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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Embossing with Dimensional Paint

Happy Place

To say I was inspired by one of our entries to the eP embossing challenges would be an understatement!! 

When i saw Judith's adorable card I was inspired to try a new technique with some of the Art Anthology dimensional paint. 
I wondered what would it look like if I painted the background and then used the paint through a Prima stencil?







The paint is a little more loose than embossing paste so you don't develop a super crisp image but I love the subtle embossed image again the background. 






I also loved the way the mist puddled on the dried paint and created highlights in the indentations.



I used an old TA mist for the subtle yellow and Dylusions sprays in Calypso Teal and Dirty Martini for the splatters and green accents.  I used some Petaloo color me crazy flowers and Prima Cartographer flowers. The Key hole and resin pieces are Prima as well. 

Loved this fun pic of aubrey Sue for this super fun bright layout. Hope you enjoyed my take on embossing!

{{hugs}}
Andiepants

Friday, August 29, 2014

Happy Anniversary ~ Early!

Hi Everyone!  It's Sue Lelli here and I made an anniversary card for my DH early because I just received some new products from eclectic Paperie in the mail and I was itching to try them out!  I'll just save it until our anniversary in November!  LOL!
Here's My card:
What I WANTED to do was have a starfish in the center cut out with text underneath.  It would have been easier if the Tim Holtz alterations sand and sea die cuts had been separate but the weren't. So I improvised!  I ended up stacking fat chipboard over the images I didn't want to cut out and running it through my die cut machine.  They cut out anyway but there was so much texture and color and product on my Tim Holtz distress watercolor cardstock top page that when I pieced it back together like a puzzle, you really couldn't see it!  And I got the look I wanted!
I also wanted the seahorse floating in the water surrounded by bubbles (Tim Holtz texture fades - bubbles and waves) with it's tail wrapped around a plant.  That's how they REALLY look when you dive, hiding in plants and blending in to the surroundings.  For the plant I die cut a branch from the Tim Holtz spring greenery decorative strip.   I put wet glue on it and sprinkled Tim Holtz Distress Glitter on top.  LOVE the glimmer it adds!

I LOVE this seahorse and I puposely had the word MEMORY show through.  (I wanted to remind my DH of all of the FAB memories we have together.)  The text is Tim Holtz melange tissue wrap stained with tea dye Distress ink.
Here you can see the Wendy Vecchi translucent embossing paste.  I LOVE that it dries clear and looks wet on your project!

Here you can see the Prima seaweed flower and the Prima resin shells I added.  The idea-ology word band sentiment was perfect since this IS an anniversary card and we are living the life we have imagined!  Literally!  I tied it on with idea-ology jute.
The kraft paper behind the watercolor and text layers is my new FAB Tim Holtz idea-ology resist paper.  It is so cool with a design embossed on it so when you add ink, the embossing shows through.  This one I used has mini distressed dots ~ going with the bubble theme!

And on the inside, I put a photograph of last year when we renewed our vows for our 25th anniversary.  It was a dream!  Look at the color of that water and how it is mimicked by the distress paint colors on the outside of my card.

 Process Photos:
I squished some Tim Holtz Distress Paint on to an inksenssitials craft sheet I have cut to 8x8.  (I found it's easier to have several layers of craft sheets so your entire work surface doesn't get dirty ~ just small bits!)  Then I spritzed it with a mini mister filled with water.

I swiped Tim Holtz distress watercolor card stock through the paint once,

Then twice and this is what I had.  What I LOVE about these Distress Paints is that they react to water when they are wet and you can make them move around but when they are dry, they are permanent and you can add more layers and colors without creating mud.
So:
 I added some darker Tim Holtz Distress paints and swiped again.  Then it was too dark for me so I made two rows of two lighter blue shades of Distress Paints (in colors I already used):
 
And laid the cardstock straight down on top of the paint:
Then I sprayed it again with water from the mini mister.
 
I was happy with the colors but turned it upside down so the drip lines went up.  Then I embossed it with my new Tim Holtz texture fades bubble embossing folder.  I used the Tim Holtz sanding grip block on top of it to make the bubbles look white and stand out.

Here I added Wendy Vecchi's Studio 490 translucent embossing paste through the Dina Wakely plastic canvas stencil.  This dries completely clear and made the card front look wet.  LOVE that WV translucent embossing paste AND that DW Stencil!
Those are all the photos I remembered to take.  I got caught up in the creative moment!
 
I hope you like my card!
THX for stopping by!


Thursday, August 28, 2014

Jumbo Bloom !

Hello, it's Sue C here today and the project I'm sharing with you is a jumbo tag, which is one of my favourite things at the moment !


I started by glueing torn pieces of old book pages and DIY masking tape to the tag.


I then used the Wendy Vecchi Build a Blossom SiSi set with Translucent Embossing paste. When it was dry I then used Limelight and Hey Pesto Fresco Finish paint, blending it with a babywipe.


Using the same SiSi set I stencilled the flowers and then stamped over the top with black Archival ink.



I then took a piece of Grunge Paper and used iron on adhesive, the sort you find in a haberdashery, to stick some fabric to it.


I die cut several flowers using the Tim Holtz Jumbo Tattered Florals die.


I painted all of the flowers using Limelight Fresco Finish paint. I built up the colour around the edges of all the flowers using a piece of cut 'n' dry foam.



I also die cut two leaves using the same die and painted them with Limelight Fresco Finish paint and dabbed Hey Pesto and Green Olives Fresco Finish paint around the edges.


I made the big bow from a piece of cotton fabric that I painted with Limelight Fresco Finish paint. I added a Tim Holtz heart charm to the centre. I used the Tim Holtz Block Talk Lower Case die to cut the letters to make the word 'bloom' from cardboard. I then painted the letters with Fresco Finish paint.


I layered the jumbo flower and added a Tim Holtz number brad to the centre. I also used some Graphic 45 washi tape and added a Prima wooden button.

I hope you've enjoyed today's project, see you again soon !

Sue


Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Altered Frame - Prima Decor II!

Good morning!  Sherry here today and I have an altered frame to share with you.  Sadly, I got so into the creation of the frame that I failed to take photos of each step.  It’s very simple though and I’m sure I can walk you through.

PrimaAlteredFrame

I started with one of those dollar wood frames from Michaels and applied Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 White Embossing Paste to the front using Prima Stencil - Decor II.  (all links can be found at the bottom of this post).

PrimaAlteredFrameCloseUP

All in all, this was a 3-step process, allowing dry time between each step.  The frame was painted black and then highlighted with thin coats of Art Anthology Bronze Metal Effects.  Can I just say, that this is the first time I’ve used the Metal Effects . . . and I LOVE them!!

PrimaAlteredFrameCloseUPCenter

The embellishments in the center were assembled from different stash pieces.

PrimaAlteredFrameLeft

Thanks for stopping by and joining me today!!

SHERRY SIGNATURE





Project Supplies:


Monday, August 25, 2014

Free Spirit

Hello eP friends,  Micki here to share my project using Prima's Free Spirit stencil.  Or to be more accurate, perhaps I should say my multiple attempts of creating this mixed media piece:

My original idea was to create a background using doing a PanPastel Resist, which I had done on a smaller birchpanel board and had turned out great.  So first thing first I applied a thin layer of gesso, followed by adding Distress Embossing ink through several stencils:

Next I swiped the stenciled area withPanPastel:

I continued to add stencil layers using embossing ink and more PanPastel colors,  making sure to leave the center because I knew that's where the Free Spirit stencil would end up. 
 At this point, I wasn't happy, it didn't "speak" to me so I started to go over the sections with Dina Wakley paints and stenciled Prima's Free Spirit on the board in white:


I didn't like the harsh lines from the added paint, but decided to focus on the face next. By the way, were you wondering why I used white paint with the Prima's Free Spirit?  My idea was to color her so that she looked more painterly.   Taking a pencil, I sketched in the lines.

Next I added paint, mixing some White, Umber, Lemon and Magenta on my Craft Sheet for the skin and a little Black Gesso and Umber for the hair. And Blackberry for the headband and flowers.

Well, I decided that this wasn't going to work for me, especially with those harsh lines from the blocks of color I had added earlier and the hair was completely wrong.  What does one do now?  More paint!   I added more blocks of color.  Only  I would add more color, then painting with white over the still wet color paint.  I was going for a variegated look.  And because we are in our first heat wave of the summer here in Kansas, I was having major issues with the paint staying wet, so I solved that by adding a little Liquitex Glazing Acrylic Fluid Medium and mixed it in while applying the paint on the board.  
Because of adding all these blocks of varigated color, I had completely lost most of the inked stencil design, particularily the two Decor I stencils in the two corners.   I wanted more texture and decided to add Studio 490 White Embossing Paste with Prima's 6x6 Decor I stencil.  For the bottom corner stencil I mixed a teeny bit of Blackberry with the embossing paste and for the upper corner stencil, a little Tangerine was added. 
Next I stenciled Free Spirit again, lining the stencil up and re-stenciling her with black gesso.
In hind sight, I probably should have left the colors showing through the stenciled image.  But I filled her in with paint, coloring the headband, flowers and stems with Splash of Color-Silks Acrylic Paints.  

At this point I almost decided to completely walk away from my project. Start over - completely over, but I had been working on this for over a week and I was determined to finish it (plus I didn't have enough time to start from scratch, lo)
By coloring the hair in Umber, the feathers were completely lost in her hair.  To fix that, I re-positioned the stencil and added white embossing paste over the feathers.  While that was drying I decided to add a darker color around the front of the face.  Just like before, I added Dina Wakley's Heavy Body Acrylic Paint -Night, mixing it with white to blend.  



At this point I added more stencils and stamps for texture (and hoping it would bring this project together).  Next the Free Spirit stencil was ligned up for the third time and black gesso was very carefully pounced around the outline and the face detail because I had lost that when I filled her in with paint.
I used a brown gelato under the feathers which I blended with my fingers to help give some depth.  Distress Stickles were added to the flowers and on the embossed feathers. 



I added some detail with my Fude Ball Pen, filling in where I had missed with paint.  
You know how I always use gelatos or big brush markers to add depth, well, this time I used Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils, only instead of activating them with water, I used a blending stump to burnish the color.  
Found some old alpha die cuts which were painted and glued to spell out "Free Spirit".  And still not completely happy, I decided to stick my finger into white paint and randomly adding paint wherever my finger hit, along the edges, over the embossed corner stencils, etc.



 





I'm not sure if this is completely finished.  It doesn't feel complete yet but I do like how Prima's Free Spirit stencil turned out.  I think it's the background.  I may still change it, but for now she is sitting across from my craft table.
If you are still with me and my lengthy explanation, I wanted to show you what happened when I cleaned the Free Spirit stencil by laying it on a brayered background (my granddaughter had created).  I layed the stencil down, spritzed a lot of water over the stencil, I wiped using a baby wipe and this was the result:
Is that not awesome?  Looks kind of watercolorish, doesn't it?  Problem is I tried to recreate this result with no success, noooooooooo!!!!  

Anyway, thanks for letting me share.  I hope I made sense, sometimes it's hard to remember which step I did first, know what I mean?   As for me, even when a project does not give me that "finished" feeling, or doesn't turn out like I had hoped, I always come away from my craft table feeling I've accomplished something and that is the beauty and therapy of art for me.

I hope you were inspired to create!






Supplies used: