A bit of Waxwork - PaperArtsy Challenge Topic #3

Morning everyone,

It's a fabulous bright, frosty morning here today, perfect for lifting spirits I think ....just hoping the possible snow tomorrow gives us a miss... ;-)!

Over on the PaperArtsy Blog the current challenge is anything to do with wax....beeswax, wax crayons, Portfolios and anything else waxy you can think of.  Darcy did a fab post over there on Sunday which included using the wax skin from mini cheeses, lol!  My grandkids could supply plenty of that as they love those lovely creamy little cheeses.  Anyway, there has been some wonderful inspiration from the DT guests over the past week, Sue Carrington's project last night is gorgeous for example and still more to come before the end of the week so do pop over for a look.  I managed a play over the past couple of days and, with a few hiccups along the way, here's my entry to the challenge......

I wanted to try my Portfolio pastels after seeing my friend Lin's post here as I've not used them before and it's ages since I had the Melt Pot and beeswax out.   I started by blending Portfolios with my finger for the background, heated it to take off the shine and then stamped the beautiful Geisha from LPC021 before layering melted beeswax.  I've added some mica flakes and powders, Treasure Gold to edge, stamped on tissue (symbols from LPC025) and added some metal embellishments. 

Above and below a couple of closeups to try and capture the shine after I had buffed with a soft cloth. 

 

I had a couple of problems in that I originally used two manilla tags glued together but, of course, once I added the beeswax and started heating to fuse, the tags warped and all the wax ran to the edges, lol!  It also melted the Portfolios again so they ended up much more muted than they originally were but I still liked them.  Anyway, to combat the warping I blended some similar colours of Fresco Finish onto an MDF tag and then stuck my tag(s) to it with Heavy Gloss Gel.  I then remelted the wax to even it out, taking it over onto the MDF and proceeded from there.  I ended up fairly happy with the final result but need more practice ;-)

Ok, off to link up to the PA Challenge and then get some chores done.  Have a sunshiny day!

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

Take one Flower ...My 2nd Guest Designer stint on the Chocolate Baroque Blog.

Hello All,

Crikey I've not started my blogging year off very well have I?  To be fair to myself I have been creating but it's stuff I can't share yet for various reasons and haven't had time to make something just for fun.

Well, today I have a card to share which I have created for the first of my Guest Designer spots this month over on the Chocolate Baroque DT Blog.

I started with a white 15 cm square card base and used a brush to dust all over with dye ink.  Confession time now.....I can't remember what colour inks I used but I do remember one was Adirondak and one was Distress Ink, lol!  I then positioned a butterfly stencil and again used my brush to deepen the colours deliberately not going for a solid, even look.  When the ink was dry I used a Sakura sparkle pen to partially outline the butterflies and to finish the background I spritzed all over with Dew Drop Glimmer Mist.  Unfortunately it has been so dull and gloomy here most of the time recently and the sparkle is very subtle (just the way I like it, lol), I couldn't catch it in the photos.

I then stamped the two flowers and the leaf x 3 from the lovely Tangled Garden stamp set onto separate card and coloured them with Spectrum Noir pencils, added little highlights of the Sakura Sparkle pen and cut them out.  I layered up the flower and glued it and the leaves onto my base card.

As is my usual habit, I left it till the rest of the card was finished before risking all and stamping the sentiment, from my favourite sentiments set, Amazing Birthday clear stamp set, directly onto the card base. 

I will have two more Wednesday spots on the Chocolate Baroque DT blog this month and hopefully a few more things as well so I hope you'll pop back when you can.

Thanks for your visit today.

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

PaperArtsy Blog Challenge #2 ......I made it!

Well Hello there......

.....long time, no see.......as they say!

I can't believe how long it is since I last managed to post something.  I do hope everyone is doing ok and surviving relatively unscathed by the awful weather we are still having here.  I know I always say I hate snow for the inconvenience of it but I think even that would be preferable to this incessant rain and terrible scary high winds.  Yesterday I was convinced my craftroom/conservatory roof was going to fly off and all my lovely craft stuff would be ruined but it's still in place ......for now ;D!

I haven't been idle on the crafting front over the past month but it's been stuff I haven't been able to show yet.  The rest of February will be a different kettle of fish starting today thank goodness and I actually managed an entry for the PaperArtsy Blog Challenge too.  Have you been watching Leandra's wonderful videos this past week?  She has been demoing live on Periscope (my new online addiction, lol) every night showing some wonderful painty techniques and introducing their new stamp releases.  OMG I want them ALL!!!  I think PaperArtsy designers go from strength to strength with each new release and there are two lovely new designers, Kay Carley and Kim Dellow who are now part of the PA family.  If you haven't been hooked yet do pop over to the blog and look at the past week's posts starting HERE.  The artwork from the designers and their wingmen has been stunning and such fantastic inspiration!

Anyway, enough of my waffle, here is my entry to Challenge #2 which has a theme of Hearts.  After watching Leandra's painty demos I decided to make a large tag and I used the very first set I bought of lovely Darcy's stamps.

I used Snowflake, Concrete, Slate and a spot of Blueberry Fresco Finish paints to create the brushed background.  The background stamping was done sing FF paints and I then stamped the images using Watering Can Archival Ink before painting them using Blueberry and London Bus.  The quote was stamped with Black Archival Ink.

I added a few tiny highlights with a white pen, a bit of sparkle to the zip and droplet with a Sakura clear sparkle pen and finally some Frantage embossing to the corners.

I'm off to link up to the PaperArtsy Challenge and also the Stamping Sensations Challenge which I saw from my friends Sally and Lynne's posts this morning has an 'Anything Goes' theme.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone and I hope you have chance to drop by later in the week.

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

Chocolate Baroque Challenge 18 entry .......and last Christmas card for this year.......

..................I think!

Morning All,

Today sees the start of the final Chocolate Baroque Challenge for this year and by coincidence last night I made what is hopefully my last Christmas card for this year.  The challenge colours are the gorgeous dramatic combination of red, black and white which are exactly what I had used on my card so I'm sure this is my quickest every entry to a challenge, lol!

After writing out all my cards over the past couple of days I felt that none of my bought cards which I usually send to none crafters were suitable to send to a lovely neighbour who sadly lost her hubby a month or so ago.  They all glaring shouted 'MERRY CHRISTMAS' and I somehow didn't think they were appropriate so I decided to make her one.

I used the lovely trio of trees from Sparkling Trees set simply stamped in black Archival ink together with the word 'Peace' from the Crafty Individuals set of Christmas words (available from Chocolate Baroque).

It's a little difficult to see (but click on the pick for more clarity) I stamped the star from a discontinued CB set using Versamark ink and Sticky Stuff ep over which I sprinkled Distress Stickles Dry Glitter.  I added touches of Diamond Stickles to the trees ....my favourite way of adding sparkle .....no mess, lol!

Finally I edged the card with a red marker and added it to the slightly larger card base with double sided tape.  I like this method of giving the impression of matting and layering because it eliminates the possibility of scew-whiff layers ;-).

A fairly quick card but still quite pretty I think and the red border stops it from being too stark.  Off to do the link up to the Challenge now.  Wonder if I'll be first off the blocks, lol!

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

A Sparkly Christmas Angel!

Hello again,

As promised here's my second Christmas card for today.  Very different for me in that I rarely use glitter (unless it's Stickles) ..... and having made this card I don't think I'll be using it again for a while, lol!  Everytime I pick the card up everything sparkles with Glamour Dust fine glitter.  The results are so pretty though!

Last weekend I spent a fabulous Sunday with long standing PATwit friends and lots of new ones too at an amazing workshop with the lovely and very talented Tracy Scott.  The workshops were quite intense and fast paced and anyone who knows me is well aware I don't do 'fast paced' lol, so needless to say neither of my projects is finished yet but I loved them so much (especially the 2nd one) that I will definitely finish them probably after Christmas.  I didn't feel too bad though as several of the 'experts' didn't get finished either ;-).

Anyway, Leandra and Mark, who very generously arranged this fabulous day for our group of PaperArtsy addicts also set up a 'shop' for us and one of my purchases was a lovely simple JOFY mini stamp of an angel.  I rashly decided she deserved lots of sparkle and this is the result.

I started by using a poinsettia stencil and applying clear texture paste through it.  I then sprinkled Glamour Dust very fine crystal glitter over the paste and the effect is really beautiful but ......... inspite of much dusting with a soft brush I am still getting glitter everywhere each time I touch it.  If the recipient is like me they will be blessing me good and proper, lol!

 

The angel and the sentiment were stamped with Versamark and embossed with blue sparkly ep.  I then dusted blue ink using a brush around the image before assembling the card.

Well, I'm happy with the simple, pretty design but I don't think I'll be using glitter again for quite some time.

Hugs

Lesley  Xx

Chocolate Baroque Challenge #17

Morning All....

....on this very wet and dreary Saturday :-(.  I mustn't grumble though as I feel so sad for all the people who have been flooded, some not once but twice, over the past week or so and while the rain continues to fall I am thinking of them.

I've managed to squeeze in a bit of Christmas card making last night.....I am so behind with Christmas prep this year.......  A couple of weeks ago I made two masterboards and still have lots of bits to use up.  I realised the colours fitted the current colour challenge on the Chocolate Baroque Challenge so I added a little flourish with part of a CB stamp and then stamped & embossed in gold, one of my favourite CB flowers from Steampunk Christmas. 

I love this poinsettia layered up and using the masterboard to give me a matching band across the front made this a nice quick card when time is very much at a premium.  The sentiment is also from a CB set.

Have a good Saturday everyone and I'll be back later with another Christmas card.

Hugs
Lesley  Xx

PaperArtsy Blog Challenge - Masterboard entry.

Good morning ...... on this extremely windy Saturday!

This post is going to be mainly pics as I have been away for a few days at my Daughter's and after a quick one night turnaround at home I'm driving south on the A1 later today.  I can honestly say after the scary drive home last night I am not looking forward to my drive today.  I certainly won't be at risk of getting picked up for speeding I don't think!

Anyway, the last blog challenge of 2015 over on the PaperArtsy Blog comes to an end tomorrow and I didn't think I was going to be able to complete an entry between trips but I have so I'll show you my effort mainly by pics.  The theme of the challenge is Masterboards and as always the inspiration over the two weeks has been gorgeous.  For mine I took inspiration from Leandra's introduction video using a brayer and stamping with the Fresco Finish paints.  All the stamps are PaperArtsy, mainly from JOFY40 set plus a couple from the new Christmas Hot Picks, except from some snowflakes.

 

I actually made two masterboards using more or less the same colours but forgot to take pics of the first one.  I did use that original one for the decoupaged tree so there was a slight contrast in the colours.

I curved the garland stamp on my acrylic block to make it fit round the cut out and added some bling.

Righty Ho!  Off to link up to the Challenge then get ready for the off mid afternoon.  If I weren't driving I think I'd be partaking of a little Dutch courage, lol, but at least the forecast is better for the drive back tomorrow evening.

Have a good weekend all!

Hugs
Lesley  Xx