Wisteria Framed Door for Creative Expressions

Every now and again I like to get back to basics and get my colouring pencils out. I love this Gothic Gateway door stamp from Creative Expressions. People may already know I have a thing about old doors, as I've mentioned before in previous posts. 

In my own little fantasy world I thought of beautiful hanging Wisteria flowers around the door, but I didn't have a stamp so I just drew them on. I adore the colour against the kraft card.

I've used Prisma Colour pencils, they have very yummy high pigmentation hence the vivid colour, they're a bit pricey but worth it.

I started with the stamp and just a brown pencil

Added some highlight from a white pencil

I drew some branches, and then just coloured in lots of foliage and the flowers.

 I love the blue and the purple together, against the door. 

I know who I'd like to give this to :)

The sentiment is from the Beaded Swirl set from Creative Expressions too.

The weekend is nearly here, and it looks like it's going to be a sunny one, I hope so, I still have so much to do!

Have a good one.

Michelle x

Trust in your Dreams Tim Holtz Vintage Texture Canvas

When I was coming up with ideas for teaching a class at Art from the Heart this is one of the texture canvases I came up with. Full of yummy Tim Holtz Idea-ology, die cuts, paints and touchy feely texture.

(At the bottom of this post there is more information about the canvas class I'll be teaching this Saturday.)

The photo in the middle of the canvas is a picture of me and my brother when we were young, fresh faced and full of dreams in our teens. That was 27 years ago, oh my! I still take the mick out of his una-brow! Ha ha.

I started off by covering the canvas with some Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap using Golden gel medium

I painted the tissue with shades of brown Distress Paint, but thinned out some areas with a baby wipe.

I tore up some 3 long shards of TH paper and Distress inked the edges in Shabby Shutters, Mustard Seed, and Fired Brick and stuck them to the canvas.

I used some molding paste through a stencil and added the 2 clocks and the bingo card. Once the molding paste is dry it can be coloured with Distress Markers, this works so well!

I scratched the shards of paper too, with a wire distress tool, to get the white scratch lines. 

I used a black and red Adirondack dabber through a Dylusions alphabet stencil randomly all over the canvas, including the sides, then I added some green paint drips.

I mixed some Shabby Shutters Distress re-inker into some modelling paste and pushed it through a Dylusions Harlequin stencil. I also stamped a TH number background stamp using some metallic bronze Distress Stain in random places too, I like it when the light catches it and you didn't realise it was there.

I made up a cluster of TH idea-ology, die cuts, ephemera and the picture of me and my brother.

The little light bulb with the word sweet on it is from Prima, I love these.

The caption says "Trust in your Dreams"

We both used to fight over the View Master when we were kids ha ha! My brother with his Star Wars pics and me with my Disney pics!

So the View Master reel had to go in there too.

It's a very touchy feely canvas with all the texture.

I like to carry on the interest of the front of the canvas around the edges too, it makes me happy :)

I nearly forgot about the little bit of wax I brushed onto the corner, then I stamped into it, then I brushed it with mica powder too.

Hope you like my 12" x 12" canvas, I'll be hanging it on my stairs so my brother can see his brow in all it's glory, every time he comes round!

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Here are the deets to the class I'm teaching at Art From The heart this Saturday the 27th April, starting at 10am and finishing at 3pm. 

We'll be making some texture technique tags first then making a wonderful colour and texture rich 12" x 12" canvas, which you can hang up and admire your handy work. With your tags you'll remember all the great techniques you've learned and hopefully make more texture rich canvases in the future.

   

I know there are still some places left so if you fancy coming along I'd love to see you there.

Have a great week.

Michelle xx

Father's day card for Creative Expressions

Since going to Ally Pally there's been a certain kind of buzz in the air on Twitter and Facebook with all the people we met up with. They're not just words on comments any more, you can see their faces and mannerisms and you feel like you know them that little bit more. I love it, we need more big events so we can meet up more.

Father's day is on the 16th of June this year, and that's not too far away, so I've got ahead of myself and made this grungy painty card. 

I have racks of card stock but I hardly ever use it, I find myself more and more making my own backgrounds with lots of layers, especially when it comes to male themes, it's just easier to make your own. Here's how I made mine.

I started off making a background of brown acrylic paints on good quality card and dried it with a heatgun.

Then I smudged some Vaseline on the dried paint, in vertical strokes, concentrating it on the edges mostly.

Then I painted some cream coloured paint over the top, taking care not to drag the Vaseline. I used the end of my paint brush to make lines in the paint like floorboards.

Wait for the paint to dry, don't use a heat gun or it will melt the Vaseline.

Paint over the top of the cream with some blue paint. When the blue is dry, wipe off the Vaseline with a kitchen towel, to get the distressed paint look.

When all the paint is dry, cut down the paper to the size of your card and start layering the stamps and stencilling for the background.

I've used stamps from Tim Holtz classic collection for the background. I really like the contrast of the white text on the blue and the brown areas.

The car stamp is the Singles stamp by Sam Poole for Creative Expressions. A great stamp for male themes.

I finished off the card by putting some Cast Bronze Gilding Wax (Creative Expressions), on my finger and rubbing it on the card in vertical and horizontal movements. Then edging the background with a black Adirondack Dabber.

I really enjoy making my own backgrounds because then they're completely unique.

It looks like the sun has definitely got his hat on this weekend!

I'll be out in the garden doing some much needed weeding, and going for a nice bike ride along the beach. 

Hope you have a great weekend, I wonder what you'll be getting up to?

Take care

Michelle xx

Ally Pally and a posh card!

Every now and again I am asked to make a card that takes me back to my elegant card making days. These days I mostly like the painty grungy inky one's. But it's nice to know I can pull off the neat and tidy stuff once in a while.

Below is the wedding card I was asked to make.

 

Inside the card

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Now onto the fun we had at the weekend!

I've heard of the Ally Pally craft show but I've never been. 

I just thought I'd never be able to go because it's just too far away from where I live.

But I decided to drive down and back in one day, a 500 mile round trip!

It was do-able, and we did it. But next time I'm staying over!

Ally Pally is brilliant, not only for the crafty goodies, but you get a chance to meet all the people you chat to on Facebook, Twitter and blogging. It was so nice to see everyone and to confirm just how mental we all are too! (Am I speaking for myself there??)

Below from left to right is Nicky Cresswell, Gillian Simson, me & Kim Dellow.

I'd had so much contact with Gillian so far this year that I couldn't wait to meet her.

Thank you to Helen Lindfield, Sam Butler, Leandra Franich and Gillian, for taking the pics below.

 From left to right is Emma Taylor, Helen Lindfield, Darcy Wilkinson, me and Helen Bees.

Gabrielle Price, Emma Taylor, Lily & Nicky

Leandra had asked me and Darcy if we'd do a guest designer's demo on the PaperArtsy stand while we were there, so we stepped up to the challenge.

Leandra took this shot while she was having a well earned rest.

I was making a painty tag

We were in full swing here, Darcy's a natural! 

I had a great time, I can't wait to go back again, its much easier now we know some faces.

Darcy is such a wonderful talented person, I'm glad we only live about 5 miles away from each other.

Is anyone going to Stamp Magic in Doncaster in June?

Roll on the next one, I loved it.

Michelle xx

Two hearts in love for Creative Expressions

There's love in the air, as I went to a gorgeous wedding last Saturday and I've been making a table plan this week for a friend who is getting married next Saturday. So I had love on my mind when I was making a card  for Creative Expressions this week.

 I couldn't resist the Damask Heart Singles Stamp, inked with TH DI Pumice Stone and Antique Linen.

I did an offset with the same colours on the word "Love".

On the Kraft card I used the Beaded Swirl singles stamp with some Copper Bronze Lustre embossing powder. I love this EP, it has such a beautiful colour.

I finished off the card by putting two little gingham bows on the hearts and two heart gems in the centre of the bows, then added the butterfly charm too.

I love making little cards like this.

Quick and pretty.

Well done to Mrs Duck who won on my blog for the Creative Expressions blog hop last week. Congratulations xx

I'm off to Ally Pally tomorrow, a very early start for me 6am! But we'll have a great day.

Hope to catch up with some of you.

Michelle xx

Just having a little play - waxy canvas

Thank you all for the amazing comments you left me on my final PaperArtsy blog post. I had such a blast designing for them. I love our crafty community xx.

You may have noticed lately that I've not been blogging as much, well there's been so much going on round here, that life just takes over and my crafty mojo has had to take a back seat. Poor mojo, it's jumping around in there, itching to get me in the craft room. I'm hoping that after this weekend at Alexandra Palace's craft show I'll be able to unleash the mojo and get some blog posts up next week.

I made this little canvas below at a playday at Art from the Heart way back in the beginning of March. We were trying out new products that had just arrived in the shop. I made a beeline for these new La Blanche stamps. They're mounted on thick foam, so there's no need for an acrylic block (which is always a bonus).

I stamped the images onto tissue and coloured the back of the images with the new Faber Castell Gelato pigment sticks. They have a creamy smooth oil pastel texture, but they're water soluble and they blend so easily. Very addictive to use, because the pigment is so vibrant.

I coloured the canvas using the Gelato's and then dipped my stamped tissue into hot wax and slid it onto my canvas. I also used a Tim Holtz sentiment on tissue too, to put in the middle of the canvas.

I brushed more layers of wax on the corners and stamped the wax for some extra texture. 

When the wax cooled I buffed the top to clear the cloudy wax and  to give it a nice shiny finish. 

I used some copper mica powder to brush over the wax in the bottom corners to give the texture some shimmer, then I dipped my figure into some black and purple Distress Paint to rub over the textured wax, to highlight the pattern.

I edged the canvas with black Adirondack Dabber.

I hope I get to see my blogging buddies at Ally Pally on Saturday.

I'll look forward to meeting you soon.

Take care

Michelle xxx

PaperArtsy April #3 The Most Memorable Experience

Well it comes to my final post for PaperArtsy and as I love mixed media art and art journaling it was only fitting that I recorded my last guest designer piece in my art journal. It’s been an excellent adventure and the most memorable experience. So thank you Leandra (and Gillian) for seeking me out, it’s been a huge privilege to use your fantastic products. I would really like to say thank you so much to everyone who has commented on my posts, who took inspiration and made something to link up on the PaperArtsy blog. It really is the best compliment anyone could ever get. J

Here is my art journal page that sums up my experience. To see more pictures and how the page came together please pop over to the PaperArtsy blog.

I've really enjoyed being one of the guest designers for PaperArtsy and I hope I can do it again some time. I'm also looking forward to meeting up with many of you at Ally Pally in a couple of weeks too, I'm going to make the long journey down the country in the car, weather permitting that is!

Have fun, and get your paints and stamps out!
You’re in for a treat with the new semester guest designers. I can’t wait to see what they all make.

Take care, Michelle xxx

Creative Expressions Sheer Inspiration Blog Hop

Welcome to everyone taking part in the Sheer Inspiration Blog Hop, if you've come here from Shary Nettleship's blog then you’re in the right place.

Here is my design team make with the fantastic ribbons I was sent from Creative Expressions.

I've used Sheer wrinkled edge white & Silky crush ribbon cream, which I have used plain and some are dyed with Distress Stains and Dylusions inks. 

I started off making the ring using florist wire and tying pieces of ribbon to it until it was filled up with lots of colour.

I've used lots of bits of ribbon from my crafty stash, they always come in handy :)  I've also used some Crochet ribbon white from Creative Expressions too.

The big bow below is using the Silky Crush ribbon, it's really gorgeous!

I die cut a little heart using Tim's Movers and shapers die, stuck some book text on it, then coloured the edges with acrylic paint and printed off the sentiment. 

All the purple and some of the blue ribbons are dyed and they've worked out really well.

I have this on my kitchen door as a reminder that the sun has got his hat on lately!

I love the things that you make that you want to use around the home, it's not just a 

design team piece, its a home decoration that makes you happy :)

To be in with a chance to win £15 of crafty goodies simply leave a comment on each of the 8 design team's blogs (listed below). For more details of the blog hop click here.

The hop will close and prize winners will be announced on Monday 8th April on the Creative Expressions News blog. 

Order of the Hop

1. Tracy Evans

2. Trish Latimer

3. Jean Gursoy

4. Trace Metcalfe

5. Gillian Simson

6. Tracey Laughton

7. Shary Nettleship

8. Michelle Webb (me)

Don’t forget to check out DT Member Kim Dellow’s blog on Friday 5th April for a special spot prize.

Good luck everyone

Michelle xx