Winter White for DecoArt

Here's a sneaky peek of my project for the DecoArt Media DT - there's a video tutorial for my mini canvasses over on the Media Blog today.

Enjoy!

Katy x

Delightful Dog Tag for DecoArt

Hello again friends! Another DecoArt Media DT make from me today, a layered collaged tag featured my sweet little pup Jet. I used to do a lot of scrapbooking and although I gave it up years ago (something not apparent from my patterned paper hoard!), I still like to include photos sometimes on mixed media projects and journal pages.

DECOART PRODUCTS USED:

Media Fluid Acrylics - Burnt Umber, Transparent White, Yellow Oxide, Pyrrole Red, Payne's Grey

Americana Stencil - Pixelated

OTHER ITEMS:

Large and small tags

Cardboard and paper scraps
Metal shape

Washi tape

Wide lace

Brayer

Photo

Fine black pen

Below I'll show you how I created the grungy background. Once done, I simply layered lots of bits and bobs on top. A smaller tag has Yellow Oxide paint applied through the Pixelated stencil and is edged with the same paint using a sponge, as is the main tag. The corrugated card panel is dry brushed with Burnt Umber paint and the hearts are painted with a mix of Pyrrole Red and Payne's Grey (to make a deeper red hue) to add a splash of colour. Doodled lines finish the whole thing off.

I don't have a step-out of the whole project but wanted you to see how I created that rather nice shabby background on the large tag.

Mix Burnt Umber and Transparent White paint to make a yummy chocolate colour. Spread with a brayer onto a surface such as a tear off palette.

Tape a piece of wide lace to a tag.

Brayer over the lace with the paint - this was the result. Grungy!

Quickly take the lace and place it painty side down it onto a second tag. Go over firmly with a clean brayer - the paint on the lace will transfer as long as you work fast before it dries.

This is the result of the lace 'print' - this is the tag I used in this project. Saving the other one for another time!

Wishing you tons of painty fun! 

See you soon,

Katy x

DecoArt DT - In Her Dreams She Can Fly

Hello! It's my DecoArt Media DT debut today (bit happy, bit scared!) and I've created a small piece of what I call 'junk art' to share with you, so called as it's made from recycled bits and bobs (I rarely throw anything away, much to the anguish of my poor husband...). 

It's a pretty simple project but hopefully I can share a bit of product know-how and a few ideas with you along the way. My favourite tip from this tutorial is making your own shimmery glaze from DecoArt Metallic Lustres.

DECOART PRODUCTS USED:

Media Fluid Acrylics -  Raw Umber, Transparent White 

Americana Paint - Hauser Medium Green, Blue Mist

Media Matte Medium

Decou-page Paper - Victorian Romance

Decou-page Glue - Matte

Metallic Lustre - Champagne

OTHER ITEMS:

Cardboard scraps and paper scraps

Metal key

Stampendous! Stamps by Andy Skinner and Nathalie Kalbach

Stampendous! Frantage Mica Flake - Pearl

Permanent brown inkpad

Digital image (source unknown - if it's yours let me know and I'll credit you!)

Stabilo All Pencil

Fine black pen

So grab a cuppa (or whatever takes your fancy) and enjoy my step-by-step :).

1 Collage some small scraps of paper onto a piece of board - I used the back of some craft packaging as it was made from nice thick card. I chose papers which all had complementary tones. Use DecoArt Matte Medium to adhere the papers, applying the medium under and over the papers to ensure they are well stuck.

2 Knock back the colour with Translucent White Media Fluid Acrylic. I used to use watered down gesso to knock back papers or colours but since I found this paint I always use it. You need to use hardly any and you can just pop it straight from the bottle onto your piece. You can of course make a gesso wash instead if you want.

3 Tear and fussy cut some elements from the DecoArt Victorian Romance Decou-page papers pack. Adhere with Matte Medium, once again applying over and under the paper.

4 Repeat step 2 to knock back the colour, but just a little tiny bit. We want these elements to be dominant but also to blend into the background.

5 Stamp a pattern stamp (Nathalie Kalbach) with Americana Blue Mist paint (it's subtle - see top right) and edge the piece with Americana Hauser Med. Green  paint, using your finger to get a wobbly, uneven line.

6 Mix a small amount Champagne DecoArt Metallic Lustre with a little Matte Medium to form a glaze - make sure you mix it really well to eliminate blobs. Brush over the board - you can see from this image it gives a beautiful warm glow when it catches the light.

7 Add some further stamping (Andy Skinner) in permanent brown ink (I used Potting Soil Archival Ink). Rough up the edges of the panel with scissors or a craft knife (be careful!) and ink these too.

8 Use Matte Decou-page Glue (love this stuff!) to adhere some mica flake (Stampendous!) - just a few flakes here and there - very subtle. You could also use Matte Medium for this stage but the Decou-page dries faster and I have no patience!

9 Use Matte Medium or Decou-page to stick the digi image in place and outline with a Stabilo All pencil or similar. I like to blend the pencil out with a small angle brush which is barely wet (actually I just lick it - is that too much information???).

10 Paint a scrap of card with DecoArt Media Metallic Gold paint and smear with a light coat of Champagne Metallic Lustre. Draw a quirky crown and cut out.

11 Adhere the crown, a key (altered with Metallic Lustre as it was very silvery), and some word stickers. Doodle around the stickers, the crown and the board edge with a fine pen.

12 Tear a piece from an old box, rip off some of the surface and dry brush Media Raw Umber paint around the edges.

13 Glue the panel to the corrugated card and you are finished!

Hope your visit today was worthwhile - if you have any questions about the project feel free to post below and I will do my best to answer.

See you soon I hope!

Katy xxx

Winter Pink Your Life Card

Continuing this week's snowy theme, I am sharing a sweet little card created with one of the lovely Pink Your Life stamps that were released last year.

Here's how I made it:

1) Stencil the snowflakes onto deep blue cardstock using Dreamweaver Embossing Paste. Allow to dry.

2) While that is drying, stamp the angel and colour her with pencils. Stamp a snowflake with Versamark and emboss it with Sparkle Puff embossing powder before cutting out with the matching die.

3) Add a really light wash of blue Twinkling H20s (you could use ordinary watercolours too but I like the sparkle in H20s) over the snowflakes. You don't want complete coverage, rather a mix of blue and white areas.

4) While you have the H20s out, add a paint wash around the edge of a white card blank and to the snowflake die cut.

5 Assemble as shown, using 3D foam to raise up the angel.

Thanks for visiting me today - hope you come back soon.

Katy x

Stampendous products used:

Stampendous/Pink Your Life Cling Stamp - Little Angel

Stampendous Cling Stamps - Delicate Snow

Stampendous Cutting Dies - Delicate Snow

Stampendous Stencil - Snowflake Cascade

Stampendous Embossing Powder - Sparkle Puff

Dreamweaver Embossing Paste - Regular

Plus:

Black inkpad

Watercolour paint

Blue and white cardstock

Colouring pencils

Stampendous Snow Wonderful!

All this week Stampendous are having a snowy week (hoping that prediction doesn't come true here in the UK!) with lots of lovely wintry projects to share with you.

I've been playing a lot more with Frantage and have to say I am totally in love with this line of products - yes it's embossing powders but SO much more, it's such a unique product line that can create a wealth of effects. I'd encourage you to have a play with it for yourself.

But I digress... I created a bauble for this week's prompt. My base is a wooden MDF bauble shape but you could always die cut a circle of chipboard and poke a hole in it. You just need something sturdy as you will be applying a lot of heat. I feel the need to give a little warning too (yes I know you're all adults but...) embossing enamel is really hot and sticky and it really, really burns if you put your fingers in it! So use caution. OK now the fun can begin.

Sorry no step pics today but here's how I created it:

1 Seal the bauble with a coat of white gesso or paint.

2 Apply a layer of embossing ink (I favour Versamark) then a layer of clear embossing enamel and heat - this creates a nice base for the rest of the embossed layers. It might be a bit lumpy but that's not a problem so keep going!

3 Now the fun bit! Ink the bauble again with embossing ink. Choose a selection Frantage enamels and sprinkle them in bits and bobs over here and there. Heat GENTLY not getting the heat tool too close. A 'hairdryer' shaped heat tool is really a must - the nozzle ones are too powerful and the powder blows away!

4 I began with a layer consisting mostly of Chunky Silver enamel with a sprinkle of other colours to help build depth. I then kept adding layers using a mix of colours sprinkled in separate patches. This piece has about 5 layers in total.

5 Once you are happy, ink up the snowflake with white pigment ink (I used Colorbox Color Pop by Susan K Weckesser) - you need to prep the stamp first as you have to work quickly. Reheat the powder well so it's really molten then press the stamp into the enamel. Push down gently to give the stamped impression some depth and leave for a few seconds to allow the enamel to set slightly.

6 Remove the stamp. Define the snowflake by dry brushing some dark blue paint (I used DecoArt Prussian Blue Hue which is a really dark, rich blue) over the raised areas. Hightlight some of the texture with a silver gilding product (I used DecoArt Metallic Lustre). Add a string and you're done.

It's not easy to explain this in words so I will try to do a video sometime to show the process in more detail. Hope you like my little bauble - he looked very pretty on my tree but would also make a nice winter hanger for a doorknob I think.

Stay warm!

Katy x

Stampendous Products Used:

Stampendous Cling Stamps: Delicate Snow
Stampendous Frantage Deep Impressions Chunky Embossing Enamel - Clear, Silver
Stampendous Frantage Embossing Enamels - Aged Teal, Aged Marine, Aged Wine, Aged Silver
Versamark Embossing Ink
White pigment inkpad
DecoArt Fluid Acrylic - Prussian Blue Hue
DecoArt Metallic Lustre - Silver Spark

You can find all the Frantage products here: http://www.stampendous.com/shop/embossing-powder/frantage-embossing-enamel/

CJS Jodi Ohl Class

I'm a little reluctant to share today because frankly I feel like this looks like the work of the average five-year-old... But I tried out the technique and trying new stuff is what CJS is all about (for me at any rate). Today's class was by Jodi Ohl, whose wonderful workshop is in no way represented by this piece!

My 'art' didn't exactly go to plan but this is the first time I've ever drawn a 'whimsical animal' (FYI - it's supposed to be an owl!) and the first time I've used my Gelatos for much except a little edging or accent colour. Jury remains out on those...I didn't find them very forgiving.

So there it is, I did it, it sucks but I tried some new stuff out and got stuck in. Proud of myself for that whilst simultaneously being ashamed of my ineptitude at drawing stuff!

At least I've probably made someone laugh today!!!

Katy x

Creative JumpStart 2017

I've started out as I mean to go on (but will probably fail to do so!) with Creative JumpStart 2017. Today's class was by the very talented Marsha Valk and totally out of my comfort zone! Initially this class made me rather nervous (it's more or less totally flat, it has doodling, the background is BLACK (I needed the smelling salts at this point), AND there are no butterflies!!). But I put on my big girl pants and had a go...

There was a lot in the class today so I picked out just a few elements to have a go at - still a couple of other things I'd like to try when I have more time. For obvious reasons I am not going into detail (it's a paid class) but I will say I used DecoArt Cobalt Teal Hue and Green Gold Media paints, DecoArt Tinting Base, a bright neon Limoncello Gelato (first time that's been out of the drawer - woo woo!) and one of Nathalie's delish stamps for Stampendous.

I thought my sentiment was rather appropriate for a first go at working over black - loving my DecoArt Media paints which pop right off that dark background! I'm actually shocked at how well this turned out and it just goes to show that there's nothing to be afraid of. OK it's not brilliant - but it's also not awful and awful is definitely what I expected!

Looking forward to tomorrow already - back to work in the morning but determined to make some arty time regardless.

Katy x