Craft Stamper Blog Hop Extra

Welcome back to the Craft Stamper February 2013 - Looking Back Blog Hop Event.

If you haven't already then check out the blog hop by going to the original Craft Stamper blog post, you still have time to join in for the giveaways, it is open until Midnight 8th February.

If you have done the hop and are back for my heart tag tutorial then welcome back! Nice to see you!

So here is what I made for the Craft Stamper blog hop -

and here is how I made it -

You will need:

Card - at least 240gsm if not more

Khadi papers

Old book pages

Watercolour paints

Creative Expressions Texture plate stamp set

Black ink (I used Kuretake ZIG Sumi ink)

Dip pen

Gesso

White acrylic paint

Plastic sheet or craft matt

Plastic card or palette knife

Brushes

Wire

Eyelet and setter

PVA

Water

3D-foam

Heat tool (optional)

Step 1 - A Simple Tag

I collaged my card with some book pages using PVA and if you need some tips on how to do it then check out my Collage Background Tutorial. When this was dry I cut my tag shape from a template.  

A little TIP - I make handy paper templates of all my favourite shapes such as hearts and tags and keep them altogether in a plastic folder for easy reference.

Step 2 - All In The Colouring

The colouring is a splash of watercolour, I've put a pool of water into a dimple palette and added some colour picked up with a wet brush then used a pipette to put droplets of colour onto my plastic sheet covered workspace. I then pressed the tag into the drops a couple of times to pick up the colour and let it dry.

Step 3 - Splodge On The Gesso

A technical term I'm sure! I wanted a little more texture and to soften the colour so added a rough layer of Gesso spread thinly over the tag with a plastic card. Whilst the Gesso layer was drying I made the hearts.

Step 4 - Tearing Hearts

Using another template, this time for a heart shape, I tore three hearts, one from Khadi paper, a slightly bigger one from a book page and then a larger one still from Khadi paper again. The first heart was coloured red with watercolours.

Step 5 - Stamp It Up With Paint

The next step is a little bit of paint stamping, I do love adding stamping details in acrylic paint and Gesso and it is really simple to do. There are different methods but my favourite way is to spread a very thin layer of paint onto a plastic sheet with a palette knife or plastic card and then lightly press the stamp into the layer, then stamp it as normal.

Just remember to dampen or wash your stamp immediately so that the paint or Gesso doesn't stick.

Step 6 - Doodle The Details

After stamping the coloured heart and the tag it is time to doodle the edges with the dip pen and ink. There is something very immediate and tactile about using dip pens and ink, and I love working with the ZIG Sumi ink as it gives a rich deep black mark. I then layered up the hearts.

Step 7 - Final Touches

The final touch was a bit of wire work. I curled some black wire around a thick marker pen and attached it to the heart like a paper clip. I then curled the other end around a thinner pen to attach to the tag. The layered hearts were then held in place with some 3D-foam and an eyelet was added to the tag.

There, finished! Or almost; I did think about adding a sentiment but after trying several different sentiments in several different ways, I decided to keep it simple!

Hope you have been having fun with the Craft Stamper blog hop and keep your eye out on the blog for more events this week, including more tutorials and a live Q&A on Wednesday with Katy Fox, the Editor of Craft Stamper, over at their Facebook page.

Thanks for popping in.

Kim