Today I wanted to share a card I made using all three of the roses I watercolored in yesterday's post/video on the Niji Waterbrush.
All of the stamps are - Just For Fun Rubber Stamps
Have a super day :)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Die-Cuts starting to arrive!
Woo Hoo!
The die-cuts are starting to arrive :)
I have rec'd die-cuts from the following people....
Jean, Suzanne & Majella!!
Thanks ladies for getting your die-cuts here so quickly...
Now I'm starting to get excited...can't wait!
If you haven't joined and you're interested there is still time to join either (or both) the
Niji Watercolor Brush
Hi All...
Several people have asked me how I color my images and/or what is my favorite way to color my stamped images....
Well the answer to both is watercolor, watercolor, watercolor!
I normally use my Niji Watercolor Brush because it is quick and so very easy to use. They are relatively inexpensive - around $5.00 - 10.00 depending on where you purchase it at. I like the Niji because the barrel is easy to fill, the tip sizes come in a nice variety of sizes and has a "regulator" (not sure the tech. term) to help control water distribution. There are also several other brands on the market that cost more or less than the Niji. Hobby Lobby has an economical set of 2 for about 5.00!
All waterbrushes work in the same way...the barrel is squeezed to wet the nib which is how you pick up and/or spread your medium. I think the best part about a waterbrush is that they can be used over and over and over. It's actually one of my favorite tools in my entire stash.
I like my waterbrush paired with Distress Inks, Distress Stains, watercolor pencils and crayons, Twinkling H20's, Perfect Pearls and other mica pigments as well as a variety of other mediums. Cindy asked me if I could please make a video showing how I go about using it with Distress Stains so I made one today which also includes watercolor pencils and crayons as well.
Hope you enjoy!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Valentine's Day Cards...
Today I wanted to share a few ideas for Valentine's Day cards....
this one is my favorite....
All cards are stamped using Just For Fun Rubber Stamps!
Other supplies include: Archival Inks, Distress Inks, Stickles Glitter Glues, Liquid Pearls, vintage sheet music, Coredinations cardstock and a few Spellbinder dies.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Gauche Alchemy #3 - Art Journal
This is the final week for me as a guest designer over at Gauche Alchemy.
This is my favorite project of the entire kit...it's an art journal I altered with lots of fun bits.
Here is a little peek at the front cover...
Head on over to Gauche Alchemy to see the entire journal.
If you'd like to win this art journal simply leave a comment on this post to be entered into the drawing... You have until 2-2-12 to enter to win.
Now for last weeks winner of this hanging ....
The winner is....
KAY!!!
Kaysaid...
I love this week's Gauche Alchemy art, Roni! You have taken pieces with a common theme and orchestrated a masterpiece! Love it!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
January Get Inked - Mermaids & Give-A-Way
First, I want to tell you how hard this is for me...
I'm not a real good sales person...
I always feel like I'm begging people to buy a product.
I guess that's why dh says I'll never be a big name in the game ~
I don't like pushing products on people.
Anyway, I put alot of time into designing stamps for the Get Inked Kit at QKD each month and this year I'm designing specifically for you!
Dh says I need to start promoting them more so here goes...
I've chosen this years themes and they have all been requests from YOU!
A few of the themes (in no particular order) are: Realistic Looking Flowers; Exotic Zoo Animals; Barns & Tractors; Women Steampunk, Day of the Dead, Home/Porch. There are several more but that gives you an idea on what's coming.
January's Get Inked Kit
is...
Mermaids!
I know the stamp on the left is hard to discern but it's an ocean view with a lighthouse in the background as you can see from the examples below.
The kit comes with the stamps and sentiments in the photo above as well as Stream Alcohol Ink and Mermaid Stickles Glitter Glue.
Starting next month I'll be sharing instructions on how to create each example I made using the kit PLUS
I'll be giving away a set of the stamps to one lucky reader.
I was going to start with January's Kit but we were working on the Technique Calendar and I didn't want to interrupt the creative flow.
SOOOO, this month I'll just be giving away a set of the stamps!
If you'd like a chance to win
simply post a comment.
You have until 2-4-12 to be entered in the drawing!
Good Luck Everyone!!
Glitter Glitter Everywhere!
Well, you all know how much I love glitter...
I had bought my youngest ds's girlfriend (and myself) some wicked cool black crackle nail polish which got us talking about different types of nail polish.
This past weekend she brought over her nail polish collection....
and this is what happened.....
I'm on the left, she's on the right -
Yes, I had to go with my colors in ROY G BIV order...
well, I had to skip yellow...not enough fingers for them all - LOL!!
Rainbow Glitter Nails!!!
It was so much fun and I love the colors....
I normally don't paint my nails because of all the paint & inks...it usually doesn't last but it is so much fun while it lasts. She's never had acrylic nails so I think that's what we're going to do for her b-day in May...and I'm going to have mine done at the same time too - LOL!!
So, have you glittered your nails recently?
I suggest you do...
it's very uplifting :)
Makes you feel like you're running around with Stickles on your fingers all day!
Almost as good as Ink on your Fingers.
Digital Collage Studio Give-A-Way
I wanted to tell you about a give-a-way going on over at
Michelle has created several new beautiful vintage rose collage sheets. As she was playing around with them she discovered that Shutterfly printed 5x7 cards so she ordered a few boxes and wants to share them with others.
So if you'd like to win a set of her vintage rose postcard greeting cards plus a digital collage sheet from her HUGE collection (first prize) or one of 5 free digital collage sheets (2-6th prize) head on over and check it out....
Deadline 2-4-12
Good Luck Friends...
Maybe one of us will win the biggie prize or a free digital collage sheet!!
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Vintage Valentine's Day Tin
I hope you're all have a wonderful week...it's finally nice here (minus the wind)...no rain, no snow and we even had a bit of sunshine this a.m....
Today I thought it would be fun to alter an altoids tin... I tell you I love those things! Anyway, I haven't messed with one for a while so I thought it would be a nice change of pace.
You're going to need your tin...
Which I sanded....
Next I cut out a few pieces of pattern paper for the front, sides and two pieces for inside....
then I painted the tin with a coat of gesso (white acrylic paint will work too).
Now it's time to glue the pattern paper pieces on to the tin...
and sand the edges...
Next I applied several colors of alcohol ink to the bottom of the tin - Latte, hazelnut & shell pink - I just smeared them around with my finger. After the AI dried I sanded the bottom to distress it a bit.
After that I decorated the inside and out! I left the inside of the lid blank...it's a nice place for a special message for your sweetie!
((mmmmm don't ya just love that vintage looking tinsel!))
And there you have it!
A super fun gift that can be made in an afternoon
(including dry times for the various mediums).
Monday, January 23, 2012
Home is Where the Heart is Tag
It's been a while since I've just been able to play so I thought it would be fun to start with a Valentine's Day tag celebrating family which is how I came up with this - Sadly, I was really just into playing and forgot to take "in the process" pics.
Supplies:
Tag
Acrylic Paint
Stiff Bristle Brush (like what we used for June's Calendar page)
Metal Foil
Hand Cut, Die-Cut or Stamped House/heart images
Instructions:
1. The first thing you'll need to do is dry brush the tag using 2-3 colors of blue and/or white. I started off with the darkest color of blue - (Sail Boat Blue) then immediately dry brushed my medium tone blue (Cloudy Blue) and finished it off with just a touch of white.
I did NOT allow the paint to dry before adding the next. This allowed me to blend the previous and current colors each time a new one was introduced to the mix.
2. After the blue background was dry I painted on some grass near the bottom of the tag.
3. Now comes a fun part...either free hand cut, die-cut or use stamps to create your house, heart, sun and cloud on metal foil. I'm using Ranger's adhesive backed foil sheets but there are many on the market so use what you have.
I created my "parts" using a bit of all three techniques... The heart is a Sizzix die-cut, the house and cloud were free-handed and the sun was a bold image stamp (sorry can't remember the mfg anymore) that I stamped on the back side of the foil.
4. Paint the individual parts with acrylic paint and let them dry.
5. Apply either black paint or black marker to the edges of each piece.
6. Now it's time to play!! Scratch up the paint using a variety of improvised tools to create different patterns and textures. This is so much fun!!!! Unlike embossing where you have a set pattern emerge these textures and patterns are totally random.
7. Glue your pieces and parts to the tag.
8. Add a ribbon and hand write a nice sentiment for your sweet "heart" on the back of the tag.
9. Brighten someone's day!
Home Is Where The Heart Is Tag
Supplies:
Tag
Acrylic Paint
Stiff Bristle Brush (like what we used for June's Calendar page)
Metal Foil
Hand Cut, Die-Cut or Stamped House/heart images
Instructions:
1. The first thing you'll need to do is dry brush the tag using 2-3 colors of blue and/or white. I started off with the darkest color of blue - (Sail Boat Blue) then immediately dry brushed my medium tone blue (Cloudy Blue) and finished it off with just a touch of white.
I did NOT allow the paint to dry before adding the next. This allowed me to blend the previous and current colors each time a new one was introduced to the mix.
2. After the blue background was dry I painted on some grass near the bottom of the tag.
3. Now comes a fun part...either free hand cut, die-cut or use stamps to create your house, heart, sun and cloud on metal foil. I'm using Ranger's adhesive backed foil sheets but there are many on the market so use what you have.
I created my "parts" using a bit of all three techniques... The heart is a Sizzix die-cut, the house and cloud were free-handed and the sun was a bold image stamp (sorry can't remember the mfg anymore) that I stamped on the back side of the foil.
4. Paint the individual parts with acrylic paint and let them dry.
5. Apply either black paint or black marker to the edges of each piece.
6. Now it's time to play!! Scratch up the paint using a variety of improvised tools to create different patterns and textures. This is so much fun!!!! Unlike embossing where you have a set pattern emerge these textures and patterns are totally random.
7. Glue your pieces and parts to the tag.
8. Add a ribbon and hand write a nice sentiment for your sweet "heart" on the back of the tag.
9. Brighten someone's day!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Valentine's Day is coming....
and here is a little guy to help get you in the mood....
Darling isn't he?
I'll start sharing a few Valentine's day ideas with you
starting on Monday :)
Hope to see you then!
Friday, January 20, 2012
2012 Technique Calendar Wrap-Up
I thought it would be nice to share links and photos of each month/technique in one area so here goes....
2012 Technique Calendar
I hope everyone has enjoyed this years calendar and the techniques I chose to use. If you've been playing along be sure to post a link to your pages in the comment section. We'd all love to see your interpretation of the techniques. Thanks to those of you that have shared your pages so far. It's been great to see how everyone is playing along and having fun!
2012 Technique Calendar - December - Sparklie Mosaic Stamping Finished Page
If you recall yesterday my Stickles were drying on the Sparklie Mosaic Stamping page I made for December. Well, today I wanted to share how it turned out after I finished it off....
This technique is just so much fun and the results are amazing.
Just think of all the fun applications and how stamping with a variety of inks could amp up any project....Halloween instantly comes to mind but it would work for b-day's, easter, 4th of july...it would work with virtually any theme or holiday.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
2012 Technique Calendar - December - Sparklie Mosaic Stamping
To finish off this years calendar I thought it would be fun to do some mosaic stamping with a sparklie twist....
Supplies:
Rubber Die Scraps
Ink
Cardstock
Glitter Glue
Instructions:
1. First you're going to need to cut up your rubber scraps to make mosaic stamps. I like to make a variety of shapes in all different sizes so I have lots to choose from. When I make my mosaic stamps I usually go with wavy, uneven edges - they are easier to cut ;) Of course you can make your mosaic stamps any shape you like.
2. Now it's time to start stamping. I usually work with 3-4 complimentary colors for my theme and just start stamping. I try to vary the shapes and colors - over lapping some and not others. It's all up to you. If you like more structure you can work in a defined pattern or you can go totally random.
Note: You will want to keep a cloth on hand to wipe off any excess ink from your stamps since you'll be using them over and over with different colors.
3. Now it's time for the sparkle! I am using Stickles Glitter Glue that matches the colors of ink I used. You could go with a clear glitter glue that would highlight the color and just add sparkle or go with the colors like I did here. If you don't have any Stickles you can always go with glue and glitter. Remember, use what you have!
2012 Technique Calendar
December
Sparklie Mosaic Stamping
Supplies:
Rubber Die Scraps
Ink
Cardstock
Glitter Glue
Instructions:
1. First you're going to need to cut up your rubber scraps to make mosaic stamps. I like to make a variety of shapes in all different sizes so I have lots to choose from. When I make my mosaic stamps I usually go with wavy, uneven edges - they are easier to cut ;) Of course you can make your mosaic stamps any shape you like.
2. Now it's time to start stamping. I usually work with 3-4 complimentary colors for my theme and just start stamping. I try to vary the shapes and colors - over lapping some and not others. It's all up to you. If you like more structure you can work in a defined pattern or you can go totally random.
Note: You will want to keep a cloth on hand to wipe off any excess ink from your stamps since you'll be using them over and over with different colors.
And here is what my mosaic looks like after stamping....
3. Now it's time for the sparkle! I am using Stickles Glitter Glue that matches the colors of ink I used. You could go with a clear glitter glue that would highlight the color and just add sparkle or go with the colors like I did here. If you don't have any Stickles you can always go with glue and glitter. Remember, use what you have!
And now mine is drying....
I'll be back tomorrow with the finished calendar page for December.
I will also share all 12 of the calendar pages in one post.
Have a wonderful day friends!!
Gauche Alchemy #2 - Beautiful Hanging
Today is week #2 of my guest month over at Gauche Alchemy!
This week's project is titled Beautiful...because of the saying I paired with the beautiful fabric swatch that was included in the kit. It had such amazing texture, color and shine...to me it looked a bit like stamped copper ~ and you know how I love copper!
So here is your sneek peek.... You can see just a bit of the fabric, along with the lace and a few other goodies... If you have time, hop on over to Gauche Alchemy and take a look at the whole thing. If you like what you see be sure to stop back over and post a comment to be entered for a chance on winning. I'll draw the winner of this hanging next week when the final project is introduced!
(Please send me your snail mail addy)
I'll be back later today with the final calendar page/technique for this years
2012 Technique Calendar!
See you then!
This week's project is titled Beautiful...because of the saying I paired with the beautiful fabric swatch that was included in the kit. It had such amazing texture, color and shine...to me it looked a bit like stamped copper ~ and you know how I love copper!
So here is your sneek peek.... You can see just a bit of the fabric, along with the lace and a few other goodies... If you have time, hop on over to Gauche Alchemy and take a look at the whole thing. If you like what you see be sure to stop back over and post a comment to be entered for a chance on winning. I'll draw the winner of this hanging next week when the final project is introduced!
and as for the winner of last weeks project....
"Sew Beautiful"
the winner is....
Vic!!!
artbyvicsaid...
I love all things sewing! You rocked your canvas!
(Please send me your snail mail addy)
I'll be back later today with the final calendar page/technique for this years
2012 Technique Calendar!
See you then!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
2012 Technique Calendar - November - Molten Pigments
I am so tickled about this technique...it is so simple but the results are stunning each and every time!!
You can use expensive glues for this technique but I have found that the cheaper the better. You want a thin white, clear drying glue and I like good old Elmers!
Also, as far as pigments go you can use just about anything you have on hand...Perfect Pearls, Pearl Ex, Artist Pigments, heck you can even use powder eye shadows if you want to!
Supplies:
Thin White Glue
Pigment Powders (Perfect Pearls, Pearl Ex, etc.)
Cardstock
Heat Tool
Paint Brush
Embellishments to finish off your calendar page.
Instructions:
1. Start off by squirting lots of glue onto your cardstock. There is no exact amount but I can tell you the more glue the more texture you will achieve. Of course keep in mind that the more glue you use the longer it will take to dry them.
2. Now sprinkle the pigment powders over the wet glue. I am using a mix of Pearl Ex, Perfect Pearls and LuminArt's Pigment Powder.
3. Now take your paint brush and swirl, mix, tamp the powders and glue around the entire page. You don't have to completely cover the cardstock...I like to leave small sections of the cardstock peeking through.
If desired after you're done spreading the glue around you can sprinkle on additional powders for a more concentrated area of color.
4. Let the glue dry for approx. 3-4 minutes. This will give it a nice skin over the surface of the glue.
5. It's time to bring on the heat! Start heating the glue with your heat tool. You will notice almost immediately that the glue starts to bubble up. This is exactly what you want to happen. The skin formed on the surface of the glue will stretch and expand when hot and once it cools will create the awesome texture of molten pigments!
Keep heating until you've dried all of the glue completely. Once you're finished heating the glue the bubbles will deflate giving you your finished texture.
Here is an "in the process" photo....
And here is how my calendar page turned out.
2012 Technique Calendar
November
Molten Pigments
You can use expensive glues for this technique but I have found that the cheaper the better. You want a thin white, clear drying glue and I like good old Elmers!
Also, as far as pigments go you can use just about anything you have on hand...Perfect Pearls, Pearl Ex, Artist Pigments, heck you can even use powder eye shadows if you want to!
Supplies:
Thin White Glue
Pigment Powders (Perfect Pearls, Pearl Ex, etc.)
Cardstock
Heat Tool
Paint Brush
Embellishments to finish off your calendar page.
Instructions:
1. Start off by squirting lots of glue onto your cardstock. There is no exact amount but I can tell you the more glue the more texture you will achieve. Of course keep in mind that the more glue you use the longer it will take to dry them.
2. Now sprinkle the pigment powders over the wet glue. I am using a mix of Pearl Ex, Perfect Pearls and LuminArt's Pigment Powder.
3. Now take your paint brush and swirl, mix, tamp the powders and glue around the entire page. You don't have to completely cover the cardstock...I like to leave small sections of the cardstock peeking through.
If desired after you're done spreading the glue around you can sprinkle on additional powders for a more concentrated area of color.
4. Let the glue dry for approx. 3-4 minutes. This will give it a nice skin over the surface of the glue.
5. It's time to bring on the heat! Start heating the glue with your heat tool. You will notice almost immediately that the glue starts to bubble up. This is exactly what you want to happen. The skin formed on the surface of the glue will stretch and expand when hot and once it cools will create the awesome texture of molten pigments!
Keep heating until you've dried all of the glue completely. Once you're finished heating the glue the bubbles will deflate giving you your finished texture.
Here is an "in the process" photo....
And here is how my glue/pigments turned out....
Can you see on the left hand side the bright blue pigment powders...those were sprinkled on after I spread the glue about the page. There is also some brown pp that I sprinkled afterwards but they are harder to see in this photo.
You need not seal the powders after you are finished heating.
If you added some powder later there may be a bit of those that are loose but the rest will be mixed and dried into the glue.
And here is how my calendar page turned out.
I am stumped at what to add to the upper portion of my house right now. I want it to be something that compliments and highlights the background yet relates to Thanksgiving... I'll keep searching, I'm sure I'll find something to stick on there.
I really hope you give this technique a try.
You will simply be amazed at the depth and texture created from two very simple products and a little bit of heat!