Mixed Media 'M'

Well hello there!

This is another of the lettered gifts that I made for family at Christmas. 

I started off by 'gesso-ing' the MDF letter before applying white crackle glaze.

I also added light paste through a stencil for added texture.

Once dry, it was time to add the embellishments...

...a photo frame, art stones, heart decorations....

...flowers, glass stones, chipboard shapes.....

...and ooooodles of glitter.

Of course, don't forget the sisal. This stuff gets everywhere...lol.

To finish, I gave the letter a very light wash with pink, acrylic paint, which seeps into the cracks of the crackle paste. 

That's it!

Have a great weekend everyone.

Mama Elephant - The Cat's Meow

One for the cat lovers today, using The Cat's Meow stamp set from Mama Elephant. 

This is a big stamp so I used my Misti to make sure that I got a good inked impression.

No fancy, schmancy colouring, just a bunch of Zig Real Brush Markers.

I fussy cut the cats, plus a few balloons (also from the set) and stuck them to my card base with foam pads.

Nice and simple.....purrrrrrfect.

Alcohol Ink Card

Ahoy!

Today's a sleety, rainy, cloudy, brrrrr kinda day and I for one am going stir-crazy not being able to get outside in the garden.

Roll on spring!

My card today is similar to one I made a while back using just 2 alcohol inks and foil.

I did make a video (Click here) of the process but since then I've been asked many times about the foiling and what I used to blow the inks around.

Firstly, on this card and the original, the foil adhered to the inks because some colours, like Teakwood, have a tendency to remain sticky where it pools. If it hadn't remained sticky then I could have just used glue like Flitterglu. If you Google 'Decofoil' you'll find tonnes of ways of adding foil to your projects, whether it's using a laminator, glue pen, adhesive tape, etc, etc... Trust me, you don't need anything flashy or expensive, just sticky.

Again, on the original card and in the video, I used a Tim Holtz air spritzer to blow the inks about but honestly you don't need a fancy gadget. I didn't buy the spritzer for these inks originally but it did work great with this technique and saved me having to get in close and blow the inks. If you've got enough puff then go ahead and just blow the inks or (if they don't ban them completely) use a straw. If you're doing large areas then use a hairdryer. Again, you don't need anything fancy.

Alcohol inks are free spirits.

They have a mind of their own, but that's part of the fun. 

Just go with the flow and enjoy! 

If you'd like to see the original video click here.

Fav' Son's 18th

Today is a very special day in our house...our son's 18th birthday.

I know what you're thinking....how can a spring-chicken like myself, possibly have an 18 year old child (Cough!)

Moving on (Cough!)

Now the whole planet knows that finding the right card for a male is almost impossible. Cute cards just don't cut it anymore and he's not into the stereotypical male card activities of sailing or beer drinking, so for a while I just sat staring at my desk....I say 'a while'....I mean 'for EVER!'

With my new 'mixed-media' head on I eventually decided on this...

I started by adding a brick textured effect background to my piece of card with Light Paste and a Tim Holtz stencil. I used the tiny square border stamp from MFT's 'Whimsical Greetings' to frame the photo, attached it all to a piece of black card, then flicked black & white ink splatters everywhere...

...and I mean EVERYWHERE!!! 

I need to practise my flicking technique...lol.

The handsome creature in the photo is my gorrrrrrrrjuss son Oliver...truly a Limited Edition.

If you do read this Oliver (which I know you won't coz it's uncool to follow your mum's blog)...then Happy Birthday kiddo.

Love you loads!!