Display purposes only

Hello everyone,

and welcome to my blog where today I have a mini canvas to share which I made for my DT post. I've also took lots of photos along the way and will tell you how I made this so sit down with a nice cuppa and enjoy !

As always I'll start with the finished project :

And here's how:

I started with a 4"x4" (10 cm x 10 cm) canvas. 

I took a stencil and some model paste and applied it to the canvas with a palet knife. 

This is how it looked, I dried it with a heat tool. 

Next I painted it with white gesso to get a base for the paint. 

These are the colours I used; I also added some white. 

This is the painted version.. but I thought it was a bit flat so....

I decided to use some glazing liquid and a darker turquoise to add som shadows... 

I used about half paint and half glazing liquid...

I painted it over the model pasted area. What happens is that because of the glazing liquid the paint stays wet for much longer. So you put it on, leave it a little while (how long depends on the temperature, the moisture in the air etc... just try and see) and then wipe off with a baby wipe.. It sort of settles on the recesses... 

It is very subtle but gives a little bit of interes. You can keep doing this until your are happy with the result... 

Next I took a Pitt pen and went along the edge of the canvas. The idea is to paint the sides black but it is not easy to get a straight-ish line with a brush. So I do this with a marker... 

Like this... 

The rest then gets painted.... 

Like so... 

Now for some background stamping, not to much as there is not much room... A list of all the stamps I used is at the bottom of this post... 

The canvas with stamping... 

No for the main image and the sentiment.. 

At this point I wasn't sure about which sentiment to use... So I stamped both..

This is how she looks coloured... 

I still thought the canvas was lacking something so I added white splatters. I just shake this paint pen at it and drops fly out... Be careful as they tend to go everywhere... 

This looked better...

I chose this sentiment which is part of a sentiment really... 

After adhering everything with gel medium and adding some shading around her I declared it finished. 

I used the following stamps:

19605 - This revolution is for display purposes only

19567 - writing background circles

19659 - Numbers set

997 - Lid lady

Thank you so much for stopping by today !! 

BE

Hello all!  Michele here today with a card made to remind me of my OLW (one little word) for this year, BE.  I spent the last seven months just trying to BE; be me, be brave, be, be, be...all of the things that make me who I am.

I started by stamping the Bell Jar on watercolor paper and them masking it.  With the Harlequin Diamond Background and Distress Paints I stamped the base of the background.  I stamped the Writing Chevron on either side of the bell jar while it was masked.  Of course I had to add some splatters with Distress Stain.

I stamped the Triangle Banner in the jar, painted a chip balloon from Um Wow Studio and drew a string.  The Elephant Headstand is stamped, colored with watercolor pencils and fussy cut for placement in the jar.

I finished by stamping the Doodle Frame a bunch of times, fussy cut them and created a whimsical border.

So there it is...be original, be fearless, be you, bravely!!!

Until next time, get inky!!

Mail Art Monday - Guest Feature

We recently got a super cool piece of Mail Art through the post and I wanted to share it with you - this envelope came via Lesley M. all the way from Scotland!

Unicycle Frog | Sunbathing Bird | Skateboarding Turtle | Sitting Elephant

Whimsical Elephant

Good stuff, right? Thanks so much for sending it in Lesley!!! I left the VLVS! Address there in case anyone else wanted to send in some mail art. We love it and display it in our store where the stamps are!

August Challenge Inspiration by Fiona

Hello!!! Fiona here with you today to share some Challenge inspiration for August.

Love love love these bright colours on the challenge picture. My aim was to incorporate them all into my card! 

The inspiration board is so bright and happy!!

And yes ....... I fussy cut out that tiny little banner!!! But it was worth it.

Viva Las Vegastamps used:

Writing Circles background

Bubble Wrap texture

Squiggle Heart

Whimsical Triangle Banner

She Was A Wildflower

I hope you will find the time to join in with our August challenge xx

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!!! (Flip Book by Jenn Engle)

The results are in!!!!!

After going thru the comments, not counting duplicates starting from the first comment the winner is:

Jessi Davis please email me at: jenniferengle22@gmail.com with your address so I can get you your flipbook!

Thank you to all who participated and let me know your favorite mail art! 

Day Dreams of Paradise!

Hello Friends! 

Tera here...
Today I am here to share a pair of really fun ATC's

 (Artist Trading Cards) with you! 

For those of you whom know me personally, you know I am a dreamer...

I love the ocean, and my head is always in the clouds dreaming up ideas...
So this new stamp from VLVS spoke to my heart from the moment that I saw it!!! 

To create these ATC's I used the wrinkle free distress technique carefully building up each layer of color... I stamped my images in black archival ink and used a black ink pen to draw my boarder.  I also added a few flicks of some glimmer mist to give it that extra dreamy feel!

I can tell this little girl is a dreamer too!! 

Stamps Used:    

Seek Paradise 3/4 x 2 1/4

Banksy Child Fishing In Paper Boat 4 x 2 1/2

Thank you for stopping in to dream with me today!
I hope you find yourself dreaming of your paradise too! 

Swim Fast

Morning, Nikki here with a couple of cards I made, featuring one of the original stamps I bought from Viva Las VegaStamps! a number of years ago.... Diver from Board : 

Isn't the diver great. I stamped him in memento black ink and colored him with copics and fussy cut him. I added some white gel pen highlights.

I wanted to create a splashy watery background for him, and this is how I accomplished that :

I used water color powders, sprinkling them onto my water color card stock : 

Then I spritzed it with water :

and used a straw to blow the water around. 

I love the richness and unpredictable effect you get, a perfect backdrop for my diver.

The words are typed on my typewriter. The card front is matted onto a blue card base.

I made two similar cards, although adapted one image so he's wearing a swim cap : 

Such a vast range of images in the Viva Las VegaStamps store, I really like this one, Diver from Board, 3879.

Perfect hair...

Hello everyone,

and welcome to the blog where today I will try and give you some inspiration for the August Challenge.

I have made an art journal page and here it is:

I started with a piece of Mixed Media Paper on which I stamped the lady. I did wipe off most of her original hair before stamping her. I then painted the page around her with white gesso. 

Next I took some acrylic paints in the colours teal, pink and lime green and painted some new hair on her.. This was great fun...no wonder she looks so surprised...lol..  I added some white here and there too. When this had dried I took a black pen and drew around the hair. 

The sentiment says: Sure, my life isn't perfect, but my hair is. I scribbled this around her with the same pen. Next I took the same paints and added some around the page, making sure the space around her stayed mostly white so she would stand out more. 

It was then time to do some stamping and of course I used my favourite background stamps. 

(You'll find a complete list of all the stamps I used at the bottom of this post.)

I also used a polkadot stencil and again the same paints. 

Here is the inspiration photo this is based on:

The words to go with this : 

bold, bright, intuitive, strong, women, feminine, artist, artsy, splatter, script, polka dots, color blocks, numbers, alphas, teal, lime green, white, black, stencils and more.

I used the following stamps:

19659 - Numbers set

19568 - Double coffee rings

19567 - Writing circles background

19571- Writing triangles

19575 - Stitching

18566 - Lady with hands on face

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

August Challenge

Welcome to our AUGUST Challenge!!!

We are inspiring you with words like bold, BRIGHT, intuitive, strong, women, feminine, ARTIST, artsy, splatter, script, polka dots, color blocks, numbers, alphas, pink, teal, lime green, white, black, stencils and more.

Don't forget the rules:

-Create a new project based on our inspiration board (it has to be posted this month, but you can certainly link up to other challenges as well!)

-Use at least one (but certainly more if you want) Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamps

(We are now allowing competitors stamps to be on your work, but please make VLVS! the focus of the project, thank you.)

-Post it to your blog with a link back to us

-Upload to our linky using your direct blog post link (You may also upload via facebook, flickr or other gallery)

You could win a Project Spotlight post on our blog + some new rubber of course.

And visit us back here for inspiration!

An InLinkz Link-up