UNMASKED! Building a (Black and White) Collage Doll with LCD Stamps

Greetings, Lost Coasters! Today I have a tutorial for you on how I made this zany collaged doll for our Black & White challenge over at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity. These same principles will help you build any sort of rubber-stamped collage.

PLEASE NOTE: This is the Cliff Notes version of the tutorial… For tons of photos, explanatory details, and A VERY COOL REVEAL VIDEO showing the masks being peeled off layer by layer to reveal the final collage, visit my blog! I lay it all out for you there!  😁

1. Plan out the composition. 

Gather the stamp images you'd like to use and start playing with them. You can stamp them and roughly cut them out to experiment with how to position them relative to each other. You could also use software such as Photoshop or InDesign to make a sketch. 

The stamps I used to make this piece were:

Elements from the Doll Accessories Set
Black Flourish

Bishop from Chess Set

Loopy Calligraphy

Diamonds Border & Circle Tiles Border

2) Decide on your focal point. 

In all likelihood, this will be the image you stamp first--the one that appears on top of all the other layers in the collage, in the foreground. In my composition, it was the eyeglasses image.

3) Determine the order of operations.

Now you have to figure out the order in which you are going to stamp. Determine what is "foreground" and what is "background," and proceed in a logical order. The things that go behind, in the background, get stamped last.

4) Using your sketch as a blueprint...start stamping! 

I recommend the use of a stamp positioner or stamp press tool such as the MISTI. This allows you place each stamp exactly where you want it to print, and to re-ink the stamp to get perfect coverage in case an image prints a little unevenly the first time. 

5) Cut a mask for each image as you work. 

After you stamp each image on the "real" paper, stamp off onto some scrap paper, and cut that print out to use as a mask. I used repositionable adhesive to stick down my masks precisely over each image before stamping the next layer atop it. 

6) Remove the masks; oooh and aaaah.

Again, for a much more in-depth explanation packed with tons of tips, visit me here. And if you have any questions whatsoever about this process, please ask me in the comments over there. I’d love to help you guys try this out if you’ve never done a stamp collage before!

Anything Goes...with Nuance Powders :)

Hiya Lost Coasters! Today I have two quick projects up for the "Anything Goes" challenge that I wanted to tell you a little bit about and hopefully get your imagination and hands busy creating.  :)

I just got some of the Nuance powdered pigments this month and have been having lots of fun playing with these. Just a tiny sprinkle of powder and some spritzes of water = hours of entertainment! (OK, so I am easily entertained. But you probably will be too--these powders are COOL!)

The first project I wanted to share with you is this card to usher in October:

This was made by sprinkling autumnal colors of the powder onto white watercolor paper, keeping the sprinkles mostly to one side of the card. I then sprayed the paper with several spritzes of water. Where you use more water, the color runs and flows together, as in the big splash of fiery red and orange on this piece; drier specks of powder can also be seen moving away from the "splash" area, which gives an interesting textured look. (You might have to enlarge the pic to get a good look at this effect.) The amount you spray is up to you! Dryish or wet, these powdered pigments look fantastic, and the colors are beautiful.

Next I took two Lost Coast Designs stamps: an abstract background from the ATC Grunge Set, and the Gothic text block from ATC Text Set 1. To ink them, I stamped into the still-wet "splash" from the Nuance powders; I wanted to carry over the colors from the splash, so I stamped the abstract grunge set stamp into the white area of the card, then stamped the Gothic text block several times to add depth and interest to the splash area. It's OK that the text is wet and messy--it's just to add texture and isn't supposed to be legible. No need to be careful with this technique!

I then gave the whole thing a spritz of heirloom gold shimmer spray...you know, because I like shiny stuff. (Actually, it's super subtle in real life, the shimmer--I didn't use much!)

After drying this background with my trusty heat tool, I then composed the word "October" using the Rustic Alphabet Set  and embossed it with a mixture of green and copper embossing powders for a sort of verdigris patina look. Then I used a bullet-tipped embossing ink pen and wrote the word "welcome" and embossed it too.

I edged the card with chalk inks...mounted it on a shimmery pale gold card that I edged with heirloom gold metallic ink...then mounted the whole thing on piece of green cardstock, which I daubed with chalk ink for a soft sort of suede-y look in real life. And that was it for that project!

Now, for the second project that I made for "Anything Goes" using my new Nuance powders.  :) What is special about this ATC is the "cracked-glass effect" that I used to make it seem like the card is encased under a piece of...well, cracked glass.  :)  If you want to learn how to do this easy and fun technique, go have a look at the tutorial up on my blog and tell me what you think!

Here's the piece:

Happy creating...and happy fall!

--Paula

December News: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Hello Lost Coaster's!

WOW, can you believe its December already, where did this year go!

Christmas is my favourite holiday of the year and we, the LCDesigners, are getting into the spirit of the season big time with some festive activities for you!  It's non-stop fiesta time over at Lost Coast Portal to Creativity, our event and challenge blog, here's what we are up to for December so I hope you can all take a sec from your festivities to stop by and stay to play with us ;0)

We'll also be sharing our projects here on Lost Coaster's Review every 3 days instead of every 2 for Dec through to Feb 2016!

DECEMBER NEWS!

Win a $15 spending spree to Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda!

  Our A Carmen's Veranda Christmas Contest began Dec 1st!  

Check out our Day 1 post for some fabulous LCDesigner makes and then visit us Dec 8th for Day 2 and again on Dec 15 for the finale!  Enter your holiday projects by midnight on Dec 15 to be in the running for the $15 spending spree to Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda!

Win a $15 spending spree to Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda!

 Our 2nd Facebook Challenge, Winter Holidays, also started on Dec 1st with even more ways to win some LCD/CV stamps!  Pop on over to our Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda FB Pages and Like us!  We host the same FB Challenge on both FB Pages, see the pinned post at the top of the walls for the challenge details and submit your entries in the comments of the pinned posts!

Wait, there's more!  Our December monthly blog challenge starts Dec 7th so mark your calendars and join in!

Please read over the rules for all our activities to ensure your entries qualify! 

 Now it's your turn to show us your holiday projects, we can't wait to see all your festive entries!

Happy Holidays!

Leigh S-B

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

LCD/CV DT Leader

Lost Coast News: Event & Challenge Blog launch & new home of our monthly Challenges!

Hello Friends of Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda!

IMPORTANT UPDATE!
We have decided to lift our LCD/CV stamps only restriction for Skellie-Fest as well as our current #13 Numbers Challenge!  You can now use ANY stamp companies on your entries BUT if you do use only LCD/CV stamps then your entry will count as two and doubles your chance at winning the prizes!  All other Event and Challenge Rules still apply!
Tell your friends to come and play with us!

Additional Note
The LCD/CV stamp use restriction still applies to our Grand Opening "New Stamp Release" event!  We want to see your fabulous creations featuring our stamps ;0)
The Grand Opening event ends July 22 at 11:55pm PST!

In case you missed seeing our news, we now have a brand new Blog called Lost Coast Portal to Creativity where we will be hosting lots of fabulous events throughout the year and is now also the new home of our monthly Challenges!

Come and join our Grand Opening Celebrations!

 From mid May through to the end of July we're having a "New Stamp Release" event.  Enter your projects using ANY Lost Coast Designs or Carmen's Veranda stamps!  A $20 gift certificate to spend at either company or a combo of both is up for grabs!

 Our Challenge theme for June is NUMBERS!

We have a new prize format to make it easier for you to WIN a prize so pop on over and enter our June Challenge #13!

 

On June 4th Lost Coast Portal to Creativity is participating in the annual Skull Appreciation Day blog hop hosted by Smeared and Smudged AND we are also hosting our very first

Skellie-Fest which takes place June 4 - 18th!  Enter your projects using our LCD/CV skull and skeleton stamps to win a $20 gift certificate to spend at either company or a combo of both!

So pop on over to Lost Coast Portal to Creativity, become a follower so you don't miss a single event and STAY TO PLAY!

We look forward to seeing all your fabulous LCD/CV creations!

Happy Stamping!

Leigh S-B

The Sharpie Domino Queen