Yellow Roses by Brenda

Hello Peeps, I have some more shares from the Steampunk and Ocean TV shows.

Above the Roses from Steampunk Butterfly and wings just seemed to be a perfect match to me so I stamped them onto card coloured with Mustard Seed Oxide, cut out and arranged onto an acrylic ink background. I added random stamping with Make your Mark and Just Useful and some washi tape.

Another Oxide background and stamping using Mermaid Queen which I coloured in with sparkle pens. The quote from Seashell Collage was stamped lightly over the background along with Make your Mark and a monocle placed over the Mermaids serene face.

Here I used the fishes from Something Fishy  stamping them into the circles of a stencil colured with Distress Inks. The sentiment is from Seashell Collage.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone.

The call of the ocean

 Hello there , Rachel here today with somw more makes from the June shows.  This time I am featuring makes using the Seashell Collage and Something fishy sets. This first one was made using one of the kits from the Comfy pyjamas event last October - I still hadn't got around to completing the classes - time just isn't on my side at the moment. Anyway I put the piece together then added paints and background stamping using the large crackle stamp. I added the heart which i had painted and stamped and the gull which I had stamped and fussy cut.

This second piece is actually suposed to be a fob watch MDF piece but I thought it made a lovely fish tank so I used stamps from the Something fishy set to decorate it and mostly translucent paints to colour it in.

I hope you have a great day! Big hugs Rachel x

Vitamin Sea

 Hello everyone, I am sharing some more of my cards from the June shows on The Craft Store.

I have used stamp sets  Mermaid Queen, Something Fishy, Seashell Collage, Make Your Mark, Punky Expressions and Edgy Edges

For my first card I stamped and embossed the main mermaid image and coloured with watercolour pencils.  I added some sparkle to the mermaid's tail so it was lovely and shimmery. 

I then used Distress Inks for the background taking care not to go over the mermaid. I used a blue archival ink to stamp the seaweed, bubbles and fish. Using the blue ink gave a bit of depth to the picture.  

I added some gauze along the bottom of the card which I coloured with ink. I then added some fussy cut shells and a die cut of a ships wheel. 

To finish I added the Vitamin Sea quote. To make this I used the alphabet on Edgy Edges. Using my stamping platform I inked and stamped each letter onto a piece of clear plastic and then moved my piece of card underneath until it was in the right place, removed the plastic and stamped onto the card. This takes a little time, but worth it.

My next card is a rusty, grungy porthole!

I cut a ring out of white card and added some grey board "nuts". I added some texture paste around the ring, heavier on the grey board. When it was all dry I painted with different shades of watered down blue and grey acrylics. I then added a wash of Quinacridone Gold paint to give the rusty effect.

I cut another circle slightly larger than the centre of the ring and added a distress ink background. I stamped the images and coloured with water colour pencils. The mermaid silhouettes were embossed in black. 

I covered my card base with some wood effect paper, stamped the ship in the lower left corner and added my porthole.

My last card today is a mini fish tank.

I blended blue and green distress inks randomly for the background. Using the same colour inks I added a stencil. I then stamped and coloured the foliage and fish. I added some glitter glue to give a sparkle to the fish. I added a sentiment and mat and layered my card. I then used a Versamark pen and some copper embossing powder around the edge.

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

From The Deep (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a few projects to share using stamps that were featured on last month's TV shows on The Craft Store.

 My first card was created on a piece of glossy card, and I used an inky plate to create the background. I brayered a selection of Distress Inks onto the plate, and then pressed the card onto the plate to get a print. I trimmed the card to size, and then placed a square of Masking Tissue in the centre. I stamped the images from Mermaid Queen and Seashell Collage around the edges using Archival Ink. I added some shading using grey Archival Ink before removing the Masking Tissue. I stamped the bird and sentiment from the Seashell Collage stamp set within the faux frame, amd added a touch of pencil colouring to the image.

To create my second card, I used a piece of Smooth White Stamping Paper and stamped the Ammonite image in the foreground using black ink. I masked the image using Masking Tissue, and proceeded to stamp the image again in grey ink, masking as I went along, until I had filled the page. I only needed three masks in total to achieve this effect, and as they are reusable, I will be able to put them to good use in future projects. I used colouring pencils to complete the project, choosing a rainbow palette, and using three different colours on each shell to give a good variation of shading. I started with the lightest colour each time. I added a sentiment from Birthday Words.

My third card was created using Drawing Cartridge and Distress Inks. I added salt to the background while it was still wet to create an underwater effect, like bubbles in the sea. Once the background was dry I added some foliage along the bottom from Something Fishy, and completed the sea bed by drawing in some lines and dots with a fineliner pen. I added lots of the fish, and stamped a few extra fish and shells onto to some sticker sheets which I coloured separately, all with pencils. I added a few fronds of colour to represent seaweed using my Koh-I-Noor plalette and a waterbrush. 

This last project is a golden oldie which I am sharing again for those readers who have not seen it before. I used Ink and mica powder on the bckground covered up with scrunched up cling film. Once the background was dry, I stamped all of my images from Mermaid Queen with Archival Ink and coloured them with pencils. I have joined the images up with dots to make them appear to be part of one big scene using a fineliner pen, and used toning colours throughout.

Thanks for stopping by, I will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you. Take care, and stay safe,

Judith xx

seaside (by Veronica)

For my second post this month I decided to use a bargain canvas from a supermarket - think the heat must have been affecting my brain, as not my usual thing at all!
I found an old pot of grunge paste, added a little hot water as it had gone very stiff and stirred it in well, then spread the paste round the edges of the canvas. Stamped into the corners using stamps from the harlequin fragments set, then sponged with distress inks when the grunge was dry.
Fish and seaweed from something fishy and gulls and lighthouse from seashore scenes were all stmaped onto white tissue paper using black versafine and coloured with alcohol markers, torn out and added with matt multimedium.- another old pot, seemed a bit discoloured, but then I had no idea what it looked like new, and it worked anyway.
Main image from seashore scenes stamped onto white card, coloured with watercolour pencils then embossed with clear EP, then glued into the centre of the canvas, Small pearls for the bubbles from the shell, then two seashells added to finish it off.

Blue Dream ( by Magda)

I like snorkelling among the fishes and swimming underwater as being  in a blue dream, therefore the project for this summer month is inspired by this theme.

Step by Step :
1.  Draw the face of the stencil Julie Fei-Fan Balzer  in your  Dylusion Creative Journal with a black
     Fude ball pen 
2.  Prepare your own wave stencil for the background and colour  the waves with  
     Salty Ocean of Tim Holtz Mini Distress Inkpad      all around the face
3.  Blend other blue and green Mini Distress Inkpad shades on the waves to create the sea
4.  Add a very light gesso coat all over the sea and let it dry
5.  Decide how to make the hair and apply randomly with the pad Faded Jeans and Blueprint Sketch
     of Mini Distress Inkpad
6.  Colour the face with Pan Pastel 
7.  Stamp with Versafine Onyx Black several fish of the set Something Fishy in the hair and the little
     mermaid silhouette of Mermaid Queen set as earring
8.  Colour the fish with watercolour pencils
9.  Use Stickles Star Dust to highlight
10. Stamp and glue your sentiments.

I hope you liked my mixed media page and enjoy your holidays
Thanks for stopping by
 Magda

Seashore by Veronica

Our theme this month is summer, which to be honest is really what you would expect!
My first thought was to use some of my favourite poppy stamps, but they have had a lot of use, so I went for seaside.
My first card uses stamps from seashore scenes, and I tried to create a slightly different scene.
The seagull was stamped first using black versafine ink,, then masked with masking tissue and the scene stamped over him - I didn't ink the stamp all the way to the bottom, as I wanted it to be background. The dunes at the front were stamped using the larger sand/grass stamp stamped several times to form foreground dunes.
Dunes and stump were coloured with alcohol markers, bird and everything else with watercolour pencils..
Base card is 15cm square, stamped with the sentiment several times to form a background using a pale brown inkpad. The scene was matted onto black and gold card.

My second card used the something fishy set of stamps, and the main image was stamped in black versafine, then the larger fish image added beside it.
Simply coloured with watercolour pencils, and glossy accent added to the bubbles from the shell.
Base card this time is A6

My teamies have some smashing ideas to show you, so keep checking, you won't be disappointed!

Tangled Fragments - By Florence

Hi everyone

As some of you know this month we are featuring Chocolate Baroque's new background stamps Tangled Fragments and Harlequin Fragments.  The DT have been busy making amazing projects.  If you have missed any of the posts or are new to the blog do check them out.  Lots of inspiring ideas as always.

Today I would like to share a couple of cards I made using the Tangled Fragments Stamps.  I hope you like them.

For my first card I stamped onto cream colored card stock using green craft paint.  I then applied some green distress ink all over the stamped piece of card using a sponge.  I removed some of the ink from the center of the circles in the pattern using a damp paint brush and paper towel.

Using another of the stamps from the Tangled Fragments stamp sheet, I stamped the image onto two pre-cut square pieces of coated card stock, using Blue Archival ink and adding a touch of green to the pattern using a felt pen.

I stamped my fishes onto coated card stock using Black Archival ink and then colored them in with felt pens.

I made up the card as seen, using foam pads to add dimension.

I kept to a fish theme for my second card

I dabbed some Distress Ink onto a plastic file wallet, spritzed it with water and then swished a piece of coated card stock around on it, picking up the different colors and left it to dry.

I then stamped the background pattern using one of the Tangled Fragments stamps and Archival Ink.

On a separate piece of coated card stock, I stamped the fish from the "Something Fishy" rubber stamp set using Black Archival Ink, cut them out and colored them in using felt pens.

I used a stamp from the Artistic Affirmations stamp set and stamped onto my prepared stamped piece of card with the sentiment using Archival Ink.

I made up my card as seen using foam pads behind the fish to make them 3D.

Thank you to everyone for leaving such lovely comments on the posts.  They are very much appreciated.

Take care all and happy stamping.

Florence x

Guest Post - A Fishy Tale by Annie Watkinson

Today's guest post is from Annie Watkinson, who has created some very special projects. This is quite a long post,  so please sit back, relax and enjoy.

Products Used

Something Fishy UDLSP0330

Cosmic Shimmer - Aqua

Dylusions Spray Inks - Fresh Lime, Vibrant Turquoise, White Linen

Staz On - Teal Blue, Olive Green

Memento - Tuxedo Black

DistressInk - Walnut Stain

Promarkers - Orange, Bright Orange, Yellow

Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen - White 101

My grandchildren have a fish tank, and love to sit and gaze as they swim round and round. Fish are very relaxing! Chocolate Baroque’s lovely stamps, ‘Something Fishy’ inspired me to try and recreate the gentle movement of fish and water. What I enjoy doing when I need inspiration is to create a ‘masterboard’. Put simply, this is a sheet of A4 paper on which I produce a background pattern, and then have fun cutting it up, and seeing how many projects I can make out of it! It is surprising just how many cards you can make with a sheet of A4.

So I started off picking lovely watery shades of spray inks, and randomly sprayed onto my sheet of paper. Before the ink had fully dried, I lightly oversprayed with Dylusions White Linen, then quickly sprinkled a coarse crystal rock salt on top and left it to dry. After scraping off the dry salt, I was left with a lovely watery fish tank, but it was empty!  The weeds were stamped around the edges, alternating with Staz On Teal Blue and Olive Green.

So along came the fish. I stamped and embossed the fish with clear embossing ink, and silver and gold powders. My background was now complete. I had an image in my mind of bright orange goldfish against the lovely blue background. So I stamped the fish onto white card, and then coloured and cut them out and spread them around the board. It is good to get fish swimming off the edge of the card, giving you the sense of continuation.

Now I had my background, I started to cut the masterboard up to see how I could use the various parts on the front of cards. I managed to get four cards and one bookmark out of it. Now I knew the positions of all the pieces, I went over the fish with Glossy accents, which really brought them to life. 

I also stamped and embossed the weeds onto plain vellum with clear embossing ink and silver powder, then placed them around the cards for the fish to have something to hide behind! The angel fish were stamped onto sticky backed vellum, giving them a translucent feel. The shell was stamped onto some patterned paper in Walnut Distress Ink to which I added a stick on pearl and some accents to the fish eyes, bubbles and angel fish with a white pen.

 

For the main card, I gave the bottom of my ‘tank’ a layer of micro beads to give the illusion of gravel. After matting all the cards on different coloured cards, I laminated the bookmark, and added a tassel.

I think you would agree that using different coloured matting really changed the mood of the cards!

We definitely would Annie. Thank you for your wonderful designs and for sharing your 'masterboard' technique; I'm sure this is something our crafty readers will want to try. If you would like to see more of Annie's work then please take a look at her blog, Serendipity Craft Room, and why not show your appreciation with a little comment or two.