By the Sea with Rubber Dance

I've gone small today with a little teeny display piece created using Tim Holtz's Mini Cabinet Card die for Sizzix as a background and decorated with - you guessed it! - Rubber Dance stamps.

The New Retro Beach set is a recent re-release from Bibi of an old favourite set of mine. I figured August was my last chance to use it this year before the dreaded Xmas makes kick in. Well, it IS still summer :).

I used a lot of stamping on the background but started with a base of patterned paper by Kaisercraft. I love using paper as base for layering onto as it gives that little touch more depth. I stamped it with various images from the Rubber Dance set and added some light spritzing with Distress Spray Stain in Evergreen Bough. At the top of each panel is a cut out painted shell which is outlined with Pumice Stone Distress Ink to make it pop a little bit. Onto this I place some mesh ribbon and some metal corners aged with white gesso,

My focal images are stamped onto the same patterned paper I used for the background, then lightly tinted with watered-down Distress Inks - I used Broken China, Tattered Rose and Vintage Photo. The photo mat is also distressed. The panels are added to the background with some stamped words (the Dymo style ones) and shells, plus some real shells.

I've enjoyed my last make of summer - hope you like it and the sun is shining where you are :).

Katy x

I used these awesome Rubber Dance stamps;

New Retro Beach

Take the Plunge (small shells used)

Round in Circles (circles background top left used)

Still wishing for the seaside!

Yes, I am back in my seaside themed comfort zone again - get used to it - I might be there until the end of summer!!! The background is basically a gesso resist with Distress Spray Stains - described in detail below if you want to know more.

Today's creation is going into a few challenges that inspired it (gotta love a challenge when you need some ideas to get you started).

- Art with Heart June Challenge - Summer with Sizzix

(I used three Sizzix dies - Cobblestones, Tattered Pinecone (foliage) and Sand & Sea)

- That Craft Place - Layers 

(Many MANY layers - check out my info below)

And last but not least...

- Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge - Mist and Stamp

(I used Distress Spray Stains and Cosmic Shimmer Mists, plus a Prima texture stamp (Finnabair), and shell and quote stamps (Rubber Dance New Retro Beach set).

Here's a little more info about how I made it.

The background is layered up as follows:

1 Torn pieces of book page, Sizzix Cobblestones die cuts (torn into pieces) and net ribbon.

2 A loose coat of white gesso - the coverage is incomplete.

3 Distress Spray Stains in Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Salty Ocean and Evergreen Bough. I added a few layers, drying between. The gesso resists the ink and the book page is more absorbent than the background, so you get paler and darker areas of each colour.

4 Circles created with texture paste through a stencil (Tim Holtz), then painted over with a wash of Distress Paints in Salty Ocean and Evergreen Bough once dry.

5 At this stage I added a touch more spray here and there and stamped speckles around the edge in Potting Shed Archival.

The background is mounted onto torn corrugated card which has been lightly gessoed.

The decor was created as follows:

1 Seahorse: Die cut and sprayed with two colours of Cosmic Shimmer Mist - dried and then inked with Wild Honey and Walnut Stain Distress Inks. Then spritzed with a Distress Marker Spritzer and a Frayed Burlap Distress Marker to create the speckles.

2 Foliage: Cut from the Tattered Pinecone die, inked with Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint Distress Inks and stamped with the same Prima texture stamp for detail. Glued only on the central stem to allow it to to be bent upwards to simulate movement. The chipboard foliage is Tando.

3 Sea Bed: Pieces of torn sandpaper, driftwood, a real shell and stamped shells inked to match the real one.

Many of the elements are glued with Pinflair for dimension.

Took a fair old while to make this but I think it was worth the effort :).

Thanks for popping in!

Katy xxx

By the Sea for Rubber Dance

My turn for a step-by-step tutorial for Rubber Dance today. A bit of upcycling this time - using my new obsession - DecoArt products. I am officially in love!

Instructions for my make are over on the Rubber Dance blog. I used the yum New Retro Beach stamps in the main - this is one of my fave sets.

I am entering my little creation into a couple of challenges too:

- Frilly and Funkie - It's Summer (nothing says summer to me like the beach!)

- Simon Says Stamp - Don't Cut Just Paste (cos I used crackle paste)

Thanks for visiting today :).

Katy x

I used these awesome RD stamps:

New Retro Beach

For the Birds

June Rubber Dance Challenge - Answers on a Postcard!

A little big of postcard art from me today - created for my Rubber Dance Challenge reminder post. 

If you'd like to play along with us you can find all the details here. And below is the colour swatch for this month, inspired by the seaside.

Sunny/sand yellow, ocean green and blue.

In addition to our colour scheme, our OPTIONAL theme for June is Sand & Sea

I used a lot of masking to create my postcard as obviously it needs to be pretty flat if you want to post it. When masking, make sure you stamp what is in the foreground first - in my case the retro bather stamp. I then masked her and stamped the 'postcard' image, and then masked that before adding the sun. 

For the shell cluster I stamped the starfish first, then used several masks for both the starfish and shells to make a cluster. I added the 'waves' (using the sand dune stamp from New Retro Beach upside down) with the masks still in place.

What you see in the photos is the finished card but after the stamping I masked everything so I could add Distress Inks to colour the background. When doing this use a dabbing motion rather than the usual blending technique to prevent the masks moving.

 I chose to colour my stamped images quite loosely, in keeping with the retro style (and if I am honest because I can't colour for toffee!!!). To finish I added letter stickers reading Wish You Were Here (and boy do I wish I was!).

I'm also entering my postcard in another challenge (you could do the same!) - Dunja's birthday challenge, which has this mood board as it's inspiration.

Good luck if you join us for the Rubber Dance challenge!

Katy xxx

I used these Rubber Dance stamps for my postcard:

Envelope Stamps

New Retro Beach

Take the Plunge (I designed these!)

Beside the Sea for Rubber Dance

There are not many places (excepting Disney World!) that I like better than being by the sea. I am not a sunbather but I love to walk along the sand, dipping my toes in the water and looking for treasures. I've not been feeling creative at all lately but after my recent holiday to sunnier climes I've come back wanting to recapture the relaxed beach vibe in my art.

My shadow box is inspired by a recent class I did with Claudia Neubacher where we made a little shrine - I love the idea of making a home for little treasures and this is the result, using one of my favourite Rubber Dance sets. Here's how I made it.

1) I turned a small canvas backwards so I could use the opening. After painting the sides and inside edges of the aperture with Peacock Feathers Distress Paint I covered the front with paper stamped with the frame and mesh images from the Rubber Dance Retro Beach set. I stamped the frame again on the piece of paper I cut from the middle of the frame and stuck it into the aperture.

2) I distressed the edges of the paper and added a smear of sand texture paste (DecoArt) around the edge - when dry I rubbed some Potting Shed Archival Ink over the paste and edges of the paper and added smears of Peacock Feathers paint here and there.

3) I added some torn corrugated card, some die cuts and stamped images (also from Retro Beach) to finish, cutting the quote into pieces so it could run around the frame edge. Finally I filled my niche with treasures from the beach - driftwood, pebbles and shells - gluing them in place with silicone glue to give them dimension.

I'm entering this make into a few challenges:

Our Creative Corner - Makes You Smile: http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/what-makes-you-smile.html

That Craft Place - Anything Goes: http://thatcraftplaceblog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/new-challenge-anything-goes.html

Tuesday Throwdown - Out to Sea: http://tuesdaythrowdown.blogspot.no/2015/06/tuesday-throwdown-tt247-out-to-sea.html

Thanks for popping by :)
Katy x

Rubber Dance stamps used:

Retro Beach