February 2014 Challenge- Use Distress

Hi to all of our blog readers

We do have to say a BIG thank you to everyone who joined in January's challenge, and I will be announcing the winner later in the month.
This month, we have another very talented guest joining us at The Artistic Stamper, Laura Bomber and you can see the first of Laura's  posts tomorrow.

Our new challenge for February is USE DISTRESS
 The whole team are really looking forward to seeing all your fabulous artwork and stamped projects that you submit in relation to this theme. To join in with this challenge (and you can join in as many times as you want), is simple; all we would like you to do is, make a piece of artwork, making sure that you include the theme and some rubberstamping. Pop back here to link up using the Froggy at the bottom of this post, so that we can see what you've made and then, leave us a comment to let us know you have joined in with the challenge. As always, there will be candy for one randomly picked entrant - the winner will receive £15 worth of The Artistic Stamper stamps of your choice. And don't forget....if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry, you will entered into the draw, twice!!!!

To get you in the mood  here are some gorgeous makes from myself and Astrid.

Astrid
 For this challenge I decided to make a so called ATB (Artist Trading Block). There has been a lot of buzz about these and there is now even a die available from Sizzix to cut them. Really they are cubes, giving you 6 sides to have fun with, and for this challenge I used lots of Distress products of course. As the die is not yet available in the UK, I just cut my own. I will post instructions of how to do this on my own blog in a few days time. Meanwhile, here you can see some of it:

I used Distress Stains, Distress Inks, lots of lovely Ideaology Findings and of course stamps: Chicken wire background, Calligraphic Mat 12 and Winged Wheel

Jennie
I have altered a mini board book with Distress paints to use as a mini journal. I put lots of Distress paint on the cover and sprayed it with water to get it to smoosh around.

 

Allow it to dry thoroughly or heat dry. I love the Distress paints as they will cover a multitude of sins, and are very opaque. Perfect for covering up. I used some of Tim's rub-ons to add detail, and used The Artistic Stamper Masks with paint too. Add the paint to a blending tool foam to get more accuracy when using a mask. Stamp the journaling stamp with Archival in various colours.

This little book is perfect for when you have the need to spend a little time journaling :)
I used Distress paints, The Artistic Stamper masks, Journaling Words #5, Archival Inks, Idea-ology Rub-ons, and chitchat stickers

We hope you will join in this month's challenge and look forward to seeing you creations. Don't forget to add a comment when you have posted your entry.

Have a very creative month

{hugs}

Jennie

A Little Bit Spooky...

Hello everyone!
Can you believe it, we are nearly at the end of October and Halloween is just around the corner.
Well, my project today is not strictly a Halloween project, but it has a sort of halloweeny, spooky feel to it, at least I think so.

It's a collage made out of 4 ATCs.
I started by taking 4 ATC (2.5 by 3.5") sized bits of smooth stamping card and blended 4 colours of Distress Inks over them with my Ink Blending Tools. I then added some stamping using the Distress Inks and the Chicken Wire and Regency Background stamps  and then, while the ink was still wet, sprinkled some Perfect Pearls powder over them. Once dry I brushed off the excess. The next step was to do some more stamping, this time I used black Archival Ink and  stamps from the set: Architecture A 4. Two more bits of stamping followed, this time using Gesso and the Swirls, Splats & Dots stamp

Stamping with Gesso is great fun. You spread out a thin layer on your craft mat and then use that like an ink pad. Just make sure you clean your stamps straight away with some running water, as Gesso dries fast. I added a second layer, this time using a stamp from Tim Holtz's Attic Treasures set. I also added some strips of paper from an old book page.

Now for the final touches. For my vocal image I stamped one of the new Donna Rodgers stamps "Age" with Black Archival ink onto white card. I cut it out and coloured lightly with some Distress inks.I now mounted my 4 ATCs on a piece of black card and glued the Donna image in front. I also added the Word Carpe Diem from the  Journaling Words 3 set. I added some embellishments from my stash and gave it some spritzes of Perfect Pearls Mists to tie it all together. I also did a bit of shading with a charcoal pencil around the main images..
I'll leave you with a few detailed pictures, until next time!