Always take the scenic route for Country View Crafts Summer challenge .

Well it is the start of a new month a new challenge over at Country View Crafts where the theme is summer... for me Summer inspired me to go with the delicate soft blues of water and gorgeous sea creatures that make me think of happy times near the sea.

For these I created two cards using Eileen hull recipe card die, plenty of distress goodies and Tim Holtz goodies and some fab crackle glaze from DecoArt .

I started by creating the background using the recipe card die from Eileen Hull and cutting two cards from thick card , I then applied some modelling paste through the yummy flourish stencil from Tim Holtz and left to dry. I then applied some tumbled glass distress paint using cut n dry foam and left to dry. Then I applied a layer of DecoArt crackle glaze over the whole surface and left it to do its magic!

When dry I rubbed in some walnut stain distress ink and edged in walnut stain distress ink.

To complete the base card I added some dyed seam binding and a piece of industrial borders from Tim Holtz.

I love the aged finish created .

 

And the contrast of the soft seam binding..

So to complete the first card I added foliage thinlit from festive foliage thinlit set..cut from patterned paper, a seahorse movers and shapers die cut, a small talk quote cut in pieces and inked...and an idea-ology token..

The second one was finished in much the same way..

So that's my taste of summer , make sure you pop across to see the pieces my team mates have created ..you wont be disappointed and hopefully you will find time to join in this month x

 

Some close up pictures of some of the details...

I do so love a bit of crackle .. and making things have a gentle and vintage feel makes me happy 

keep those fingers inky!

trace x

Travel the world with those you love for Country View Crafts

Well the new challenge theme over at Country View Crafts is 'on your travels' and for my second offering I have made a little mini travel journal using lots of DecoArt goodies and my passport die designed by Eileen Hull...I think this is such a versatile die and sure to be used a lot!

So here it is :

and here is the inside : ready to be filled with all your travel pictures, souvenirs, holiday memories and whatever else you want ...

So some step x steps of the cover part ... I die cut the cover pieces from v thick card ( about 500gsm ). I then applied some DecoArt crackle paste through one of Andy Skinners new stencils -and left the crackle to do its magic! I then coated the pieces in titan buff paint (one of left painted )

I like to use my fingers brushes and semi dry baby wipes to apply my paint , swiping layers of colour across ..I started by swiping various colours, building up the layers including paynes grey, blue green light, burnt umber,

English red oxide, cobalt turquoise .. sorry got carried away so layers were built up until I was happy with how it looked...

I then , when happy -ish applied some interference gold ...applied here to one of left..

When happy I sealed with matte sealer to keep the layers I have already in tact...when dry I dripped some washes of quinacridione gold down ..to mimic rusty stuff!

To complete I added a layer of black antiquing cream, left to dry and then wiped back to reveal some of the colour underneath...I love the look this gives the finshed piece...the great thing is you can rub away as much or as little as you like...I then sealed with matte sealer (all DecoArt ).

To add to the front I die cut a movers and shapers Tim globe and treated with crackle, painty layers and antiquing cream before sealing...

Now for the inside ...I die cut all the pages using correspondence paper stack , inked the edges and added some rub ons to them..

I added ... some of my favourite photo booth images....these two look ready for some adventures...and one of the great small talk quotes, copped into sections and inked around the edges...

Inside the back cover I used the great new envelope die from Tim Holtz to create a little matching envelope to store tickets of any other small bits and bobs from your travels...and there is a perfect rub on for all you want to say... here ..collector of memories...

So here is the front cover complete with globe...all the ages were tied in in groups using dyed seam binding and tied on outside to form bows. I added a chit chat sticker to complete the cover ..

and on the side I added one of the gorgeous travel charms from idea-olgy range..

So hope you like my make, you have plenty of time to join in and it would be great to see what you make .xx

you could be one of the lucky guest designers or the winner of a voucher to spend in Susan's jammed shop, so why not pop across here to see plenty of inspiration and pop in an entry xx

So safe travels on your journeys...however near , or far....

Top dad

Just a quick one today to share the card I made for the children to send to Steve for father's day... 
So here it is :

I started by die cutting the trophy from a thick card and covered in Decoart crackle paste and left the paste to do its magic !
I then covered with a layer of grey Decoart paint and left to dry.

I love how the crackle can be varied depending on how thickly you apply the layer of paste

For the next layer I added a layer of black antiquing cream and then left to dry, rubbing back using a damp cloth ..allowing some to stay on the piece. I then applied a layer of matte sealer (again from Decoart).

Finally I applied a thin wash of quinacriodine gold paint...left to dry and re applied in areas..

Now for the background... I applied some frayed burlap to my craft sheet and a spritz or two of pumice stone distress spray stain. I spritzed the card and then swiped through the inky droplets...dried using heat tool and then re dipped into the remaining ink to create the splattered look. 

 I then heat dried again .

I added it to the card front, inked the edges with walnut stain distress ink and also added some stencilled detail using walnut stain.

I then added Dad , using worn text letters inked in jet black archival.

To complete the card I added some seam binding which I dyed with aged mahogany and tied around the handles. I also added a star to the front.

Well hope you like the card and will be back soon!

foray into foamboard

Well this piece is hugely inspired by the talent that is Andy Skinner , some playtime and some foamboard...wow what cool stuff that is ! This piece was created a while ago and has benn patiently awaiting blogging ...so here it is :

I got so carried away that I am afraid there are no step x step photos! I used some mdf for the base but after seeing Andy Skinner's demos from CHA had to try foam board and see what it was like so the raised pieces top and bottom are foamboard...love how it takes the layers of paints and gives great dimension. i made various embossed and crackled pieces and plenty of rusty gears as well as crackling a wooden heart and using various decoart paints and products to create this piece .

I love the look of the embossed panel with various painty techniques and then the antiquing cream and matte sealer... think that is my favourite piece of this whole piece...

I loved how well the wooden heart was altered with simple layers of products to create something that was more pleasing, well to my eye at least!

I even used the  paints to antique up some shiny screw like embellishments and tone them into this project. There were plenty of painty layers on the foam board too...

Well hope you like my dabbling playtime, still plenty more to learn and play with but I think I am fairly happy with the results for start!

So that's it for today, hopefully with internet issues remedied I will be round to catch up on some long overdue blog visits really soon .x

keep those fingers inky and painty!

trace x 

Positively playful

Well as I am scheduling in some blog posts while busy enjoying my family I decided to share a dabble with decoart I created a while ago... so here it is :

I created the drippy background using distress paints and some homemade sprays using mini mister bottles and distress re - inkers.

The next layer was created using a tag, embossed and then painted using the decoart media range of paints, the cool thing about layering these is the chance to play with transparent colours allowing great layering. I then added some crackle glaze and when dry rubbed paint into the crackles.

 Then I added some stitching, to give a different detail...

Then it was time to layer up the card, I added some stamping using one of Andy Skinners new stamps...love this circuit board...which I stamped in paint...just make sure you clean off your stamp fairly quickly. i die cut, painted and crackled a heart which then had a coat of decoart antiquing cream painted on and rubbed off highlighting the crackles.

I added some rusty wire and plenty of my favourite pieces of idea-ology for good measure .

Finally I added some stencilled detail using Andy Skinner's have your say stencil using paint.

 So there you have it , my decoart dabble meets distress playtime..and I made a card!

on my return, hopefully internet issues fixed I will be back to catch up on some long overdue blog visits x 

keep those fingers inky and painty!

trace x