and add puddles to the petals. If you do this and let it dry well (overnight is best), you get a lovely shimmering coat of glowing colour. You can see below the before and after.

I next added a further step to my background, splattering on watered down Bright Red and Yellow Multi Surface Paints and White Gesso.

Once it was dry, I added my poppies, some of the flower heads and leaves were raised on scrap MDF bits. I finished off with one of Lynne's lovely text images which fit my theme so well.

When you are running short of horizontal space and need more storage units that are stackable offer the perfect solution and being able to customise them makes them even better. For this weeks make I have used the stackable trays from That's Crafty! - these have no insert making them ideal for storing lots of die cuts and ephemera pieces. Please note that I bought two of them as they are sold in single units.

I started by constructing the  units using Multi Purpose Glue and made sure that had set properly before starting to decorate.  I knew I was going to use papers from the Vintage Libary 12 x 12 Backgrounds for the outside of the trays. This paper offers a good range of colour ways with lots of classic styles meaning that you can use it for many different decorative styles and making it a fabulous addition to your crafty stash as it really does not have to be used for a themed project. I chose the papers I was going to use so that I could then decide on co-ordinating colours for the inside of the trays.

For the blue tray I chose to work with Navy Blue Allegro, a layer of Crackle Glaze and a top coat of Milk White letting each layer dry before moving to the next one. Whilst I typically apply my top layer with a sponge this time I painted the top layer on giving me bigger and more directional cracks and allowing me to easily get into the corners as it is important with using crackle that you don't overwork areas you have already applied the top layer to.

For the  second tray with script on the outside I used Chocolate Allegro, then the Crackle Glaze with Nougat for the top layer. Generally when I am working with crackle I use a dark first layer and a paler top layer but the options are of course entirely yours.

Whilst I had my paints out I also painted the underside of the trays as I did not want to cover them with papers as they will not be seen.

You will get both sides of the  box from one sheet of 12 x 12 paper if you cut carefully making these relatively economical to decorate. I simple cut strips the correct height and adhered them in place. Once the glue had I sanded off the excess paper and then used gold metallic wax around all of the edges.

To decorate the front of each box I then used some Amazing Casting Resin to make some icons using the Plates mould. Once set I primed the resin with Bonding Primer and let it dry before painting with the colours I had used for the base layer of the respective trays. The details were then highlighted with more gold metallic wax. 

Now all that is left for me to do is decide what I am going to store in them!