The Octopode Factory - Pumpkins

Well over here in the UK the Summer seems like a distant memory and winter is very much round the corner so making the most of the Autumn and the Halloween season is a must for me.

With that in mind the new challenge over at The Octopode Factory is 'Pumpkins'.

I have used another of the Tando-Creative Mixed Media Boards I am loving these they take paint and pretty much anything you can throw at them.

I thought Lily's Edward Scissor Hands image would add some humour and who else could carve a pumpkin as well as Edward?

I have also used the Set Of 3 Pumlkins, the images have all been coloured with Copics and clear embossed.

The back ground was painted with Decoart Americana Acrylic paints,I started with a citrus Green/Yellow, a layer of Decoart's Weathers Wood, this gives the really great cracks when another colour of paint is applied over the top, I went for a pumpkin orange.

I mixed some green acrylic paint with Decoart's Modelling paste and applied it through a shabby diamond stencil. When this was dry I swiped the edges with some archival ink and gave the whole thing a generous coating of Decoart's Triple Thick Gloss Glaze.

I added the chunky eyelet, the pumpkin brad and a suede thong to finish off.

We would love to see you join us over at The Octopode Factory for the challenge.You have just under two weeks to take part. As always there are some images up for grabs for the winner, you do not have to use an Octopode Image but if you do your name will go into the prize draw twice xx

Thanks for stopping by xx

De Stempelwinkel - Pop Artish Halloween

Morning all and thanks for stopping by. It's my turn once again over at De Stempelwinell to share a project.

We are on a month long Halloween trip and I have tried something a bit different by making a pop artish canvas.

If you have time it would be great if  stopped by.

xxx

Fun With ATC's - The Night

So how is everyone doing?

Thanks for stopping by, today I am sharing an Atc I have made for our latest challenge over at Fun With ATC's.

Our theme this fortnight is 'The Night' Head on over to see what the rest of the DT have created for the challenge, we would of course love to see what your take on The Night would be.

I got to use my zombie stencil that an American friend sent me a while back, I thought this would be a great challenge to break it out. The back ground has been done using Decoart acrylic paints, several colours semi dry brushed over a white base to get a nice moody look.

I stamped the script with white acrylic paint, the stamp is from The Artistic stamper and I love this hand written look.The stencil was painted with a really dark blue and I added 'The Darkness' using Tim Holtz's litle alphabet stickers.

The whole ATC was given a thin coating of Decoart's Triple Thick Gloss Glaze

Thanks for stopping by.

xx

Over at the Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge Blog, they are having a Goth Challenge.

The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is 'Spooky'

De Stempelwinkel - End Of Days

Morning all. It's my turn again to share over at De Stempelwinkel.

I have a Halloween inspired Mixed Media Board tag.It would be great if you have time to stop on by.

If you do not know who De Stempelwinkel are, they are a Dutch shop that produce lots of their own rubber stamps.There is something for ever taste of stamper.

As always a great big thank you for stopping by, sorry I have not been around to many blogs recently. My laptop time is pretty much long enough to write posts, But I am getting round and seeing lots of amazing pieces via my mobile ;)

xx

Haunted Design House - Zombies and Creeps

Evening all, I hope you are all keeping well.

Now this post is a little late but I have had no time on my laptop the last few days.

The new challenge over at Haunted Design House is 'Zombies and Creeps'

I know a lot of you have your Halloween heads on so why not come and join in. We are sponsored by 

Betty is offering up some of the Zombies and Creeps images that she has available for our Gruesome Twosome.

My piece did not exactly go as planned. I coloured the zombie pirate image with copics and glued it to the front of a 6 inch fat book.I was unsure what to do around the edge so I thought I would try the Mica fragments I have had for a while.I realised you could still see some of the card showing theough so I gave the whole thing a was with some Quin Gold acrylic paint from Decoart. This did age everything up quite well but one of the ageing stains sadly stayed on the face of the main image.

The whole thing was given a thick coating of Decoart's triple thick glaze. this has helped keep the fragments embeded and helps make all the colours stand out a little more.

One of those pieces that I learnt a lot from so next time I can get a better finish.

Thanks for stopping by x

The Octopode Factory Challenge, De Stempelwinkel and Tando Mixed Media Boards.

So how is everyone's Sunday going?  it is miserable here, it has been raining pretty much non stop all day.
Ok so on with the post. I am combining a couple of posts today to make life simple and because they have a common element. The Mixed Media Boards.More about them in a mo.
 I am starting of with The Octopode Factory, we have just started our new challenge, the theme this time is 'Witches', we want to see any type of crafty project all you need to do is have a witch in there somewhere.
Lily has several great Witch designs in here Etsy shop HERE. You do not need to use an Octopode image for the challenge but if you do your name will go into the prize draw twice for some of Lily's designs.
 I have used one of Tando's new mixed media boards for the base of my little over sized ATC/Tag.
I printed the Witch from the Gloomsville set along with her cat onto some 300gsm card and coloured her with Copics. I then used some Decoart Faux Faux Finish Medium and painted over my image carefully making sure I covered her and the cat completely.This allowed me to go in and use my Distress inks to add colour to the back ground and stamp the web and Witch Hazel label also using my distress inks.The Faux finish acts as a resist and I was able to just wipe clean the Witch carefully with a baby wipe and some kitchen towl. To finish off I used Decoart's Triple Thick Gloss Glaze, I normally use Embossing powder and add 2 - 3 layers to get a nice smooth finish. With the triple thick its just a case of apply in a layer with a paint brush fairly thickly, it self levels so you don't need to worry to much and you will not be left with any brush marks. just a very rich glossy look to your work. I am loving it, it's like glossy accents just more versatile, better and most of all cheaper whilst still maintaining quality.
Please stop by and if you have time join in the fun. it's worth stopping by to see what the rest of the DT have created.

Now onto the Second Post. It is also my turn over at De Stempelwinkel so here is my little teaser. we are in a Halloween mood this month and I have used my favourite stamp on a painty back ground again using a Mixed Media Board from Tando-Creative

Finally onto these Mixed Media Boards. Tando have just released these and I am loving them. there are two sizes available. These are the 74mm x 138mm chip board boards so bigger than an ATC but smaller then the normal Tag size whist still being big enough to be made into small tags.

I have found these boards to be a great way of trying new techniques out as they will stand up to pretty much anything unlike normal card that warps and wrinkles if you want to use paint.

They can also be embossed.

The first tag I am very pleased to say has been used on the packaging for the packs of boards (well chuffed)

and has been embossed. More on the technique another time. Ill be doing a tutorial soon.

The Second board has been coated with Decoart Gesso and then painted with several washes of colour using the Decoart Traditions acrylic Paints.I used one of Andy Skinners Masks and applied some modelling paste through the stencil.When dry I used the Decoart Metallic Lustres to add some shine. The lustres are a water based rub n buff product. when dry you can get quite a nice shine from them.

Finally I made this tag. I used a couple of embossing folders for the skull and web.Every thing was coated in Gesso and left to dry. I used Voodoo Stencil that comes on the same stencil as the candy skull above and  used the Lustres through the stencil and buffed to get a nice shine.A little was also rubbed onto the lower portion of the tag. A couple of washes of translucent acrylic Traditions paint were applied to add some colour and dried. Using the translucent colours allowed the Lustres to shine through. It has the light effect where it is more visible at certain angles depending on how the light hits it.I also used the Lustres on the web and skull. A little bit of script stamp was added using black archival ink and then the whole piece was coated with the triple thick gloss glaze.

Thanks for stopping by. as always it really does mean a lot to have you drop in. Also a big welcome to the new followers. thanks for taking the time to become a follower and I hope to see you back here in the future xxx

I would like to enter the bottom tag into the challenge over at Our Creative Corner. The theme is a Hallowen Tag with Some Texture.

T Light Candle Holder Tutorial - Decoart and some exciting news

Thank you for stopping by. 

Today I am sharing a little tutorial on how I made this candle holder.

But first I need to share some news that I have been sitting on for a couple of months. If you have stopped by before you may have noticed I use and love using Decoart products. 

I was lucky enough to have been asked to be part of their New Decoart International Design Team, headed by Andy Skinner, and I am sure at least some of you will recognise the other members of the team.

To say I am happy would be an understatement (doing a little happy dance).

The new DT will be focusing more on mixed media and altered art projects and producing tutorials along the way so keep checking back to see what everyone has been creating.

Ok so stick with me, I'm new to this tutorial thing ;)

Here is a list of the products used with a link to the item on the Decoart site. You should also be able to find a stockist on their main site as well.

Decoart Gesso

Decoart Traditions Faux Finishing Medium

Decoart Traditions Satin Varnish

Decoart Traditions Paint: Hansa Yellow,Carbon Black,Quinacridone Burnt Orange and Napthol AS Hue.

The traditions range is an Artist quality pigment acrylic paint.

Archival Black Ink Pad

Some Stencils and some sand paper as well as your wooden candle holder.

I started by giving my candle holder two fairly light coats of Gesso and gave it a light sanding just to smooth it out a little when dry. I also gave the whole thing a coat of the Faux Finish Medium. I did this because it adds an extra layer of protection when sanding back the top coats. I did not want to rub through the Gesso to reveal the wood, I wanted the white of the Gesso to be the last layer seen in the distressing phase.

When the Faux Finish Medium was dry I painted the holder with the Hansa Yellow first, then a coat of the Quinacridone Burnt Orange and finally a coat of the Napthol AS Hue

Now the fun starts, grab some sand paper and start sanding away through the layers, It's best to start gently and go through the layers slowly as you can not undo it if you get a little carried away ;)

Keep going till you are happy with the result. When this is done on a wooden Item like this candle holder you get to see all the wood grain come out as you sand through the layers and get some lovely effects.I also painted the insides where the candles sit with the Carbon Black.

You can of course use any stencils to add decoration but I have always loved the look of random numbers when applied like a an issue number (think old delivery crates/containers)

To get the numbers straight I used some of tape you can use for masking your projects.It will not peel the paint off when it's removed.I lined the stencil up and used a stencil brush to apply the Carbon black paint 

I painted the numbers in the same spot each side as this would make a great centre piece for a table and I did not want to have a front and back. I also used a hexagonal patterned stencil and randomly applied the paint 

When the black paint had dried I very lightly sanded over the numbers and hexagons as they looked to stark and harsh and needed to be given a more shabby look.

It really starts to come together with the finishing touches. I used some cut and dry foam and swiped the edges with black archival ink. I went round all the edges twice building up the depth of the black slowly rather than putting it on to thick and heavy in one go.I let the ink dry and gave the whole piece a coat of the Faux  Finish Medium.

Finally I gave it two coats of the Traditions Satin Varnish giving a very light sanding between coats just to get a really smooth to the touch finish. It also helped really make the colours pop.

The candles did not want to play ball, it was a little breezy out today. 

Here are a couple more pics of the finished piece.

As always a great big thank you for stopping by and if it is your first time here thanks for stopping by. Hopefully Ill see you back here.

Remember to check out our brand new International Decoart Design Team where you can meet the other members and see more tutorials. Keep checking back to see what's new xx

I would like to enter this into the challenge over at Anything But A Card. they are having an Orange And Black theme.

Fun With ATC's - 3 Or More Stamps

No inks.

Morning all. I hope you are all well?

Today we are starting our new challenge over at Fun With ATC's

The time round we are asking that you create an ATC using at least 3 stamps.

For my ATC I decided to create mine without using Inks as all but still wanted to get an aged and vintage look, where I would normally reach for my distress inks I decided to use my Decoart acrylic paints.

The back ground was created with colour washes over a cream base.I started by stamping over the whole ATC with a vintage script stamp from Artistic Stamper,

I stamped the Da Vinci image with black paint as well as his name.and then used Quin Burnt Orange to stamp the Fleu De Lis. All these stamps are from the da Vinci set available from de stempelwinkel.

The ATC was sealed using Decoart Faux Finish and used their 2 step crackle applying two coats of step one and when dry applied one coat of step 2.When that dried I rubbed some brown acrylic paint into the cracks.

Thanks for stopping by, it's very much appreciated x

You have two weeks to create an ATC and we would love to see you join us or at least stop by and see what the rest of our DT have created. xxx

I would like to enter this into the challenge over at Anything But A Card, they are having an Orange and Black challenge. x

Simply Steampunk Challenges - Guest DT - Monochromatic challenge

Welcome back and thank you so much for stopping by.
It's time for my Second Piece as Guest Designer over at Simply Steampunk Challenges they are starting their new challenge and the theme this time round is Monochromatic.
As you can see I went with shades of brown. Largely due to the fact that the Earth colours are the ones I have the most of in my Copic's ;) and of course, Capricorn is an Earth element.

The image is from the insanely talented Abigail Larson  and Betty from Simply B Stamps has the rights to sell these beautiful images as a digi stamp.

I decided to go for a journal page for my Dyan Reaveley journal, I printed out the image and coloured her with lots of different shades of the Earth tones from Copic's, roughly tore her out and added some age using old paper and walnut stain distress inks.I also stamped the word Capricorn and Earth using an alphabet stamp set from De Stempelwinkel and again aged the paper with the same distress inks.
The back ground has all been created with Decoart products.I started by using some white Americana acrylic paint at the bottom, some fawn in the middle and some raw umber at the top and blended them together on the page. I used a Tim Holtz stamp (the text from Papilon) with black archival ink and randomly stamped, I also used a fleur de lis cover the card stamp and stamped with some raw umber paint, I did not use a block for stamping these images as I wanted softer edges and only parts of the designs to show.
 I also used a cogs stencil and applied  Decoart's Metallic Lustre,Iced Espresso using some cut n dry foam,(white side)
I love these lustre's, when they are dry you can buff them with a soft cloth and get a great shine.
 I also used a script stencil and coloured some Dimensional Effects with a little acrylic paint.The text at the top is the colour as it was applied, the bottom set of text has been darkened with some walnut stain distress inks. the Dimensional Effects/modelling paste takes ink really well.
 Before gluing the images down I added some of Tim Holtz's sticky tape, his cogs tape is ideal for steampunk.
 I finally added a little more texture using the edge of a piece of card swiped through some paint and then dabbing it across the page.

 The challenge runs for a month so there is plenty of time to take part and there are prizes for the winner. It would be great to see you over at Simply Steampunk Challenges
 Again, thank you for stopping by xx

De Stempelwinkel - Potions book

Morning all and thank you for stopping by, A quick post for me today, Its my turn again over at De Stempelwinkel and we are getting in the mood for Halloween, everyday there will be a new post from the DT all with a Halloween theme

I have made this little book if you have time please head on over to see the rest of the pages. We are also taking part in the 31 days of Halloween blog hope so you can also find the details on the blog.

Haunted Design House - Dimensional Halloween

Well, we are now entering my favourite time of the year, It is the month of Halloween, Yay ;)
The time of year when a lot of my work seems normal.
 We are starting our new challenge over at Haunted Design House, the theme this time is A Dimensional Halloween. we want to see some depth and 3d elements to your projects this fortnight.
 We have the awesome Tando-Creative
sponsoring us this time and they have kindly offered up some of their Halloween chip board packs, see the details over at HDH.
 For those of you who are not familiar with Tando, they make amazing chip board pieces and kits.I use quite a lot of them in my work, they are also the company that make the stencils that Andy Skinner and Neil Walker have brought out.

I have used the Layered Arch with Cob Web and altered a hard back book into my little book of the dead.
The book was coated with Decoarts Dimensional Effects and has been stamped into, and other techniques for adding some texture, there is also some of their Texture Crackle as well.The whole thing was painted with Decoart Americana paints and when dry given a good going over with Decoart's Metalic Lusters I used the Black Shimmer and applied it using the firmer side of some cut and dry foam. when it dried I gave it a buff with a soft cloth and you can really bring out a shine. These are a water based rub and buff medium.
The Tando frame was given a coat of Gesso and then a very thin coat of Texture Crackle as I wanted the layers of the arch to still be noticable. I masked the web of and when the crackle was dry it was painted in grays with a little dry brushing just to add some subtle colour shifts. The Arch was painted with a thinned down brown and then a coat of Traditions Quin Gold and Red Iron Oxide.
 The stamped image is from Rick St Dennis and is one of the images available from his rubber set available from Smeared Ink. It has been coloured with copics, clear embossed and glued to the back of the arch.
The letters are from Tim Holtz and have been glued into place, using the Latin word for dead seemed appropriate.

With the build up to Halloween Haunted Design House  is taking part in the Count Down To Halloween blog hop. So if you like your creepy stop on by and visit some of the blogs taking part, there is a long list so I am sure you find something you like.
In taking part the DT will be posting additional projects just to get you all in the mood so keep checking back. xx

Thank you all for stopping by and if your getting your creep on this Halloween we would love to see your creations xx