Hang it all it's a Canvas at Tuesday Taggers

Good Morning! It's Tuesday again and time for Tuesday Taggers. This week it is the turn of my lovely teamie Zoe to choose and she came up with Canvas. My first reaction was AHHHHH! but once I'd calmed down I realised I'd been intending having a go at a canvas for some time as I had everything I needed including a choice of canvases in the house. Really, Zoe, I should be thanking you for giving me a shove in the right direction! Also this week we are lucky to be sponsored by Art From The Heart. Click the logo to have a look at the wonderful goodies you can buy from Dyan.

So, I've shown you the butterfly and I guess you want to see the whole thing. I started off painting it with Adirondack Acrylic Dabbers in pastel colours adding some distress and Adirondack inks round the edges and through a stencil. I then stamped some plain tissue with a range of Elusive Images wild meadow stamps. I used acrylic gel to apply it to the canvas. I sprayed it with some blonde moments pearl pigments in festive gold, mixed with water.

After that I painted another coat of acrylic gel over the whole thing. My only regret at this point was stamping the swirl (Crafty Individuals) in Distress inks in the bottom right corner. It's water based ink and the acrylic gel made it bleed a bit. Believe it or not it isn't so obvious in real life! I stamped  the butterfly (Hero Arts)  onto some card, coloured it with promarkers and used a versa marker over the top to apply clear EP. I did 3 layers so it's very rigid! The swirl around the edge was a freebie from CI with my last order.

I took another photo in sunlight (Yes there was a bit at the weekend) to try and capture the gold sparkle from the pearl pigments - not sure it did though!. Not too bad for a first try, I hope you agree. I think it is rather summery too, so I'm entering it into Allsorts challenge this week, which is summer days. Thanks for looking everyone and please pop over to Tuesday Taggers and have a look what my lovely teamies have created. There are some real beauties!

Out of my comfort zone!

This week at Tuesday Taggers it's my turn to chose the theme. I don't know what I was thinking, but I came up with 'Step out of your Comfort Zone!' I wanted to push myself into doing something different to my usual style and try something new. Now it has been a little scary, but I've done the cover and first page of an art journal using lots of paint and no ink or stamps at all! The cover was painted with my acrylic daubers and some bubble wrap. The dragonfly is from Twiddlybitz. I also used a silver creative colour spray over the whole thing and some crystal glaze over the dragonflies body.  I bought the Journal months ago, and it had been lurking in the corner of my craft space ever since! I think it's the word art that puts me off. I dropped art at school when I chose my options, as I couldn't draw most things. I guess that's why I love stamps so much! So, all I'm asking really is for you to try something new or different to your usual style... go on give it a try! You could try a colour scheme, a technique, a different fold or even a different craft altogether! Pop over and take a look on the Tuesday Taggers Blog.  Hope our fabulous DT inspire you with their creations!

I saw this quote in one of the American magazines I was flicking through the other week. I thought 'How true!' and decided to try my hand at some of this writing on wiggly lines. I think I need to work on my lettering! I used my Aquatone pencils and a wet paint brush for the background and quite enjoyed myself!

Sir Stampalot challenges you !

Good Morning to you all! Hopefully you have ventured here from the Sir Stampalot Challenge - if not make sure you are signed up to follow and pop over there for the low down on how to win an AMAZING prize! Over the coming months we have some fantastic themes lined up for you, along with some fabulous prizes from Sir Stampalot. There are more details on the Challenge blog in the sidebar and on the post. Our first theme is:

"Fantasy"

Sir Stampalot have been so generous with the winners prize .......pinch yourself first because it's:

A Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter

PLUS a Pooh Font Cartridge

Good stuff, eh? Guaranteed to get you motivated! We will also select our Top 3 who will be able to display our special logo.
So here are two cards that will hopefully help to motivate you too.

My first card is an easel card. I made the background with acrylic dabbers and stamped over the top with some lavinia stamps. The bubbles are 3d paint and the starfish was made with air drying clay and painted with metallic paint. The corner flourish is a sizzix die.

 

My second card features the Fantasy tree by Penny Black and the Wizard by Non Sequitur. The Celtic border was embossed with kaleidoscope embossing powder. I made the background with Adirondack colour washes.  The highlights are made with a white gel pen and some icicle stickles.
For some fabulous ideas to help you on your way, please visit the Design Team's blogs - they are truly inspirational! Thanks for popping over. Now go and make a fantastic creation and join in the fun!
Edit: A quick reminder to check the rules in the sidebar
1) Entries may be combined with a maximum of five other challenge - i.e: six in total