Sunday 31 January 2016

Flutter By, Butterflies - by Alison

Hello all.  It's Alison here again, this time with a pair of tags using some of the fabulous PaperArtsy Hot Picks stamps.


I love these collage stamps - with great images combined with text.  You can use all or part of the stamp which makes them very versatile.


I started by gluing some book page scraps to my tags, and using tape to lift some of the text away, distressing the look of it.  Then I gesso'd lightly and stamped my butterflies in Archival ink.


I love using the PaperArtsy translucent Fresco paints in watery washes to build up layers of colour.


You won't be surprised to see my colour choices - all those lovely blues and greens!


You'll find the colours I've used in the ingredients list at the end of the post.


I use a water brush, as well as spritzing water on to my craft mat next to the blobs of paint...


... and then I just layer and dab to my heart's content.  I also used a watery wash of the Glass Blue to create a blue sky for the butterflies to flutter in.


A couple of Idea-ology metal pieces remind the butterflies of the limited time they have to to spend here...


... and help them choose in which direction to go.


The wonderful Small Talk stickers provide the words...


They're more for us than for the butterflies!


Some simple twine finishes them off.  I hope you like them, and I hope you're enjoying a lovely weekend.

Alison x
Words and Pictures


Tuesday 26 January 2016

Floral Shadow Box

Mixed Media Shadow Box
Hi everyone, Nikki here today to show you this shadow box I created. I seem to have a lot of photos today!
As is often the way I didn't have a fixed idea when I started and began with 2 pieces of card which I spritzed with tarnished brass distress spray.
Next a little stamping - any background stamps will do.
Next some distress paint coloured texture paste through a stencil - I used Tim Holtz Schoolhouse.
Once dry I added some fossilized amber distress paint with a baby wipe - adding, smudging until I was happy...
At this point I treated the two pieces of card differently... for the first I added more distress paint in blue tones...
For the other I sprayed with Victorian Velvet distress spray ... a little more subtle!
I wanted to knock back the colour on the stencilling so dry brushed white gesso over both of the surfaces..

I then took my scissors to the edge of the card to distress it and mounted it on complimentary card stock to fit in the shadow box. I added various embellishments - the flowers are bought ones on the pink version and made from the tattered florals die on the blue ones. The leaves are cut from the garden greens die.
Thanks for visiting
Nikki