More Brushless Watercolour

I had such a great time with this technique I just kept on playing with it, so I have some more samples to show you. But firstly, there is yet one more Alcohol Ink & Transparency atc from the last class, this was the raffle one for the Thursday class.

"Apathy"...

Onto the Brushless Watercolour atc's.

"Ornate"... (stamp by Lost Coast Designs)

"Chaos"... (head stamp by Lost Coast Designs & a few watch parts, background stamp by Green Pepper Press - Rough Draft plate)

"Indulge"... (stamp by Zetti, plus the ubiquitous Black Texture Paste!!!)

"In the Moment"... (stamps from Tim Holtz Nature's Moments plate). For this one I did the Brushless Watercolour stamping on the underneath white card, then stamped the quote onto a piece of Vellum, stitched the vellum to the coloured card and added some Swarovski crystals to the left. This would make a nice card technique!

These are the raffle atc's, they are 2 separate atc's made with the one large stamp 'Dragonfly Legend' by Stampers Anonymous (page #5).

"Dragonfly" set 1... (I've used Antique Linen Distress Stickles on the wing on the left card and also on the body on the right card - very subtle glass-like shimmer and great texture!)

"Dragonfly" set 2... (I've used Gold micro beads on the left card and the right card below - click for a close-up!)


So that's it until I post my next ones for the Clear embossing & rub'n'buff class. These are notoriously difficult to scan or photograph so I don't know how we'll go with that. Until then, either stay warm if you are in the States with all that snow, or stay cool if you are over East of Australia with the bushfires & heat!

Brushless Watercolour Technique & a Card

Last Thursday night was my niece's 18th birthday so as a non-cardmaker, I decided to make her a card. My being a non-cardmaker is not like me being a non-scrapbooker...I've made 1 scrapbook page and will not do another one - too large a format for me! But as a non-cardmaker, I've made quite a few but still don't like to call myself a cardmaker - it's just a mental thing.....if you deny something often enough you can actually start to believe it! lol Not that there's anything wrong with cardmaking!!! Heaven forbid, atc's make great card fronts and if you make them so they can come off the front and attach to the fridge as a magnet - double bonus! So once again I've used a couple of the girls from the Stampotique range, the one on the front is called Prom Queen and the one inside is Girl with a Lunchbox. Just ignore the handwriting inside, s'pose I should've scanned it BEFORE I wrote in it. Duh!

On the front I used the Textured Branches embossing plate from the Cuttlebug range on some silver foil tape adhered to a chipboard frame, then rubbed with black acrylic paint and wiped it off leaving only a small amount in the crevices. Down the bottom I stamped with the metal letter punch stamps "Hayley is 18". Being an 18 year old girl I knew she'd get the "so what" attitude it exudes! lol

Inside...

I forgot to include this atc that I made for the alcohol Ink & Transparency (acetate) class that I taught last week. I love this stamp so much, it's another of Lina Cavalieri immortalised by Fornasetti. If anyone has a spare one of this stamp they'd be willing to sell, please contact me on my email addy above right - I have a friend who would probably sell her first-born for it...if she HAD a first-born that is!

My next atc class is called Brushless Watercolour and I've made these atc's using either Lyra watercolour crayons and Ranger Distress Inks. The Lyra's are like the Golden paints of the watercolour crayon world. Beautiful rich pigments, wonderful array of colours and so soft and easy to use. I know I've shown these atc's before as this was to be the class I was to teach before my Joan died on December 1st last year - consequently the class was cancelled and put on the back-burner.

It's strange, it feels like years since Joan's death, not the short 2 months, 3-1/2 weeks it has been. The word "passing" is too soft a word for me yet, "death" is much more hard, blunt and factual and this is what it is. In time it will soften, mellow and fade to a gentle ochre colour, right now it's still hard, in-your-face RED! I wonder how many other people think of emotions/thoughts/words as colours? I do it a lot, it's a subconscious thing, before I know it I'm thinking "what you're saying is making me feel a cool blue"! Okay, I admit it, I'm feeling a little "wordy" today.....no apologies though, your eyes can skim and I can still type what I want. Back to the atc's....

A diptych..."Dragonfly 1 & 2"... ("Odonata" stamp from Stampers Anonymous")

"Reseda Odorata"... (stamps from the wonderful "Nature's Moment's" set by Tim Holtz!!!)

"Polite"... (stamp from A Stamp In The Hand called "Girl with a Purse" - discontinued though)

"Heal"... (Judikins stamp - not sure of the name, it's a stone angel statue)

and my personal favourite, "Beyond the City Gates"... (stamps from Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press plate called "Rough Draft")


Only 2 short weeks to go until Creative Soul Retreat in Melbourne!!! Woo-bloody-hoo!!! Bring on the learning/fun/frivolity/bonding/shopping/gawking!

Brushless Watecolour atc's, Beeswax atc & Tagged

I've been tagged by Keron, Stampgram and Bevlea so I'm supposed to reveal six quirky things about myself. Hmmmm....think I nearly got myself into serious trouble last time I revealed things in the "reveal 7 things about yourself" so I'll either be very careful, or I'll throw caution to the wind and blab all....haven't decided yet, read on to find out which it is! The delightful Viv also tagged me with a similar award, the Kreativ Blogger.....

and Di (Lady Di) tagged me with the I Love Your Blog award...(one I've been lucky enough to receive previously.....I know, I know.....what a show-off!!! lol)

Tagged.....

Here are the rules...1. Link to the person who tagged you.2. Mention the rules.3. Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.4. Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.5. Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.

Now for the "tagged" responses...

1. I have avoidance issues with cleaning things like my pantry or linen cupboard - if I leave them long enough I have a wonderful husband who does them! (slack or what!!!)

2. I have skinny fingers, my rings won't fit on the same fingers as mine of girlfriends who are much thinner than me.

3. I dislike top 40 music on the radio, give me HIM, The Rasmus or My Chemical Romance anyday!

4. I've had the same very best girlfriend since I was 12 (hiya Joan!!!).

5. I'm not a seafood person, the only thing I like out of the ocean comes on surfboards. {grin}

6. I sleep in what has been termed "the death pose", flat on my back with my hands crossed across my chest. I've been a back sleeper for decades, it's one of the reasons I don't have many wrinkles on my face.....oh, and good genes from my Mum! lol

Bored yet????

So I've done the first 3 of the requirements but I'm going to be a huge piker and not pass it on....it's SO difficult to choose between the blogs in my favourite blog list, they are there for a reason you know! Definitely go check out the girls who have tagged me though, they are not so slack as me and have some wonderful eye candy and insightfulness on their blogs.

Saturday's class is Brushless Watercolour as I said a couple of posts ago, here are another couple of atc's using this technique. These are both made with the Lyra watercolour crayons. Love this first one, it's my favourite - using Michelle Ward's stamps from the Rough Draft rubber plate. The little moon up the top left was made by using a round stamp with clear embossing ink and brushing Pearl Perfect Pearls over it so it shimmers nicely but is very subtle! I also coloured the top part (the sky) with a couple of pale colours of Twinkling H2O's and then stamped some stars and embossed them with silver.

"beyond the city gates"...

and "heal"... (it's difficult to see the word "heal" on the silver metal tab, but it is there!)


Next is another beeswax one that was a half-finished sample from the atc Tuesday night class last week.

"enchant"...

Stay creative at this festive time of year, it's the only way to retain your sanity as the shop's get busier and the kids start going ballistic with holiday fever and if you haven't started your Christmas shopping yet.....get going!

Brushless Watercolour atc's & a Canvas

On Saturday I'm teaching my Technique Book #2 again so it won't be an atc class as per normal. My next atc class is on Saturday the 29th of November and I thought I'd get a jump start on this one - Brushless Watercolour. I use 2 methods for this, both Lyra watercolour crayons (LOVE THEM!!!) and Ranger Distress Ink Pads. They give a slightly different look but are both as easy as each other.



Firstly, let me say that I just googled "Reseda Odorata" and I know these plants look nothing like the image on this atc below. I just used the wording because it said yellow, orange and green flowers and it worked with the image. Please don't put the "plant police" onto me. ;-)

"Reseda Odorata"...

Now a couple using one of my favourite Stampers Anonymous stamps. The first one is a diptych - 2 separate atc's, with some micro beads and mica for extra dimension. The mica is over the wording on the right hand side, it's why it looks a little grey.

"Dragonfly #1 & #2"...

and another, "winged"...

I have been asked quite a few times by the girls in my class about this next stamp. It's called Girl with a Purse and is by A Stamp In The Hand but it is discontinued. Good luck finding it if you like it....try ebay!

"Polite"...

Last Saturday I was a student in a class at Scraptivate instead of the teacher!!! I took a class with the lovely, bubbly Mel. It was her Starlight Fairy Canvas and I loved it, colour washes, lyra crayons, Jo Sonja Gold Dust, a beautiful image....what's not to like! The girls all did different colours but as I'm a sucker for Golden Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, that's what I used for the sky and then Burnt Umber for the ground.

Yep, only those two colours, apart from the shading with the lyra crayons in black and dark brown. Doesn't the stamping around the edges make it look like a theatre set, it does to me anyway! What you can't see is the Jo Sonja Gold Dust. This is a gel medium that has big flakes of gold/orange glitter suspended in it that dries to a matte finish so it is much more subtle than say sprinkling glitter over a gel medium. Because the glitter flakes are coated by the matte medium, it tones down the sparkle effect. This is an 8" x 10" canvas (or 20cm x 25cm if you prefer).