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Monday, July 30, 2018

Marabu Easy Marble

Happy Monday!

Today I wanted to share a fun and new to me art medium... Marabu's Easy Marble. I have to say I love this stuff.  I have always had an affinity for the marble papers found in vintage books and I've always wanted to try to make it but it was a complicated technique requiring various ingredients to make it just right.   Well, thanks to Marabu we can all make those pretty marbled papers easily!


To get started all you need are a few bottles of Easy Marble, a pan of water and something to marble.  I started out by experimenting with cardstock, bristol cardstock, tags, labels, glossy cardstock, vintage book pages, ledger sheets, sheet music, foam core board, shrink film, MDF shapes and even rocks!  They all worked great! It also works on metal, glass, plastic, and even fabric as long as it won't be washed.


Directions....

NOTE: Wear gloves or be very careful picking your items off of the water - the Easy Marble will stick to your fingers and it can be difficult to remove.  I found that an Orange Oil based cleaner works best to remove the film once it has adhered to your skin/nails.


Fill a pan with water - I used about 1 1/2" - 2"  of water in my pan - just enough to dunk whatever I wanted to marble.  If you are going to be marbling larger items you will want a deeper pan and more water.

Shake all of the colors you want to use vigorously and remove the caps.



NOTE: You must work fairly quickly from here on out.

Sprinkle your base color until it covers the water in the pan.

Note: You need to do this for more open time to work with the medium.  If you don't do this the EM will begin to form a "skin" and adding/swirling the colors after it has made the skin becomes almost impossible.



Sprinkled additional colors as desired.

You may either print as is for large splotches of color or you can swirl the colors around with a tooth pick, skewer or something similar.  I used a wood stir stick.

NOTE: you will pick up some of the medium on whatever you use to swirl the colors. It will look like a gloppy mess but a little is normal. If you pick up more than a small amount then you've taken too long and the skin has formed.  Stop when this happens otherwise you can pull all of the medium off the water with your stirrer.


Place your cardstock or other item on top of the water and give it a gentle press down until it is dunked under the water. Carefully remove it from the water.  Some people use tweezers, I just use my fingers.


Set it aside to dry.

That's it...it is so easy and with 22 colors the combinations are endless!  After just a couple hours of play I ended up with a whole pile of fun pieces to use in my art plus a couple nifty stones, a couple pieces of MDF to decorate my room and a piece of really cool shrink film.

This is just a small sampling of the amazing pieces I made....


This is shrink film!!  It works amazingly well.


MDF Indiana piece - I'm seein' a Cubs state of mind here ;)


White, Silver and Gold...really pretty IRL.


I worked on several Halloween color combos...




This was made with Autumn in mind but it almost looks Christmasy too.


Blues & purples


Turquoise, green, pink and purple.


The next 3 are Rinea Silver foiled paper!  
This is Silver/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper.


Silver/Silver Starstruck Foiled Paper


And Silver/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper


Christmas colors of red, green and gold.


and a bit of Valentine's Day in pinks, reds, silver.

This stuff is just soooooooo much fun...you could spend hours just coming up with various color combos to try.  I sure did!  I had to stop a couple times in order to let stuff dry.  I kept running out of room to put the wet stuff - LOL!!


Steampunk Inspiration

Time is running short on the "No Body Here" challenge at Lost Coast Designs.  You have just today and tomorrow to enter your creation.


I made this card/tag with the challenge in mind. I love the steampunk stamps available at Lost Coast and this mechanical horse is one of my favorites. I smudged up the tag for a bit of a vintage feel.  The background was created by tearing bits of Rinea foiled paper and layering them onto a piece of cardstock. Once the cardstock was covered I ran it through in a gear embossing folder.

I love how it turned out and can't wait to send it on it's way!

Be sure to stop by and add your creation to the challenge -


Supplies:

Lost Coast Designs - Steampunk Mechanical Horse; Words
Rinea Copper/Gold Glossy; Mocha/Gold Glossy; Silver/Gold Glossy; Ebony/Gold Glossy Foiled Papers
Imagine - VersaFine Clair; Sponge Daubers
Tag
Fibers
Sizzix - Embossing Folder

Friday, July 27, 2018

Art Supply Exchange Announcement!!

Hey friends!  


Don't know if you've heard it or not but recently Etsy made lots of changes to their policies (with more to come) and raised their fees...as if they didn't make enough on you already!  When I opened my store, my original goal was to find and sell vintage ephemera and other goodies that folks (myself included) could use in their art at a reasonable price.  Well with all the new fees a reasonable price is no longer feasible.  So after 9 years of selling I decided to close my shop.


You know when they say one door closes another opens - I decided to start a facebook group where anyone could buy, sell or trade their new or used art supplies and ephemera!  It's called...


Right now it's in it's infancy with just a few members and only a couple items for sale but I'm hoping that you will help me spread the news and join in on the fun.  Please feel free to go on over, answer 2 really easy questions and join!  Also if you could share the link with your artsy minded friends that would be awesome.

I'm going to start photographing all of the goodies I have available 
and start posting more soon :)

Hope to see you there!!

Thursday, July 26, 2018

Ocean Babies

Playin' with some new peg stamps today...Ocean Babies!

These little devils are so cute, they make really fun cards...


Having fun mixing up colors with a blue octopus baby, a green lobster, pink whale and orange seahorses which isn't really a stretch since some of them are on the orange side.  I almost never use orange but I really wanted to do something a bit different.  I think it turned out pretty good.


A fun underwater scene.  All of the foliage & coral are different peg stamps just arranged unexpectedly. 


Pairs of babies...the background is a lovely 

Supplies:
Rubber Stamp Tapestry - Ocean Babies, Whispers from the Garden 
Imagine - VersaFine Clair, Memento Dye Inks, VersaMagic (chalk ink), Sheer Shimmer Spritz - Sparkle
Rinea - Turquoise/Turquoise Starstruck Foiled Paper
Sizzix - Sentiment Dies
Cardstock
Twine

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Golden Seashell Necklaces....

Happy Day Everyone!

Today I wanted to share my latest creations....
Golden Shell Necklaces!


They were created with this month's color of choice over at Imagine...
Golden Glow.

The inside and out were colored using a mix of All Purpose Inks...gold for the inside of course and a variety of colors out.



They can be worn either with the color showing or the mermaid/octopus out.

For information on how these shells were made, please see ~


Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Faux Ormolu Glass Bottle

You all know how much I love vintage goodies well today I have a fun project I made using Rinea foiled paper paired with a vintage glass bottle and Imagine's StazOn Studio Glaze.  Check it out....


Ormolu is the term used to describe gilt brass on decorative art objects from the 18th and 19th centuries also known as fire gilding. I decided to create a bit of faux ormolu on this very cool vintage glass bottle I found recently at a flea market.


Wash the bottle to remove any foreign dirt, debris and oils from the surface.


Use an Ink Blusher to apply a coat of Blue Hawaii StazOn Studio Glaze to the surface of the bottle.


After the bottle has dried you will have a lovely cloudy semi translucent "glaze".
It brings to mind the look of sea glass.


Die-cut 3-4 sheets of Gold/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper using desired filigree dies.
(These dies are from the Spellbinders monthly die club.)


Remove the die-cut foiled papers from the machine and carefully peel each piece apart.
Depending on the die you may have more or less embossed areas than others.
Keep this in mind for placement. I used the highly embossed pieces (those closest to the front of the die) for prominent areas and the less embossed (3 & 4th die cut layers) in areas that the embossing wouldn't be as noticeable (sides & back).


Run all of the pieces through the Xyron Sticker Maker.


Carefully peel off the foiled filigree pieces and apply them to the bottle as desired.


The results are stunning!
It looks like the bottle is encased in a gilt filigree cage.


I finished off the jar with this very elaborate antique perfume bottle stopper.

Supplies:

Imagine - StazOn Studio Glaze - Blue Hawaii; Ink Blusher
Xyron Sticker Maker
Antique Glass Jar, Bottle Stopper
Faux Gemstones
Wire


Sunday, July 22, 2018

Not My Monkey....

The current challenge on the Lost Coast Designs blog is
"No Body Here"
translated...no humans allowed!

I am so excited to share this card with you...
I have been bursting with excitement ever since I made it! 


I stamped the monkey face onto a piece of white cardstock and he was masked over.  I then wrote over and over "That moment you realize this is your circus and these are your monkies." on the background.  I stamped the "Not My Circus" sentiment several times over the writing then removed the mask.  

I then set about coloring him with Prismacolor colored pencils and I extended his hair a bit with the colored pencils just to give him a bit of a frazzled look...how I feel sometimes  - LOL!!  

I have to say I am so pleased with how cool he turned out! 
That look on his face is priceless!  

I hope you'll join us for the
No Body Here Challenge!

Monday, July 16, 2018

Scor-Pal Card - Lemon Friends

It's been a while since I pulled my Scor-Pal out so I decided to use it on a card I made yesterday...


I scored lines on a diagonal every 1/2" one way then flipped it over and scored them the other way. I then stamped images from Rubber Stamp Tapestry's Fresh Lemonade stamp set in the little cells. As I was stamping I kept turning the paper a 1/4 turn so that the images were stamped in various directions.  Helps make it a bit more random and not so static.

The sentiment is from the Whispers from the Garden set.

Supplies:

Rubber Stamp Tapestry - Fresh Lemonade, Whispers from the Garden
Imagine - VersaFine Clair 

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Give Something Away Day

Did you know that tomorrow is Give Something Away Day?  It is so I made these fun friendship stones to give-away...  I was inspired by the Kindness Rock movement...artists decorate rocks and leave them places for others to find. I thought I'd place a few around our town square to see if anyone finds them.


You can check out the Imagine blog post - 
for a supply list and instructions.



Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Squeeze the Day!

Happy Day Friends!

It's time to squeeze the day ;)  LOL!!


This weeks challenge over at the Just Us Girls Challenge blog is Citrus.
It just so happens that I have a brand new set of stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry that fits the bill perfectly... Fresh Lemonade and a sentiment from the set - Whispers from the Garden.


To create the card I started by stamping the flower as a base for each cluster. I then stamped the lemons and limes, filled in with the large leaf bunch. I made a little lemon mask and then stamped the small leaf cluster here and there using the mask over the adjoining lemon/limes. 
Easy peasy, lemon squeezey!  (sorry, couldn't resist!)


What do you think?

Makes me thirsty for a Lemon Shake-Up!  I've been experimenting lately...I made a Strawberry Lemon Shake-Up the other day and it was exquisite!  I'm thinkin' it's time to try a Lemon-Blueberry Shake-Up?!?!

I was having so much citrus fun I decided to make another card....


I started off by tracing an oval onto the card.  I stamped along the left side then added a bit of watercolor along the right side.  After it had dried I stamped the sentiment, trimmed & mounted it toa green card base.

Have a sweet day!


Supplies:

Rubber Stamp Tapestry - Fresh Lemonade, Whispers from the Garden
Imagine - VersaFine Clair Inks
Cardstock
MFT - Banner Dies

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

B is for Butterfly!

Hello Friends - I have been playing with my Marabu Art Crayons again experimenting with backgrounds. Today I wanted to share the card I made using one of those experiments...  I also made this card for the current challenge over on the Lost Coast Designs/Carmen's Veranda which is... #56 I Spy...Things That Start With "B".

Stamps: Lost Coast Designs - Butterfly Set, Art Wings Sentiment

Since I knew I wanted to make a butterfly card I wanted a background that would mimic the light and shadows you see where butterflies play...in among the foliage in the garden. Here's what I did...

I started off with a piece of white cardstock that was a bit larger than the actual size of the card panel I wanted to use.  

I started off by scribbling Sunshine Yellow in scattered areas over the panel. 

Next I came in with Kiwi then Apple (both greens) and finally just a hint of Turquoise.  

As I mentioned I was experimenting so initially I tried to blend it all together with first a sponge dauber then a baby wipe but it just didn't give me the look I was going for - it ended up being just a big green blob.  Into the ??? pile.

So then I started over layering the colors in the same fashion but then I blended the colors gently with my finger tip and it looked pretty good.  

Next I took a crazy net looking stencil and placed it over one corner for a test to see if I could pick up some of the color to give lighter and darker areas.  It worked perfectly so I continued to pick up color in just small areas to create a random pattern rather than the exact stencil image. I was able to pull up some of the greens leaving the lighter green and yellows behind to give the exact look I wanted.


I am so happy with how it turned out...that's what I love about experimenting.  I also have several other "experiments" that I can use on other projects or maybe even a few Artist Trading Coins!

Hope this inspires you to pull out your watercolor crayon medium and give it a go.  And if you're so inclined it would be awesome if you would join in the fun over on the Creative Portal and share your "B" inspired card!


Image may contain: 1 person, text

Challenge #56 - I Spy Things That Start with "B"

Supplies:

Lost Coast Designs - Butterfly Set, Art Wings to Fly
Imagine - VersaFine Clair Nocturne
Marabu - Art Crayons
Stencil
Double Stick Foam Adhesive
Green Card Blank

Monday, July 9, 2018

Star Spangled Patriotic Wreath

Are you ready to get your Red, White and Blue on?

I sure am with this fun and easy patriotic Star Spangled Wreath....


It's so easy to make using Rinea's Patriotic Foiled Paper Variety Pack, just cut out the stars, add score lines and pinch the star into a 3-D delight!  For complete instructions, please see my post on the Rinea blog here: 3-D Star Spangled Wreath by Roni.


A couple more close up images of those lovely stars....
don't ya just love that shine, shimmer and sparkle?


Made using the Limited Edition 

Rinea Patriotic Foiled Paper Variety Pack