Put a stencil on it!

Happy new year to you all!  It's the start of a brand new year and I'm filled with plenty of optimism that it is going to be a very crafty one indeed.  There is much excitement as we welcome a new member Lynne Erskine Forsythe to the team.  It's the first of the month so to set you all off here is the first challenge for Mixed Media Monthly challenge.  

 

  Our very generous sponsors, Stencil Girl, sent me 3 fabulous stencils to play with.  Our guest designer is non other than Mary Beth Shaw so be sure to pop over to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog to see what wonderful creations Mary and the rest of our amazing team have made.  There will be a $25 gift certificate for our lucky winner,  just think of the fun to be had with those fabulous stencils! 

             

Stencils are versatile crafty tools with oodles of uses the hardest part of this challenge was deciding which way to use them.

 I chose to get out the paints along with the gelli plate.  Selected my colour pallet using a variety of paints which included a metalic gold and set off printing lots and lots of yummy prints ready to collage onto a canvas.  

 

I selected the prints that I was going to use and applied them to the canvas using Matt medium.

Once my collage pieces were glued down I knocked back the entire piece with some white paint before spritz in with some vibrant turquoise Dylusions ink.  From the flowery prints I die cut 3 circles and collages them on with matt medium.  

 

I added some shading to the circles and the collage pieces using a black neocolourII crayon and highlights with some white and gold metalic paint.

 

Finally I added some texture paste through the flowery stencil along with some treasured gold to give a metallic finish.    

So now I'm handing over to you!  Time to put a stencil on it and head over to the MMMC blog to check out the rules and submit your entries.

Happy crafty new year to you all,

New year hugs,

Clare X X X 

Winter Warmers

Good morning all,  just a quick post to remind you there is still time to take part in this months  Mixed Media Monthly  Challenge.  Pop over to the the blog  to check out the rules and submit your entries and  as it is the season of goodwill there are some fabulous prizes up for grabs so be sure to enter your merry makes!

Eileen Hull, our sponsor for this month,  very kindly provided us with some die cut boxes.  For my second project I visualised the delightful tray full of seasonal treats.

In this  design  I used  Decoart fluids (turquoise) once again but this time I chose to work with the Decoart crackle paste.  I went for a mega crackle and applied weathered wood before applying a layer of the paste.  Once dry  I painted on a layer of antiquing cream  and rubbed back to reveal my frosty offering.  I trimmed the box with some die cut snow flakes and some sparkly stickers.  I couldn't resist adding some stickles to give some more twinkle to the project.  The title was applied and the little box was filled with sachets of  hot chocolate and festive treats.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by.  It is such a busy time of year so I really do appreciate it.  I'm really looking forward to the holidays (lots of crafty time) and I'll  be back soon to share some more craftyness!

Crafty hugs,

Clare X X X 

     
   

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #31. Merry & Bright

Good morning all,  I'm bringing with me some good cheer today and sharing with you the latest theme for the  Mixed Media Monthly Challenge

 

Our sponsor this month is Eileen Hull and this months lucky winner will be receiving one of Eileen's fantastic dies.  Our Design team member Lisa is also on Eileen's design team so be sure to pop over to the MMMC BLOG to check out the makes Lisa and the rest of our talented team!

  I painted my die cut box with a layer of Decoart media fluid Paynes Grey and added a layer of weathered wood medium.   

                                                                

Over the top of the weathered wood medium I added some Decoart crackle paint,  waited for it to dry and watching the crackles appear.  Once dried I applied a coloured layer of quinacradone gold and red.  

  Through a TCW stencil I sponged on some Decoart metalic gold.  I splattered on some white paint to create a snowy atmosphere.  Once dry I constructed the box with double sided tape.  I had already prepared some dictionary pages using the Decoart reds and a Tim Holtz stencil.  I applied these to the bottom of my box using Matt medium.  Using Canvas Corp papers I cut out some triangles to turn into christmas trees.  I added some liquid pearls to my little trees, some ribbon and a sentiment to the lid of my box.  

 

Well that's one of my projects for this months challenge, now it's your turn!  Head over to the blog to capture some more inspiration, check out the rules and submit your entries.

Happy christmas crafting.

Hugs,

Clare X X X   

Take time to smell the flowers

Well it's been far too long since I wrote a blog post for myself.  I love crafting, painting and generally just getting into a painty inky state but usually I am governed by a theme for a challenge so this project was all about me letting loose, having a play and experimenting.  Tonight I opened up a packet of ginormous tags and began my personal challenge of filling the blank card stock with colour and imagery.

I cracked open my gelli plate and began brayering with Paperartsy fresco  paints.  Using orchid, Bora Bora, Egg plant, sherbet and a handful of stencils I began to create my colourful layers onto the tag.  I even managed to make full use of the left overs on the plate and pulled some prints for future use.  

With a TCW stencil and some black soot distress ink I blended on some stars, circles and hexagons.  I also blended around the edge of the tag.

Onto some watercolour paper I stamped the images designed by Tracy Scott for Paperartsy and using the watered down colours Bora Bora, Egg plant & Orchid I painted the blooms.  Once dry I splattered them with some white and again with my chosen colour palette.  I fussy cut the flowers ready to assemble to the tag.

I attached my frenzy of flowers to my tag adding some stickles here and there along with a few sequins.  

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you have enjoyed my post?  If you have feel free to leave a comment below and if you fancy having a peep and what I get upto next why not click on the follow link at the top of the page.

Happy crafting,

Clare X X X 

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #30 colour inspiration

You Good morning all!  1st of the month again, isn't this year flying by?  Here is another fabulous challenge for you from Mixed Media Monthly Challenge, this month challenge is colour.

Our Guest Designer this month is Suzanne Czosek and the challenge has been sponsered by Funkie Junkie Boutique, they have put together a fabulous prize package together for this months challenge.

So let me share with you how I made this months project.  I decided that this fo this months challenge I was going to work in my small art journal. My starting point was adding a rough coat of gesso to the pages.   I wanted to use all of the colours from the pallet so with Paperartsy fresco paints Slate & Toad hall I loaded them onto my pages using a brayer.  

Using a brayer again, I added some melted chocolate Dylusions.  With some stencils and white paint I went over my brayered paint.

Brayering again with buff titanium and a small amount of coral/ orange I then added some more stencilling.

Using Paperartsy stamps by Tracey Scott I stamped some background stamping in white.

Using my mini gelli plate and some card I printed some orange backgrounds,  these were going to be my flowers.

Once  I had stamped my flowers onto the page and cut out the orange buds I  decided that the orange blooms  looked a little lost on such a bold page so I decided to bring in some turqoise to lift the main images forward.  On some card, using Bora Bora I made some more flowers and stamped some of the bumps.

I added some doodles to my journal page and with black ink I stamped Hazy Days as the background I had created reminded me of one of those beautiful autumnal hazy days packed with rich,  earthy color. 

To some of the blooms and clouds I added some glossy accents to give a little dimension and also some pearly dots.  

Now it's your turn,  head over to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge for some more incredible inspiration from the rest of the team,  read the rules and submit your entry.  Have fun playing with this months colour challenge!

Crafty hugs,

Clare X X X 

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Mood Board

Hello all, I hope you have all had a fantastic weekend?  I have just updated my blog to remind you that there is still plenty of time for you to join in with this months challenge

There is a fabulous prize of $30 from Stampotique to spend so head over to the MMMC blog for more inspiration and submit your entry.  Now although our mood board has a spooky theme there is a fantastic array of colour which is what I have used for today's project.

I started off by applying white acrylic paint through a variety of stencils.  Once this had dried I applied festive berries, wild honey and peacock feathers distress inks over top, I love how the acrylic pops through the distress inks like magic!

After I'd finished with the bright distress inks I blended around the edges with pumice stone distress inks to add a little more depth.  

Onto some water colour card I stamped Stampotique's Birdy up, by Kira Nichols and coloured with Neocolour II crayons and a water brush.  I added some dots to the birds using a White posca pen.  I penned directly onto the card (after a practise) a line for the birdies to perch and finally added my feathered friends to their positions.

Now it's your turn!  I can't wait to see your entry for this months challenge.  See you soon.

Crafty hugs,

Clare X X X

Fall Ball 2016

You You Hi folks it's the first of the month so that can only mean one thing.......Mixed Media Monthly Challenge new challenge!  This months challenge is a mood board

  

You've got it,  it's a Halloween theme and our sponsors for this month are none other than Stampotique Originals.  They are giving our winner $30 gift certificate !

                          

So to start you off with a little inspiration here is my make for this months challenge.  I wanted my
journal pages to have a photo album feel.  Using Decoart paints I created a master board with stencils and Kate Cranes doodle cube stamp.  I also made a journal page using the same paints, slightly different stencils.

I wasn't happy with my original page so I saved this for a different project.

I chopped up my master board into squares and layered them onto white card to give the appearance of Polaroid photos.

I customised some photo corners using the co-ordinating paints and a brayer.

The Stampotique characters were stamped onto watercoloured card and coloured with Neocolour II crayons.  I fussy cut them out and placed them onto the Polaroid.

 

I added some shading behind the characters with a black Neocolour II crayon and water brush.

Now with the colours that I had used  there wasn't a huge Halloween influence so I decided to document what they got up to at the Fall Ball.   I typed this up,  printed out and arranged in my journal.  

I added some doodles to my pages with a white and black pen.

My Stampotique photo album page was complete!  I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had planning and making this project!

Now it's your turn!  Head over to the Mixed Media Monthly challenge, check out some more fabulous inspiration and submit your entries!

Crafty hugs,

Clare X X X