KISSING SKELETONS AT HALLOWEEN by Fran Chalmers

Hi everyone!

Today I have made a Halloween tag! We don't really celebrate Halloween here much, but I love these two kissing skellies! 

First of all I cut my tag and then used inks and brushos on a gel plate to make the background.

I then stamped the outside edges in purple, and used a background stamp for some texture

I added some dripping blood at the top of the tag and embossed it

I stamped the skellies and used a white gel pen to emphasise the bones.  I used a stamping platform to make sure the image was black enough.

I coloured in some of the dots round the edge of the tab, and then blended purple and black ink round the edges.

I used washi tape to ground the skellies and lastly splattered orange posca pen onto the tag, and lastly added some ribbons.

Stamps Used:

Kissing Skeletons 19727

Punchinella Sequin Waste Border 20161

Blood Dripping 18961

Doodle Dots 19827

Other Items Used:

Gel Press

Brushos in Orange and Purple 

Elements ink in Graphite

White gel pen

Orange Posca Pen

Purple Posca Pen

Distress inks in Black Soot and Villainous Potion

Versafine Clair inks in Fantasia,, Nocturn and Tulip Red

Clear Embossing Powder

Washi tape

Ribbons

See you next time!

Art journal page - All the answers

Hey everyone,

Today I'm sharing a fun and snarky page from my art journal. We all could need something to make us smile in moody January, right?

 

My background is a simple one. I started with two pieces of gelli printed tissue that I had on my desk from a previous project. For a little more detail I stamped and heat embossed some doodle dots and also added some contrasting pink splatters of acrylic spray paint.

The girl sitting in a suitcase seemed to be the perfect focal point. I stamped her, did some quick coloring with ZIG brush pens and cut her out. Also, I inked up the cutting edges to make her blend better into the page.

I don't like my focal points to just float around on my page. So I stamped the scallop onto another gelli print and cut that out, too. To avoid the details of the stamp to get lost, I stamped it directly on the page before I glued the girl and the scallop I cut out on top.

The last thing I added was a quote. I stamped it onto some white cardstock, cut it into pieces and inked the edges a little to help it standing out from the page.


Stamps used:
Doodle Dots (19827)
Typeset Scallop (20163)
Lady Drinking Tea In Box (20080)
I Used To Have All The Answers (3124)

Other material:
- art journal (mine is from Dylusions)
- Versafine ink (nocturne)
- Versamark ink
- gelli printed tissue and paper (or any other printed paper)
- embossing powder (floral blue medium by Stampendous!)
- acrylic spray (or paint mixed with a little water)
- ZIG real brush markers

Hope you enjoyed my inspiration. See you soon!

 

Procraftinate - Quick ATCs

 Hey everyone,

you don't always have to spend endless hours on the crafting table to create something beautiful. So, even if you are quite busy, just take yourself a little time, craft and relax. Today's project is a set of four artist trading cards that I created in less than an hour.

The base layer is just black cardstock. The middle layer is some old paper from my stash, torn to the size a little bit smaller than the base.

Anf for the top layer I mixed four colors of Brushos with water and added them to a piece of watercolor paper. I just used one color for each card, but you can achive some cool effects by just adding layers with that one color.

 
I added a bunch of mixed media stamps and used foam tape to adhere it to the card base.
Now I just needed to add a quote and chose the "procraftinate" definition, stamped on some of the old paper to coordinate with the middle layer. I also added some pieces of the black cardstock that I had left behind the quote.

Hope you found some inspiration with my ATCs.

Stamps used:
Scribble Circle (20166)
Punchinella/Sequin Waste Border (20161)
Row of Chevrons (19829)
Doodle Dots (19827)
Procraftinate (19638)

Other material:
- black cardstock
- vintage book and ledger paper
- Canson watercolor paper
- Brushos (turquoise, violet, lemon, emerald green)
- Versafine Ink Pad (onyx black)
- foam tape


See you soon!

 

Art journal spread with Josefine Fouarge

Hello everyone, I'm excited to share this fun art journal spread with you. I started out by using a "clean up" page in my art journal - meaning, I cleaned up my stamps used in other projects here.

A couple of scraps and stamped images later and this fun, colorful page came together. It was the first time that I used a couple of Tina Walker's series. And I have to say that I love her images! So different and quirky.

Check out my video of how I put this art journal page together here:

Check out the close ups of the page:

I hope you enjoyed it. I know I did when putting it together ;)

Here are the stamps I used:

Love.Repeat.

Ethos Shape

Ethos Bee

Ethos Woman

Doodle Dots

Thanks so much for stopping by. I see you next time!

Dreamers of dreams art journal page with Josefine

Hello everyone, I'm so exited to be joining the Viva Las VegaStamps! design team with my first project. For my first post, I picked some of my favorite stamps to create an art journal page.

I started by spraying some ink onto the art journal page and while the ink was wet, I added a few Infusions (water soluble powders) on top.

Next up, I stamped the Stitching Lines, Doodle Dots, and Row of Chevron all over the inked up background. To ensure they are not standing out too much, I used yellow and orange Archival Ink.

Then I added the Squiggly Star to the bottom right. Here, I used a brown Archival Ink. I wanted it to be seen, but not stand out too much.

While the page was drying a bit more, I stamped the Tarot XIX The Sun onto a separate piece of white card stock and colored it using the same colors that I used for the background.

Once the page was dry, I added a few colored paper scraps in a contrasting color. These are great as the base for the Tarot Card and a resin 3D star.

As a final touch, I added a sentiment to the top and a few white marks all across the page.

Her is also a video where you can watch the entire process.

Stamps I used:

Tarot XIX The Sun SKU 20156

Squiggly Star SKU 19822

Stitching Lines SKU 19642

Doodle Dots SKU 19827

Row of Chevrons SKU 19829

I hope you like my first project for the Viva Las VegaStamps! design team :)

Have a great weekend!

Josefine

F*ck the Road Not Taken | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

It's Sue Plumb here with my latest design team project with you. Today I have a mixed media scrapbook layout to share that features a gorgeous poppy stamp and some photos documenting my tutor display at last year's Brisbane Scrapbook Expo here in Australia. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not one for blindly following the rules, nor am I about being "fake". This layout celebrates the fact that my display was all about representing ME.

To create my page I began by brushing and splattering some black Dina Wakley acrylic paint onto my cardstock. (In hindsight I should have changed my shirt before doing this...another one ruined with paint splattered up my sleeve! haha)

While the paint was drying, I took the Poppy stamp and stamped it out several times onto another sheet of white cardstock using black StazOn ink. I then added colour to each of them using a small brush and a selection of Colour Blast Colour Artist Inks before cutting them out and setting them aside. 

On the same sheet of cardstock, I also stamped out the Triangle Banner stamp using 'Shaded Lilac' Distress Oxide, then fussy cut each of those out as well.

To assemble my page, I started by adding my photos, using some cardboard underneath them to pop them up from the background; and a few pieces of messy white cotton thread for texture. I then arranged the poppies and banners around my photos, using foam tape under some of them for extra dimension.

Alongside my photos I stamped the words Somebody Stop Me! (can anyone, really?) then I also stamped The Road Not Taken sentiment three times onto my page. I also added the Fuck You stamp to finish my title, which led into my handwritten journalling. (Which just explains about how I probably broke some of the unspoken etiquette rules about tutor displays but accurately represented myself.)

I finished off by stamping the Doodle Dots stamp randomly around my page used 'Picked Raspberry' Distress Oxide.

Thanks for stopping by today so I could share this, I hope I have inspired you to get inky too!

Stamps used: 

- Poppy

- Triangle Banner

- Somebody Stop Me!

- The Road Not Taken

- Fuck You

- Doodle Dots

Other materials:

- Bazzill cardstock

- Dina Wakley acrylic paint

- Tsukineko StazOn ink

- Colour Blast Colour Artist Inks

- Ranger Distress Oxides

- Miracle Tape

- Foam tape

- Felt pen

Stay Cool | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone, happy new year! 

I am so incredibly excited and blessed to have the opportunity to stay on the Viva Las VegaStamps design team for another year and share my love of VLVS rubber stamps with you!

To kick off the new year, I have a 12x12" mixed media scrapbook layout to share with you that features a photo of one of my twin boys that was taken only a couple of weeks ago. I created this page to document how in a very short time he has gone from being terrified of swimming to loving being in the pool.

Here is my layout...

To create my page, I began with a sheet of white Bazzill cardstock and some Ranger Distress Oxides in Mermaid Lagoon; Cracked Pistachio; Twisted Citron; and Faded Jeans. I used the "packaging technique" to apply the inks - swiping the ink onto some plastic packaging, then adding a spritz of water before "smooshing" it down onto the cardstock. 

I started with the Mermaid Lagoon colour and then dried it off before repeating the process with the Cracked Pistachio and Twisted Citron. I love the layered watercolour style effect that it creates - perfect for my water themed page!

Next, I used the Faded Jeans Distress Oxide to add some splatters over the top. To do this, I swiped some ink onto my craft mat, then added water before soaking it up with my paint brush and splattering it over the top.

Then it was time to add some stamping! The first stamp I used was the Bubbles (Large Black), using Ranger Archival Ink in Paradise Teal. I added the bubbles in a vertical line down my page then added an extra group of bubbles where the left edge of my photo would sit. (This gave me the "visual triangle" I was looking for.)

Once I had the bubbles stamped out, I chose the Humpback Whale stamp for a bit of fun and to tie in with the water theme of my layout. I stamped the whale twice with the same teal ink, positioning it so that it was "swimming" through the focal area of the page and helping to draw the viewers eye in.

I also stamped the It's a whale of a tale... sentiment several times around the page, switching to black Staz On ink for that one.

With the majority of my background work done, it was time to switch to adding some papery layers and texture. I created a layered mat for my photo using an assortment of tissue paper, paper doilies, paint sample card, a tag, glitter cardstock, frayed gauze and coloured wire. I also added a few pieces of torn washi tape around the page.

Once the layers were in place I added some scrap cardboard to the back of my photo before mounting it on top. I also added a handmade heart embellishment from Charms Creations, and a flair button from Cocoa Vanilla Studio.

Then it was time to finish my page off. I added my handwritten journalling using a felt pen, then stamped the Let Fear Be quote underneath it using black ink. 

I also used my favourite Doodle Dots stamp to add further depth to the background. (How could you not love how this stamp looks?) 

The finishing touch was a few blue and green sequins from Cocoa Vanilla Studio scattered around the page.

Here's a closer look at some of the finished details...

(I am so in love with that background, and glad that I finally treated myself to some Distress Oxides for Christmas!)

You can see where I used my Tim Holtz tiny attacher to fix the wire to my page. I love the extra texture the metal staples add.

That's all from me today, I hope I have inspired you to get your stamps out and create something too. Until next time, get inky! X

Stamps used: 

- Bubbles (Large Black)

- Humpback Whale

- It's a whale of a tale...

- Let Fear Be

- Doodle Dots

Other materials:

- Miracle tape

- Bazzill cardstock

- Ranger Distress Oxides

- Ranger Archival Ink

- Tsukineko StazOn Ink

- Cocoa Vanilla Studio flair button and sequins

- Charms Creations handmade heart

- Assorted collage materials (as detailed in post above)

- Felt pens

- Staples