Mixed Media by the Sea by Natalie

You will need the Seashell Collage stamp set; this set is perfect for nautical projects with lots of shells hidden in the images.

This project uses no formal base but instead the structure becomes part of the layout. You could use lollipop sticks, wooden pieces or cut your own shapes using greyboard. The ones shown here are the latter. Start by building the "raft", place two vertical lollipop sticks slightly nearer than the width of your lollipop sticks. Using hot glue or gel medium, adhere your horizontal pieces fairly neatly but not perfect. With another lollipop stick, place an angled stick starting from ⅔ of the width at the bottom up towards the top right corner. Adhere this with more glue and allow the piece to set.

Gesso gives us a key for any paint we wish to apply; it's particularly important on greyboard to prevent your paint soaking in. White gesso is going to keep any colours you apply light and bright; black gesso is good for metallic colours and deeper/desaturated tones.

Dry brush on some acrylic paints; this will dry quickly but set it aside for now.

Onto some good quality stamping card, stamp your seagull and shell images using a beige or sand coloured ink pad. This adds to the aged weathered effect, but grey could also work too. Colour your image using shades of black, grey, brown and yellow ochre. Fussy cut out these elements rounding the bottom of the seagull image, this section can be hidden so don't worry too much about the path you take. Adhere the shell as a 3D wing using silicon glue or other 3D adhesive. Set this aside to set.

Moving back to our raft, apply a mix of gel medium and blue pigment. Gel medium dries clear, so your colours will darken as they dry, bear this in mind when mixing your pigments.In the sample above, the gel medium was sky blue coloured when applied. While the gel medium is still wet, apply a thick texture paste with chunky pieces. This mimics the froth of the water so it should be applied where your waves break. While this is still wet, embed in the seagull piece into the gel and texture paste. You can always add a little foam pad to the top of the seagull once dry.

Stamp your sentiment onto stamping card and blended over with Antique Linen Distress Ink. Cut into strips and edge with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. Finger curl the strips and apply using gel medium to your raft.

Once fully dry, grab a silver pen to dot on nails wherever the lollipops intersect. You can also add a little patina to add even more of a weathered finish.

Be adventerous by Brenda

The background was a mop up of Oxides with some stencilling over which I stamped the cogs from Steampunk Butterfly. The large butterfly from the same set coloured in with Distress Markers and an index clip to hold the piece in place. Sentiments from Punky Expressions .

A storm night at sea here, an oval inked with Oxides, lightening using one of the worker stamps from Make your Mark heat embossed with a mixture of details white and sparkle EP. The bird image and shells are from Seashell Collage stamped in Versafine Clair Twilight.

Thanks as always for your visits and kind words.

Its all about the sea - by Rachel

 

Hello there - Rachel here today with some more inspiration from the June shows. In this first card I have used mostly stamps from the Mermaid Queen set. I did a little stencilling lightly in the background then stamped the images and created the scene. I painted the scene using mica powders.

In this next card I used the Seashell Collage stamp set - I used distress oxide in the background then I created a little 'wreath' using the images then stamped the beautiful verse and seagull stamp centrally. 

My final piece is a ceramic plate  - I used the Ammonite stamp to make this - I wanted it to look like a bed of rock with fossils in it! 

Have a great day!

Hugs

Rachel xx

Yellow Roses by Brenda

Hello Peeps, I have some more shares from the Steampunk and Ocean TV shows.

Above the Roses from Steampunk Butterfly and wings just seemed to be a perfect match to me so I stamped them onto card coloured with Mustard Seed Oxide, cut out and arranged onto an acrylic ink background. I added random stamping with Make your Mark and Just Useful and some washi tape.

Another Oxide background and stamping using Mermaid Queen which I coloured in with sparkle pens. The quote from Seashell Collage was stamped lightly over the background along with Make your Mark and a monocle placed over the Mermaids serene face.

Here I used the fishes from Something Fishy  stamping them into the circles of a stencil colured with Distress Inks. The sentiment is from Seashell Collage.

Have a lovely Sunday everyone.

A Smooth Sea (By Doreen O'Brien)

Hello everyone, we have another Guest Design Team Member joining the Team today, and we are sure that you will all give her a big welcome. We asked Doreen to tell us a little bit about herself and she has included a photograph:

 

Doreen O'Brien Bio

Lives in Chesterfield, Derbyshire

I have been crafting most of my life wth knitting and crochet I started papercrafting seriously when I started my blog back in 2009. I found lots of stamp companies Chocolate Baroque being one of them. The first stamp I bought I remember was Rose Stem Script. I love nothing better than getting inky making cards and journals.

I am married with three children and three grandchildren any spare time is spent walking in the countryside.

 

Hello Doreen here showing my first of 3 blog posts for this month.

I first made a background using PanPastels and masking off for the moon.

Stamped the ship from Seashell Collage using Black Versafine ink.

Added some birds.

With a fine brush and some water carefully removed some of the PanPastel from beneath the ship to form waves.

When I was happy with the results, I sprayed a fixative to set the PanPastel.

I then added the sentiment.

Well that's all from me for now, see you soon with another blog post.

The call of the ocean

 Hello there , Rachel here today with somw more makes from the June shows.  This time I am featuring makes using the Seashell Collage and Something fishy sets. This first one was made using one of the kits from the Comfy pyjamas event last October - I still hadn't got around to completing the classes - time just isn't on my side at the moment. Anyway I put the piece together then added paints and background stamping using the large crackle stamp. I added the heart which i had painted and stamped and the gull which I had stamped and fussy cut.

This second piece is actually suposed to be a fob watch MDF piece but I thought it made a lovely fish tank so I used stamps from the Something fishy set to decorate it and mostly translucent paints to colour it in.

I hope you have a great day! Big hugs Rachel x

tall ships (by Veronica)

Seashell collage has a lovely silhouette image of a tall ship, and I have used it for these cards.

The first one used a brusho background from my stash that luckily looked like wild seas. I used masking fluid to cover some of the white foamy bits before I stamped the ship in black versafine clair ink on one side. I added the verse on the left side, then removed the masking fluid. Trimmed down to a square, a blackl mat, then onto a square card blank. A quick card to make!

For the second card I printed a different verse from the poem  out on the computer and stamped the ship alongside. A mask for the moon, and distress inks brushed over to create the grey dawn - I hoped, anyway. I trimmed it down to fit onto a DLcard blank which I had covered with black card.

The last one  is a rather different Christmas card using another background from my stash. This one was using a gelli plate with a brayered  versafine ink and brusho sprinkles. There was a light area in the centre, so i added a mask for the moon there and sponged round it with blue distress ink. 

Two ships stamped using versafine clair black ink, and the centre one using versafine smoky grey ink. Dots of white ink for the seaspray, and the words were printed from the computer

Vitamin Sea

 Hello everyone, I am sharing some more of my cards from the June shows on The Craft Store.

I have used stamp sets  Mermaid Queen, Something Fishy, Seashell Collage, Make Your Mark, Punky Expressions and Edgy Edges

For my first card I stamped and embossed the main mermaid image and coloured with watercolour pencils.  I added some sparkle to the mermaid's tail so it was lovely and shimmery. 

I then used Distress Inks for the background taking care not to go over the mermaid. I used a blue archival ink to stamp the seaweed, bubbles and fish. Using the blue ink gave a bit of depth to the picture.  

I added some gauze along the bottom of the card which I coloured with ink. I then added some fussy cut shells and a die cut of a ships wheel. 

To finish I added the Vitamin Sea quote. To make this I used the alphabet on Edgy Edges. Using my stamping platform I inked and stamped each letter onto a piece of clear plastic and then moved my piece of card underneath until it was in the right place, removed the plastic and stamped onto the card. This takes a little time, but worth it.

My next card is a rusty, grungy porthole!

I cut a ring out of white card and added some grey board "nuts". I added some texture paste around the ring, heavier on the grey board. When it was all dry I painted with different shades of watered down blue and grey acrylics. I then added a wash of Quinacridone Gold paint to give the rusty effect.

I cut another circle slightly larger than the centre of the ring and added a distress ink background. I stamped the images and coloured with water colour pencils. The mermaid silhouettes were embossed in black. 

I covered my card base with some wood effect paper, stamped the ship in the lower left corner and added my porthole.

My last card today is a mini fish tank.

I blended blue and green distress inks randomly for the background. Using the same colour inks I added a stencil. I then stamped and coloured the foliage and fish. I added some glitter glue to give a sparkle to the fish. I added a sentiment and mat and layered my card. I then used a Versamark pen and some copper embossing powder around the edge.

Thanks for looking

Sandra x

Memories Of The Beach

Memories Of The Beach

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well and looking forward to the weekend, here are two of my projects from last months shows.

The tag in the first photo and the canvas both use the Seashell Collage

 Seashell Collage Rubber stamp sheet - A5 

The tag is a bit of a long make but only because I used 3 different colour Crackle Enamels, which I spread in a random way mixing them without worrying about the mix. Set aside to dry. Then stamp the images in a permanent ink and fussy cut the images. Once the crackle has dried using a 3d gel to mount the images and then using a sealant of choice to seal the crackle and images.

The Canvas Board is very straight forward to make but do keep a spare piece of smooth paper to hand. I stamped using the Archival Colbalt Blue inkpad, the images need to be stamped with a firm pressure then using the paper you have to hand stamp the image this will leave a textured print for you to use either to decoupage or to use on another project.

Thank you for looking in today 

Love Doreen 

Punky Love by Brenda

Morning everyone, my first post of the month sharing a few creations from the Craft Store shows featuring a bit of Steampunk and Ocean inspired stamps.

Above I used Punky Butterfly onto an oxide background, some texture paste through a stencil, washi tape and ripped papers from the Black and White Papers and the large Love sentiment hat embossed with detail white EP.

For this one a wash of Distress Ink and shells from Seashell Collage stamped, cut our, coloured and covered with Glossy Accent and arranged over a piece of netting dipped into coffee to age it. The sentiment is from the same set.

Have a lovely day and my thanks as always for your kind visits and words of encouragement.

sea view (by Veronica)

Today I have two cards to share using the seashell collage stamp set.

The first uses the seagulls, these are just waiting for signs of anyone approaching who may have food....

Coloured with watercolour pencils,apart from the sky which was sponged with distress ink. The large gull was stmaped on spare card, coloured,   cut out and glued over the main image. The base card was sponged wioth distress ink and randomly stamped with seashells in the same ink.

 The second card uses some of the smaller stamps from the set  to create a rough wreath shape. The shells were inked with distress inks in orange and green and the anchor and helm in brown. The words  and some of the seashells  seashells were randomly stamped around the edges to form the background in distress inks, and the same inks sponged round , with a very light blue added to the centre.  The sentiment is from punky expressions

All at Sea (by Sandra)

 Hello

I am sharing some of my cards from the June show on The Craft Store.

This card uses the Seashell Collage stamp set.

First, I cut a circle with a die. I then stamped the seagulls on the wooden pillars and coloured with watercolour pencils. I used a cloud stencil in the background which I coloured with Distress Inks.  

On the card base I stamped some of the shells in opposite corners, I added some splashes using the Distress Ink and some black. I used a fine brush as I only wanted small splashes.  I added one of the sentiments from the set.

I then used a doily style die  to layer up my design

My next card uses the same stamp set, but this time I have used the lovely ship stamp with one of the sentiments.  

For the background I sprinkled some Sea Green Brusho across the centre of the card and spritzed with water to make lots of speckles and splashes like a rough sea! I them mixed some of the Brusho with water to make an ink and used this across the bottom of the card. I finished by adding some circles from Make Your Mark.

Thanks for looking

Sandra

From The Deep (by Judith)

Hello everyone, I have a few projects to share using stamps that were featured on last month's TV shows on The Craft Store.

 My first card was created on a piece of glossy card, and I used an inky plate to create the background. I brayered a selection of Distress Inks onto the plate, and then pressed the card onto the plate to get a print. I trimmed the card to size, and then placed a square of Masking Tissue in the centre. I stamped the images from Mermaid Queen and Seashell Collage around the edges using Archival Ink. I added some shading using grey Archival Ink before removing the Masking Tissue. I stamped the bird and sentiment from the Seashell Collage stamp set within the faux frame, amd added a touch of pencil colouring to the image.

To create my second card, I used a piece of Smooth White Stamping Paper and stamped the Ammonite image in the foreground using black ink. I masked the image using Masking Tissue, and proceeded to stamp the image again in grey ink, masking as I went along, until I had filled the page. I only needed three masks in total to achieve this effect, and as they are reusable, I will be able to put them to good use in future projects. I used colouring pencils to complete the project, choosing a rainbow palette, and using three different colours on each shell to give a good variation of shading. I started with the lightest colour each time. I added a sentiment from Birthday Words.

My third card was created using Drawing Cartridge and Distress Inks. I added salt to the background while it was still wet to create an underwater effect, like bubbles in the sea. Once the background was dry I added some foliage along the bottom from Something Fishy, and completed the sea bed by drawing in some lines and dots with a fineliner pen. I added lots of the fish, and stamped a few extra fish and shells onto to some sticker sheets which I coloured separately, all with pencils. I added a few fronds of colour to represent seaweed using my Koh-I-Noor plalette and a waterbrush. 

This last project is a golden oldie which I am sharing again for those readers who have not seen it before. I used Ink and mica powder on the bckground covered up with scrunched up cling film. Once the background was dry, I stamped all of my images from Mermaid Queen with Archival Ink and coloured them with pencils. I have joined the images up with dots to make them appear to be part of one big scene using a fineliner pen, and used toning colours throughout.

Thanks for stopping by, I will be back later in the month with more projects to share with you. Take care, and stay safe,

Judith xx

Seaside Collage (by Lesley Ebdon)

Hello everyone, an old friend is joining us on the Design Team blog this month. Lots of you will remember Lesley Ebdon from her time on the Design Team, and she has kindly agreed to do a guest spot for us. She has created some beautiful cards, and this is her first.

Lesley writes:

Hello everyone,

I was delighted to be asked recently if I would like to do a guest spot on the blog joining so many talented crafters, some of whom have been friends for many years. It's a bit like coming home, lol, and it's lovely to be here again.

I decided that as several of my male family members have birthdays in March and April that I would take the opportunity to create their cards using Chocolate Baroque stamps and colours that may not be considered traditionally male themed. Who says men's cards have to be dark and sport themed!

 

The first card was for my Son. He and his family have really missed being able to go to their favourite holiday getaway on Anglesey because of the restrictions so I used stamps from sets Seashell Collage and Mermaid Queen to create a reminder of where they will soon be able to go, fingers crossed. I did some very subtle random stencilling with a wave like design, then stamped the images with a mix of Distress Oxide and VersaClair Inks and coloured them with PolyChromos pencils. Before stamping the little collage in the bottom left corner I stamped the text with second generation ink.

 

Add the sentiment, matt and layer and it's done.

Stay safe and I'll see you again soon,

Lesley xx