Monday 10 October 2016

2016 #19 Oriental Beauty {by Lesley Ebdon}

2016 Topic 19: Die Cuts


Hi Everyone, it's Lesley here tonight and I'm delighted to share with you a canvas I created using one of my favourite Lynne Perrella stamp sets. There are many different die cutting machines available, manual, electronic, programmable, etc., but I just have my trusty Big Shot and a tonne of dies that rarely get used these days so it was nice to put them to use for a change. 



I adore Lynne's Oriental images and I decided this was also the perfect opportunity to use some beautiful papers/card I bought about 10 yrs ago when I first started crafting. In fact you could say these papers and some Oriental wood backed stamps were what started me on my crafting journey (obsession?). I hope you enjoy my project.



I started with a deep sided 8” x 8” canvas and a selection of papers and card....I also pulled out a selection of dies.


Using the square and rectangle dies I die cut sections of the papers I wanted to feature on my canvas. A fair bit of juggling about ensued before I was happy with the placement and stuck everything down with gel medium. I didn't bother with the middle as I knew I was going to cover it up.


I used a beautiful leafy die and a piece of sturdy card to create a stencil, mixed a coordinating green from the Frescos using Chartreuse and French Roast, applied it with a stencil brush and followed this with a thin patchy wash of Nougat Fresco Finish. I wanted to mute the colours of the background slightly so the main feature would not be overpowered by them. I then applied a Versamark Ink pen to all the edges of the diecut pieces and heat embossed using gold embossing powder.


Next I stamped the Koi image from LPC25 all round the deep sides of the canvas using White Fire Metallic Fresco Finish.

LPC25

Now to concentrate on the main feature image. I used the cabinet dies to cut a large background piece from the red card, edged it with the Versamark and gold embossing and the smaller cabinet die to cut from a lighter coloured designer card. I stamped the beautiful image onto Tim Holtz tissue and painted it on the reverse with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish.

Leandra has a fab video on how to paint on tissue with the Frescos .......pity I didn't refresh my memory by watching it again because I forgot the final stage of painting the image with white which makes the colours pop more! Never mind, it didn't turn out too badly, lol! I tore round the image, having first 'drawn' round it with a wet brush and then applied it to the smaller die cut with matte gel medium. I have to say the TH tissue is very tough and even well soaked with water it doesn't want to tear. I finished this piece off with the gold embossed edge and then adhered it to the other layer before fixing it to the canvas.


I then created a masterboard by roughly brayering the Fresco Finish colours I wanted and using some of the smaller stamps from the set. Next I die cut loads of the teeny blossoms, delicately sponged the edges of them all, shaped them a bit and layered them together.


After die cutting the branches I positioned everything where I wanted them on the canvas and stuck them all down. The final touch was the little bird which was given the Treasure Gold treatment before being stuck to the canvas with heavy gel medium.


Well there you have it! I thoroughly enjoyed making use of just a few of my dies, especially the blossom and the leafy spray and although I was sad to finally cut up those gorgeous papers it does feel good to have put them to use at last, lol! I hope you like the final result and I can't wait to see what everyone creates for this limitless topic.

Lesley

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Thanks for joining us Lesley, this is so pretty, calm and restful. Your selection of papers make a beautiful backdrop to the die cut shapes. Well done for cutting and edging all those tiny flowers, such patience! ~Darcy

We would love to see how you interpret this Die Cuts topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #19: Die Cuts, on this page HERE.
All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas, particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 
All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Die Cuts link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Oct 16th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

17 comments:

Helen said...

Oh wow Lesley, this looks fantastic!

Kirsten said...

That is so pretty!

Lucy Edmondson said...

This is so beautiful Lesley, such incredible attention to detail! I love how you made the branch die into a stencil!

Lucy x

Hazel Agnew said...

This is outstanding Lesley! The combination of patterns and colours is just perfect. Love the embossed edges to the papers as well. Great touch! Wonderful mix of dies and stamps too! You haven't just come up trumps, you have hit the back of the net! Xx

jojo79 said...

Fab post Lesley. Love the flowers with all the paints & stamps

Miriam said...

Beautiful project Lesley :)

Julie Lee said...

Lesley, this is such a gorgeous make. It is absolutely exquisite and such a clever use of die-cuts. It's so nice to see these beautiful stamps again on a project too. xx

Lauren Hatwell said...

How pretty! The die cuts and the stamping really compliment each other. Lx

Deborah Wainwright said...

Lesley this is stunning! I love how you built your background with different papers, it so effective. Your feature is gorgeous too, one of my favourite LP stamps. Such an inspirational piece. I love it. Hugs Debs xxx

Steven said...

Absolutely gorgeous,such detailed work. The colours and shapes give it a really Japanese feel.

Etsuko said...

Amazing canvas Lesley! Die cut flowers are so pretty. The gorgeous Japanese image background is just perfect for the LP lady. Especially hand made stencil too. I love it!! xx

Sarah B said...

I haven't made a background in that way for ages - must give it a go - thank you for inspiring me with your beautiful project xx

craftytrog said...

A fabulous project Lesley, it's beautiful! xx

Cocofolies said...

An exquisite project Lesley, up to bits!!! Xx

Jackie PN said...

OMGosh! Positively stunning!!!!

Words and Pictures said...

A real beauty - I love your patchwork framing background, and the cabinet die makes a perfect frame. The gilded fish along the edges are wonderful.
Alison x

Susan Battensby said...

So pretty, love your flower blossoms.