2021 Topic 4 Free to Fly with EAB {by Nikki Acton}

  2021 Topic 4: Free to Fly

Watching gel prints emerge from a gel plate is mesmerising enough, but adding in alcohol inks and stencils has taken Nikki's master boards to a new height. You'll be as intrigued as I am with this technique that's resulted in such beautiful cards that are harmonious in every way.
~ Keren

Hi, Nikki here from Addicted to Art sharing some 'Free to Fly' cards today, featuring quotes from 'The Happiness Edition'.

For these designs I have used alcohol inks on a gel plate to create some master boards. I was inspired by a Facebook Live on Stampers Grove Facebook page by Kate Crane. Kate demonstrated her technique for combining the alcohol inks with paint to pull prints. You can find Kate's technique here. I loved the grungy and slightly unpredictable nature of the results so just had to give it a go!

I love the organic feel of these prints, that have a matt quality (thanks to the Fresco paint!). I did a set in blues and a set in red/oranges.

 

My alcohol ink supplies are limited and old - so I just used what I had. I used PaperArtsy Fresco Acrylic Paint in Vanilla, along with 2 stencils PS102 (Sara Naumann) and PS147 (JOFY).

When I had all my prints (including the 'Ghost' Prints - ie the second print off the plate), I created by designs using ovals and layers to create two similar but different designs. I stamped the butterflies from ESC23 (Scrapcosy) onto the lighter, but coordinating ghost prints.

 

The quotes are from Alison Bomber's 'The Happiness Edition' EAB14. I wanted these to be quite dominant in the composition so mounted them on foam tape to create added dimension to the cards. 

If you have alcohol inks give them a go with Fresco Acrylics on your gel plate - the results are rewarding and fun! If not, any gel prints or other master boards could be used in the same way to create these coordinated cards. 

Enjoy!

Nikki x

Blog: Addicted to Art

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2021 Topic 4 Free to Fly Buzzing with ESN stamps {by Claire Snowdon}

  2021 Topic 4: Free to Fly

Taking such a humble product and lifting it to new heights is Claire tonight with her wonderfully textured card. With processes a-plenty and lots of vintage loveliness, there's much to love.
~ Keren.

Hi everyone, it's Claire Snowdon with you today, and I'd like to share with you a very textural card that I created.

It had been a while since I played with corrugated cardboard so I felt like it was about time to play with it again as I do love the sense of texture and the tactile quality it adds to a project!

I love stamping into Grunge Paste to create even more texture, this also creates lovely indentations for paint or Infusions to puddle into.

So the first stage was to peel back some pieces off the top layer on a piece of cardboard to reveal the internal texture.  I then added some Grunge Paste, smoothing it over with a damp finger before stamping into it using the large collage stamp from HP1501.

Once the Grunge Paste was mostly dry I started adding the painty layers - first of all some Sage and Peppermint Fresco Finish paints.  Then I sprinkled on some Infusions - Olive Tree and Rocky Road.  I love how the Rocky Road had some pink/purple tones within in as I feel like it adds even more interest to the background.

 

I carried on adding more infusions, intermittently drying so the cardboard didn't become too wet, until I was happy with the effect.  I didn't want the background to be too dark so I scraped on a little Fresco Finish paint in Chalk.  Then added some black splatter for contrast using Fresco Finish Little Black Dress.

Next for the focal image.

I stamped the bee image from ESN21, masking off the word 'bumblebee' before inking my stamp.  I coloured this with a little Fresco Finish in Tangerine Twist and then added a tiny drop of Glass Blue Fresco Finish into some of the Fresco Finish Metallic Glaze for the wings - so they do have a subtle twinkle in the light.

I tore around the bee image and vintage-d it up a little using Distress Inks in Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain.  Then I layered this on top of a piece of hessian, tea stained cotton, a piece of vintage lace and some pieces of black cotton threads - all secured together with a Tim Holtz tiny attacher. 

Once everything was dry I added the bee ensemble to the corrugated card piece.  I distressed the edges of the cardboard and added black archival ink around the edges and a tiny bit on the top in places.

 

I cut a piece of black cardstock and a piece of PaperArtsy Crunchy Wax Kraft Paper to the correct size for my card blank, then attached everything together using the tiny staples again.

Finally I added a Tim Holtz Quote Chip using Glossy Accents to ensure it adhered properly to the hessian underneath.

This is a great topic to get involved with as there are so many options - bees, birds, butterflies, dragonflies the list goes on and on.  I'm sure everyone has something in their stash that they could use to play along with!  I've made this card in a very vintage vibe however just by changing the colours up a bit and the materials layered underneath the focal image could turn it into a totally different project; bright and colourful, but still full of wonderful textures.

Thanks for joining me today on the blog,

Claire x

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2021 Topic 4 Free to Fly with Scrapcosy {by Carol Fox}

 2021 Topic 4: Free to Fly

There is nothing more wonderful than watching butterflies flutter and weave through the breeze. Carol's wonderful hanging mobile must be beautiful in-situ. She also uses a fabulous mixed-media suitable substrate to pull gel prints from.
~ Keren.

Hi everyone, it's Carol with you today, and I'd like to share with you a kaleidoscope of Butterflies. I was at Truro Cathedral a couple of years ago and there was an Art exhibition on. One of the installations that really caught my eye and imagination was a massive array of butterflies; literally hundreds of them all hanging down from the ceiling and wafting in the air. The image has stayed with me, and today I have done my very much smaller take on it in soft summer colours to hang in my window.

 

I thought I would show a video too as I love how it all bobbles around in the breeze.

I used a sheet of Grafix Dura-Lar to pull a gelli print using Fresco Paints in Tango, Tangerine Twist, Bubble gum, Summer Sky and Cloud 9. I also used the stencils, PS219, PS001,and PS074

Using Stamp set ESC23, I stamped a selection of Butterflies onto this.

I cut out my butterflies and joined them using machine stitching.

I used a sheet of Deli paper to clean my brayer and my Gelli plate. I used this to stamp my quote from EAB11 onto.

I cut and stuck my quote onto the metal ring I used to hang my butterflies from.

I love how the quote I used fits around the sides of my hoop and the hanging bead trim really seems to make it all pop.

If you don't want to make a whole mobile you could just make a few strings of these to hang in a window. Some of the larger Butterfly images or Dragonflies on some of the other PaperArtsy Stamp sets would look really lovely and the Grafix paper is designed for mixed media so its very sturdy to use and I was pleased how well it sewed on my machine to join the butterflies together as this was the one bit I was worried about.

Thank you for reading my post and I can be found at the following places.

Carol x

Blog: http://gingernonutsbits.blogspot.com/
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