Design Team Call: Second Round

I managed to get through to the second round of the Creative Expressions Design Team Call 2013-14, and the next challenge was to create a project using their ‘Belle of the Ball’ stamp set. This comes as a rubber sheet which needs cutting up and mounting on the foam backing suitable for use with acrylic blocks – some of the images could have done with a little more space round them, but I managed 🙂

The closing date was yesterday, which allows me to share the projects with you – and yes, I did more than one: one to show I can make a card, another to demonstrate I can think outside the box, and a third to demonstrate altered art and making something out of a cheap pound-shop photo frame. The centre canvas one is quite a size, and even the bow is adapted from the dress stamps. The frame one is a 4×6″ aperture, with the centre coloured dress mounted in front of the glass – printed with Versacraft black ink onto white cotton and coloured with ProMarkers.

I’ll share another tip with you – the label that accompanies the rubber stamp sheet laminates well, and the foam covered stamps stick nicely to it and the whole lot still slides nicely into the original packaging. Perfect storage solution 🙂

 

 

Faux wax seals – using embossing powder

It’s ‘Decadence’ theme over at the WOW! Embossing Powders blog this month (don’t forget to enter your creations for a chance to win six powders of your choice in a handy carry case) and I decided to glam up my envelopes by creating my own faux wax seal. For more details, do pop over to my Design Team blog post and check out my photographic guide.

Faux Wax Seal

Shadowpainting with Distress Reinkers

I’ve liked shadowpainting for some time now, but never seem to use the latex-based masking fluid before it all gunges up in the bottle. It helpfully says on the label to dilute with ammonia to get it liquid again… but I just don’t seem to have that lying around!

Meanwhile, I’ve used WOW! Bright White embossing powder on watercolour paper to do much the same thing – it’s a lot quicker as well using a stamp rather than tracing patterns with latex gunk and waiting for that to set. I’ve used Distress Inks (from reinkers) to colour each of the images. I’ll be teaching the technique at the Manic Stamper Craft Club in Leicester on Saturday 🙂

 

 

Faux Stained Glass, Art Nouveau Style

It’s another WOW! Embossing Powder Challenge, and my design team post this month takes their ‘Art Nouveau/Art Deco’ theme as its inspiration. I studied the period and art for a time whilst at college, and I loved the classic whiplash shape, the stylised botanicals and especially the stained glass. Here is my homage, using self-adhesive lead and embossing powder as my only materials (other than the 6×6″ deep frame…). More making instructions over at my post.

Faux Stained Glass

 

 

Summer Garden Card

Summer Garden

It’s ‘Summer & Sunshine’ over at the WOW! Embossing Powder blog, and the challenge is up and running. My take on the theme is to create this summer garden inspired by the view from my studio. It’s completely coloured with embossing powders. For the full details, see my post here.

Quick mixed media tags

I’ve got into the studio at last to do my own thing in between some craft room reconfiguration and college work! I’ve chosen to do some quick mixed media tags using mainly Ranger/Tim Holtz products:

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Bottle Cap Memories

It’s Altered or Recycled theme this month over at the WOW! Embossing Powder Challenge blog. This is what I came up with for my design team submission. I need to make an admission – my intention was to use recycled beer bottle caps for this project, but I’ve not had bottled beer for a little while and ran out of time to collect any from the pub… So the project has switched from ‘recycled’ to ‘altered’!

Do you find pouring resin too expensive? Or takes too long to set? Me too, so I came up with an alternative: I’ve used molten WOW! Clear Gloss Ultra High to create the domed glazing in each of the bottle cap frames, and WOW! Earthtones to colour the stamped lettering. Hope you like it, and more details on how to make your own are here.

I’m also happy to accept commission requests if anyone would like one made – all you’d need to do is provide the digital photos/scans. Email me if you’re interested.

 

Demo’ing again – NEC 23rd-24th March

Hi all – I’m demo’ing again for WOW! Embossing Powders on their stand at the Hobbycrafts exhibition at the NEC this coming weekend. I’ll be there on Saturday and Sunday either on the demonstration table or leading the classes, so do come and say hello. Here are three samples of techniques I’ll be demo’ing – and apparently there will be new moulds to demonstrate too!

NEC samples