Friday, June 27, 2008

Ill be away for three weeks folks

G'day everyone....we are off on a holiday in the morning to see my Mum interstate.I'll be gone for three weeks.Three to four days drive with an 18yr old,16yr old and a 12yr old...OMG what was I thinking....need ears phones asap.When I get back I have something else to share when I am back as I worked out how to use one of my fav substrates and put it thru the Cuttlebug several times to get the effect of the textured Cuttlebug cards I have been making BUT no tearing and gluing...only one piece used.Hint it involves Opals embossing enamels of course LOL.As I am married to a reptile freak(zoo keeper/reptile specialist)there may even be few Ozzie photos to add with Opals LOL....oh Opaled Lizards...now that would be nice.Get inky while I am gone and show me what you make Ok *grin*
hugs
Annette in Oz

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Textured Cuttlebug Cards How too

Okies here we go on how to make these....Firstly Celeste asked me to tell people that she was shown how to do this by Gaye Todd with some input by Kasha Rolley....got to give credit were it is due please folks and do not claim this as your own.ALSO I am not sure if it is exactly how Celeste and the others do it as I did not ask and just guessed...Celeste was telling me how she adds the stamped tissue to texture and sent me a sample with a base to try and I got very intrigued by the base and gave that a go myself.So here is the general explanation for what I do.The pictures will show about five different bg papers used in the frames as I wanted to make a sequence of photos to do a video with and wanted to cut down time so pay no attention to what bg you see

STEP ONE:Using gel medium glue a pale background paper to a heavy card base.My bases are the sturdy backings from old writing pads.Think thick and strong

STEP TWO:Make your Cuttlebug embossed card bits.They can be any colour but a uniform colours is good if you want to add bright colours on top.If I want to use white gesso on top I usually use white card and if I want to use black gesso I use black card.Tear three to four of the Cuttlebug embossed pieces ROUGHLY so they make a rough frame ie;tear them so they have two straight sides and two will look roughly like an "L"shape that has the centre torn out and the other two a reverse "L" shape.(see the blue "L" shape on the white card below and the white "L" shape on the blue card below).TRIAL them on the base card so you have a framed edge with a central window but don't glue in place yet.Tear more of the centre out if needed.

STEP THREE:Glue the torn Cuttlebug bits in place.I used the blue pieces here so you can see it better
STEP FOUR:Paint over the whole piece using gesso.I have used white gesso below on a white Cuttlebug embossed pieces.Paint the frame and the centre.If the centre bg paper is really pale and you loose it a bit here just wipe off the excess so you can still see bits here and there thru the gesso.The image has only half the card painted so you can see how the gesso blends the torn Cuttlebug pieces and that is what makes the rough feathery edges look seamless.Let it dry or use a heat gun to dry it off and then paint on another layer of gesso.Dry again.

STEP FIVE:Stamp the image you want to use on white tissue with Brilliance Graphite black ink.Heat set the ink with the heat gun.Tear bits of words from an old dictionary,bg words sheet,old music papers or whatever you like to use.Also tear strips of the white tissue and crumble them then loosely straighten them back out

STEP SIX:This part you can do now or after you apply colour but I will do it now for you.Use the watered down PVA glue(white glue that dries clear...if you have Elmer's glue that will do) to glue the words down.Apply the watered down glue under and over the words and use the paint brush to gently push the words into the textured areas.Let it dry.Roughly tear around the stamped image and glue in place using the watered down PVA glue under and over the image.Be gentle here as the tissue may tear.If you do not like where you placed it just peel it up and try again.If it tears just take it off and do it again.Again gently push the tissue into the textured areas.Leave to dry thoroughly.The tissue will become see thru as it dries and that lets some of the bg peer thru.
Now glue the scrunched bits of white tissue down using watered down PVA glue.These bits proved texture to the end piece.Of course this part can be done before painting with gesso,now or after adding colour so don't panic if you forget or you don't want to do this step at all.On the sample below I have only glued the top left scrunched bit in place so far.Once these bits dry paint over them with more gesso to blend them in as I did with the top left piece

STEP SEVEN:now the fun starts.Add paints,inks,chalks or whatever you want to use to add colour to the frame.In the sample below I have left white part uncoloured so I can show what I did in the video.For this one I used a Versamark watermark ink pad and applied a wet coating all over the frame avoiding the words.Next I sprinkled on Artee adhesive powder and activated the adhesive by applying heat from the heat gun.Then I dusted on Pearl-ex powder.Blend the colours so you don't have defined edges.I'm finding if I apply the colours beyond where the edges of the torn Cuttlebug embossed pieces meet and just slightly into the frames area that this too helps the end result look more seamless.Rub a small amount over the words with your finger

On the one below I left a black section uncoloured to use in the video.This time I used black gesso over the Cuttlebug frame.Then I applied a wet coat of Stewart Superior black Palette stamp and stick glue pad.Hit it with the heat gun to activate the adhesive and then dust on LumiArte Polished Pigments Primary Elements.I coloured the Lion with LuminArte Twinkling H2O's.(I need to temper the yellow more on this with some white)These two products used together give a highly pigmented all over shimmery effect

On the next sample I used Daler-Rowney liquid Pearlescent acrylics on the frame.I was aiming for shimmery pale dream like colours.I've fully coloured the frame here and the little horse was stamped on shrink plastic and coloured with the water colour pencils and Twinkling H2O's before shrinking.That bit isn't stuck down as I still need to colour the horse on the stamped tissue part and may not use the shrink horse yet.Also after I painted over the bg paper centre part with white gesso I then painted over that again with Pearlescent white before I glued the stamped tissue image in place.When I use paint I apply a small watered down bit to the words and dab excess off if I need too.

STEP EIGHT:Now to highlight the texture more if you want dry brush on metallic gold paint(I used Jo Sonja pale gold below),rub on coloured rubbing waxes or swipe a dark coloured ink pad over the piece.Of course you can leave that part out if you like but it again seems to tie all the elements together.On the last sample below I did a wash(painted on watered down paint) of Golden Quinacridone Nikle Azo Gold acrylic paint over the white gesso painted frame and around the stamped image.When dry I then did a wash of Golden Dioxazine Purple acrylic paint.The edges were darkened using Adirondack Espresso ink.I think I shall leave him uncoloured and just spray on a little walnut ink or do a gold paint wash to finish it off

STEP NINE: Lastly add embellishments of choice such as keys,page pebbles,words or whatever takes your fancy.Layer it all onto card stock and you are done.No images for that as there are finished samples in previous posts.These would look great as canvas art.I'm thinking of doing some vintage transfers in the frames rather the stamped images as well...or even using family photos for Christmas cards would work too

Monday, June 23, 2008

One More Textured Cuttlebug Card

Hi everyone....well I have about five more textured Cuttlebug cards done and then I think I have them out of my system LOL...well maybe.You see I have used stamped images here as I want to send these to a stamp company owner but you could easily change the centre image to a transfer of a family photo or vintage image etc.Hence (and with Celeste's and her friends Ok) I shall shortly share how I make these.Anyway till I get the time to put that up here is another stamped one.It's an After Midnight art stamp fairy image that I have used.This first photo shows the fairy with her wings flat.Luminarte Polished Pigments used on the Cuttlebug texture so it has super saturated shimmery colour all over.Shrink plastic After Midnight art stamps butterflies and Collections words

Next photo shows the fairy with her wings open...got to love cold laminate for wings

This is the view from the bottom up below....LLLllllove the texture

Next is the view from top left

and lastly from top right...you can see the colour under the wings here.I painted the fairy with Daler Rowney liquid Pearlescent acrylics

I have the how too still photos ready to load but I will also do a short video if I can get a few hours alone to upload as well...stay tuned.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Cuttlebug Textured Cards

Today is my eldest daughters 18th birthday.This After Midnight art stamp reminds me of her so I used it over the Luminarte Polished Pigments decorated Cuttlebug frame from yesterdays post to make her a card.
I'm loving the textures you get from these and have ordered some more folders.This photo below is taken from the bottom right side.The metal label was coloured with Alcohol inks and then hit with the heat gun till it bubbled.Gold pint was then dry brushed over the texture areas.I made her eyes and lips pop by covering them with a layer of Plaid Dimensional Magic

More from the top right

From the top left

This is the card I made for a male relative.I made this more subtle so the hunk stood out.It's painted with acrylics and then with gold paint dry brushed on to highlight the textured areas
The last card is a riot of colour and I again used black gesso over the Cuttlebug texture frame,then tapped on Stewart Superior Palette Stamp and Stick black Gluepad ink,heat activated the adhesive with the heat gun and dusted on Polished Pigments

I'm really tired today as my dughter went to town with friends so she could celebrate as she turned 18...like a good Mum I of course could not sleep and kept one ear listening for the phone.I suspect I have years of that sort of worry to come.Day three of days off today so I hope the coffee kicks in and I get some more creative work done

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Playing with Palette Stamp and Stick

OH my I have had a busy week and a half.I do 8 shifts close together for work and then get three days off.Work is terribly busy at the moment and then the family life is too.I was feeling stressed and was so glad my days off arrived at last...time to get inky and de-stress(or for me it should be distress LOL).SSSooo yesterday was day one of my days off and I got three cards made for familiy birthdays and then last evening I had a play with the Stewart Superior Palette Stamp and Stick black Gluepad.I'm loving this pad.You just stamp an image with it,activate the adhessive by hitting it with the heat gun and then dust over Pearl-ex,Polished Pigments,foils etc.I like it best stamped on dark card as when you dust over it it really makes the colour pop.
Anywho I made the collage above last evening and got some lovely effects on the German scrap trim at the bottom by tapping the glupad directly onto it.Activated the adhesive with my heat gun and then rubbed on some Antique bronze Pearl-ex with my finger.I also swiped it across the Cuttlebug texture paste bit at the top and added the bronze Pearl-ex again...it gives a gorgeous old shimmery bronze look that the photos do not do justice too.I used a Vilene and tissue base that I painted over with Jo Sonja's pale gold paint with.Then I did a wash with the Golden Quinacridone Nikel Azo gold.This combo creates an antique gold effect.The vintage image is an inkjet water transfer onto calico.The words read left to right down the card on this one and reads "being a woman is a terribly difficult task,since it consists principally in dealing with men!"

On my desk I have several textured Cuttlebug frames I have made ready to turn into cards as I need them.This one is not finished yet but while I had the gluepad out I tried it on one of these pieces.I aagin tapped the pad firmly all over the textured area,activated the adhesive with the heat gun and used a soft brush in a swirling motion to apply Luminarte Primary Elements Polished Pigment powders..OH LA LA this is so pretty and shimmery...again the photos do not do it justice.I'm off to play some more today :o)

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Heat Transfer Images Using Opals Embossing Enamel VIDEO

Google have finally freed my little how to on making the Opals Embossing Enamel transfers after 8 days.I had to upload part one five times before it finally got there all in one piece.When you are using images take care you are not breaching anyone's copyright.Also take care with melted Opals as you can burn yourself with them or if you use metal objects to pour the melted Opals thru or into etc(the metal retains the heat longer then you think).Use tweezers if you need and be patient in letting them cool again.I always leave a cm or two of paper around the images as sometimes the Opals spill over the edge and can trap the paper so you can't remove it.IN the video I used the Franklin clear Opals Embossing Enamels but any of the lighter colours make transfers too though you wont be able to see thru them.I get my Opals here in Australia from Pipe Dreamink or overseas from After Midnight Art Stamps
I still can't watch them without hitting the mute LOL but if they help someone some place then that is good.You will note that the Franklin Opals is slightly orange in the videos when it is usually clear.That is because I ran out of the Franklin and used some that I had melted four or more times before and had over cooked it at some stage.As you can see by the others on my desk they are usually crisp and clear though.If you make a transfer that is not to your liking you can remove it off the Opals once it is all set and cooled by using a scourer on the transferred side and scrub away.If you want to make a large transfer or you are worried it may crack add some thinly chopped clear slow melt glue stick to the melting Opals.Just put it on top of the Opals as it melts and once the Opals melts rock the melt pot or skillet gently to mix it thru before pouring.Have fun and ask questions if you need or look at the other post below for still step by photos and more info.



Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Bright Collages by Three

WOOPS I forgot to upload this with the cards yesterday so forgive me for adding it to that start and not the end....just go past it to the collages if you like.It is a Radiant rain sprayed and stamped envelope for one of the cards to go in.The Radiant Rains come out grogeous on the enve paper and although you can't see it in the photo it has a beautiful metallic shimmer to it

My hands are covered in inks and paints but I am happy with these three collages I got done today after lunch.The first one uses the base sample Celeste sent me so all I had to do was stick the image down,add the wire embellishment,flowers and word plus a bit more ink wash.I'm no where near as good at these as Celeste is but they are very rewarding

This is the same card taken at the top side...hope you can see the lovely textures

From the side bottom showing the three flowers and more texture


Once I was done I made my own version of the bases and used images from After Midnight art stamps.This Gypsy child from the Music plate is so lovely and quite a large stamp so was an excellent choice for this technique

From the top side view

Bottom side view


For the last collage I just had to use "the Hunk" LOL from the Lea Cioci stamp line at After Midnight Art Stamps

View from top side

and bottom up

Now I have been side tracked for half the day I had better get back to making my fabric ATC's...four of which are done....only 12 to go

Monday, June 2, 2008

Another Gorgeous card from Celeste

OH MY look at this gorgeous card that came in the mail today just for me.It is from my friend Celeste Santin.The cuttlebug parts gives it a beautiful texture which Celeste has high lighted with paints and wax rub ons.Just love the two little birdies there too.I'm just in awe of her work and wish I was not so far away from my arty friends.

This is the view from the side.You can see the texture a bit closer here

Celeste kindly let me know how she does these wonderful creations and even sent me a sample to play with...somehow I doubt mine will turn out anywhere near as amazing as hers.She really needs to get a blog to share her creativity with others in blogland :o)

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