2019 #19 Cute Critters: Christmas Humour with Zini's {by Nikki Acton}

2019 Topic 19: Cute Critters

Loving the fun and colour of these tags whipped up by Nikki. She's not only selected great zingy colour combos, but had fun with some stencilled layers too! Topped of with a zini critter, and we're good to go! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Nikki with you today from Addicted to Art, sharing some fun I had turning non Christmas images into Christmas ones.

I don't naturally do cute but I do love Elena's Zinski stamps - full of humour and character - so I enjoyed using her creativity to add my own bit of humour and Festive Fun! 

I picked a few of the mini stamps - the Zini's - that I thought I could add a little humour and sparkle to for some Christmas tags.

I created my backgrounds using Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics, some stencilling (again not all Christmas images) with some stamping (I used Archival ink pads). I coloured my Zini images with a mixture of Distress Inks (using a waterbrush) and Zig Brush Pens. I used a white Posca pen for some doodling and Stickles for the sparkle. I typed the words on an old typewriter and used ballpoint pens to highlight.

I'm No Angel - This fella is bit grumpy about going on top of the Christmas tree! 

Stamp - Zini 06.

The background paints are Butternut and Granny Smith.  

The snow and Christmas words are from ESN29 and the background tree from HPXM08.

Too Many Again? Someone has been on the Christmas Sherry and is a little wobbly! 

Stamp - Zini 22

The background paints are Red Lipstick and Bubble Gum with Chalk used through stencil PS034.

  

Grrrr Christmas Cracker Hats - do they ever fit? I don't think he minds. 

Stamp - Zini 04

The background paints are Butter and Peachy Keen, 

I have also used stencils PS036 and PS102.

Really? I don't think he is too amused about being dressed as a snowman?

Stamp - Zini 13.

Background paints are Steel Grey and Blue Smoke with Peachy Keen and Aquamarine for stencilling.

 The pebble effect stencil is PS102 and the stars from PS018.

Of course there are some wonderful Zinski Christmas stamps - but I knew other bloggers were using these - so it was fun making these Zini's have a little Christmas fun. I am sure you can come up with some more humourous takes on these or other Cute Critters! I would love to see them.

Thanks for joining me today, I hope you have a creative week.

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

Instagram: @Nikki_Act

Pinterest: nikacton

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2019 #19 Cute Critters: Snowman Tag with EKC {by Jenny Marples}

2019 Topic 19: Cute Critters

Ohh, the GP texture Jenny manages below is astonishing! I thought she was working on textured paper, but no! She made it! how clever! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Jenny Marples (Pushing The Right Buttons) with you today, and I'd like to share with you a Christmas Tag featuring the cutest little snowman designed by Kay Carley.

I love using stamps, paints and scraps to create collages. Spurred on by the recent completion of a notebook using another of Kay Carley's stamp sets (see it here) I decided to give the techniques a go on a Tim Holtz Etcetera tag so it could be used for home decor purposes. Here's the finished tag;

I took photos of the steps taken to create the tag base ready to share with you today. Apologies for the lighting quality - the weather has been miserable here for what feels like a month! To start the tag was covered with white gesso before having Grunge Paste applied with a spatula in an uneven fashion. You'll see from the picture below that a smaller panel was altered in the same way before being stuck to the centre of the tag. You'll all know the quality of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Paints - it only took one coat of Cloud 9 Fresco Finish Paint to cover the tag perfectly!

 

Bearing in mind the uneven surface and the addition of the central panel the only way to successfully add a couple of Kay Carley's beautiful willowy trees to the background was to stamp them in permanent black ink onto a single ply layer of tissue and stick them to the surface with Matte Distress Collage Medium. This technique also gives you the option of reversing one of the trees to face in the opposite direction. Then to 'grunge it up' a little and help define the surface texture I applied a wash of extremely dilute French Roast Fresco Finish Paint over the tag, dabbing away any excess with a paper towel.

When creating the notebook cover mentioned at the start of this post I discovered a wonderful way to make translucent coloured tissue for layering over stamped designs (so they can remain visible). Mix the tiniest amount of PaperArtsy Infusions with water and paint over tissue. You only need a single ply layer of tissue so you can imagine there will be plenty left over for future projects. Below you can see the four colours I played with - there are many more to try!

Having torn away the edges of a piece of the Rusty Car coloured tissue I applied it over the trees with more Matte Distress Collage Medium. I love that you can still see some of the wrinkles in the tissue when doing this.

Time to tackle the star of the show, the snowman - to replicate the feel of the main tag I added the Grunge Paste and Cloud 9 Fresco Finish Paint to a spare piece of thick white card. After applying a light wash of the dilute French Roast Fresco Finish Paint I stamped the snowman onto a single ply layer of tissue and stuck it onto the card. You'll see that baubles from set EKC31 were stamped onto his arms.

Having cut him out I added colour by painting over some of the snowman with dilute layers of Scottish Salmon, Peachy Keen, Waterfall and Toffee Fresco Finish Paints.

 

You'll see on the finished tag that the baubles have more of an orange tone to them - this is because I added a little of the Toffee over the Scottish Salmon before applying Glossy Accents to make them shine. Hint; if you are a little heavy handed with the paint in places (as I was) use a fine permanent black pen to draw in the missing lines.

At this stage I got lost in the process of adding the different textures and layers to the tag so here's a quick rundown of what was used. Apply torn pieces of the tissue coloured with In The Navy Infusions to a strip of white card (altered the same way as the snowman) and the edges of the tag. 

After sticking toile lace over the trees, add the card strip and a piece of cotton lace tinted with Seaglass Fresco Finish Paint. The snowflake remnant is a scrap of paper, painted with more of the Seaglass Paint and embossed in white with the snowflake from Kay Carley's stamp set. There's also a torn piece of teabag paper coloured with Golden Sands Infusions on top of a plain piece of calico fabric. To finish I added vintage sequins to the tree branches and the sentiment from the set, stamped on a strip of white card (altered the same way as the snowman).

Here are some close ups of the finished tag so you can see the detail more clearly. You'll see I added crushed silk effect ribbon to the top;

So as you'll see cute doesn't need to be 'girly' - you can go grungy too. I hope you've enjoyed seeing how effective those pieces of tissue coloured with Infusions can be when you need translucent layers - give it a try!

Thanks for joining me here today.
Jenny

Blog: http://pushingtherightbuttons.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/jenny.marples.73
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/jennymarples73/

2019 #19 Cute Christmas Critter with ETS {by Lauren Hatwell }

2019 Topic 19: Cute Critters

What is it???? Lauren up to her usual tricks of course ... making something new out of something unexpected ... how does that mind of hers work? Well, read on, and maybe you'll get an insight! I was going to say she's gone a bit batty, but in this case it's dotty !! A dotty critter!  ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Lauren here with you today, and I'd like to share with you a Christmas critter I made using Tracy Scott's amazing stamps. Much as I love all the amazing characters invented by all the very talented PaperArtsy designers, it's always fun to mix things up a bit and create new critters. Tracy's stamps are perfect for this because she uses so many useful shapes and elements.  I can always see so many different ideas in them and believe me when I say there are loads in there; but, for today, I thought I would stick with something festive.

Honestly, that flower from ETS08 has always been the "ZZ Top" flower in my head. 

I could see a face and a beard as soon as I looked at it. Sometimes it's just THERE and you can't ignore it! LOL!!! I've been waiting and WAITING to do something with it so this topic is a GIFT!

I have learned over time that the least stressful way to get those Christmas makes done and dusted is to pick themes, batch make and break down larger tasks to make them more manageable. Keeping it simple is the key and this little guy is about as easy to make as you can get. I made several as toppers so that I can add them to whatever project I like. 

Ooh! I do love a bit of repeat stamping. That little row of "hats" just makes me SO happy! I used the dotty circle and bauble top stamps from ETS13 for the body and hat. 

I adore this new Red Lipstick paint and because I used it on lovely white Regular Smoothy card.

It only took two thin coats of paint to get a nice even finish. I used a touch of Nougat Fresco Finish Paint on Santa's face and then mixed a dab of red to add a healthy blush to the end of his nose and just above his eyes.

A bit of cutting out in front of the telly can be quite relaxing and, as all the shapes are very simple, it honestly only took me about an hour to cut out all the bits I wanted, which was enough for 12 Santa toppers.

Once I had a nice collection of Christmas Critter toppers, I used them to make a batch of cards and a set of tree decorations/tags. 

For a very quick card background I used these gorgeous small mandala stencils (PS111) which make absolutely beautiful looking icicle patterns. 

I sponged them using a mixture of Blue Oyster Fresco Finish Paint and Satin Glaze to get a nice graduated and subtle finish. Using a glaze helps reduce the opacity of an opaque colour.

Then it was just a case of adding a sentiment. Believe from ETS05 is perfect. 

Again, three simple steps (four if you count sticking on the sequins - they were vital!) and I've got a nice batch of cards ready to go out to my nearest and dearest.

To make the tree decorations, I stuck a curtain weight (a small coin or washer would do the job just as well) to the back of the topper with hot glue (though Ranger's Glossy Accents would also work nicely) and then stuck the whole topper to a piece of felt using fabric glue. The weight makes the bauble hang nicely on the tree and the felt ensures everything is nice and neat at the back if the decoration spins round. Once the glue is dry, you can cut neatly around the whole topper with fabric scissors; easy! You could also attach a brooch pin for a festive badge.

So, why not take another look at your stamps and see what you can find. Once you start you will find so many different things... I really love the way the different stamp sets just keep on giving. There is treasure in those older releases and I find myself going back to them time and again.

Lauren x

Blog:marvelousmechanicalmouseorgan.blogspot.com
Facebook:LaurenHatwell
Twitter:Bluebertie12
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