Why I Love My Tim Holtz Stamp Platform Step By Step

So how is everyone doing? 

I know the blog has been quiet recently but that is all due to change as starting next month, I am extremely happy to announce the new Speshink Design Team will be going live with posts coming each Monday to the blog featuring makes using my New stamps available at Chocolate Baroque or through the Shop Tab at the top of my blog.

There will be a post in the next couple of days introducing the new team.

( I am sorry if I have not got round to contacting everyone that applied, I was completely caught off guard and overwhelmed with the response for the team xx )

Ok, so today's post is all about why I love the Tim Holtz Stamp platform from Tonic Studios.( Not just because it works great with my stamps ;) )

I mainly work with acrylic paints and it can be hard at times to use an image that needs to be colored over a painted surface as the paint can/will obscure the stamped details this also holds true for surfaces like design papers, and until the stamp platform arrived it was almost impossible to line up and re stamp an image you have already stamped.

( I hope I am making sense? )

The stamp platform allows you to stamp an image and then have a perfect alignment for re stamping in the same place. This lets you stamp an image, paint in the details without worrying to much about going over the lines and then re stamping the image over the painted version.

Below I have stepped out how I use the Stamp Platform.

The best thing is it even works with substrates like mdf and grey board, you just have to be careful about where you position the substrate, the thicker it is the further away from the hinge you need to work.

Start with your substrate, I have used an Mdf tag that has been covered with a Gel Plate print I made a few weeks ago.

The magnets wont be able to hold the tag down as it is to thick but you can use them as a guide for the bottom and side edges of the tag, Just be careful when you remove the tag as you do not want the magnets to move.

position the un inked stamp face down where you want the image to be stamped.

Close the lid and apply enough pressure to pick the stamp up.  One side of the platform is for foam mounted stamps and the other side is for clear cling stamps.

Ink up the stamp and close the Stamp Platform and apply even and firm pressure to get a nice cleanly stamped image, I have used archival ink

As you can see the image is visible but gets lost with the background details and colors. Don't worry, you only need the lines there to help guide you when you start to add paint to the image.

Now the fun begins ;)

Pic a medium to fine detail brush and start to fill in the design. I have used My Aviator stamp fr this tag.

You don't need to worry to much about painting ontop of the inked lines, just be careful not to go outside the lines. This process is actually easier and quicker than it may look and is quite forgiving once you get to re stamping over the top.

You can see a lot of the inked detail has been lost but its a lot easier to paint straight over the lines rather than going around them.

once the paint is dry, carefully place the tag back on to the Stamp Platform and re ink the stamp.

fold the lid back down and stamp over the painted surface.

Carefully lift the lid up and you will be left with a perfectly lined up and over stamped image.

Now I should have stopped there as I really liked the way the tag was looking but I had to keep on fiddling and I decided to stamp the word Fly to the top, this looked horrible and I had to figure out a way to save the tag.

I ended up using some of the Tim Holtz Printers Blocks to hide my botch. The details have been bought out using Decoart Media fluids to give a distressed look to them, I have also added some of Tim's mini stars that have been aged using Decoart Media Antiquing Cream.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to head back in a few days where I can introduce you to the New Speshink DT. I am so excited to share their work with you all. xxx

Mothers Day Tags

With mothers day in the UK arriving this Sunday I needed to get my craft on and create something for my mum, I am also on double duty as my Sister had a little sprog just over a year ago and till said sprog is able to head to the shops and select a card i have decided to cover all the important occasions for her.

I used an MDF tag from That Craft Place and picked out a design paper for my back ground.

The Tim Holtz stamp platform really comes into its own for me with this technique, and is the reason I picked one up. I was initially skeptical on how the platform would work with a thick substrate, (the mdf is 4mm thick) and i was worried about how accurate the over stamping would be, I needn't have worried, By placing the tag towards the outside edge of the platform I had no trouble getting my image to stamp and it lined up perfectly when I cam back to over stamp.

( I will do a proper little step by step soon )

The Image was stamped using black archival ink and the image was painted using Decoart Media Fluids, you can be quite bold with the paint and it doesn't matter if you paint up to or onto the black ink lines. Once all the painting is done, carefully place the tag back on the stamp platform using the magnets as position guides, re ink the stamp and stamp over the top of the painted image, as the platform is so accurate the lines match up and there is no double image, it really tidies up the painted image and makes using acrylic paints much easier to work with stamped images.

My second tag has been turned into a tag card and I have gone for a more clean and simple look using a faux chalk board finish and this time the Gypsy Rose image has been stamped using a versamark ink pad, some Stamp n Bond from Stampendous (basically a glue that works like an embossing powder) this stuff is great, no more mess with wet glues like the flitter/flutter stuff that is just to sticky and messy. once the stamp n bond has been heated up and turned clear the silver leaf flakes were added for a little bling ;)

Hopefully my Mum ad Sister will like them.

You can find the Gypsy Rose Stamp as well as my other stamps in the Shop section at the top of the page or on the Chocolate Baroque web page under Mark Gould.

Stay Tuned for the new Mark Gould/Speshink DT that will be hitting this blog very soon.

Simon Says Stamps Monday challenge this week is Whatever The Weather and they are asking us to use any Tim Holtz Product, I have used the Tim Holtz Stamp Platform for my Painted Gypsy Rose.

Shabby Chic Apothecary Cabinet

To Gunge or not to Grunge.

I have just finished my new workshop sample for a shabby chic 8 inch apothecary cabinet. 

I have taken an Mdf Kit from That Craft Place and using Paints and mediums from Decoart given the kit a grungy shabby chic finish.

The clean shabby chic version.

In the class you will have the option of leaving the kit with a clean shabby chic finish or going all in with the ageing process, we will cover several shabby chic techniques including resist and image transfer using some of Andy Skinner's Vintage Downloads.

We will also be painting mini glass bottles that fit on the inside shelf of the cabinet.

there will be a choice of colours available in the workshop so you can finish the cabinet to your own taste xxx.

I will be teaching this class at the following venues this year. 

17 March      The Forget me Not Craft Cabin in Essex 

24 March       Lets Be Creative in Petersfield near Guildford

16 June          Amelia's Creative Crafts  near Birmingham

23 June          Rowan Tree Crafts    Carnforth 

27 October    The Stamp Addict   San Diego California

Simon Says Stamp are having a Grunge It Up Challenge and I would like to enter, you can find them HERE

Mixed Media Revolution

The Revolution begins,

 I am over the moon to announce Andy Skinner and myself will be kicking of the Revolution in Holland with Art Chick Studio on the 11/12 May and in June the revolution will continue in California at It's All About The Scrapbook

Both workshops will focus around the Decoart Paints and Mediums and I will be using some lovely Papers from the fantastic 7 Gypsies.

This is my project for the retreat, it's an 8 inch wall hanging with a shabby chic and vintage vibe, we will be creating a faux patina effect on 3d stars that have been cast in resin from Molds I made.

I have created two samples to show some different colour options as well as showing of some of the different design papers from 7 Gypsies.

ATC Background Tutorial post

Afternoon all, today I am sharing a simple background tutorial on the Andy Skinner blog, Head on over and you can see how I made the back grounds for these Atc's and I have used lots of Andy's Stampendous stamps and the Decoart Media Fluids with Atc blanks from That Craft Place.

The Atc's below use the background technique but stamps from Tim Holtz and Carabelle Studio.

Happy Halloween Stampendous Style

Morning all, And a slightly premature Happy Halloween to you.

This is just a quick post today with a couple of ways to use some of the newer Stampendous Halloween Stamps. I have used Freda Cat and Pirate Cove.

I started by creating a couple of Atc's using mdf blanks from That Craft Place.

The images were stamped with Memento ink on some 240gsm  card and coloured with Copic markers. Once coloured they were glued to the Atc blanks and trimmed to fit.

They have been finished with a couple of coats of Clear ultra thick embossing powder, also from Stampendous.

 I decided to add a little extra and turn them into tags. I had some old grey boards knocking about and decided to use them up.
The boards were given a couple of coats of Decoarts Tinting base to provide a nice white base. The images were stamped with Archival ink and colour washes were added to give an aged and worn look. Finally the boards were given a coat of Decoart Matte Medium to seal the surface. This was important as I was using their One Step Crackle Glaze which needs to be applied over a sealed surface for the best results.
Once dry the Atc's were overlaid  and glued to the boards. xx

If you head over to the Stampendous Blog you will find lots more Halloween makes this month xx.

Decoart Tutorial. Baroque Gothic Wall Hanging

Morning all, Today I am sharing a little step by step on the Decoart Media Blog where I have created a gothic baroque style wall hanging creating texture with Modeling paste and crackle glaze.

If you have time it would be lovely to see you over there xx. 

Chalk Paint ATC's

Thanks for stopping by, I hope all is well where you are?

With mothers day and my sisters birthday coming up this weekend I needed something to give my mum and sister and as I am not a big card maker I decided to be a little different and make some Atc's and use them instead.

I started with some mdf blanks from Tando Creative and used Decoart's Chalky Finish Paints for the background.

I used three of the new colours in the range and used the same three colours for each Atc just varied the amount of each colour as I blended them together allowing each colour to partly dry before adding the next colour, this allowed for a softer blending and different colour tones to show through.

I used the colours, Colonial, Victorian and Bestow.

I have used the Tim Holtz Pear stamp and stamped using Stazon ink. the edges have been distressed with the ink and the back has been painted black so I can write a birthday message to my sister with a white posca pen. The Atc has been finished with a satin varnish, this really helps bring out the colours and makes things pop a little more.

This stamp is from Viva Las Vegas Stamps and will be a mothers day card from my 6 month old Niece to her mum with a little message on the back.

This stamp is also from Viva Las Vegas Stamps and this Atc will be making its way to my mum for mothers day.

Thanks for stopping by. xx

Decoart / Stampendous Blog Hop Skull Coaster

Items Used:

Decoart Media Fluids

Andy Skinner Stampendous stamps: Skuldoggery, Toxic

Thanks for stopping by on the last day of the Stampendous/Decoart blog hop that has been running all week.

Here are the list of people playing along today. 

Friday

Pam Bray

Jamie Martin

Louise Healy

Asia King

Janelle Stollfus

Lea Fritts

Alison Heikkila

Katy Leitch

Mark Gould

DecoArt Blog

Today I have a 4x4 inch canvas board coaster painted with Decoart Media Fluids and one of Andy Skinners new Stamps from Stampendous.

I started by mixing a pale shade of green using the Media Fluids  and the Media Tinting Base and applied a base coat to the canvas board.

Once dry I stamped the skull with Black Stazon ink and started painting the skull using the fluids acrylics. I watered down the Transparent Yellow Oxide for the main skull, A little Titanium white for the teeth and a little Pyrrole Red for the nose.

I created a mask for the skull by stamping the image on some thin copy paper and cutting it out. I used Andy's Scratch stamp from the toxic set and stamped using the fluid acrylics to add some colour contrast and interest to the back ground.

I finished by stamping the word Fear also from the Skuldoggery set across the top of the skull and using a Posca pen added some highlights to the letters.

The edges were distressed using some Stazon ink applied with some foam.

Thanks as always and If you have some time we would love to see you joining in on the hop and seeing what the other DT members have created.

xx

Industrial Grunge Clock Decoart/Stampendous Blog Hop

Items Used:

Decoart Media Fluids.

Decoart Media Texture Sand

Andy Skinner Stampendous Stamps. Curiosity, Steampunk

Stampendous Stamp Vintage Note

This week Stampendous and Decoart have come together for a week long blog hop celebrating the Andy Skinner stamps new and old and the Decoart Media Line.

Here is a list of the people participating today.

Stampendous Blog

Jamie Martin

Louise Healy

Mark Gould

Ursula Wollenberg

DecoArt Blog

I am lucky enough to be on both design teams and have taken this opportunity to share a new class I have put together with a new faux Pitted Tin technique and a little rust thrown in as well.

A couple of close up pics to show the textures created.

This is a grey board kit from Tando-Creative and measures 12 inches x

I cant wait to teach this class and I am so excited that the first place I will be teaching it is on my return trip to California this May 5th/6th when I visit It's All About The Scrapbook in Dixon CA.

If you have some time it would be great to see you stopping by the the other hoppers pages and leaving some love, you never know, you might be selected as one of the winners.

Head over to the Stampendous or Decoart blog for details of the generous prize pack. xx

CHSI Trade Show and some New Class Dates

I am enjoying a lazyish day today after a busy weekend at the CHSI trade show held at the Birmingham NEC this past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday where I had a stand promoting the classes I run.

It was great fun catching up with so many crafty friends and meeting so many more new faces, Lots of fantastic contacts made and lots to think about over the coming months.

I am just sharing a couple of cheesy pics of me and my booth ;)

I have also added a couple more dates to the Classes page on the top of the blog and hopefully there will be more added to the list in the coming weeks, keep popping back or friend me on FaceBook for more up to date info.

I so need to work on the resting B face ;-)

Decoart Mixed Media Blog Tutorial Post - Painting and working with Acrylic

Today It's  my turn to share a little tutorial post over on the Decoart Media Blog and I have gone for a Vintage Circus style tag using one of the Acrylic Media Boards from Tando Creative and stamps from Carabelle Studio.

If you follow the Decoart Link it will take you straight to the tutorial post xx.

Hope to see you there. x

Simon Says Stamp are having a 'Use your favorite tool' challenge this week. My fave tool has to e the heat gun, I am an impatient crafter and always turn to my heat gun to help things along when I can, I have also used it for one if it's more traditional uses on my tag for some heat embossing.