Grow Positive Thoughts

Hello everyone, I have three projects to share with you today using the stunning Captivating Cacti stamp featured on last month's Hochanda TV shows. This super image has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and I hope that my very different projects will give you lots of ideas.

For my first project, I decided to create a little mixed media piece, and used a 6" x 6" canvas as the base for the design. I chose three colours of acrylic paint; mint, magenta and lime green, and mixed them directly into blobs of white gesso, and applied each colour onto the canvas with a large wet brush. Mixing the paint with the gesso cuts out the need for an extra layer of gesso, saving time, and I am all about getting on with the interesting part of creating my project! I was not too precise about this first coat, as it was simply a base for further layers of paint. I dried the layer with a heat gun. I applied the next layer of paint with a baby wipe, and used long strokes, blending the colours into each other, to get a soft effect. I dried the layer again. While I had the paint on my craft mat, I used some to paint a watery wash onto some drawing cartridge to use later.

I stamped the Captivating Cacti image onto drawing cartridge three times, (I also stamped the image once onto the canvas). I coloured parts of the images with Inktense pencils and a water brush.  I added darker colours for shading to create depth and then I cut out the images. I added yellow seed beads to the centre of the smallest piece of flower head, using Glossy Accents as a glue, and let this dry thoroughly. I adhered the cacti image to the canvas, building up the layers. I added some shading to the base of the image on the canvas, to 'ground' the picture, again using Inktense pencils and a water brush.

I stamped a sentiment from the Blossom and Grow stamp set onto the spare piece of drawing cartridge. I masked the words so that I could stamp each word separately, using masking tape before I inked the stamp. I cut each word out and edged the pieces of card with Seedless Preserves Distress Ink, before adding the sentiment to the canvas.

My second project was a much quicker design! I used a piece of kraft card, and stamped the image using Versamark and white embossing powder. I painted the image using Koh-I-Noor paints. The image pops off the background, and the paints work really well on kraft card. I have used the same sentiment, but in one piece this time. This card would make a great pick me up for a friend who is down.

 Finally, I made a little brooch using Soft Form Relief Paste. We often tell you on the blog and on the TV shows how versatile Soft Form Relief Paste can be; how you can use the medium for so many things, that you can sew it onto your bags and mixed media projects, etc. I decided to make a practical demonstration of how this can be done. I coloured some Pearl Soft Form Relief Paste with some purple Brusho powder, and spread it over the main flower head of the image that I have been using throughout this blog post. I then left the paste to cure overnight. Once the paste has set into a film, I peeled it from the stamp, and trimmed around the flower image. I adhered the image to some felt, using some strong double sided tape, then sewed some seed beads to the centre of the flower. I also added a brooch back at this point.

I very carefully dry brushed a tiny amount of paint onto the brooch to add some extra color to the flower, using red and teal tones. If you add too much liquid to the Soft Form Relief paste when it is a film, you will dissolve the film, so a light touch is essential. As you can see, the purple Brusho has coloured the Pearl Soft Form Relief Paste brilliantly. I have used this technique before and you can see my project here.

I will be back later in the month with some more projects for you, but in the meantime, do keep checking back for inspirational projects from my Team Mates. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Sketchy Doodle Flowers

Hello everyone, there are new stamps over at Chocolate Baroque. Two sets of great flowers suitable for all kinds of projects. I have lots of ideas that I am hoping to show you this month. I have two very different cards to show you today.


For my first card, I wanted to create the feeling of a stained glass window by Gaudi. I coloured my background with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink. I stamped the flower and leaf images onto the background, and then masked these before placing a stencil on the left hand side. I sponged Salty Ocean, Shaded Lilac and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks through the stencil, covering these with a coat of Transparent Soft Form Relief Paste.

Once the Soft Form Relief Paste was dry, I added a bit more colour to the background, with Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I stamped an image from the Texture Fragments stamp set and one of the flower images from the Sketchy Doodle Flowers set over the background. I removed the masks from the flowers.

I created the large flower by spreading some Gold Soft Form Relief Paste over the stamp, and allowing it to dry overnight. I peeled the thin film off my stamp very carefully. I coloured the film with metal paints and added some gilding wax. I stuck a large flat-backed gem in the centre.

I chose to stamp the flower and leaf images onto a seperate piece of card, and coloured these with Inktense pencils. I cut them out and decoupaged them over the original images. Finally I added the focal flower.

The transparent relief paste has given a lovely sheen to the stencilled area, and the colours are so vibrant underneath.

My second card uses the lovely floral frame image on the Sketchy Doodle Flower stamp set. I stamped the image onto a die cut piece of smooth watercolour paper. I masked the outer area of the image, leaving the oval uncovered. I added some colour using Distress Inks, blending them together where they met. I removed the mask, and coloured the leaves with a watercolour pencil.

I created the background by stamping a leaf taken from the Thistle Butterfly stamp set, using the same colours that I had used on the main image, randomly over some smooth watercolour paper. I die cut some leaves from the same paper and coloured them with Distress Ink. Finally, I assembled the card adding dark brown card and ribbon. I have left the card without a sentiment for now, as it is such a versatile image that it will be useful for many occasions.

Thanks for stopping by, xx

Everyone should have a Heart

Hello everyone, I hope that you all had a good Christmas and a very Happy New Year.  I am working with the Punky Hearts and Fluttering Hearts stamp sets this month, and want to show you how versatile these sets can really be.

My first card is a very quick card for those occasions when you do not have much time to make something. I stamped a large flourish from the Butterfly Dreams stamp set onto a small square card using Versafine Vintage Sepia Ink. On a piece of scrap paper from my stash, I stamped the apple and half of the butterfly from the Fluttering Hearts stamp sheet. I used Distress Markers to ink the stamps, enabling me to get the multi-toned effect. I also stamped a half butterfly directly onto the card. I cut the images out and attached them to the card, and finally added the sentiment in the bottom corner.

 My next card is again very CAS in style, as I wanted to create a masculine card suitable for an Anniversary or Valentine's card. I masked off a large area of the background, leaving only a horizontal strip showing, and then stamped the area with the floral heart using black ink, covering it with clear embossing powder. I then added some colour using three different tones of Distress Inks, before removing the paper masks. I stamped and embossed the heart once more onto a piece of kraft card, before cutting it out, and adding it to my design with 3D foam pads. Finally, I added a sentiment from the Words of Love stamp set and matted my background onto black card.

 My last project is a mixed media tag, using a real mixture of stamps, which I love to do when creating my projects. I already had the tag in my stash, coloured using the wrinkle free Distress method in a mixture of blues and greens. I had used the tag to mop up some spare ink on my craft mat left over from another project, rather than just waste the ink.

I took some Pearl Soft Form Relief Paste and added some Brusho powder to it on my craft mat, using a palette knife. Once the colour was mixed thoroughly, I spread some of the paste over my chosen stamp, the large steampunk heart, and left it to dry overnight. I used some of the left over paste through a stencil onto the tag. (I actually had enough to do another tag as well, waste not, want not!) There is a brilliant review of this product written by Lesley on the Chocolate Baroque website that you can read if you want to know more about it: Testing the new Soft Form Relief Pastes.

Once the paste was dry, I carefully peeled the stamp away from the heart shape, and started to change the colour, as it was too bright for my project. I added some black acrylic paint, just a small amount, almost dry brushing it onto the heart shape, and the harlequin area of my tag. I then added some gilding wax to help create a patina effect. I gave the areas a good buff with some kitchen towel.

To complete the background of my tag, I stamped a script stamp from the Eccentric Edwardian stamp set, using jet black Archival Ink, and the thistle artichoke from the Mellow Fruitfulness stamp set. I added some chain and jump rings for some added texture.  

 I hope that I have given you some inspiration with my projects. Thanks for stopping by, Judith xx