Saturday, March 28, 2015

Spectrum Noir Coloring



This week, on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog, the theme is Anything Goes.  The sponsor this week is Spectrum Noir, so they're challenging us to use any Spectrum Noir products if we have them.  I received a nice set of the markers from my sister, Marisa, for Christmas, so any time I've seen them on sale, I've been adding to my new collection.  I'm not much of a colorist (or colorer?), which is why I love watercolors so much ... they're so forgiving and beautiful.  Anyway, I decided to take the challenge, and I dug up a very old Stampin' Up! set called Summer by the Sea.  I wanted soft, pastel colors for this, and realized with all the sets I've been purchasing, I don't really have many soft colors.  lol  I tried them out using the colors I have.  For the flowers, grass and butterflies, I wanted to have a messy look, where I wanted a more neater look for the girl.  I used two colors for the girl's dress and then blended with the colorless Blender.  Same with the grass.

I'm glad I took this challenge, because it got me to actually try using my new Spectrum Noir markers, and I also realized what colors I now need to add to my collection.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Boys Will be Boys


Just a quick post to show the new pages I just finished!  This was a page kit (Quick Quotes, I believe), and it came out so adorable, I just had to share.  My nephew & his little family are living in Italy right now, and his wife, Debbie, is always posting greats pics of the family.  I just loved these photos, and they were perfect for this layout!



Sunday, March 8, 2015

March Make ART Challenge


QUICK UPDATE:  I found out this morning (3/28/15) that I won this challenge!  So exciting!  I received a $25 gift certificate for www.simonsaysstamp.com, and it's already spent!  lol

There's a new challenge on the Make ART Challenge Blog for fans of the lovely Wendy Vecchi.  This challenge is to use Wendy's stencils, and I couldn't decide which to use, so I used four!  The tiny text, sentiment & butterfly are all stamps.  The tree, top/bottom borders, outline of butterfly, and sentiment are all using Ranger's Archival Inks.  The background, butterfly, & honeycomb are all Distress inks/markers.  I glued the butterfly onto Wendy's Clearly For Art and shaped it using my heat gun.  I also added some tiny dots with Ranger's Black Enamel Accents, and some squiggly lines with a black gel pen.  The random winner of this challenge gets a $25 gift certificate to http://simonsaysstamp.com.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

March 2015 Tim Tag Tutorial




Time for another tag, and as always, Tim didn't disappoint!  Here's a look at Tim's version:


You can see all the supplies and step out instructions on Tim blog here.  If you're not doing the 12 Tags of the Year yet, what are you waiting for?  So much fun, creative play, and you can learn so much!

So, here's how I made mine ...

 
Gathered the colors I wanted to use, and squirted some out of each onto my craft sheet.  I tried an earlier version with 7-8 colors, but it was too much.  Less is more.
 
 
Misted the paints with water and swiped my tag through.
 
 
After drying thoroughly, this is what I got.  (It must be completely dry before going onto the embossing steps.)

 
I used the Stampin' Up! Swallowtail tap for my focal image with Ranger's Jet Black Archival Ink, and covered with clear embossing powder.

 
Heated to melt the powder.

 
and wa-laa!
 
 
Stamped the image again onto Ranger's Mask Sheets, but this time I used Black StazOn ink.  It works better on non-porous surfaces.
 

Once image was dried, I cut around the image to create the mask.

 
Laid the mask over my stamped image on my tag, and taped the top & bottom of the tag to my craft sheet so it didn't shift.


I used one of Wendy Vecchi's stencils and taped it to the craft sheet on top of my tag.


Using a palette knife, I schmeared Ranger's Texture Paste over the top 2 words.


I carefully lifted up the stencil and moved it to the bottom portion of the tag and retaped it to my craft sheet.


Then, more Texture Paste.

 
Carefully removed stencil again, and the mask.  *Always clean your stencil & tools immediately after using any type of embossing paste with a little soap and warm water.
 
 
 
I didn't take too much time before sprinkling on my gold embossing powder, but the top two words were already drying quickly.

 
While waiting for the Texture Paste to dry, the white spots where the gold embossing powder didn't stick were bothering me.  I knew I could always touch it up, but I couldn't stand it.  Once the paste was dry, I used a soft stipple type brush and brushed off the powder.  


To get the powder back on, I once again used my stencil over the tag, lining it up over the words.  I began with the top two words.


I used a Versamarker and just colored over the dry Texture Paste through the stencil.  After removing the stencil, I added the powder.

 
Moved the stencil to the bottom and repeated with my Versamarker and powder.

 
Much better!  OK, I'm happy now.  I know, I know Tim ... embrace imperfection.  lol

 
Blasted with the heat gun for a beautiful, shiny gold!
 


I added more color around the edges of the tag with my Distress Inks.



For the ribbon, I schmeared some Distress Inks onto my craft sheet ...


Misted with water ...


And laid my piece of Ranger's Crinkle Ribbon in.

 
*side trip:  so much inky goodness left on my craft sheet, so I grabbed another manila tag, spritzed more water, and swiped it in.
 
 
Dried with the heat tool, and swiped again ...

 
Dried, then dabbed into what was left of the ink and resulted with this beauty.  Gotta remember this color combo.
 
Back to the tag ...
 

Scrunched the ribbon into a moist little ball ...

 

and dried with the heat tool.


Once dried, I've got a multi colored ribbon with lots of crinkles!


I didn't want to cover up the words on my tag, so I decided to go with some letters.  I dug out my package of Mixed Minis Grungeboard.


Painted the letters using the Pitch Black Acrylic Paint Dabber and set aside to dry.


I painted around the edges of each letter with my Zig Painty Pen using the gold end.


For the top corner, I grabbed one of Tim's Idea-ology time pieces and painted that with the Dabber as well.


Before the paint dried too much, I wiped away most of the paint with a soft cloth leaving some paint in the details of the numbers.


I put some Ranger Black Adhesive Foam on the back of each letter ...

 
to make them pop off the black butterfly.


I added one of Tim's Idea-ology Pen Nibs as the body for the butterfly.


And, finally, layered some Idea-ology gears and a spinner hand with a brad.

 
Here's a final look at the finished tag.  Another one for the wall!  Love it!