Powertex Canvas

I decided to bite the bullet and have a play with all the Powertex goodies I picked up from the SECC show in Glasgow last month. So here is my workspace prepped and ready.

This is what I sort of had in my head so it came out how I wanted it. The brown patch is because I tried out the bister technique but actually used walnut crystal stain, and it sort of worked.

Here I've used three different sizes of polystyrene balls and strands of cotton to pin them down.

This is 3d flex mixed with the ivory powertex and scraped on with a coffee stirrer.

Close up of the walnut crystals, as you can see they have cracked slightly. I think I should of given it more heat, but not to worry, next time.

Once completely dry I painted everything with turquoise shimmer media spray.

Then using white gesso I dry brushed all over to bring out the textures.

Close up of the dry brushing.

Next I painted the balls with silver decoart media paint and added a touch of carbon black. I tried to bring out the texture where I'd tried to crackle it with the walnut crystals with metallic lustre black shimmer, I also edged the canvas with this.

Then I decided it needed more contrast and to be lighter on the outsides, so added some everlasting chalky finish paint with my finger.

And it still didn't look finished, so I covered the balls and flicked on some white paint.

I do apologise for the rubbish photos, but the weather is awful, it's really dark and raining. I am really pleased with it and it looks so much better IRL.

PaperArtsy have a theme of abstract this week, so I'm entering this canvas.

****Edited****

After playing about with it, I actually think I prefer it this way round!!

Double Arches

Over at Artful Times this week we have a theme of 'arches'. I decided on a double arch, patterned paper and my lovely LP stamp of the butterfly lady, which I stamped onto script tissue paper. Several colour washes of fresco seaweed and chartreuse.

I just covered the back in a piece of script paper.

And the lovely Hazel kindly sent me a pad of totally indestructible paper, so I added a couple of words and sent this off to her.

Remember the Now

Over on the PA blog this week Helen M created a journal page using grunge paste and tissue paper which you can see here. I did up to this bit on a wooden mdf plaque, but then Helen's turned decidedly pink, so I went my own way with it.

Painted with chartreuse and then dusty teal, edged with pea coat and then using very little paint on my finger I rubbed over the grunge paste which I'd stamped into and the crumpled tissue paper.

Close up of the stamped into grunge paste and

The scrunched up tissue paper.

Then I stamped the LP main image onto the background and onto a piece of hammered white card. Cut out and coloured with distress ink markers. PA mini flourishes, alphabet and script stamped randomly in black and olive green stazon.

Metal embellishments added, leaves and a cog.

An idea-ology buckle and stamping from the #hashtags TH plate stamped in ultramarine stazon.

Washi / Tissue Tape Tag

Over on the PA blog Lin Brown is back with a fab washi tape background which you can see here. As I don't have much washi tape, I mainly used tissue tape but it's more or less the same thing and I used a tag.

I used the same colours as Lin, but a different stencil.

Then this is when I deferred as the next stage was flowers. Instead I stamped a portion of the flowery stamp on the LP028 at the top and the bottom of the same stamp at the bottom of the tag in blaze red stazon. I stamped the main image from the same plate in timber brown stazon and onto a cream coloured card, as I didn't want it to be stark white, cut out the section I wanted and hi-lighted various parts in shades of red.

Lace or Fabric - Stampotique

This is my last week of being on the Stampotique guest designers team and the theme set by France is Lace or Fabric.

Using an mdf man tag I coloured the background with vanilla, beach hut and south pacific fresco paints.   Background is stamped in various Stampotique images, hanging hearts, splatters and journey collage with black stazon.  The window frame is coloured with willow, lemonade and citrus alcohol inks, along with the flower head.  The background was stamped with Daniel's hearts and coloured with adirondack pens and pan pastels.  The flower stem is coloured with south pacific and stamped randomly with Carol's small flower.  Linda's head has been stamped onto the flower head.

Lace has been cut in the butterfly movers and shapers die and attached to a piece of chipboard cut in the same shape.  I trimmed the window sill and the flower head with lace too!!

Beyond Normal - Dolls Houses

Over on the PA blog, Alison has been back this week with 3 projects, this is my take on her 3rd project which you can see here.

I only have one of the dolls plates so I had to improvise with faces and houses from other plates.  I stamped in timber brown stazon and over stamped in cranberry and wild plum adirondack ink.

I then pieced them together and mounted them on to the background.  I stamped the words, images and script with wild plum.

Close up of the left side.

And the right hand side.

And then here comes the wacky bit which make this project so much fun. Out came the black posca pen and the cranberry and wild plum adirondack pens.

Close up of the left hand side housing their new features.

And lastly close up of the right hand side!!!

Patchwork Tag

Yesterday whilst most of our Twitter pals were at the fab craft show Ally Pally, Steve & Darcy were sharing their journal pages.  I asked if they minded if I had a go and they said they hadn't invented it, they had watched Dyan do it here on this video. I coloured the tag with eco-line inks.

I followed what Dyan had said and used the black Ranger distress paint, but I found that it was way too thin, you can still see the blue dots in the background, and also it smudged extremely easily, namely the left side of the face and arm.

So I went back in with little black dress freso paint which gives much better coverage.  I painted the face and left arm in snowflake and went back over it again with adirondack pens as the eco-line ink just sat on the top.  I re-did the right hand side edge too and added some different script.

PanPastelUK have an anything goes theme this week. Can't wait to get my hands on some of those new metallics!!!

SimonSaysWednesday Challenge would like to see something on the project that they sell in their store.  They sell both the fresco and the distress paints and the Crafters Workshop stencil.

CountryViewCrafts have a theme of layers for this month.

Our Creative Corner have a theme of forgotten things this month, and my eco-line inks have definitely been forgotten. Forgot how bright they are, how quick they dry and what great coverage they give.

A Trio of Neutrals

Over at the PaperArtsy blog we are on a new round of designers and this week Alison aka Butterfly kicked off with her trio's projects.  I loved what she did on project #2 which was her neutrals trio which you can see here.  This is my interpretation of the trio.

Close up of right tag using image from LP plates 06 and 08.

Middle tag using LP images from plates 03 and 06.

Right tag using image from LP plates 06 and 08.

All images were stamped in timber brown stazon.  The main images were edged in a mix of gathered twig and walnut stain distress inks.

A Bright & Cheery Tag

I wanted to make this tag bright and cheery as it's for a twitter pal who's just come out of hospital after having an op.

Stampotique have a theme of 'tag, you're it' this week and Dragons Dream TIO have a recipe of paint, ribbon and a stencil, oh and don't forget, at least one real stamp.

Mdf tag was initially primed with snowflake fresco paint and then coloured with limelight and zesty zing.  The diamond stencil was used with beach hut.

Image stamped with black stazon, coloured with pens, masked off and stamped the background using my Traci Bautista stamp in lots of different colours of distress inks, picked raspberry, salty ocean, mowed lawn, rusty hinge, peacock feathers and probably some others.

I used my white posca pen to doodle on the background and the black for the edges and to outline the main image.

The sentiment is a Hero Arts stamp.

Oriental Minitures

A size #10 tag in black, coloured the size #8 tag with blood orange fresco paint and stamped it randomly with the oriental scrip from the Ink and the Dog Asian plate.  The centre piece is an LP image on shrink plastic, housed in a paper clay frame mould, kindly given to me by Emma.  That paper clay is really weird stuff before it's set, it feels like chewing gum!!

Alternative Canvas

Carol created a fab canvas over on the PA blog, I pretty much followed what she did apart from my wings are shrink plastic and not cracked as I don't have that TH die.  

Over at Stampotique this week they have an anything but a card theme, so I'm popping this over there too!!!

Oriental Tag

Over on the PA blog Carol show cased her second project of an oriental tag.  To see what she did look here.

I followed what Carol did to create the background. I used blue UTEE instead of gold, some of which beaded up and some just totally melted!! I used the holed scallop on the bottom of the tag and threaded fibres through.

Let's Party into 2013

Stampotique are continuing through the festivities with their challenges (yay, way to go Stampotique).  The theme this week is 'out with the old, in with the new'.  I decided to send these two unlikely characters to a 2013 party!!

** Edited - this stag made the top 3 over at Stampotique **

Christmas Tag

More bumping!!!  See here if you want to know more!!!

The Dragons Dream TIO theme this week is Christmas.  I crackled one of T!m's lamp posts with nougat and chocolate pudding.  I went over it with renaissance treasure gold.  I stamped the Merry Christmas in black stazon and again rubbed over the whole tag in the treasure gold which unfortunately you can't really see on the photo.