The second day of InkTober and I decided to go with another floral inky draw, but there was good reason for this.
I decided a couple of months ago that I should make an Art Journal. I had no idea about what I should do to make one, but having had a look around the interweb I realised that there didn’t seem to be really any rules about it, so decided I’d make my art journal my own way. And the reason why I decided to go with another floral inky drawing today – was so that the two facing pages of the art journal would have something in common.
Something that they could talk to each other about when the book was closed and on the shelf. They would whisper to each other about things they knew about and they had a common language in order to do this. … but ssshhhh…. don’t tell – because this is a secret!
So anyhoo – …. this is what I did for day two of InkTober .… Firstly, I roughly pencilled my idea, then I inked the drawing so that it looked like this …
. . . thereby fulfilling the required rules for InkTober … but … as you know, I can’t leave things like that. I have to add a little colour to make things smile. . . and since the first page of my new Art Journal was going to be the Inktober Daisy (from yesterday) . . .
. . . then some happy colours were called for on this second page . . .
I had wondered whether to paint directly into my new journal (which wasn’t really new at all. It was a book I’d had for a gazillion years but never used, because . . . I didn’t want to spoil it. yeah .. I can hear you laughing from here), or draw and paint onto watercolour paper and stick that into the journal. I decided I’d try drawing and painting directly into the book, to see if it would work ok… and it seemed to. So once I’d snapped the photo above, I then felt free to ‘decorate’ ….
Gesso (white) was applied around the sprig of flowers, and once dry I sprayed some mica sprays, in 3 different colours from Lindy’s Stamp Gang, unfortunately the photographs don’t seem to pick up the mica which is held suspended in the liquid so I tried tipping and turning the book to try a capture the glimmer … this next photograph is probably my best shot. It shows the mica the best on that lower blue flower . . .
. . . Can you see the magical twinkle on the petals there? Teeny tiny littl droplets of gold? Looks like Fairy Dust!
While that was drying I got to work on the Daisy from the first day (yesterday) of the Inktober challenge.
I tore around the edges of the daisy and then fixed it in place. Then carefully applied Gesso all around the page…. and once dry I treated the page to the same mix of Lindy’s Stamp Gang sprays and left them to dry.
Looking at the pages I knew I wasn’t finished with them … there is something calling to me, and I think I know what it is …. but for now, I’ll concentrate on Inktober and the pen and ink drawings … when I’m not making a card or something, naturally!
The items used in the creation of the little sprig of flowers are:
As always, please be assured that I am not employed by either of these companies, nor do I receive any payments in money or products in order to promote any products for the companies concerned, I’m simply sharing what works for me. (Of course, if Kuretake or Lindy’s Stamp Gang want to offer me some products to try, I’d be more than happy to try them and report on my findings. Who am I kidding? They don’t read my blog for goodness sake! lol).
Thank you so much for coming, and before I go . . . may I just take this opportunity of welcoming some new followers to the Cobweborium Emporium blog. I won’t name names but rest assured that I will recognise you if you comment at all, and can promise that you’ll always receive a reply.
Thanks to these new followers WordPress sent me a congratulations a few days ago telling me that I now have over 500 followers. Now considering that I don’t ‘do’ the Facebook thing and I have no family followers (no seriously.. I really don’t. Only three members of my family know I even keep a blog!), I think that 500 people is quite an achievement . So I mentally gave myself both a high-five and ate a cake! ( …. well, it was my unbirthday!)
So a big HELLO to the lovely new people reading. Thank you for clicking to follow and joining us all here.
I wish you all a blessed rest of your Monday. May Tuesday bring you smiles, warmth and a few laughs along the way.
I got involved with the World Watercolour Challenge in July, but I, being me, took it a step further and challenged myself to paint only in ATC (Artist Trading Cards) size, which is just 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. Now although I failed on some of the paintings, I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed myself. It’s ages since I painted so picking up the brushes again was such a joy to me.
However … in the comments, I got into various chats about ATC’s and tried to explain that if you fancied making an ATC, you didn’t have to paint in order to make them. You could glue, stick, adhere, ~ paper, magazine cut-outs, tissue, die cuts, anything basically. And attach all sorts of things. You can make a picture, a statement, a quote, or even a whole story on your ATC.
To try to show you what I mean, I made a quick to make ATC … it could be kept exactly as it is, and stored in a collectors folder. Or you can give ATC’s away to friends, family etc. Or you can swap them with other ATC makers. Or … you could use them on a handmade card or in a scrapbook.
Don’t let life RUFFLE your feathers ~ photograph taken with the flash on.
First I made the fairy dress, out of bluey green feathers, a sticker and black card, and using a plain white card, pre-cut to ATC size (2.5″x3.5″).
I firstly coloured the ATC card using two different blues – one was called Freshly Washed Jeans – the other … I’m going to have to call Teal – it was ink left on a bit of sponge, which I’d saved in a sealed plastic bag (I’m such a thrifter!). Then using an embossing ink and gold Tonic embossing powder, I embossed all around the edge of the card.
photograph taken using a bulb light desk lamp only.
I stamped the ‘message’ ~ “Don’t let life RUFFLE your feathers”, and stamped a feather over it. Then added the three pearl gems in contrasting colours.
Aw…. nearly forgot … before I began this ATC … I back-stamped it using my favourite ATC stamp:
an ATC back-stamp. Used on the rear of Artist Trading Cards, so that the piece of art work can be traced back to the artist who made the ATC.
I tend to stamp my ATC cards on the back before I begin my art work … but I’ve been known to forget and if you do it’s easily solved. You stamp your ATC stamp onto some plain white paper, fill in the details and cut it out to the exact size and simply glue it to the back of your ATC.
And that’s all there was to it!
Well, it’s Monday again. A brand new week, fresh out of the box and gifted to us to do with as we will. Do something good today. Make your day a memorable one. See if you can do something which will make another person smile. It could be a work colleague, a friend, a relative or a complete stranger. Whoever it is … make them smile. Do whatever you can, with what you have available to you. Just make someone smile today and make it a memorable day for you, and for them.
Sending a whole ton of squidges, all sent out in various directions around the globe, in the hope of one of them getting to you and making you smile too. If you’re smiling right now … then one has already reached you.
I saw the technique for making this card demonstrated about 3 weeks ago and the whole thing fascinated me so much that I tried to remember every little thing about how the demonstrator made her creation. Now I know that I haven’t got it exactly the way she did it, but it’s close enough.
Made on an 8″x8″ scored and folded card, using Polkadoodles Stamp Soup stamps, called Regal Peacock. But … that name really is just a suggestion, for you could make a million different creations with these stamps because the results will come from your imagination. You and I could begin with the same stamps and yet we’d make something way different from each other.
Here …. take a look at them:
. . . can you see the peacock stamp in there? . . . No? That’s probably because there isn’t one! I used 7 different stamps to make the peacock. You can pick them out … they’re the ones which are a little darker in colour. I used a black Stazon Ink Pad (solvent ink) so that I could then colour the images using watercolours.
You don’t have to be ‘neat and tidy’ when painting the Peacock feathers, just free-handed with the paint. Then once dry, all the feathers (which were stamped onto spare card, then painted) have to be cut out and then ‘feathered’ at the edges by cutting into the images with light, small cuts. Those peacock feathers are then adhered to the main peacock body which I’d previously stamped and coloured using the watercolour paints, directly onto the card.
Finally …. some parts of the peacock were embossed with gold and green embossing powders.
. . . and that’s all there was to it!
Although simple to make … I had to spread it over three days so it kind of felt a little time-consuming. All the waiting for paint to dry, and cutting out of all the feathers…. little things, but they all added up to time. But it was a totally, thoroughly enjoyable make, I have to admit. A lot of fun – and I can’t wait to make something else with those stamps now.
So anyway … how the divil are you? I feel as if we haven’t got together for a coffee and chat for weeks and weeks.
In my world …the chubby dog (aka the Belly on legs) had to go to the vet this week. I noticed that she had some tiny patches of hair loss on her back so off to the vets we went and after some examination and a bit of testing, we were told she’s got a Bacterial Skin Infection. (That’s the dog not the vet who has the skin infection). So we have a little bottle of stuff which we have to massage into her skin … wait 5 minutes, then thoroughly wash off. And we were given some tablets, which she has to have twice a day.
Now she really doesn’t mind the tablets. She’s called ‘My Little Fat Bitch‘ for a reason. She can eat as if it’s going out of fashion, and she thinks those tablets are treats, so woofs them down!
And . . . she really loves the massage bitof the stuff in the bottle … but … the bit she’s not at all happy with, is the ‘wash it all off’ bit. She HATES the shower. HATES it. Did I say that strongly enough? I’m not sure I did so let me repeat myself: SHE HATES THE SHOWER.
She’s told me time and time again; . . . “Belly is not designed for getting wet. Don’t let Belly get wet. That umbrella …. that’s for Belly. Hold it down here, over Belly – NOT over you! Don’t let Belly Get Wet!!“
She SO hates getting wet that she would rather plait her legs, (‘braids’ for folks in the USA), than go out into the garden to have a tiddle if it’s raining outside. This adorable, much loved pooch even squints in the rain. Yes, seriously. I kid ye not!
So the massage and shower isn’t the most enjoyable task … but then … I don’t have to do it. Mr. Cobs Senior takes on that job, (bless him) because I feel like Cruella de Vil if I try to do it.
When it’s all over and done with … you have to see that rotund little dog absolutely barrel out of that bathroom! She’s like a bullet out of a gun! It’s among the funniest things to watch … and boy can her little legs can move when she wants them to!
So anyhoo . . . what’s going on in your corner that you’d like to share with me while we drink the last few sips of coffee from our cups?
Won the Lottery?Got a new job? Sold your house? Adopted a new pet? Or … by any chance . . . Does your dog have a bacterial skin infection? Your cat? YOU? I can recommend a vet! 🙂
Wishing you a thoroughly enjoyable Thursday. May the hours go as fast, or as slow, as you would like them to. Just find the fun and enjoy it.
Be the reason someone smiles today. Heaps of squidges from me in my corner, to you in yours.
Hello, and Happy Thursday! I have another mainly white, with a dash of colour from the ribbon, and also from the sprinkles inside the shaker tree – card to share with you, direct from my craft desk.
Made on a 7″x7″ square white, scored card, and with a sheet of 7″x 7″ white card which the tree was cut from.
I love shaker cards – but the one thing I don’t love about them is how boring they can look when they’re stood up on the mantel shelf, and all the fabulous sprinkles fall to the bottom of the tree. It leaves a card looking slightly sad and a bit miserable, because the receiver can only enjoy the card if they sit like a saddo, shaking the card. (Which is fine if they’re a child, but a tad boring if in their 30’s and above). So I devised a way of keeping some interest in the cut of part of a shaker card, and it’s really simple to do. Just add a few ‘stops’ or streamers along the way, which the sprinkles get caught on, and will hold there, so that the shape you’ve cut out stays looking more interesting.
I’ve blown the tree part up in some photos – one with flash, one without, so that you can hopefully actually see the ‘streamers’ I built into this card. This first photograph is with the flash on . . .
can you see how I’ve added some cut and shaped ‘streamers’ to the layer between the acetate and the back of the cut out – which I devised so that the sprinkles would get caught up in the shapes and wouldn’t all fall to the base of the tree, so keeping the shape (in this case a tree) more interesting to look at.
This next photo was taken with the flash off, so that it might show the ‘streamers’ better …
Can you see the ‘streamers’?
If you decide to have a go at this and do it yourself – don’t make your ‘streamers’ straight lines. Give them some curves, so that you don’t end up with lines across your image – which could end up looking worse than nothing being there at all. Oh … and don’t use glitter – because that can totally ruin a shaker card, as it’s a little divil and sticks to the acetate in such a way that it almost ‘fogs out’ anything else you may have in your shaker.
The greeting: NOEL, was stamped using silver embossing ink, teamed up with Tonic Embossing Crystals. The stamp used was from a set of 6 greetings, made by Crafty Individuals. I can recommend this company, both for their service and their products. You can find this particular stamp set HERE <— clickable link. (I ordered these stamps and they were in my hands 3 days later. I can’t say that you’ll get that ‘quickness’ right now, because we’re all living in the silly season right now, but I’ve found them, each time I’ve used them, to be very quick and efficient.)
To make the colours chosen for the sprinkles ‘pop’, I added two lengths of Merry Christmas ribbon, in a lovely rich teal colour. This ribbon was from the DoCrafts selection, and is a really fabulous weight of grosgrain. Finally, I added a pearl star to the top of the tree, and voila … Noel the Christmas Shaker Tree came to life.
I was aiming to get this card posted yesterday (Wednesday) … but you know what they say about ‘plans’:- If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. He must be having a right old riot of a time up there in Heaven right now, as he reads down my list of ‘plans’.
Mr. Cobs and I went to see Little Cobs in his Christmas Concert with the other young members of his school year, at the Church near his home. Ohhhhh… I was wriggling in my seat and beside myself with joy. I wanted to sprinkle rainbows from my eyes with happy and love. Little Cobs was so over-joyed to see his Grammy and Grandad at the concert that he could be heard over and above any other noise, telling his teacher: “That’s my Grammy! It’s MY Grammy! Look. LOOK. She’s there ” <points finger>. He’s such a darling, and it was such a privilege to be there. (Not really well enough to go, but down right determined that I was going to be there, pain or no pain).
We came home, and Mr. Cobs fed me lunch and then sent me straight to bed, where I spent the rest of the afternoon worn out from trying to escape the awful pain in my back. He (my GP) has given me pain killers – and they do kind of work (they make the pain easier to live with) but they don’t last long enough, and even the smallest bit of doing ‘something’ causes whatever this is to flare up. It’s become one step forward and two steps back.
OK.. moan and grizzle over with. tsk tsk.
Well it’s Thursday ... and I cannot believe how fast this week is flying past. We have ten days until YOU KNOW WHAT DAY! But .. actually, I suppose I should say NINE days – because you can’t count the day itself – so IT’S NINE DAYS TILL YOU KNOW WHAT DAY. (and I still haven’t found a gift for Mr.C! eek!)
Wishing you a truly lovely Thursday. Make someone happy today. Do something to make someones day a little brighter. Buy them one of those big chocolate cookies? Or maybe a magazine to read? Perhaps a cupcake? Something funny to put on their desk? Some Christmas Socks? (men might find those a bit of a laugh). Or just write down your most favourite joke, pop it into an envelope and deliver it to them with a wink. That might get their heart racing, before they open it and fall about laughing.
Or maybe just tell someone how much you like them. That’s bound to have a great affect upon someone.
Sending you love … oh … and do you know why I like YOU so much? It’s because you have that special ‘spark’ about you which makes you fun to be around. I really love seeing you here, and love knowing that you’re on the other side of my computer screen, having a bit of a smile with me. So thank you for that.
I love to craft, but freely admit that I’m a bit of a ‘crop sprayer’. By that I mean that I don’t just stick to one craft. I make cards, tags, scrapbooks, boxes. I work with polymer clays, making anything from a tiny miniature mushroom, or fairy baby’s little face, right up to a fairy tower for a princess, with turrets and fairy door and .. well everything a Princess Fairy Tower would have! I love to re-cycle or up-cycle by turning unwanted into something brilliant; and …. I paint. When the mood takes I will paint anything which stands still long enough. Not painting as in ‘lets paint these walls a different colour’, but painting on: canvas, wood, paper, card, coffee tables, dining room tables, chipboard, … or anything which doesn’t move when I’ve got a paintbrush in my hand and a need to use it.
But, I actually started out my crafty adult (w-a-a-a-y over the age of 21 plus tax) years ‘potterying’. Not on a potter’s wheel, but the other kind. Hand building. I can’t call it sculpting because (to me) that word kind of presumes that I might be good at it. Now I wasn’t bad, – in fact I made things which sold well at Craft Fairs, etc. But I really don’t deserve the title of Sculptor. I’m no Master Craftsman in any sense or form!
I learnt this incredible craft by going once a week to a genuine real sculptor (a true ‘Master Craftsman’ – coo, the things that this person could turn out were MAGNIFICENT!) where I spent 3 hours each week, being taught how to do ‘stuff’. Once the ‘magic’ of this incredible craft opened up to me I LOVED it. The Sculptor brought out the best in me and showed me ‘how’ to do what I had in my mind to do, and how to get from a doodled drawing into something solid which I could amaze myself at when it was finished. (Half the time I couldn’t believe I’d made *that*!) But I wouldn’t ever have been able to make the things I did had it not been for this incredible Master of the art at Sculpting who shared all the knowledge with me.
And that’s the thing. We all need someone with a little bit of knowledge about something, who we can ask for some general help from when, we want to begin something but aren’t sure exactly what we even need to know which would give us the confidence to do the ‘thing’ – whatever that thing might be.
A fabulous blogger who follows our little blog here, by the name of Mrs. P. made a comment on a post I did on the blog, and in it she said….
“Have you ever done a post on the basics ~ please read that as … OK I want to try making a card / stamping, I’ve bought some stamps, an ink pad & even some die cut thingy’s and then realising I have the skill set of a 4 yr old …had a tantrum, put said goodies away only to retrieve them every now and again to stroke them, sigh deeply ~ repeat from tantrum to deep sighing on a regular basis”
When I read the comment I actually felt her pain, for when I first began stamping I did virtually the same thing. I tried them, the images weren’t the fabulous things I’d hoped for so I put them away. I tried again, and same result… and over a period of time I muddled my way through things and eventually learnt what worked and what didn’t. So .. here I am, a total un-expert, trying to hold Mrs. P’s. hand, and give any help I can to encourage both Mrs. P and anyone else who finds stamping a pain in the you know what. As I said… I’m not an expert .. but here’s what I’ve learnt and what I think might help out.
* I’ll be using both words and photographs as we go through this bit of ‘help’, and in order to do this I’ve had to take a ton of photographs and do some stamping with you at the same time. I’m sorry about there being so many photos.With regard to the stamping .. I’ve tried to, as much as possible, stamp like a regular new stamper. So that any images here will show you that the images you’re stamping are fine, and also how to make good any little mishaps you might have. I hope all this helps.
SCARY BLANK CARD!
When you face that blank card in front of you, it’s right at that moment that your nerve goes. Your brain whispers thngs like:-. What if I make a complete ba**s up of this and waste time and a card and what if it all ends up in the bin? I’m sure I can’t do this! Don’t listen to it. You and I are going to prove to your brain that you’re the boss, and this stamping lark isn’t anything like difficult.
But first .. some rules and guidelines.
There are no rules.
So lets get onto the guidelines:-
The better the stamp the crisper the image. I’ve found that red rubber stamps give the most magnificent impression, however I LOVE clear stamps because I can see exactly where I’m placing the stamp. It’s all down to personal preference. And you won’t know which you prefer until you’ve been stamping for a short while. (There are stamps about which look like red rubber stamps but aren’t. We’ll have to talk about that another time)
Ink Pads: I hate to say this because .. well, I’m a canny shopper and watch the pennies, but … from experience … the cheaper the stamp pad you buy, the less ‘lovely’ the image is likely to be. Obviously there are exceptions which prove the rule, but I’m just speaking from personal experience here, and because of that I don’t buy stamp pads from Ebay or anywhere other than recognised stores which sell crafty goodies. (Not necessarily craft stuff only stores. I’ll buy from The Range, which is a fabulous place to shop for craft items (here in the UK) and I also have a selection of more affordable DoCrafts embossing stamp pads which work BRILLIANTLY. But I don’t buy from market stalls or things like that).
CLEANING UP! … You MUST clean your stamps after you’ve used them. As soon as possible after you’ve used them. Personally – I use Huggies Baby Wipes. The reason I use this brand is because they have no Alcohol in them. (Lots of baby wipes do have alcohol, so check the list of ‘ingredients’ if you’re buying them for your stamps, as alcohol spoils the stamps! Why its used in BABY wipes is a total mystery to me … if I’m protecting my crafting stamps from alcohol, then surely we shouldn’t be wiping our babies btm’s and hands/faces with wipes containing it? Yes? No? Is that just me thinking like that?)
Anyhoo ... let’s begin….
1. Begin on a piece of scrap card. Play with your stamps just like a child would play with them. Stamp over and over. Just to remove the fear of the action of stamping and making a mangled mess of inky shapes on a bit of card.
2. Now turn your bit of scrap card over, once you’ve done the first exercise. Then grab your computer mouse mat. (If you haven’t got one of those, please buy one. Just a cheapy one – so long as it’s that squishy rubber or sponge type – rubber like neoprene rubber or sponge like a kind of firm foam sponge with a bit of ‘give’ – and then keep it just for stamping). In the meantime, if you haven’t got a mouse mat, use something like a folded FLAT weave – not the bobbly type – tea towel*. Fold it, make sure there are no creased up bits which will make marks on your ink. Then once folded neatly … put it on your work area, where you’ll be stamping, right in front of you. (*or an old pillowcase would do)
3. Put a plain sheet of A4 on top of it. Just copy paper. Nothing posh or expensive. Use the cheap stuff. This is so you won’t mark your mouse mat/tea towel/pillowcase nor your desk. You DO need that bit of paper. (You can also check out the colour of a stamp pad on it, and .. it will also keep your cardstock clean too).
4. Now place your piece of scrap card on top of that, making sure that it’s positioned firmly over the folded tea towel at the bottom of the pile of paper and card. You’ll find that if you stamp your image over the edge of the mouse mat etc, then you’ll get a really rubbish image with bits missing and the chance of the line of the mouse mat pressing into the cardstock and giving it a ‘bend’.
5. Choose your stamp, if it’s a wooden one then you’re ready to go, if it’s an unmounted stamp then choose a stamp block which is plenty big enough to hold the complete stamp.
6. Choose your ink pad … then tap your STAMP with the Ink pad. Don’t leave the ink pad on the desk and jab the stamp up and down on it. Instead, pick the stamp pad up and hold your stamp in the other hand and tapping the ink pad onto the stamp, move it around so that the ink pad gets tapped all over it, watching as you do it so that you don’t wobble the edges of the stamp or stamping block onto the inky surface. If you do this by accident, then either use your thumb to rub away the excess or use a baby wipe to wipe it away so that it doesn’t end up marking your card. This tapping all over the ink pad is in case there are any ‘cold spots’ on the pad, where perhaps the ink is just a tiny bit less intense. By moving the stamp pad over your stamp, in a tap, tap, tapping motion, you’ll ensure that you have inked all the raised parts of your stamp equally. Oh .. and don’t ‘drag’ your pad over your stamp, because you’ll end up with a build up of ink in places and it will transfer to your card, making an uneven colouring.
7. Carefully place your stamp down on your cardstock and press down, firmly but not hard. You aren’t trying to push it through the desk top! But you do want to ensure that all the raised parts of the stamp are in contact with the card. DON’T ROCK YOUR STAMP! If you do then you’ll likely get a ghost effect of parts of the stamp. If you’ve done that then don’t fret. It happens to everyone. Just stamp it again. At the moment we’re only playing anyway!
8. Now .. take another, different bit of card and place it on the desk top, but not on the pad of tea towel and A4 paper. Tap the same stamp you’ve just used, with the same ink pad, and then using the same firm press, press that same stamp onto that piece of card. Check out the difference between the two images. Which one looks best to you?
Some stamps will work and give you the exact same image every time. However most of the others won’t. Most images which a stamper produces are much improved by the use of a mouse mat, or the folded tea towel/pillowcase. There’s something in that bit of ‘give’ which just makes the impression so much sharper, neater, better. But … if your stamp works without it then that’s great.
Each stamp may need a different method, so the best thing to do is stamp your stamp on some scrap card or pape before you begin your actual project, so that you can give it a test first.
Now .. choose your favourite image which you’ve stamped and let’s colour it in. . .
You don’t HAVE to colour in a stamped image by using pens or crayons
How do you like to colour things in? Is your craft room complete with specialist pens, crayons etc which you paid a price for? Do you get along with those things? Do you get great results? If so, then use those. Use the method which you love the most.
Not everyone is a colourist(the name for someone who colours their images with specialist colouring pens/pencils). For those who either don’t like the results they get with pens, or would just like to try something a little different, or if you don’t have special colouring pens … then here’s something you can do which won’t cost the earth. All your need is a few paint brushes which are suitable for water-colours and your stamp pads.
Choose a colour from your ink pads which you’d like to ‘paint’ your image. Stamp that stamp pad onto your glass cutting mat. (If you don’t have one of those … do you have a glass cutting board in your kitchen? Could you ‘borrow’ it, just to use one corner of it, just for this teach in? If not – do you have a little plastic palette, the type used by painters? Or.. do you have one of those foam plates which you used to see as picnic plates? One of those would work fine too. Last suggestion … a spare odd saucer or plate – but wash it thoroughly before any food use. You’re using dye inks here – so if you have an odd saucer which you don’t use then that would be best.)
You needa little pot, or a saucer for some water. You don’t need much water – just about a tablespoonful – so you don’t need a huge, great thumping dish!
As you see in the photo above, I’ve stamped a Danube Blue Memento ink pad onto my glass mat. I dipped my brush into the little bit of water in the pot, then dragged most of the water off the brush, and only then did I tap my brush onto the glass mat next to the inky blob.
Use your brush to mix a tiny part of the inky blob and pick up some ink, and take it straight to your image. (don’t hang around as the brush will dry pretty quickly). Use a brush size which is appropriate to what your ‘painting’. If you have a tiny flower then obviously don’t use a one inch brush!. lol.
Use as many colours or as few, as you like. Colour your image in any way you want. If you’re finding that you can’t paint in a neat way .. then paint in a ‘Contemporary Art’ way. Blob, stripe, stroke, dabble or anything you like which works for you. Remember, we’re only playing so anything goes!
A more contemporary style of colouring an image. Who would have thought that a church would have looked so fabulous painted blue, yellow, purple and orange!
Once you’ve done that… colour one of your other images which you’ve stamped .. only this time in different colours. Pens/Crayons/Inks/Paints … anything you choose – just use different colours.
colouring another image using different colours.Another Contemporary Art church!
Ok ... let’s use some words now ….
Now choose a sentiment stamp which would kind of ‘go’ with your image. And using the same tap, tap, tap method of the ink pad on the stamp (not the other way round) ink up and then stamp your sentiment near to your image – near it so that it speaks to it – but not so far apart that it looks like the words and image have had a row and fallen out!
Of course … You don’t have to colour your image in at all. You can leave it exactly as it is, and it can look rather swish and very classic. . .
But … how about different colours again, but this time … lets take it a step further . . .. . . let’s spritz it with a spritzer which has some Mica suspended in the liquid, so that when it dries after a few minutes …It dries perhaps a little paler but .. hang on … where’s that Mica? ....Ah haaaa! There it is. Twinkling away merrily!
Ok .. we’ve done that stamp. Let’s try a different one, and this time a different colour of stamp pad.
Lots of people only stamp in black ink. I’m not sure if that’s because they love the black ink so don’t want to try any other colour, … or if maybe they just haven’t thought about another colour … or if perhaps they have no idea about what colour to use so use black for safety. Different colours can give you different results. Even stamp pads from the same company. It’s not that the ink isn’t the same, it’s the colour which is different. Each colour will do things for you which another colour might not do.
Let’s try … grey….
This wee little rascally rabbit is stamped using a Memento Ink pad in a colour called London Fog. It gives a much softer image. Imagine that same image in black. In the London Fog (grey) it looks more … pencil drawn. More soft. Gentle.
But .. what would it look like in another colour?
London Fog on the left. Rich Cocoa in the middle. Tuxedo Black on the right.A closer up photo so you can see it more easily. (I forgot to say .. if you want to see the photographs bigger than they are here, right-click on any photo and choose ‘View Image’. Don’t forget to click to come BACK here again though!)
You can see how the exact same image gives a totally different ‘feel’ about it, simply by the choice of ink colour. If you want to stamp an image but are not sure of which stamp pad to use, then test stamp it first. Do a comparison like the one above of the rabbits. If you stamp them near to each other (but give a little space so that they have their own space to ‘be’) you’ll make choosing so much easier for yourself.
I think out of those images I rather like the Rich Cocoa colour in the middle. Let’s try that colour on another image …
Aww! So sweet and so right in that Rich Cocoa Brown.
Ok … so far we’ve only used an unmounted stamp here. Let’s try something different. Let’s go to a wooden mounted stamp, but let’s make it a difficult size. This next stamp is so big that I have difficult holding it in one hand.
A large wooden mounted stamp in red rubber. Large stamps can be a pain in the rear, so don’t expect to get a perfect image the first time you stamp it. You’ll have to get used to the size and shape, as well as the heaviness of this type of stamp. So give yourself chance.
Large, detailed stamps such as the falling fairy one above, can be a tricky to decide on what colour to stamp it in sometimes. You can just use one solid colour stamp pad and stamp it out like the church I stamped (above), then you can colour the image afterwards in various ways. Or .. you can play around with your stamp pad colours and stamp the stamp in an assortment of carefully placed colours so that you have some colours there already … like this …
The inks around the right side of the image, are all the colours I used on that one large stamp, all at the same time.
This multi colour stamping is a great trick. But … you have to be quick – unless you’re using embossing ink pads – those dry slowly so will allow you the extra time you require to stamp the inks onto the stamp.
But .. if using Dye Inks… they dry quickly, so you need to be quick applying the inks onto the stamp. BUT … here’s the trick… If you feel you might have taken just a few seconds too long:- Hold your stamp up to your mouth, open your mouth as if you were yawning a big yawn, but take a breath in and HUUUFFFFFF a long huff on your stamp.
Imagine you were trying to blow a candle out with your mouth wide open, or if you had some fingerprint marks on your glasses (spectacles) and you wanted to get them off using a tissue … you’d HUFF on the lens and then wipe it with the tissue). HUFF! You might want to huff a couple of times if the stamp is huge. But again … try it out on scrap card first. Then you’ll know what to do to make it work for you and your stamp.
Ok … Let’s move forward onto something more kind of grown up, but still a ton of fun.
But … I’ve kept you here for quite long enough for one day. How about we do the second part of this ‘helper’ tomorrow, so that your b.t.m.’s don’t loose all feeling and you don’t get DVT from sitting there reading this. 🙂
Well it’s Monday again, and yet again, someone has stolen three days from last week. I’d like to know who’s doing that, and if I catch the little divil, I’ll string him up by his ears!
All that’s left for me to say is… I hope your Monday is wonderful. Be it peace filled or full 0f excitement. Just … whatever you’re doing today … at some point stop and realise that right at that moment you’re making a memory. All you have to do is commit it to memory, memorise it, and then perhaps share that memory with someone later in the day. Share it with me if you like. I’d love to hear about it!
Sending oodles of l ❤ve your way. Have a good one my friends ~
Well my goodness, it’s been quiet around this blog for the last month, hasn’t it!I won’t bore you with the details, suffice to say: Life sometimes gets in the way and it can take up valuable crafting time. How dare it!
“What a darn cheek”, I hear you say. I agree. How VERY dare it, indeed!
I’ve been trying to fit a little crafting time in, and one of the things which was on the list of ‘To Do’, was an anniversary card for my truly lovely neighbours. Big M (aka Mr. Cobs) learnt that they were going on a fabulous holiday to celebrate their wedding anniversary, so he shared the news with me and of course … I instantly went into ‘must make a card’ mode, and this, dear readers, is what this lovely blog post is about.
I’ll put in as many details as possible in case this card inspires you to make something similar for someone you know. But if I leave anything out, please feel free to ask in a comment. Comments are moderated (to delete ‘spam’ before it gets onto the blog) – so your ‘question’ or comment won’t appear on the blog straight away. But I will reply asap, I promise, cross my heart, hold up my pinky finger and say “Honour Bright”. (yerrsss…. Shirley Temple was a part of my growing up. My mother loved the films).
Anyway … let’s get on with it, shall we?
The ‘base’ card I used was a 5×5″ ready scored card (by Craftwork Cards), in a beautiful soft biscuit colour, with white polka dots. I began by cutting half of the front of the card off, diagonally, and then on the reverse of the cut off piece of card, I sprayed it with plain cold water from a very fine mist spray. I let the water penetrate the card and after a moment or two, I curled the card round a little tube, to give it that lovely curve you see in the photograph above. If you do this – hold the card there for a moment, to kind of ‘set’ the curve and give it a memory of where you want it to be. Then set it on one side to dry while you get your papers chosen and cut to size.
For this project I chose papers from Docrafts ‘Papermania’ in their Parisienne Blue range. The doily is also from this range. I cut a 12×12 into 6″ squares, then cut one square diagonally, and also cut a doily in the same way.
I fixed the triangle of paper and the doily to the curved piece of card first, (you might find this easier to do if you drape the curved card over the edge of your desk and work with it that way), then fixed a 6×6 sheet of the paper to the card, as shown.
I attached the curve back onto the card again, and using strong red tape, I taped it down to the front of the card. I then punched two holes through the curved piece of card, and the card front (now attached, beneath it) and then ensured the curve stayed exactly where I wanted it to be by using a tie of thin organza ribbon through the punched holes.
My attention then turned to the back, and I made a card stand for the back, so that the wallet card would stand up when it was finished. (Imagine a school photograph, which has one of those stiff fold out bits on the reverse, enabling you to stand the photo up without a frame. The card stands I make are the same sort of thing). I then finally fixed the ‘loose’ front in place, along the inner bottom, thereby creating a wallet style card.
I added some metal, vintage style corners in place, using some strong glue and my craft clamps. (Bought some time ago from The Range for next to nothing. I HIGHLY recommend them!)
Corners fixed in place and not moving, …. then came the fun stuff!
The Roses came from my stash. I buy flowers anywhere I find them. If I see flowers which I know would work perfectly on cards (or albums etc), I buy them straight away. Finding the right flowers when you need them can be a task and a half sometimes, so I try to have a selection already in the craft room so that I have them when I need them.
The roses I chose for this card are a kind of delicate to touch, silky flowers and I fell in love with them because of their softly folded petals and the way they curled at the edges. I tucked them into the curve of the card and added silky green leaves wherever I thought they were needed.
I made a big bow using some wide, pretty blue Organza and added a satin ribbon from the Parisienne Blue range on top, to layer, and also tie the biscuity colour of the card into the ribbons, and finally, I added a large rose to the centre of the ribbons and fixed it in place.
Next came the tags which I wanted to tuck into the pocket. I used some beautiful royalty free images and also stamped a ‘post card’ onto some card, then vintaged it up using a warm brown ink pad and duster brush.
All around the edges of the tags I kind of sprinkly, embossed some very fine, golden embossing powder to give them a bit of pizzazz. The stamped message that you can just about see on the tag behind the postcard above reads:
Marriage 1. A legal commitment to live as husband and wife 2. Wedlock 3. A close and intimate association 4. A pledge.
Which kind of sums it all up in a few words, doesn’t it?. I loved it! It was perfect for this tag.
And finally … this card would never have fit into a regular envelope, so I made it a matching box, which I lined with contrasting papers from the same Papermania Parisienne Blue range …
The card was ready and waiting for my neighbours when they came home from their holiday.
Thank you so much for coming and spending some time with me. I’m sorry that it’s been a bit quiet around here, Thank you to those of you who so kindly kept me in your prayers and sent me messages. You touched my heart in so many ways and kept me plodding along. Thank you. I want to say I love you, for it. And I do – but not in a creepy way you understand! . . . aw, you know what I mean. (chuckling to myself here).
Have a truly blessed rest of your day. I hope your weekend is fabulous and that the sun shines warm upon your face …. just not so hot that it melts you though!
The Art of Cobwebs 