Showing posts with label Vicki Boutin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vicki Boutin. Show all posts

Wednesday, 21 August 2019

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - Week 533

Morning Everyone,

I'm early! Given my usual tardiness, I think that's worth noting. So another week has whizzed by. it's WOYWW day and my desk has a mess of this and that on it again - again.
The photo was taken an hour or so ago when the light wasn't as good as it is now (despite the weather forecast for torrential rain the sun is shining and all looks well in our part of the world) but I think you can see the mess clearly enough. There's a teetering pile of scrapbooky - is that even a word - stuff top right. I should move it before the sun does damage. Front right is my most recent scrap layout - I plan to file it in an album next time I go downstairs - that'll will be when I need refueling with tea. To the left of the teetering pile is a wee stack of stencilled pieces. Last week I was 'experimenting' with texture paste, paints and ink sprays, you can see them piled up on the left, for layouts so I scooped up and smooshed card scraps with the leftovers. There's also a pile of photos, behind the keyboard, printed late yesterday - the eagle-eyed will recognise that those on top are from this year's WOYWW crop. Some, all, hopefully, will be scrapped this week.

And just so you don't think those stenciled bits and bobs are wasted, here's a few cards I made with them this week. Oh, yes, it's not all scrapbooking!


The background for this one was made with Ranger's opaque matte texture paste that had two acrylic paints, Vicki Boutin's 'Blue Hawaiin' and 'Juicy Pear', and iridescent glitter paste, also Vicki Boutin, added. The stencil is an old one, That Special Touch 'Chevrons'. The topper is made with a fun stamp, 'Birthday To-Do List' from Crafter's Companion - found at The Range.


The background to this is simply sprayed with gold ink, Heidi Swapp's Color Shine. I believe this has been discontinued - shame, it's one of the best gold sprays I've found yet! The leaf, more of the texture paste tinted this time with just the 'Juicy Pear' paint, is from Dark Room Door's 'Carved Leaves' and the stamp, 'Get Well Soon' is another gin themed one from Crafter's Companion. Never let it be said I'm not up with current trends.


On this last one I've used more of the 'Carved Leaves' stencil. It's very simple but I do like those leaves as they are and without embellishment.


And now the book bit. This book is one I listened to quite some time ago but it's stayed with me - probably because I'm a sucker for any book that has a dog, or cat, in it. Kate Spicer's Lost Dog: A Love Story is about a rescue dog, a lurcher called Wolfy, her relationship with him, and the lengths she went to find him when he went missing while he was in the care of her brother. Reviews for this book are mixed. Kate Spicer is a journalist who knows how to tell a story but the prologue is perhaps just a bit too honest, describing as it does her cocaine-fuelled life-style, but there's no doubting her love for Wolfy and it's the search for him that held my interest to the end.

That's it for today. Until our next Whizzday, I wish you all a wonderfully crafty week

Sunday, 7 April 2019

Mixed Media Backgrounds - Part 1

Hello again ...

... two posts in one day - I'm excelling myself! Actually, it's been lovely finding time to mess about in the craft room. It feels like an indulgence to be able to experiment with paints and inks again, and the Stampendous Creative Palette I mentioned in an earlier post. Here's the results of my playtime.
As you can see I dug out the brayer ... I can't remember when that was last used too ... and for these background pieces I used a selection of ink refills - from Colorbox, Ranger's, Vivid and Rollagraph - all almost as old as Methuselah but still very usable! I tried placing a stencil (Clarity) over the wet inks with mixed success but scoring the inks with the Vicki Boutin Art Wedge, comb and bottle top was more successful.
Next, I tried out acrylic paints, Vicki Boutin (Blue Hawaiian), Maggie Holmes (mint and blue) and Heidi Swapp metallic texture paste (Hot Pink).Love this combination of colours.
For these backgrounds I added a base of some cheap white acrylic, Wilkinson's, which worked very well. As did the more pricey Daler & Rowney cream Simply acrylic. Vicki Boutin's Juicy Pear provided a great pop of bright citrus against the blues and pinks already mentioned.
Finally, the disaster! This is what happens when the phone rings and the card is left down on the painted surface too long. Patches of the card softened and stuck to the drying paint. It's quite textured and looks rather like flock wallpaper. I'm still debating with myself on whether it's at all usable or only fit for the bin.

Next, I plan to use the backgrounds for cards. Immediately!! Well, at least within the next few days. So much better than stashing them away in a box to be forgotten. So, part 2 should follow soon.

Hope you found this resurrection of old crafty tools of interest. It's my shame that they've been languishing in a drawer forgotten and neglected. They deserve better treatment!

Thanks for visiting.