Tuesday 31 January 2012

February Kit

The new kit is now for sale and it's a pretty one!! It being valentines in a just a few weeks the kit is full of lots of pinks and reds, but it's still versatile enough to use on projects with other themes! Like this layout I did about a cupcake making class I took.



Extra Supplies: Cardstock

I went a little over the top with the love theme on this page about my sister and her boyfriend though. All those hearts were cut free hand with my trusty scissors!


Extra supplies: Paint, Mist, Cardstock

I also made a mini album about all the things I LOVE right now. This is something I like to do periodically as they are always fun to look back on and see how things have changed, or not as the case may be!


Extra Supplies: Chipboard numbers, ring to fasten album, cream paper.

This kit is packed with stuff! You can see the whole list of contents and purchase the kit here. I'll be back with another layout and a tutorial tomorrow. Happy Creating!


Alexa

OWOT extra project

As our technique this month was focusing on paint I thought I would share this little extra tutorial that I created some time ago for creating an interesting background using paint. This can be used for a whole load of different craft projects, layouts, cards, ATCs, art journals, mini books etc.

Word - Proud

Technique - Paint - Masking Tape Background

Here is my finished Layout.



Technique
This technique is all about creating a fun and unique background. You will need:
Masking Tape
A non porous surface
Paint/watercolours/mist sprays
Paint brushes
Card

Start by sticking strips of masking tape to your non-porous surface, I just used an old placemat, but you could use your craft mat, chopping board etc.


Try and place the strips as close together as possible without overlapping. Cover the surface until you have enough that it would cover the size of your finished layout (my finished layout measures 8"x8" but I made the masking tape strips longer so that I could then decide which section I wanted to use).

Now start painting away! I started by randomly applying some gesso (this is not essential) and letting it dry (ok well drying with my heat gun then!) then on top I started adding layers of different blue paints and mist sprays and dabbing the excess off with some tissue and letting some layers dry before applying the next.

I dribbled some green down the page and flicked my paint brush so I would get lots of dots and splodges!


The more layers and messier you make the page the more varied your finished background will be; a more even paint coverage will create a more uniform background.

Once all the paint is dry take some card the size you want the finished piece to be. Starting at the top of your cardstock select a random piece of masking tape and stick down. Then select another random strip and stick under the first, continue covering the cardstock with the masking tape strips but arranging them in a different order than on your placemat. This will create a unique and pretty background and no 2 will ever be the same! Trim the tape from the edges and your background is complete.

Now take some letter stickers or cut a title out of patterned paper and stick in the middle of your background. Finally add words, sentences, bullet points etc of what your proud of. I printed mine using a Typewriter type font (Rough_Typewriter which is free and can be found here) onto plain white paper and cut into strips to add to my layout. I left mine at that but you can of course add extra embellishments if you want.

I hope you have enjoyed this little extra project and have had fun with all our painty layouts and journal pages this month. Watch out for our next technique on Sunday!

Maxine

Sunday 29 January 2012

One Word One Technique # 5

Hi and welcome to week 5 of One Word One Technique.
January Technique - Paint
This weeks word prompt - Wish

Here is my finished journal pages ...
To make the background was really simple.
First take some white Gesso and brush all over your page,to speed up the drying process i used my handy heat tool..just don`t hold it too close or the paint will blister.
Once dry i took some Gold pearlescent Acrylic paint and splodged it straight on the page ...
and brushed all over till i was happy

I then took some white Gesso and dry brushed it ove the page and worked it in with a dry sponge.To add the splotches take some Distress ink and with a fine brush flick it over the pages until you are happy.I found that the ink didn`t sink into the page so with a paper towel just lightly dap over the top.
I wanted a more aged look to my pages so with a distress ink pad and with an ink tool i used brushed corduroy and black soot roughly around the edges.
 The heart was made from cardboard packaging,i took the backing off ,cut out a heart,dry brushed with some gesso and gold acrylic then stamped on the Wish sentiment.
Then had some fun adding stamps,journalling and embellishments.
This is the first time i have used paint on journalling pages and hope you like what i have done and hopefully inspire you to break out those paints and brushes yourself!
Please checkout the past posts for more inspiration from the lovely DT ladies.
If you play along we would all love to see what you make so please pop back and leave a comment,look forward to visiting you all.
Happy Crafting
Tracy
oxoxo
P.S The end result of my journal pages was taken outside so you get a better idea of how the colours look as the light inside my shed isn`t so good.

Sunday 22 January 2012

One Word One Technique #4

Welcome to week 4 of OWOT. I hope you have enjoyed the previous weeks examples.


January Technique - Paint
This Week's Word - Go


I used a really simple paint technique, to create my title to add a bit of whimsy. I know that a lot of people don't really like their handwriting, but as it's part of who you are, I think it's important for it to be a part of your pages. I did my title freehand, but if you're not quite that confident, you can write out the title in pencil first and paint over it. I would recommend watering down the paint especially if you want a free flow effect. If you're really not keen on using your own handwriting but like the artsy feel of a painted title, you could always try using a stencil or stamping with foam alpha's.

I hope this inspires you to get painty with your titles. Remember if you create something using this technique, please leave a comment so we can come see!

Alexa

Sunday 15 January 2012

OWOT prompt 3!

Another week has whizzed by and we're back with another prompt for our new challenge 'One, word, one technique'.
January Technique - Paint
This Week's Word - Relax

We're still on our paint technique for this month, but todays word is 'relax', something that I for one need to do more often!

I have decided to use an old A4 diary to house all my pages for this project, so whether they be scrapbook or more art journal focussed they will all be together, which is fine.

I started off by covering my page with some acrylic paint (parchment)


Next I grabbed some watercolour paints and roughly painted over the base paint in blues.


then I added some greens


To add some interest and texture I ripped some strips from an old book and stuck them down, used a lid with white paint on to add some circles and used paint on a piece of card to squish some paint patches onto the page too. I just had fun and did what I felt like to add texture to the pages.


I found a quote I wanted to use, typed it up, printed it out and stuck it the right hand page and added some journalling on a piece of notepaper. I printed out a small photo of my family and stuck this in too. I used a Jenni Bowlin paint dabber in cough syrup around the left edge and made circles across the bottom. I added an Elles studio tab to the top too. To finish off I used some Maya mist in silver and rose pink.


To add the word relax I lightly stuck down some letter stickers and then roughly painted over with white paint, then peeled the stickers off again. My finished page is below:



Hope you like what I've done and that it gives you some inspiration for your own projects too. Please do link us up with your page or project when you've done it!

Annie x

Sunday 8 January 2012

One Word, One Technique - Prompt 2

Welcome to the second week of 'One Word, One Technique' :D
For a reminder of how 'One Word, One Technique' works, click here for Maxine's introduction.

The prompt for week 2 is:

January Technique - Paint
This Week's Word - Today

Here's my finished art journal page:
I built my background up using several layers of paint. First, I used different paint dabbers through a flower mask and a paper doily. Varying the pressure as I dabbed gave a graduated effect to the colour.
I then added some painted circles using the lid of an empty deodorant.
My last layer of paint was with black dabber and a sequin waste mask. I dabbed through the mask in three places, and then turned it upside down and used the painted side of the mask as a stamp to get the reverse image.
Once I was happy with the painted background I added some doodling around the two main flowers, the stamped date in the top right corner, and the text. 'Live for' is stamped, and 'Today' was created using the waste from a sheet of chipboard alphas as a stencil. Finally I used my sewing machine to sew a border around the edge of the page.

I hope you like my finished example! I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with, so if you create something based on this week's prompt, don't forget to pop a link in the comments so we can come and have a look :D

Jules xx 

Sunday 1 January 2012

Welcome to 'One Word, One Technique'

Welcome to our new weekly project 'One Word, One Technique'. Each Sunday here on the TMC blog you will find a new project posted by one of our DT.


So how does this project work you ask?
We have assigned a different technique to each month of the year and each week has a specific word. The idea is that you create a project, be it a card, layout, art journal page etc based on that weeks word and using that month's technique.
This way you will end up with many projects (or maybe you will create a year long mini book or journal based on each word?) using a range of techniques, the challenge being trying to use the same technique in different ways throughout each month! Some words may mean a lot to you, others may spark no inspiration, so feel free to join in with ones ones that you like or challenge yourself to join in them all. The word may be the title of a layout, the word in a quote, it may spark an idea or remind you of an event. However it speaks to you, that is the fun!

So on to our first:

January Technique - Paint
This weeks Word - Resolution

Here is my finished layout.


As you can see I have used paint in several different ways on my layout.
Firstly I took a paint brush and lightly splattered my cardstock in a few different colours. Then I took a strip of bubble wrap and painted, again in several different colours. I laid this to one side of my background and stamped.

Then I layered up my patterned papers. To create the 2012 stencilled effect I printed out the numbers onto some scrap paper, I cut them out and using a removable glue adhered them to my layout. Then using a stiff brush I stippled paint around the edges of each number. Once the paint was dry I peeled the paper numbers away and was left with the following effect.

I added my title and journaling and my layout was complete!

I hope you like my example and I hope that you join us in our project. If you create anything using the prompts we would love to see so feel free to add a link below to any photos or your blog. And I hope that everyone had a great start to the new year!

Hugs & Periwinkles,
Maxine