Mix-Ability challenge - book page background

My card for this week's Mix-Ability challenge features an image from Rubbernecker Stamps, but the part that fits the challenge is the background! Anna's challenging us to use book pages or newsprint on our projects.

My focal piece is an ivory matboard ATC from Inchie Arts. I colored the image using Touch Twin Markers - I love the way these matboard pieces take alcohol ink! I 'watercolored' a portion of the background using a waterbrush filled with rubbing alcohol - I have an older video demo of that technique HERE... that video may just need an update soon! Deeper shadows were added using Prismacolor Pencils.

These are the Touch Twin Markers that I used:

 For the background, I started by adhering a book page to a piece of heavier cardstock using PVA glue. I added texture to the page by scraping household caulking through a stencil, and allowed it to dry completely. 

 The next layer of color was added using Gelatos – I scribbled 2 colors directly on the panel, then added a little bit of water and moved the color with my fingers. 

I rubbed white acrylic paint through a diecut stencil, then sprinkled some white and glittery embossing powder on the panel and heated it from the back side of the panel - love the sparkle and the randomness. There's some stenciled spray paint in there as well.

 Click here for more Inchie Arts products!

Hope you'll join us for this week's challenge!

Mix-Ability - mono-printing

 Janelle's challenge this week is to try monoprinting on a ziploc bag. I cheated just a little... I actually used a piece for my die cutting that was monoprinted on a silicone baking sheet. I rolled acrylic paints onto the sheet with a brayer, and took several prints on the piece using the paint. I love the variation in the leaves, and I think I'll make a few more of these pieces for future die cut scenes!

Dies I used:
Wheelbarrow, Sm. Grass Border, Leaf Cluster, Tiny Flowers

Hope you'll join us this week!

Inchie Arts - Acrylic Batik

Today’s card features an image from Rubbernecker Stamps – macro type images are soooo my style, and this is such a unique stamp. I embossed the image with clear detail embossing powder on a 3” white Art Square from Inchie Arts. I then used the Acrylic Batik technique to add color to the panel, scraping the acrylic paint over the embossed image with an old library card. When the base layer of paint was dry, I added some shading with watered-down acrylic paint, then sprayed the panel with some pearlescent mist to make it shimmer.

I meant to suspend the butterfly charm from the cording, but the ring broke off, so I just hot-glued it to the panel. One of these days I’ll start using this collection of pretty charms I’m amassing!

 

Enjoy your week!

Click here for more Inchie Arts products!

Your Wings Exist

Today is the final day of Hope You Can Cling To - it's been a fun month of challenges, chatter, and courage. I feel so blessed to be involved! This is my card for Lydia's challenge today - our main colors are to be black and white, and then there is a list of colors to choose from for a 'pop' of color. I chose green, and pulled out a little bottle of paint I hadn't used yet - it's a Lumiere Acrylic Paint called Metallic Olive... this is the little set I bought:

My stamping is done on a black 3" Art Square from Inchie Arts. I had started by stamping the butterfly wing (Rubbernecker) in white Memento Luxe ink and painting in highlights with white India ink.

When I started with the green paint, the results were really interesting... Where I painted over the white ink, the paint shows green, but where I painted over the black matboard surface, the metallic mica in the paint shows up copper.

The effect is really cool in person - I have been experimenting with different combinations on these squares, so this was an experiment and happy accident rolled into one. Love this sentiment so much too - it's from Unity but I love it paired up with the shimmery butterfly wing.

Thanks for visiting me today! Can you believe November is tomorrow?!!

Click here for more Inchie Arts products!

Majestic Tiger

A new Dirty Dozen gallery posted over the weekend, which means I am officially "alumni"... it's fun to still be able to hang out with the Dirty Girls and help them choose and interpret a theme for each month. :) They were so creative with this month's theme!Here's a favorite from my 3rd month on the design team.... Our theme involved design elements like stripes, spots, and stars, and "stripes" reminded me of this Tiger stamp I had tucked away from Rubbernecker Stamps. I took my time watercoloring the image using reinkers, watercolor pencils, Inktense pencils, and Prismacolor pencils. One tip for coloring animals – find a photo online of the real animal in a position similar to the stamp image you are working with. A “color picker” tool on your computer can be really helpful in determining the exact color in certain areas. It’s not always what you’d think! The one I use is called Colorpix.
I added some dimension to the tiger's front legs by cutting around them and embossing from the back with the wooden end of my stylus. They are popped up with foam tape as well. I didn't have any large black brads, so I colored some silver ones with a black marker, then roughed them up a bit with sandpaper.

Busy weekend! Saturday we had a yard sale as an initial step in sorting our stuff before we head to the States in December... hopefully some of our used and stretched out 'junk' will become useful treasure for our friends here! Monday we're welcoming our missions pastor and another missions committee member from my home church in CA - they will be staying with us for a couple of days. Really feeling the "countdown" strongly now, as we have just 8 weeks until we go to the States!! So. Much. To. Do.

Island sunset

I've had this image colored for a while - this is a stamp from Rubbernecker that I picked up at Stampfest 2 years ago (!?) when we were home on furlough...the image is called Palm Tree Morning. I painted it with Twinkling H2Os, and it ended up so bright that I wasn't sure what to do with it when I was done, so I tucked it away. Some layers of textured white cardstock ended up to be the perfect base. I scored the edges of the accent panel with my Scor-Pal. The sentiment is from The Angel Company. My finished card measures 4"x 8".

The angled shot in the sunlight shows off a little of the texture and sparkle.........

Love that little sentiment. Not even sure where I got it from.....ebay maybe? Ebay browsing is one of my greatest vices. Sigh.....

I'm savoring this scene, can you tell? I finally broke down and ordered 4th grade school books for the next year... I have been putting it off for months for fear of the import fees, but I can't wait any longer. 3 more weeks until we hit our stride again, with students arriving and life returning to crazy normalcy.

Sigh again... These lazy, reclusive days have been so nice.

double cupcake challenge!

I've had this fun cupcake stamp from Rubbernecker for a while now - how cute is that? and perfect to fill 2 challenges this week: Taylor's Cupcake Sketch #54 and Libby's challenge, From Courtney's Closet #29! The main image is colored with Prismacolor pencils, blended with OMS, with a few gel pen highlights here and there. I used Shimmerz on the frosting (you can see that better down below), and Spica pink glitter pen on the cherries. the sentiment is from Heart & Soul Rubber Stamp Co.

A tip on Shimmerz, too - I store mine upside-down. I shake them well before I use them, then I have two choices. For a thicker glitterier look (that's a word, right?) I pick up my paint from the lid - there's usually a pretty healthy layer of glitter still there. For a more opaque sparkle, I pick up paint from the tub.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Rubbernecker Challenge #7

I thought it would be fun to play along with the Rubbernecker challenge for this week (#7)...a while back I won a gift certificate from Rubbernecker on a blog giveaway, and my stamps finally came in a care package from my parents a week or 2 ago. The challenge this week was a sketch challenge...the tall rectangle was perfect for this Flower Girl image...isn't she gorgeous? I think I first saw her on Kittie's blog, and bookmarked the card as a "I must have this stamp" reminder. :)

I guess I used the sketch a bit loosely...I flipped it and used an oval instead of the rectangle. The saying is from smARTworks and the vine there is an Impression Obsession image that I stamped on the back of the cardstock and trimmed out as an embellishment. The sentiment is mounted on a punched image (punch from McGill - Keyhole Plates).

Have a great weekend!