A Tribute to Frida

Today I am sharing a journal page I made in tribute to the wonderful artist Frida Kahlo. The stamp of Frida is from Stampotique and I love it :). This page nearly ended up in the bin - and I am still not completely sure about it - but I am glad I persevered with it nonetheless. It took me a long time to learn the lesson that with mixed media it often looks awful before it starts to come together!

I didn't take an process pics this time but this is how I created it:

1 Randomly smear various colours of DecoArt fluid acrylics onto a piece of mixed media paper.

2 Add stenciling with white paint - I stencilled the pattern and then flipped it and printed with what was left of the paint.

3 Add black splats using a DecoArt Permanent Mister, purple stamping with bubble wrap and a bottle top, black stamping (eye stamp) and some lines made in white paint with the edge of a credit card.

4 Stamp Frida onto acetate and cut out in a square. Add a bit of gesso to the page behind where her face will be so it's not obscured then staple the acetate in place. Doodle a border with black permanent marker,

5 Stamp the Finnabair paintbrush stamp (which includes the words), add a bit of colour and stick down. Embellish with a heart and some sequin waste.

Out of my comfort zone with this one so I'd love to know what you think!

See you very soon I hope,
Katy x

Fear........

Something a little dark today.... Without getting overly personal, I've come to realise over time that I have an almost paralysing fear of the unknown. Even to the point I like to know exactly what time a visitor will arrive..... Anyway.... enough of the workings of my dysfunctional brain! Onto the art!

I got this stamp with my winning voucher from a recent Stampotique challenge (thank you Stampotique!). It's called 'A Single Tear' and I really love it! The background is created with two of my fave DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic colours - Cobolt Teal Hue and Green Gold. Yum! I layered die cuts and added some light stamping before adding the focal image with foam pads.

A simple make but am pleased with how striking she is; mostly due to that gorgeous stamp!

Katy x

Wishing...

So delighted to have been asked back again to guest design for A Sprinkle of Imagination, this time as part of their 12 Designers of Christmas series - I am in fact last to go but it's well worth a look back through a month of fabby art from lots of talented peeps.

I used stamps from A Sprinkle of Imagination - Stampotique Great Moon and the hare by Crafty Individuals. I also used my own Believe set from Rubber Dance for the sentiment.

I decided to combine the stamps with the opportunity to get more familiar with my DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics. I've actually used these paints a LOT but not usually in a very 'painterly' way, more for adding colour to mixed media pieces. Here I've attempted a form of painting with them ('proper' painters look away now!!!) to create my evening scene.

1) I used two colours of blue for my background - Phthalo Blue and Cerulean Blue (always makes me think of The X-Files that colour!). Blob the paint randomly onto the gessoed canvas then mix with brush then use your fingers to smooth it out.

2) To create the moon, I added a tiny blob of Titanium White to the canvas and smoothed it into a circle shape working from the centre outwards so the white fades out. I added a touch of Hansa Yellow Light over the top of the white while it was still wet and blended it in with my fingers. The snowflakes are simply spots of Titanium White added randomly with the end of a paintbrush.

4) To create the snow add a thick layer of modelling paste textured using a palette knife. Add some Glamour Dust while the paste is still wet. When dry, lightly add washes of Cobolt Turquoise Hue and Silver Metallic paints, just adding the paint here and there. When dry, mute down with a little Transparent White.

5) You can just see I created a 'halo' effect on the snow - as snow reflects the light back up. This is just a wash of Transluscent White applied close to the top edge of the snow and blended upwards.

6) Finally I also painted my stamped images with paints - Hansa Yellow Light for the moon and Raw Sienna for the bunny. I also added Glamour Dust to the moon here and there to give it more shine!

I loved making my canvas - hope you like my moon gazing hare!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year!

Katy xxx

Scary at Stampotique

I don't join in the challenges over at Stampotique very often - partly because half the time the challenge is over before I've got my butt in gear. But this week I've been inspired by the theme Scary Confusion for my Halloween make.

Moon Girl is my favourite stamp of all time ever and I've used her again here to make a little ATB, Moon Girl is definitely in a state of confusion because she's lost her angelic wings and turned into a witch! I suppose she isn't all that scary but I hope she fits the theme anyway!

The various stamps (all Stampotique) are gently watercoloured with Distress Inks before being assembled together and stuck onto a stick which is secured to the bottom of the ATB with a big blob of Pinflair Glue Gel. The ATB box is made from, and decorated with, papers from Graphic45 - a mix of Rare Oddities and Steampunk Spells.

I'm also entering her for the Something Wicked Challenge at Frilly and Funkie :).

Continuing the Halloween theme, I'm also sharing an ATC I made - this is one I started at a France Papillion workshop last year but only recently finished. A winged demon rising from hell - this one's definitely a wee bit more scary! The licking flames are actually Jo Capper-Sandon's foliage stamp - probably my next favourite Stampotique after Moon Girl - at least one of my most used.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Katy x

Sardine Shrine

I've been at the upcycling again today - inspired by a project I saw years ago by Gail Milburn (Efemera) which was made from a sardine tin. Advice suggests we feed our new doggie oily fish from time-to-time to make his coat shiny, so recently we've had sardine tins in the house - something we don't normally have because I think they are disgusting!!!

My make is a shrine to an inspirational woman and artist - the amazing Frida Kahlo. The stamp of Frida is by Stampotique - isn't she lovely? While conceiving this project I noticed that the current challenge at Our Creative Corner is Mexico Moods - so I used their moodboard, along with Frida's paintings, to inspire my colours.

I am entering lovely Frida into some challenges:

Our Creative Corner: Mexico Moods

Frilly and Funkie: Raise It Up (because the inside is layered with pieces of chipboard and it's literally raised up on a plinth!)

Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge: Anything Goes

Here's a bit more info on how I made my piece for you.

My sardine tin is gessoed, then lightly coated with Viva Decor Terra Paste. Once dry I painted it a terracotta colour - reminiscent of Mexican pottery.

Inside the back of my shrine is a stamped skull (Tim Holtz) - linked to Frida's fascination with death. On top of this I built up a layer of stamped leaves and butterflies (Rubber Dance).

Frida Kahlo (Stampotique) is coloured with Distress Markers (her skin is darker on the piece - the light has bleached the colour a bit here). She has flowers in her hair (sprayed with Picked Raspberry Distress Spray), gemstone earrings and a butterfly and skull at her neck.

The stand is made of a cotton reel and a wood circle painted with DecoArt Metallic Paint in Gold (this paint is AMAZING - one coat and this coverage!) and aged with DecoArt Antiquing Cream in Black. The muse word is stamped onto card painted with the same Gold paint. The whole piece is finished with beads,

Finally a view of the side where you can see that I used the same method as for the base to create the golden wings and glued them to the back of the tin. I ran a length of lace all around the tin and added gold paint highlights with a dry brush. Frida is mounted inside on some layers of chipboard to bring her towards the front of the shrine.

I hope that my shrine is deserving of Frida - thanks for looking - I hope you like her.

Hope to see you soon,

Katy x

This isn't a DT make but my fave RD stamps still get a plug! I used these Rubber Dance stamps:

Twiggy Leaves

Antique Botanicals

Stampotique Bring Me Sunshine

Quickie make today for the Stampotique Bring Me Sunshine challenge. It's a hanging canvas stamped with background images and then coloured with PanPastels. The sunrays (Tim Holtz) are stamped with orange Archival and watercoloured over with Inktense pencils.

I used Big Bee from Stampotique as my focal and also used Abstract Foliage around the edge. My bee has sparkly vellum wings.

The background circles are Rubber Dance and the honeycomb is by IndigoBlu. My piece is finished with wire and Big Chat stickers.

Katy x

You've Got Mail!

A really quick, simple project today - and there's that Stampotique bee again!!!

I got this post box from Dunelm in the sale and gently altered it for my craft space. It was white already and as my scheme is green, white and wood I kept it the original colour, simply covering the existing writing on the front with a die cut label adorned with a bee.

All the edges are inked with Archival Watering Can ink which worked so well! I officially LOVE Wendy's inks.

It's happily sitting behind my desk now, keeping my Crop-a-Dile and big scissors safe :).

K xxx

Take Flight

When I saw that this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge was 'Anything Goes' I decided to have a look through my recent purchases for my entry. I got this MDF pocket watch from Pink Tulip Creations and it's FAB so I decided to make a random little piece of craft room decor. She'll hang from my shelves.

Been playing with my lurvely Moon Girl stamp from Stampotique again and I added some inspirational words to my piece so am also entering this for the Stampotique SDC152 Sentimental Challenge.