Egyptian girl or ultra modern.....

Hello my crafty friends. Today's offering took me on an unusual journey....at least for me.

I knew I wanted to do a canvas and I wanted to use the face of this beautiful girl by Tim Holtz.

I started by adding paint to the 8x8 canvas using the brayer and fresco acrylics. I used several colours including a brown, blue, orange and a yellowy green.

I then stamped the girl on tissue paper (a paper I don't use very often). I then coloured her from the back using spectrum noir pencils. I didn't want the colouring to be overwhelming and by colouring the back it really softened the look. I did emphasize her eyes and lips slightly.

I cut her out and stuck her down carefully with mod podge.

I then added tissue tape to background and this is also another thing I very often forget to use. I inked over them very lightly with distress inks.

Then I turned to the hair. I remembered I had this stencil with rolling hills and the more I looked at it the more I could see hair. I remember Barbara Gray in one of her classrooms setting us the challenge to see how many things we could think of making with this stencil. Hair was certainly not one of them! A lot of masking was involved here and also waiting in between applications to allow grunge paste to dry.

So in between waiting I stamped the butterfly from Tim Holtz again and embossed it. I coloured it with distress inks picking colours that resonated with background. I used mermaid lagoon, twisted citron, dried marigold and gathered twigs.

I used a cap from a marker and dipped it in black gesso. Then I went over it with white gesso to create a shadow: I borrowed this from the lovely Emma Williams. She had it on her recent canvas.

I coloured hair with fresco acrylics and used 3 shades including London fog and chocolate pudding.

 Then I added gilding waxes to bring highlights to it. I then stuck the butterfly in her hair.

I also used waxes on a metal corner and 3 sprockets and attached these to canvas.

As a finishing touch I added some gold pearls in her hair and also some micro beads and distress glitter mixed into gloss medium in random areas. (again I borrowed this from Emma).

And there is my canvas ready. I hope you can leave me some constructive criticism, hugs Theresa xx

I would like to enter this canvas in the following challenges:

Simon says stamp Monday challenge - no ordinary paper

Frilly and Funkie - raise it up

Fat-Tastic Tuesday - anything goes with a twist: make it feminine

CropStop blog - anything goes

snippets .....

I was having a look over the Less is More challenge blog and the theme this week is snippets. They are also celebrating Chrissie's special birthday and she is a guest designer there this week.

At first I couldn't think what I could so but then I remembered that last week I had made a few cards that would all fit this theme. And luckily 2 of them definitely had a birthday theme.... phew!

One of the craft magazines had a die as an offer that had a flower and a balloon. I made 4 cards with the die using snippets of card that I have in my bits box.

The patterned paper is from Kraftwork cards. I then cut 2 balloons to match paper and added a white highlight. I glued one down and added sticky pad on other for dimension. 

The sentiment is from creative expressions and is stamped in black archival.

I also made the bottom 2 cards from some other snippets of card (excuse my photography skills). The snippets were that small that where they overlap on one of the cards it is because there was a bit of the petal missing!

so I hope you like my CAS offerings for today, Theresa xx.

I would like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

Less is More - recipe: snippets

Pixie's Crafty Workshops : snippets

Addicted to stamps and more - CAS

Crafty Gals Corner challenge - to die for

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge - anything goes with a twist: use ice-cream shades

Sister Act Card challenge - anything goes

things with wings ....

Hello there. Over at Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge the theme is Things with wings. This is what I came up with as a DT project.

I got some inspiration from Norma's lever card that she put forward as her project for the fancy folds. You can find her tutorial here.

This is the card from the inside.

I started with 2 8x8 cards and so i adjusted the measurements accordingly. I used distress inks to break the whiteness that would show through the folds.

The rest of the card is made from Graphic 45 papers, botanical tea. Yes somehow i summoned enough courage to cut up a few pages.....it was quite difficult.

I decorated as shown in pics and also inked around all edges for a more distressed look.

I also added a frame around the central aperture as it gave a neater look.

   

The above pics show the added embellishments in the card. I covered the back panel in brown card and added some stamps and small postcards from the paper pack and a chip board sentiment.

I carried theme on inside of card and this will also provide me with space to write in.

As you can see the embellies are all around birds and butterflies, hence things with wings.

I decoupaged the flower and the main butterfly to add some dimension. I stamped sentiment in potting soil archival ink on a blank chip board banner.

Finally I added extra embellishment using Sweet Lilac Flowers. Some pearls, pins and glossy accents finish the card off.

So I hope you enjoyed my creation for today and it offers you some inspiration. If you are looking for more inspiration hop over to blog to see more fab creations by the lovely members of the FFFchallenge DT.

So come and join us over at The Fussy and Fancy Challenge and don't forget that there are some lovely goodies up for grabs, Theresa xx

summer colours ....

Hello again. I'm back with a mirror this time. I was inspired by an article on Craft Stamper magazine. It took me a couple of tries but I think that I finally got there.

I started with a mirror that was actually white. I did sand it down lightly before I gessoed in black. I then went over it with black acrylic Fresco chalk paint. Once dry, I covered it with a thin layer of crackle glaze from Paperartsy. Then I sponged it with a mixture of Caribbean blue and Lake Wanaka. The cracks develop in front of your eyes as you sponge..... magic!

Once dry I stamped the flowers in black archival and embossed in detail black embossing powder. Some masking was needed to stamp leaves and pods.

Then came the fun part of colouring in. I used a small wet brush and acrylic paints. First I 'undercovered' everything with chalk acrylic. Then I added the colours. I used a few per flower and I also mixed colours together to achieve gradients. 

I tried to clean as much paint off the embossed lines as possible in between each coat of paint. In the end I went over with a black pen.

And there it is my summer mirror. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.

The sunflower is a Stampendous stamp. The poppies are from IndigoBlu.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Simon says stamp Monday challenge - i is for IndigoBlu stamps

Mixed Media Monthly challenge - summer days: colours and flowers of summer

Crafting by designs - anything goes

Crafting from the heart - anything goes

thank you pan pastels

Hello. I'm back with some CAS cards that I made as thank you cards for my son's teachers. 

Pan pastels are not my go to colouring medium but I think I am becoming a bit addicted. I bought some new colours and amongst them was the phthalo green. It is the most gorgeous softest green ever and it blends so nicely with the phthalo blue.

So I masked off top and bottom and coloured in area with the blue and green. Then I stamped the flower repeatedly in black archival ink.

I removed masks and stamped sentiment in black archival.

For this card I blended in green and yellow and then stamped the shell repeatedly in black archival.

All the stamps are from Claritystamp.

I then sprayed them lightly with Crafter's Companion spray and shine to set the pans.

I do hope you like this effort, Theresa xx

I would like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

Less is more challenge - life's a beach

Love to create challenge - anything goes

4 crafty chicks - CAS

MFP stampshop - beach scene (shell card)

masculine CAS

Hi there. Back again with a CAS card. Over on the Less is more challenge they asked for a one layer card with a masculine theme.

So with that in mind I masked off top and bottom and inked through  New stencil I got. I used cracked pistachio and mermaid lagoon.

Then I stamped the sentiment using black archival ink. The stamps are from Claritystamp.

And that is my take on a one layer card with a masculine theme, and I hope you like it, Theresa xx

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Less is more challenge - one layer, masculine 
Happy little stampers challenge - stamping

poppy on a circle .....

Hello there. Today I have a circular card on offer. Those of you who know Eileen Godwin might recall that she "launched" these crealis dies. So anything that she uses we end up buying....

So I bought 3 shapes of these and I decided to use the circular one first. The poppy is a Penny Black stamp also introduced to me by the above mentioned Eileen. Yes I know she has a lot to answer for.....

I stamped it in black archival ink on linen card and coloured it with distress markers and a damp brush. For the flower I used abandoned coral and barn door. For the poppy heads and stems I used shabby shutters and peeled paint.

The sentiment is from Claritystamp and I stamped it in black archival and clear embossed.

I then used some of the dies to cut image out and the sentiment. I mounted them on foam pads for dimension at different heights.

The base card I die cut with the larger circle in the tonic circle set.

So i hope you like my circular offer. The recipient did as she loves poppies, Theresa xx

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Simon says stamp Wednesday challenge - get in shape

Sister act card challenge - anything goes

Artistic inspiration challenge - anything goes with a twist of summer

Papertake weekly challenge - don't be square

Happy little stampers CAS challenge - stamping

cup of tea anyone? ......

Hello again. Tea is not one of my favourite beverages but I actually love this stamp. To me it says tea in a posh place, possibly in times gone by. So I went with it.

So I stamped the image in potting soil archival and clear embossed it 4 times to have images for decoupage. I stamped it once on an ivory g45 papaer to cut out the runner and once on a patterned g45 paper for table cloth. 

 

I coloured images with distress ink and a damp brush, adding darker colours to build up depth.

I fussy cut all the images and set about building the picture up. I decided to tear the 2 edges to give idea that table was bigger.

On another brown 6x6 sheet of g45 I stamped the sentiment in versamark and embossed in ivory. I thought this sentiment was very apt.

 I then stamped the bag on another colour of g45 ant the gloves on spotty g45. I fussy cut these and stuck them in the corner as shown.

I mounted the whole card onto cream 8x8 base card.

The stamps are from Sheena Douglass, the sentiment is a g45.

And viola' ..... A cup of tea anyone? Theresa xx

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Simon says stamp Monday challenge - coffee or tea?

Sister act card challenge - anything goes

Crafty cardmakers and more - sentiment

Craft your passion - anything goes

Artistic Inspirations - anything goes