Rusty Fish!

Here is a neat way of using offcuts and scrap pieces of grunge board, I literally save every scrap in a box.

Meet my Rusty fish family, or as my daughter used to call them Pish!

 

I roughly sketched some ideas onto paper first.

 

The main bodies have been constructed from scraps of grunge board cut to fit together to form a fish shape.

Each section was then given a different Timeworn technique and a couple of new ones

Rather than using scraps you can draw directly onto a sheet of grunge board and cut it directly from that.

After painting, each section was then glued into place onto a piece of card, once the glue was dry I cut the body shape out.

Hearts, cogs, wings and crowns where die cut, painted and glued into place for the fins and tails.

Have a good day,

 

Andy

Book Obsession

I seem to have a bit of an obsession with altering hardback book covers at the moment.
An arch was first cut into the cover using a sharp knife, the heart is made from epoxy putty and the wings from a Dr Who figurine called The Weeping Angel.
The face on the cover was made by first turning an image into a threshold image on the computer and printing on plain paper.
It was then stuck it to the book and Tripple Thick was used to fill in the black areas.
Modeling paste was applied to other areas and stamped into.

Once everything was dry Decoart Traditions acrylic paint was layered and a little gold leaf added.

Books are so cheap to buy in charity shops, they are just like mini canvases to experiment on..



Thanks for reading,

Andy

Texture Stamping Part 2

Hello,
Here is the finished book.

Stamps used by Lindsay Mason & Andy Skinner
Click On Images For A Larger View



Here we go, time to get messy!



Step 7  Pour some Americana Burnt Sienna and Tuscan Red on to the surface and rub it into all of the detail using your hands.



Step 8  Wipe back some of the colour using a cloth.



Step 9  Apply another coat of Decoart Duraclear Gloss Varnish and allow to dry.




Step 10  Repeat step7 but this time with a different colour. I have used Burnt Umber, Evergreen and True Blue.




Step 11  Wipe back colour leaving some of it remaining.
You can just keep repeating these steps until happy with the effect.




Step 12  Add a little distress ink with a blending tool. I have used aged mahogany, rusty hinge and wild honey, dry with a heat tool.



Step 13  Spray a very light coat of Americana Matte spray sealer, almost a mist.
This will seal and set the distress ink and you can apply a final coat after a couple of minutes.
You can build up layers of distress ink by inking between  light layers of the sealer.




I finished off by adding a new ribbon book mark with a small bird cage tied to the end, and Tim Holts metal corner protectors.
I also added a little vintage photo distress ink to the edge of the pages..

You can find part 1 of the tutorial  here


The video below by BozzoArt is amazing and where I got the idea from for this painting method, its kind of antiquing but using your hands.
He is using joint sealer where I have used modeling paste, and I have also included distress ink as an extra.

Andy

Texture stamping Part1

Here is a quick panelled tag I have made as an experiment using Personal impressions excellent 300 gsm card-stock.

I first cut the basic tag shape and then stuck 300 gsm cardstock panels on top, overlapping them slightly in places.
Rivet's were applied using  an Americana dimensional writer and the tag was decorated using Americana acrylic paint.
I have a little note book which goes with me everywhere in which I write down ideas that pop into my head.  I have decided to do a little demo with it using modeling paste or you could use gesso.

THIS IS PART ONE OF A TWO PART TUTORIAL







Step1
Spread the modeling paste evenly over the surface using an old credit card. once covered dip the card into some water and lightly smooth the surface.


Step2
Clean up edges with a pallet knife.



Step3
Dry the surface with a heat tool until it forms a skin, move the heat around rather than concentrating in one place to avoid cracking the paste.


Step4
Spray stamps and dowels etc..with water and stamp into the paste.



Step5
Once dry, paint the surface with one coat of Americana Buttermilk.


Step6
Once dry, paint a coat of Decoart Duraclear Gloss Varnish and allow to dry.

The second part, to be posted soon is a new way of using acrylic paint for me.

To be Continued…………..

You can find part 2 of the tutorial here

Andy

All Things Oriental

Hello all,
Below is a set of digital stamps I have been working on and may have them turned into cling mounted rubber stamps.
To test how they would look stamped onto an item, I have used my image transfer technique onto a new piece of bisque just arrived from Duncan.
Its an Asian style utensil holder which I have turned into a vase but it will work as both.

           

Here is how to do it!

1. Apply three coats of Lamp Black Patio paint to the inside and top detail of the utensil caddy and allow to dry. This will make it waterproof and weather resistant.
   
2. Stamp onto the bisque using Stazon ink or use my image transfer technique.   (You can find this technique here).
   
3. For a matte waterproof finish apply two coats of Decoart Duraclear Matte varnish.
   
4. To finish apply a little Gold gilding wax or gold acrylic to the edge of the top detail.
                                   Click picture for larger view
   
   
   
   
   
   
                                        
   

Free craft projects available at http://www.andyskinner.org

Tick Tock Make Your Own Clock

Hello all,
Clocks make great gifts and really are not that expensive to produce.
These 20cm x 20cm bisque tiles make such wonderful clock faces so today I decided to make a few using Inks, image transfer and acrylic paint.

First of all I designed a few clock templates in Photoshop which I could then print as a mirror image and transfer onto the tiles.
Here are the templates.
Templates now uploaded here.

For the first clock I simply sprayed my laser printed image with Americana Gloss spray sealer and transferred the image onto the tile. Black ink works great with this method. If you missed the tutorial on this technique look under image transfer on this blog.
I then coloured in the design with a brush using Versa inks mixed with a little water. I have never used Pro Markers but I’m sure they would work great for this, they are next on my shopping list!  The design in the corners was stamped using Stazon Jet Black ink. I then fitted the clock mechanism.
The frame was base coated in Dazzling Metallic Emperors Gold, once dry I stamped the frame with embossing ink and lightly dusted with Gold Perfect Pearls.
Click On Pictures For Larger Views

The same method has been used for this clock other than the frame which I applied a walnut effect to using Americana acrylics.

I love this British Grunge clock, this ones coming home with me!! 
I have used the Duraclear Matte image transfer method for this clock which is also explained in a tutorial on this blog.

Take care,
Andy

Digital Stamping Image Transfer

What is digital stamping? As many of you know I am fairly new to the stamping world but have been working with ceramics and mixed media for as long as I care to remember. Card making in itself, if using two or more types of media is classed as mixed media. I have noticed recently in my searches on the internet that references to digital stamping are popping up more and more so I decided to have a look to see what it was all about.
It turns out that this is something I have been doing for years using Photoshop and Illustrator but had no idea it had a name!
In the world of ceramics I produce digital images to be printed into waterslide decals which can then be fired into the surface of the glaze.

Ok ok I will get to the point! Image transfer onto a glazed pottery item using a ceramic waterslide decal is fairly easy. But what if I want to apply my digital images to unglazed pottery, wood or canvas and get a lovely crisp result?
At first I was going to try the Golden gel medium technique but unfortunately there was none to hand so I tried it with a few products from the Decoart range…. I love to experiment!
One product that worked fantastically and is far cheaper was the Americana DuraClear Satin Varnish.
Can I just point out I do not work for Decoart or receive any commission from sales of there products. (DecoArt if your listening I need new strings for my guitar!).

Ok I printed out a few of my designs pictured below apart from the second image which came from The Graphics Fairy. A really good resource for royalty free images. All images were printed on a laser copier, not sure at this stage if inkjet will work.



For surface preparation apply one good coat of acrylic paint to the piece.



Next print a mirror image of the artwork to the desired size. This is important if text is to be included.



Cut out you image using a pair of scissors.



Once the acrylic basecoat is dry, apply a thick layer of DuraClear satin varnish to the surface, make sure the entire surface is covered.



Immediately place the artwork print side down onto the piece and run over the surface with a brayer several times to remove any air pockets and to ensure good adhesion.



Dry the piece with a heat tool for approximately five minutes. Dampen the paper with water and start gently rubbing the surface with fingers turning the paper into pulp and removing the first layer of paper.



Note: This technique will most probably work best if left to dry overnight but I am impatient.
Dry it with a heat tool for a further five minutes and leave to dry for one hour before returning it to the sink and removing the rest of the paper to reveal the transferred image.



It worked really well apart from one small area where the image came off. I think this was either because I should have let it dry for a longer period or I missed a part of the tile with the DuraClear varnish but on the whole I was very happy with the end results.



As these are to be used as coasters, I finished them with four coats of Americana Traditions Satin varnish for a durable alcohol resistant finish.



Next I tried the technique on some small canvases, the first one I really rushed the drying and some of the image came away but it looked kinda cool so out came the distress inks and I applied Vintage Photo gently to the canvas to antique it.



The second canvas I was a little more patient with!



Ok so to conclude this quick tutorial, if you want a perfect transfer leave it overnight to dry, you may find you need to score the paper first with some sand paper to allow the water to penetrate. For the grungy look or for the more impatient of you out there, use your heat tool and experiment with the times.

I am going to try this with DuraClear matte varnish on Monday as it should have a better adhesion, I will let you know the result's.
There are now two videos posted in the video section of this blog on another very quick way to transfer images

Hope this has been of interest,

Andy