King Spook - Brenda Brown

Hi Everyone, Brenda here.

I'm back today to share a little hanging with you .....

.....  made with the new Spook set of stamps Andy has designed for Illusionary Artists.

http://www.andyskinnercrafts.com/store/c10/Illusionary_Artists_Stamps.html

I love this set and found I used three out of the four stamps on this project - I was thinking at first I was only going to use King Spook himself but the text and skulls jumped straight in as I was developing all the elements.

I began by creating the background first, using the DecoArt media paints, DecoArt media gesso and some text from this set as well as the Tech Trauma set. on a media board from Tando Creative.

The frame went through several layers of embossing and painting, sanding and inking to get to this finish.

And King Spook was stamped and painted on a piece of media card with yet a different background which included Andy's Sunburst stencil.

I loved how this came together - I didn't have exactly this picture in my head to start with but I'm happy with how it finished up. 

If you are interested in seeing the process steps for each of the elements they are over on my blog and can be found here.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope your weekend is going well.

hugs Brenda xxx

Click on the product links in the post above to be transported to the retailers.

'Dead Stylish' Tag

Hi all,

A quick post to show a fun tag I've created using some of Andy's new stamps from the Illusionary Artists 'Spook' set. 

I used DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics on the stamped images, and several Metallics on the background and part of the crown and strap. 

The background is a Tando Creative greyboard tag. This I split into 4 layers (details on my blog) to make the tag a bit thinner, then I embossed it with Andy's Starburst stencil before decorating. Products used are in the pic below.  

 I used a pyrography tool to singe the edges and add the dimples.

Little tip here, the Spook stamp set also gives you a FULL alphabet to play with (it's the Ouija stamp!) and that's what I've stamped, embossed with Stampendous Black Pearl Lustre embossing powder, coloured with paint washes and cut out to create the words. Having snipped out the letters I glued them onto a background I had painted with the red. Then the shrink plastic sign and wire were added to finish it off. More details on my blog. Thanks for looking! Suz x

Picture of products used - though forgive the stencil being in the wrong packet - it's called Sunburst not Tornado!

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DecoArt products used:

Media Fluid Acrylics: Cobalt Teal, Titan Buff, Pyrol Red Quinacrydone Gold, Paynes Grey

Dazzling Metallics and Extreme Sheen: Copper, Splendid Gold, Zink, Tin, Iced Espresso

Andy's products used:

Spook Stamp Set and Sunburst Stencil

Tando Products used:
Greyboard Tag

From my general supplies I also used Archival and Versamark ink pads, jewellery wire, shrink plastic, cosmic shimmer glue a hole punch and the pyrography tool.

Vintage Heart Tag - Brenda Brown

Andy's stamps have really been inspiring me to make all sorts of projects and today I am sharing a little tag from one of his new kits from Tando Creative called Tagtastic 2. For this one I went back to my roots and created in a vintage style.

I worked in my usual layers to create the background hic includes gesso mixed with silver and brayered on to start me off and one of Andy's texture stamps from the Textures set.

The heart ended up with this patina look having been run through an embossing folder, daubed with media acrylic paints, sanded and then dribbled with quinacridone gold to finish it off.

You can see where I added some crackle paste through a stencil before ......

.... adding a rusty wire loop to hang the heart over the decorated brad.

A vintage photo and just a smattering of timeworn elements with a quote word finished it off.

It was lovely to return to a real vintage look for this project and if you'd like to see more of the process and photos there are some over at Bumblebees and Butterflies if you have a moment.

Thanks for stopping by.

hugs Brenda


Click the links in the post above to be taken to the retail stores for products.

It's been a while but I'm back on Blogger!

Hi everyone,

Firstly can I apologize for my absence, things got so busy that I just could not find the proper time to keep up with the blog so over the next few weeks I will attempt to catch up those of you not following my FB Page on what's been happening.

The production of the Media Paint line was severely held up but it's now getting out there into the shops so I will be sharing more techniques now and to start here are a couple of tutorial videos on Image transfer, one of them just uploaded today.... Hope you enjoy :)

Back soon,

Andy

Weathered Wood

Unfortunately I have no artwork to show on this post, I have done lots this week but it all has to be kept under wraps at the moment so instead I decided to make a little video on Decoart weathered wood crackle medium, as I get asked and also receive many emails concerning this product.

In the video I explain different ways and ideas in which to use and control the medium so hopefully the email questions will start to decrease :)

 

 

Andy

Video…. A New Way of using Alcohol Inks?

This week is Alcohol Ink week over at the Craft Barn Blog.
Here is a video I have made for the Wishing Well using Alcohol Inks in a slightly different way.
This technique is very similar to marbling, but gives a more subtle effect using Adirondack Alcohol Inks.
The results are very random and give really interesting backgrounds.

Results on 300 GSM Cardstock




Bisque beads


Tags




Use Adirondack Brights for more vivid results and be liberal with the ink, also allow to dry naturally and not with a heat tool.
Here is the video, have fun experimenting with this one and please let me know how you get on!

Andy

Gesso and a Dry Brush Video

Hello!
Well I'm back from Edinburgh, had a day's rest and feeling very enthused again…so enthused that I have made another video tutorial!
More on the video in a moment but first I wanted to share with you this abstract painting I am working on using the string technique.
Click Pictures For a Larger View


I found this technique using gesso and string on a website called Loving Mixed Media, it's really worth checking out if you like experimenting with mediums, lots of inspiration and great tutorials.
Ok on to the video, I loved the colours I used in the abstract above so decided to use them on this project using gesso as a textured background and dry brushing acrylic paint on top.
I have decorated a tag and an old perfume box pictured below.


For the tag I stippled the gesso on with a sponge dabber and the box I applied the gesso with a fan brush to give a different texture as you can see in these close-ups.


The secret to achieving this effect is the lighter you go the dryer your brush needs to be, finishing off with hardly any paint in the brush whatsoever.
Note; You will need an acrylic paint with a good pigment like Americana for this to work and if using cardstock a good flexible smooth gesso.
Right I will stop babbling on….here's the video, be warned some of the longer text instructions disappear a bit too quick so have your pause button ready!…PS please give it the thumbs up if you find it of use, it helps with the ratings….thanks!

Altered Canvas

I seem to have lots of pieces lying around with just backgrounds on them which have been left over from some of the background videos. The Decopatch 12 x 12cm square canvas pictured below was used in the Distressed wall video and I decided to cut a hole in it and place a few curio’s inside along with wooden battens and a little rusted chicken wire!….Hey…. I get bored easily ok!!

I also masked of an area with some card before blending Brushed Corduroy Distress ink around it to give the appearance that a picture had once hung there.
I then stamped and added some Decoart perfect crackle in a couple of areas to add to the overall effect.

Click on pictures to enlarge

Here is a close up of the hole in my wall!

Andy

Simple Mixed Media Backgrounds 1

Here is the latest easy backgrounds video….Only two more videos to go and I can rest!…yeah right!!

Andy