Monday 23 May 2016

Simon Says Stamp Guest Art 'Wish' - 'Let's Eat Cake'





Hi there lovely friends, I'm back in with this weeks guest art for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog - Tis another fabby challenge again this week, one I had an immense amount of fun with, I got elbow deep with my Tim Holtz 'Distress' stash eeeeeep!  So the challenge this week is simply 'wish'...


Firstly I got out the new Dina Wakley Media Board, (this media board is sooooo kool cos I use this kinda board by the ton and I find this one soooooo easy to cut down to a size with my guillotine to suit my whim) 
After Gessoing/drying the surface I stamp out (using the stamp) from Tim Holtz Sizzix Framelits Birthday Blueprint Die & Stamp set and partially cover the image with a Tim Holtz Sizzix Doily Thinlits Die I had run through my SIZZIX BIGSHOTSizzix Bigshot - the paper stock I cut through was RANGER WATERCOLORS PAperRanger Watercolor Paper, I needed the paper to be thick and withstand the many layers of media I was about to pop on it - thus with this beautiful Sizzix die being intricate I popped it through my Bigshot many times, very carefully moving it into different areas of the plates so I got a clean crisp cut.  I adhered the doily die cut with Dina Wakley's Soft Matte Gel Medium.




Next I added a thin layer of texture with the amazingly 'marshmallowy' Ranger Texture Paste through Tim Holt's Layering Stencil 'Speckles' and through 2 of his new Tim Holtz Mini Layering Stencils - one from Set 5 & one from Set 4 - these mini stencils give us sooooooo much love, it's the tiny detail, tis deffo love.....

Dry the texture paste with your heat gun - it won't take long if you've popped a thin layer on cos another thing that is ace about Ranger's texture paste is that it's drying time is like next door to 'now' hahaha! (And spreads like butter too! Makes life sooooo much easier)

Once dry dip your into the Tim Holtz Distress 'Crazing' Collage Medium and swipe a fairly large dollop across your whole surface, where there is texture the crazing media will sit in lovely thick clumps which is exactly what we want as....(the thicker the layer of Crazing Medium the bigger 'n' more pronounced the crackles will be - the thinner the layer will leave more crackle but ohhhh soooo diddy - either way or a bit of both is sooooooo uber kool - and the best bit is that it dries Matt too - but deffo let this dry NATURALLY - if I do the thick layer which is most times - I leave over night to dry - tis sooooo worth the wait)


Whilst the Crazing Medium dries the 'cupcake' background can be prepped, tis a simple and easy background cos the 'stamped image' has soooo much beautiful detail - less is more....
I start by hand painting Tim Holtz's Distress Paints In Cracked Pistachio & Broken China & Broken China  on the bottom half of the Ranger Watercolor Paper, then Shaded lilac Distress Paint over this through Tim Holtz's 'Stripes' layering Stencil.


I randomly add 'Picket Fence' Distress Paint through Tim Holtz's 'Bubble' Layering Stencil - waft dry with a heat gun then...


...and 'Mustard seed' Distress Paint, waft again with a heat gun then...


...and 'Festive Berries & Picked Raspberry' Distress Paints


Once the paint is snuff dry I like to pick the 'best' areas to stamp on ie the 'eye-candy' areas that my eyes are drawn to.  I use Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink   to stamp out the beautiful cupcake image from Tim Holtz's Sizzix Framelits 'Birthday Blueprint' Die and Stamp Set.


Now flip the paper around ready to start finger painting again, this time I started with 'Squeezed Lemonade' Distress Paint then,'Antique Linen' , finally add a random & thin layer  (with a very small amount) of 'Tarnished Brass' Distress Paint.




...stamp out the 'upper' part of the cupcake!


When dry I die cut out my cupcake images - 2 x bottom cupcake - 1 x top cupcake - 1 x candle - plus I cut out I whole backing cupcake in black card stock.


Before I start my coloring I place (without adhering) everything I feel I will need/use in place, just to see if everything is looking like it is going to work/balance.  I do this continually throughout my process.
The beautiful 'Wish' word I eventually didn't go ahead and use is from Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz Die Handwritten Wish
And as you can see I have my Tim Holtz Distress Crayons at the ready eeeeeep!


I usually start adding the Crayons with my 'yellow' first, then, the oranges etc. the warm tones...
Here you can see I went with the 'yellow & pink' tones plus a little of the Cracked Pistachio Distress Paint and as I said before I keep popping the 'cupcake back in situ' to see if my color layers are building nicely.
Leave whites space so there is room for more colors...
Simply rub the crayons in with your fingertips, they should blend out like a treat as you have some ace mediums that we applied earlier for them to glide over...
Then for an extra intense color hit simply layer more of the crayons over the top of what you have just blended but this time don't blend!


In the white space add the 'cooler' tones, I always add less of these especially the darker tones as they tend to dominate the 'lighter' colors.


As you can see here I just keep adding layers of crayons, once the first layer of color is down and blended, it's really just a case of topping up the blended layers with a very VERY light scribble of the crayons either directly on top or next to the same or contrasting crayon - and can you see I like to leave white space in there too!
The Red and black crayon I usually use last as they are both strong dominant colors, they do make your art 'sing' beautifully though'. And very lastly I loooove to add more, more, more yellow!
Any mistakes you simply wipe away with a wet wipe, because the surface we are working on is prepped with mediums (not bare board/paper) most If not all of the crayon wipes away as it is water based.  likewise if you are needing to blend your crayons more simply dampen your fingertip ever so slightly...


And in the mid section of my piece above/below/around where the 'birthday' word is I spritzed with a couple of shots of water, then ever so lightly tapped dots of the crayons into the 'bare' surrounding space and quickly spritzed the dots with water letting the crayon color bleed into the background!


My Crazy Birds from Tim Holtz Mini Bird Crazy& Things Stamp Set were stamped onto a color-coordinating background I had already sat waiting - these backgrounds are simply created via me using a sheet of card as a palette for my distress paints over and over again, then when the 'palette' is nearly full I add a few Distress Inks and doodles with my Distress Crayons - simple but oh sooooo effective as you can see how cheeky and colorful my birdies look...


I just stamped up the eyes again and added a touch of color to them. The balloons,party hats and Candle for the cupcake came from the 'palette' too! 



This was my first cut - It was too busy, I tried the Sizzix 'Wish' word in various colors and as you see here with the divine 'Vintage Platinum' Distress Glitter Dust which did looksey lush but I decided to go with something far smaller and ever usefull Tim Holtz Idea-ology Occasions Small Talk Stickers 



Next I decide to add a couple or 3 thin layers of white gesso over to the left-hand mid-bottom corner, yes I felt the piece start to come together. 
Hmmmm! What next?  I decided to add a little Tim Holtz's Distress Spray Stain 'Cracked Pistachio' & 'Abandoned Coral' which worked a treat and I also colorised the Idea-ology Crinkle Ribbon with the Abandoned Coral (quickly dry off with the heat gun whilst carefully scrunching between your fingers - watch you don't burn yourself). This wrapped around the cupcake & board (which I had decided to chop down with my guillotine to postcard size too) ohhhh soooo nicely and how cute does the Idea-ology Number Tokens look eeeeep!

My final touches are my usual splats and scribbles, also I swiped a little extra Cracked Pistachio here and there.

Heeheehee I've had a journey with this postcard, a fun, fun, fun journey and I've had a craving for cupcakes throughout (still have to be honest nom nom nom but I've not given in to temptation!)

I can't wait to see what you all get up to this week - this challenge theme is sooooo wide open I bet there will be oodles of amazing and ohhh sooo different art out there...
...and as always Simon Says Stamp will be giving away $50 to spend in their web shop eeeeep!




Simon Says Stamp

16 comments:

  1. LOVE this Kassa, the little birds are adorable and I love the creamy yummy colours and all of the details, a party on a card! Absolutely fabulous! :-)

    luv
    Lols x x x

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  2. This is another amazing creation that's a feast for the eyes! I love how you get so much texture onto your projects with amazing color. Who wouldn't absolutely love to receive this on their birthday?! Amazing! Cathie

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  3. Wonderful! I enjoyed following along with your creative process. And adorable birthday card.

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  4. wow, what a great make - I love it! Thanks for the step-by-step, it's always so much fun to watch another's creative process, Jo x BTW, the current challenge over at Naughty or Nice Challenge is cupcakes.

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  5. Super fun, Kassa! I love the texture and colors!!

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

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  6. Wow, what a great piece! TFS!

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  7. What a fantastic post Kassa, thanks for sharing all the details on how you created this amazing project. Love it xxx

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  8. amazing project Kassa...thanks for walking us through your creative journey...hugs kath xxx

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  9. Such cool textures on this amazing piece!! Love the birds of course and the wonderful cracks.

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  10. What an amazing card, Kassa! Your textures are wonderful and I love the way you work with color. Love this!! hugs, Maura

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  11. Kassa I love to see your creative process, it's a wonderful experience and it's so interesting! your way to create textures and your use of colors it's incredible and so inspirational for me! As always a stunning piece! Barbara

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  12. I love the step by step process pictures, I'd never thought there are so many stencil and paints layering, that's amazing to see how much work there is behind the scenes. I love all the structures, textures, patterns and warm colors. Hugs, Marzena

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  13. This is such a fun and beautiful creation, Kassa. I love the beautiful colors and the great texture on the background. :)

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  14. This is such a fantastic piece! I adore the texture you created and love how you gave it such a festive feeling. Genius!

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  15. Gorgeous piece, Karen! Love your bright colorful style! You add so much texture and interest. Stunning. Hugs, Sandra

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