Back To School

ARTchix Trip To Paris was one of the sheets I received in The Altered Element’s July DT package, along with some buttons. This sheet is packed with collage style images of females, images of Paris, buttons, etc. What struck me is that the young women look as though they could be young schoolgirls or even secretaries. So the idea came to me to alter a journal. In my stash I had a journal, the type purchased for altering but The Altered Element sells a lovely journal with a lock. I also altered a pencil case (also in my stash), after all you need somewhere to house the pencils which you will use to write and draw in your journal.
Supplies – ARTchix Trip to Paris, papier mache pencil case and journal (ready to alter), Mod Podge, white tissue paper, Staz-on Timber Brown,  Decoupaint Old White, copper acrylic paint, French text stamp, buttons, lace.

 

Journal & Pencil Case

 

Note – for both the journal and pencil case, prepare tissue paper by stamping French text onto the tissue with Timber Brown Staz-on ink.

1. Sponge cream acrylic paint onto cover. 2. Tear pieces of prepared tissue paper and adhere to cover with Mod Podge. Dab down with a foam brush, taking care not to tear the tissue. Layer some pieces for added texture. Leave to dry overnight. 3. Cut out image from Trip To France. Layer onto card. Cut out again. Add charcoal to edge of image for definition. 4. Tear a piece of text scrapbook paper. Sponge Distress Ink in Tea Dye and some charcoal onto edges. 5. Layer girl, strip of text paper, lace, button to journal. 6. Sponge some Decoupaint Patina in Old White onto a vintage pen nib. Use silicone glue to adhere to journal
Pencil Case

1. Gesso and then cream acrylic paint  2. Adhere stamped tissue paper as for journal 3. Sponge copper acrylic paint randomly followed with Old White Patina (follow those steps for inside also) . It was my first time working with the Patina paint and I was impressed with the ease of use.

4. Add scrap of text paper, ink a found work and stitch 2 buttons – add to lid 5. Add 2 pieces of dyed lace (as per Tutorial Part II) to opposite corners

I have created direct links for products which can be purchased from The Altered Element. 

She Liked The Finer Things In Life

At Gothic Arches Challenge the theme set is Marie Antionette. I knew I had downloaded a sheet of images from The Graphics Fairy which could not be more perfect for the challenge.

I wanted the shape of the arch to echo a tier of a cake – used Anna Griffin paper and overstamped with a small “Paris” stamp, crown, fan and Fleur de Lys. The Graphics Fairy sheet is packed full of images, I didn’t even use half of the sheet!

She Wore Flowers In Her Hair

Paperbag Studios are having a challenge, the theme being “Flowers” and using any of their stamps. I own the set called “Flourish”. Belle is one of my favourite stamps from this set, even though it has been some time since I last used this stamp.

Normally I stitch buttons onto this image but opted for 3 teeny flowers. For some reason I always add flowers to her hair.  Added a velvet rub-on, lace and layered two flowers at the bottom of the image. The paper that the image is stamped onto is made from food colouring and walnut ink crystals decanted into a spray bottle.

Eyes of a Dreamer

“Christmas Colors In July”  (red and green but not a Christmas tag) is the theme at Tag Tuesday (Kard Krazy). Yikes! Let’s just say, that the combination of red and green are not even my favourite colours for Christmas but I decided to go with the flow and see what I could come up with.
Searching through images I have on file I came across this gypsy woman (The Sum of All Crafts) and I knew I had some deep red lace which I had not had the opportunity to use before now.

Sponged DI in Peeled Paint and then stamped with Fired Brick. Cut around the image and layered to tag along with a scrap of velvet, Prima flower, word tile and the red lace, tore the velvet into a strip and threaded through tag hole.

Pretty As A Picture

At Theme Thursday this week’s theme is Vintage and Tags, well I couldn’t resist playing along.

Painted Prima packaging with emulsion (latex) paint, some stamping to form the tag base.  Piece of “fish paper” (my friend Doli brought some of this paper back from Cyprus, apparently used to wrap fish up!)  painted with green emulsion and  more stamping. The flower is crochet trim from a crochet coaster (sponged Tattered Rose ink onto it), a crochet flower and a daisy cut from some trim for the centre. I’m never sure if this is a boy or girl so I chop and change to suit, today it’s a girl! Inked a found word with Tattered Rose layering over a scrap of lace and scrap of vintage fabric. Finally threaded some cream lace to form the tag.

Life’s A Beach

ARTchix Seaside Cuties sheet of images along with some Mica Flakes were included in The Altered Element DT package this month. Now I could wax lyrical and tell you how I was inspired by the Scottish summer to work on this altered canvas but the day I made this the weather was more suited for ducks lol.
On this particular sheet the images come in two sizes. For this canvas I used one of the larger images, cutting around the female as I did not want the background.
Supplies – ARTchix Seaside Cuties, Mica Flakes in Mother of Pearl, square canvas, paints (cream and copper), Distress Ink in Bundled Sage, dyed gauze (see Tutorial Part II), 3 flat back glass pebbles (or similar @ The Altered Element), found word,  sequin waste and  charcoal. Stamps – shells

Instructions – Paint canvas with cream acrylic, dry sponge copper acrylic. Use sequin waste and sponge copper acrylic through the waste, sponge some Bundled Sage ink onto the canvas . Stamp shells with copper paint . Drape dyed gauze across the canvas . Cut out image, edge with charcoal and adhere with silicone glue (use plenty of the silicone for dimension)

 . Add generous amount of mica flakes adhering with a clear drying glue . Add 3 glass pebbles, underneath one  of the pebbles add the word “beach” which was inked with Bundled Sage.
The combination of the copper paint, mica flakes and the glass pebbles results in the light catching this canvas beautifully. So that’s my little piece of summer on a canvas!

Challenge @ Crazy Amigo “Summer Holiday” – the beach would not be my ideal summer holiday destination, would rather a trip to Paris, but the canvas fits the theme at Crazy Amigo so have decided to participate in their “Summer Holiday” theme.

Dance Card

For this week’s DT artwork for The Stampsmith I selected an image from Flappers No 1. It’s possibly a letter she is holding but I can see her as the type of young woman whose dance card is always full.

This card was simply put together with co-ordinating pattern paper, a velvet rub-on, piece of ephemera, glass flower bead with a flat back pearl centre and a gorgeous piece of ribbon which fortunately was the correct size.  A pretty, elegant card.

Free Spirits

I was delighted to receive some ARTchix sheets from The Altered Element (DT package). For “Free Spirits” I used some images from “Exotic Jewels“. After reading Nancy Maxwell James’ “Gothic Arch e-book”, (available to download at Sugar Lump Studios, a book brimming with incredible artwork, I was completely inspired and knew I wanted to make arches as the base for the artwork.  There are 18 images in total so plenty to play with. Alongside the ARTchix sheet the other supplies are as follows:- strong cardstock, Paris Trunk Inks in Tiara Gold & Green Sash, cream acrylic paint, scraps of gold organza, sequins, black marabou feather, German Scrap, embellishments, Gold marker pen and damask/filigree stamps.

The preparation for this project is quite involved but you could use short-cuts by using pattern paper as a substitute to painting and stamping each arch. To create strength I glued two arches together, therefore requiring to hand-cut 12 arches.  Then painted each arch with cream acrylic before stamping damask/filigree designs. Create holes with a crop-a-dile at this stage, 2 holes on each side of the page, apart from the front cover and rear which only has one side of the page punched.

 

Above shows book closed and photo below shows book when standing open.

I left the rear undecorated, only painting and stamping.

A great project to use up any scraps of decorative ribbon, organza, the odd sequin, etc.

 Edge each panel with either metallic paint or a Gold marker style pen. Paint embellishments to match the project – use acrylic paint or metal paint, or permanent markers.

I liked the idea of selecting words that related to the women in the images!

I alternated the pages so that for one I stamped with Tiara Gold and the next Green Sash.

My choice of colour scheme was soft green, golds, cream and a touch of black.

This project, apart from the initial preparation (!) was such fun to create. Working with arches was long overdue so I have to say thank you to Nancy for the inspirational e-book and the amazing artwork . I hope you will take the time out to download the e-book and be inspired to create some arched artwork.

Note – I have created direct links to The Altered Element for supplies used. More ARTchix projects are to follow very soon!

P.S. – The reason for the edit to this post is thanks to Lynn Stevens  (thanks for the push!) I decided to participate in the “Open Theme” at Gothic Arch Challenges.

Butter Wouldn’t Melt

“Faces” is the theme set by Louise at Kard Krazy. Rummaging amongst my stamps I selected a few that would have been suitable for this theme, including words but then I remembered images downloaded from Magic Moonlight. This particular download is a sheet crammed with images of children/young women, showing close-ups of their faces. For some reason I found this image quite captivating, she wasn’t the most beautiful in the crowd but I was drawn to her somehow.

After inking the tag with Tattered Rose I then layered a large piece of soft pink lace to create a panel. Then I layered a piece of dress net (available from The Altered Element), the image, a found word, another piece of trim, vintage button and paper rose wrapped around a florist’s pin. Finally threading through some daisy trim.

Shall We Dance?

This is the first time I have participated in a Play Date Cafe’s challenge. This week the challenge is “Purple, Lilac and Lime Green”. None of those colours are any that I immediately reach for but that is one of the reason that challenges are good – to shake things up a bit!

A bit of a rush to make this in time for their deadline. In fact it was Cath, Jack & Terry who motivated me to make a card for this challenge ! Stamped “Paris” onto the lilac pattern paper using Staz-on Royal Purple, also stamping the quote with the same ink onto lilac pearlescent paper. Added some lime green lace to the top of the card, a strip of lilac organza, inked a white flower with Lavender Organza ink (Paris Trunk) and inked a large cream flat back pearl with Royal Purple ink. The ruffles on her dress look to be pink but they are more of a lilac shade.

Lots of artwork waiting to be posted on my Blog, especially DT artwork for The Altered Element so will see you again very soon. Lynne x