Grocer Jack?

Enfys is setting today's dare over at Daring Cardmakers and she's asking us to use packaging from a grocery item in our makes.

I used a bit of card from a box that held lasagne sheets to stamp the main image.

Thankfully I'd decided to use the MISTI so that I could paint the face and collar and then stamp again so the detail wasn't obscured. I say thankfully because (as I should have anticipated) the card was coated which meant it took several goes to get decent coverage on areas like his hat. Brilliance ink is great though - it will dry on a slick surface, no problem.

A couple of grocery extras round this out - my age-old trick of using tomato paste tubes gave me the frame (embossed in a folder and swiped with black acrylic paint). I also stuck some textured foil from the inner seal of a pot of spreadable cheese onto a scrap of card and punched out the star. A wee bit of "aging" with the paint brought out the texture nicely - might be more obvious on the detail photo.

A snippet of film ribbon and the "scrap" from between strips of stickers on a Tim Holtz "industrial" sheet finish it off.

The song "Grocer Jack" (proper name "Excerpt from a teenage opera", I believe) started running through my head as I edited the photos for this - who knows, maybe this gentleman really was!

Stamps:
Dashing Gents by Darkroom Door

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Vintage Photo)

Paper:
Smooth white
"Kraft" from a lasagne box

Other:
Tomato paste tube
Foil seal from pot of spreadable cheese 
Diamonds embossing folder (Sizzix/Basic Grey)
Star punch (Fiskars)
Rectangle Nestabilities (Spellbinder)
Filmstrip ribbon (Tim Holtz)
Scrap from Industrious stickers (Tim Holtz)
White acrylic paint 

Thanks for stopping by!

Greens

Lythan has chosen this week's challenge over at Daring Cardmakers and in honour of St Patrick's Day she'd like us to use shades of green (and a dash of leprechaun's gold if you wish).

I started by brushing several shades of green acrylic paint randomly onto a piece of watercolour paper. Once dry I used chalk ink to stamp a bit of script and a swirl and added a tiny scrap of torn book page (inked with Distress ink).

There's a tiny bit of gold Rub n Buff on two corners and around the edge but I'm afraid they just look dark and muddy on the photo!

The die cut leaf was also painted with acrylic paint and has white pen highlighting the top edges of each bit.

Stamps:
19th Century Script (Hero Arts)
Beautiful (CHF, sadly with us no more)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, retired, keep an eye out at Gina K in case it comes back via that route)

Paper:
Watercolour
Cryogen White

Ink:
VersaMagic by Tsukineko (Tea Leaves)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Acrylic paints - various greens
Back to Nature dies by Sizzix
White Posca pen
Gold Rub n Buff

Thanks for stopping by!

Take the rough with the smooth

I'm setting my very first dare over at Daring Cardmakers this week. I'm asking for projects that take the rough with the smooth - combine a rough (or bumpy) element with something smooth/shiny.


I've die cut some circles of sandpaper for my rough texture and added glaze to circles that are inked and domed out for the smooth. There's a bit extra shine as I used Perfect Pearls and a stencil for the background.

The shells have just the tiniest touch of Copic shading but the stamps are detailed enough that they really don't need much doing to them - I do love this set!

Stamps:
Antique Engravings and Say It All (Hero Arts)

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Versamark by Tsukineko
Tim Holtz Distress in by Ranger (Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass)

Paper:
Smooth white
Sandpaper

Other:
Circle dies (Spellbinder)
Cell Theory 6x6 stencil by Crafters Workshop
Perfect Pearls by Ranger (Forever Blue, Blue Raspberry, Turquoise)
Triple Thick Glaze by DecoArt
Corner Chomper

I'd love it if you could play along with my dare! Thanks for stopping by!

March Elemental

It's the start of a new month so Daring Cardmakers has an "elemental" challenge for us - Enfys is asking us to be inspired by at least three elements from her striking picture (it's at the bottom of this post if you didn't arrive here from the DCM blog).

I chose the grid lines formed by the window frames, the various vases and bottles (including some twigginess!), the shiny chrome of the light fitting and the overall black and white/muted colour palette.

The image was stamped first and masked with a Post-It note mask. I used low-tack tape to make the grid and gently sponged on grey ink. The image is lightly coloured with Copics (the tiny flash of yellow is a nod to the yellow book that drew my eye on the bookshelf).

I used Flitter Glu and shiny silver flake for the sentiment which looks pretty but does tend to "disappear" with the light at certain angles which made photographing it a bit tricky!

Stamps:
Vases (Serendipity Stamps)
Sentiment from Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, retired)

Ink: 
Soft Granite by Hero Arts
Brilliance Graphite Black by Tsukineko

Paper: Bristol Board

Other:
Flitter Glu and Sheffield Steel Mega Flake by Indigo Blu 
Low tack tape
Copic markers
Charcoal pencil

Here's the inspiration picture:

Thanks for stopping by!

Sombody to love...

I've managed to play along again in The Craft Barn's Song Title Challenge - this month's song is Somebody to Love by Queen.

Queen were one of my favourite bands when I was in my teens, I had all the albums up to The Works and can still remember being so excited to find an original copy of their very first album in a record shop in Morecambe after the (flimsier!) one had been released under the "Fame" branding.

When I saw the challenge, an image popped into my head straight away, inspired by the lyric that says "I just gotta get out of this prison cell". I've decided to make a postcard for each of these challenges and this time I had fun with cocktail sticks, corrugated card, die cuts and dry brushed acrylic paint! 

As the challenge wants us to include the artist as well as the song title, I made a little plaque for the cell door by hammering letter punches into a scrap of mountboard before giving it the acrylic paint treatment.

Dry brushing is probably not the technique for you if you're in a hurry but it's great to watch details emerging if you have time - I used some texturising paste for a corroded effect in places as well as the die cuts and embossed plaque.

Stamps: Jane by Indigo Blu

Paper: 
Black
Corrugated card
Mountboard 

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Cocktail sticks
Copic markers
Typeset strip die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix
Letter punches
Texturising medium by DecoArt
Pewter and Silver acrylic paints 

Thanks for stopping by!