ATC inspiration

I have blogged recently sharing my gel prints and I just can't stop using my plate! Today I thought I'd share three quick ATCs that you could easily turn into a card, journal page or a host of other ideas! If you would like a reminder on how to use your gel plate, please see this post: Flowers are smiles

Using my gel plate I printed this A4 card in the following order:

1. Print a layer of Caribbean Sea
2. Print a layer of Snowflake
3. Print a layer of Granny Smith
4. Print a layer of Snowflake
5. Add Banana using the Tracks stencil
6. Add Bougainvillea using the Gothic stencil

Cut three ATC sized pieces from the page (reserving the rest for a future project!) An ATC is 2.5" x 3.5"

Decorate! 

This little chap is from the fourth Zinski Art set. I stamped the chap on a piece of white card and the ATC so that you don't have to cut out his antenna!

This ATC was finished in the same way as the first. The quotations on all three are from Chatter Design Tape - I cut the phrase from the tape and adhered it to the ATC.

To tie the three together I used a black pen to frame each ATC, white pen for the highlights and the circle stamp.

Thank you, as always, for joining me!

Gabrielle x

Artist Trading Coin and more!

Hello! I'm sharing some more adventures with my Gel Plate today! An Artist Trading Card has been around for ages - the definition might be: a small piece of art (2.5" x 3.5") that can we swopped (traded) with others. An Artist Trading Coin is the same idea but is 2.5" wide and is the very latest thing!

I started by covering my gel pate with Caribbean Sea and printing on two ATCs. Then I added Snowflake (the picture shows the blue and then the blue with a white overprint).

Then add a layer of Granny Smith and a layer of Snowflake.

Follow that with a little Banana and Bougainvillea through a Splotches stencil. Finally add Slate through the Flames stencil.

I then sanded one ATC to reveal the colour beneath; die cut the other one into a circle 

and edge both with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. The coating on the ATC means you can achieve a really interesting finish when you sand it!

(Sorry about the odd colour of this photo!) Stamp the bottom of the circle with the line stamp (from Zinski 01) and line up the stamp so you can position.

Then I added a figure and a saying and my ATC/ATCoin combo is complete!

Of course I couldn't limit myself to just an ATC so I made a tag alongside the ATC using the same techniques.

Thank you, as always for popping by!

Gabrielle x

October Dyary Page

I am very much enjoying creating a weekly page in my Creative Dyary. I don't get as much time as I'd like to to be creative each week (working full time gets in the way!) however ensuring I do something creative at least once a week is very satisfying! The Dyary has a week planned out on the left page Monday to Sunday but there are no preset dates/months so you can start your Dyary at any time. I started mine in February and haven't missed a week! On the right side, some pages are preprinted with black and white drawings, some with coloured backgrounds. Here I've adapted one of the coloured backgrounds.
The backgrounds are pretty fabulous and really need very little work but of course I just can't help myself...! This was the background before I meddled!

Add Lemon Zest and Bubblegum paint to the page through a number stencil and then Squeezed Orange through a dots stencil.

Dylusions have bought out a fab set of background stamps where you get a stencil and a matching stamp. There are leaves, brickwork and cobwebs in either 9 or 12 inches to match your projects.The idea is to stencil the background and the stamp the detail in the foreground. Now, it's a terrific idea but don't feel limited to use these in one way - you can try this idea! Lay the 9" leaf stencil upside down and the wrong way round (so the word 'front' is showing like in the picture)

Use Fresh Lime paint through the stencil - try to have different lengths of leaves to create a bit of interest.

I drew round the leaves roughly in white ink, but of course you could use black!

Then, using the bottom portion of the leaf stamp, add some leaves in black ink.

Using Black Marble ink in a water brush, colour in the stamped leaves.

I added some stamped details from this fabulous Zinski Art set. I stamp the larger images because there are details that are hard to cut out! 

This is the finished page with a small sentiment from a terrific Emma Godfrey Halloween set.

Thank you, as always for joining me! If you'd like to see more of the Dyary pages I've created this year - please click here.

Gabrielle x

Spooky

With the start of September and more Autumnal weather, my thoughts have turned towards Halloween and using the Halloween themed stash I have. I try not to limit Halloween or Christmas goodies to just those holidays because it seems a waste to leave them sitting on the shelf for a year but inevitably we do. So, time for me to dust them off and ink them up!
I started by spraying a page in my Small Creative Flip Journal with Pure Sunshine ink. I love this colour!

I then added a border for the bat  and spider to hang from. The spider's body was coloured with Squeezed Orange ink decanted into a water brush. By stamping the bat on the page you retain all of the little details that would be really difficult to cut out. I also stamped him (and the chap from the stamps set) on card to colour and cut out.

I then added some Speckles using Black Soot Distress Ink.

I stamped out some accessories and die cut them. I should have coloured them before cutting them out (which is what I usually do) as the broomstick in particular felt very delicate! Always learning!

The sentiment was stamped with alphabet stamps (I LOVE these!) and some additional word stamps by Emma Godfrey. The washi tape is from the Aristocrat set. Some white circles (made with an old lid) and gold painty lines finished the page off.

Hope you feel like dusting off your seasonal stamps too!

Gabrielle x

Card with PaperArtsy Zinski stamp

Hello everybody, it's Monika here.

When I first saw the PaperArtsy Zinski stamp (ZA13) I knew I needed that. 

First I have made a card with a lovely creature/fairy/girl (whatever you like) from this set.

The basic card was cut out from a fuchsia cardstock with Sizzix Framelits die (658610).

The top was cut out from a white watercolour paper with a one size smaller rectangle die and I painted pink with DecoArt Poodleskirt Pink.

After drying I tapped watered white acrylic paint onto the pink card and I also spritzed with water.

Then I stamped circles with one of the stamps of the PaperArtsy EEG24 stamp set and heat embossed with white embossing powder.

As for the fairy... I stamped with Ranger Archival Jet Black stamp and after I used clear embossing powder.

I coloured the fairy with Ranger Distress Markers (Tumbled Glass, Cracked Pistachio, Picked Raspberry) and Zig Clean Markers (Flesh Colour, Blush).

The text (EEG18) was stamped with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink then I added clear embossing powder.

I cut it out with scissors irregularly and I glued onto the card.

I hope you like it! Happy crafting!

We are a normal family

I have been using my Dylusions Creative Dyary every week since February and have occasionally shared my decorated the right hand page. I thought I'd share my process in case you have a Dyary too!
The next page in my Dyary is this purply one. I have masked the left hand page so I don't get any ink on it but of course you can decorate both pages if you'd like to.

I started by adding a thin layer of white paint (Snowflake) to the page using a plastic card.

I sprayed Slate Grey Dylusions Ink through a stencil.

This is what it looked like after I removed the stencil and before I dried the ink.

I then added Crushed Grape Dylusions Ink through a numbers stencil.

Not sure the next stage will show up on the photos but I misted the page with water and allowed the ink to run slightly.

I added some white paint stars and some black stamping.

I then added some Chatter tape and stamped two characters for positioning when the page was compiled.

On a piece of white card I stamped four characters (one was stamped twice as I hadn't stamped it evenly). These stamps are: Zini 11, Zini 12, Zini 13 and Zini 15

Colour the characters in however you prefer and adhere to the page. I wanted the page to have some whiter areas (as the background was quite dark) so left some white areas on the stamped characters. I added a sentiment and some white and gold painty marks.

Thank you, as always, for joining me today.

Gabrielle x

I need cake

I love layering paint and often make projects with over 20 layers of paint in the background. I thought I'd share how I do this with you today!

Take a kraft tag and add Little Black Dress paint. I use an old gift card to add the paint and I don't try and get an even coverage because it's those uneven layers that help build interest.

Ok. This might seem daft but I then added a layer of Snowflake. The next paints I'm going to use are translucent and so the white paint helps make them zing!

Add a layer of Bougainvillea - again don't do an even layer 

Then add a little more white

Then some Beach Hut and a little more white

For the next stage use a little Cut-N-Dry foam and put white paint through a stencil

Then move the stencil a few millimetres in a diagonal direction and add blue paint

Do the same two processes with a star stencil (I used Bougainvillea  again)

Then I added numbers using the same two processes, a stencil and Banana paint

I love this little chap and the hat on the house from Zinski Art's new stamp set and I knew they would fit together! This is me cutting them out to make sure I was right! 

I coloured them in complementary colours.

Add a little black paint to the edges and white lines made from the side of your gift card. The arrows were die cut from black card using a old Tim Holtz die. I also added a scribbly line around the edge and some gold painty circles.

Thank you, as always for popping by!

Gabrielle x