"New" postcard

We've just had one of our occasional postcard swaps on Bubbly Funk. Our theme this time was "new" with interpretation completely up to the players! As ever, our cards are posted as genuine postcards so keeping it flat is good.

I tried to shoehorn in several "new" elements - a new technique, a New Year theme (it is still January - just!) and a new stamp (OK, not that new but the first time I've used it since it didn't get used for what I originally planned for it). I've gone a bit "eclectic mixed media" in the hope it will suit the recipient!

My new (to me) technique was to tint modelling paste with Pan Pastels. The dots on the left are made from the paste applied through a sequin waste mask so they have a bit of dimension. Tinting with acrylic paint can make the paste a bit sloppy but this worked brilliantly, especially as the pigment is so strong you don't need much. Just squeeze a little paste out onto a non-stick mat, rub a sponge over the Pan to dust some powder off onto the paste and mix with a spatula. The dots on the right are flat - I just inked the card and then used a babywipe through the mask to remove some of the Distress ink.

The Pan Pastel blog has another "anything goes" theme this week with an option to play along with the DT in using a metallic (details here). I don't have any of the metallic Pan Pastels (they do look lush though!) so although I incorporated the theme, I did it by giving the party puffin a sparkly crown with a metallic gold glitter pen. If you fancy playing, there's no requirement to use Pan Pastels or other Premium Craft Brands products, it's just that I tend to use the challenge as a push to use the Pans I have.

Stamps:
Party Puffin by Alice Palace at Crafty Individuals
Just My Type alpha stamps by Ma Vinci's Reliquary

Paper: Smooth white

Ink: 
Graphite Black Brilliance by Tsukineko
Broken China Distress ink by Ranger

Other:
Maimeri Light Modelling Paste
Turquoise Pan Pastel
Black pastel pencil
White Posca paint pen
Copic fineline marker
Fiskars squeeze punch (stars doodled by drawing round a punched shape and cross hatching to fill)
Copic markers
Sequin Waste mask by Tando Creative
Gold Spica Glitter pen

Thanks for stopping by!

Warm hugs

I had such fun experimenting with Pan Pastels on canvas for my first foray into 2014 that I thought I'd have a go at something a bit bigger.

The weekly mixed media challenge at Splitcoast Stampers has been set by the very talented Dina who has asked us to concentrate on warm colours. As I'm usually drawn to the blue-green end of the spectrum it was fun to push the other way here! I combined with this week's PanPastels challenge again as I used something other than card as my substrate.

I played with PanPastels, acrylic paint, Posca paint pen, Versamark, pigment ink and Copic marker (on the sequins) to mix up the media. Colouring neutral embellishments with Copics (or other alcohol-based markers) is a great way to get coordinating elements without having to have every colour under the sun on hand!

Stamps:
Jumbo Rose by Stampendous
Truly Appreciated by Hero Arts

Paper:
Bitter choclate
Canvas (inkjet printer type from the £ shop)

Ink:
Pearlescent Chocolate Brilliance by Tsukineko
Versamark

Other:
PanPastels (Diarylide Yellow, Orange, Permanent Red)
Red acrylic paint
White Posca pen
Drywall tape
Sequins

Thanks for stopping by!

Pastel Indigo?

Oh dear - a rather late "Happy New Year" on my blog! A horrible cough and cold put paid to crafting early in 2014 for me, I'm only just starting to feel human enough to venture into the craft room!

As a little kickstart, I visited a couple of challenges I haven't played for ages. This week's challenge at PanPastels is "anything goes" with an extra push to use something other than card as a substrate  (here - challenge closes 12 noon on Tuesday). At IndigoBlu it's "from the heart" (details here - challenge runs to 20th of Feb).

I decided to try a little clean and simple with a side order of grunge and although I made a card I did use a couple of things other than cardstock with the pastels. I stamped the script in Versamark on a little piece of canvas and rubbed Turquoise over it - the colour sticks more intensely to the Versamark than the plain canvas so you get subtle patterning. I use cheapo canvas that's sold for inkjet printing photos for this kind of thing as you don't mind experimenting and maybe wasting some if things don't work out as you'd hoped!

The heart is done with modelling paste through a handcut stencil - I originally intended to go straight onto the card with it but the canvas was a bit too thick for that to work well (because of the "step") so I did it on a separate scrap of card, cut it out when dry and coloured it with PanPastels. It's the first time I've tried it and the "tooth" of the dried paste takes the colour really well.

Lots of reflection here this morning so I'm afraid the pearlescent ink looks very different on the card base than it does on the canvas - it's the same and looks better in real life, honest!

Stamps:
Sarah's Choice by IndigoBlu

Paper:
Smooth white
Canvas

Ink:
Pearlescent Chocolate Brilliance by Tsukineko

Other:
Diarylide Yellow, Oranage, Permanent Red and Permanent Red Shade PanPastels
Meimeri Light Modelling Paste
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by, I hope 2014 is kind to you!