The Forest: Visible Image

Hello again everyone…

Lots and lots of new Visible Image stamps sets and stencils out (or coming out) in the next couple of weeks and I’ve been really lucky to have been sent some of each to have a play with.  I’ll be honest, I was slightly over excited when they arrived… such an amazing release and Mark has done it again for #teamawesome.

So today I’m focussing on The Forest stencil which is just beautiful and I have 2 makes to share with you.  Once again, the quality of all the stencils is just amazing… perfect thickness… as I hate it when you spend out for stencils and they turn out to be all whispy and thin, don’t you?

I absolutely love the colours on this card and it was so easy to make.

The back ground is made using Distress Oxide Ink Pads in an Ombre effect using Chipped Sapphire, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord and Picked Raspberry.  I then lightly tapped on some black indian ink for a bit of texture and some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pretty Pink for some gently sparkle… and  the light really reflects off the sparkle on the finished card.

Overlay the stencil and make another ombre effect using Black Soot, Hickory Smoke and Weathered Wood and ensure the inks are dry.

With the background complete, I used the foreground stamp from the Into the Woods stamp set and added Versafine Clair Glamorous to the bottom and their Warm Breeze to the trees.  I used a stamping platform for this as I wanted a real hit of colour so over the colours a couple of times.  When satisfied, I heat embossed them using WOW!’s amazing Clear Embossing powder.

For final touches, I heat embossed the cute little owl in black and then the sentiment, also from the Into the Woods set, onto black card, trimmed and added using foam tape.

My second make today starts off with a grey smooshed background using Distress Oxide ink pads in Hickory Smoke, Ice Spruce and Weathered Wood.  They’ve also been given the indian ink and Glimmer Mist treatment for extra interest.

I’ve done another ombre background on this card too but this time used Black Soot, Chipped Sapphire, faded Jeans and Dusty Concord,

I’ve then used Prima’s Graphite Texture Paste (which has a wonderful subtle gritty finish) with  the bird from the new Time Flies stencil to create this dominating image over the card.

To finish, I used the little sentiment from the Break Free stamp set.

The fabulous new stencils are available to pre-order from this Friday 3rd July and are released on  17th July… and if you enter the monthly challenge over on the Visible Image Facebook page, you could bag yourself £100 voucher… and that’s A LOT of stencils! Haha!!

Keep an eye out on all the socials for lots of inspiration, Instagram and Facebook are uploaded too regularly with sneaky peaks and makes.

I’ll be back soon with another new make to share.  thanks for reading!

H xx

Love is Love: Visible Image

Morning all,

You can’t have not seen the new Visible Image stamps that are on pre-order now… and aren’t they beauties?!  I absolutely love this Love is Love set… bang on perfect for these volatile times in which we find ourselves.

I’ve barely been able to put this stamp set down since it arrived Friday and my head is whirring away with possibilities and ideas for it.

To begin the card, I’ve added some star washi tape strips to watercolour card and gesso’d over the top to protect the tape.  After overlaying the Square Root stencil, I’ve created an ombre effect using Chipped Sapphire, Blueprint Sketch and Salty Ocean to which I’ve then lightly spritzed water over to add texture.

After using a black permanent fine liner to draw in some scribbly lines in the stencil gaps, I’ve flicked on some black indian ink to break up the blue and add extra interest.

Having already measured where the two face stamps would lay on the card, I used the sentiment for the set, Love is Love, down the centre.

The two profile stamps are just brilliant! The words on them (trust, love, eternity, friendship, loyalty, empathy, kindness etc) are so bang on trend and perfect for all types of cards and journalling and I cannot wait to journal with this set!

I’ve heat embossed the profile stamps using WOW!’s Opaque Bright White embossing powder and then used oxide ink pads (Candied Apple, Picked raspberry, Seedless preserve, Blueprint Sketch, Cracked Pistachio and Mustard Seed) to create the rainbow effect.  Once trimmed, I’ve secured them directly to the card before matting onto black card to finish.

Once again, the new stamps are on pre-order now from the online shop and are due for release on Friday June 26th… just in time for the weekend!

 

Check out the Visible Image Facebook group or Instagram for loads of inspiration from the design team using the new stamps… we can barely put them down!

See you soon, H xx

Gel Press Tutorial: Visible Image

Hello everyone and lovely to see you here…

I’m back today with a tutorial for Visible Image showing you how I made the Gel Press cards I recently posted on the Visible Image Facebook page and I was going to attempt a video but honestly, no one needs to hear me wittering on and I am utterly inept when it comes to technology!

These were the two cards I shared on the Facebook page…

… and I had such a good response and there was a hearty ‘yes please’ to my tutorial offer so I hope this helps in some way.

This is the card I’m going to make with you today and take you through the process step-by-step.  It really is very simple and fairly quick to make.

These are the main tools I used for the make… a 6″ round Gel Press, the Into the Woods stamp set, masking tape, a small brayer, a water spritzer and some watercolour card which I trimmed into a 7″ square.  The Gel Press is brilliant.  Made from a rubbery gel, it holds mediums on the surface and allows you to press stencils or stamps (or anything  – leaves, end of tubes, corrugated card, bubble wrap) into the medium and create mono prints which you can then use alone or add more images or text too.

Stampers Grove have an amazing selection of Gel Press plates in various sizes and shapes so if you’d like to experiment with one, why not buy a small one to see how you get on?  There are hundreds of YouTube videos explaining different techniques and they’re hugely inspiring.

The first step in making your circle is choosing your medium and I used Distress Oxide ink pads but you could also use Distress ink pads or Distress Spray Stain or Distress Oxide Sprays… the choice is unlimited and each different medium will give you a different looking effect.

Firstly dab the ink pad around the gel press to build up colour but try not to contaminate each colour by over laying on the other.  You can see where I’ve dabbed the ink onto the gel press and then how the oxide ink almost ‘comes to life’ when I’ve spritzed with water.  Also, give the watercolour card a very light spritz as this helps the colours bleed into each other and creates a watercolour effect.  Next, lay the card onto the gel press, smoothing it down gently.

Distress Oxide ink pad colours used:

• • • • Black soot
      • Hickory Smoke
      • Chipped Sapphire
      • Faded Jeans
      • Stormy Sky
      • Dusty Concord

It’s hard to see but on the first photograph here I had quite a lot of water pooled around the black area so I just grabbed some kitchen roll and soaked it up by using a corner of the paper towel to slurp up the excess.  After slightly drying, I spritzed the card very lightly with water and overlaid another piece of paper towel.  This takes the colour away where the water drops have been and you get a lovely texture in the background.  I’ve then sprayed on some Glimmer Mist in a pale gold colour but you can leave this out if you’d like a ‘cleaner’ card.

Once dry, overlay a sheet of scrap paper and draw round the circle.  Trim the circle out and  tape the sheet over the watercolour card so any stamped images that go over the circle won’t print onto the card itself.

For the background tree stamp, I used the Distress Oxide Hickory Smoke ink pad and you can see where the excess has stamped onto the scrap paper we taped down.

The foreground trees and the beautiful lone standing tree are both stamped using Onyx Black from Versafine and I’ve stamped both going off the edges so that there are no edges stamped not to he finished card.

Stamp the sentiment from the set however you choose (so many ways to play with those words!) and then remove the scrap sheet from around the card.

I’ve then taken the little star stamps from the Faerie Magic set and stamped them using Weathered Wood (Distress Oxide) just around the sentiment to add extra interest but you could add a few small adhesive gems or sequins in a co-ordinating colour.

To finish, I matted the card onto a navy blue card stock and then onto an 8×8″ card blank which I then trimmed to size… and that, as they say is that!

I went on to make this card as I made a few backgrounds while I had the Gel press out and I’ve used the Night Owl set for this make, heat embossing the owl to add a different texture.

The Gel Press or Gelli Plate (two different makes of the same product) is a lovely way of working.  You can never be sure what’s going to appear when you peel that paper off and I love that!

If you have a go at this, please upload a photo onto the Visible Image page as I’d love to see them.

Thanks for reading everyone… catch up again soon.

H xx

Up-Cycling Challenge: Visible Image

Hey everyone…

The latest challenge over on the Visible Image page is an up-cycling challenge where you are encouraged to up-cycle something you would normally throw away!

I sat (for ages) trying to figure out what to make and then it hit me that what I actually needed was a small box to pop my makes in so that they are kept separate from those cards I’ve already blogged or posted on social media.  I like keep my un-posted makes separate so I know where my head is at!

I needed a box wide enough to fit an 8×8″ card in and initially I looked at a small cardboard box I had but realised the porridge box in the bin was perfect!

At 8.5″ on it’s side, it was perfect size-wise but a tad flimsy so I backed it with some thick card and then added watercolour card over the top so I could distress and grunge it up.  I filled in the gap round the top of the box using modelling paste and a palette knife just so it looked a bit more ‘finished’.

I didn’t have a theme for the box, didn’t know where I was going with it really so I just went with the flow.  I began by using the Stars and Stripes stencil, utilising the stars with modelling paste for the sides of the front  of the box.  Once dried (over night) I just spritzed it with blues and green Distress Oxide Spray as I love the chalky finish they give and added some Picked Raspberry Distress Crayon to the stars to contrast with the cool colours.

I had to use my favourite stencil, Ripples, on the project somewhere so grabbed a Chipped Sapphire ink pad and dotted the fabulous circles around the box.

It was then a matter of layering up the stamps.  I love the two fish from Random Art of Kindness so stamped those swimming around and then added the seaweed image from the Dare to Swim set.  I hadn’t really intended the box to have an underwater theme but the colours kind of dictated it a bit.

I love the Scribble stamp on the Total Chaos set and had o have it on the make somewhere so heat embossed it using WOW’s Angel Eyes powder

To give the box a random feel, I added the tree from Into the Woods using Versafine Clair ink pads in Rain Forest and Verdant and ‘sealed’ the ink using a clear powder from WOW.  The leaves, from both Total Chaos and Tree of Life, are done exactly the same way and coloured using Arteza watercolour brush pens.

The sides needed some art and so again, make it a little quirky, I used the bulbs (and moth) from Glimmer of Light and Shining Bright and tucked the word ‘Shine’ in between them.

For the front of the box, I went all out colour clash and stamped the gorgeous Visible Image eye using Versafine Clair Charming Pink and Glamorous which I then heat embossed using a clear powder.

To finish, I needed a hefty sentiment, something that meant something to me so I chose Create Your Imagination from the Just Be Happy stamp set.

So there we have it… think I’ve mentioned it all!?

You can find the challenge on the Visible Image Facebook group page and there is a HUGE £40 voucher for the first winner and then two £20 vouchers for the next two! Enough to grab yourselves a stamp set or stencil or two… and there are some new ones on there way!!

Take care of yourselves and I’ll see you soon and thank you for taking the time to read my posts… it’s massively appreciated.

H xx

 

Tree of Life: Visible Image

Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog…

Today’s card came about by accident really.  I’d made a few backgrounds using the Visible Image stencils, air dried them and then popped away and forgot where I’d put them… but hey-presto!  Clearing up the other day I found them – hurrah!

Now I know I’ve used the Ripples stencil again but I can’t seem to step away from it.

I’ve used Distress Oxide Sprays for the colour (Cracked Pistachio, Peacock Feathers and Mermaid Lagoon) and once they were dry I’ve just added a few lines of Derwent Inktense pencils around the Ripple lines.

For the tree, I’ve stamped it using Versafine Clair in Rain Forest and then heat embossed it using WOW!’s Clear Embossing powder to seal it and give it shine. The petals are coloured using Arteza brush pens, which I think are my new favourite product.

For the swirling leaves, I’ve, again, stamped them using the Rain Forest Versafine Clair and heat embossed them with the clear powder. After colouring with the Arteza pens, I’ve trimmed them and layered a few using foam tape.

I love the font of the sentiment… really simplistic and fits the mood of the set perfectly. Here I’ve just stamped it in black and then heat embossed with the clear powder once more.

With the leaves added, I’ve smooshed some Distress Crayons around the edge before matting onto a shimmery navy blue card and adhering to a 5×5″ card blank.

I wasn’t sure about the card when I finished it… you know how sometimes they can sit staring at you?  But I was looking at it the other day, the leaves swirling around the ripple stencil and it reminded me of the way Van Gogh used to paint his thick swirls onto so many of his paintings. Not saying for a moment it’s Van Gogh worthy, but it has made me love it!

Don’t forget to upload your Visible Image makes onto their Facebook group… so much amazing stuff posted lately, just incredible talent!

As for me… I’ll see you again soon xx

Revolution: Visible Image

Good morning everyone…

Now… I made this waaaaaay before the new Visible Image challenge of making a card using red, white and blue was announced but wanted to play with the colours again as I loved making this so no, this is NOT my entry into the challenge!

I do have to admit I’ve never seen Les Miserables.  It’s just not my cup of tea but the Revolution stamp set  from Visible Image hugely reminds me of it… I don’t know if that’s where Mark gained his inspiration from or not.

I couldn’t resist making a French inspired Revolution card, using the colours of their flag albeit in a different order.

I started this card like I usually do, making an inky background. I’ve use Distress Spray Stains for this in Candied Apple and Blueprint Sketch and just sprayed and spritzed them onto watercolour card so I got a good drip.

Taking one of the swirly stamps from the set, I’ve stamped and heat embossed it onto the red side of the car. I’ve used WOW!’s Primary Apple Red embossing powder for this.

I’ve then used one of the other damask style stops and heat embossed it using WOW!’s Primary Blue Tang powder and it goes super nicely with the Blueprint Sketch.

The main image has been stamped using a Versafine Black Onyx ink pad and then heat embossed using a clear gloss powder. I’ve then used Derwent Intense pencils to add some shading to the circles and to the trellis work being the handsome figures head.

I then decided to add some stencilled images to the top and bottom of the card and so used the fabulous Stars and Stripes stencil. I used modelling paste mixed with red acrylic paint to stencil the ends of the stripes with and a row of three stars. These are wonderfully matt in comparison to the gloss of the heat embossed figures and patterns.

The fabulous sentiments are heat embossed onto black card using an opaque white powder. These have been matted onto white card and then added to the card using foam tape.

All that remained then was to add Glossy Accents to the circles on the main image and to add the card to a 7×7″ card blank.  Such a majestic stamp set and it really stands out as something different for me.

Don’t forget to catch up everything Visible Image on their Facebook page and you can find loads of inspiration the group page too.  For those of you on Instagram check out the #visibleimage tag!

Thanks for reading… catch up soon xx

Picket Fence + WOW! Embossing Collaboration Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog and to a wonderful collaboration between Picket Fence Studios and Wow! Embossing Powder!  The hop runs for a week and the winners will be notified on May 11th 2020.

I love the Picket Fence Studios stamp set I chose for the hop, I Work for Watercolour, as it pretty much sums me up… haha!  The set contains fabulous brushes, paint tubes, a palette and some perfect sentiments stamps and is just wonderful.

So, here’s some info about the hop…

PRIZES – No Blog hop is complete without a prize!

WOW! Embossing Powders is giving away a $25 gift certificate to either their UK or USA store.

Picket Fence Studios is giving away a $50 gift certificate to their store.

The Winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on THE POSTS.

To join this GIVEAWAY you must leave a comment on each blog post to have a chance at getting your hands on the prize. This hop is open internationally.

All sounds a bit fabulous doesn’t it?!

The images are set on to watercolour card and I’ve used WOW!’s  brilliant Embossing Ink Pad Refill, Conditioner & Freestyle Tool to create hand-drawn circles.

The little tubes of paint are just so cute and I absolutely adore them!  Having stamped them using Versafine Onyx Black ink pad, I used WOW!’s Clear Gloss Super Fine powder to seal the stamped image before colouring using watercolour brush pens.  I use the clear gloss powder all the time and it is so fine it embosses everything just beautifully.

The fabulous watercolour palette has been treated exactly the same way as the tubes of paint. However, for the little cubes of paint, I’ve used WOW!’s Mixed Media Embossing Brush and fourteen different coloured powders to create a colour palette.

To add to the creative feel of the project, I dripped some of the Embossing Brush ‘goo’ down the card (and onto the tag too) and heat embossed Metalline Flame to contrast with the subtle aqua tones.

The tag has been made exactly the same way and would be perfect added to a bundle of art goodies for a friend!

Don’t forget you need to add comments onto everyone’s blog post to be in with a chance of winning the vouchers so here is a list of today’s designers…

Picket Fence Blog
Lydia Fiedler
Carisa Zglobicki
Michelle Lupton
Heather Mitchell *You are currently here*
Sara Sherlock  *Next stop on the hop*
Gemma Campbell
Erica AB Anderson
Mindy Eggen
Jo Herbert
Susie Moore
Jenny Colacicco
Verity Biddlecombe
WOW! Embossing Powder Blog

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog… good luck!!

Heather xx

Catherine Pooler & WOW! Embossing Blog Hop

Hello everyone and welcome to a fabulous blog hop!  Both the Catherine Pooler Designs & WOW! Embossing Powder Design Teams have joined forces to bring you some stamping & heat embossing fun. Some of the design team are using some fabulous new products from both Catherine Pooler Designs & WOW! Embossing Powders stores.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Prizes
Both companies are giving away a prize each.

WOW! Embossing Powder – $25 Gift Card

Catherine Pooler Designs – $25 Gift Card

To join this GIVEAWAY you must leave a comment on the designer’s blog post  and each comment you leave is an entry for a chance at getting your hands on these prizes.

Winners to be announced the week beginning 11th May 2020.

Get ready for a ton of fun and inspiration!

So… hello from me, Heather!  The products I used for my makes were the gorgeous Catherine Pooler Zest Bouquet stamp set and co-ordinating dies… and yes, something different form me but I just loved it!  I also used her fabulous ink pads, Be Mine (that scrumptious pink) and Grape Crush (that rich purple).

Both card and tag were made in the same, easy way.  I’ve ‘smooshed’ the “Be Mine’ ink pad over smooth card stock and once dry, added strips of ripped low-tack masking tape across the card.  In the gaps, I’ve smooshed the WOW! Embossing Ink Pad and then added the super sparkly Catherine Pooler inspired WOW! powders.

The stamp was heat embossed using the fabulously slow drying WOW! Embossing pad and then heat embossed using their Ebony Black Super Fine powder.  The cheery image has then been coloured using watercolour brush pens.

The tag is made in the same way…

I love the Grape Crush ink pad… so rich and delicious!

The sentiment on both the card and tag has been stamped onto vellum and ripped along the edges.  I’ve then double layered it to add extra interest.

 

Here is the full list of designers in the hop..

Catherine Pooler Blog
Erica A-B
Chrissie Tobas
Heather Mitchell *You are currently here*
Karen Baker *Your next stop on the hop!*
Ashlee McGregor
Susan Powell
Verity Biddlecombe
Ilina Crouse
Jenny Colacicco
Daniel West
Jo Herbert
Wow! Embossing Powder Blog

Don’t forget, each comment gives you another entry so check out each designers makes and leave them a comment!

Thank you for taking the time to read my post… Heather xx

Break Free: Visible Image

Well hello everyone…

I hope everyone is keeping well and managing to keep themselves occupied in these (still) weird times we find ourselves in.

Today’s Visible Image make uses the fabulous Break Free stamp set along with Ripple, one of the new stencils.

The background is made using Distress Oxide Ink Pads, some of the neutral colours (which I rarely use so made a change).  I’ve smooshed each ink pad onto a glass sheet and layered up the colours.

Once dried, I’ve used modelling paste through the Ripples stencil and left to air dry.

To add a hint of glitz to the background, I added DecoArt Metallic Acrylic in Champagne Gold using a brayer.  It’s not perfect and although my intention was to just brayer the raised areas, it has gone over the background in places but I’m okay with that, it just adds to the texture!

For the smashed glass part of the stamp, I’ve used Brusho’s and Distress Oxide Ink pads once again to get quite an intense blue and then the image has been heat embossed using WOW!’s Metalline First Frost powder.  I stamped the image twice so I could cut around some of the parts and layer them using foam dots.

For the vase, I made a watery mix using Iced Spruce and Tumbled Glass Oxide Ink Pads and painted it onto watercolour card.  Once dry, I heat embossed using the same powder as previous.  Having trimmed the vase, I layered it onto the broken glass I’d already made.

The flowers were lovely to make!  Using my old favourite smooshing technique, I took Cracked Pistachio, Broken China and a touch of Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide Ink Pads and layered the colours.  After heat embossing the flower image several times (using WOW!’s Black Ebony powder) I trimmed and shaped them using one of those metal ball tools you get for shaping flowers ( I have no idea what they’re called!) and layered them.  The centre of the top flower I heat embossed using Metallic Copper Regular just to bring some warmth to the flowers.

After assembling the flower and securing it to the background, I heat embossed the sentiment and added that using foam tape.  This was then matted onto shiny gold card before adding to a card blank.

And there you go!  I think we’d all quite like to break free from this situation we’re all currently in but for now, we’ll all do our bit and stay home.  Whilst at home, check out the Facebook LIVES the Visible Image team have been doing on their page to keep us all inspired… they’ve been brilliant and I’ve really enjoyed them!  Oh!  And definitely check out this month’s challenge from Visible Image.  Create a ‘rainbow’ card using Visible Image stamps or stencils and colour using bright and beautiful colours.

Right… I’m off for a(another) cuppa.  Stay indoors lovely people and be safe… until next time xx

Visible Image: Birthday Cup Cakes

Hello again,

Sincerely hope everyone is well and safe in these rather unsettling and dire times we all find ourselves in at the moment.

Anyway, aside from the madness, I’m here with my regular Visible Image  inspiration and today I have a cheery birthday card using the Happy Birthday sentiment stamp and the rather fabulous Accessorize set which is just brilliant!

I started out by using up and old Gelli print I had kicking about in a drawer and I kind of went from there with the colours.

You know me and texture, I had to add more over the Gelli print and so used the Drizzle stencil along with the scrumptious Tonic Nuvo Embellishment Mousse to get a simply gorgeous raised, shiny texture.

With the background complete, I started on the cupcakes (which are so cute!) Having stamped 12 cupcakes (using Versafine Clair in Charming Pink) I heat embossed them using a clear gloss so I could splash Distress Oxide ink over and it wouldn’t damage the image.

Once coloured in, I’ve given them a spritz of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (in Pretty Pink) to add a bit of shimmer and then some liquid pearls to look like cake decorations.  They’ve then been layered using foam tape to give dimension to the card.

I love using turquoise and pinks together, they work beautifully and so I reached for good old Peacock Feather and Cracked Pistachio Distress Oxide’s and Paperartsy Infusions to make the base for the sentiment.

With the images matted onto some turquoise card, it was adhered to an 8×8″ card blank.

And there you have it!  Really must use these Accessorize stamps more… they’re brilliant!

Don’t forget to check out the Visible Image Facebook group… so much inspiration from everyone! Such gorgeous makes being uploaded. Instagram too! Search the #visibleimage and a plethora of inspiration pops up!!

Take care everyone… big virtual hugs to everyone xx