Halloween skulls

Hello!

Few more days and children will knock to our doors screaming 'treat or trick', I hate this! But I like carving pumpkins and eating 'halloween limited edition' sweets hiding in a dark room pretending I'm not at home ;)))

I found Andy Skinner skull mask in my drawer which is perfect for this week projects. I made a page on a piece of cardboard. I will use it later for an art journal cover or for something else.

I put a layer of white gesso on the cardboard. Than I used black gesso for the skull mask. When gesso was dry I put a thin layer of gel medium where the skulls are to protect them from other mediums. I waited few minutes and used three different colour of Dylusion Ink Sprays. I like to use red, pink and turquoise which are always blend and I have few more colours on my project. I also used Ph Dr Martin's Bombay Indian Ink - orange and Tattered Angles Glimmer Glaze.

Once again I used gel medium but this time with Dylusions stencil. When each layer was dry I stamped some Stampotique stamps using Ranger Archival Ink. For last touches I used Posca White Paint Pen and white acrylic paint.

Magda x

Add some colour

There are times when we all feel down and need a pick-me-up and this page is dedicated to all the friends who do just that and paint the colour back in to an otherwise dark and murky world.

My background is simply sprayed with Dylusions ink sprays turquoise and fresh lime through two different Dylusions stencils, Letter Jumble and checkered dots. I added lots of circles over the top using lots of different mediums, some splats, die cuts and gesso. I stamped and coloured Doolally Dorris to layer her onto the background and I was finished.

See you soon

Jaine x

Bookmaking part two - Cover story!

Hello!
Part two of my short bookmaking series...and it's all about the cover!
Remember last week when I showed you a book with just a few pages? This week we're moving on to a book with many more pages: how we close it, and how to incorporate a cover. Here is my finished book...

As with last weeks project, this is more about the 'how to make a book' process than what my actual book looks like, I'm sure you would spend waaaay more time on the pages than I have!
I started off in the same manner as my last book. I created a masterboard, chopped it up and added detail to each page before sewing to a black background....

This book has six spreads, so 12 panels needed. I decided to add the detail just to the right hand pages, the pages that face you when you open the book. So, six stamped, printed, sewed and glued panels as you can see above! Next, create the hinges as we did last time, and stick them together...

As you can see, this is going to need something to keep it closed when finished!
The next step is slightly different to last time. As we will be adding covers, the first panel we stick down will be the INSIDE left hand page. Like this....

(its a bit boring as its the left hand side!) This is the inside of the front cover. Carry on sticking the page panels in just as we did last time....

The final page you stick down will be the INSIDE of the back cover. If you look at the book from the other side at this point, it looks like this....

 Next choose something to use as a closure. I've chosen ribbon and eyelash yarn!

Stick the closure ribbons etc down using double sided tape. Doesn't matter if it's messy as it will be covered!

Make sure you leave enough hanging loose, or you won't be able to tie it together!
Now, covers. A little bit mathematical, I'm afraid! Close the book tightly, and measure how 'deep' your spine is, or to put it another way, how thick is your book?! Mine was just about 2cm thick, but this will vary depending on how many pages etc you have. The front and back are the size of one page panel, in this case 9cm by 9cm. So, the total length of card needed to cover everything  is 9cm (front) plus 2cm (spine) plus 9cm (back). Are you with me?
I cut a strip of card 20cm by 9cm, then scored it to give the 2cm wide spine shape. You can see what I mean by looking at the next pic....

The covers can then by stuck down, over the top of your ribbons. I always leave a 'glue free' 1cm or so next to the spine part, just to give a little flexibility. In the above pic, you can see the card to glued tightly up until that point!
Once you've done one side, flip over and stick the other cover too...

You can see from the top view how leaving that glue free section keeps the covers and spine in shape!
All that remains now is to add on a decorated panel to the front...

And tie the ribbons to keep it all together...

Now.... I have a question! Have you noticed my colour scheme??!! Yep, it's the colours of our very first colour challenge! Still plenty of time to enter, have a look here for all the details....
Hope that tutorial made sense, you know where I am if you have any questions!!
Next week, another fun way to make a book.....piano hinges!
Trish xxxxxxx

Spooky altered envelope!

It's been a while since I last made an altered envelope and with the spooky season upon us I thought it would be fun to send some happy mail to my daughter away at University!

I started with a simple background using Distress Ink pads. Then I stamped the 'Abstract Foilage' stamp in the centre to form a rectangle for the address label again using Distress Ink and some white Gesso.. the 'Numeric' stamp and the 'Web' from Stampotique Originals were then stamped onto the envelope using Distress Inks for a muted look. The gorgeous Miguel Has A Gift brand NEW from Stampotique Originals was stamped straight onto the envelope using Jet Black Archival ink pad from Ranger. A little doodling with a black and white Sakura Pigma Micron Pen and my envelope is ready for sending!

 Thank you for calling, Gez

 

Is Hamlet a man of wisdom or he is insane?

Hello

What a weather! Normally I don't mind the rain but this morning I wore my favourite trainers and what?! I had soaked socks! There is a huge hole in the sole...A cup of hot tea with honey and lemon and I should be ok ;)
Today I have for you a project with my favourite little man. I love using Hamlet stamp especially when I use some quotes in my projects. Maybe Hamlet is not very handsome creature but he is a man of wisdom ;)

I used:
- Stampotique Originals stamps
- Dylusions Ink Sprays
- Prima stencil
- Jenni Bowlin Modern Mercantile
- chipboard sheet
- Liquitex gesso
- tissue paper
- Ranger Archival Ink

Magda x

Tim Holtz Stamp Sale!

while stocks last we've reduced a selection of Tim Holtz Stamp Sets and Single Wood Mounted Designs. 

oh - and there are more designs than we're showing here... just in case you were wondering! 

Simple book making- part one!

Hello!
I thought I would take a little break from all the painty panels (and tags, ATCs and journal pages!) for a few weeks, and show you something that I really should do more of...book making! Loads of simple and easy ways to create books, and I thought I'd share a few...
Here is part one.... (also to be titled "It's really hard to take a decent pic of a finished book"")

 

I have kept things simple, only a few pages, and not loads of mess etc on the pages themselves. You can go as detailed as you fancy, of course!
OK... how to do it. Pages first. I've started with a masterboard, this one is a 12" by 12" sheet of card....

As you can see, I sprayed it with dye inks, and then did a little printing, stencilling stamping and splattering over it. Not over much, as we can finish off each page once its cut. I have then cut my card into 10cm by 10 cm squares....

A 12" by 12" sheet will give you nine squares. My book has three double sided pages, so I need six altogether. So, choose you favourite six squares, then sew them to a black 'base' card.

I've done a little extra stitching here and there too, as you can see! Now we have our pages, we can add a little extra decoration. Here is one of mine...

I, again, haven't gone overboard here. A bit of washi tape, white paint dots and a punched out star, along with my main image and stamped word. Once you have decorated your pages (or not, you may rather keep them plain for someone else to add photos etc), its time to actually construct the book. Once the black base card is added, my pages are now 11cm by 11cm. I've cut two more bits of card 11cm by 11cm, and then scored them down the middle, like so....

The card hinges need to be the same size as your pages, so it's easy to work out how big they need to be when you make books of varying shapes and sizes. Now we need to attach the hinges together. I use strong double sided tape, wet glue gets very messy! Like this.....

So, you have stuck one side from each hinge to each other, forming what is beginning to look like a book! If you want more pages, simply make more hinges and keep sticking them to each other! Adding the decorated pages to your hinges couldn't be simpler. Again, strong double sided tape all the way....
Decide which page is to be your cover, then stick the first bit of card in your hinge to it...

As you can see, the card hinge goes halfway down the page, giving a good strong bond. Now it's time to add page two. This gets stuck back to back with your cover, with the card hinge sandwiched in between. Like this...

As you go along, remember to keep checking you are not sticking the pages in upside down! Page three gets stuck to the middle hinge....

Page four to the back of page three.... (told you this was easy!)

One card hinge left. So, page five first....

Then the back cover (or page six!)....

As the page backgrounds and the hinges were cut from the same card, you now have a seamless finish!
Books that have lots of pages need a little extra finishing, as the card hinge will be much thicker and needs to be hidden! The book will also have issues staying closed too... I'll show you next week how to deal with this!
For now, here are a few closeups of my pages...
I've added glossy accents to the stars for the shiny look...

LOVE this new Ranger washi tape!

I've cut up one Stampotique image to separate my three little girls.....

Hope you like my book tutorial.... I'll have another technique next week!
Trish xxxxxx

Pumpkin Atc

Hi good morning from a cold and wintery Lancashire, England! It's rather blustery here today, raining and blowing a gale.. someone said we are due lots of snow in November.. I do hope this isn't so..

This morning I've an Atc to share with you..

The background was created using Distress Ink by Ranger and a few water splatters. The gorgeous pumpkins and lil man are both designed by Daniel Torrente for Stampotique Originals.

I coloured the stamped images using Distress Inks and added some fine details using both a black and white Sakura Pigma Micron Pen.

Thank you for calling today, keep warm wherever you are, 

happy creating, Gez

a sprinkle of colour - the challenge!

Hi everyone. 

Our first challenge is now up and running!  Yay! 

You can click on the image or look for the "monthly challenge" tag across the top!

We would love it if you join in. 

A little bit lovey for a change.

I know it's the season for madness, grunge and downright dirty fun but I thought I'd take a break from all that spooky nonsense and make something a bit more loved up.

Having so many pretty off cuts from my paper stash, I thought I'd add them to a tag and see where it took me.

Once I'd cut the edges off and re-punched the hole at the top, I did a bit of machine stitching and knocked back the colour with a thin coat of white paint applied with an old store card.

I've been on a roll recently with the texture paste so I used it again this time through this gorgeous Balzer Design stencil called Fleur de Lis.

Once that was dry, I added a touch of silver with an alcohol ink mixative. If I'd thought ahead I might have even coloured the texture paste with it first but that's for another experiment.

I liked the touch of red underneath and thought I'd go with it adding a bit more with a couple of embellishments and the word Love which I found in a magazine.

A little break from all the Halloween treats but I'm sure normal blogging will resume shortly :)

Jaine x

how about a another chance to win….

We’re proud sponsors of Craft Stampers Make It, Take It Challenge Five which has just gone live. 

If you enter, and it’s a great challenge, you get the chance to win a £10.00 voucher from us to spend on whatever you like, but the winner also gets to see their work in print! How cool is that?! Well, I think it’s quite cool. 

Anyway, pop on over and check it out. You have until the midnight Friday 6th December to enter. 

fancy a challenge?

I’m super excited to introduce news of our new monthly colour challenge, and it comes with a prize!

HOW WILL IT WORK?

Each month, on the 15th, we’ll introduce a new colour challenge which will run until the 12th of the following month.  A new tab will be appearing across the top so the challenge doesn't get lost!

The colour palettes are taken from an image, and each palette will have five colour choices. You only need to use three of the colours to enter the challenge. So if there is one that makes you go “urgh…” or you simply don’t have any supplies that match it, you can ignore it. How nice is that?

Have a look at the colours and see what they inspire you to make!

The Design Team will be joining in too, creating some fabulous pieces of work for each challenge to help get you going.

WHAT SHOULD MY SUBMISSION BE?
Entries can be  -

• scrapbook pages
• mini books
• canvases
• mixed media
• art journal pages
• cards
• altered objects

UPLOADING YOUR PROJECT
Use the Linky tool at the bottom of each Challenge Post to upload your projects. Make sure you have copied the address of the blogpost where your project is located. Do not link to your main blog site. Links that do not follow this simple rule will be removed and you can try again.

If you have word verification on your blog, please consider removing it.  It makes our eyes hurt and our brains sad, when we would love to leave comments.

Here's how to upload:

-CLICK on the blue InLinkz Tool button located at the end of the challenge post, just above the comments section.
You will be asked three things
- Your name
- Your email (this is not visible to others)
- Your blog post link.
That's it.  EASY AND DONE!
You can enter as many times as you want to. Remember the challenge is open for a month.

AFTER YOU UPLOAD...

Spread the love! Please don't just drop and go. Visit and leave comments on the blogs of the many other projects you see in the InLinkz list. Everybody loves some love on their blogs, it's just a nice thing to do. You will soon see the love coming right back to you!

After each challenge has closed, the design team will select a winner who will receive....

...to spend on whatever you like, and it will be valid for 6 months!

The winner will be announced on the blog on the 18th of the month so keep your eyes peeled for the post!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me by using the Contact Us form on the left sidebar.

Looking forward to playing along?!  We hope so!

Vicki