Art Doll part 3 (only 3?!!)

Hello!
This is kind of a follow on project to the first Art Doll tutorial I shared this summer (THIS one!)
Todays Art Doll looks like this....

Oh yes...getting weirder..... :)
One of my step by step pictures for the first doll looked like this:

Which gave me an idea for a shape.....and todays doll was born!
My 'peculiar genius' doll is much smaller than the hanging doll of a few weeks ago, I wanted the face to fill the entire head part this time....

The shape is basically the same though, with the crown part included in the initial chipboard piece. As before, I painted the chipboard, stuck book pages to it, then added the face by gluing on stamped tissue. Doodled lines and painty dots to finish it off.
The body is also roughly the same shape as before...

Again, covered  with book pages and stamped tissue. This time, I stamped this fab dotty image by Stampotique onto the tissue to give the body a nice design. Painty dots and doodled lines again, then the body was finished off by the heart embellishment...

This is the smallest pendant from the Prima Mechanicals range, turned over, painted white with a punched out heart stuck to it!
Adding the head to the body requires a neck, of course! This neck will be visible, so I painted stripes on it....

No legs this time, I've used chipboard circles. I think they look a little wheel like....

I edged them with blue paint, and carried on with the dots/doodling theme! I always add a phrase or title to my work, this time I've added it to one of the 'wheels'....

The Art Doll is basically a flat item, so if we want it to stand up, we need to add things to the back! Even if you have no intention of ever making jewellery, I would thoroughly recommend large cube beads as a stash essential.... they are brilliant for jobs like this!

Apologies for the unsightly glue picture!!
So.... Art Doll part three!

Hope you like her!
See you soon,
Trish xxxxxx

Drippy and wet.....

No, not me personally!!!
Hello!
I have an messy inky background technique to share today, the background I used to make this...

Make sure your work surface is covered, and put gloves on if you don't like getting very inky!
We need to prepare the surface first. As we are going to be using lots of water and ink, the surface needs to be sealed, so give a chipboard square plenty of gesso layers to begin with! I wanted a little texture and pattern on the background, so got out the texture paste and the stencils......

(Yes, I know, white on white makes for a great picture.......)
Next, get out your inks! Now, you can use any ink for this technique (paint too), but I much prefer acrylic inks. They dry to a permanent finish so you can layer them without any mixing and muddying of colours, which is a very good thing! The other benefit is that I find they are much more light fast than other spray inks can be. I like to look at a project months down the line and for it to still be the same colour as it was when I made it!
So....drip on a drop of ink...

Then spray with water. As you play about with this technique, you'll get a feel for how much water you want on the surface. I would say, start out with a little bit at first, then you don't drown the project! You can always add more....

Now tilt the surface so the inky water moves about...

Move it about until you're happy, then dry it off. Add more of the same colour to fill in some gaps....

Again dry it off. Drying in between layers not only stops colours mixing and running, it also stops the surface from getting too waterlogged!
Second colour...

Add the water...

This time I added a little more water, and let most run off to colour a larger area..

Dry off again, and add another colour...this time I used red to complement to yellow and pink...

Once that was dried, I thought it needed a 'pop' colour.....turquoise!

Squirt on the water...

Let it run off....

Add more if you feel it needs it, then dry off for a final time...

Once it it totally dry, you will notice the colours lighten slightly, you can see this if I put a finished pic next to the just inked pic above..

For some reason, the red seems to lighten the most....weird....
Anyway.... I did a little printing and stamping on the background...

I also painted white circles, and melted white UTEE for a splattered look...

Because the background is so busy, I wanted the focal image to stay black and white...

My 'go to' Stampotique girl, with added text stamping in her dress!
Lots of messy detail, and a nice way to play around and make some backgrounds!
Have a nice Friday everyone!
Trish xxxx

Metal Heart....

Hello!
I'm still on my 'use techniques you haven't played with for a while' kick..... so today I want to share a little weathered metal...

(This entire blog post is also a frustrating exercise in how difficult it is to get a good picture of mirrored card...especially a picture that didn't have me reflected in the surface!)
Now, I usually do this with metal foil, never tried it with cardstock, so it was a bit of an adventure! Worked brilliantly though!
Here's how...
Cut a shape from sturdy chipboard or greyboard. I drew around a big wooden heart I have in my 'things to alter' box!

Cut this out, then get the mirror card ready. (This is Ranger foil card)
We need to stick it to the greyboard, but my usual glue n seal/ gel medium approach is not going to work this time. Wet glue will leave a dull, non shiny residue on the surface, however carefully we apply it. I used a sheet of double sided adhesive, Wonder Tape sheets work very well. Once the adhesive sheet is on the back, cut the card into squares and rectangles of varying sizes.

Next, stick the shapes to the big heart shape, making sure they overlap slightly.

(that pic *almost* has me in it at the bottom lol!)
Trim the edges, and add a large eyelet if you want a hole to hang it up!

Next bit is where the 'magic' begins! Using a small balled embossing tool, press hard into the cardstock, and create dots and lines...

Scary bit time.... cover the whole thing with a layer of black alcohol ink...

Mine has a definite dark brown look....not a clue as to why, but I like it!
Next, take some wire wool (from the DIY shop), and rub away at the dried ink...

You will need a little elbow grease here, but remember not to rub too hard. This is cardstock remember, not actual metal! Once done, wipe down with a soft dry cloth to remove any wire wool residue...

So, background done! I've not gone overboard with the finishing touches as I wanted to show off the 'metal' not cover it up! A red clay heart....

and black cord tied through the hole...

So...get out that mirrored cardstock and give it an industrial look!
Trish xxx

Festive Merriment!

Hello!
I have a Christmassy painty panel to share today.....

Do you remember a hanging 'thing' I showed you way back in the middle of September?
This one....

Well, it's hanging on my wall, and as I was just daydreaming into space, it suddenly occurred to me that if the rolls of paper were trimmed, it could be Christmas tree shaped! So, the idea for my panel was born!!!!
I used a chipboard sheet as my base, and Claudine Hellmuth paints as my colour (Classic Teal, Landscape Green and Dash of Red). The paints were simply  brushed messily and quickly over a layer of ( still wet) white. This way, a little colour blending occurred here and there. Once the paint was dry, I did a little stamping using Archival Ink...

Prima dots and checkerboard designs. Red and teal ink to complement the paint colours! I then punched out some circles from text paper, then glued them on with matt gel medium. A little medium both under and over the paper makes sure no edges will lift up, and the 'matt' finish means you won't see the glue at all!
Once the gel medium was dry I started with the doodling. Around the circles and a border around the edge.....

The tree was then constructed from rolled up French text paper...

A punched star to adorn the top...

(and at this point I realise some of the text is upside down!!! oops!)
So, this goes to prove you can carry on with all the messy paintyness, and still turn it into a Christmas themed make!!!
Have a great week everyone!
Trish xxx

Hubble Bubble....

Hello!
Yep, still in a spooky place in terms of crafting! Not specifically Halloween this time, but more of a dark and sinister colour palette and a scary figure (which is much the same as I get when I look in the mirror, but I digress.....!)
Here is 'toil and trouble'...

I used a chipboard 6 x 6 square as my base, then covered it with gesso to make the colour layers pop. I then did a little stencilling with texture paste to give me my circle accents. Next, paint! That delicious sludgy green is 'green gold' by Golden, I smeared this all over the base, then added my stamping touches. Bo Bunny and Jenni Bowlin stamps...

I then added in a few smears of quinacridone violet, followed by printed lines of dioxazine purple. I then sprinkled the whole thing with a few grains of black UTEE. Top tip for doing this...spritz the background with water first. The tiny UTEE particles will stick to the water and wont blow away when you melt them! This only works for paint though....its waterproof! Waterbased inky backgrounds will react differently....
Anyway....once the black UTEE has melted into raised dots, they can be highlighted by dry brushing gold paint over them.....

The stencilled areas got the gold treatment too! My figure is of course a Stampotique one, no one quite does spooky like they do! Must admit, I find some images a little disturbing, but this one I love!

A little rub on phrase and it was done!
Hope you like her.....
Trish xxxxx

A none spooky Halloween hanger.

It's almost the season for getting the grunge on, mixing everything with a touch of black and generally having as much fun as you did when you were a kid. 

I though I'd get ahead and start out early with my Halloweeny style projects and made this little wall hanging.

I started with a 3 x 6 chipboard sheet by Tando Creative  and cut it into a banner shape.

I covered it with Glitz Design 'stripe' paper from Sunshine in my Soul collection and went around the edges with Walnut Distress ink.

The little triangle I cut off the bottom I also covered with paper and distressed to form a roof shape. I punched holes through the chipboard to hang them together.

I had some old metal corners and a keyhole which I've had for ever and gave them a coat of black gesso so they would fit in with my grungy theme.

Putting it together I've used other Glitz papers to die cut the rosette and the paper on the banner at the bottom is the reverse pattern from the stripe paper. 

I finished off with some wire to fix the two parts together and create a hanging, an old bit of black lace, die cut letters and an old tape measure. 

Have a good weekend. 

Jaine x