Glenda

Mixed media artist, rubber stamper and designer.

Prima Songbird Cards

Cards, Video

Mar 162012

I mentioned recently that I’d treated myself to some new paper from Prima. Well I have been having great fun playing around with it and have a few cards to share – these are all from the Prima Songbird A4 paper pack. The one above and the one below are both A5 cards made with two halves of the same sheet. The top half has these sweet little birds on branches which I have covered with a thick layer of glossy accents. (My tip for working with glossy accents is to outline the shape then fill it in. When it is all covered, give the bottle a good big squeeze and you’ll get more liquid for that lovely domed shape, but it will stay contained within your outline shape.)

I added the row of stamped eggs which involved a bit of kiss stamping. The eggs are on an older stamp set called Fly Away With Me and there are three different eggs – one solid and two patterned. I started by inking up the solid stamp with Pumpkin Spice Versamagic chalk ink, then inked up the fine patterned stamp with Oasis Green and stamped it onto the solid stamp. I then inked up the larger speckled egg with Gingerbread ink and stamped that onto the solid stamp too. I stamped the solid stamp onto white paper and that’s how you get the multi-coloured egg. I repeated the process with different colours for the solid and detail stamp, but stuck with the same colour for the big speckles. I cut the eggs out and stuck them onto the Prima paper (with Glue ‘n’ Seal) then added a sentiment from the Words of Love stamp set.

This is the card with the bottom half of the paper, a much plainer section, but in the same tones. I stamped the fancy flower from the Fantasy Meadow stamp set with Versafine Vintage Sepia, then coloured it with Polychromos pencils. I masked the flower heads and stamped some text from Eccentric Edwardian over the flowers using Ginger Adirondack dye ink. The sentiment and seedheads stamped along the bottom are from Floral Bouquet, again stamped in Vintage Sepia. The ‘thank you’ panel is from the Songbird paper pack – there are a couple of sheets of elements you can cut out and this one fitted the design beautifully. I added a little paper flower I found in my box of bits and darkened the edges of the whole card with Brilliance Rust.

This next one has its own video!

Yep, I actually made a video this week showing you how I made this gatefold aperture card. If you can’t see the video below for any reason, you can watch it on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/glendawww.

So that’s just three cards that I’ve managed to put together pretty quickly. We’re just about to release the rest of our new stamps for March and there’s more cards to come featuring one of the other Prima packs, Meadow Lark. So watch out here and on the Design Team blog for new stamp goodness coming soon!

Buds are budding, birds are singing, stamps are stamping

Cards

Mar 112012

A simple card, but one which sums up the glorious day we are having here today. There’s daffodils bursting out everywhere, bunnies bouncing around the garden and buds on the trees. It won’t be long before the trees explode with blossom – Spring really is my favourite season of the year.

The word here is from an old stamp set – Fashion Dream and it’s stamped with Versamark and embossed with clear powder on watercolour paper. Several other stamps from Fragrant Honeysuckle have been stamped over the top using Adirondack dye inkpads. The whole thing then got a heavy spritz of water and the colours were just left to feather and bleed together. The backing paper is from the Essence of Nature CD.

So we’re off out to enjoy the rest of this beautiful sunshine – have a great Sunday everyone!

Glue ‘n’ Seal winner

Cards

Mar 062012

This is a super easy card. It’s the same napkin you saw on my canvas a couple of posts ago, glued onto watercolour paper with Glue ‘n’ Seal. I used watercolour paper because of it’s absorbency. All paper will warp when you add moisture, but as this is designed for water, I’ve found it hardly warped at all with this glue and certainly didn’t do the helter-skelter (you know, where it cockles so badly you could lean it against the wall and charge a pound a ride!).

I got four pieces out of one napkin and all I did was apply the glue to the paper, then carefully laid down the napkin. I smoothed it onto the glue with a soft wide dry brush, then applied Glue ‘n’ Seal over the top. When dry, I trimmed the whole thing and mounted onto a purple card then pearl green layer before sticking to a purple scalloped card.

It’s such a pretty design that I didn’t want to cover it up too much so used a tiny foiled birthday greeting (from Craftwork Cards) with a ribbon bow underneath.

You may notice I went back to my old blog design over the weekend – the new one really was not liveable with. When I was logged in and viewing the blog, all the WordPress admin links were showing up in odd places over the top of the design so I couldn’t click on any of the menu links or post titles. It would seem that particular template has not been updated to suit the newer version of WordPress that I have, so it’s had to go.

And I remembered one of the reasons I went for this template in the first place was it’s ability to have numbered comments. It is SO much easier doing a blog giveaway when your comments have numbers attached to them. It’s even clever enough not to number my own replies, so it makes it super easy peasy. (It’s called Suffusion for the need to know geeks.)

So in conjunction with random.org, I am pleased to announce that the winner is ….. Shirley who said:

Morning Glenda,
The glue & seal looks fabulous…I love what you have done with the stencils too….more for my wish list which get ever longer.
I would love to win the glue & seal as I am trying to experiment with mixed media a bit more.
Shirley x

Well Shirley, get out your lab coat and test tubes, you’re all set to start experimenting very soon!

To everyone else, commiserations, but do keep an eye on the Design Team blog as there’s lots about to happen over there. We have a new DT member who will be announced this month, new stamps coming out (which of course means more new artwork) plus a guest blogger regularly featured in Craft Stamper.

And I will be back soon – I’ve been playing with the gorgeous new Prima paper stacks. I haven’t treated myself to new paper for AGES and I am loving it! There are three sheets of each design in the pad and that means I can use up a whole sheet and still have two left to stroke! Someone at Prima understands the way a paperholic’s mind works …

Trillian battles her nemesis

Blog, Video 13 Responses »

Mar 032012

I came downstairs this morning to find Trillian had gone into mental hypercat mode. I didn’t sweep the kitchen floor after cooking last night and she had found a little bit of red onion skin which she was batting around and pouncing on in a very kittenish way. So I grabbed the video camera and tossed her a ball of scrunched up paper …

She does have a terrible tendency to slamdunk her head straight into the plinth. Crazy calico!

PS – good news, our delivery arrived yesterday so one pot of Glue ‘n’ Seal is put aside for my blog winner.

Mixing up the media

Blog, Mixed Media

Mar 022012

I am getting better at scheduling playtime into my life.

As always, I have lots more started bits than finished, but here is a finished painting which I did on a small wooden block (actually a stamp handle).

She looks very serious, I need to practise mouths and get my figures to smile and laugh more. The dictionary paper is glued onto the block with Ranger’s new Glue ‘n’ Seal (matte) and I publicly proclaim that I am officially in LERVE with this product. So much so that I’ve just ordered the larger size container of it because I neeeeeed more.

I’ve been using it a lot and it just doesn’t leave brush marks, but dries to an invisible finish. I’ve used it with plain tissue, Tim Holtz printed tissue, dictionary paper, dressmaking patterns and napkins and it is just fantastic for all these lightweight things. For heavier paper or card, I would probably still use Gel medium as the heavier the item is, the more adhesion it needs. However, sometimes gel can tear the delicate stuff – particularly napkins or dressmaking pattern tissue and so far this has worked a treat on all of those.

It also dries quickly and you can stick your paper down, then go straight over the top with the sealing coat. I hadn’t intended writing a love letter to Glue’n'Seal, but there you go. If you like collage, you need to try it. Oh yeah, there’s a brush built into the lid so you can use it without having to get out a brush and go fetch a jar of water. Well, that is until you get near the bottom when there’s still lots of glue left, but the built in brush doesn’t quite reach it. It’s also a bit plastic-y so I prefer to use my own softer brush for the delicate stuff like napkins.

Talking of collage, I also prepared a background for something else that I am working on.

Can you guess what it’s made from? Again it’s covered in dictionary paper (from an illustrated dictionary) which has been painted with acrylic paints, then stencilled with a variety of Crafter’s Workshop templates. I stencilled some red hearts then used interference blue and bright gold for the top layers of stencilling which use the Cubist stencil and the Circle grid stencil.

And finally, remember this canvas?

Well I’ve done a bit more work and it’s currently progressed to this:

More Crafter’s Workshop templates – this time Spring Fling and Pointy Circles. I just can’t get enough of these, I am really enjoying working with these templates as you can probably tell. The hydrangea in the corner is a napkin, glued down with …. yep, you guessed it, Glue ‘n’ Seal!

You know what, I’m feeling generous today and I’ve just decided on the spur of the moment to send a pot of this wonder stuff to one lucky blog reader. All you need to do is leave me a comment and tell me if you have tried Glue ‘n’ Seal yet and if you haven’t, why you think you could give a free pot a good home.

I’ll pick a winner on Monday and as long as we have some left in stock, I’ll send it straight out. (We have a delivery due in any day now so even if we sell out over the weekend, we should have it back in pretty quickly).

Have a great weekend!

Look what happens when you don’t let the ink dry

Blog

Mar 012012

Note to self: when applying Versamark to a painted chalkboard heart prior to triple embossing, the word you have just stamped may not be quite dry yet…

Get your sunglasses ready

Cards

Feb 232012

When I first told you about the Artistic Expressions stamp set, I had no finished artwork to show you. Well I did actually use it to make my wedding anniversary card to Adrian last week. It’s a super simple card. The word Love is stamped onto one of Lesley’s vintage tags with Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy. I made a heart stencil from a piece of card (fold in half and cut half a heart) and sponged some of the poppy ink through the stencil. I then removed the stencil and cut out the heart, leaving a small border around the stencilled area. I stamped the flourish onto a plain white card with Bundled Sage distress ink and stuck the heart on with foam pads.

Now for a complete contrast to the pale, subtle colours above – this is the one you might need the shades for. Over the last couple of evenings, I’ve been feeling the urge to do some colouring. Word stamps may not be the obvious choice for colouring, but here’s what I came up with.

It is ages since I got the copic markers out, so I decided to practice my shading. The scan has actually made some of my gradients look more ‘stepped’ than they look to me in real life. I stamped the word and flourish in Memento Tuxedo black then just drew some lines with a copic multi-liner black pen. After I had done the colouring, the lines looked very thin and lost so I embellished each one in some way, then darkened the edges with Black Soot Distress ink.

I thoroughly enjoyed the colouring – it’s so soothing and relaxing. I ended up with pens all over the table and instead of putting them back how they were, I have sorted them into colour groups and put them into separate containers grouped by colour.

Maybe if I leave them out in tubs I will use them more. Just looking at that photo of the pens makes me want to dive straight in and start colouring something right now!

PS – thanks for the comments about the blog scheme. I like it, but I’m having a bit of a nightmare with it behind the scenes so not sure if it will last!

New Look

Cards

Feb 222012

I’ve made a couple of really simple birthday cards recently. I’m trying to build up a little stash of birthday cards to dip into when I need one. This first one uses a sentiment from Birthday Words and Crealies Flower die 11.

I found the backing paper in an old paper pack and liked it so much I made a second card with it, this time with (gasp!) no stamping at all. The sentiment is from Craftwork Cards.

I’ve updated the blog with a little fresh decor – hope you like it!

Keep Calm … there’s new stamps!

Cards

Feb 172012

I bought the original red Keep Calm poster from Barter Books in Alnwick back in about 2002, long before it became a global phenomenon. I had it on my office wall for many years and still have the poster now. Many times I have glanced up at the poster and taken a deep breath, absorbed the words and repeated them, mantra-like, while dealing with some petty crisis or other. I think it stood me in good stead for when the major crises came our way – by then the motto was ingrained and automatic.

The phrase has been so over-used, commercialised and parodied in the last few years that it’s hard to remember its original purpose (to keep the British upper lip as stiff as possible during WW2) and see the soothing common sense of the message. It’s great life advice for anyone, anytime really. Having said that, I think my favourite parody is “GET EXCITED AND STAMP SOMETHING”.

Anyway, philosophizing aside (is that a word?), this card is made with the latest stamps from Crafty Individuals which we have just got onto the website today. There’s a great mix of vintage and retro Britannia – perfect for all things celebratory with the Jubilee and Olypmics here this year. I stamped the patchwork Union Jack onto a selection of papers from the Essence of Nature CD and cut and pieced the flag together. I wanted a very simple, faded vintage look. The card edge is sponged with Stormy Sky distress ink.

We have also launched a new stamp set of our own today too – this one is going to be a well used set, it’s called Artistic Expressions and it’s the little black dress of stamping – it goes with anything!

It’s so new, I don’t have any finished artwork with it yet (lots of stamped and die cut words and sentiments), but the Design Team do and if you check out the DT blog, they’ll be showing it off soon. I’m also giving away a free set on the Design Team blog, so pop over and leave a comment to be in with a chance to win. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, so it’s just for this weekend.

I managed to get some better photos of the tags I made last weekend, so thought I’d show you them in more detail. I’ve angled them so you can see the embossing.

Stencils used were Pomegranate and Circle Explosion

Stencils used were Spring Fling and Circle Grid

This uses the two part stencil Poppies.

Have a great weekend, we’re off to Cumbria to visit St Oswald’s church in Grasmere. A sentimental journey to visit the place where Adrian and I were married fifteen years ago. Nothing to do with the Grasmere Gingerbread shop in the corner of the churchyard. No, not at all. Honest.

PS – if you are a Guild member, log in to your account and go to the Guild Offers department for special prices on the new stamps.

A glimpse into the studio

Blog, Mixed Media

Feb 112012

I don’t have much in the way of finished projects to share at the moment. This is the state of my studio this morning:

Yesterday we had a delivery which included a whole load of new Crafter’s Workshop stencils. Well, much as I love stamping, I’ve been feeling the call of doing some mixed media type stuff, so I had to have a play.

I’m working on a couple of canvases and having a blast trying out the stencils. They are standing up to a fair bit of rubbing and scrubbing as I’ve been using them with fibre paste and gel as well as paints and inks.

This canvas has doilies and lace attached with gel medium and I’ve used the Circle Grid stencil in the corner. I applied fibre paste over the stencil with a palette knife. Here’s a close up.

Not sure where this canvas will go, I might try an image transfer of some trees on it. Adrian took some photos of trees recently which I think might work quite well.

I’ve also been playing around with the stencils on some tags, just to try them out.

There’s embossing and Perfect Pearls going on here – I don’t have shimmery, coppery-reddish-goldish embossing powder, but by the time it’s been dusted with the pearls, it look like I do.

I love the pointy circles stencil on this canvas and can see me using this one loads.

It’s in the background of the tag too, but after doing the background, I decided to paint a face and covered most of it up! I drew the face and hair shape and blocked it out with Titan Buff acrylic paint (by Golden).

It’s a fairy heavy body paint so gives pretty good coverage when you need to hide the colour beneath. I don’t know why I gave her teal hair – seemed right at the time.

So there you go, a brief journey around my current work in progress. Hopefully I can get some of these finished off over the weekend, but I’m much more likely to end up with another batch of half started items – I am definitely not a completer-finisher!

Zingy yellow and pink

Cards

Jan 312012

This stamp is from the Fragrant Honeysuckle stamp set and it’s a lovely image to colour in. I used Derwent watercolour pencils and just went for bright bold colours. I didn’t quite intend the background to be such a vibrant gold, but I like the way it turned out. I picked out the bright pink and gold in the layering and with so much colour, kept the rest of the card very simple.

It’s teasy time now – I just got the next few months worth of new stamp plates in and we’re starting to make the boards and test the rubber … There’s one coming out in February that goes really well with Artistic Affirmations and I’m LOVING it already.

Thanks for all the comments about lighting. I am going to look into getting a decent light for the table, maybe an OTT light. We swapped over our uplighters, so I now have the two from downstairs with the extra spotlights. I’m actually pointing the spotlights straight up as I can’t really get them positioned to light up the workspace without them either getting in the way, or blinding me when I look up. But the extra two bulbs bouncing light off the ceiling does help a lot. I’ve also managed to keep one of the original uplighters as it is plugged in behind a unit that I really don’t want to move, so I’ve actually gone from two bulbs to five and yes, it’s definitely brighter in there.

So with lots of light and lots of new rubber, I’m one happy stamper!

Subtle Meadow

Cards

Jan 292012

What, two posts in one weekend, good grief! Yes, and I’ve done … shhhh … housework. And I’m cooking lunch for 8 people today! Don’t worry, the blog hasn’t been hijacked, I haven’t been abducted by aliens and replaced with a clone – it’s still me. Ok, the card is a cheat, I had this one made already as those of you who read the DT blog may have spotted.

It uses another piece of the white stamped vellum as in the last post and a paper from the Essence of Nature CD. The stamping is done onto glossy card from Southfield and there’s a story to the card. Back in 2010, Southfield informed us that they were discontinuing their glossy card as the manufacturer was no longer making it. There was a lot of disappointment as it was a great card, brayered up lovely and produced a perfect Versamark resist. They soon announced that they had brought it back so we started stocking that.

Fast forward to 2012 and my pile of glossy card is now well and truly mixed up. I have bits from the old manufacturer, but obviously a lot more from the new and it’s not the same. The new stuff doesn’t resist the Versamark, it does the opposite and the ink sticks to it! Lesley has been writing some brayering articles for the Baroque Guild and ran into this problem when trying to photograph technique pieces for her article. She had some happy accidents along the way, but when I tested out my card, I realised there’s glossy and there’s glossy.

So this card features the newer glossy card. I tried to do a resist and it didn’t work. (For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Versamark ink will normally ‘resist’ a dye ink so you can stamp with the Versamark onto plain white glossy card and brayer dye ink over the top to create white stamped images.) I went along with it anyway and just built up layers of stamping (using Wisteria Lane), stippling, sponging and a bit of brayering – all with Memento and Distress inks.

It seemed like quite a sombre palette until I added the orange which livened it up a bit. The rose started out cream and was sprayed with Angel Pink. It turned out a more coral shade than I expected and just added the finishing touch.

I’m off to do my domestic goddess bit now. That means clearing the craft room table so we can take it downstairs – our little dining table only seats four!

Enjoy your Sunday,