Spray inks at the ready!

I'm having one of those days where I want to make something but I don't know what! Looking at the gorgeous background pieces made using the pixie dust last week I can't help feeling they should be used.

So many colours to choose from! Mmmm.

The nice thing about Woodware stamps is that as part of the packaging they come with an image of the stamp design on a piece of acetate. I have referred to this little sheet many times in choosing colours for my cards.

Pretty...how about this colour...

Doesn't the lemon in the centre of the card set off the Eiffel Tower nicely. The background for this piece was made using Dylusions Paints. I will show you more designs with this paint later in the week.

For now I decide to use some ink sprays, mixed bold colours that will look great under the collage of the Eiffel Tower. Working on an A4 piece of card means there will be enough background for 4 cards.

To allow the three colours to leak into each other I sprayed water over the sheet to dampen it. Leaving some of the background white means I can add an additional colour later if I like (sponge distress ink, chalk, pixie dust, add another image or word.)

Because of the variation in colour each image is going to look different, they will make a lovely gift set of cards.

Cut round the 4 designs, this is my favourite.

From here I can simply mount the design or customise it - edge it with pretty scissors or ink, add a few accent beads, glitter, glaze the clock add a butterfly lots of choices what are you waiting for!

Materials:
Stamp Paris Collage code FRS638
Cosmic Shimmer Ink Sprays in Aqua Breeze, Magenta and Grape Crush
Dylusions Paint in Pure Sunshine, Fresh Lime and Cut Grass
Dixie Dust in Aqua Lagoon, Purple Violet and Golden Mint

All available from A Maze of Memories telephone number 01844 208996 or email info@amazeofmemories.com

Little Monkeys

This time last week I had a great day out at Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre http://www.monkeyworld.org/ it was a bit of a journey from Eastbourne but Coach Trips are available through Lynn's Travel http://www.lynnstravel.co.uk/ so it was great to sit back and admire the countryside as we traveled.

Many of the apes have been rescued from terrible conditions, as you walk through the centre its incredible to see the care and commitment given by those who run Monkey World.

As we walked round there were times when we wondered who was watching who?

Imagine the time, work, funding and commitment it must have taken to set up this part of the centre. There were one or two sad moments - we saw the cramped empty cages that several apes had been rescued from and two characters who where only in the early stages of recovery. They will need a lot of care to recover from the traumas they have suffered.

It was a pleasure and inspiration to visit the centre, a real credit to Jim Cronin.

There are many ways to help Monkey World including the donation of items that cost very little, for details check out http://www.monkeyworld.org/home.php

Outer Space

Following my post yesterday I thought I would share Carols's art journaling pages created with Oxide Distress Inks and Pixie Powders.

Using black card Carol created the background in the same way I created my Pond Water pages. Dab the card onto Distress Oxide ink wiped over acetate, sprayed with water, dry with a heat gun, Then add Pixie Powder and spray with water.

Fabulous backgrounds for aliens, spaceships and monsters.

Don't forget you can buy all your supplies from http://www.amom.co.uk/

Pond Water

Over the last few years I have greatly enjoyed using Distress Ink Pads and was curious when I heard about the new Oxide Distress Ink Pads. So many colours to choose from! To start I chose my old and treasured favourites - Peeled Paint and Broken China and decided to use them to create my Pond Water pages.

I don't have a heat sheet so I use a piece of acetate and placed it over a sheet of white kitchen towel so I could see the colours as I wiped the ink pad over the acetate. I sprayed the ink patches well with water then dabbed the 12"x12" card onto the ink to create my patterned paper.

This is a nice way to work because you can keep adding ink and water until you have covered as much card as you want to. If you google Tim Holtz and Distress Oxide he has a great demo showing how the inks layer on top of each other and dry with a soft matt finish when water is applied to the ink. This effect looked great for my photo's.

I decided to use some of the Pixie Powder mentioned in yesterdays blog post. The shimmer reminds of the sunlight on the water.

Two back ground pages complete, I'm now looking for a few accessories to compliment my photo's.

Easter Monday

One evening my sister popped round and I had chance to have a play with a selection of Pixie Powders I bought from http://www.amom.co.uk/ You can see from my photo's it was quite addictive trying the different powders and applying them in different ways.

Golden Mint and Purple Violet were a couple of my favourites, can you see the sheen from the mica? The powders are so easy to use, in this piece I sprayed a piece of card with water then flicked the powder over the wet area then and sprayed more water over the top.

I used less powder and more water on this piece.

I created a wash with water and powder for the sky and grass above then stamped some chickens and bird houses over the top using some of the characters from yesterdays blog to decorate them. The sheen from the mica isn't obvious from the photo but the background looks gorgeous. I am going to shape the chickens before I stick them on so they look nice and plump.

Using a zig pen I have drawn little strokes in different colours to indicate patches of grass. One flower head is used for the sun, a little glitter on their tail feathers and the sun finishes the scene.

Happy Easter!

I haven't had much free time recently but in spare moments I have enjoyed stamping a few chickens on different papers.

Keeping them safe in a small tin I even sat in the park with a pair of scissors one lunchtime cutting them out.

As you can see I had fun moving them around and arranging them as little groups.

Playing with the colours.

Some were more suitable for boys cards.

I liked using paper from an old book.