DELLOW'S DELIGHTS!

The lovely Kim Dellow has recently released another fabulous set of stamps for PaperArtsy and I really do have a soft spot for her gorgeous, slightly retro shapes which are bang on trend. What can I say? They just make me sooooo happy.

I had no real plan for this page but I was desperate to ink up the stamps and have a play so I found myself repeat stamping the flowers up and down the paper to make this very simple one layer journal spread.

This was very easy to pull together so I could lose myself a bit in the repeat pattern (which I find very therapeutic) and the colouring. I stamped the flowers first, then masked them with masking fluid and stamped the word shine over the top. Once the ink was dry I carefully rubbed the masking fluid away and painted the flowers. There's a cute little lion in the set so I've used the lion's mane to make the grass at the bottom of the page. Distress Ink to edge the page and pull your eye into the centre. (I can see from the photo that I haven't blended the edges brilliantly so I will probably go back in with a water spray and just soften them a bit and blur those hard edges).

Have a great Bank Holiday Weekend. We are decorating (which is why my journal is balanced on a dust sheet :oD).

Lx

THE NEW TOPIC AT PAPERARTSY IS BEADS CHARMS AND DANGLES

so tonight I've made a pair of dangley earrings using Kim Dellow's stamps on painted acetate. Step outs are on the PaperArtsy blog. Too easy for words... Don't forget to check out the fabulous inspiration coming up in the next fortnight. I can't wait to see what everybody comes up with.

Lx

GET CRACKING AT THAT'S CRAFTY

Morning all

It's time for another cracking challenge over at That's Crafty's Challenge Blog and it seemed time for a bit of spooky fun...

I've used one of That's Crafty's acrylic arches as my substrate and layered some Pewter Fresco Paint on it to give a mirror type finish. Over this I sprinkled some Black Knight Infusions to create a kind of mercury glass effect. I then stamped on some crackles using one of Andy Skinner's sets for Stampendous and went over the whole lot with another thin layer of the Pewter Fresco Paint.

As I was stamping onto paint I was able to use Archival Ink to stamp my images using stamps from Andy Skinner (a very old set from my stash) and a favourite Halloween set - HotPick Halloween 02 - by PaperArtsy to create the feeling of a cracked mirror or window.

In hindsight, I wish I'd added a few little bats so I will probably go back and do that when I have a minute. I will either stencil them using That's Crafty's Dinky Stencil or use a lovely die a dear friend gave me recently (thanks Wynneth).

Finally, I used glossy accents to lift the words and the windows and they really add impact when the light hits them.

Don't forget to check out the amazing inspiration on offer from the Design Team and if you have time to enter the challenge you could win a voucher for £20 to spend in the shop. Too good an opportunity to miss? You betcha!

Lx

ACRYLIC CLASS AT THAT'S CRAFTY

We'll be getting a bit sketchy at my next Acrylic class on Saturday 3 September at That's Crafty.  Here is a peek at what will be making. Follow the link for all the details.

So why not come along and try out some fun ideas with gels, mediums and a few of our favourite products.

Lx

NEW PAPERARTSY RELEASES

Evening all. What a busy time it's been. and it won't have escaped your notice that there have been some fab new releases by the designers at PaperArtsy. OF COURSE I HAD to have them and here's a little something I made with one of Jo Firth Young's newest sets of stamps (JOFY45) which are featured on the PaperArtsy Blog tonight. It popped into my head straight away and seemed perfect for a belated birthday card.

and here's the inside....

Too cute!

The flowers themselves are so beautiful I know they will lend themselves to all kinds of gorgeous projects. Check out Jo's full post at PaperArtsy here to see how she worked her magic...

A ZESTY ZING AT THAT'S CRAFTY'S CHALLENGE BLOG

Morning all

It's challenge time again at That's Crafty and the prompt is Zesty Zing.

Here's an arch tryptic I made for Hochanda recently to (hopefully) give you a bit of inspiration.

I managed to get the ink on the stamped image to split a bit by washing the acrylic layer with spirit cleaner first. You have to move quite quickly before the spirit evaporates but it allows the paint underneath to show through what would otherwise be quite a solid image.

I used some Dinky Stencils (a few of my favourites from previous releases) and a mixture of Fresco Finish Paints and DecoArt Media Fluids, all of which are available from That's Crafty.

As usual there is a prize of a £20 gift voucher for one lucky person (picked at random) to spend in the shop. You've got to be in it to win it so why not zip over to the challenge blog, check out the Design Team's inspiration and have a go yourself. Hope to see you there.