A Little Bit Of Love

Evening all..... an unusual time for me to post but I have some exciting news.... Today, DarcyUK  launches her new stamps for PaperArtsy.  I have been waiting patiently for new Darcy stamps, and she hasn't disappointed.  There are 2 A5 stamp plates and they are AWESOME.  I was very lucky to be able to get them last week and couldn't wait to get playing!

Here is my finished project....

Cute eh?  And yes, I know I don't do 'cute'!  But Darcy's new stamps can be used in soooo many ways.

So, how did I create this?

I started by creating a quick background.  A brayered Cherry Blossom and Spanish Mulberry  Fresco Finish Chalk paint onto an a4 sheet of card.

I then scraped Spanish Mulberry, Dolly Mix and Egg Plant Fresco Finish Chalk Paints over the brayering. I kept loads of empty space as I had further steps.

The next step was to stencil Archival Ink using Darcy's previously released stencils.  I used Magenta Hue and Thistle Archival Ink.

I then highlighted the stencilling using a white gel pen.

Next, it was time to get the stamps out!

I used EDY20.  How amazing are these stamps!

I stamped the hearts, flower and swirly circle using Thistle and Black Archival inks.

I was happy with this.

The next stage was to stamp and colour the girl image.  I used Alcohol Markers to colour her in.  I love how Darcy has added shaded bits in the image already - it's so helpful for people like me who are not that good at colouring!

I then mounted this and some of the painted background onto black card. I edged the main image in Thistle and the background in white.

I loved how this all came together.  

I added ribbon and tied a bow, along with flowers and 2 heart pins.

I just love how the background images stand out so well and I am just delighted with my finished card -though I am not sure I will be able to give it away! 

That's enough from me, but Darcy and her wing 'man' Lauren have the official launch of this release.

You can see Darcy's post here and Lauren's post here.  Make sure you pop over and see their creations.

Thanks for joining me this evening.

Happy Crafting!

Country View Challenges - Anything But Cute

I hope you are enjoying the inspiration from the Design Team so far this month.

Here is my second project for the Challenge

I started by brayering a panel with Buff Fresco Finish Chalk Paint.

I then lightly pressed paints from Seth Apter's Limited Edition paints for PaperArtsy onto my dry panel.  This is a technique that I learnt in a Seth Apter workshop a couple of years ago - so simple, and so effective. 

Once dry, I stamped various Seth stamps in the same colours.  I added some highlighting to some of the stamping.

Next, I die cut 3 Seth Apter dies .  These were then coloured in Mahogany and Midnight Fresco Finish.  I added further stamping to the star.

The die cuts were then added to the panel.

I stamped three words from a PaperArtsy Lin Brown stamp set.  I added white highlighting using a gel pen.

To finish I added a game spinner and a Tim Holtz brad.

This was a really fun project to make and I love the colours!  

Do pop over to the blog and see the rest of the amazing inspiration this month.  And it would be great if you joined in with the challenge - I always love seeing how we have inspired you.

Thanks for joining me........

Just A Note.....

Tonight I am sharing a project on the PaperArtsy blog.  I have used the gorgeous new Seth Apter set of Fresco Finish Chalk Paints and Lynne Perrella stamps.

I've created a set of notecards using the detailed stamps on the background as well as the main images.

I decided to create a Masterboard.  I started by lightly brayering 3 of Seth's new Fresco Finish Chalk paints onto a sheet of Smoothy card stock.  I used Butter, Magic Moss and Double Denim.

I then used Blue Lagoon and Double Denim to stamp the key and small border images across the masterboard.

I used one of the larger images as a background on my masterboard and stamped it in Magic Moss.  I used a white gel pen to highlight parts of all of the images on the board, then cut it onto 3x3 inch squares.

I stamped my focal images and coloured them using the same paints, with added Blush for the faces.  As the paints are opaque I added a tiny amount of water to ensure that you could still see the detail underneath.  These images were cut out and added to a painted 'Butter' background.

The cards were then put together.

To finish, I stamped the word 'Hello' from the Emma Godfrey Mini.

I  was really happy with how my note cards turned out.  The paints and stamps worked perfectly together.  I also had loads of the masterboard left so I can make some more cards.

I hope that I have inspired you to join in and create your own art.

Thanks for joining me this evening.....

Country View Crafts Challenges - Anything But Cute

Wow, February has come around far too quickly!

This month's theme at Country View Crafts is 'Anything But Cute' - so my mind was racing with lots of ideas.

Here is my project for the challenge

I started by adding Grunge Paste through a ScrapCosy PaperArtsy stencil.  I left this to completely dry over night.

For the next stage, I added PaperArtsy Infusions in Sunset Beach and Are You Cerise.  I spritzed with water and then dabbed with a paper towel to keep the effect soft.  I dried this and then repeated until I was happy with the effect.  I then edged around the tag using Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I stamped Andy Skinner's 'Shabby Chic' stamps in Sepia to the right and side of the tag and added a scrap of lace at the bottom of the tag.

The dress form was die cut then coloured using Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress inks.  It was adhered to the tag and a ceramic butterfly added.

To finish, I added heart pins.

I hope that I have inspired you to join in with the challenge this month.  Make sure you pop over to the Challenge page to see the wonderful inspiration from the rest of the team.

Thanks for joining me.