New Seth Apter stamps at PaperArtsy!!

Hi everyone, super excited to be sharing my 'playtime' with the fabulous new Seth Apter stamps over on the PaperArtsy blog tonight! The stamps were released yesterday with 2 A5 plates and lots of minis!!
Inspiration really hit me with these and I used them all in creating a mini album. I'll be back soon with a run through of the album but will just share a couple of pics to whet your appetite...hop across for more details.

Front, loving the seek mini and grid stamps

Circles, circles, I do love circles. White embossing powder, fresco paint, infusions and of course gold....what's not to love!

Can't wait to show you what's inside!

Ruth x

It's got to be Christmas at Stamps and Stencils...

Hi everyone and welcome to what will be our last challenge at Stamps and Stencils...... here's Sue to explain... 'It's Sue here with you today for the start of the new challenge but also the end of a journey. The December challenge will be the last one for Stamps and Stencils, we have had a lot of fun over the three years we have been together but now it's time for a change in direction. I personally want to thank everyone who has visited us and those who have participated in our challenges. I also want to thank the Design Team for producing fantastic projects month after month and some amazing Inspirational Posts. So now it's time to share the theme for this last challenge. It's got to be Christmas! Possibly predictive but as everyone gets busy for the festive season time seems to disappear at a fast pace, so we're keeping it simple . For this challenge we want to keep it festive and see your Christmas themed creations, just remember it must be mixed media and include stamping and/or stenciling.

All things come to an end so to wrap things up for this challenge (see what I did there!) I've created a snowflake gift box.

Lid on...

Lid off...

So to start - this was a container which I coated with gesso and then went mixed media mad, adding loads of textures, with stamps and stencils and all manner of pastes, sprays and glitter. See a gap and fill it!

Not forgetting the lid....just a touch of glitter...

Stamping

Tiny art stones

Die cut snowflakes and distress glitter

Crackle and gilding wax

A lovely soft green and icy blue give a wintry feel....warmed and softened with gold

And to put the lid on things...

Hope you'll be inspired to join in with our challenge, the DT have pulled out all the stops to finish the year and close on a high, hope you'll across to have a look.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank Sue and team members, past and present for being a joy to work with and providing such wonderful inspiration...I've enjoyed the journey! Ruth xx

Remember, remember the 5th of November...at Stamps and Stencils

Hi everyone, time for our November challenge over at Stamps and Stencils, hosted by the lovely and talented Toni. Here's what Toni wants us to do.

I've got a 'bonfire night' challenge for you this month. As a child, I used to love bonfire night. My dad would come home from work with a box of fireworks and packets of sparklers for us and we couldn't wait to get outside and enjoy the show! I'd love to see your art works based on fire and fireworks. Think bursts of colour. Let rip with the colour sprays, glitter, and paints. Let's have a bit of fun and brighten up these dark days with COLOUR ! Just remember it must be mixed media and include stamps or stencils or even both.

Now I haven't gone down a traditional route and stuck strictly to the fireworks brief but I have been inspired by the colours and splashes of brightness against a dark sky that you get with fireworks and created some journal pages using bright...and I mean BRIGHT colours.

 I used black gesso to cover some white pages and I was certainly impressed with the new Pebeo black gesso I had bought, great coverage! I wanted the colours to pop against the night sky.

I then used gelli printed deli paper to cover the pages.

I stuck to pinks, purples, orange and a touch of turquoise...the wrinkles add texture.

More printed paper and fluorescent and pearlescent paint. I retrieved my foam stamps that looked like a Catherine wheel, but in the end I didn't use them...that's the joy of going with the flow on an art journal page. Layering up.

Finger painting is always great fun.

I punched out circles of colour to add even more contrast.

One of my most used stencils is a joggles one and I think it looks like fireworks exploding.

Hopefully you can see all the layers building...and hopefully reminiscent of fireworks exploding in colour.

Having added all this colour I now needed to rein it in and create some contrast with black...

and white.

I painted some blocks of black so I could add more contrast and add some words. Now the words have nothing to do with bonfire night unless you need to brave on Bonfire night! The words of Dina Wakley seemed appropriate for me personally at the moment, be brave, be strong, but most of all...be kind. A little kindness can go a long way in this world...and on that note I wish you a happy crafting time and hope you'll all join in and be inspired by the Design Teams fabulous creations.

Ruth xx

Industrial/Grungy at Stamps and Stencils!

Hi everyone, time for our next challenge at Stamps and Stencils and the lovely Cec is our host this month; this time she wants us to include some metal in an Industrial or Grungy creation. Here's what she wants us to do...

Create a mixed media project with some stamping and/or stenciling that puts off a very industrial and grungy vibe - be sure to include lots of metal and texture.

It was lovely to get a bit grungy and rusty with paint, powders, bits and bobs. I've decorated a 7 x 5 canvas panel for my metal montage!

I started off by adding some texture through a  stencil.

Next painty layers; now I began using Seth's monoprint technique with paint on watercolour card but because the canvas was already textured I found that dry brushing and scraping on paint with a pallette knife worked really well. I used fresco paints in Brown Shed, Claret, Smoked Paprika, Green Patina and Little Black Dress.

Just keep layering until the magic happens!

I used some of Seth's chipboard shapes as well as chipboard cogs, metal gears, hinges....alsorts and added some texture paste before painting with Little Black Dress ( my black gesso had turned into a solid mass in the recent heatwave...but my fresco paints were still perfect) and the dry brushing with Snowflake.

I then used verdigris and copper embossing powder as well as lots of dry brushing with paints and treasure gold.

As Cec has asked for metal to be used I did patina some copper to add to the the canvas but I decided that was one embellishment too far and liked the result at this stage, however there are still lots of metal embellishments within the piece.

 Finally I stamped some letters on scrap card used during the painty process (I always think this is a great way to get a background for stamping that ties in with the finished result). I'd also used some number stamps in black archival on the piece but they've faded with the layering.

 Please hop across to see the wonderful inspiration from our talented team and I hope you'll be inspired to join in. Thanks as always for stopping by R x

Ombré at Stamps and Stencils..

Hi everyone, it's been a while but I'm back after a short but necessary break and it's my choice of topic for this months challenge at Stamps and Stencils. I've chosen to play with colour this month and it's all about Ombré!

Ombré has been in fashion for a while now and not just in art...or even hair! It's a french word meaning 'a colour that is shaded or graduated in tone'...so for this challenge we want to see projects or part of your project that has one (or more) colour that graduates from it's lightest pastel tint to its darkest shade...with a little stamping or stenciling of course! 

It's double Ombré from me as I've used the technique on both the background and flowers.

To start with I reused a canvas and just added to the texture with some grunge paste.

Next the paint colours in lovely shades of blue and hints of green.

Starting with strips of colour and leaving a small gap between each band, use 2 colours on the brush and blend the paints....don't forget the edges of the box canvas.

A little stamping in archival inks and I'm using one of the new JOFY sets. A little gold already creeping in...and some gesso to highlight the raised areas.

I painted fading stripes of orange and coral for the flowers and added some bling with WOW tinsel embossing powder, love the stuff! It's really easy to create shaded areas with fresco paints

 Stamping the compass flowers and cutting out

A little white pen doodling and wooden beads from my stash.....

...before arranging the flowers, I decided the flowers should drift across the canvas at a slight angle.

A fairly simple canvas and fun to try something different. Hope you'll have a dabble at Ombré and join in with our challenge. Remember you don't have to make a whole project in this style just a part could show this magical shaded effect...have fun! Hugs Ruth x

Off to Collage at Stamps and Stencils!

Hi everyone, Cec is our lovely host for this months challenge... here's what she wants us to do.

'No I am not sending you to school but thought it might be fun this month to make a collage.  You can use any substrate such as canvas, corrugated cardboard, wood, or canvas boards for instance and add any items to it as long as you include some stamping and/or stenciling.'

So I've created a little wall hanging in vintage tones, with lots of layers.

'Collage  - a piece of art made by sticking various different materials such as photographs and pieces of paper or fabric on to a backing'.

I've gone for a slightly different take on this and  decided to go down the using up scraps route and make a collaged background. Taking a cue from Cec, I had a piece of cardboard lying on my desk and that's where I started. Tweezers to rip a few holes in the base and then I've glued down some book text.

Layering all sorts of scraps as a backdrop and then I decided the focal point would be a small photo frame with something in it...at this stage I wasn't sure what though!

As all the items I was using were neutral tones, I decided to keep to that colour theme and just use a little gesso to tie them together. Lots of dry brushing on the outer edges and a little more centrally. I masked off the framed area so that when I added the image it would stand out.

Love how dry brushing highlights all the texture. Add in some micro beads (art stones), grunge paste through a stencil and the main image (Crafty Individuals) stamped on tissue before gluing down.

Love this effect, it gives such depth to the piece and because it is straight over the collaged elements it fits in perfectly. Some stamping in potting soil archival and paint splats.

More dry brushing in shades of brown (toffee, chocolate pudding and stone) to highlight the texture.

The frame was altered by covering with book text, adding 2 layers of clear UTEE and a tickle of treasure gold.

I enjoyed doing this so much I want to do another one!

Hope you'll join in with our challenge and if you need more inspiration hop across and see the wonderful samples from our very talented creative team! Happy creating! Ruth x