I Couldn't Stand It

I blogged this house last week (the post is HERE if you didn't see it), and I said I used the large flourished heart but when it was finished I wished I had used the small one.  

Well it's been sitting on my counter and I would cringe every time I saw it because the heart was just too big, so I ripped the heart off as best I could, put new paste on and added the smaller heart and now it looks like this.  Much better!!!

Distress Paint and Adirondack Blending Solution

So when I got done with the 6 x 8 canvas I had 3 flowers left over I hadn't used and thought I should.  

I also had 3 tags laying in my work area that I had been trying something out on and decided to use one of those.  These are the 3 tags.  The coloring is done with Distress Paints and Adirondack blending solution.  For the first tag I sprayed the tag with well with water, added salty ocean and wild honey DP, blended it a bit with my finger, dripped on blending solution (more like shook it from the bottle so it fell in drips), and dried the tag. *the paint needs to be wet when you drip on the blending solution and not too thick which is why the tag is sprayed with water*  For the second tag (and it's the one I decided to use) I painted the tag with weathered wood DP, let it dry completely, sprayed it with water, added chipped sapphire DP, and shook on the blending solution.  For the 3rd tag, I had used picked raspberry, let it dry, added salty ocean and wild honey, dripped on the blending solution and went, "duh, I forgot the water", tried to add water, didn't really work at that point, dried it, then sprayed with water, added weathered wood DP and dripped on the blending solution.   

To finish the tag, I stamped some Wendy Vecchi images.  The flourish is embossed with white powder that isn't a bright white.  The honeycomb is stamped with Adirondack pigment snow cap.  The edges of the tag are distressed using Tim's paper distresser.  "create" is embossed into Ten Second Studio metal using one of their molds and I used a wheel around the edge... sanded the raised areas, lightly brushed on chipped sapphire DP paint over the word keeping the paint mostly inside of the "wheeled area", dried it, sanded it again.  I used weathered wood and chipped sapphire paint on each of the flowers, heated and shaped each flower, stacked them together, made hole and put a small brad through them all, glued it to the tag and finally added a Blossom Bucket piece to the center.  Oh, I almost forgot.. I stamped Wendy's flower border image along the bottom right with snow cap ink before adding the metal piece - it kind of blends in but adds a nice extra detail. 

6" x 8" Mixed Media Canvas

Another canvas swap with a small group of friends, this one was sent to Lori.  I totally loved this canvas when I was done with it - so much that I might have to make one for myself.  I also find that I really enjoy making canvases.

I began by stenciling leaves (Wendy Vecchi Studio 490) on the canvas with white embossing paste (Wendy Vecchi)... I stenciled one or two leaf stems, let them dry, did another one or two, let them dry, etc. until I had it covered.  Then I gessoed the whole canvas.  Next I sprayed it with water and then started adding Distress paint.... I either sprayed more water or blotted some off as I went whatever was needed to allow the colors to blend but not blend too much.  Let the paint air dry and it was beautiful but I wanted the colors to be a bit darker so I sprayed with water and added paint again just like the first time and let it dry.  Next I stenciled little circles (A Crafter's Workshop stencil - mini circle explosion) in between the leaves and on the sides of the canvas with a heavy bodies acrylic paint and let it dry.  Randomly stamped Wendy's text image with Archival Ink.  Used my finger to add Viva Inka Gold in old gold to the edges and over the leaves catching some of the high spots but also getting some on some of the low spots.  The flowers --  I used Glue 'n Seal to glue pages from an old Gregg Shorthand book to Wendy's Clearly For Art, enough to cut Tim's tattered floral's die 3 times.  Then I used Distress Paint to color the flowers and Archival Ink to stamp Wendy's small weed image along the edges of the petals.  Cut, heated, and formed the flowers. I added small holeless gold beads to the centers of the little flowers.  The leaves -- Another Wendy stamp.  I stamped 3 of them onto grungepaper, cut them out, painted them with Distress paint on both sides, stamped various Wendy backgrounds onto the leaves with Archival Ink, drew the black lines with a Pitt pen.  The words -- Wendy stamps again.  I painted manila cardstock with Distress Paint, stamped with Archival Ink and cut them out.  The butterfly -- Yes, another Wendy stamp.  I cut a piece of grungepaper large enough to stamp the butterfly on, painted it with Distress Paints, let them dry, stamped the butterfly with Archival Ink, and cut it out.  I also painted the back  

Below is the wonderful canvas I received from Trent!!!!  It's 8" x 10". 

Another Butterfly ATC

Another ATC made a couple weeks ago for our in-person swap.  Corrugated cardboard, embossing paste, sprays, gold mesh, a collage sheet butterfly, a piece of black wire for the antena, Sizzix die cut leaves, Tim Holtz die cut letters colored and Glossy Accents added to the top, Viva Inka Gold rubbed around the edges. 

Butterflies

Two more atcs made a couple weeks ago for our in-person swap.  Distress paints in the background.  Wendy Vecchi's leaf stencil with embossing paste and colored when dry, random text stamping in the background, Stubby Stampers flower peg stamp along the bottom embossed with Adirondack EP, and a butterfly postage stamp.

Filled With Love and Laughter

I've used another of Quietfire's newest stamps from the Home - Congratulations set.  The house pieces are Wendy Vecchi Art Parts.  I painted the full house shape (it extends behind the triangle piece) with Distress Ink antique linen putting a couple of coats on the area that would be seen with the bricks.  After it was dry I used Wendy's brick stencil and stencil paste to add the bricks and let it dry.  I then laid the stencil back on and painted the bricks with Distress Paint picked raspberry, removed the stencil and let the house dry.  For both the rafter/overhang piece and the triangle piece (oh, and I'm sure I don't really have these pieces put together right as with a house the triangle piece would not be on top of the overhang) I first coated them with Adirondack pigment ink snow cap, let that dry and then put Distress Ink vintage photo over it and let it dry... then I decided I didn't really want to go that way and painted the overhang piece with picked raspberry DP and for the triangle I thought it'd be really cool to add a Quietfire flourishing inside heart embedded in embossing paste.  I stamped the larger heart with Archival Ink magenta hue onto a scrap of manila card (now that it's finished, I wish I had used the smaller heart) and cut it out.  I mixed antique linen DP with some white paste, smeared it on the triangle, pressed the heart into it and added texture to the paste with the end of my pallet knife.  May your home be filled with love is stamped onto manila card, edged with magenta hue ink and then roughed up with the Distressing tool.  The on-the-edge fence was cut from manila card, painted with snow cap Distress Paint and inked a bit with vintage photo DI.  The flowers are yellow paper flowers with a bit of ripe persimmon DI sponged on and Liquid Pearls copper for the center.  The leaves are a Punch Bunch punch. 

Another 4x4 Mixed Media Canvas

I had so much fun making the last canvas (This post) that I immediately set about to make another one as a birthday gift for a sweet girl that turned 18 last month.  I've used embossing paste, A Crafter's Workshop stencils, various acrylic paints, a Sizzix leaves die, a butterfly stamp from Quietfire Design, white and black Sharpie paint markers, and the scripture is computer generated.  

Angels Unawares

Quietfire Design has a new set of stamps called Home - Congratulations and they are currently 25% off.  This tag uses one of the stamps.  I put Distress Stains picked raspberry and squeezed lemonade on my craft sheet, sprayed on a little water and dipped the tag in it swirling a bit, dried it, dipped it again in the left overs (no swirling), blotted some of it off, dried it again, wiped up the craft sheet, lightly dabbed squeezed lemonade on the craft sheet several times (this made lots of little dots of color), pressed my tag straight down on the dots, picked it up, dried it, flicked on some water, blotted the tag and dried it.  I stamped the quote with Archival Ink jet black and dried it.  Stamped the small butterfly (Butterflies/Dragonflies set of stamps) here and there on the tag with Distress Ink spiced marmalade and dried it.  Repeated stamping but this time with Distress Ink picked raspberry.  Colored a scrap of manila card with spiced marmalade and squeezed lemonade stain, dried it, stamped the butterfly with picked raspberry ink, dried it, cut it out, went around the edge with a black Pitt pen, added pearls to the center and attached it to the tag with foam mounting tape.  Cut the butterfly on the edge die from manila card, trimmed it to fit, colored the butterflies with picked raspberry stain, both sides, dried it, inked around the edges of the butterflies with vintage photo ink, attached it to the tag with double stick tape along the bottom and foam mounting tape behind the butterflies to give some dimension and added the pearls.  Colored the ribbon with picked raspeberry and squeezed lemonade stain.  

Gingko Biloba

Some atcs made for a recent in-person swap.  The backgrounds are all cut from a mop-up piece I had... probably a few layers of Dylusion sprays.  The leaves and words are a set of Quietfire Design stamps.  I embossed the leaves with Stamp Zia's black sparkle embossing powder (there is just a little sparkle which was perfect), added water inside, let it sit and blotted it up to remove color and then colored them in with green.  The words were stamped with Archival Ink jet black.  A Pitt pen for the black doodling on the border and a white gel pen for the white line and dots. 

One day.... began.

 A journal page!!  It was fun!!  I don't have any background in painting but am interested and am starting to venture.  I thought I'd try to do a flower and I further challenged myself to use the Distress Paint applying it using the dabber top, not a brush.  I did pull in a finger now and then to remove paint such as when I was making the stem and got green on the flower because it was too difficult to get that little spot by the flower with the dabber top.  Otherwise the flower and the orange around it were done completely with the dabber top.  The diamonds are a Wendy Vecchi stencil and I started using the dabber top and switched to my finger for less bleeding under the stencil.  I used a Stabilo pencil to add definition to the edge of the flower and one side of the stem and leaf and a white gel pen for the other side of the stem and leaf and on the border.  The quote was written with a Pitt pen.  I'm rather pleased with my first freehand painted flower.  Distress Paint used... picked raspberry, spun sugar, mustard seed, vintage photo, mowed lawn, bundled sage, black soot.

#10s

A couple of birthday tags!!  These tags are the large #10 (*Update... oops, they are #12 tags) Ranger tags, they measure 5 1/8" x 10 1/2".  

This first tag has layers of paint splashed with alcohol in the background.  The stamping in the background is done with Archival Ink and there are both Wendy Vecchi and Tim Holtz stamps used.  The pointing finger, birthday sentiment and stitch stamps are all Wendy Vecchi.  I have actually stitching around the edge of the tag.  Lots of Alterations die cuts and the little leaves are a Sizzix die.  On the dress form is Distress crackle paint - also on one of the spools.  The flowers have Distress acrylic paint on them.  

The second tag has Distress Paints in the background.  I did Tim's technique of putting the paints on the craft sheet, adding water and pressing and swirling the tag in the mix.  I also took some of the watery paint on my fingers and flicked it on - very cool!!!  After that all dry I used Wendy's paste and leaves stencil to add the leaves in the top left and let it dry.  I then added more of the same leaves stenciling them with Archival Ink.  Color added on to the paste.  The happy birthday around the edges is a Inkadinkado stamp.  Alterations dies for the birds, words, and car.  Pewter stain on the words, dried, and then some black soot Distress ink. Distress paint on the car and Pewter stain on the accents.  Snow cap pigment ink on the birds, dried, and then Distress ink.

A Designer of Dreams

A fun, bright card!!!!  All the stamps are Wendy Vecchi Studio 490.  The background is Distress Paints.  Tim marble technique where you put the paints on the craft sheet, spray with water, swipe your paper through the paint (I used Ranger's manila cardstock), and dry spraying on extra water as needed for more blending/swirling of color.  Next I laid on Wendy's polka dotty stencil and stamped through the circles Wendy's number background using Archival Ink monarch orange.  The current challenge on the EverythingWendyVecchi Yahoo group is to stamp through a stencil.  Next I stamped the flowers and the sentiment with Archival jet black.  I decided the sentiment needed to pop more so I stamped it again offset a little and embossed it with white powder (it's really more of an off-white, don't know what kind it is).  To give the background more variety I put the polka dotty stencil back on covering the numbers so the cirlces were off-set from before and sponged some white paint here and there and then I stamped Wendy's text image with Archival magenta hue just getting here and there with that.  I stamped part of the small weed image around the edge like a border and finally added doodling around the edge and in the flowers with a white pen.

I'm also entering this in Simon Says Stamp and Shows challenge, Colors and Inspiration Emporium's challenge, Marvelous Masks and Spectacular Stencils.  

My Portion

I had a great time making this card!!!  I've used Wendy Vecchi's brick stencil and acrylic paint for the background.  After the paint was dry I rubbed on Distress Ink for the color in-between the bricks.  The flower is one of Wendy's Art Parts - that would be two art parts as the flower and the stem/leaves are two different pieces - and the matching flower stamp.  I painted the flower art part, then stamped and embossed the flower image onto it  and finally added some white to the center with a Sharpie paint marker.  The stem/leaves are painted and then stamped with Wendy's speckled background image.  A piece of tissue tape tinted with paint.  The scripture is an Our Daily Bread Designs stamp.  The butterfly is metal with paint added to it. 

I am entering this in Inspiration Emporiums April Challenge which is Marvelous Masks and Spectacular Stencils.

A Woman....

A quick card for a wonderful lady.  Paper - DCWV Ciao Bella - for both the background and the piece stamped with the scripture (Our Daily Bread Designs). Spellbinders Labels Seventeen.  Distress ink for edging. Martha Stewart butterfly punch and couple sticky back pearls.

Peacock Feathers

The theme was Turquoise and/or Circles and these are the ATCs I made for a mail-in swap with my local group.  The background is Distress Paints.  The peacock feathers are embossing paste through The Crafter's Workshop JulieFei-Fan Balzer 6x6 stencil allowed to dry, Perfect Pearls brushed on and set with a couple spritzes of water, some shading on the center feather with a black pencil.  White dots done with a Sharpie paint marker.  An Idea-ology piece to finish it off.  

Serenity

Hello!!!!!!!!  I'm finally getting around to using one of Quietfire Design's stamp releases from last month.  You can see all three new stamps HERE.  

I started with a 'mop-up' paper I had...  I recently saw someone (so sorry I can't remember who) call a paper they had used to pick-up extra color off a craft sheet when working on a project a mop-up piece and I love the terminology.... and that is what most of my background is - a mop-up piece.  All the color (I know this because if I look at the back it started as a white piece of cardstock) is from mop-up,  mostly likely Dylusions sprays and also Perfect Pearl Sprays (I can see the Perfect Pearls when the paper is tipped).  All I added to the background is Dylusions white linen to soften the color a bit.  I sprayed it through a stencil, did not blot up the extra (this allowed it bleed out a bit) and dried it and then also sponged some around the edges and dried it.  I stamped the quote with Archival Ink jet black on a semi-gloss piece of white cardboard (I got a whole box of this cardboard at a garage sale a closing business was having... yay), dried it and die cut with Spellbinders Labels Seventeen.  Sprayed that piece with Dylusions fresh lime, blotted up the extra and dried it.  Applied Distress Ink pine needles around the edge using a blending tool.  Colored in the leaves with a Tombow marker.  The leafy vines are a Sizzix die, die cut from manila card, sprayed with Dylusions and water, dried and then I used a stylus to press a line down the center of each leaf.  The large flower is Tim Holtz Sizzix Alteration Tattered Florals die cut from manila card, sprayed with Perfect Pearls, dried and Distress Ink Victorian Velvet sponged around the edges.  The yellow flower started as This white flower then sprayed with Dylusions lemon zest and then Perfect Pearls Mist sunflower sparkle.  A letter brad added to the center.  

Grow - Be You

A journal page.  The background has sopped up sprays - I think Dylusions and Perfect Pearls - and then some yellow acrylic paint - I had too much on my craft sheet after a project and so just smeared some on with my finger.  The large flower and dots stencil is from the Stencil Girl March kit with acrylic paint, gel pen and Sharpie paint markers, regular and glitter.  Grow is die cut letters from grungepaper colored with Sharpie paint markers.  Be You is a Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 stamp stamped with Archival Ink jet black and white Sharpie used around it.

Paste over Dye Challenge

I haven't managed to play along with a challenge on the Everything Wendy Vecchi Yahoo Group in a long time so it's been extra nice to fit this one in.  The current challenge is to use Studio 490 embossing paste over paper that has been treated with inks/sprays and the challenge is inspired by THIS blog post on Britta Swiderski's blog.  

I sprayed a page in one of my journals with Dylusion sprays in bubblegum pink, funky fuchsia and cherry pie and dried it.  Next I used the Studio 490 heart stencil to add gold metallic paste and let it dry. Then I layed Wendy's brick stencil on and sprayed Dylusions white linen through it, moved it and resprayed so there were three areas of bricks, cleaned my stencil and dried the page.  I started using a Stabilo pencil for shading (bottom right side of heart) but then switched to chalk pastels and some glittery craft chalks.  Used another of Wendy's stencils to add the word Fragile with black embossing paste and let it dry.  Stamped the flourishes (Studio 490) along the bottom and in the upper left with Archival Ink jet black.  Stamped the flowers (Studio 490) along the bottom with jet black.  Added white doodling on flowers and black doodle lines on the borders where there wasn't any stamping.  Stamped the hanging hearts (a Dylusions stamp) with Distress Ink pumice stone.  Added brushed pewter Distress Stain splatters using the detail water brush and let it dry.  Finished it off by adding the white dots and doodles in along the border.