Welcome Spring!

In honor of the first day of spring, I made a small mixed media canvas today.

Rejoice!

I started off with a small, 4 x 4 blank canvas. The first step is always the hardest, so I find it's best to dive in and get something - anything - onto that blank surface. I thought I'd try some stamping and embossing to create a resist. I used Hero Arts Paint a Flower, and stamped with Versamark, embossing with white powder. It's difficult to stamp well on a canvas because of the give in the middle, so I had to fill in with a Versamark marker.

Then I started messing around with some Distress paints, spreading them on the canvas and misting with water to move them around. I first used Spun Sugar and Wild Honey. I liked it, but the Spun Sugar is so pale that the white embossing really didn't show up as well as I wanted. I decided the background needed to be darker, so I brought in Picked Raspberry Distress paint and added more Wild Honey.

To make a long story short, I ended up with a hot mess. When that happens, I think the thing to do is start layering things on top and start anew. I glued down a couple of strips of printed tissue tape using a matte gel medium. I went over the surface again with the Distress Paints and water. To add some additional color, I sprayed the canvas with Heidi Swapp's Primrose Color Shine.

By this point, I liked the background, but the mess of my embossing was still there. I thought I would try stamping the flower on tissue paper and gluing it over the embossing. I ended up stamping it three times, cutting closely around each flower, and using the matte medium again. I allowed the stems of the flowers to continue over the bottom edge of the canvas, and the left-most flower goes over the left edge.

I pulled out an old Stampin' Up! scripture stamp, using tissue paper again and waterproof ink (Ranger Archival Black). I cut around the words, and glued that to the top right of the canvas. I played around with trying to add some green twine towards the bottom, but couldn't figure out a way to repeat that color anywhere else. So, I gave that idea up. After digging around, I pulled out some clear, colored "gems" and glued them on, trying to keep things balanced. As a final touch, I also added some teeny tiny pink and purple sprinkles and a little clear glitter. Since this is the last day for the Hero Arts Nature Challenge, I promise this is the last post connected to it!

Have a great weekend!

Immi

Heat Tool Comparison / Hero Arts Nature Challenge

Hero Arts Nature Challenge

Sometimes it's nice to upgrade a tool. I use a heat tool often in my stamping, as I enjoy heat embossing. It's also handy to speed up the drying process when using wet media. For years I've used the Ranger Heat it Craft Tool; it worked well and I didn't think about replacing it. I began seeing another heat tool used fairly often as I watched video tutorials. This one is made by Milwaukee and is the 1400 model. I noticed as I watched others do heat embossing that it seemed to go so much faster than I was used to. I finally decided to take the plunge and get one.

It came in the mail today, so I quickly got it out and decided to see if it was as good as I hoped.

Ranger Heat it Craft Tool

Milwaukee 1400

I had a scrap of an old manila file on my work  surface, and a brand new Hero Arts stamp (Paint a Flower) I'd just scored on clearance. I inked the stamp with Versamark and stamped the image in the center. I coated it with white embossing powder, then stamped and coated the same flower twice more. (Sprinkling the embossing powder on the first image makes it easier to see where to stamp again, since Versamark ink is clear.) I turned on the heat gun and was thrilled at how quickly the embossing powder melted! I also like that the nozzle is much smaller than my other heat gun, which allowed me to keep the heat focused where I wanted it. It is slightly louder than the Ranger tool, but not enough to be a nuisance. I was glad that I had glanced at the instruction booklet before using it, since it smoked a little at first. I knew that was okay, since I'd read that it might do that - just as the booklet said, it quit doing that after a few moments.

I got out some Distress Stains in Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint and squeezed the color onto my craft sheet. I dragged the stamped paper through the wet stain, then dried it and repeated the process. The white embossed flowers resisted the stain, and I love the way it looks.

I thought it would look a little more interesting if I cropped the image tightly around the flowers, so I trimmed the panel down and rubbed some Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink around the edges.

I had a scrap of the stained manila file left, so I stamped a greeting from Hero Arts Trees, Birds, & Messages, using Ancient Page Close to Cocoa and clear embossing powder. I layered my stamped pieces with some patterned paper and some textured brown paper and mounted everything on green cardstock.

Finished Card

I'm linking this to the Hero Arts Nature Challenge.

It's the last day of winter, so Happy Spring tomorrow!

Immi

Alcohol Ink on Acetate

I love Pinterest for collecting ideas! Recently, I stumbled across an image that led me to this post. I couldn't wait to try the technique described there!

Here is the first card I made:

I simply followed the directions I'd read on the blog post, using a couple of colors of alcohol ink and blending with Ranger's blending solution and a blending tool with a felt applicator. Next I stamped the flower from Hero Arts (I hope you can see the faint flower images) with Ranger's Archival ink - I used  Potting Soil but it doesn't really matter what color you use. After letting it sit for a minute or two, I rubbed the surface with a paper towel. That removed the color of  the ink I'd stamped, but left a "ghost" image behind.

I kept everything else very plain - a die cut "stitched" rectangle (Simon Says Stamp) to frame  it, a die cut branch with leaves (Sizzix) and a simple sentiment (Hero Arts Friends) on a banner shape with black marker in a dashed line around the edges.

Here is the second card I made with this technique:

The technique is exactly the same. I used different colors of alcohol ink and a script stamp (Inkadinkado) this time. The butterflies are cut from vellum using a die (Sizzix) and stitched down with a couple of machine made stitches per butterfly. I used the same stitched rectangle die and the same sentiment as before. I think this card is my favorite of the two - the ghost image shows up better.

I'm linking these cards up to Hero Arts Nature Challenge.

Happy crafting!

Immi

Friendship Card

I'm trying to squeeze more time in for art play in the evenings, and relying on challenges to give me ideas to try. Hero Arts currently has a challenge going with a nature theme. The only rule is to use at least one of their stamps. I decided to try a new stamp set I found on clearance at a local scrapbook store. (Somehow, if it's on clearance, I feel better about buying it!)

I started with a watercolor panel and inked it with two Distress Inks - Worn Lipstick and Wild Honey. I applied each color with a blending tool from the opposite edge, allowing them to blend together in the middle. I love the way the colors look together!

I stamped the floral design twice with Versamark ink and sprinkled it with Wow Opaque Bright White Super Fine embossing powder. (Since Distress ink stays wet longer than most dye inks, I was careful to heat set the blended ink in the background until it was completely dry. Otherwise, embossing powder would have stuck everywhere.) After heat setting the embossing powder, I stamped the butterfly from the same set (Hero Arts Butterflies & Wildflowers). This time I used Versafine Onyx Black and sprinkled clear embossing powder on top, heat setting afterwards.

The white embossing I'd done earlier really didn't look as good as I'd like in the middle of the stems. I decided to cover my boo-boo with a vellum strip. I used the Mini Scallop & Pinking die from Alterations to cut a scalloped edge on both sides of my strip. Then I stamped my sentiment from Hero Arts Friends, using Versafine Onyx Black. I used clear embossing powder again and heat set it. Since vellum is always tricky to adhere without seeing the adhesive through it, I chose to stitch it down with my sewing machine and white thread. I think this did a pretty good job of disguising my less-than-perfect stamping. I always try to find a way to salvage my work!

The watercolor panel was mounted onto a plain white card base and that was that! It was a fairly quick project and I'm happy with the way it looks.

Happy crafting!

Immi