Embrace imperfection

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my blog!

I hope you have had a fab Christmas Day with lots of pressies and lovely food !

Today I am sharing another project I made for AALL & Create and this time I decorated a paint brush.

This was fun to make and here is how I did it:

First I die cut this fab numbered strip with one of Bipasha Bk's fabulous dies. 

I cut the die cut in half and removed the pieces I didn't want. I then glued half to the front and half to the back of the brush. Before I started this project I brushed the hairs of the brush with gel medium to make them a little stiffer so it is easier to work with. 

Next I painted the brush with acrylic paints, using my favourite colours again ! 

After painting I used some antiquing cream from DecoArt to darken the numbers in the die cut. When this had dried I put a layer of mat varnish over the top because this stuff keeps reacting with water if you don't. Next I heat embossed the stem of the brush and added some modelling paste through this cool stencil, choosing the word 'create' on the front and.... 

...a random shape on the back. 

I then added some stamping.

Next I stamped the elements I wanted to use to decorate the brush. I also stamped a tiny piece of pencil with the word butterfly. I painted the pencil before I stamped it, using the same paint as on the brush. 

I inked the edges of the brush with Archival Jet Black ink and added my elements and threaded some ribbon through the hole in the top. I think it turned out super cute! 

Here's a pic of the back. 

Some close ups... 

For this project I used :

Die #12 - Code - by Bipasha Bk

Stencil #2 - Olga Heldwein

Stamp set #45 - Tracy Evans

Stamp set #46 - Tracy Evans

Stamp set #125 - For the record - Aida Domisiewicz

For more information about all the fabulous AALL & Create products please visit:

www.aallandcreate.com/boutique

Thank you very much for stopping by today !

Live the life you imagined

Hello everyone,

There is a challenge blog called 'A Vintage Journey' and as some of you might know I really love vintage. So after looking for quite some time I finally decided to play along with November's challenge which is called "Cracking up !" And no, they are not all mad; it is about crackle... I happen to love crackle so I crackled my heart out on this project which is an art journal.

I used crackle paste and a stencil on the background and painted it this pastel blue when it was dry. The crackle was accentuated with antiquing cream and Distress Ink. I added some stamping and some splattering too. I added crackle paste to the little panel and treated it in mostly the same way. I added some torn ribbon, some book text and a die cut doily to make the panel a little more interesting. I also added a number plaque and the photo is one of a pack of Tim Holtz, I think they are called lost relatives or something. I coloured her a bit with pencils. 

Lastly I put everything together and added the sentiment. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

She spread her wings...

Hello everryone, 

Today it is my turn to share a project for UmWow Studio. I have made a canvas and it is a little different to my usual bright colours but I really enjoy making vintage things as well...  

 here it is:

This was actually a painted canvas so I started with glueing book pages on it. I then added the dots with a piece of punchinella and some model paste. 

Next I painted it with a mix of turquoise and white DecoArt Media fluid acrylics. 

The next layer was Antiquing Creme also by DecoArt. I used a turquoise and a brown.. 

You put it on, let it dry and then wipe it off again... 

I got the little frame in the dollar store and I antiqued it the same way, using Titan Buff paint and the same antiquing creams. 

On the little crown from the photo booth props set of chipboards I added some glue from a tape runner and then put some foil on it. It was by no means perfect but that was just the look I was going for. The bits that weren't covered by the foil I painted with gold paint. I then added 2 layers of clear embossing powder over the top. 

I put a piece of Designer Paper by 7dots Studio (Destination unknown) under the little frame.  

Next was the Cicada. I painted it with Titan Buff DecoArt Media Fluid acrylic paint and then added some dark turquoise on the top edges of the wings.

I then used a holographic embossing powder to get some shimmer. With a bit of metal wire and some seed beads I gave the cicada antennea, no idea if the have antennea??? lol

Underneath the frame is a rubber stamped image by VivaLasVegaStamps! It didn't stamp very well so I added some more ink with my fingers. I also added some black stripes with black fluid acrylic and an old creditcard. 

Here is a close up of the shimmer... 

The whole thing was put together using gel medium to glue the frame, the crown and the cicada. I also added some splatters... The last thing I did was add the sentiment which is by VivaLasVegaStamps. 

I have used these chipboards:

Cicada bug

Photo booth props

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

Follow your heart...

Hello everyone,

I have been accepted into the DecoArt Blogger Outreach Programm and I have made my first piece using mainly DecoArt Products and a few others.... I had lots of fun making this, experimenting along the way. I think the result is not bad !

This tag was painted with Cobalt Turquoise Hue acrylic paint. I then added some crackle paste through an Andy Skinner stencil and let that dry naturally. I you heat it with a heat gun, it won't crackle.. don't ask... haha..

Next I added a few antiquing creams, a bit of interference paint and some more antiquing cream to the crackled cornices, if you can call them that ! I really like the end result. 

Here are some close ups:

Doesn't that look yummy ! 

I also stitched around the edges with my sewing machine. 

Next I stamped the background. I used a stamp from a Mixed Media stamp set by Dina Wakley and white pigment ink for this. It dries back a little lighter which I really like in this tag. 

I then stamped the hearts (Unity Stamps) on the tag and onto some book text. 

I cut out the book text hearts and adhered them on top of the ones on the tag. 

The sentiment (which is only part of a sentiment by Carabelle Studio)  was stamped, like everything else with black Archival Ink and accentuated with a white paint pen. 

Lastly I added some whit and black splatters and a piece of ribbon coloured with the same Cobalt paint I used before. 

Thank you for stopping by today ! 

Life is for living !

Hello everyone,

I am on the Visible Image blog today with this Monolith! I love these monoliths and I love bright colours but for this one I went vintage ! Hope you like it !!!

This is the front of the finished monolith... 

This is the back of the monolith....

A close up of the back...

And a close up of the front and all the yummy crackles... 

And a closer look at the bow... 

This Monolith was started with Gesso; two layers of it. I then put some crackle paint (by Deco Art Media) on the front and the base. When this had dried I used a harlequin stencil and some more of the crackle paint to add some more interest. When all this had dried I used the Deco Art Antiquing creme to add some interest, I used brown and turquoise. This gave me a nice worn look. 

I then used the INKognito flower stamp on the back with VersaMark ink and some Lindy's Stamp gang light turquoise embossing powder. I really love the blue and turquoise combination... 

That was the back finished. For the front I wanted a nice saying, so I settled for this bold 'Life is for living" stamp. I used Archival ink to stamp it. I used a Faber Castell Big Brush Marker to shade the letters some what. I also stamped some dots randomly, using blue and brown inks.

I used some twine, wrapping it around the bottom of the standing part of the monolith. I made a bow, using the same twine, by winding it around my hand and securing the loops in the middle. I used hot glue to add it to the monolith. 

I love all the texture the crackle paint has made! 

I used the following stamps: 

Retro dots background

Life is for living

Flower INKognito

You'll find the wonderful Monoliths HERE.

Social Media, Blog and monthly Challenge details :

Blog: http://visibleimage.co.uk/blog 

Show & Tell Monthly Challenge details: http://visibleimage.co.uk/challenge 

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/visibleimage 

Facebook PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/visibleimage 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/visibleimage

Twitter: https://twitter.com/visible_image

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/visibleimagestamps

Thank you so much for stopping by today !