Reach for the stars

I haven’t done a lot of art this weekend, by my standards anyway. I did have a big clean up of my supplies, plus some card making, but just the two journal pages.

The CMP2018 one I kept this simple because I love using my Tim Holtz stars stencil & it seemed to fit the theme. Distress Oxides, Nuvo embellishment paste, while acrylic paint.

The other one is another of Alison’s photos in my fav Dina Wakley journal. The background is Tim Holtz Distress Oxides on kraft. This has been a tough week with Alison, she was very confused when Tony visited, and he had some legal stuff to see to, so it’s good to document the happier times including her childhood.

CMP18 & a Dylusions challenge

I normally do my own background for the CMP weekly challenge but this week the teeny dog in a teacup appealed so I incorporated it. I used Distress Paints, Tim Holtz stencils, and Distress Oxides.

The monthly Dylusions challenge was to use pink and snowflakes. I used Dylusions paint in Cherry Pie and Bubble Gum, a Di Cut girl, and Hero Arts unicorn ink. The page was inspired by one of my staff, who always look wonderful no matter what the weather!

Distress Oxides & Micro Glaze

I’ve been binge watching videos about Distress Oxide techniques and one first Tim Holtz then Jennifer McGuire shared really appealed to me. I ended up combining it with some other techniques and it’s produced some great card backgrounds.

This works best with Ranger gloss card stock (needs to be gloss) as photo paper tend to go sticky when wet. I did multiple layers of Distress Oxides using my craft mat and spray bottle, and added pattern with stencils to lift off colour, add colour, seal with Micro Glaze to protect the underneath colours or heat emboss the wet ink with clear embossing powder, and finally added flicks of colour with the Tim Holtz Splatter Brush.

Here’s what I ended up with once the layers were done:

As you use more and more layers and water the colours get very chalky, which is the point of the Oxides and it’s a lovely effect. Here’s the thing though – if you add a thin layer of Micro Glaze to the dry card then burnish it the colours brighten up and glow, and somehow all the individual layers show. It’s quite impressive. Here’s how they looked once I’d added the Micro Glaze and buffed them (not the same cards but you get the idea I hope):

(These photos were taken in bright daylight and there’s lots of shadows – sorry about that!)

Art, & a reminder to hug your people

The reminder first. A friend of Tony’s just rang. A few weeks ago he fell off the bottom rung of a ladder and fractured his skull. He was flown to Wellington and is recovering well at home, but the ending could have been very different. He was incredibly lucky. Life is fragile – hug your people.

Onto the art. The journal page uses an old family photo, Distress Oxides, a Tim Holtz stamp set, a scrap of Graphic 45 paper, and black Archival ink.

The smaller journal page is the latest #CMP18. I used Dylusions paints, a Graphik pen in teal, and stencils.

cmp weeks 46 and 47

What makes you different: Tim Holtz Distress Oxides, Dylusions paints, stencils, Simon Says Stamp inkpad.

Sparkly: Dylusions paints, Glossy Accents, Tim Holtz Distress Rocky Candy, gold glitter, stencils, Simon Says Stamp inkpad

Christmas gift tags

I’ve started my Christmas shopping. Not because I like the fact there’s Christmas ‘stuff’ in the shops already, in fact, I hate seeing it all out so early; I think it dilutes the excitement. But I prefer to shop slowly, so start early.  Christmas crafting takes time, particularly as I make a lot of cards so, again, I start early.

This year’s gift tags are done with Tim Holtz Distress Oxides, Tim Holtz Distress mica spray in antique gold, Simon Says Stamp intense black ink, and rubber stamps by (umm, someone…). I’ll finish them off with fibre & ribbon through the hole, and write on them with a calligraphy pen.

New Dylusions stamps

I recently received the latest Simon Says Stamp card making kit, a couple of dies, and some cute Dylusions stamps by Dyan Reaveley for Ranger (it’s the Puppy Dog Tales set). These are smaller than  her previous dog and cat stamps, so great for card making. I haven’t stamped sentiments on them, I’ll do that once I know what I want to use them for.

I made the backgrounds with Tim Holtz Distress Oxides, using the greens and blues such as Twisted Citron and Peacock Feathers, then spritzing with water. The stamps are stamped with Simon Says Stamp Intense Black ink and coloured with Copic markers, then the noses and eyes highlighted with Glossy Accents.