Is this enough?

Hello there

What a morning I've had. I've been sat up here in my little room after a good long walk with the dogs, on a very cold January morning in the U.K. with tiny bits of sunshine thrown in. I've been watching Louise Nelson again but on Vimeo this time, as I watched her Jumpstart 2013 video last night and was so inspired by her style and Debby Lewis's take on her video too, that I had to create myself. I've probably said this before but so often I just get inspired and then that's it. Just sat in front of the computer getting inspired. How is that inspired? It only works if I actually get off my bottom and create. So guess what? I actually got off my bottom! :-)

I got a piece of packaging chipboard and coated it with gesso. I was even enough on the ball to remember to cut it down to 8x8in, so it'll fit in the album I want it to go in. How good is that?!! :-)

The next step has loads of layers, in a practical sense as well as in the layout sense. I spritzed, masked, blobbed and dripped all over the place. Although, no, not all over the place, as I purposefully tried to keep most of the design in the bottom right hand corner. 

It would be rude not to add some Perfect Pearls mist  :-)

Some crude banners I made by just rubbing some
ink onto some left over packaging material

Louise's main focus in the Jumpstart video is crackle paint
and the different products available to do it. I used a blue
Ranger one, as it's the only one I have!

This is a lovely mask but I really wish it was a stencil- the
negative of it is clear plastic, so I find it too hard to use.

I love the finished result, other than that stupid base banner - dozy me placed it too far out, so I had
to cut it down and made a hash of it :-(

To answer my original question; yes this is more than enough for me. It's nowhere near as good as the other members of the Creative Jumpstart but we're all at different places on our creative journeys, so I'm happy.

Take care out there

I'm not convinced

Hello there

Over on Creative Jumpstart 2013, Nathalie Kalbach shows a technique on video 13. Nathalie shows stamping on printer transparency paper. "Ok", I hear you say, "big deal!"
But Nathalie stamps using gesso. Yes, you read correctly; gesso. She uses a background stamp and shows how to make sure that your stamp is damp to start off with and when she uses Liquitex white gesso (which is runnier than others), it works, basically fine.

Right, for me to get on with it, NOW! I haven't even brushed my teeth yet and it's 09.30 but I am dressed :-) I love grabbing the bull by the horns and going with the flow. I had a couple of issues though, in that a) I don't have Liquitex white gesso and b) I don't have any printer transparencies but hey, since when has not having all the equipment ever stopped me?! :-)
I used Claudine Hellmuth's gesso and some acetate instead.

For those who don't know, gesso dries hard, quickly! So there is potential here to ruin a stamp if it dries thick in the recesses of your stamp.

After selecting a stamp that I wouldn't be heartbroken to lose, I get dampening it and then putting gesso on my craft mat and dabbing with a sponge and placing onto my stamp and then of course, onto the surface to be stamped.

As you can see, the results weren't amazing to say the least. I had thought before I started that I couldn't see the difference between using white gesso and using white stamping ink or embossing powder and I was proved right. I possibly used too much water to dilute the gesso etc but I'm not going to do anymore as it doesn't create enough of a difference in my opinion. I also tried it on some dark blue paper stock but it was no better on there. 

Take care out there and go grab a bull! 

I've had a right good kick

Hello there

As some of you may know (if you read my last post), I'm taking part in a project which intends to give crafters a creative jumpstart this month. I'm also in the middle of doing this year's calendar still. Today, the two events combined, along with a third event. The third event was a shopping trip to Crabapplecrafts, which is a local craft shop, where I spent some Christmas money. One of the things I bought was an IndigoBlu stamp set, as it includes the saying about dancing as if no one is watching, which I love.

The technique is presented in the second video on the site; Heidi Swapp does this one. In a nutshell, Heidi shows us an idea to use her Color Magic mists (I don't have any, so made up my own with SU reinker, alcohol and water). It simply involves misting over a stencil which has been covered with a mask and then stamping over the mask. I really like the effect Heidi created.

I'm also happy with my result because I enjoyed playing around with my new toy and technique and also chatting on the computer with some crafty friends about a catch up date we've organised for tomorrow night.

It's been a good day, as it has definitely helped to give me a kickstart with creating things in 2013.

Take care out there

p.s
I case you're wondering; the calendar section goes on a separate sheet of card below this photo page but I'm pretty certain that none of you want to see a family planner calendar page :-)

p.s.s
This post is a day late being published, courtesy of Blogger on the ipad as well as their app not being effective for inserting photos. Grumble, grumble, moan, moan but the upside is that my crafty friends get together isn't tomorrow night, it's tonight!! Yay!!