Be the person...

Hi everyone and welcome! I've been having fun with the new Kibble Pups and Duke's Gang stamp sets and some fun new paint colours for this shadow box project.

The new English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint colours used here have the yummiest of names; Lemon Meringue, Lime Marmalade, Marshmallow and Mulberry Bush. And they coordinate beautifully with Townhouse Teal for this project. With a more translucent quality to them they are perfect for colouring in these super new designs. Here are some close ups of the finished shadow box...

Battersea Dogs Home has nothing on me with this today!!! And there's an idea - wouldn't these new stamps make the most wonderful fund raising cards for your favourite pet charity! (remember, there are cat versions too).

There are plenty more new projects to come from me and all the International Design Team using the new stamps (now released and available to purchase on the website HERE). And don't forget to enter the latest 'Anything Goes' challenge HERE to be in with a chance of winning your choice of stamps (including those new ones!!!)

For now take care of yourselves, Jenny xx

Products used;

A6 Duke's Gang stamp set

A6 Kibble Pups background stamp

English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paints

Gee-Sso Good! gesso

Butterfly card

Hello Everyone! Monika here with a mixed media card I made using the new IndigoBlu stamps. I used  A5 Floral Fantasy and A5 Word Blocks; both of them I loved from the first sight!

I absolutely adore the doily stamp in the Floral Fantasy set. I stamped mine with StazOn Gothic Purple ink. After stamping my butterflies (from the same set and from the A5 Butterfly Collector set) and colouring them I covered them using the brand new Slap it On Gloss to protect them and add some shine.

I then played with the IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paints. They are perfect for creating colourful backgrounds. I used Wimberry Pie, Banana Custard and a new yummy colour called Mulberry Bush. And I stamped first the doily, then the swirls from Tiny Backgrounds and the word Beauty from Word Blocks.

Product used:

IndigoBlu A5 Floral Fantasy

IndigoBlu A5 Word Blocks

IndigoBlu A6 Tiny Background

IndigoBlu A5 Butterfly Collector

IndigoBlu GeeSso Good! Gesso

IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint Wimberry Pie

IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint Banana Custard

IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint Mulberry Bush (new!)

Have a wonderful day! xx

Pretty In Pink - Foral Fantasy Stamps

Hi there. Elizabeth here with a project made using the very lovely new Floral Fantasy stamps they match the Floral Fantasy Mixed Media Card Stack beautifully and have three sentiments along with butterflies, Lilacs and a fabulous half Doily.

I used the sheet of Lilacs from the Floral Fantasy Mixed Media Stack adding die cuts over the top for texture. Once they were adhered to the card, I gave the whole page a coat of watered down White GeeSsoGood.

I stamped out the half doily using White GeeSsoGood in the position where I knew would be my focal point, on the left hand side, and also added some Glass Bead Gel to give a glint of light.  Then using one part paint to five parts water I added a nice big blob of........................the very gorgeous and soon to be released Mulberry Bush paint to a spritzer bottle, it is just yummy! The texture is gel like, so you can add sheer layers of gorgeous colour over your projects, and there are several gorgeous new colours that will be available soon.

There are two different sizes of Butterflies on the stamp sheet, I stamped out three of each in Black Stazon Ink, coloured them with the watered down paint and cut them out. Then I stamped out the gorgeous Lilac flower, added colour to the leaves with a Caran d'Ache pencil and spritzed the flowers themselves, to give a graded more natural look to them.  I always tend to buy neutral colours of lace and ribbon as I know I can spritz them to match any project, as the paints are all fabric paint as well!

The beautiful young girl is from the Lost Family Collection images that are perfect for mixed media projects, as they are printed on the same quality card stock as the papers. I added a little colour to her cheeks, lips, flowers and hair band, then trimmed around her as I didn't need the full image. Then comes the best bit, building up the page, layering the ribbons, adding the Butterflies and the stamped out Lilacs, followed by adding the young lady with a few extra flowers with a hint of paint added, and of course a sentiment.

Then to finish off how could I resist adding a few splatters of watered down White GeeSsoGood and a few iridescent sequins to catch the light.

I hope you enjoy all the products as much as I do, see you soon.
Elizabeth x

January Challenge Reminder - Anything Goes!

Morning everyone, 

It's reminder time at the Challenge today, and our January theme is 'Anything Goes'.  We'd love to see your makes with your Indigoblu stamps & paints, but otherwise the theme is yours to interpret as you wish.

The fabulous winner’s prize this month is your choice of IndigoBlu stamps.  As always, you have 3 options to choose from:

1:   2 Large stamp plates

or
2:   4 Small stamp plates

or

3:   1 Large and 2 small plates

There’s also the Winner’s Badge, and one for the Top 3, to display proudly on your blog, and the WINNER of the challenge will also be invited to do a GUEST SPOT on a future Challenge Launch post. That’s right, your work will be on the Challenge Blog alongside the Design Team!

Also the Top Three each month (chosen by our lovely DT) will all be invited to do an inspiration piece to be included on the new reminder post that now goes live mid challenge. So, if you’d like a chance to be featured on the IndigoBlu Challenge Blog get those stamps out and get creating!

You’ll find all the information on how to enter the challenge,  the rules (don’t worry, there’s not that many) and get to meet the Design Team in the tabs on the sidebar.

Our Demonstrator's have some fab inspiration for you:

Cheremane

Lydia 

Lisa

Nikki K

Next up, we have two of our Top 3 from last month, and first it's Kerry:

Kerry had this to say:

Hi, Kerry here with a small journal page for the Anything Goes Challenge.  I was so lucky to be in the top 3 for the challenge All That Glitters which I did some ATC’s while playing around with Indigo Blu’s paint.  I haven’t got many colours yet so for this journal page I did the background in different paint and the final blue with their paint and wow it is so opaque and full of pigment.  I have done a full tutorial over on my blog today to show you how I made this.  It’s been a total pleasure in being here today as a guest. 

Happy Art :)

And next it's Jane:

Jane had this to say:

I am so pleased to have been chosen as one of the top three for the challenge last month.  I have been using Indigoblu products for a few years now and especially like how they can all  work together within mixed media pieces.  Jane. xx

Wow!!  I think you'll agree that our Demonstrator's and Top 3 have made some absolutely amazing pieces, thank you so much to all of you - there is some real inspiration here. 

Now it's your turn - we'd like you to join us, and the theme is easy - Anything goes.  All we ask is that you use your Indigoblu stamps to create something, and then just enter - you could win!

Best Wishes & Good luck,

Indigoblu Demonstrator's & Top 3 Winners.

ENTER HERE

I Believe in You Card

Hello Everyone!

Zoey here today to show you the last card I made using IndigoBlu products! I had fun playing with the new Cartography Mixed Media Card Stack and Mega Flakes! The card collection is awesome and the Mega Flakes are just the best thing ever! Perfect to add just the right shine to all your projects!

I choose one patterned paper from the Mixed Media Paper Pad 6x6 Cartography and covered the sides with tape and then IndigoBlu Gee-Sso Good - White to tie everything together. I let it dry and mixed in a bit of IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint Goldfinger and IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint Postbox Red.

To add some more interest to the background I stamped here and there with StazOn Mini Jet Black and Indigoblu Grand Tour I.

I stamped IndigoBlu Flutterby Dinkie with StazOn Mini Jet Black over a piece of card stock and then I used Indigoblu FlitterGlu to stamp again the IndigoBlu Flutterby Dinkie. I covered it with Indigoblu Mega Flakes Lancashire Rose and removed the excess. LOVE the result!

I stamped the sentiment over another piece of card stock always using StazOn Mini Jet Black and a text from IndigoBlu Boadicea. I love to be able to stretch stamps to get the sentiment I want!

Finally I glued the sentiment, stitched around the sides and attach my background to the card base.
And here's the final result!

Stay happy stay creative, till next time!
Ciao, Zoey


Products Used :

• IndigoBlu Flutterby Dinkie
• IndigoBlu Grand Tour I
• IndigoBlu Boadicea
• IndigoBlu FlitterGlu
• IndigoBlu Megaflake Lancashire Rose
• IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint Goldfinger
• IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint Postbox Red
• IndigoBlu Gee-Sso Good - White
• StazOn Mini Jet Black
• Cartography Collection Mixed Media 6x6 Paper Pad

Kibble Kits & Kibble Pups!

Hi everyone,

Nikki here today, it's been a while since I posted on the main blog, but we have lots of new stamps, and these in particular were perfect for me to make jewellery with, so I thought I'd show you how. I'm using the brand spanking new Kibble Kits & Kibble Pups, which match Kevin's Gang (Cats) and Duke's Gang (Dogs). You can leave them black and white, colour them all in, or colour just one cat or dog that takes your fancy and make it stand out. They are brilliant for card backgrounds and the single stamps are just adorable and so much fun.

I've also been using the new IndigoBlu Diamond Resin, which is just AMAZING!  It's a jeweller's grade 2 part epoxy resin, which is very simple to use. It's self levelling and self doming, and can be used on your artwork, paper, with jewellery, or to protect and preserve objects. It's also VERY good value!

So here's how it goes..

Take an image of your choice from the stamps, and cut it to fit your bezel. Colour in as you wish.

Coat the front, back, and sides with Slap It On. Make sure it's coated well, and dried well, before gluing into your bezel. You can use Slap It On for that as well. This protects the image, and stops the resin from seeping into the paper. This is useful for photo's and any image you don't want to go darker or see through.

I make up a lot at the same time, then leave them overnight to make sure they are dry, but an hour or so is usually fine. This stops the risk of any moisture getting into the mix.

Think about how much you will need for what you have made, it's best to make a few items and have them ready, before you mix your resin. Have a clean, flat, prepared area to work in, and something to cover your work to protect it from dust while it dries. I use the lid of a storage box usually. If you need to rest your bezels on something to lift them (the bail sometimes sticks out), I use an acrylic block or similar.

Take your Diamond Resin, and mix one part A to one part B, equal measures. Getting the right measure's is the most important part here, other than that it's easy peasy. Mix together for two minutes, stirring slowly, making sure you can't see any striations in the mix (it goes cloudy then clear, then you can tell if it's not mixed by lines you can see in it). Don't worry about little bubbles at this stage, they will go.

Once mixed, use your stirring stick to ease resin out of your mixing cup, I pick it up on the stick and use it that way, but you might prefer to pour from the cup. Just pour a little at a time.  It's easier to add resin than to take it away. Ease it to the edges of your bezel, but don't force it.  It will find it's way. Don't fill the bezel completely, it's easier to come back and do a second coat when it's dry enough, and the second coat will dome the piece.

Leave your piece under cover for at least 8 hours, I prefer to leave it overnight.  It should be dry to touch overnight, and will be jeweller's grade rock hard in 72 hours. You can re-coat after about 8 hours when it's tacky dry if you can't wait to do your second layer, but I tend to wait for 24.

I made quite a few pendants, but here are some I liked because they were all differently done, some coloured completely, some with just a lone cat. And I loved the dogs all different colours, and 'bright cats' as I like to call it.

I hope you like them and it gives you some inspiration, I think they are great for so many applications, and I can't wait to do more! And if you've ever wanted to try resin, this is a great place to start.

Best Wishes,

Nikki K.
xx

Cartography LOVE canvas

Today we are entering the moth of love. February is also the Heart Disease awareness month in many countries around the world. Since I work as a nurse specialising in Heart Intensive Care  I wanted to celebrate February by making a canvas with a heart as the focus.

I have used a chunky canvas that I first painted with white GeeSso Good gesso and then covered with strips of a paper from the Cartography A6 Mixed Media Paper Pad.

I cut out a heart by hand from a piece of white card stock, painted it with Postbox Red paint and then before the paint was dry I applied Black GeeSso Good gesso - the end result was a brown-red almost rust like finish.

The pattern was made by using Mega Flakes (Eaton Mess) and the new texture stamp from the Teeny Background stamp set. The alphas were also painted with Copper Metallic paint and then when dry I just dabbed on some Flitter Glu on and applied Mega Flakes. Love how they turned out!

I dabbed FlitterGlu and added flakes on the edges of the canvas as well.

Hope I could inspire you today!

Products from IndigoBlu;

IndigoBlu Mega Flakes Eaton Mess

IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist's Acrylic Paint Postbox Red

IndigoBlu English Cottage Artist´s Acrylic Paint Metallic Copper

IndigoBlu GeeSso Good Gesso Black & White

IndigoBlu Cartography A6 Mixed Media Paper Pad

IndigoBlu Teeny Background Stamp Set