Anchors aweigh! Pushing the boat out onto Stampendoulicious waters…by Asia King

Ahoy Stampendous friends! Asia here with a new project to inspire you and to err…. push the boat out so to speak! Today I would like to share a mixed media canvas that features lots of Fran•táge, my beloved napkin art, and a new technique for me – Faux Airbrushing (as featured in the UK’s Craft Stamper magazine March 2013). Let’s cast off and get underway!

Step 1 – supplies:

- blank 8″x8″ canvas

- set of printed napkins with nautical theme

- Decopatch glue, an old brush, fine art sponge (or a regular washing sponge as long as it has fine holes)

- distress inks: Shaded Lilac (not included on the photo), Faded Jeans, Broken China, Pumice Stone

- stencil with various sized circles. I created mine from acetate and die cut Nestabilities circles. You can later use your die cut circles as masks.

You will also need:

- Stampendous Cling Navigateur stamp

- Coffee Archival ink

- Inktense (or water colour) pencils, water brush

- ivory card and a piece of ivory fabric, scissors, paper distresser

Step 2 – covering your canvas:

- peel the top printed ply of your napkin, cut and arrange the pattern on the canvas.

- adhere to the canvas with Decopatch glue, covering all the sides as well. Don’t worry about small creases – let the glue settle for a minute and then smooth the creases gently with your fingers.

- avoid adding any glue on top of the napkins at this stage. You will want to keep the napkin unsealed with the medium.

Now you are ready to add some bubbles!

Step 3 – water bubbles:

- pinch your sponge so you get a nice round tip

- gradually add inks by gentle tapping/dabbing of the sponge through the stencil. Dabbing with the sponge instead of swiping it in a circular motion will create a gradual ‘dotted’ effect, similar to airbrushing (hence the name of the technique)

- to create the ‘bubble look’ keep the centre of the circle uninked. Then depending on your chosen light direction add more ink to opposite sides to create shading

- add layers of overlapping circles. Use your (previously) die cut circles as masks to add more shading. Depending on the location of the shade you can either bring the bubble forward or set it behind another

- work the inks from lightest to the darkest shade

Step 5 – Bling it on!

- swipe Boss Gloss (or an embossing ink pad) along the edges of the canvas> Leave some areas uninked

- cover with Aged Marine Embossing Enamel, tap off the excess, heat set then allow to cool

- swipe embossing ink over the remaining areas overlapping previously embossed parts

- sprinkle with Shabby Blue Embossing Enamel and heat set

- using the technique shown by my fellow BlogStar Tobi in this post randomly add layers of  Champagne, Steel Blue, Royal Blue Crushed Glass Glitter and Powder Blue Colour Fragments

- stamp bunting images onto fabric with a permanent ink. I used a free stamp from July 2012 issue of the Craft Stamper magazine. Alternatively draw several bunting flags with a Sharpie pen and cut out. Adhere to the canvas with hot glue gun and embellish with a string or ribbon.

Step 5: Main panel

- stamp Cling Navigateur onto ivory card with Coffee Archival

- colour the image with Inktense pencils or alcohol markers

- add water bubbles following the same steps as above

- distress the edges of the panel with paper distresser

- using the encrusted jewel technique add Shabby White highlights to the image

Step 6:

- stamp Cling Better Travel sentiment stamp with embossing ink onto acetate

- heat emboss with Black Detail embossing powder

- trim the acetate close to the sentiment

Step 7:

- glue burlap, cheese cloth, buttons and trinkets to the canvas

- crumple the stamped panel slightly and layer over the fabrics

- once in place, seal the image with a layer of Decopatch glue (it will dry clear)

Step 8:

- embellish further with Glossy Accents bubbles

- add highlights to your design with buttons and glass pebbles – can you see my cute ‘ship in a bottle’ below?

Inspiration photo credit

I would love to see your take on the Stampendoulicious ‘Faux Airbrushed’ projects so get crafting and let me know what you create!

Oh, and if you’d like to see more of the close up photos of my project, feel free to hop over to my blog .

I hope you enjoyed today’s inspiration and I look forward to seeing you again next week .

Big hugs

Asia

Fish Ahoy!

My friend Carmi Cimicata (remember the Resin Crafts Blog…hope you’re following her) asks who will help her with a small Blog Hop featuring a new product from her favorite bead distributors John Bead. OOH OOH…I love beads..pick me…pick me….  YAY… she said I could help… so I open the box when it comes:

Goodies from Carmi

Um… rockin’ awesome leather scissors (seriously, you NEED these)… a cool brass cuff bracelet.. and ..um.. skin?  It says Tilapia Leather… really? ick! Um.. Ok….

Apparently it comes in 12 colors. Yeah.. I got gray. It looks like a dead fish. It spent 3 weeks in the box. Everyone asked me if it smelled like fish… but I hadn’t even opened it. I took it out of the box and tried stamping on it (no, it doesn’t smell like fish, it smells like leather). It’s got a beautiful, glossy surface, but is not very ink friendly. Everything wiped right off, including Copics. Ok…so I guess I’m not stamping on this.

Then, while watching a resin clay video on ETI’s website, I saw a gal making eyes for fur costumes using resin… oooh.. what if I made my bangle look like a Fish! So I sat down to work. (Way more inspired by the eyes than the leather!). I found this leather astonishingly easy to work with . It cuts like a dream, is very very soft, and glues to anything just beautifully. I was actually pretty impressed!

I started out by sanding my bangle a bit to help the glue, then I glued it on with Beacon Adhesives Quick Grip at an angle to let some of the brass bangle show. Then I embossed the edge by using my VersaMarker to ink along the leather edge and add Aged Silver Embossing Enamel and Silver Crushed Glass Glitter for an Encrusted Jewel Look.

Embossing on Fish Leather

But adding the glitter was a little harder, the bracelet got hot when heated, so I put it on a water bottle to heat the powder and sprinkle the glitter on. (Yes the bottle melted a little, but not enough to matter)

Encrusted Jewel Technique on Fish Leather

So now for the fish eye. You can watch the video above for a much better tutorial about how to make eyes, but basically I mixed my resin with a bit of our Shaved Ice for an iridescent look, then I molded it in a craft tray (this one is from Wilton for painting with  Chocolate and I bought it at Michaels), then waited 24 hours for it to cure.

Mixing Jewelry Resin with Shaved Ice

Then I found a real fish eye picture:

Real Fish Eye from Google Images

And I painted mine to match:

Painting the Pupil with acrylic paint

Adding Some Color

Mixing Silver and Micro Glitter

Adding Fishy-ness with Silver Background

And I forgot to take a picture of it, but I coated the whole back with black acrylic paint to give it a lot of depth. I think I achieved Fish Eye Ness!

My Resin Fish Eye

You can see that I added some Encrusted Jewel Technique around the eye. I glued the eye to the bangle with Quick Grip and let it dry. Then I applied a thin bead of tacky glue around the eye to hold the embossing enamel. I sprinkled in the glitter as it melted, again using my water bottle as a holder. See my finished cuff…

Admiral Ackbar by Laura Weed

I like it so much I’m making earrings to go with it. I’ll share them when they’re done.

So the Tilapia Leather proved pretty fun, and I know that Carmi’s other victims probably did amazing things because they chatted a bit about their plans and I was jealous of their ideas for purple leather and so on. Carmi will post the Blog Hop on her site on Wednesday. As soon as I have a link, I’ll update it here. Here you go – the Metal Complex Second Skin Blog Hop – wait until you see what everyone did with this product. It’s mind-boggling!

L is for LOVE!!

I recently received an amazing gift from Asia King – former BlogStar and now Official Stampendous Foreign Correspondent for the UK. Asia is going to be staying on as a way for us to see what our friends across the pond are creating.

When Fran was in the UK in September filming for Create and Craft TV she got to meet Asia and she was given this beautiful letter L to bring back to me. It now occupies a coveted spot on the shelf in my office where all the best stamping projects go to live. I adore every detail of this fantastic project, so I implored Asia to do a tutorial. (she sent an F for Fran home as well, we’ll show that one later)  A project like this would make an amazing Holiday gift for anyone in your life who already has everything! Read on for the details on creating your own.

This project is also being featured on the Fashionable Stamping Challenges blog. If you like to see amazing projects, that is a blog you should be following! They have some incredible designers, including our own Asia.

Hello, Asia King here. Hold on tight as this is going to be quite a ride! And a bumpy one, too .

I am very much into altering papier mache letters lately. Today I am tackling… ‘L’ for Laura for one very special Lady.
What you will need:

US crafters: Cling Steampunk Owl, Cling Clock Works, Cling Jumbo Holly Season Set, Red Tinsel Embossing Powder, Aged Gold Embossing Enamel, Scrollwork Border Class ‘A’ Peel Stickers

UK crafters: Cling Steampunk Owl, Cling Clock Works, Cling Jumbo Holly Season Set, Red Tinsel Embossing Powder, Aged Gold Embossing Enamel, Scrollwork Border Class ‘A’ Peel Stickers
Other materials:

Papier mache letter, DecoPatch glue, Glossy Accents, Grunge Paper, acrylic paints (gold, bronze, sand/neutral), alcohol inks (cranberry, pesto), Gold Cosmic Shimmer mist, copper metal, black card, embossing tool and paper stump, foam pad, embossing ink, Black StazOn ink, distress inks, ribbons, old book pages, eyelets, sequins and watch parts, tissue paper.

To decorate the Letter

1. Paint the letter with the gold and bronze paint. Then stamp randomly the Clock Works background with embossing ink onto white thin tissue paper. Heat emboss with Red Tinsel powder. When the paint dries, glue the tissue onto the letter. Apply a thin layer of glue on top of the tissue to blend it in. When dry swipe the embossed images with Vintage Photo distress ink for a grungy look.

2. Spray the letter with gold shimmer mist and tilt to allow the drips to run. When dry, swipe the embossing ink in places and sprinkle with Aged Gold enamel and Red Tinsel powder. Repeat until you achieve the desired coverage and thickness. Using the heat gun remelt the powders and quickly add sequins and watch parts for the Fran•táge Encrusted Jewel Technique effect. If the elements don’t stay fixed, add more of the embossing enamel/powder.

Steampunk Owl

1. Prepare a piece of metal card (or metal sheet backed with black card) big enough for the owl image. Randomly colour with alcohol inks. Stamp the owl with Black StazOn ink onto the metal. Place the image onto the foam pad (a mouse pad will also do the job!) and using a thin embossing tool trace all lines of the the image. Flip the image over and using the paper stump gently rub the backing card within the embossed lines. This will add dimension to the front of the image. You can also redo the tracing of the stamped lines to highlight the ‘bumps and dents’ .

2. To colour the owl use a fine paint brush and start with the lightest colour of your acrylic paint. Add some highlights with gold and copper paint. The paint will start blending with alcohol inks giving lots of different shades . Use copper paint for the hat and the bow – the metallic nature of the paint will highlight the Steampunky and metallic finish of your owl.

(Laura here: I have to say that this owl has the most incredible metallic sheen, no photo can do it justice!)

Handmade books

1. To make the books cut two 4″ x 3″ rectangles from Grunge Paper and colour with distress inks. To make the spine, make two score lines in the middle about 1/4 ” apart. Cut old book pages to size (make sure to put the pages evenly together). Add Glossy Accents to the inside of the spine and add the book pages. Use a big paper clip or a rubber band to hold the cover tightly whilst the glue is setting.

2. Add gold bands to the spine using acrylic paint and a fine brush. Embellish the books with the Scrollwork Border stickers and ribbons as bookmarks.

(Laura again: The teeny, tiny books are the highlight of my life at the moment… I flip through them to show everyone who comes in my office that there is a real book inside…and the leather covers are absolutely yummy… sigh)

(swoon… oh my this is the cutest thing ever in the world)

Top Hat
1. To make the top hat follow the tutorial from Splitcoaststampers.

2. Colour the hat with distress inks. Stamp the background image from the Jumbo Holly Season set and emboss with Red Tinsel powder.

Et voilà - you’re done! Easy!

I would LOVE to see your ‘letter’ projects so make sure to let me know what you create.

Big hugs

May Arts Ribbon Blog Collaboration – Grand Finale!

The big Blog Hop is here! You will have so many inspiring things to look at today! Hope you have a huge beverage, a warm kitten, and a really comfy chair! All the designers have pulled out all the stops and the spools have been flying. Wait until you see the gorgeousness by these talented designers!

Stampendous Impressions Blog

Cyndi Bundy

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Dove

Jennifer Ingle

Krissy Fossmeyer

Kristine Reynolds

Lea Kimmel

Mary Dawn Quirindongo

Melinda Gleissner

Pam Hornschu

Stephanie Lee

Suzanne Czosek

Taylor Usry

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Jordan

Wendy Price

May Arts Blog

I also wanted to share a recent project I made using tons of May Arts ribbon and Stampendous Stamps. Inspired by a Creation by Candy Rosenberg that I saw at CHA this summer, I created a similar dress to wear to a charity benefit where the theme was Red Shoes and Moulin Rouge. My dress was a bit more flexible than Candy’s, being designed for actual wear, but I was so pleased with it, and it was a huge hit. I think I used just about every single red and black ribbon that May Arts makes, and the tags are stamped, Encrusted Jewel Techniqued, and distressed with coffee spritzing. It’s truly fabulous and is doubling as my Halloween Costume this year and probably Renaissance Faire next year (ours has turned definitely Steampunk).

Steampunk Tag Dress by Laura Weed

Single Tag with Corset Ladies and Eiffel Tower Perfectly Clear Stamps

Each tag is different and it’s just fantastic! Candy used a hand constructed grid of wire for her skirt, I used two black mesh laundry bags from Walmart for mine! The bonus is that the drawstring at the top meant I didn’t have to make a casing or thread it for a super great closure!

So get hopping and commenting! We have three prizes of stamps and ribbon today and May Arts will have some as well.  We’ll choose random comments from random blogs and announce winners on Monday (so come back)!

Handmade Holiday Gifts – Part 3

This week we’re getting you excited about making your own gifts for the upcoming holidays. If you’ve never tried this, I hope you’ll consider it. People are so surprised and pleased that you made something just for them. There’s  no satisfaction like knowing you’ve created a beautiful gift specially meant for someone you love.
Today we’re showcasing a gorgeous box that super talented Design Team Member Jennifer Dove created for our July 2012 catalog. This beautiful project could be a gift wrap for that special gift, or it could be a delightful gift in itself holding trinkets or remembrances of a special trip or friendship. You could also use her gorgeous technique on a small frame for a stunning piece of home decor! The project features our Snow Bird stamp (available in Woodmounted or Cling Rubber mounted) and the beautiful Encrusted Jewel Technique which uses melting Embossing Enamel to hold on other embellishments such as Mica Fragments. Project instructions for Jennifer’s gorgeous box can be found HERE.

Snow Bird Box by Jennifer Dove

Also creating handmade gift projects for your inspiration today are Design Team Members

Wendy Price

Krissy Fossmeyer

Be sure to visit their blogs and leave some comments!! Commenting on all the blogs increases your chances to win some of our fantastic stamps used in this week’s projects!  Then come back tomorrow, and every day this week to see more and more inspiration. Plus Saturday we’ll pull out all the stops and give you tons of ideas (and a chance at tons of prizes!).

By the way – some of you asked for directions for Tammie Wilson’s beautiful Jumbo Cardinal Lantern we showcased on Monday. This terrific project was created using the same techniques as the gorgeous ornament she created for Paint Works Magazine this month. You’ll want to pick up a copy of their magazine for all the details. You can get one HERE.  The lantern itself can be purchased HERE.

Jan Garber Gets all Spooky-like!

I love that BlogStar Jan Garber keeps reminding me that Halloween is just around the corner! It’s absolutely my favorite non-Christmas holiday and every year the anticipation is just huge! This year the Stampendous collection includes some fantastic images that I just love, but Jan is reminding us that last year’s images were no slouches either.

Her Pumpkin Fence here is fantastically embellished with Fran’s Encrusted Jewel Technique using lots of Mica Fragments and Stampendous Embossedy Goodness! This stamp is still a winner, and is still selling well for us! Here’s to Halloween, just around the corner! Jan has fantastic directions for this gorgeous look on her blog HERE.

Pumpkin Fence by Jan Garber

Sentimental Journey – Focus on Sentiments August Challenge

We’re loving what our Design Team is doing with our fun Sentiments for our August Challenge! They’ve managed to use our word stamps in some really creative ways!

We’ve also got a new, creative way to showcase what they’ve been doing. At the bottom of this post you’ll see a Collection of Linked Thumbnails. Each one goes to a team member’s post for this challenge. They’ll stay up all month with new ones added to the top each week so you can easily revisit favorites and see new ones.

We’ll be hosting your creations in a similar collection where you can add your links the same way as always! We’ll be picking three winners this month to take home some of our hottest new sentiments. Remember – you can enter as often as you like with different projects, and projects that use Stampendous images count twice!

Our BlogStar Team Member, Rhea Weigand is back at her stamp table, thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts! She’s not quite crafting at this level again, yet, but she had this project mostly done before last week, so she was able to photograph it and tidy it up for us! We’re so grateful that she’s feeling better and on the road to recovery. It fits in so perfectly with our theme this month!

>>>>>>>>

Hi Rhea here again bringing another Stampendous creation.  I’ve combined Steampunk and Shabby Chic to create another 4×6 framed art.

Let’s start with the picture shall we…I used Archivers Black ink because it’s a little wetter and shows off more of the stamps details.

1.  Stamp P136 Blossom Spray here and there along the edged of your 4×6 paper.  Make sure to change direction of the stamp each time.

2.  Stamp CRV237 Cling Lone Bird in the bottom corner.

3.  Using VersaMark and CRV266 Cling Vintage Birdcage stamp and emboss this image with Stampendous Pirate Gold Embossing Powder

4.  Now for the coloring!  I used distress inks to “Chalk” the picture.  Use and chalking applicator…I like the ones at JoAnn’s that look like eye shadow applicators because they are a soft dense foam.  coat your applicator with ink and rube most of the ink off on a scrap paper.  Now, go to the image and put just a little color.  I also use the new Ranger Coloring Nibs for the details and shading.  This technique takes practice but is fun and easy once you get the hang of it.  However, your pencils or markers would also be nice.

5.  Finally I took an ink blending tool and rubbed vintage photo all over the image to “tone it down”.

6. Stamp the Sentiment - M283 Serenade .  Emboss the edges with Aged Rose and Aged Gold Embossing Enamels.

7.  Embellish with all your favorite doodads a little ribbon and you are done.

Now, time to do a little shopping

Archivers Black Ink Pad

Blossom Spray

Lone Bird

Vintage Birdcage

Pirate Gold

Serenade

Aged Rose

Aged Gold

Distress Inks

Inkssentials blending Tool

Inkssentials Craft Nibs - I call them coloring nibs

I hope you enjoy this little piece of inspiration  -Rhea

>>>>>>>

So, now you can hop around and look at the rest of the inspiration from our team -

Janelle Stollfus	Jan Garber	Wendy Jordan	Wendy Price
Stephanie Lee	Pam Hornschu	Pam Hornschu	Melinda Gleissner
Kristine Reynolds	Janelle Stollfus

And now let’s see what you’re making!! Click on the link below to see the creations submitted so far this month and to add your own!

April Saturday Challenge – Final Week

In honor of Earth Day we’ve been challenging you to recycle, reuse, or just upcycle things around your house to make a fantastic project. We’re sure loving what you’ve come up with, too! This is the last week for you to add your link to our linky tool to qualify to win a fantastic set for your Mother’s Day crafting, the Perfectly Clear Stamp Set Mother’s Love.

What a beautiful way to celebrate all Mom does for us, or even just a new baby in your life! We’d love you to be the lucky winner!

Our Design Team has some fantastic inspiration for you today!

We have to start with one of our favorite projects of ALL TIME – That Suzanne Czosek… wow…you just can’t believe the things this girl makes. She found THIS small box at Claire’s for around $2 in the Clearance bin.

Ok… I loved Gnomeo and Juliet, but this box has nowhere to go but UP!!  Well Suzanne got out her Washi Tissue Tape and started covering this box. Our DT has had a blast lately making their own tape by stamping on Masking Tape and Medical Tape, but Suzanne had some pre-made tape kicking around. So here’s where she went:

THEN things started to get interesting. By adding several of our new Steampunk images from the April 2012 Catalog, embossing some of our new Steampunk Gears on acetate and cutting them out, and then using Fran’s Encrusted Jewel Technique to add Aged Black and Aged Gold Embossing Enamel to the exterior and metal bits of this box… well…. va va vooooom!

Steampunk Trinket Box by Suzanne Czosek

I admit it… I begged!!! She sent it to me, and it now occupies the place of honor next to my computer screen where I sigh over its beauty every day! I had to tell the Sales Department that the only way it was going to any shows was handcuffed to my wrist! It is twenty times more fabulous in real life. What a showpiece! And crafted from something I would have thrown in the Goodwill bag in a heartbeat.

How about this beauty from Melinda Gleissner? She made a pillow box gift wrap by stamping our Steamboat Map on some kraft paper then wrapping it with some recycled tulle! But what a stunner of a topper she’s created. Our Cling Jumbo Zinnia carefully colored, cut, and layered then embossed in the center with our Kaleidoscope Embossing Powder for that coooool blue/green/purple/brown look (if you haven’t tried that powder you’ve been missing out). She finished it off with some Glossy Accents. You can get all the details here on Melinda’s Blog. Please go visit her and comment – she says no one reads her blog except us, and we say, “their loss!!”.

Zinnia Pillow Box by Melinda Gleissner

Playing along on their blogs today, several of our Design Team have created recycled/upcycled love that will leave you astonished again. Be sure to visit them and give them some love on their comment sections! Here’s who is playing today!

Janelle Stollfus

Jennifer Dove Bonner

Jennifer Ingle

Lea Kimmel

Susie Moore

Taylor Usry

Tenia Nelson

Wendy Jordan

Pam Hornshcu

Here’s the tool to link your own project! Winners will be drawn next Friday and announced on next Saturday’s Challenge Blog.

Stampendous on UK Create and Craft TV

We’re so excited to announce that our very own Fran Seiford will be appearing on the United Kingdom’s ONLY dedicated Craft Channel – Create and Craft TV! Fortunately for us here in the U.S. we can watch online as she shows all of Britain her fantastic Encrusted Jewel Technique using our new Fran•táge Embossing Enamels to create dazzling and elegant cards with a simple sprinkle and heat!

We’d love you to watch Fran live from the UK, so we’ve made a chart of the times her shows will air. There are three different shows, so don’t miss a minute of this exciting event! For one of the shows she’ll be joining the UK’s famous Craft Diva Dawn Bibby. Please be aware that times can change at the last minute, so check the TV Schedule tab on the Create and Craft website for the latest scheduling.

You can watch Create and Craft TV at http://www.createandcraft.tv

We know you can’t purchase these items from the show (unless you are lucky enough to live in the UK), so we’ve put them in a special category on our Website for you to purchase there. You’ll find all the products she’s demonstrating in the Create and Craft TV Category. Look for it on our home page at http://www.stampendous.com.  Once the shows have aired, you’ll be able to access videos of her project creation from this location as well.

Join us in cheering Fran on in this new adventure!

Stampendous on UK Create and Craft TV

We’re so excited to announce that our very own Fran Seiford will be appearing on the United Kingdom’s ONLY dedicated Craft Channel – Create and Craft TV! Fortunately for us here in the U.S. we can watch online as she shows all of Britain her fantastic Encrusted Jewel Technique using our new Fran•táge Embossing Enamels to create dazzling and elegant cards with a simple sprinkle and heat!

We’d love you to watch Fran live from the UK, so we’ve made a chart of the times her shows will air. There are three different shows, so don’t miss a minute of this exciting event! For one of the shows she’ll be joining the UK’s famous Craft Diva Dawn Bibby. Please be aware that times can change at the last minute, so check the TV Schedule tab on the Create and Craft website for the latest scheduling.

You can watch Create and Craft TV at http://www.createandcraft.tv

We know you can’t purchase these items from the show (unless you are lucky enough to live in the UK), so we’ve put them in a special category on our Website for you to purchase there. You’ll find all the products she’s demonstrating in the Create and Craft TV Category. Look for it on our home page at http://www.stampendous.com.  Once the shows have aired, you’ll be able to access videos of her project creation from this location as well.

Join us in cheering Fran on in this new adventure!