Decoart Art

Hi everyone,

Today I am really happy to get to show you some wonderful Decoart products....

I must admit I adore Decoart paints and mediums....right back when I tried that first bottle of one step crackle I was totally devoted....

For this project I decorated a box canvas - and this is how I did it.

I stuck some text paper onto the canvas with multi-medium and dabbed some gesso over the canvas to knock back the vividness of the text and make a good base for the crackle paint

Next came a layer of Decoart Media Line Crackle Paint...I adore this as it is so easy to use - thick layer for heavy crackle, thin layer for fine crackle and it dries quickly!

 Once dry I covered it with Raw Umber Antiquing cream...I cannot work without Antiquing creams - I love how they give you time to work - the paint is non-permanent, so you can leave it to dry and come back to it whenever you want to wipe away what isn't needed. A coat of varnish will make the paint permanent.

The Raw Umber antiquing cream darkened the cracks perfectly and was wiped away with a damp cloth.

Next I got to work on splatters and drips I worked with Phthalo Green-Blue Media Fluid acrylic paint and watered it down - one wonderful thing about these paints is how highly pigmented they are - so watering down doesn't mean a loss in powerful colour. I added a little gold and created the most amazing iridescent shimmer....and dripped the watery paint down the canvas.

See how just adding a little gold creates the most amazing iridescent peacock shimmer?

   Then for some splatter with watered down Raw Umber , Gold and Phthalo Green-Blue acrylic paint

I then used some Raw Umber acrylic paint and painted it around the sides of the canvas. I then dry brushed it around the edges of the canvas to soften the edges.

 I stamped some Raw Umber acrylic paint around the edges of the canvas using a script stamp

   I created some roses and blossoms out of die cut flowers.

The rose was covered in Phthalo Green-Blue paint and then using a stencil I dabbed gold all over the petals. I then constructed the rose......

I did the same with single flowers but added a layer of Turquoise Media Interference paint to add an iridescent shimmer to the flower. I then covered a silver brad with gold paint to match the rest of the gold accents.

I used a sign saying 'believe' that had Raw Umber paint very lightly dabbed around the edges with a sponge

 Memory box die cuts were dabbed with raw umber paint and added to the canvas

 And here is my finished canvas......

 

Hope you liked seeing how this was made!  See you soon!!!

Happy Crafting

Laura

What's Your Number?

Hello everyone!

 At Fashionable Stamping Challenges we are featuring as our challenge -

Numbers

How easy is that! Just feature any number and as many as you like!

I went a bit mad on numbers here!

I started out with a tag which I covered in Cheesecake Fresco paint through a rings stencil - I don't think it was worth it as the effect pretty much got swallowed by everything else - never mind!

I then covered the tag with Evergreen Bough DI and then wiped it with a baby wipe to make the colour more muted (I had applied it rather too heavy!)

I then stamped a Prima number stamp at the top and bottom of the tag in Evergreen Bough DI

I dabbed Vintage Photo DI around the edge of the tag and then stamped a Prima ruler stamp down one edge with Coffee Archival ink

 I used an Artistic Outpost number stamp from the set Generation Redux in Potting Soil Archival ink

I stamped the focal image of the woman (again from the Generation Redux set) in Potting Soil Archival ink and dabbed the card with Vintage Photo DI. I then stamped the Prima number stamp over it in Evergreen Bough DI

I stamped the word 'Memories' in Potting Soil Archival ink

                           I added a brass flower and corner decoration placed at the top of the tag

And that is my numbers tag! I hope you like it?

I would love it if you came over to see what the rest of the team have made to inspire you at Fashionable Stamping Challenges!

Remember we are a stamping challenge so please feature a stamped focal image on your creation.

  

You could be the winner of $20 to spend at Flonzcraft Stamps! And of course you could be picked as one of our Catwalk Spotlights!

Hope to see you there!


Happy Crafting!

Laura xxx

Magic Number

Hello,

Over at Sandee and amelie's steampunk challenge the challenge this month is -

"Three's my lucky number!"

This means you have to either incorporate the number "3" itself or make "three of a kind" an important factor of your creation. That could mean to add three identical gears as embellishments for example....or repeat the same stamped image three times...or create three visually connected objects that form a trio...just to name a few possibilities

...the 3 has to be an obvious element of your design. 

  I try to follow the number 3 in my creative work after a florist friend said that when arranging flowers you should always work with an odd number and she recommended 3 as a good amount...Apparently the number 3 is quite pleasing to the majority of people!

And so I was thrilled to have a chance to work with a favourite number!

I used a piece of cardboard (plenty around after Christmas!!!) and I stuck some torn embossed card over parts of it before covering in Decoart Crackle Paint.

You can see the gorgeous crackle here!

I got several wooden gears and cogs and painted them with Quinacridone Gold Decoart Paint and stamped them with a script stamp in Potting Soil Archival ink before dabbing them with a little Decoart Media Fluid Acrylic paint in Raw Umber

I used Tim Holtz Salvage Stickers and Label Letters stickers to make the words "Is 3 the lucky number"

And I used a photo from the Salvage Stickers set

Stuck to the card background is some melange tissue wrap

Here I used some Remnant rubs transfers

A white organza ribbon was attached to the card with a bronze brad

Black ink was spritzed over the card - I love this speckled effect

 

 Please come over and see what the rest of the team have made to inspire you!

       Hope you will come along and join in the fun!

Happy Crafting

Laura xxx

Try Something New

Hello everyone!

 At Fashionable Stamping Challenges we are featuring as our challenge....

'Something New' 

Come and show us new craft items in use, a new technique or something to symbolise a New Year resolution?

I decided to use some new stamps I got for Christmas. So I began by decorating a tag with some Picket Fence DP through a stencil and when dry I dabbed some Evergreen Bough and Gathered Twigs DI over the tag

Here you can see the Picket Fence DP through the Clockwork Stencil

When the tag was coloured I began to use the stamps, randomly scattered over the tag in Potting Soil Archival ink and Evergreen Bough DI

I stamped 'Life is Good' in Potting Soil archival ink and dabed Gathwered Twigs DI over the card. I then stuck it onto a copper filligree metal embelishment that I used to decorate the tag with.

I added some copper coloured metal flowers

The main stamp decoration is a Gibson Girl stamp from Flonzcraft

I finished the tag with some thick hemp string that I tied into a bow and secured with a copper brad

I would love it if you came over to see what the rest of the team have made to inspire you at Fashionable Stamping Challenges!

Remember we are a stamping challenge so please feature a stamped focal image on your creation.

  

You could be the winner of $20 to spend at Flonzcraft Stamps! And of course you could be picked as one of our Catwalk Spotlights!

Hope to see you there!

A Tight Fit

Hello everyone,

    I am here today to show you a Christmas gift I made for my wonderful Mother-in-law Gil....As many of you may know Gil owns a fantastic Dolls House museum in Bavorov in the Czech Republic. It is filled with the beautiful houses that Gil has collected over many many years....

     She always recruits people to help her (as the collection still continues to grow and evolve) and the latest creation of hers is an old fashioned department store for which I made some tiny jewellery last summer. I love making items for the museum and Gil knows this...she also knows that I have great difficulty refusing a challenge. She knows that hearing the merest hint of "Do you think you can?" will set me off trying really hard to make sure that of course I can do that...with bells on!!!

     So when she mentioned on her Christmas wish list that she would like some corsets made and she hinted that she would like me to have a go, I decided to play it cool....."Hmmm....maybe, but I don't know if I have time".....She did say that stamping some images might work and that 2D would be fine....

WHAT?!!!......That would NOT be acceptable...If I am going to make corsets then I am going to make some corsets...anyone can stamp some!!! When I get a challenge I like to jump in totally into the deep end.....and I did...and after quite a few attempts went very wrong, I realised that making corsets would require me to take some time learning HOW to make corsets


       I won't bore you with the how to and how not to....I will just say that perseverance pays. I found some corset patterns online and saved the images. Opened them up in Paint Shop Pro and sized them. I traced them onto paper from the screen and then I had the paper pattern.

I should point out right now I have NEVER made any item of clothing from a pattern and I didn't have a clue how to do it (and the online corset pattern gave no actual instructions, just a completed diagram) After several mishaps, I realised that there is a method to doing it and that some pieces must be joined together before others. Through trial and error I finally found out what I had to do....


This corset design was meant to be glued together (so relieved to be gluing, not sewing!) I was really happy about this as I am not very confident at sewing. But viewing the end result I really wasn't happy with the shape of this corset.......

 It looked pretty enough...I loved the colour and the laced up back (despite the crooked seams)

......and the lace trim and pearl beads certainly added to it...

 The 1/12th scale seemed correct

but I wanted to make a real hourglass corset....

So I found another pattern....and to torture the perfectionist in myself I set another challenge - this time I would sew.....

This corset is made out of 10 pieces of material all sewn together.

Lace was cut to size and glued onto the corset with PVA glue

Tiny pearl beads were added

Tiny strips of lace were glued around the top of the corset. Ivory embroidery thread was glued along the center panel and a bow tied with the thread was glued to the top

You can see the scale of the corset here against a 2p coin

    Much sewing, backache, sore neck, punctured fingers and very blurred eyes later........I finally had two versions of corsets....one glued and one sewed...And I had fun!!!

Gil loved them...and I believe she wants more. Watch this space!

Thanks so much for being here - Hope you have enjoyed your visit!