I am... journalling again

Hello all, Alison (butterfly) here with a journal page for you today.

This one started a while back, and got as far as having all the texture in place and a sharp monochromatic look.  But then it got a bit stuck, wondering where to go next.

Then the new Distress Stain Sprays appeared, and suddenly the game was on!  Faded Jeans and Vintage Photo and we're away.  I'll show you some close-ups of my favourite bits as I let you in on the steps I took to get here.

I started with strips of tissue tape across the page and added crackle paste in various areas.

I spread it quite thinly so that the crackle would be very fine.

The large heart was created with a hand-torn stencil shape, through which I first spread texture paste and then added a coat of crackle once that was dry.  I wanted a really thick, dimensional look, and that's what I got.

I embedded the pen nibs before the crackle heart had set, so no need for glue.

This was the point at which things ground to a halt.  However, once I knew there was spraying in the offing I gave the whole thing a wash of Fresco paint in Chalk.  It's part of one of the JOFY Limited Edition sets.  As well as muting the tape, it gives a lovely warm base colour.

In order to really add depth to the crackles of the heart, I splodged Black Soot Distress Stain over it, then wiped it back, leaving it just in the cracks.  Then I let loose with the two chosen Distress Stain Sprays.  It's such a delight finally to have sprays in the Distress colours without having to tip my Distress Stains into spritzers.  Perfectly possible, yes, but fiddly and always with the risk I'd knock the lidless stain over and lose it all!!

I added some of the fabulous Katy Leitch splodges and blots from the Messy Art plate, stamped in Coffee Archival.

And I used the I am... stamp from the Journalling Words #5 set on a Chalk-washed tag also stamped in Coffee Archival.

It wasn't quite popping enough, so I drew around the edges with a PITT pen and used an embossing ink pen to fill in the letters, followed by clear embossing powder to give it a hint of shine.

As you can see, I also used Treasure Gold to add a touch of warmth and glamour.  It also helps to highlight all that texture.

So there you have it.  I am... rather happy with this one.  It pleases me, and I'm looking forward to lots more Distress spritzing!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  It's always lovely to hear what you think.

You've still got a week or so to come and play in our Christmas is Coming challenge.  You don't have to use Artistic Stamper stamps, but if you do you get two entries in the prize draw.  Hope to see you there.

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper stamps: Journalling Words #5, Katy Leitch Messy Art
Distress Stain Sprays - Faded Jeans, Vintage Photo
Fresco Paints - Chalk (JOFY Limited Edition Autumn 2014)
Coffee Archival Ink
Croco Crackling Colour - White
DecoArt Crackle Paint
Idea-ology Tissue Tape
PITT pen
Inkssentials Embossing Pen
Clear Embossing Powder
Treasure Gold - Florentine

Field Notes of a Naturalist

Hello all, Alison (butterfly) here with a Victorian naturalist's field notes from his day's excursion in the fields... and we're back to the neutrals!  It's a simple stamped tag, using Katy Leitch's fabulous new Jumbo Flowers along with one of the Stampers Anonymous Classics releases from earlier this year.

I kept the stamping simple over a background of Fresco paints and crackle glaze.  I couldn't resist a spot of clear-embossing though!

The flowers are done in Potting Soil Archival, which seems an appropriate enough colour for botanical sketches.  This is the Bouvardia, tucked away at the bottom...

Here's the Flowering Branch...

And the Camellia...

The insects are stamped in Jet Black Archival...

... carefully labelled to keep track of genus and species.

In between, you might catch sight of the sparkle of some handwritten notes about what he's found.

I stamped the Calligraphy Mat #9 in Pumice Stone Distress Ink, and then clear-embossed it.  I love the dewy shimmer as it catches the light, so I don't mind the occasional places where it's spots rather than writing - just more dew drops!

There's some simple embellishing - a word band attached with rustic twine, and the pen nib with which he's been scratching his field notes in his journal.

At the top some seam binding, dyed with Pumice Stone and bound with more twine, is fastened with a Muse Token celebrating the new knowledge he's acquired in today's nature ramble.

The whole thing is matted onto black card, to give a little extra definition, and that's your lot.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  There's still time to enter our By the Seaside challenge this month... hope to see you there!

Ingredients used:

Artistic Stamper Stamps: Katy Leitch Jumbo Flowers - Bouvardia, Camellia and Flowering Branch, Calligraphic Mat #9

Stampers Anonymous - Classics #17

Fresco Finish Paints - Crackle Glaze, French Roast, Chocolate Pudding, Stone, Snowflake

Ranger Archival Ink - Potting Soil, Jet Black

Distress Inks - Pumice Stone, Walnut Stain, Gathered Twigs

Clear Embossing Powder

Idea-ology Findings - Word Band, Pen Nib, Muse Token

Twine 

Seam binding

A Doodly Twosome

Hello all!  Alison (butterfly) here again, this time with a pair of tags which are not quite in my usual vein - though they are in some of my favourite colours!

I used the new Alphabet Soup by Neil Walker as my starting point.  I clear embossed the background onto a tag.

Then I sprayed lots of lovely Dylusions colour onto it, and dried it with a heat tool.  I love the squiggly doodly lettering.

The next step was to cut Umbrella Man with the Sizzix die (did I dream it, or did I read that he's been discontinued?  In any case, he's still available here at Artistic Stamper for now).

I hadn't really planned on making two tags, but as soon as I'd cut him, I realised I had the makings of a 'positive' and a 'negative' version.

For the backgrounds, I just blended on various Distress Ink colours from grass to sky and gave both tags a good old spritz and flick with some water.

The words are all from the fabulous Journalling Words #5 set.  I stamped them onto another inky tag I had lying around on the desk, in a combination of Mowed Lawn and Peacock Feathers, and clear embossed the result.

I cut them and inked the edges and mounted them on padded tape for a little pop of dimension.

I altered a couple of Muse Tokens with Distress Paint, then sanded back to the metal underneath.

As soon as I saw the silvery detailing, I wanted to echo it on the rest of the tags.

So I used some silver gilding wax to edge the words and the tags themselves.

I ended up adding quite a lot of silvery sheen to the embossed Alphabet Soup too because I really liked the look of it.

A couple of twirls of metal wire finish off the tags at the top.  It's just some more of the rescued wires from some spiral bound notebooks that were being thrown away... 'waste not, want not', as they say!

And that's pretty much that... I hope you like my doodly tags.

Thanks so much for stopping by - I always love to hear what you think.

Oh, and we'd also love it if you came along to play in our July challenge By the Seaside - can't wait to see your creations.  See you again soon.

Ingredients used

Artistic Stamper Stamps:  Neil Walker Alphabet Soup, Journalling Words #5
Sizzix Umbrella Man die
Dylusions Sprays - Polished Jade, After Midnight, Cut Grass
Distress Inks - Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Gathered Twigs
Versamark Ink Pad
Clear Embossing Powder
Idea-ology Muse Tokens
Distress Paints - Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers, Tumbled Glass
Manila Tags
Foam Pads
From my stash - gilding wax (but these are similar) and wire from a spiral bound notebook

Can I interest you in...

Hello all, Alison (butterfly) here with a mischievous little trio of ATCs... each of them attempting to entice you into a purchase you didn't even know you wanted!  I love these Artistic Stamper Steampunk stamps - they're like a little touch of time-travel, which regulars at Words and Pictures will know is something I yearn for.

There's the frankly malevolent-looking Phineas Pinchbeck, offering up his clocks to the satirically appropriate clients.

Master Squaretoe's Continuous Lunch sounds just the ticket for a queasy stomach (in the sense of you ending up with one, rather than it being a cure!).

And for the proud possessors of Luxuriant Moustaches, you won't want to be without Professor Barber's patent pomade.

The ATCs themselves are pretty simple, as I think these advertising images pretty much sell themselves.  I started with some ink on the craft mat - Pumice Stone, a hint of Vintage Photo and a few spritzes of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls spray, which adds a lovely metallic touch.

I stamped the images in Jet Black Archival, and used a blending tool to add plenty more Vintage Photo.  I also stamped the Artistic Stamper Mini Polka Dot Background in Sepia Archival.

There are some Tim Holtz Remnant Rub flourishes around the edges, and a dusting of gesso for some extra highlighting and texture.

And finally each of our tempters got his own little bit of metal embellishing: a clock for the Professor...

... some gears to keep the digestive system churning for the duration of the Continuous Lunch...

... and Mr Pinchbeck clearly deserves to be labelled Unique with an Idea-ology Muse Token.

So that's my historical advertising trio for you today.  Hope you don't get tempted into anything unwise!  Mind you, there's still a week to join our In The Garden challenge and while you don't have to use Artistic Stamper stamps to join in, if you do you get two entries into the draw... so you might want to go stamp shopping!!  Thanks so much for stopping by, and I'll see you again soon.

Ingredients used:

Artistic Stamper stamps - Phineas Pinchbeck, Squaretoe's Continuous Lunch, Goose Grease, Mini Polka Dot Background

Idea-ology Remnant Rubs Elements

Idea-ology Muse Tokens

Distress Inks - Pumice Stone, Vintage Photo

Perfect Pearls Mist - Heirloom Gold

Gesso