Mixed media card - three wise monkeys

Hey everyone,

February is cold and dull over here, so I thought I'd bring in some bright colors and created this fun mixed media card.

I'm a little addicted to slimline cards right now, so I started on a die cutted piece of paper and cut another slightly larger one from black cardstock. The background looks way more complicated than it is. I just stamped the harlequin background with two shades of Oxide Ink and sprayed it with water until I was happy with the way the colors dissolved. After it was dry, I added some stamped numbers using one of the background colors.

As a focal point I went with the three wise monkeys and Corrie's overlapping squares as I needed something for the chimpanzees to sit on. I stamped everything down, the squares twice, and colored the images with my alcohol markers.

I cut the images and inked the edges with a black marker. From the second image of the squares I cut some clusters. My plan was to have some parts of it raised with foam tape.
 

Then I built up my focal composition and glued everything down. To finifh the card, I just had to add that quote stamp and put my layers together.

Stamps used:
Harlequin Diamond Background (18920)
Numbers Set (19659)
Chimpanzee Set (10202)
Overlapping Squares by Corrie Herriman (19996)
If This Is Reality (19884)

Other material:
- Canson Watercolor paper
- black and white cardstock
- perfect coloring paper
- Spectrum Noir Illustrator alcohol marker
- Distress Oxide Ink (crackling campfire, rusty hinge)
- Crealies slimline die (clcz184)

 

See you soon with a new project!

Greeting cards - Why fit in?

 Hello everyone,

I wouldn't say that I'm making cards often, but from time to time you just need a few greeting cards, right? So today is actually the first time I'm sharing a card design on the blog. 

My cards are standard A2 sized cards (4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch). I die cutted some pieces of watercolor paper to go on top of them.

The focal point I chose is the elephant on bike stamp which is quite large. It is also available in a smaller size that would perfectly fit onto an ATC. I'll link you both of them below, just in case you like the image as much as I do. ;-)
I stamped it on both my cards and colored it with some ZIG watercolor markers which was a really enjoyable process. 

Next I stamped the image on some masking paper, cut that out and masked my colored and dried images. Now I added some background stamping with circles on the one card and squares on the other. I used Oxide ink (speckled egg) for this.

I also stamped the quote on some watercolor paper, trimmed it and inked the edges. But I didn't like it a lot, it was just looking lost. So I cut two rectangles that were a little larger than my quote and inked it up with some of the same Oxide ink I used for my background stamping.

I glued everything together and voilà!

Stamps used:
Elephant On Bike (2027)
not used, just a smaller version of the elephant: Teeny Tiny On Bike (9636)
Overlapping Squares by Corrie Herriman (19996)
Overlapping Circles by Corrie Herriman (19995)
Why Fit In (20082)


Other material:
- card bases (regular 300 gsm cardstock cut and folded)
- Canson watercolor paper 300 gsm
- MFT die (Stitched mod rectangle stax)
- masking paper
- Versaclair ink (nocturne)
- Distress oxide ink (speckled Egg)
- ZIG real brush watercolor pens

Hope you enjoyed my cards. See you soon!

 

"#EPIC" scrapbook layout | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project; and today I have a mixed media scrapbook layout to show you. This page features a photo of my daughter when she first got her new tablet and her very own version of Minecraft for Christmas. (To say she was excited is an understatement.) 

For my layout, I wanted to create a background that reflected the theme and the colours that were depicted in my photo. I decided to use the Overlapping Squares stamp (designed by Corrie Herriman) and stamp out a pattern on my page that I could then colour to suit.

I used Staz On ink as I knew that I would be using a wet medium and didn't want it to run at all.

I then used Faber-Castell watercolour pencils to add splashes of colour to the squares, before blending the pencil out with a water pen.

Once the squares were coloured, I also used the pencils to add some shading around and between some of them.

Next, I wanted to add some less structured marks to balance out all the hard lines from the squares, so I used the Crackle Background stamp to add some random, organic lines. (I keep my stamps unmounted for exactly this reason - I like to be able to bend them and manipulate them to only use small areas of the stamps surface.)

I then used the It's Only a Hobby stamp to add a few phrases to my background; before using a Colour Blast Colour Shimmer Spray to add some random splatters around my page.

With the background complete, it was time to add some papery layers to my page. I used some patterned paper pieces from Amy Tan; along with some Project Life cards and a paper doily to create a mat for my photo and then adhered it to my page using Miracle Tape.

I added some scrap cardboard to the back of my photo to pop it up from the page; then added the word woohoo (fussy cut from another Project Life card) using foam tape on top.

For my title I used a wood veneer word from D-lish Scraps, which I coloured using Posca pens.

To finish off my page I added a Charms Creations handmade heart embellishment topped with a flair button from D-lish Scraps. 

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

Stamps used:

- Overlapping Squares

- Crackle Background

- It's Only a Hobby

Other materials:

 - Miracle tape

- Cardstock

- Staz On ink

- Faber-Castell watercolour pencils

- Colour Blast Colour Shimmer Spray

- Amy Tan patterned paper

- Project Life cards

- D-lish Scraps wood veneer and flair button

- Charms Creations heart

- paper doily

- Posca pens

- felt pen

Guest Blogger : Sue Plumb : Fancy

We have some really incredible people who grace our blog.. today I get to introduce one more of them to you!

We have SUE PLUMB Joining us today... she's an Aussie full of sass n spunk. Her work replicates that.. just you wait n see.

Hi everyone! 

My name is Sue Plumb and I am a mum of 3 (daughter Brielle, 9 and twin sons Hunter and Kaden, 5) and I come from sunny Queensland, Australia. I began scrapbooking approximately 9 years ago, shortly after the birth of my daughter. Since that time, my work has evolved from a very simplistic paper-based style, to where it is now - which is far more artistic and often incorporates stamping, mixed media and eclectic elements (including the odd swear word!)

I am currently on several Australian manufacturer design teams including Cocoa Vanilla Studio; Colour Blast and Flutterby Designs. I am also a design team member for both the Scrap the Boys and Scrap the Girls challenge blogs and a current Creative Team member for Scrapbooking Memories magazine.

I was absolutely thrilled when DeeDee asked me to be a guest designer for Viva Las VegaStamps, having become a fan some time ago through design team member (and fellow Aussie) Fiona Paltridge. (I now directly blame her for my addiction to the delicious smell of new red rubber!) Thank you for the opportunity to share some of my work DeeDee. 

For this layout, I started by brushing some soft blue watercolour onto my page before using my stamps to define the focal areas. 

I then coloured some of the images using more watercolours.
Most of the images on my page were stamped directly onto the cardstock, however some were also pre-stamped onto tissue paper, and then adhered using a matte medium. (This allows you to easily layer images and place them more precisely.) 

The Gossamer Butterfly image that was stamped onto tissue, I simply cut in half and incorporated each piece into the layers under my photo. I only adhered them at the inner edge that was hidden under the layers, allowing the wings to "float" free.

Here is a list of the stamps I used:

- Typeset scallop
- Butterfly Gossamer (large)
- Overlapping squares by Corrie Herriman
- Striped pattern circle by Tera Callihan
- Doodle dots
- Incredible as it seems

Pencil Case Makeover

Hello VLV STAMP lovers! Fiona here with you today to share a little pictorial tutorial on how I gave my pencil case a makeover using the gorgeous new stamps by the very talented  Corrie Herriman and Tera Callihan.

I bought this little gem at K-Mart. It is made from canvas that has been dipped in a matt rubber covering on the bottom. It is very cool and as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to give it a makeover!

I began by giving it a light coat of gesso and once that was dry I started to collage some old book pages, music sheets, stamps and other ephemera onto the gesso with some matt gel medium. While I waited for the first layer of gel medium to dry, I stamped out some of the girls new designs onto some old book paper and coloured them using some water soluble pastels. You could use anything you liked to give them some colour. Then I cut out and layered the stamped images on top of the layer of ephemera and gave it another coat of matt gel medium.

Next I added some white contrast with ultra white gesso. I scraped it over with a palette knife, then with my finger I added just a touch of black contrast using some black acrylic paint then finally I added my colour element. I only choose three colours to add because there was already a lot of colour going on with the stamped images.

Speaking of stamped images ..... I wanted a feature piece so I chose the Whimsical Lettered Man and stamped him in a place where there wasn't as much going on with some black Archival ink. 

Tip: Place a hard cover book inside the pencil case to press onto when you stamp. It gives you a nice firm surface to work with.

Lastly .... and this is the best bit ... I added some white paint pen marks over the top of the black areas, I scribbled randomly and with my non dominant hand all over the front with a led pencil, I then outlined roughly any areas I wanted to enhance using a black biro (ball point pen) and then finally I added a little bit more black stamping with the little star and heart and some acrylic SPLASH! Ink.

Here is a list of the Viva Las Vegastamps I used:

Overlapping Squares by Corrie Herriman

Overlapping Circles by Corrie Herriman

Heart by Tera Callihan

Heart Pattern Circle by Tera Callihan

Star by Tera Callihan

Circle Pattern Circle by Tera Callihan

Plate 1480

Whimsical Lettered Man

I think you'll agree it looks much funkier now!!

Thanks for popping in to take a look and I'll see you all again soon xx