Thursday 26 November 2015

White Hexagons

Hi everyone, Ruth here with this weeks inspiration post. The current challenge theme is about favourite memories; scrapbooking is certainly one way of cherishing these so I've created a scrapbook style canvas utilising white space....yes, I do like white space! This week I thought I'd share my thought process when designing a layout.


My daughter was in South America this summer and one of the many highlights for her was visiting Salar de Uyuni - the worlds largest salt flat in Bolivia, I'll leave it to you to find out more about this stunning unique place! The photo I chose shows the vast expanse of hexagonal salt crust and looking at it I knew I wanted to create a canvas that echoed that space.


When I look at a photo...or any focal image, I'm trying to find elements that I can use to tie the background into it. I could see white, hexagons, textured edges, space and some blue and green, all of which needed to be used if the photo was going to look part of the canvas and not just dropped on top. The elements also needed to connect.

First of all, what had I got in my craft room that I could use for these elements?

  • White? Paint!...paper, vellum, embossing powder etc.
  • Hexagons?  Chicken wire stencils, stamps, honeycomb alterations die.
  • Texture? in my craft room?....puff paint, texture pastes, gels, tyvek, lutrador, fabric, lace etc etc....
  • Space? Think light, transparency and use of white space. acrylic shapes, acetate, frosting glaze.
  • Blue / Green? Inks, threads etc

So I started with a 12 x 12 box canvas and gessoed it. I randomly scraped some white crackle embossing paste over the canvas, once dry I spread white puff paint through the chicken wire stencil (TCW) and then sprinkled on some sea foam white embossing powder before heating it.


Having decided where the photo would go ...right of centre, I squeezed on glue in rough hexagons before sprinkling with embossing pwder. the hexagons in the photo aren't perfect and the EP would give texture. I used various scraps of paper, emboss resist canvas, heated tyvek and cotton lace that had a geometric look to it. I used horizontal lines to echo the horizon in the photo. Ignore the X and V, they're for support!


No glitter as this wasn't ice or snow but I did use some ice silk glaze on the tyvek before heating, the only bit of shine on the whole project.


B for Bolivia and the Dakar Bolivia stone sculpture at the salt flats...another memory for her. It's embossed in seafoam again.


Having die cut acetate for embellishment I also used it as a stencil and spread more crackle paste on to the canvas.


Close up of more hexagonal texture....creamy white above and matte white below


I added some watersoluble pencil to give shadow to a few background areas. I tried a few combinations of thread and fibres for the blue and green elements but in the end used some inktense pencils to echo the sky and scarf.


I wanted some height to the layout but used transparent elements so it still gave a sense of light and space. I stippled PaperArtsy frosting glaze on acetate before die cutting a hexagonal frame for the photo. I also stippled the frosting glaze through a stencil onto an idea-ology fragment, the addition of this balanced with the B bottom right and the Tyvek top right and to my eye completed a 'visual triangle'.


2 small strips of vellum either side of the photo grounded it more and completed the canvas.


Hope you enjoyed the post and that I may have inspired you in some way. You still have another week to join in our challenge...and just remember white space is good! 

Thursday 19 November 2015

Welcome to today's Guest Designer, Chris !

Today we have another treat in store for you as we have another Guest Designer sharing a fabulous project for the current challenge of Remember, Remember. So without further ado I'd like to introduce Chris of Pearshapedcrafting.


Hello everybody! My name is Chris, but you probably know me as ‘pearshapedchris’ as my blog is pearshapedcrafting!
I was thrilled to be asked to be a Guest Designer here at Stamps and Stencils! The Design Team is so talented so it is a real honour to be here!
I have my Mum to thank for my love of making things, although I only got back into crafting for myself when I retired from teaching and my Mum died shortly after that so she never got to see any of the things I have made.
It’s quite funny now to see a ‘new’ technique and to remember doing that very thing – although without the range of products we have nowadays! I love all kinds of crafting especially where it includes stamping.




The theme ‘Remember, Remember’ is an ideal opportunity to show you some of my memories! Some time ago I made a little wall hanging about my Grandad so here is my Grandma’s version. I started with quite a pile of things I might use but as I went along some of them were swapped.


I stuck encyclopedia paper over the hanging and used the doily stencil in the corners, I used a dark colour so that it would show through when I painted over it.


I stamped the film strip on and then added some stamped gelli printed paper and some inked tape.
 s




I painted some embellishments.


Grandma was mounted onto card.


The corners were stamped, then everything was assembled to reflect the one I made of Grandad. 





If you want to see them together and the details on how I made this please hop over to my blog.

My Grandma was very old fashioned and the photo you see here was taken from one we had taken on a day trip to the seaside, so I hope you will come and see what we looked like on our day trip!

Thanks once again to Sue and the team for inviting me today!

Chrisx

Fabulous project Chris ! What a lovely way to remember your Grandparents, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful memory with us.

There is still time to join in with the current challenge Remember, Remember and there is still one more day to go on the DT call !

Friday 13 November 2015

A big welcome to our first new DT member !

Today we are welcoming one of the new DT members, now I'm sure alot of you will know this very talented lady and will love her work. So, without further ado please give a warm welcome to :


I am a retired Director of Finance and live with my wonderful husband of 40 years just outside Toronto, Canada. We have one daughter who is married and has blessed us with two fabulous grandchildren.

I have been crafting for as long as I can remember and came by it naturally since my Mother was a very creative person. In our family it must be a genetic thing because both my daughter and granddaughter are creative. I have done counted cross stitch and dried flower arranging in the past - heck, I even did macramé at one time :) I started card making around 2006 but really just dabbled at it until 2009 when my job disappeared and then I had lots of time to play. As time went on I started to make more vintage and shabby chic cards and was hooked. In the past year I have added more mixed media to my repertoire.

I don’t go to the gym because in truth I hate to exercise but I do walk a couple of miles every day. I love to read crime mysteries, am a good cook (according to others and my waistline) and like a variety of music styles, especially jazz. I hate gardening but do it because I also hate weeds. I love to travel and still have a few places on my bucket list that I will visit once the exchange rate co-operates.

Cec will be starting with the Stamps and Stencils team from the December challenge, but you may also see her popping up here and there visiting some of the entries into the current challenge. 

We still have one more member to recruit to the team and there is still a week to go for applications. You can find all the details here along with the current challenge, Remember Remember. 

Sue

Thursday 12 November 2015

Welcome to today's Guest Designer, Pamellia !

Today we are welcoming a Guest Designer that I know will be known to most of you. This lady's work is outstanding and is always an inspiration to see. So without further ado let's move on to hear from Pamellia of My Little Craft  Things.



Hello Everyone! My name is Pamellia Johnson and I live on Lake Aquitaine in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada with my wonderful husband and our two little girls, Scully (a teacup Maltese) and Pebbles (a teacup black Pomeranian).

Thanks to my very creative and talented Mom, I have been crafting in some form or another since I was a little kid. I've dabbled in a variety of crafts, but my true passion has always been card making. I have recently discovered the world of mixed media and altered art, and since getting back in touch with nature, I find I just can't stop myself from reaching for those crackle pastes and paints!

I find such a sense of accomplishment in making things from scratch, and in an age where technology has taken over the world, I find that a home-made product can be a breath of fresh air. Be it a card or a Christmas decoration, there's no denying that the best way to see your vision come to life, is to DO IT YOURSELF!!


 When Sue told me the theme would be Remember, Remember, there was a memory that instantly came to mind. The day we brought little Pebbles home. Oh what a day that was! Pebbles spent the entire day exploring the house. "I think I should poke my head in here, smell that over there, OH, what could that be, I should definitely jump up there when I'm big enough!!" Our first born (Scully) spent the entire day just following Pebbles around trying to figure out what the heck it was!! Hilarious I tell you, the perfect day to freeze in time!
I started with a wood canvas and painted the inside of the canvas with DecoArt Black Gesso. I dry bushed on some Americana Acrylics in Desert Sand and Raw Sienna, being sure to leave lots of black areas showing.


I then applied some Crackle Paste in varying thicknesses, again leaving areas of the colours underneath still showing. When it was dry, I gave it two coats of DecoArt Ultra-Matte Varnish. Presto, instant Frame-o!









 


Thank you so much to Sue and to the whole Stamps and Stencils team for inviting me to spend the day with them. I am thrilled and honoured to be here with such a talented group of artists. If you would like to see lots more pics and details, please pop on over to My Little Craft Things.

Happy Crafting, Hugs Pamellia

I'm sure you'll all agree Pamellia's project is fantastic ! Thank you Pamellia for sharing your project with us and also your precious memory.

The current challenge Remember, Remember is still open and you have plenty time to join in.

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Winner and top 3 - Make it 3D

Hello and welcome back ! Today we're sharing the winner and top 3 of the Make it 3D challenge and also the winner of the blog hop. So let's get down to business and move on to share the winners.

First up the winner of the PaperArtsy bundle:

Urban Mermaid

Thanks for a fantastic Blog Hop, such inspiring projects from the design team! I have collected the letters, the answer: CRACKLE.

Congratulations ! Please email carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk with your mailing details. 

Now on to the winner of the Make it 3D challenge: 




 Congratulations Sara ! We loved all the detail you included in your project, there was so much to see. Please email carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk for details of your Guest Designer spot and winners badge. 

Now onto the top 3:








Congratulations everyone, please email carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk for your top 3 badge. 
All of the winners will also be pinned on the Stamps and Stencils Pinterest Board! 
 
The current challenge is Remember, Remember and you've still got plenty of time to join in.



Thursday 5 November 2015

Remember, Remember...

Firstly, thanks so much to everyone who joined in with our blog hop and entered our 3D challenge. The winners will be announcedon Tuesday 10 November, so make sure you check back to see if you've won. 

Before we get in to the details of this month's challenge we also need to let you know that we're having a DT call. So, if you love working in the Mixed Media style and can commit to producing one project per month plus an Inspirational Post and have an active blog, see below for what you need to do:
  • Send a photo of your two favourite Mixed Media pieces to carringtons22@yahoo.co.uk along with the link to your blog. 
  • Include a short paragraph on what inspires you to create Mixed Media art.
  • Closing date for applications is Friday 20 November.
Now that's out of the way, let's get back to the order of the day and move on to hear about the new challenge.

Hi, Ruth here with this months challenge which is 'Remember, Remember'......it may be the 5th of November today (Bonfire Night in the UK) but for this challenge we want to see mixed media projects inspired by 'favourite memories', you can interpret this in any way you like as long as you include some stamping or stencilling in your mixed media piece. What we want to see is how a favourite memory has inspired you, so don't forget to mention this in your post. 

To start the challenge I've created some journal pages inspired by Hydrangeas. 

                        

These flowers always remind me of some very kind neighbours from my childhood...you'll have to pop across to my blog to hear why they do, but just before you do that let's see what eye candy the rest of the talented DT have come up with! 







The memory that always makes me smile, was the day my best friend and I were terrified by a sleepy bumble bee



I've gone way back in time to when I was a little girl and my Dad used to grow Dahlias on the  vegetable plot at our house.