At Random

At Random

Hi There!

Seems an odd title for January's posts

but they are all chosen at random so

what else could I call it? ..........Haha!

The reason for "At Random" is that with

the JANUARY SALE going strong it

is the ideas for the projects that count

rather than individual projects, after all

a stamp is a stamp is a ...........

Or is it?  You decide!

Craftyfield is going to start us off

with a simple card:

"After all that Christmas crafting and 

lots of relaxing over the Holidays, 

a CAS card is great to 

kickstart my mojo again...

 I selected the Quirky bird to make 

a Get well card. 

I stamped the image with yellow

 Versafine Clair for a no line-colouring 

technique and used watercolour

 pencils and a brush to colour it.

Next, I stamped rain drops all over my bird,

 using the Craft Emotions stamp set

 with a blue Distress ink. 

If your ink, like mine is a bit dark, use

 second or even third generation 

stamping by stamping off on a 

scrap piece of paper.

 With a wet brush I pull the Distress ink

 off the stamped image.

 Then, I give the bird a bit of ground

 to stand on, using watercolour 

pencils and splatters.

Finally I used the printer for the sentiment.

I hope I have encouraged you 

to have a go, this is a very easy

 card to make!"

Thank you Craftyfield for

starting us off with a simple

card.  I'm sure it would bring

a smile to any patient's face!

For all specific products and colours 

have been mentioned here, do 

remember that any product can be

used to achieve a similar result!

Take a look at the SALE to see what

you can find to make a cheery

Get Well Soon card

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Acetate

Acetate

Hi There!

Well, here we are at the

end of the week with the

last Tutorial in this strand.

Have you had a good week?

Achieved everything you

set out to do?

Had the week from hell?

Settle back and have a

relaxing weekend - that'll

make you feel good again......!!

Craftyfield is here today

with another of her Quirky

Birds.  Remember the Ooops!

Bird?  Well here he is in a

different guise .......

"Of course I knew that enamel accents are 

perfect to make 3D dots or marks, 

but, since they are paints, I wanted to 

try them with a brush. 

Here, I colour matched some die-cut flowers 

from Crunchy waxed paper.

Still creating embellishments, I tried the 

Enamel Accents on brads for that glossy 3D finish. 

They are opaque enough to completely cover 

the original colour and beautifully glossy. 

What you can see behind the brad is 

my professional tool............ 

a cork which I use to hold brads for 

painting, embossing etc...

I remove the brads from the cork with tweezers 

and plant them in a piece of styrofoam to dry out.

 I then cut out all the cardstock and acetate pieces

 using a variety of dies and my guillotine.

Now for the focal image. 

Acetate is a difficult stamping surface 

but it does offer several opportunities... 

It can be worked on both sides! 

I decided to use Brilliance ink and emboss

 with clear powder to give me a raised impression. 

This will make it easy to contain the colour later. 

This acetate is heat resistant so, as long 

as the heat gun is not too close and you stop

 as soon as the powder is melted, the sheet will not warp.

Another advantage of acetate is that obtaining a 

mirror image is just a matter of flipping the sheet! 

I did consider in fact giving my bird a fellow by doing just that.

 Next time...

 I wanted the grass to be dimensional 

so I am painting it on the "front". 

As I go about painting my scene I will flip 

the acetate for the best effect or easiest way. 

Here I have applied some green Enamel 

at the bottom and spread it with a plastic card. 

Then, with the edge of the card, I dragged 

the colour upwards, creating blades of grass.

Flipping back to the stamped image 

I applied a wash of yellow to the bird with 

a wet brush.

Back to the grass side, I added some flowers

 by just touching the nib of the Cactus Flower bottle

to the acetate. 

With the green I added a few more blades

 to get some over the flowers. 

With the yellow I added the bird's plumage.

For the eyes I used white acrylic

 paint on the embossed side.

I took a second picture with a different angle 

as it is difficult to photograph acetate, 

especially with the shadows created!

These little bottles are a lot of fun to use 

in all sorts of ways (I also tried them with

 stencils but I wouldn't recommend it as stencilling

 does use a lot of paint) and I hope I have inspired 

you to explore this medium in more 

creative ways than just dots!"

Supplies:

Enamel Accents 
Crunchy Wax Paper 
Coloured card 
Heat resistant Acetate 
Joggles Quirky Bird 3 

Thank you Craftyfield - for

ending our super inspiring

week with another take on Bird 3.

Using the cork to hold the brad

is a brilliant idea too!

I'm off to sort through my

extensive cork collection for a proper

cork (if that makes sense!)?  

'Till tomorrow

Mickie xx

Quirky Birds

Quirky Birds

Hallo Everyone!

It's the last topic for April.

We start the month with

All Fools Day and it seems

fitting to be ending it with a

laugh, a giggle or a smile

and these quirky little birds

from Joggles fit the bill

perfectly.

Karen Gist is with us today

with a super little wall

hanging:

"Using an old credit card spread some PaperArtsy 

Spanish Mulberry and Smurf across a 

Tando Creative Coaster.

Add some smudges using a scrunched up

paper towel and some white acrylic.

Stamp the Joggles Quirky Birdy #2, 

colour in with Derwent Inktense pencils 

and cut out.

Doodle a wiggly line around the edge 

of the coaster and colour in using the same 

colours as above.

Stamp the Funny Bones stamp onto 

tissue paper using Stazon and when dry carefully 

tear around it. 

Add to the coaster using matte medium.

Attach the bird and some wire and beads."

Materials used:

Joggles Quirky Birdy No2

Tando Creative Coaster

PaperArtsy Fresco Paints

Derwent Inktense pencils

Oh that is such a fun piece

of Home decor Karen, thank you

so much for starting the week

with a bit of fun

Good to laugh out loud isn't 

it Everyone?  Makes the whole

world seem a brighter place....

'Til tomorrow

Mickie xx