Sunshine and Showers

 

     

      The theme at River Of Creativity this month is sunshine, this challenge blog is not just for mixed media and cards, it is for ANY craft. If you have made it and it fits our theme we would love to see it.

     Both of these card started with I-Zink pigment inks and some acetate. The ink was dropped onto one piece of acetate, then covered with another piece of acetate and squished together.

     Before the ink could dry the two pieces were pulled apart, this is what gave it the steaky patterns. It was then set aside to dry, which didn't take very long. I made several different sheets using other colours and put them in my stash box, after all if you're going to get all the products out you may as well turn it into a full creative session.

     The best way I have found to stick these panels down is to put the decorated acetate on to a sheet of double sided sticky film, then you get no glue marks because it's sticky all over.

     These acetate panels were die cut after the sticky was added, using Tonic nesting ovals. I also discovered it was best to stick down one end of the panel and gently peel off the backing, smoothing it down as I went. It helped keep it aligned and made sure I got no air bubbles under the acetate. If you do get an air bubble you can pierce the card from behind with a pin, just make sure you don't go all the way through the acetate aswell.

      For the rain man the acetate was stuck onto a sheet of white card, then decorated with Distress Ink and spritzed to get the rain drops. 

      For the sunshine lady I used a stencil and Distress Ink to create the rays of the sun before sticking down the acetate. The stencil wasn't quite large enough to cover the card completely so I inked the main part and then moved the stencil around to enlarge the area.

      A mixture of Scattered Straw and a dash of Fossilised Amber created the desired effect. For each card the character was going to need to be grounded, this was done by using a piece of torn paper and the same Distress Inks used for the backgrounds.

      The two characters are cut using metal rule dies, one Sizzix and one unknown. The rain man was cut in very dark blue and the lady was cut in a pearly dark brown, each image panel has been matted on the same card as the character.

      The sayings were found on line, typed out and printed off. I don't know who Rain Man's saying comes from but the Sunshine Lady is by Helen Keller. Both sayings were die cut oval to match the acetate panel and ink blended to match the backgrounds. Both characters and sayings are mounted on foam, sayings on 1mm thick and characters on 2mm thick.

      The two cards were made several months apart as it took me a while to find a suitable lady for the sunshine card. Now they're complete I rather like them as a set, they may just end up being framed and kept rather than gifted as cards, although each acetate panel has a double so maybe it's a good reason to make some more.

      Don't forget that River Of Creativity is a new challenge that accepts ALL forms of craft, as long as we can see how the theme has inspired you any project is welcome.

I would like to enter these cards in the following challenges:

Path To Positivity - #91 optional - change your environment (frame as pictures)

Use Your Stuff - #422 Use A Stencil

Crafty Calendar - Masculine

The Creative Crafters - #40 Anything Goes

Love To Craft - #58 Anything Goes

Let's Craft and Create - #171 Anything Goes + No Patterned Paper

Happy Little Stampers - Anything Goes With Dies

Dies R Us - #169 Anything Goes using stock a die

A Bit More Time To Craft - #140 Anything Goes

613 Avenue Create - #5 Anything Goes / optional mood board

Snow Tag

     This months challenge at Christmas Craft Creations is to make tags or ATCs. 

     I started by die cutting some mountboard with a Bigz die, I like working on this because is thick enough not to distort when using wet glue or paint.

     I was going to use paint, but when I started rummaging through my stash I found a nice offcut of blue scrapbook paper, so I glue3d this to the board, let it dry and then sanded the edges smooth.

     I stamped several different snowflakes across the tag and embossed them in white. To make a pretty edge I used some silver gilding wax, I've found the best way to apply this is using the back of a piece of blending foam, it's firmer than my fingers so it's easier to get a good finish.

     A tiny gem in the middle of each snowflake added some shine but it needed sparkle. Using non shed glitter card I die cut some snowflakes and stacked them on thin foam pads and added it to the corner of my tag.

     A small length of silver organza ribbon finished off the tag. I like the simplicity of this, I could have added lots more to it but I think it's fine as it is.

I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges:

ABC Christmas - J~Jewels / K~Kids

Sparkles Christmas - #124 Use A Tag     (Spotlight Win)

CraftyHazelnut's Christmas - #541 Anything Christmas Goes

The Holly and Ivy - #94 Anything Christmas Goes

Merry Little Christmas - #34 Anything Christmas Goes

Sunshine On The River Of Creativity

     There is a new challenge on the block, River Of Creativity is for all crafts, not just paper. There will be a theme each month but it will be quite a broad one, allowing your creativity to run riot. 

     This picture started life as a wooden wallart item found in a charity shop, I didn't like the artwork much but when I looked at the back it was a great shallow frame I could do things to.

     I started to put together the image panel and tried it inside the frame, it was too much of the same colour, so I painted the inside edge of the frame with dark brown acrylic.

     I had a sheet of 12x12 paper that was almost exactly what I wanted but it was a bit too bright and a tad too big, the inside of the frame is 10.75 inches square. After playing around with different ideas I found a sheet of vellum in my stash with little flowers all over it. Perfect, it knocked back the colour and added another feature, as the light changes across the panel the flowers show up. After trimming the paper to fit inside the panel I folded the edges of the vellum over the paper all the way around, this way the vellum stays put and there is no need for glue.

     The bee hexagons are cut from mat photos using a die by Jamie Rodgers, the shape caught my imagination as soon as I saw it, they're like little boxes, which reflects the idea of using a box frame.

      To fix the paper panel in the frame I used some redline tape, this stuck to the vellum overlapped edge so hopefully over time it will not show through the paper as it doesn't actually touch it.

      To fix the bees to the vellum I used some Stix2 3D PVA, strong stuff and acid free. To get even spacing I used a wooden stir stick between each shape until the glue set.

     The corners needed a little something so I die cut some honeycomb in mustard card, thank you Avril for the use of your die, but only stuck them in two of the corners.

      At the bottom I added some paper sunflowers and at the top there is a small die cut bee, this is only stuck on with tack because I'm not sure if I like it, maybe I will find something I like more in time.

     I am so pleased to be working with the girls at River Of Creativity, it's great to have a challenge that welcomes all craft, not just card making. Please pop over and read all about it, then come and join us with your creations.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

613 Avenue Create - #5 Anything Goes

We Love To Create Mixed Media - #5 Anything Goes

Always Fun - #212 Combine Old & New Products

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything Goes With A Critter

Creatalicious - Things With Wings

World Wide Open Design Team - #4 Anything Goes

Dies R Us - #168 Anything Goes With A DRU Stock Die

Floral Brusho

 

     This month at The Paper Funday our optional theme is flowers, so I have raided my stash and used an old rubber stamp by Heartfelt Creations.

     The image was stamped on watercolour card and white embossed. Then I used a clean paintbrush to add water to individual areas of the card before sprinkling Brusho on top and letting it do it's magic.

     If you 'paint' the areas separately you can keep the colours from running into each other but you do need to let one area dry off before colouring the next.

     The choice of mat colours was to pick out the colours in the image, it then went onto a kraft card, I thought a white card may take away from the image.

     Once mounted on the card blank I stuck tiny gems of various co-ordinating colors in the middle of each little flower.

     Using Brusho like this makes it look like you've spent hours painting, it's such fun to do.

     Please pop over to The Paper Funday and join us with your creations, we'd love to see them.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Cardz 4 Galz - Mother's Day / Special Lady

Shopping Our Stash - #444 I Made This For You Mum     (Top 3)

Dare2BArtzy - Flowers

Stamping Sensations - Beautiful Blooms