Fun weekend at the Scrap 2 Relax retreat

I spent the weekend with an awesome bunch of ladies at the Phillip Island Adventure Resort for the annual Scrap 2 Relax retreat.

There was lots of creating, laughs, food and fun to be had by all.  We had a Flower Power dress up night on Saturday which was lots of fun this in me in all my hippie glory:

I have never had long hair, the longest I can ever remember it being is about shoulder length when I was 13 or 14 so this was definitely a very different look for me :)

For a bit of extra fun on the night we played a game of "Pass the Parcel" which was very entertaining with most of the ladies winning themselves a small prize and the lucky last holders for each of the parcels won themselves a $25 gift voucher from Scrap 2 Relax.

I was very industrious this weekend getting a few cards made and finally finishing the canvas I bought the kit for when I did the Limor Webber classes last July.



                 These are some of the cards I made:

I love the texture I was able to create for the background of this one.

This one is my favourite creation for the weekend :)

I used Indigo Blu's mega flakes to create the background for this one.

This was a quick make using one of the papers I one in the raffle.

I can't wait for next years retreat and another great weekend spent with such a talented and fun bunch of ladies.

Naomi

Somedays......

Here is my latest DT project for Crafters Cupboard

I had a lot of fun doing this page and here is a step by step of how it came together.

I started out by creating a background using Inky Pool, Bora Bora, Dusty Teal, Mermaid, Limelight and Nougat Fresco Finish paints with a brayer and layering the colours until I was happy with the finish. I then used a couple of the stamps from Ellen Vargo collections to create some texture and interest on the background.

I then set this aside while I worked on the focal image which is from the Dylusions Curious Corin set. I stamped out the main image onto book paper which I had adhered to card stock with gel medium to give it a bit more stability. I then gave the whole thing I light coat of gesso and once this was dry I used my Inktense pencils to colour the image and then cut out.

This was then adhered to the background piece and I attached another mask piece over the eyes which I had blacked out. I then used my black and white paint pens to add a border around the piece.

I used my computer to print out the phrase and then cut it into smaller pieces and adhered to the page using matte medium and then outlined the words with a black big brush pen to help them pop off the page. The last thing was to add the date in the bottom corner.

 Here is a list of the products I used:

Arches 140lb water colour paper

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish chalk paints - Inky Pool, Bora Bora, Dusty Teal, Mermaid, Nougat

PaperArtsy Eclectica3 - EEV05, EEV06

Dylusions - Curious Corin

Derwent Inktense pencils

Faber Castell black big brush pen

Sharpie white paint pen

Naomi x

Bloom

Hi all,

I have just finished a project I am really happy with and just had to share. 

I started with a piece of 5x7 heavy grey/white board from PaperArtsy and gave it a coat of Chalk Fresco Finish paint and then layered some Mermaid, Bora Bora and Guacamole Fresco Finish with a piece of cut and dry foam and then added a touch more Chalk paint to add a little texture. I then stencilled bloom across the bottom using the Chalk paint and then lightly sponged some more Guacamole over the top to tone it down a little and send it to the back.

Next I used the Chalk paint again and lightly stamped one of the images from PaperArtsy JOFY 12 & 14 stamp sets over the whole piece.

The next step was to add some more stamping using images from PaperArtsy JOFY 10, 11 and 24 stamp sets using archival jet black ink.

I coloured the flowers with my Derwent Inktense pencils using an aqua brush to pick the colour up from the pencil and then applying it to the image.  I really like how well these work over the Fresco Finish paint and the intensity of colour they give.

I stamped some flowers from PaperArtsy JOFY22 onto light weight watercolour card and again used my Inktense   pencils to colour them. I then cut them out and attached them to the stems with Helmar 450 glue.

Next I used some Faber Castell Whipped Spackle which I coloured with some lemon Gelato in the bloom stencil to add a title to the bottom of the piece. I felt it still needed something else so I stamped the butterfly form the PaperArtsy JOFY 11 stamp set and coloured it with the Inktense pencils.

And now I am happy :)

Most of the products I have used on this project are available from Crafters Cupboard who are the largest stockist of PaperArtsy products in Australia so be sure to check out their store and all the wonderful PaperArtsy products they have.

Naomi 

Candle Stamping

I am excited to share with you my first DT post for Crafters Cupboard

Hi crafters its Naomi here with a fun project for you all to try - Candle Stamping.

You will not believe how easy this is to do and I guarantee once you start you will become addicted and you will have gorgeous stamped candles all over the house.

Products I have used to create my candles are:

Church candle 

Waxed lunch wrap 

tissue paper

PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints

JOFY and Eclectica stamps

Archival Jet Black ink

Step 1. Take an image and stamp it on to a piece of tissue paper with archival ink. (I have used Eclectica EM05)

Step 2. Turn image over and colour with paints.

Step 3. Carefully tear around your image leaving a small border. I find tearing gives a much nicer result as the edges blend into the wax better and don't leave any defined edges.

Step 4. Tear a piece of waxed paper long enough to wrap around the candle and hold onto so you can heat the candle without burning yourself.

Step 5. Using your heat gun gently heat the wax using a circular motion so you aren't concentrating the heat on one area causing the wax to melt unevenly. You will start to see the image embedding into the wax and start to go shiny, once the whole image is shiny and there is a small film of wax on the outside of the paper the image is now transferred to the candle, don't continue to apply heat as you will end up with an uneven surface on your candle.

Step 6. Carefully remove the wax wrap and your candle is complete.

Here are a couple of other candles I have made using some of my favourite JOFY stamps.

I added some washi tape to the bottom of this one to give it a little lift, you could also add some ribbon or twine.

I hope you like this tutorial and would love to see some of your stamped candles so leave a link in the comments so I can come and cheek out your work.

Naomi 

Excited

I am very excited to announce that I have been asked to be a part of the Crafters Cupboard design team for the next 6 months. My first DT project goes live on the blog Monday so be sure to check it out here. 

Naomi

Fun with Limor

Hi all,

I have just had the most fantastic weekend.  I was lucky enough to do a couple of classes with the fabulous Limor Webber in Echuca. 

I have watched many of Limor's classes on Ustream and YouTube and absolutely love her work so when I found out about the classes she was doing in Echuca I was straight on the phone and reserving my spot for the Art Journaling class and later on her sketching class. I learned so much and came home with my head exploding with inspiration and ideas for future projects.

Here is the journal cover I did in class.

Naomi xx

A little art journalling

Hi all,

I have an art journal spread to share with you today. I really enjoyed doing this one as I just let the creative juices flow and go where they wanted.

This page is in my Dylusions journal. I have the small one which I find is the perfect size for me as I tend to struggle with the bigger sizes. 

I think this page has a bit of a dark feel to it. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact I wasn't feeling 100% when I did this.

Naomi