Worker Bee Paperweight

Good Morning,

Carolyn here with you today sharing something I made a while ago. I wasn't able to share at the time as I used a stamp that hadn't been launched.So here goes.....

Firstly I selected a large pebble from the garden which was a suitable shape for a paperweight.

I gave it a coat of GeeSso Good White then sponged randomly with Duck Egg. Collectors Edition Number 16 Letters were randomly stamped in Steam Whistle.

Several Bumblebees  and  Journal Signs were stamped with black Versafine onto Rice Paper

These were then torn around so the edges weren't prominent when adhering to the pebble. The Bumblebees were painted with Lemon Meringue acrylic paint.

A coat of Slap It On was painted on the pebble to seal it.

To finish Fabric Sparkles were added to the Bumblebee wings.

 

This now sits on my desk taking pride of place and reminds me of the summer. Do you have an IndigoBu stamp that reminds you of the summer now that Autumn has arrived? 

Also have you seen the new challenge over on the 'I Love IndigoBlu' (unofficial) FaceBook page? We'd love to see what ideas you create for this challenge!

Enjoy your day!

Carolyn 

x

Book of Flowers

Hello, Kay M here today to share my project with this month's theme, Blooming Marvellous. It has been inspired by the lovely Jenny Marples, she kindly gave me a set of Eileen Hull's journal die she had cut for from mount board and a painting technique she demonstrated last year. I've made a Book of Flowers to store my flower seeds both brought in and saved from the garden.

A piece of calico was cut 3cm larger than the made up mount board journal and placed onto a craft mat. Lemon Meringue, Burning Bonfire and MulberryBush paints was painted in horizontal strips onto the calico and then sprized with water to blend, it was then left to dry.

 

Images from Victorian Garden and Nature 1 was then stamped in black Archival ink. The calico was the attached to the journal using Fabric Slap-It-On and eyelets attached when dry.

A sheet of Damaged Dots paper was used to line the inside covers and make pen/pencil and label holders. 

I made one signature, the cover could hold up to three, from kraft card, all the pages were the same with a pocket for a packet of seeds an space for notes. Before making up the signature each page was decorated on both sides, firstly a wash of white Gee-Sso-Good, then random brush strokes of diluted Lemon Meringue, Burning Bonfire and Mulberry Bush paints. When these were dry Giant Poppy and Giant Peony was stamped over with black ink, finally white Gee-Sso-Good was sponged to provide areas to make notes.

The tie closure was coloured with Burning Bonfire and secured with a button and a couple of tassels were attached to finish.

May your summer be full of colourful flowers.

Take care, Kay M

20,000 Leagues

Hello and welcome,    Kay M here today with a 20cm x20cm canvas with my take on this month's theme of story telling.  The story is not personal but the classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne.  

The Nautilus came to mind  after I finished Steampunk inspired mini panel so it was incorporated into canvas using two of my favourite stamp sets- Steampunkesque and Under the Sea.  

For the canvas background fine textured paste was applied through the Laural Leaves stencil over the lower half, when dry the whole canvas was painted with Gee-Sso-Good white.  A wash of Stroke of Midnight, Kingfisher Blue and Emerald City then painted on, misted with water and left to dry naturally.   

  Images from  Under the Sea were then stamped with Kingfisher Blue and Vodka Martini.

 

The Steampunk inspired mini panel was made by arranging strips of hammer card in a random patchwork pattern on to a10cmx10cm  grey board and adhere with Slap-It-On-Matt.  

Apply 3D paint dots along the seam edges and dry.    

 Glue pin, cardboard and resin shapes as shown and dry.  

 Paint the entire board with black Gee-Sso-Good. 

For the metal effect blend a little Gee-Sso-Good- Black with Sleeping Beauty paint and Raven Black with a little Hot Cocca paints on a plate/tile, 

Use a paintbrush to apply each paint mix in patches over the surface and blending together, when dry, repeat. 
 

Use a finger to apply Gee-Sso-Good white to highlight the raised areas and edges.   Dry brush PheasantBronze and Vodka Martini paints individually over the whole board, concentrating colour on the shapes and faux rivets. 

The image from Steampunkesque was stamped, heat embossed in clear, painted and fussy cut.  

The ship's wheel and anchor were die cut form kraft card and 3D Roman numerals to the value of 20,000 had Chocolate Box Megaflake applied with FlitterGlu.   

All the elements were adhered to the canvas and a colourful 'monster from the deep' made from paper clay and painted with IndigoBlu English Cottage Paints added to finish.

 Thank you for visiting today and I hope you are inspired!

 Take care,  Kay M x

Spring Tag

It is Cec here and today I am bringing you a spring tag that I created.

I am very, very fortunate that my husband has a laser cutter in the basement (it was his retirement present to himself) so he can cut me pretty well anything I want.  I don't like that normal manilla tags warp when you add lots of wet media so I got him to cut me a 4" x 8" tag from mat board.  The first thing I did to it was give it a border with Hot Cocoa Acrylic Paint because I intended to add a second layer.

I also had my husband cut a second tag from heavy card stock that was 1/4" smaller all the way around to use as a second layer.  I used some texture paste and the IndigoBlu Texture stencil to add some dimension.

Next I used some Slap it On Matte to add a few clusters of seed beads that I picked up from the dollar store.

I used some Martha Stewart Crafter's Clay and a Prima Mold to make a florish.  When it was dry I cut it in half and added it to my top layer using Super Thick Slap it On to ensure that it would not fall off.

I added a coat of Gee-Sso Good White gesso over the top of this layer and then sponged on Townhouse Teal, Coastal Walk and Hot Cocoa Acrylic Paint.  it was brighter than I wanted so I sponged a bit of the gesso on over the paint to knock it back a bit.

Then I decided to add a few spray inks - Tim Holtz Gathered Twigs and Lindy's Frozen Jack Frost but it didn't turn out as I expected.  I have a love/hate relationship with spray bottles and usually they won't spray when I want them to but this time the Tim Holtz bottle sprayed way too much.  I grumbled a bit and then started sponging the paint colours back over all the brown.  I also stamped some script from the IndigoBlu Tasty Textures set with some Coffee Archival Ink.

Next I used the Coffee Archival Ink to stamp a couple of flowers from the Live, Laugh, Love set on pale yellow card stock, fussy cut them and shaped them with a large embossing tool.  I used a sponge to add some gesso to the edges of the flowers and then mounted one on top of the other.

I also used a punch from EK Success to punch a bunch of little flowers from some of the 12" x 12" Damaged Dots paper.  I went back and cut a batch of even smaller flowers just to mix things up a bit.  Then I shaped them and added a bit of gesso to the edges.  When you see these little flowers on the finished tag take note of how well the blue and teal paints match the Damaged Dots paper.

To finish the tag, I added some twine at the top and pearl stickers to the centre of all the smaller flowers.  I watered down some of the gesso and flicked it on with an old brush.  Then I thought it needed something else and my husband actually suggested the feathers.  Usually he just rolls his eyes and shrugs his shoulders when I ask for his opinion so needless to say, I was happy that he had something to say this time.

I love this tag and hope I have inspired you to dig out your papers and paints and create.  Happy Spring!

Easter Egg

Hello, It's Kay M here today with my spring project, a decorated egg which are a wonderful celebration of the season.   I have decorated a papermache two part egg shaped box, just perfect to house a chocolate egg!

A number of leaf sprigs were die cut and applied all over the outer surface using the Slap-it-On Matt  then GeeSsoGood white was painted both on the outside, and inside of the egg, then left to dry.    
I painted the inside with Lime Marmalade for a bright pop of colour.

The outside was painted first with Peppermint Tea and dried.  Then I applied Olive Waistcoat over the leaf shapes with a paint brush and removed excess with kitchen towel so the paint was removed from the raised areas.  LimeMarmalade was then dry brushed over, this gave a lovely textured appearance to the egg.

A sentiment from Victorian Garden was stamped in black ink and heat embossed with clear powder onto white card, cut out and edged in black ink and adhered to the egg.

The flower sprig from the Clock Work Stamp Set was repeatedly stamped in black ink and heat embossed with clear powder onto white card.  They were then painted with Mulberry Bush and Lemon Meringue paints and after the flowers had been fussy cut, they were glued onto the leaf shapes.

The Bee from Victorian Garden was repeatedly stamped in black ink and heat embossed with clear powder onto heat resistant acetate.   Lemon Meringue paint was painted over the bodies and left to dry.   The Bee's were then fussy cut and attached to the egg.

I finished by adding a chocolate egg!

I do hope you have enjoyed my project and are inspired for you Easter makes.

Kay M.