How To Make Your Love Fly Free!

Hi guys, we have reached Sunday again and last Sunday I posted a little altered canvas called Let Your Love Fly Free and promised you a post with a step by step of the process for putting the canvas together.

So go bookmark this page and grab yourself a cuppa (with biscuit of course) and read on!

You will need:

A mini canvas 10 x 10 cm

Stamps - Crafty Individuals CL-234; The Artistic Stamper Music#1 011; Basic Grey Aviary; Studio G Alpha stamps

Inks - Archival Jet Black; Versacolor Grape, Opera pink, Heliotrope, Cyan, Lapislazuli

Kuretake ZIG Wink Of Stella clear pen; ZIG Millennium pens

Caran D'Ache Neocolor II

Washi / Tissue tape

The Crafters Workshop Mini Cosmic Swirl

Card

Gesso

Golden Heavy Gel

Winsor and Newton Matte Varnish

Glossy Accents

Blending tools and foam

Heat tool

Water Spray bottle

Paint brushes

Rock Salt

Gosh what a lot of stuff for such a little canvas!

I started out by building up a base of colour onto the canvas by scribbling the Neocolor II crayons onto the surface and brushing with water, adding texture as I went along with salt.

I let the colour dry naturally before putting on the next layer of colour. Make sure your background is dry before starting to stamp.

The next step is a bit of a leap of crafting faith as stamping on mounted canvas isn't always easy. Be brave and remember you have the get out clause that imperfections add texture to a piece!

I used one of the music stamps from The Artistic Stamper Music#1 011 kit, luckily it was the perfect size for the 10 x 10 cm canvas and the stamps aren't wood backed. I have mine on EZ Mount.

The trick to stamping on mounted canvas is to use the stamp as it is, i.e. DO NOT use an acrylic block or any other solid surface to back the stamp.

Ink up your stamp, I used Versacolor Grape, lie your canvas on your table, decorated surface face up. Place your inked stamp onto the canvas and, being careful not to let the stamp slide or nudge out of place, press it gently down making sure to press a little extra on the areas of the canvas that are not supported by the wood of the canvas frame, like the middle of the canvas.

Ok scary part over - the rest is all a breeze!

Using my Versacolor inks, the Crafters Workshop Mini Cosmic Swirl template and my blending tools, I started to build up some more texture to the edges of the canvas; I wanted to keep that lovely light pink glow of the Neocolor crayon in the bottom right hand side of the canvas as this would fit my design. So I built up the colour to be a bit darker on the top left hand side of the canvas as I knew this would be the background to the wings and cage focus.

I did this process gradually by applying colour than drying it completely with my heat tool to stop the colour from just wiping off again as I used the blending tool.

Once I was happy with my background, I sealed the canvas with a layer of Winsor and Newton Matte varnish and let it dry.

Some more canvas stamping but this time I only want the image on one side of the canvas and we have the added bonus that I'm stamping in Archival Jet black so if it doesn't stamp perfectly I can just go over it with a black pen like the ZIG Millennium pens from Kuretake.

Same principle as before with stamping - don't use an acrylic block with the stamp and apply slightly more pressure on the stamp where the canvas is unsupported.

Once the ink was dry I carefully went over the black image with my Glossy Accents and let that dry whilst I worked on the cage, wings and sentiment.

Cover a piece of card big enough for two wing shapes with Washi / Tissue tape in a random manner. I made myself a little wing template and cut out two mirror-image wings. 

Using my finger I covered both wings with Gesso (you can use a brush - I just found it quicker to get messy!) and before the Gesso had a chance to dry I pressed the wings together and then lifted them apart to get that lovely river and stream texture (you might need to click on the picture below to get a larger image to see what I mean).

Once the Gesso was dry I scribbled the ZIG Wink Of Stella Clear pen over the wings to get a lovely touch of sparkle.

More card was covered with Washi / Tissue tape and then I painted a light layer of Gesso over the top, let it dry and stamped out the sentiment with the Studio G Alpha stamps and cut it out. 

The cage was stamped onto card, cut out and then coloured using the Versacolor and blending tools. I used the Golden Heavy Gel to attach the cage, wings and sentiment to the canvas.

There you have it! 

Hope that was of help to you and I would love to see if you have used any of the techniques or ideas I've used here in your own makes so just pop on by and leave me a comment and I'll hop on back for a nosy! 

Have fun!

Kimx

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Spring Flowers

What are you favourite Spring Flowers? Tulips, crocuses and daffodils are just my favourite flowers for this time of the year. So nice to see them starting to peak through the grass.

The challenge over at Cute Card Thursday this week is Signs Of Spring and the sponsors are The Stamp Shoppe and you can learn more over at the Cute Card Thursday blog.

Thought I would add a little touch of Spring to my make with some paper tulips.

The paper is from the Prima Melody pack and the I've matched them with the Whimsy Stamps Kenny K Download Diva stamp.

Hope that you are seeing signs of the new Season where you are.

Kim

SCACD Victoria Case New Release Blog Hop

Welcome to the March stamp release from Susana's Custom Art And Card Design.

The Quixotic Paperie design team and special guest Jane Johnson have the honour to join up with the SCACD design team for this new release blog hop to celebrate the new release of some lovely stamps from Victoria Case. This time Victoria has illustrated some stunning ladies - The Bonitas and some super fun Retro Girls!

If you have hopped on over here from Elaine's gorgeous blog Quixotic Cards then you are on the right track, if not then the first blog on the hop you need to go to is the lovely Crafts By Kim.

For my make I have used Mrs Cleaver - she is so retro cool, I just love her!

I've used Kraft card and Elaine has some Bazzill Kraft in Quixotic Paperie.

For those of you in the UK and EU you can get this and the other lovely Victoria Case stamps from Quixotic Paperie. For those of you in Canada and USA check out Susana's Custom Art And Card Design!

The next stop on your journey is Crystal and her beautiful blog Crystal's Crafty Creations.

Enjoy the hop!

Kim

Blog Candy Heads-Up

Hey folks, how are you all doing this Thursday? What are you all up to? 

I'm working on a journal page and trying to finish some cards but I'm having one of those slow days - you know the type? When you really have to force yourself to get going? 

Well if you have some spare time my fellow DT-er Lucia aka Poppit from Make The Day Special is celebrating her blogoversary with a yummy blog candy giveaway so you might wanna go check it out:

I love the little Itty Bitty monster 'Together' stamp - so cute! Whilst you are there check out all her lovely makes too :)

I think I might go treat myself to a cup of tea! Maybe that will give me the kick I need?

Catch you later.

Kim

Friendship Hearts

A little Friendship card for Make The Day Special all in pink for you today and I thought I would enter it into the Unity Stamp Company Challenge which is all about hearts. So more hearts from me!

I've used one of the Unity Wishes and Kisses heart stamps, stamped onto fabric and an altered road map, the background uses the {Ippity} Bit Of Burlap and the sentiment is from the Unity Adventures in Happiness stamp set.

Have a day full of Friendship!

Kimx

How To Make Love Cupcakes

So a little bit of flour, some eggs and sugar and lots and lots of LOVE! Yep it is the recipe for LOVE Cupcakes to send February out with a big smile on our faces!

I've of course used the yummy Sugar n' Spice Marci for my tag and you can either get her as a digi-stamp or as a rubber stamp.

I thought I would add lots of texture so I've embossed the designer paper, added lace and buttons, used glitter papers and then used my pencils and some textured card for the image.

Enjoy your love cupcakes!

Kim

Let Your Love Fly Free

No Sunday 'Round Up' from me today but a make instead. I had a sudden attack of inspiration yesterday which I just had to follow. I thought it would be prefect for the Artistic Stamper February Challenge and also would finish up the month of love perfectly.

You won't find a single heart insight but the LOVE theme is still there. I think I was inspired by all the gorgeous wings from the Artistic Stampers Design Team pieces.

It's a little altered canvas:

I've taken pictures of the whole process so if I get my thing together and you are interested I can show you the steps I took to make this piece later in the week.

Meanwhile hope you have a good Sunday!

Catch you later.

Kim

Update (6th March 2011): I've now posted a step by step for this canvas.

Give Me Cake!

Wahey Saturday again! Got a little Mo Manning sweety for you today, she is Birthday Fairy Lee, so sweet, as sweet as the cake she is carrying!

I've used the fabulous sketch over at Cute Card Thursday for this little sweet confection! This week the sponsors are the Lovely Kraftin' Kimmies Stamps and of course you know you can get all the yummy Kraftin' Kimmies from Quixotic Paperie!

The papers are from the yummy Echo Park Life Is Good collection.

Yummy, Yummy!

I've added lots of sparkle with Viva Decor Glitter liner Holo-iridescent and a icing sugar cake topping to the cupcake with Viva Decor Pear pen Salmon.

So do you want cake now too?

Tee Hee!

Before I go I thought I would tease show you a couple of new products Elaine has just put in Quixotic Paperie:

The lovely Adirondack colour washes.

Mmm Prima Lace.

Have a great day all you sweeties out there!

Kim

Vintage Style Travelling Birthday

Do you know someone who likes to travel? I have a Birthday card for a traveller today. I do like this vintage cruise-themed paper, I think it is from K&Co.

The little tag is stamped with travel related stamps and I've added a touch of Rangers Tim Holtz Distress ink distressing.

So where are you all going this weekend? 

Have a fun Friday.

Kim

Finishing Journal Pages

I haven't completed a journal page for ages, I've been making lots of backgrounds but not finishing the actual page so I decided to be brave and use up one of my backgrounds.

Here is a page I've had in my head for a while now, probably from the first time I saw this stamp! The stamp is Suzi Blu Love Yourself and is available from Make The Day Special.

I've stamped her onto a gesso treated book page and coloured her with ZIG Art and Graphic Twin Pens using the brush tip to give the feathering texture to her dress.

I drew my cherry blossom branch and bird cage but if you don't feel like drawing yours then check out the My Cute Stamps section in Make The Day Special! 

I used the ZIG Millennium pens to draw and coloured the blossom with acrylic paint and ZIG Art and Graphic Twin pens.

The background was made using watercolour techniques with acrylic paints. 

I'm not entirely sure she is finished, I kinda would like to put some Japanese calligraphy on the page but seeing as I don't know any it might take a while before I finish this one! 

I think I might be suffering from completion fear :)

Thanks for popping by today.

Kim

It's Magic Monday Again

I have a little birthday magic to spread today. A little commissioned card using the cute Magician Luka from La-La Land Crafts and you can get him as a digi-stamp over at the La-La Land Crafts blog.

Have another magical Monday and may your hat be full of rabbits!

Kim

Sunday Round-Up

I've got that Sunday feeling, what shall I do today?

Well the first thing I thought I would do is post up a little freebie for you to use in your art.

It is a gesso altered book page that I've used in my blog banner and I thought that perhaps you guys might find some interesting creative uses for it so please feel free to take it.

Gesso Altered Book Page Freebie

To download, right button click on the picture to open in a new tab and
you can then save it to your computer.
(It is around 300KB)

If you use it or know someone who would like it then please link to my blog so that others can pick it up themselves - thanks.

I would love to see how you use it, so let me know and I'll pop over to your blog to have a nosy look. 

Ok so that was the main bit I wanted to do in my Sunday Round Up this week, but before I go if you happen to have a copy of the current issue of Papercraft Essentials PE65 then look me up, pg 64.

 I've got an article using moving images :) 

Have a fun, creative Sunday.

Kimx

Retro Abstract Birthday

What card do you make for a man who is turning 40? Mmm... well if you are me you go retro abstract and what better way to go retro than with the fabulous Basic Grey Offbeat paper available over at Quixotic Paperie. 

Matched with Kraft paper - you guys know how much I love my Kraft and corrugated card LOL! Don't forget that Elaine now stocks Bazzill Kraft card.

I also did some hand-stitching which is made super easy with the Sew Easy Tool. You can even use the tool on circles. 

I used a circle Spellbinder nestibitlies as my template and drew my stitch line on the back of the paper. 

Then I lined up the piercing spike on the straight stitch head of the Sew Easy tool with the drawn line.

Using the markings on the head keeping it in line with the drawn line allows you to pierce holes in a circle. 

Just keep an eye on the last couple of holes if your circle isn't the perfect size you might have to make your own last hole to get the spacing right!

Elaine has been adding lots of lovely new things to Quixotic Paperie, the gorgeous Baker's Twine in all sorts of lovely colours are now in the store - I love these! Have you seen the wonderful new 50's themed Kraftin' Kimmies stamps? Well worth taking a look! Also there are some yummy new papers from Memory box - pretty.

Have a lovely Saturday.

Kim

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