Dip Marbling- An Inky Technique Tutorial!

Hello!
Thought I'd share some old school, back in the day type ink techniques for my next few posts.... get out stash and tools you already have and create some funky new art!
Today I want to share the dip marbling technique. This is a technique I shared in Craft Stamper magazine a couple of years ago, and as people liked it then, I hope you like it now!
This is the finished piece....

All you'll need are some alcohol inks, (metallic mixatives are fab not not essential!), a container deep enough to have a piece of card dipped into it, and some water.
Fill the container with water....

Drip in some inks. Alcohol inks work because they sit on the surface of the water for a while, something other inks don't do! Adding metallic mixative ink will give you a bit of texture as well as shine! This is an odd picture...looking down onto the surface of the water after I have dripped the ink onto it...

Once the inks are sitting on the surface, dip  a bit of cardstock into the water. Some cards work better than others, thicker is better as it can take more water! Dip the card straight down.....

The card breaks the surface of the water, dragging the inks on the surface down onto the cardstock. Bring the cardstock straight back up through the water. This needs to be done quickly, so the cardstock doesn't take on too much water!

You're now dealing with a very drippy wet bit of card!

Dry it off straight away before it goes all mushy...

The inks give the colour, all be it a little paler than the shade in the bottle! The metal part of the mixatives clump up on the surface, giving a flaky, textured area to your marbling. The mixative that is dissolved in the water gives a sheen to the background, difficult to see in pictures but noticeable in real life!
As both sides of the cardstock  entered the water, you will create a double sided background! This is fab for things like book pages, otherwise it's a difficult decision as to which side to use. This one:

or this one:

I went with the pinker side!

The inks blend together wonderfully....

You can see the flaky bits of metal, some dull and some shiny.
I added to the shine by melting some grains of silver UTEE...

My Stampotique figure is watching over the marbling...

Why not have a go, it's good old messy fun!
Trish xxxxx

Circles!

Hello!
I love circles, use them loads whether its scribbly circles, printed circles or stamped circles! I decided to have a little circle play on a panel today, this time cutting some circles out and sticking them down.....

I took two different approaches to the circles. I gave some book pages a wash of paint, and dried it thoroughly. I then punched a few circles our (make sure the paper is COMPLETELY dry before punching, paper that is even a little damp just gets mangled up in the punch.....ask me how I know that lol!!) I glued the punched out circles to the background, overhanging the edge...

Once trimmed, you have a nice scalloped edge that you can then print or doodle over!
I cut out two larger circles from book pages, and very simply smeared paint over them! These were then stuck down to the background, and printed and doodled over....

These circles were my focal point, and I placed them upon stripey stems....

The background itself is another messy painty affair, as you might expect! Lots of smears, all done with fingers and dried in between colours so no muddy mixing occurred...

I stencilled a little, and then stamped a little too...

I added stitching for my other worldly flower heads to stand on...

And then added a cut up book page as a title..

Black UTEE splatters also found their way onto the panel!
So, a nice messy painty creation, colourful as usual with an emphasis on circles!
Hope you like it!
Trish xxxxxxx

Freedom!

Hello!
Did you see the winner of our last challenge? Alisons fabulous entry with all the butterflies inspired me to add a little 3D movement to my project for today. Of course, not having the patience Alison must have had, my 3D movement was limited to just six hearts.......

Stitching them down the middle means you can carefully lift the edges up....

The background is a quick smeared paint base, with white stencilling, black stamping and washi tape added for extra detail. I also melted in some black UTEE crystals, and stitched some decorative elements....

My lettering is some very ancient rub ons... I think I got them at the Post Office years ago! Very impressed they still worked!

I used:
Paint
Black UTEE
Stamps: Background, Heart

Have a nice Sunday everyone!
Trish xxxx

Color Bloom Sprays (and a puffin!)

Hello!
My mojo had really gone walkabout this week...until a rather exciting package arrived, a few of the new Color Bloom sprays! Of course I had to have a little play......

First thing I LOVE about the sprays is the spray mechanism....no more stained fingers! They say the nozzle will not become clogged, fingers crossed on that point. The sprays also have a little ball inside, so when you shake to mix up the mica you can hear the mixing going on! Squeezing the nozzle hard gives a really nice overall coverage. I used the Glistening Waves colour for the background on my panel, with the Lime Wedge as accent splats....

Squeezing the nozzle very gently gives the bigger splat effect. I found that the colour of the Lime Wedge really varied, the green was so much more noticeable when used to give full coverage, the splats (as you can see) are very gold! I added in some white splats of my own, by using white UTEE, and by stamping in white paint, using a Stampotique stamp.
The sheen of the Color Bloom Sprays is difficult to see.....it becomes a bit more obvious if I tile the cardstock...

You can really see the difference between the matt white paint stamping and the mica sheen of the sprays!
I added in a little text paper and some home made washi tape...

I didn't have any blue tape, so painted and stamped a bit of regular masking tape!
My Crafty Individuals Puffin is stamped onto patterned paper. I usually use this paper as a photo prop, but I decided to see what it looks like stamped on....definitely going to do it again! The paper is a dotty one from Bazzill.

I do like adding in different coloured crowns to my creations, and this is no exception! Stamped again onto red card, cut out then glossed with a touch of Glossy Accents.
So, mojo well and truly back now, will be spraying all manner of things!
Have a great day,
Trish xxx

You are so worth it!

Hello!
A little inspirational message from me today....... with a stack of birds!

A colourful painty background, lots of layers..

A little washi tape and some melted in UTEE to give some splatters...

I stamped the birds onto tissue, then stuck them to the background using Mod Podge. Each one was done individually, to form the bird stack!

I used Prima stickers (Sun kiss) for the words....

Nice and bright and cheerful for a Sunday morning!
Have a great week everyone!
Trish xxx

Wish -tone on tone paint effects.

Hello!
I'm back to painty messiness today...and I want to show you how you can incorporate scraps of waste, but matching colours into your work.

I created a background using lots of layers, and added in some stencilling through some sequin waste, and splats of black UTEE. A few random painty lines too!

When I'm adding paint to cardstock, I always work on a base of white copy paper. This means when I go over the edges of the card, paint ends up on the paper. When I'm done, it means I have a piece of A4 paper with random painty mess on it too! In this case, I stamped the heart onto a section of the A4 paper, then cut it out and added it to the background using gel medium....

With a tone on tone effect like this, it can get a little lost, so I gave the heart a little shading around the edges. Everyone has their own favourite way of adding shadow, I like using a black pastel pencil and smudge with a paper stump. Whilst you want the heart to stand out, you also want it to blend in too, so it looks part of the piece and not just plonked down on the background. To do this I made sure my painty lines went across the heart too, and the UTEE splatters were on there as well!

The final touch was a simple stamped word....

You could always stamp onto tissue and glue down with Mod Podge if you're not that confident stamping directly onto the finished piece!!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Trish xx

Melting....

Hello!
Another blast from the past again today..... more playing with techniques I haven't done in an age!
This time its UTEE....Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I thought I'd share a little trick I learned a while ago, creating pendants using memory frames and UTEE.
First, you need to place your memory frame on a texture tread...

Just place it,no need for glue or anything to stick it down! You can use any rubber stamps for this too although they MUST be rubber, not clear polymer stamps. They would melt..... If you are using a stamp, the frame must be in complete contact with the stamp, not hanging over an edge. You'll see why.....

Next melt some UTEE in your melt pot and pour it into the frame, taking care to use enough to go into the corners..

If the frame was hanging over the edge of a stamp, you would have just poured hot UTEE through a gap and it would be all over the place!
(Don't forget to pour excess UTEE onto your craft mat and use cookie cutters to create embellishments! No waste here!)

Once the UTEE in the frame is cold and hard, peel it off the texture tread...

I like to highlight the raised bits with a little dry brushing of silver paint...

So...a cool pendant! You can add chain or ribbon through the loop, and you have created wearable, unique art!
Or..................................
You could use it for something else. These frames are fab, as you can undo them...

and remove the UTEE completely...

You now have a UTEE tile, ready to use on another project. These are wonderful on CAS cards, with maybe a few words underneath, very classy.
or........you could go a bit bonkers and use it as a body for an art doll....

Either way, its a nice technique to have a play with!

See you soon!
Trish xxxx

Follow The Star: A Christmas Fairy!

Hello!
Today I want to share a little seasonal assemblage.....an Art Doll Christmas Fairy!

Now this may look a bit complicated.....but it really isn't! To prove it, I'll take you through the whole process, so grab a cuppa and get comfy, there are a lot of pictures to share!

The main body of my art doll is a Tando chipboard arch. Great shape for a body, and a nice sized niche to put things in! We need to use the arch as a guide to sketch out the legs for the fairy...

Nothing fancy, just a rough sketch on a bit of thick card. Cut the legs out, and paint them. The legs for my fairy are stripy, with turquoise glitter shoes! The legs need to be attached to the arch in the first stages of this make. There are five layers in the completed arch, so glue two together, then glue the legs on top...

Now glue the on the other three layers, making a leg sandwich!

Don't worry about messy glue at this point, its about to get covered! Now, we need to turn our attention to the inside of the arch, as this will be near on impossible to get at properly once the back is on! Cover the inside with torn up music paper...

Then decorate. I have given the paper a wash of white paint, smeared on a little turquoise paint then sprinkled with white UTEE. Once melted, this looks like snow showers!

We can now concentrate on the back of the arch. This is much easier to decorate before you glue it together! I have covered the arch with music paper and given it a wash of white paint....

Then smeared on a little turquoise....

I then silver embossed a flourish, roughly stamped a few snowflakes and added more UTEE 'snow'!

This can now be glued onto the arch frame....

The outside of the arch now needs our attention! Cover the lot with more music paper, making sure to go right around onto the reverse, as this will also make the back of the arch more secure...

Decorate this as well......

We can add in all the bits and bobs to the niche at this point! I've used a small Idea-ology tree (with the round base removed) along with a couple of tiny vintage trees I had in my stash. The twinkly stars are also Idea-ology...

We can work on the wings next. Bend and shape some wire into oval wing shapes..

Glue these to music paper using Glossy Accents....

Once dry, cut out....

Next, carefully fill in the oval frames with more Glossy Accents, sprinkling a little distress glitter over them too....

You will need six of these if you follow my design....but two can be just as effective! Once dry, group the wings together and twist the wire 'tails' so they are joined....

Whilst you have the wire out, you need to make arms too! Bend and twist the wire to do this, you may need to practice a few times to get the length and shape just right!

Once you have the wings and arms ready, you can glue them to the back of the arch body....

We also need to glue the support 'post' to the back of the arch whilst we're at it! This will help the fairy stand upright on her plinth. I've used a wooden chopstick for this. Cover with music paper and a wash of white paint..... (do the same to the driftwood plinth whilst you're at it!)

Once dry, it can be glued to the back along with the arms and wings...

Now, this is clearly a huge mess of hot glue and untidy edges! To rectify this, decorate the back just as we did the front and sides! Music paper, paint and melted white UTEE...

Much better!
Next, stamp a head (Stampotique) and colour her face...

Colour a large Idea-ology star with alcohol ink....

Glue the star to the head, and add to the fairy body...

Now we can glue the whole thing to the base. This needs lots of hot glue, and don't forget you'll need to hold it in place until it sets hard!

The falling stars being held by the fairy are more Idea-ology mirror stars, simply stuck to a strip of acetate.

The acetate is glued around the fairy hand at one end...

and to the base at the other end....

All the hot glue mess on the base needs some attention....so cover it up with large flaked white glitter, and a few polystyrene balls (from an old beanbag!) to look like snowballs!
The starry base...

The fairy now looks like she is standing in a small snowdrift....

The fairy is all finished!!!!
Lots of little details to draw the eye..... Christmas songs on the musical wings....

Turquoise glitter on the trees...

The clear acetate making the falling stars look suspended in mid air...

and a little typed phrase to finish it all off nicely...

Phew...that was a photo marathon and a half!
I had a ball making her, and I hope you like her too!

Love Trish xxx