Showing posts with label Viva Decor Stamps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Viva Decor Stamps. Show all posts

Friday, 13 November 2015

Anything Goes - Neil Walker




Hi everyone, 
As I said before, I have given the DT
a bit of a break so that they can recharge their
batteries!

I thought this was an amazing project
and one that could easily be changed
to make a lovely reusable
Christmas prezzie.



A bottle bag, beautifully decorated with So Soft paints


This is the front


A closeup of the front detail


Here is the back


This is what Neil said.....


"Begin by ironing any kinks out of the bag


Start to add your images to the bag using Archival
 ink pressing down a bit longer than you would
 if stamping on card
 to allow the ink to penetrate the fibres


Build up your design, masking where required till
 you are happy. 
(Repeat on the back of the bag too)


Now, remember the saying, mix too many colours
 together and you'll end up with mud? 
Well, this is where you find out it's true.
 Mix DecoArt So Soft Fabric paint, Christmas
 Primary Red, Ocean Blue, Cadmium Orange,
 Cadmium Yellow into a pot and you will
 end up with a funny brown/grey colour
(of course, I could have used brown but
 where's the fun in that?)


Keeping a pot of water handy, begin to
 apply the paint to the bag, avoiding the main
 stamped areas and using plenty of
 water to lighten and spread the colour.
 Every now and again
 you can work in a bit of blue,to add 
interest and depth. Use a large brush for the
 main areas and switch to a smaller
 brush around the images.



Once you have done both sides of the bag; either
 leave to dry or iron just to dry it out a bit 
(Using a craft iron rather than
 the iron you use to iron your Sunday best!)

 Now it's time to add some colour to your
 main images. Using the same colours as before,
 and water, add colour to your
 images. (I also used Yellow Green) I used 
tiny amounts of the "mud" colour to kind
 of dull down the colours where needed.
 It's also a good idea to iron the section you
 have done prior
 to adding a different colour adjacent to 
prevent bleeding.


When you have done both sides and are happy, 
leave to dry. Then turn the bag inside out 
and paint the top section with 
the remainder of your "mud" colour
 mix (assuming of course 
that like me, you ended up with far too much.)


Allow to dry, turn right side out again, and
 give it a last press with a hot iron.
The bag comes with a loose string tie cord which
 I attached to the side of the bag by 
sewing it on with string.



Once I had knotted the string around the cord I 
added a tag to the string and knotted it on.
 The tag had been stamped with
 a tag image from the stamps and I coloured
 it with some of the
 left over paint so the colours matched.


Now all that was left was to find a bottle worthy to be
 carried in such a stylish bag..."



So, what do you think...
What a brilliant project and really nice and unusual gift.


Do you want to have a go?
This is what you will need -

I used Christmas Primary Red, Cadmium Yellow,
 Cadmium Orange, 
Ocean Blue and Yellow Green

Are you going to try this....let us know
if you do....with pictures!!

See you tomorrow,

Jane x

......

Thursday, 17 September 2015

Advent Calendar - Neil Walker



Hellooo,

Well it's official, it's coming, getting closer
and nothing we can do about it!!
Yes that horrible word that begins with C.....

Christmas 

This year has just flown by and Christmas will 
be upon us really soon. 

So this week we have decided to put in a 
little Christmas post to get you thinking.....

Advent Calendars

 The DT have been asked to have a play
so let's see what they came up with....
also we have Karen Gist with us on 
Saturday with her amazing Advent Calendar
so you will have to wait for that one!!

Ok, we are going to start with Neil.
You are going to love this....

Neil says 

I decided to make myself a crafter's countdown 
advent for this year.


Cut 22 pieces of water colour card 14 x 10 cm 
and 2 pieces 14 x 12 cm.


Take one of the larger pieces and attach one
 of the smaller pieces to this with Tim Holtz
 Tissue tape (or similar thin paper tape) Tape both sides.


Repeat this till you have a total of twelve
 pieces attached.


As you can see, you have created an accordion
 folded strip.


Repeat this with the remaining card so you end up
 with two.


 Add a couple of strips of tissue tape to the
 top of the top larger card. Punch holes and
 reinforce with rings if desired. Take 4 x 25mm 
book rings and 2 small clips and set to one side.


 I've used an old rusty hanger to attach my folded
 cards too. 
The clips are to keep the sections closed . 
Like this.


Take your card and have fun stamping your 
Festive fronts. 


Stamp your small Christmas sign onto the card
 (left side) and also on scrap paper to mask off 
before stamping the background.


Add colour with Distress Inks masking off the sign


Add colour to the top sections of tape too.


Add detail colour using Distress Markers.


Stamp and cut out the balloon and sled 
onto watercolour card and colour with markers.
 Add to the right side with 3d foam pads. 
Paint and die cut your advent numbers.


Add the numbers to each page. 


Cover your clips with tissue tape. Cut 2
 pieces of black card, slightly smaller than the 
12 x 10. Round the corners and set aside.


Make a selection of Snowflake rosettes using
 the dies. Add a tiny tattered rose to each.
 Use these to embellish.


 I tied the hanger with ribbon to remove
 the large empty area. Add a large
 bow to the top and some snowflakes
 using a glue gun.


I glued a snowflake to each clip too.




Everything is now ready for me to enjoy a little 
dose of Christmas crafting from the 1st to the
 24th of December. Each day I can have fun
 stamping and creating my design. I'll be
 adding Christmas inspiration verses to each
 page.The black card hides the unused page 
until that day has arrived. Then, when Christmas 
is here I will have a completed calendar full of 
Seasonal inspiration that can be used over
 and over again.













Thursday, 27 August 2015

Animal Magic - Neil Walker



Helloooo,

Good morning to you all, hope you are all
having a fabulous summer!!
What are we going to get next, I wonder?
Apparently there is a warning of Tornado's
at the weekend...unbelievable! 
Probably as likely as the scorching August 
they told us was coming......hello, still 
waiting!

So, this week we have three posts for you
from our DT.
We gave them two words....
Animal Magic
and today's  is what Neil created -

A superb Sketch Book cover 




Take white card, stencil and modelling paste.


Make a couple of the horses (you only need two, I  made
a couple of extras while I had the paste out).  
Sprinkle with Brusho's.


Spritz liberally with water to spread the colours.  Lift the
pages and allow the excess liquid to drip onto a 
spare piece of white card.  Put the horses to one side to
dry.  Scrunch the piece of spare card up and open up
and set to one side to dry.


When your spare piece is dry, tear off a strip 
 either side as seen and blend Hickory Smoke 
over the piece.


Stamp some random cogs to the piece in Coffee 
Archival ink.


Stick onto the A4 kraft sketch book.  Blend Hickory 
Smoke over the exposed covers and use the layering 
Stencil with a damp cloth to get a bit of interest.


Matt one of the horses onto black card and 
adhere to the front.  Cut one of the others out and
glue to the front as seen, wrapping it around 
the spine.


Blend Hickory Smoke over the horses.  Then, take
some Faux Finish Medium and cover everything with
a coat of seal.  Be aware that the moisture will react
with the Distress Ink and move around.  I like this as
it gives a lovely look and tone, in  my opinion.


The finished Sketch Book!


Wow, this looks amazing..... 
thank you Neil.

If you want to have a go, this is 
what Neil used -