SMALL TEXTURE GEL PRINTS

I wanted to create some gel prints with some texture in the acrylic paint but needed the texture to be small in scale as the gel prints will be used in a future class. Gel prints are always such a great background to use for ATCs and cards and because of the versatility of acrylic paint on the paper, it can handle stamping and embossing, die-cuts and images equally well. This means it is truly a fantastic basic background to build your design onto. I discovered amongst my stash some clear, lightweight plastic texture plates that I had from using with air-dry clay years ago and these work perfectly to add small scale texture to the acrylic paint. These are all a one-pull print so no waiting for paint to dry, so you do need to work quickly to get the pull done before the paint dries on the plate. 

"Length of life"


"Holding grudges"

"Vague"

"Shine"

"Shine" close-up showing the gorgeous
shimmery paint on the bulb.

"Gardener wanted"


"Gardener wanted" close-up.

"Float away"
(I added some white acrylic paint with a
stencil over this background.)

 

TWIST TIES TECHNIQUE

 I saw on a Facebook ATC group I belong to that one of the ladies on there had used twist ties as an embellishment. I thought this was a brilliant idea and ran with it, trying to come up with different ways to utilise these little pieces of paper-covered wire. I made sure I bought paper ones as these would take paint, both acrylic and watercolour, as well as acrylic paint markers and even sharpies and metallic wax. You are only limited by your imagination with these little 10cm (4") decorative elements.

"Feeling cute"

"Sea kelp"


"If a cat could talk"

"Life is art"

"Talk dirt to me"


"Yesterday is heavy"

ELEGANT WRITER & STAMPING

 It's been quite a few years since I've used my Elegant Writer Calligraphy Pen, although mine has never been used for calligraphy, only for the amazing water-reactive properties that this pen holds. It can be quite overwhelming on its own on ATCs as they are so small so by using it in conjunction with stamping, you can control how much you put down of the pen and still have a recognisable image by using an open-style stamp. I used almost exclusively my Vintage Photo Distress Ink pad for this technique, as I like the vintage colour of it and feel it blends nicely with the various shades that come out of the Elegant Writer pen. Although you'll see Evergreen Bough and Picked Raspberry have made an appearance on a couple of my sample ATCs and they also work very well with this amazing pen. To get the lighter shades of pinks/blues etc from the Elegant Writer pen, you need to dab off the water while it is still wet and as it lifts, the other beautiful soft colours appear. Such a cool product!

"Float away"

"Be creepy"

"Flowers don't tell"

"Moonlight mayhem"

"Magic"

"Creative process"


Finally, this is a card I made using the same technique as the ATCs.
I mounted the image onto a piece of cork as it seemed to suit the
grungy style of this technique.

GHOST STAMPING

 This technique is very similar to the Bleach techniques I taught back in 2008 and 2010; however, only water is used this time to remove the colour from inside the embossed images instead of bleach. The trick is choosing the right type of stamp, as it needs to be open enough to be able to remove the colour to obtain the desired effect. A simple style that relies on a strong enough focal stamp and colours that pop from the background. The skull stamp shows that you don't have to just do florals either. 

"Make it work"

"Lost"

"Choose something fun"

"Lukemoist"

"Gazing into the void"

"Grow positive thoughts"

KANDINSKY INSPIRED ATCs

Abstract art is very subjective, as the viewer brings to it their own perceptions about what constitutes "art". Whether it is the colours, the shapes, or the composition, I think that everyone can probably find some type of abstract art that appeals to them. For me, it's a combination of all three of those things. Wassily Kandinsky is often credited as one of the founders of abstract art, but there are others whose work is equally important, Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich and Robert Delaunay. My challenge in trying this particular style is, once again, the limited size of an ATC. It can be challenging to colour some of the tiny shapes that can occur when dissecting lines cross through other shapes, and I am certainly no great colourist with pencils, even though I use the very nice Polychromos ones; my blending could certainly be better. But I had fun doing these, and colouring with pencils is very relaxing and meditative.

"Power"

"Intelligence having fun"


"Art is a line"

"Anything you can get away with"

"Without leaving home"

"Art is free"

3D EMBOSSED FLORALS

 There are numerous 3D Embossing Folders available these days, and the variety of florals among them is impressive. I have used watercolour paints (Daniel Smith) to colour my florals that I dry-embossed on 300gsm watercolour Baohong watercolour paper. This is a simple technique that takes advantage of the ability of watercolour paints to become active again with water after they are dry. This creates a very soft-looking background and embossed image and works best with embossing folders that have some open space on them to allow the colour to blend and bleed.

"Leave a little sparkle"


Close-up showing Lisilinka silver accents.

"Shine brightly"

"Possibilities"

"No rain"

"Just breathe

"Cultivate kindness"


"Dream"

(This is a full-size C6 card using the Botanical
3D embossing folder.)

STITCHED WATERCOLOUR

 In my previous life as a costume designer/maker, I had a collection of specialty metallic threads that were used on the costumes. So when I saw someone had used metallic thread as an added accent to a watercolour painting, I just had to give this a go on my ATCs. I love the simple style of the painting that is elevated with the addition of the metallic thread, and as usual, these all look so much nicer in real life. I know this technique can be used with simple stamped designs, but I like that you can paint whatever you want and then embellish it with metallic thread. The thread is doubled, so it shows up more as it is quite thin, and you simply attach it to the back with a little double-sided tape. I used Daniel Smith watercolour paints for all of the painting. I think the amount of white background space also helps to enhance this particular style.
If you click on the picture, you will get a better idea of how the stitching looks.

"Grow with the flow"
(Silver metallic thread)

"Bloom"
(Gold metallic thread)


"I paint flowers"
(Gold & orange metallic thread)

"Life's a painting"
(Gold metallic thread)

"Lookin' sharp"
(Gold metallic thread)

"Be-leaf"
(Gold metallic thread)


I saw some cards on Pinterest and made a couple following the same style. They inspired me to try this technique on ATCs. I did my own stitch designs and the possibilities are endless.

"Possible"

"Ordinary"