Sunday, December 29, 2013

Finally Some Heat Embossing

G'day

Yay :)  Finally bought the 'stuff' that I have been admiring for a while now.  I surf the YouTube frequently for ideas on mixed media, CAS, tags and how to with different techniques.   The one that I have been liking the most is heat embossing.

Such a different way of making backgrounds to my cards, tags and anything I can think off.   So in the last couple of days, (aha...bought myself a pressy for xmas, with hubby's advice that I buy what I know and need, rather then him getting me random stuff), I have been experimenting with heat embossing.

Got me some embossing powders by Zing, silver (metallic finish), lavender and leaf (opaque finish), heat gun and watermark ink by VersaMark.

Here is my first attempt to see what each color looks like.
 

Here is my second attempt, tried a bit of emboss resist. Used the wrong color distress ink too dark.



Now, my third attempt, a bit of thinking this time.  The lavender works perfectly with distress ink broken china, sponge all over then wiped off the heat embossed butterflies (KaiserCraft - hummingbird) and a lovely saying stamped over with stazon - jet black, and stamp by  - cloud9 design - simple thoughts travel).



Fourth attempt. I really like this one and the beautiful colors that work together.
Distress inks - dusty concord and broken china and same saying as used in the above tag. This one I used the silver, metallic finish by Zing.



I even tried to heat emboss with a punched out leaf with the leaf opaque finish embossing powder.



This is so cool, so i decided if this would work on an embossed folder background.  Here is the result.


It is the lavender flowers that are heat embossed.  I then sponged up a pen like thing and colored in the leaves with distress ink crushed olive and then sponged the whole panel with distress ink broken china.  Then wiped off the access and tada.   I love this, so I saw some challenges and made a card with this lovely panel.   The colors work so well together.   All in harmony on the color wheel.


Check out my next post about this new card I made.

see ya for now....love to hear your thoughts on my heat embossing and would love to know some tips on how to heat emboss a better way.

thanks for stopping by and say hello and pass on word....cheers...MOnika

Finally a Canvas Done

G'day

Been a few days.....Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.....to all who come across this page of mine.

Anyways

I have been painting a small canvas not long ago with my favorite acrylic paints in red and yellow.  Reminds me of a sunset.

I have now been able to complete my canvas design with a challenge called Silhouettes and Stamps. I think the canvas piece looks great.

Here is my Canvas, click on photo for detail.


 


I am happy how the sponging on the tree stencil turned out, usually when I use stencils they come out a bit frayed.   I think the trick is to sponge straight down and up and i used a makeup sponge which I located at the reject shop for a couple of dollars.  They are nice and soft and the ink comes out better then the sponge daubers. I used stayzon jet black.

After the tree tried I used a small bird clear stamp to stamp on three birds.  I then punched out three dragonflies and butterflies in black textured paper.  Just glued them in place.

I though to add a bit of dimension and shadow i punched out the three butterflies and inked them with distress barn door and wild honey to match the background. Stuck them on the silhouette butterflies and sprinkled some glitter on their wings.

Then I stamped a sentiment, The Perfect Ending to a Perfect Day and sponge around with barn door and wild honey and border was cut out with my new pair of fancy border scissors, Victorian style.

There you have, a very cool canvas, says me.  It does pay to make backgrounds and then wait a while until a great idea comes along for the design.  I really enjoyed making this one, love the colors.


Inks used :  Stayzon - jet black, distress inks by Tim Holtz - barn door, wild honey

Paints used : acrylic paint by Micador - lemon yellow, scarlet, black (around the canvas)

Stamps used : Cloud9 - simple thoughts Travel, KaiserCraft - Hummingbird



I would like to enter this canvas in the following challenges :-

STAMPlorations - stamps and silhouettes  (my third entry)

Hiding in my Craftroom - HIMC #130 - Anything but Holiday




cool, stay tuned for my new adventure in creating backgrounds...

seeya for now.


Saturday, December 21, 2013

New Foil Technique

G'day

Been searching YouTube again and found a very cool thing to emboss foil with cuttlebug folders.

Thus I had to give it a try.  Of course I only have one stayzon black ink, which is used on all surfaces, which is no fun because I love using color.

So I got thinking, what if I seal the foil with mod podge.   I tried this on canvas, I noticed when I used ink on canvas it sucks it up and smudges.   So I tried a bit of mod podge matte and stamped and tada, it worked, no smearing or blending.

So I grabbed a tag, love working with tags and pasted on a piece of aluminum foil, heavy duty.  I then sealed with one thin coat of mod podge, let dry.  Then I stamped a sentiment and sealed with another thin coat, let dry.  Next, choose my favorite cuttlebug folder and embossed the tag and sealed with another thin coat.

I thought I have not used gelatos in ages and maybe I could use them to color in the embossed image and what ya know, works just fabulous and you know why because I sealed the layer, very cool.  Will be using this technique from now on.

Now I can use whatever, distress inks, markers, gelatos to stamp and color in on foil......

Here is my tag that I designed from scratch with a vacation theme in mind.
Click on pictures for details. Love how the foil shines.





Cool ha....what ya think...you like....love to know your thoughts.


Sealant used :   Mod Podge - Matte

Inks Used : distress ink - crushed olive, archival - library green

Gelatos : Faber Castell - yellow, red, green

Cuttlebug Folder - leaves


Love this technique, different and shiny, love the metallic look, cool.
Actually this is my second design with this sealing and foil technique.

Stay tuned for my initial take on this method.


I would like to enter this tag in the following challenges :-

Addicted to Stamps and More! - challenge #76 Anything Goes

Make it Monday - MIM #171 - with Bugaboo Stamps



That is all for now, check back soon for my first attempt at sealing and stamping.

Ciao MOnika

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Another Retiform Panel

G'day

Must share this lovely, according to me, retiform panel.  I really like the overall look of this one.  The colors blend in so nicely and appealing to the eye.

Christmas theme panel. Click picture for detail.




Not sure that I would want to cover this panel with any other embellishments, too nice to look at as it is, according to me anyway.

This would be lovely on a white Christmas card base with a sentiment on the inside.

I think this is my best out of three of the retiform techniques.  Check out Gina K at STampTV video tutorial on how to, hers is just unreal.


Inks used : distress ink by Tim Holtz - faded jeans, dusty concord
                  memento - teal zeal

Stamps used : Fiskars - vintage Christmas, what a hoot


Must check out what challenges I can enter.



Love to share.  Love to hear your thoughts and maybe a link to one of your creations in the comments section.

Thanks so much for stopping by and come back soon.


seeya MONika

A Lovely SnowFlake Christmas Card

G'day

I have seen some snowflake cas challenges, so I had to make a Christmas card, nice and simple.

Click on picture for details.



Why is it so difficult to capture the glitter in the snowflakes, even in the sunlight.
I did my best.   A simple and clean card.   I punched out the snowflakes along the side of the white cardstock base card.  I then glittered the cutout snowflakes with silver glitter.   I stamped the Merry Christmas (rubber stamp) sentiment in Archival Ink library green and glued on one of the snowflakes at the corner.   I then glued on the inside the glittered snowflakes to match the punched out ones, then stuck on some silver jewels for a bit of sparkle.

There you have it, a CAS card for Christmas.  I might make more for my friends and family, varying the color of the sentiment perhaps.

CAS is slowly growing on me......so glad I bought the snowflake punch.   Hmmmm,
wish there was one punch that allows you to select different punch out snowflakes, as each snowflake in life is different.


I would like to enter this card in the following challenges.

CAS on Sundays - challenge #23 Christmas

Less is More - week 150 - One Layer Card



CAS-ual Fridays -

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Addicted to CAS - challenge @28 Snowflakes



CASology -  week 74 - snowflake

 undefined




That is all for now
See ya MOnika

Another Retiform Technique Card

G'day

I am having fun creating and bettering myself at the retiform technique, shown by Gina K at StampTV

Here is my second attempt. Click picture for more detail.




I like how the distress inks blend when they are dried, so much softer.  I still need to sponge a bit better, not to create edges.  Getting there with practice.

I used the Christmas theme, thought I would coordinate the colors this time, two greens, forest moss and crushed olive, I think they work well together and I stamped with olive grove by memento.


It is hard choosing where to stamp images as there are so many grids to fill, but I think once you choose a theme and same set stamps, that would be okay.

Well anyways, started working on another and I think looks just fabulous, according to me....stay tuned to see.


Inks used : distress inks by Tim Holtz - crushed olive, forest moss, barn door
                   memento - olive grove

Stamps used :  rubber stamp (sentiment)
                         Fiskars - what a hoot, vintage Christmas


This is really cool, having a bit of time to stamp, excellent, enjoying myself.
Just need to find more challenges to enter.


Thats is all for now
MoniKA
                        

Thursday, December 12, 2013

a Retiform Technique Background

G'day

Scooping through YouTube (again), I found this very cool technique called Retiform by Gina K from StampTV....so I wanted to give it a shot....the first one too much sponging, the edges did not look right and the color a bit too strong....dusty concord and broken china....So I decided to try again, with softer sponging and couple of purples, dusty concord and shaded lilac....very nice...but then the stamping was a bit off...but I liked it in a way and continued on and this is what the result is......



I think Gina's one is beautiful...I think I will try another attempt with better stamping inside the grids.  I used dusty concord distress ink and memento teal zeal.  I should stick with the memento ink, looks neater.  Anyways a good try I do say so myself.

Hmmmm, is worth putting in some challenges..will go see....

Inks used : distress ink by Tim Holtz - dusty concord, shaded lilac
                  memento - teal zeal

Stamps used : Fiskars - floral flair and road trip, cloud9 design - leaves, KaiserCraft - Bonjour, Inkadinkado - steampunk


I would like to enter this card for these challenges :-

Created with Love Challenges - #70 Anything Goes (my second entry)

All Sorts Challenge Blog - week #236 Anything but Christmas (third entry)

Make it Monday - MIM #170 - A sharing creative blog

STAMPlorations - Stamps & Silhouettes 


Cool....stay tuned for another better creative attempt at Retiform technique.

Thats all for now.....love to hear your opinions...thanks....
MOnika

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Look what I discoverd - awesome embossing

G'day

I remeber scoring YouTube, my fav source of inspiration for creating steampunk cards and I found this cool way of using my embossing folders with my cuttlebug.

I made a new cas card using this method....click picture for detail



This method of embossing is so cool, is too easy.  What you do is stamp and ink first your design and then you run the design through an embossing folder, I used cuttlebug folder called clockworks, my favorite one.  There you have it, it is done, no inking on top.  Brings texture and another element to your piece or work.  In real life the colors are much more deeper.  

I used distress inks by Tim Holtz - rusty hinge and scattered straw for blending for the center image.  The scattered straw tones down the rusty hinge, love that.  Then I used vintage sepia by Versafine to sponge a border and also stamp image, gears and sentiment.   All from the same clear stamp set by Inkadinkado called Steam Punk.  Then I just glued the design on a cream colored textured card stock.




I would like to enter this card in the following challenges :-

Addicted to Stamps and More! - challenge #75 Photo Inspiration (love the colors in the photo, that is what I took from the photo to inspire this card)





See below what else I did with this folder, so cool.


Whilst uploading the pictures I found this piece, the same embossing folder with sponging of distress inks to bring out the gears, so cool.  Click picture for detail.



Also had a great idea to do this technique on a previous cas card I created the other day...I thought it would give it a nice texture and extra touch of class...


Check previous post for info how I created this vacation card.

Cool, I really like this effect....my mind tinkering for another creation with this technique.....hmmmmm.


see ya for now
MOnika

A Simple Card

G'day

A CAS card to get away from it all....have a break...take a vacation....

Just pack your suitcase...grab a taxi...go on a limb...pick a destination...
Put your feet up...enjoy the scenery...take a breath of fresh air and relax...
You deserve a much needed vacation




Inks used : distress inks by tim holtz - dusty concord, broken china
                   stazon - jet black

Stamps used : Fiskars - road trip

A bit of an edit....
I discovered a new technique with the embossing folders that are used with a cuttlebug and here is the same card with an embossing texture.  Hope you like.




I would like to enter this CAS card for the following challenges :-

Addicted to Stamps and More! - challenge #74 - clean and simple



Have a Great One
Monika

Monday, December 9, 2013

A Lovely Piece

G'day

A while ago I bought a stamping kit from Shery called "All About You" from her etsy store All About Scrapping.  Very cool kit to get started in stamping, lots of fun.

Anyways....I saw these two pieces of wood, atc size and wondered what i can use them for....after all this time, i took a piece out because i wanted to recreate a tag I made that i love so much.

Here is the tag....


Gosh - the original tag has more depth and deeper colors.

Just simple to make....I used background design paper, sponged over with rusty hinge distress ink and edged with walnut stain.  Just loving those distress inks, cannot get enough.  Decided to go a bit steampunky and stamped flying critter and couple of flowers.  I thought for a bit of a twist, a dragon fly, since I have the whole punch for, ahhhh, now the name comes to mind....where did that come from.

Stamped some rusty hinge on paper and whole punched out the dragonfly.  Now for a sentiment that is so lovely from a set called simple thoughts - memories by cloud9designs. Stamped on white paper and sponged with rusty hinge and edged with walnut stain.


Cool....love so much...I should seal it with matte mod podge, cool stuff that is.

That is how I thought I could recreate on the atc wood piece...I tried...but for some reason I find difficult to make same twice...not sure why....but I tried and took a while and here is the result.






I have sealed this one with mod podge matte finish and is now magnetically attached to my fridge....very cool....this are lovely pieces of the right wood piece for my fridge...must get some more.....soon.....

click on the pic and you can see the gold glitter on the flowers and dragonfly.


Same concept as the tag just with different sentiment, added flowers with gold glitter on the edges and a dragonfly with gold glitter to make sparkles.  I love this one, looks better in real life.

Hope you like them too...love to hear your thoughts....


I would like to enter this piece on the wood atc size to the following challenges:-

Scribble and Scrap - challenge 37 - Always Anything Goes












Cheers and thanks for stopping by
MoniKa

More Creativity

G'day

This was cool to make.  Saw an idea on YouTube for the background stamp....ink up the stamp in two colors, broken china and dusty concord, stamp on the image and with a sponge blend in those colors..haha..I was a bit slow and when I sponged nothing happened....ahwell....I thought might as well sprits some water and get a bit of a water thing going...yep that worked...gotta work on spritzing a bit less..anyways...looks good.

Here is my entry....clik pics for details







Thinking about the silhouette for the challenge, I decided to stamp in black ink with solid stamps, birds were nice of an idea, using images from the same set.
I thought birds, freedom, flight, freedom and I remembered having the sentiment of Paradise, part of a travel rubber stamp set...cool.

Again thinking of the silhouette in the background, why not bring the butterflies to life....I have a press cut out thingy...why cannot i remember what it is called, each and every time I want to name the device....anyways....have butterflies...sponge some color onto to paper, broken china and dusty concord..and cut out a butterfly...stick it onto the stamped silhouette butterfly and press up the wings for a dimensional effect and add a bit of glitter for some sparkle.....

Not sure that I want to make a card out of this one....so I just glued it onto a piece of black textured cardstock....looks pretty.  Love the color combination.....


Inks used : distress ink by tim holtz - broken china, dusty concord
                  colorbox - wicked black

Stamps used : STAMPlorations - distressed damask background
                        Fiskars - road trip (sentiment)
                        Kaisercraft - hummingbird

I really like this one.  Love when I have the sense to use colors that work together.



I would like to enter these challenges :-

Shery is holding a challenge for December at STAMPlorations Blog, its all about Stamps & Silhouettes




 Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog - Make Your Own Background.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog

 All Sorts Challenge Blog - Anything but Christmas








Cool....thanks for stopping by
ciao for now MOnika

An Amazing Card

G'day

Ok...carry on from the previous card i showed you....Awesome Card.
Here is another one using the stamp Amazing from All About You set from Shery at STAMPlorations and Etsy - All About Scrapping.

So cool...love this card...clik pic for details


I had fun making this card.  Started with plaster tape and sponged some colors around the edges and a light touch of a colour in the center.  Then peeled of the tape...wow...cool effect.  I then stamped the amazing rubber stamp to match the vertical grid.  Stamped some leaves and fuzzy cut them out...used the rolling technique to get couple of colors on the leaves....added some tiny flowers with stick on pearls for the extra bling and added my sentiment...and there you go.....

Inks used : distress inks by tim holtz - red barn, crushed olive, wild honey and rusty hinge and  vintage sepia by versafine.

Stamps used : STAPlorations - All about you set, Friskars - leaves, Cloud9Designs - simple flowers

Gotta check out what challenges I can enter this one in...soon.




I would like to enter this card on the following challenges :-

 All Sorts Challenge Blog - week #236 - Anything but Christmas







Created with Love challenges - #70 Anything Goes


I would love to share my creation with :-

Make it Monday - 3170 - Anything Goes

Pink Paper Paradise










Thats is all for now...stay tuned for a couple of more creativenessess....

ciao MOnika