Stamp Carving 101...faux woodcut stamps

Hello again...I'm back with some more of Julie Fei~Fan Balzer's Stamp Carving 101 course...this lesson was  all about recreating the look of woodcut stamps with carvable rubber.  Basically its easy, simply don't remove all the excess and try to keep what you leave as random looking as possible.  Here is my design:

I drew 5 simple flowers in a row, and because my design was so simple...I left alot of the background to create a fairly heavy woodcut pattern and balance this out.  It is quite possible to go back though and remove more and more rubber to create a more subtle look if you prefer that.

Simply stamped in black on cream cardstock is my favourite way to show this design off:

But you can change the look dramatically by using different inks...here i've used rainbow pads, and for the bottom right I stamped in Versamark and used chalks to colour it:

So what is stopping you..?  If you still haven't had a go...go on...its easy!

are you a sketcher..?

sorry gang...no stamp carving post today...i haven't had a good moment to photograph...so i'll be back with the faux woodcuts after my next chemo...watch this space!

what i can share today is a little sneaky peek of another online class i've started...it has to be said that drawing/sketching is not a skill i was gifted with at birth...but i'm working on improving what i can do and here are a couple of sneaky peeks at my first attempts from the Art of Wild Abandonment class that i'm taking over at Scarlet Lime with Christy and Junelle:

whats so fun about this class so far {and i've only just started...so anything could happen!} is that it assumes no prior knowledge or skill and we just jump in and have a go which is totally up my street and its a really laid back, no pressure environment too :0)

if you want to join in...you'll need some form of watercolours, NeoColour II and a water colour pallette would be fine so far...but i think we're adding new products each week i think...so i'll keep you posted as how expensive it gets!! 

anyway, here are the sneaks from the first sketching lesson...making radishes into as many different things as you can...and a bunch of goofy owls on a tree branch!

hope you like them...and i'll see you again when my chemo head clears...

Carving out a word for myself...

I'm still loving my adventures in Stamp Carving with Julie's class...and although i skipped Lesson 7 which was carving an entire alphabet...I was super keen to have a go at Lesson 8, carving a single word stamp.  The word that I've been needing alot lately is *Thankyou!*, so it didn't take me long to choose my word...but yours could be anything if you're having a go...your name for example...or a word you've made up, even...we have plenty of those in our house ;0)

The most important thing about carving a word stamp, or any stamp with text, is that the letters and numbers if you use them must be the right way around when you stamp them...which means they must be the *wrong* way round when you carve them.  This is easily achieved by writing your text in pencil and transferring it onto the rubber by ummm...rubbing with your finger nail.

Now that i've made my stamp, i had to have a go with it instantly...so i've made this very simple thankyou card, suitable to send to almost anyone for any little something they've done for me...and then...i've created another slightly more advanced one...using doodling...and...

did you notice that i carefully made my word stamp to fit inside my bracket frame stamp!!

Its so versatile being able to design what you want in whatever size you want...and co~ordinating with other stamps you've created :0)

I'm totally hooked now...and tomorrow {all being well} i hope to share my favourite stamp yet...a faux wood block design that i hope you'll love as much as i do!

Stamp Carving 101 lesson 6...damask!

This has to have been one of the most surprisingly enjoyable lessons so far...damask designs and I are not natural bedfellows as they tend to be a bit subtle {tone on tone} for me...but I had a go at designing my own and I absolutely love it!!!


I started off my making a drawing, which I did half of, and then folded the paper to transfer the design to create a symmetrical pattern...here is the drawing and the finished stamp together:

when its printed out it looks like this:

pretty cool, huh! ;0)

But don't worry if  you're intimidated by the idea of drawing  your own damask design...Julie provides templates for people who want to use her designs!

If you look closely at the stamp you'll see that i carved it really deeply to give a good clear impression and create a really bold damask design.  This is personal choice of course, you could go for a really dainty design...but i've never been accused of being dainty!!! lol

and here it is stamped onto an old napkin in fabric ink...all i need now is a plain white table cloth and i'm going to stamp it all over to match the napkins...and who knows...i might even be a big brave girl and iron them so they look a bit better!! ;0)

As always i'd love your feedback...what do you think of my design?  do you like it stamped in pink...or do you think it would have been better in a dark colour?  i'm waiting to find some deep purple fabric ink actually to do the table cloth and the rest of the napkins...watch this space!

Its a Creative World...

...have you been over to the Creative World blog lately...today there is another stamp carving post with a journal page by me...but also details of the rather exciting blog hop coming!!

lesson four in Stamp 101...a set of stamps

This was a fun lesson...and one that i've done very roughly and rustically...in fact...now that i've seen my stamps in huge on the screen i may actually go back and tidy them up a bit *out of shame* ;0)

The idea of this lesson was to get out heads around creating shaped stamps and in sets that are co~ordinated so they work together.  Julie had a really cute bunting set to share and some chevrons a bit like these...i decided to make mine chevrons as i think they are really useful for corners of for making fun borders like the wonky one i test printed below:

I think small image stamps are often overlooked in terms of their usefulness...just look at this rather funky quitled star type pattern i've created by repeat printing two of my chevrons to make a sort of flower shape...

and the sort of 3~D box i've created with a tiny square and a chevron...

there must be no limit to the number of variations of these sorts of designs...so i think i'll go and play a bit more!

i do hope you're enjoying seeing the fruits of my carving labours...and do join julie's class...she's awesomely funny and a great teacher to boot!

lesson 3 in stamp carving 101...

My head cleared a little more today so i decided to have a little go at some simple, soothing stamp carving and today i opted for Julie's lesson 3 of the stamp carving 101.

Julie's design was a contained chevron pattern that could be repeat stamped seamlessly and was cool...but i couldn't see myself using it much...and as energy and coordination are in such short supply i thought i'd adapt it to a border that i was much more likely to use.  No point wasting time, energy and rubber on something that doesn't get me itching, right? ;0)

To help you follow along with my design process...i've stamped out my stamp at various stages during its evolution {as Julie recommends} and you can see the progress from simple chevron lines in stage one, adding the stitched border a la Julie in stage two, and the addition of shading in stages three and four:

its funny how doing it like this is less intimidating too...if i'd drawn out the finished stamp right from the beginning...i might have been tempted to think...help!  *that's going to take all day*...but actually...the whole process took twenty minutes from start to finish! :0)

and here is a shot of the stamp as it is when inked...and another of the tag I've created using my funky new border stamp!  I have to say, i'm rather chuffed with this little border stamp and can see myself using it in my journal or on scrapping pages in the future too...so well worth the effort, i'd say!

Julie Fei~Fan Balzer's Stamp 101 e~course...

As a little Birthday treat to myself, I decided to join Julie's Stamp 101 e~course...a step by step course to the basics of stamp carving...and its BRILLIANT!!  I would really recommend this class to anyone who fancies a go at carving your own stamps :0)  click here to be taken to her e~course page.

I've done a little stamp carving {and in the old days lino cutting when I had strong fingers}, so i wasn't sure how much i'd learn...but what with the chemo~fog and all i thought a little prompting in the form of daily lessons might get me up and running...and it has!

Now, i'm only on lesson 2...but here is what i created from Julie's easy to follow nesting stamp tutorial.  Her's was straight lines...mine is circles...and very rustic wonky circles at that!

Here is what you get when you stamp these 2 stamps though using different colours {i've used Stazon which is why its staining the stamps}.

Perhaps this makes it clearer...I started with this drawing...and ended up creating this cute little tag!

The observant among you will notice that i haven't told you how to do this...and that's because i don't want to steal Julie's thunder, after all her hard work setting up this super class...i really think you ought to join it and get all the details from the horses mouth...so to speak! ;0)  Also...she explains it much better, in video format than i could ever do here!!

Ok, that's it for now...i'll be back when i can manage it...and in the meantime...i hope you're all having a crafty time out there :0)

a little bit of She Art...

do come on over to the Its A Creative World blog and see my post all about She Art today...just click here :0)

30 minute Thursdays...personalised keychain...

Hi all...its Thursday again...so time for another 30 minute project...this week i've created a personalised keychain with a photo of my hubby on it. Of course, you're unlikely to want my hubby on your keychain...so feel free to add photos of your children, pets or favourite flowers...whatever you love!

Materials:

1 large Tim Holtz facet and the jump rings you get in the pack

Glossy Accents

2 charms of your choosing

alcohol inks

Stickles

a scrap of ribbon

a keychain

a scrap of pp

a photo

The first step is to adhere your pp to your facet using a smoosh of Glossy Accents. Move the facet around a bit {wiggle it} to spread the glue and allow it to dry for about 30 seconds. Cut carefully around the facet.

Next, adhere your photo to the reverse of the pp just as before, wiggling the facet for good adhesion...and allow to dry. Trim as before and using a pokey tool, remake the hole all the way through so you can attach the jump ring.

Using the jump rings in the pace of facets, make a simple chain of 5 rings with the keychain on one end and the facet on the other. Take your charms and colour them by dabbing with alcohol inks and when dry {again about a minute unless you've totally soaked them!} add a dab of glitter glue with your finger for some subtle sparkle. Leave this to dry, then using two more jump rings attach the two charms to the chain.

The final step is to simply tie on a piece of co~ordinating ribbon and attach keys!

And there you have it...a simple but personalised keychain perfect for a gift or as in my case, just for yourself...because *you're worth it* muahahahahaha

a free class!

hi everyone...i have a free sketch class online at UKS today...it officially for the Green Buttons house members...but if you'd like to play along feel free to add your LO as a link here! :0)

there will be a wee prize for someone!

:0)

a LO that makes me smile...

a super quick LO today...using a sketch by Lisa Day from her 28 days of sketches class over on BPC...i love having a sketch when i'm in a hurry...and i love that i managed to scrap all these cute photos that have been collecting in my *not used* pile for a while all in one go! :)

it may not suprise you to know that this is sketch one...and she's already onto sketch three...but hey ho...i knew i wouldn't do them all ;) how many do you think i'll get done next week??? huh? lol

She Art week 3

the third week's challenge on Christy's fun she art course...was to create a self~portrait she art girl...and i decided to do one featuring me and the hubby...bet you didn't know i was married to Paul Weller, eh? ;) actually...i think he's aiming for Dave Grohl...but he's just too blonde!! lol


i used layers and layers of mica sprays, **i love Dyan** :) and alot of gold acrylic paint...this large blob here is to cover up some stamping i did but hated!! lol so as usual...its a learning curve...as you'll see i'm experimenting with different levels of distressing/painting/etc to see which i prefer...which do you prefer? {last week i did alot less...}



i guess i'm also still finding my *style* for these paintings...and this one turned out a bit like a scrapbook page...but its a very forgiving format...and i really like it...hope you do too...and i hope you've all signed up for the next course??? ;)

She Art week 2

so its week 2 of Christy's She Art Workshop...and the challenge this week was to tackle creating background scenes...all i'll say is...i had a go!!! lol


i was delighted with my decision to add a large balloon...and i think the pp worked really well with paint for the trees...

i struggled big time with the sky...and i still don't like it...but i really do like how the clouds turned out after had the idea to smoosh them with Liquid Applique :) realy fluffy clouds!

perspective has never been my strongest point...but i tried to create a flower meadow disappearing off into the distance...i tried!

my favourite bit of this canvas has to be the girl...i love how she turned out...and the fact that my mum even recognised her!!! :)

i'm still not sure about where to go with the faces on these girls...last week, no face...this week a basic face...next week i might go wild and paint a whole face...who knows??

*She* Art...week one

Hi all...please be gentle with me...i had my Birthday party last night...and i'm a little delicate today ;)

It was a real shame i didn't have much time to play this week, as i've enrolled on the *She* Art Workshop with the lovely Christy Tomlinson...check it out here if you don't know about it :) Here are my Week 1 canvases...portraits of 2 of my favourite people!



this one is an old friend of mine...and a proper hippy chicky...just like me :)

this second one is a new friend...but one i'm hoping will become an old friend in due course...

what do you think? i know neither of them is by any means perfect...but its only week 1...so i've got time to perfect my techniques!

one thing i must say though...this is the first time i've used the Dylusions mica sprays, by the lovely Dyan at Art from the Heart...and all i can say is *wow wow wow*...i love these!!!! just look at that beautiful pearly lime green...i only have 3 of them...but clearly i need them all now!

Dyan if you're reading this...can i have a discount for raving about them, please!! ;)

just one last word before i go...how do you all feel about faceless girls?? i am getting used to them...and i did them this week because that was part of the project...but would you like them more with faces do you think?

Embracing Imperfection!!

hi all,

did you know that there is currently a free class running over at Big Picture Classes...all about Embracing Imperfection and getting busy at the scrapping table..? you can join in by clicking here

the course is basically a 2 weeklong lesson in how we spend too much time and energy fretting and worrying about creating perfect pages to go in our albums...and not enough time simply putting our thoughts and our photos onto the paper and into our albums. sound familiar, huh?

i have wholeheartedly embraced this notion for the LO i'm showing you now...for well over a year {maybe more than one...but who's counting, right?} this LO has sat half completed in my WIP {work in progress} pile...and the reason...well...even tho it wasn't finished, i knew it wasn't perfect so i lost interest. but doh! i love this photo...i love the memories that flood back when i look at it...and so what if the tone of green isn't perfect with the tone of the purple...when i look at it...and when i showed it to my sister...we both felt transported back to that very moment. that is exactly what scrapping is for, right? so i've embraced this LO, imperfections and all and now its done...i actually love it!! :)

to emphasise that i encourage you to take this approach to your LO's too...i'm even going to point out the imperfections that were holding me back...

firstly...the photo was small and blurry...and when i enlarged it...it was even more blurry...so there you go...imperfect photo...but its all i have of that memory...and its important to me...so who cares!

secondly...i matted the photo by electric light {not daylight} and in the morning i didn't like the tone of the green with the purples i'd used...imperfect colour~matching...a designer no~no...but not really a show stopper in my personal albums :) i'll just learn to live with it!

thirdly, and this one might be a total no~no for some of you...but the LO has sat in the pile for so long and been shuffled so many times that the border had gotten torn...normally i'd scrap it and start the whole border again...but i decided to hell with it...it barely notices in the scheme of things {my sister didn't notice when i showed her the page...she was just happy wallowing in the memory}...so i've embraced that imperfection too!

i can't say i think its the greatest page i've ever created...or that its the one i'm most proud of technically...or stylistically...but i'm really glad to have it in the album and out of the the WIP pile...and i feel sort of liberated about getting it done...and moving on to the next thing. that is a good feeling :)

so go on...see if you can spend a little less time fretting and a little more time achieving! see you in the classroom!

Friendly Plastic Masterclass ~ Day Six

day 6 ~ 3-dimensional techniques

Welcome back after the weekend...i do hope you had a good one? Now, lets get started...
When you buy Friendly Plastic in flat strips it is easy to think it has to stay that way, but this is sooo not true. Using either the pellets or the sticks it is really fun to bend it round things...shape it over things...and enter the *third dimension!* Obviously there are many ways to mold the warm FP into 3~D shapes and today i will share a few of my favourites with you.

Technique fifteen~ freeform shaping

Freeform shaping simply means using your fingers, and other simple tools to make a unique 3~D shape. This can be as simple as rolling a bead or a coil, or as complex as creating a freestanding figurine. This is by no means my area of expertise, so you won’t be surprised to see that my examples are very simple.
The pebble~like heart shape that i’ve made was created by melting down some scraps of FP and shaping with my fingers and an embossing tool. Do be careful and keep dipping your fingers in cold water as you do this, partly so you don’t burn yourself, and partly so you don’t stick to the plastic!
The simple beads i’ve made were created from FP pellets, melted down and coloured with mica powders. They are really pearlescent in real life. To create the hole in the middle of a bead, simply drop the shaped bead into cold water for a few seconds and when it is hard enough on the outside, simply wiggle a pin through it. This takes a bit of trial and error to get the timing right, but once you’ve mastered it, you’ll be beading everything in sight!

To show that you can also use the stick form of FP in a freeform way too, I’ve created the flower shape from a lovely pearly stick i had. I cut a rough circle with scissors from the cold plastic, heated it and shaped the petals with an embossing tool dipped in oil and then embedded a press stud in the middle. I reheated this slightly with my heat gun and then lightly curled up the petals.

Technique sixteen~ using a mold

If, like me, you are not a whizz at freeform modelling i am happy to report there are other methods of modelling. You can use all sorts of art and craft molds as long as they can tolerate the heat of the warmed plastic. I don’t personally have many of these molds, but the ones i used were designed for FIMO and worked perfectly.

Again, i’ve tried to show that you can use all forms of the FP with these molds. The pink elephant in my photos was created from pink strips cut into inch long sections placed one on top of another and melted down on a non~stick sheet using my Melt Pot as a hotplate. I lined the mold with lots of two tone mica powder in pearly gold and pink {Moon Glow Starlit Pink Gold} which gives a lovely sheen and aids release.
The other animals were made from pellets mixed with mica powders and melted into a translucent blob like we did in the last lesson. These are much easier to handle and manipulate, and when they were cooled I painted some elements with Ranger acrylic paint to give definition.

Technique seventeen~ using FP to make a mold for other sculpting media!

While we are on the subject of using molds, i thought i’d mention that you can also create molds from FP to use with cold modelling materials like air~drying clay and FIMO or Sculpey. Simply melt yourself a suitable sized blob and carefully push into it a button or a small ornament, being careful not to push so far that the FP comes up the sides of your object and keeps it for good! A little oil on the object makes this much easier. The super bonus of making molds this way is that when you are bored of them...you can simply melt the mold down and created something entirely different...as many times as you like :0)

The photo shows the warm FP with a metal charm pushed into it, which is how you create the mold. The pale blue shape is the mold made from the flower charm you can see.
All these molding techniques are a brilliant way to use up the scraps of FP you will undoubtedly have collected by now. Never throw those scraps out...simply re~melt them, re~mould them or re~colour them and start again!

Technique eighteen ~ the flat pack technique!

As i was thinking about 3~D pieces i wracked my brain for ways to make them for people who don’t like freeform modelling or don’t want to buy molds...and the *flat pack* technique was born. You know how it is when you go to the Swedish store we all love...everything is dismantled into flat sections that you simply assemble to create something rather wonderful...well that is how my mind works, and its what i’ve done to create the box illustrated!

Simply create 6 squares of FP, 5 exactly the same size and 1 a couple of mm larger. To create the box, you need to make joins between the touching surfaces and i’ve done this invisibly by dipping the edges i wish to join in hot water for a couple of seconds {60 on my Melt Pot}, then pressing them together. Easy, huh? To create the lip which stops the lid slipping off {the lid is upside down in the photo} i made 4 thin strips and attached them as i’ve just described, then i put the lid good side down and heated slightly and pressed the lip into the hot plastic. Its so cute!

Ok, i hope you’re having fun with all these techniques...as usual do leave me a comment if you have any questions and queries and i’ll do my best to help out...and don’t forget to join me tomorrow for our final day! Bye for now...