Be gentle with yourself

Hello everyone,

It is time for another post for UmWow Studio today ! I really enjoy doing these projects as they are so different from anything else I do. Today I did a little tiny canvas. It is only about 3" x 3" or 10 cm x 10 cm. And here it is :

And here's how I made it:

I decided to heat emboss my flourish with copper embossing powder. I did change my mind in the end and heat embossed over the top with gold powder. 

I embossed it about three times, so the layer of embossing on the flourish was really thick. I reheated it to make it soft again and then dropped some micro beads in the wet/soft embossing. 

This is how it looks after I dropped the microbeads in. Cool huh ? I also added some gold paint here and there later but didn't take pictures. You can see the effect in the finished canvas. 

For the canvas I applied crackle paste and coloured it with light yellow and burnt umber paints.. using some glazing fluid so it stayed wet longer and I could wipe most of it off again..

This is the result of both paints. I then added some stamping. You can see it in the end photos. 

All stamps I used are by VivaLasVegaStamps! 

Here are a few close ups of the flourish..

Apart from the canvas and the flourish, I used an original old photo which I found in an antique market. I am always on the lookout for stuff like this. I also used some music paper and some lace. The frame is from a cheap set of resin frames from the Dollar store which I painted and then used the same gold embossing powder over the top. 

I used this chipboard today :

From the set Flourishes Two. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

Paint your dream

Hello everyone,

Today I have a little canvas to share. It was such fun doing this as it was so different to anything else I usually do. I might have to do this sort of thing more often..

This canvas is 10" x 10" or 25 x 25 cm. I started by putting on the modelling paste through a stencil called 'Doily'. After it had dried I layered lots of paint on it using  Fluid Acrylics in the colours Cobalt Teal Hue & Primary Magenta both mixed with Titanium White. When this had dried I thought it looked way to fresh so I used Antiquing cremes (Raw Umber and little bit of Patina Green) to make it look a little bit old. 

After I was happy with that I added some more stencilling with the same colours of paint but undiluted. The stencil I used was "Old French Script" by Americana Decor. It is very subtle.  Also I used a rubber stamps by Paperartsy and some bronw ink to add  more script. That was the background finished..

The paintbrush was a really old one that was lying around in my craft room. The hairs were really hard so I decided to use that. I gessoed it first and then put a layer of crackle paint on it. Next I painted it with Fluid Acrylic paint in the colour Titan Buff and when that had dried I applied the same antiquing creme to make it look old. Next I tore some fabric from my stash and made a bow around the handle of the paintbrush with it. 

The sentiment was stamped with rubber stamps by Stampotique on a piece of paper painted with Titan Buff, antiqued with Raw Umber antiquing creme and stamped with the same script stamp as the canvas. I also went around the paper strips with the ink pad. 

Lastly I adhered everything to the canvas. 

Here is a close up of all the yummy texture from the modelling paste. 

I have used all DecoArt products for this canvas.  

Approach with caution

Hello everyone,

and happy Wednesday yet again ! Doesn't time fly?

Over on the Stampotique Designers' Challenge blog, the lovely Valerie is hosting and she chose the following theme : "what's old is new again" and this is what she had to say about it :

 "Re-purpose, re-use, recycle, and alter - words that are music to my ears! Is there something destined for the trash heap that you can give a new art-filled life? Or perhaps you're tired of that old wall hanging - can you give it a make-over? My challenge for you this week is to take something old and make it new again!"

So, I have made something a little different and I have a step-by-step for you ! 

A little while ago I saw this, what I believe is a bird's nesting box, the type breeders use, in a 2nd hand shop and I saw the potential ! 

I started with stamping this lovely bird and colouring it with my trusty Copic Markers. I made sure to use a little blue here and there because crows have that, don't they; that lovely blue sheen. 

I also stamped this fruitbat. He is thinking of bananas but I decided to use him without his beloved bananas and he was also coloured with Copic Markers. 

I collected these sticks (don't ask, lol. I am forever collecting things). These come from a lovely walk somewhere in the South Downs in the UK.

Anyway, next I painted the bird box, first gesso, then Art Anthology Sorbet paint in blue and Crackle paint by DecoArt Media over the top. Once it had all dried I rubbed the crackles with Antiquing creme, also by DecoArt. Once that had dried I rubbed most of it off again; it left this lovely finish.

Here is a close up. Doesn't that look yummy ! 

Here is another close up.... 

Next I did some stamping on the box, sorry forgot to take photos but you get the drift.... I used Archival Inks for this. 

I cut out the bird and the bat, added them to the box, created a backdrop with pattern paper and thought that it was finished....

Here is a close up of the bat. He is so cute ! 

And one of the crow... 

He is perched on one of the twigs I found in the UK..

And then, as an afterthought, I thought it needed something on the roof, so I used the rest of the twigs, some twine and an MDF Fleur de Lis for this. The fleur the lis was heat embossed with a turquoise embossing powder to get it to match the rest of the paint I used. 

A sideways glance ! 

And another one ! 

I hope you like my little cage and its contents... 

I have used the following stamps:

Fruit bat

Raven + Chick

Approach with caution 

Upholstered 

We would love it if you played along with us and created something new with something old. You could win one of the two $30 vouchers at the end of the month. It is not allowed to use digi's and you can only enter once for each challenge. Apart from that, just have fun ! 

Thank you so much for stopping by ! 

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 !