March tag 2013

Hi everyone,

Spring has officially begun, but the weather here certainly isn't contributing to that fact. But that shouldn't spoil the fun to get busy with Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2013. Where the March tag is lovely spring/easter-like. I've been putting it off for a while, because I had so many other things I had to do first, but luckily today I finally found the time to go for it.

I chose to not make it really Easter-like, but more spring. That's why I didn't use the bunny, but the mini gear mover and shaper, that has to pass like a little sun... Do you see it?? I'm so happy with the Distress Paints, and then yesterday  the amazing news that the paints  also come in metallics is fantastich. I have to get me those! haha. I have done far too little with the distress paints, and was glad that I could play with them again!

 

 



Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra

Sentiment-al

Hi everyone,

It's Monday again and it's so nice that Simon Says Stamp and Show always a new challenge waiting for us. And this time, we get to play with sentiments, quote, sayings or phrases. In other words, use a sentiment  on our project. This gives the project so much more meaning. So I often use a sentiment.

For my project this week I used a small canvas that's 4 x 4 inches. And I went crazy again with a new technique which I really don't know the name of. It's ala Finnabair. It isn't completely new to me, because I've done this technique for the first time, two weeks ago. But I'm totally hooked.





First you bring texture, as in my case, corrugated cardboard, trimmings, bubble wrap, ball chain, wooden butterflies and modeling paste, and adhere that all down with Multi Medium Matte. Make sure that it is perfectly dry before you continue with the next step. You can use a heat tool, but be careful that you don't melt things that can melt. When it's completely dry, it's time to make everything white with gesso and a brush. If everything is white, make sure the gesso is completely dry. Then it's time to use the sprays to bring in some colors. You can use different kind of sprays, but I used Color Wash for this. I really like the intense colors. Because it is a small area I only used 2 different colors. This technique takes quite a lot of time because of the drying time. A heat tool is kinda a must. And after spraying is another moment to take out the heat tool. Then it's time for the highlights and lowlights. First do a bit of gesso on the brush and go very gently on the spots that you want to highlight and theb with the black spots that you want to lowlight. Again with gesso the places you want to hightlight.



The sentiment which I used is a stamp of Tim Holtz, and the sentiment is from Aldous Huxley. But it's so true. We need to think and act on what happens to and with us. Life is a really great gift and we need to embrace the chance we get with it.



To join in all you need to do is make a project that fits this weeks challenge and you can be the winner of the $50 gift voucher that our amazing sponsor Simon Says Stamp offers. This prize will go to a random entry. So go over to the Stamp and Show Challenge blog, let the DT members inspire you and join in the fun!

Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra

Easter in the bag

Hi everyone,

In about two weeks it's Easter already. I've done nothing Easter-like. This is my first Easter project of this year. I feel it's been a long time since I have used so many pink and other soft colors. The new Distress Paints are so much fun to play with. Stamping is especially fun, but also making backgrounds with them. Marbleizing is even more fun. With this project I participate with Frilly and Funky and Papertake Weekly. Both challenges are about Easter.

 

I used a brown paper bag to decorate Easter style and can give it as a gift. The wallpaper background stamp I stamped with Spun Sugar Distress Paint. This is the only paint I really can stamp with and liking the results. The edges I distress with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and created some more texture with different stamps. I really like the Stacked Artful Words die. So I've used the numbers. And colored them with Picket Raspberry and Mustard Seed Distress Paint. The Mini Bunny I painted brown and while the paint was still wet I stamped into it to remove some paint to make some texture.









Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra

City of Hope

Hi everyone,

This week, it's finally going to be Spring! Here in the Netherlands, the weather isn't quite there yet to match it. I hope it happens soon, because I'm so done with Winter and so ready for Spring. Simon Says Stamp and Show came up with another great challenge for us. And that is water. Water? Yes water. The sky is the limit. Go nuts, think watercolor ink, or a nice stamp with a water theme, or maybe a cool water technique.



I used watercolor paper for this challenge. It's pure magic to see how the Dylusion Sprays so beautiful blend together. I don't use watercolor paper often and each time I'm amazed how cool it is to work with.






Working with stencils is so much fun and this time I chose the Bubbles stencil. And sprayed it 2 colors of Dylusion Sprays. My love for stencils continues on this card with the mini chevrons, mini chevron arrows and mini punchinella, that I used with Distress Ink. Then I added some layers with stamps.




To join in all you need to do is make a project that fits this weeks challenge and you can be the winner of the $50 gift voucher that our amazing sponsor Simon Says Stamp offers. This prize will go to a random entry. So go over to the Stamp and Show Challenge blog, let the DT members inspire you and join in the fun!

Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra

Tim's Tattered Floral Challenge

Hi everyone,

So cool that Tim is hosting a different kind of challenge. The Tattered Floral challenge. I'm sure you already figured out that with this challenge you must use the Tattered Florals die in any way whatsoever. He also has asked some of his designer friends to join in the fun and they have really made ​​some pretty inspirational stuff! Of course I also want to join this challenge and I'm so very happy I can because I just happen to have that die.



Recently I saw this amazing video that Drew did making gorgeous album with an amazing technique and I immediately want to try this out myself. It is ala Finnabair and I so love her work! Too bad I can not go to her workshop when she is in the Netherlands in May. That weekend I'm in Paris with my girlfriends. Hmm, bit of a luxury problem I guess...



Anyway back to my canvas. After watching the video I was very surprised that I didn't realize how it works. Although I don't think I ever figure that I should make it all white ... Okay, let me shed some light on how I did it. First  applied lots of texture and adhere it down with Multi Medium. I don't have any patience for waiting till it's dry, so I used my heat tool to speed up the drying process. Then I painted everything white with gesso. Again dried everything with the heat tool. The next step and the most fun part of it, is to spray the Color Wash sprays. Dry thoroughly once again and pat off excess color when you think it's to dark. When it's all dry make some highlight with gesso, repeat it with some black paint and again with the gesso. I love the colors it gets and lots of depth in those colors. So intense and wonderfully mysterious.



To give the Tattered Floral a bit more texture I cut another layer out of burlap and bubble wrap. I was very surprised that the bubbles that weren't cut still survived the pressure of the vagabond! With drying it with the heat tool it kinda shrunken, but still a pretty nice texture effect.





Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra

Shabby Chicness

Hi everyone,

Lately I find myself playing more with corrugated cardstock and I don't know how to stop. And the challengeof this week at Simon Says Stamp and Show is also very suitable. The theme is chic to be shabby. I'm very curious to see what you get up with for this challenge!



I myself was in the mood for a light and monochrome card. I started with a #12 giant tag. I began stamping on it, but it was not quite as I expected. But luckily I had a large cardboard to hide it... sssttt lol. To make the corrugated look old I lightly brushed with Frayed Burlap Distress Stain on the ridges. When I think of Shabby Chic I think about white bird cages, and I could not resist that. I painted it white and so I did the bird, and distressed the edges with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. Don't you think that sentiment is true? I need to remind me more of that!









To join in all you need to do is make a project that fits this weeks challenge and you can be the winner of the $50 gift voucher that our amazing sponsor Simon Says Stamp offers. This prize will go to a random entry. So go over to the Stamp and Show Challenge blog, let the DT members inspire you and join in the fun!

Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra

Beterschap (Get well soon)

Hi everyone,

What a intense period it is at the moment. All around me all sorts of awful things happen. Would really like it to stop now please. The other day my uncle very made a really nasty fall, and all bruised and broken. He needs to lay at least for four more weeks in the hospital. A card to cheer him up is in place, I should think. With this card I participate with Papertake Weekly Challenge, where the theme this week is Anything goes.

The background is made with pattern paper from Studio Calico and then I used some of my new stamps to create some interest. Such as Dictionary Meanings of Kaisercraft and Distressed Textures by Bo Bunny. I also recently bought the Mini Pomegranate stencil and I'm totally wild about this stencil! What a nice cheerful pattern it is. And to give it a little extra boost I colored the modeling paste with yellow paint. And the most expensive thing I bought is the Word Play die. I'm in love with this die! So happy to put most of my new things into this card!









Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra

It's all in the numbers

Hi everyone,

Yes, it's Monday again and you guessed it, it's time for a new Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge. This time Dan has come up with a great theme, numbers.We live in a world filled with  numbers. We are so busy with numbers and often we don't even realize it. Without numbers, there was no time, no money and so many more things. Funny to think about that. So that is my spin on this really cool theme.



It's been a while since I've done something in my art journal. And this challenge is ideally suited for playing in it. So quickly, I went to work. First I primed the pages with gesso. I didn't know how messy I was going to be. I had a bit of an industrial street vibe in mind. So I wanted to use the Bricks stencil. To make it more grungy I randomly smeared  the edges of the pages with paint. I have a great stamp set with only numbers. That needed to be used of course. As did one of my favorite Dyan stencils with some colored modeling paste. I really got my creative juices going and this is the end result.









To join in all you need to do is make a project that fits this weeks challenge and you can be the winner of the $50 gift voucher that our amazing sponsor Simon Says Stamp offers. This prize will go to a random entry. So go over to the Stamp and Show Challenge blog, let the DT members inspire you and join in the fun!

Thank you for stopping by! Love to see you next time!

Hugs,
Sandra