Artistcellar Quasi-Crystals Series Stencils

Hello, it's Tuesday so I will be doing a mini tutorial showing the new Artistcellar stencil series called Quasi-Crystals.

 I've been playing with these for days and I'm amazed at what a beautiful background can be made by using not just one but two of these stencils.  Here is what I made for today, it's a card but it could have been a  tag.  I'll show you the finished project and if you're interested in the tutorial just read on.

I started with this stencil called Quasi and some Pan Pastels in greens,  yellow ochre and blues.  I taped the stencil down on a piece of watercolor paper using some washi tape and applied the pastels.

When I liked the look I had achieved, I set the pastels with a spray on fixative.  Next I tore the top and bottom edges and applied more of the darker green pastel.  The next stencil from the series of four that I used was this one, it's called Penrose:

I applied white gesso on top of the Pan Pastels so that the piece I was gluing on top would stand out.

 I decided to add some pop dots to the paper to simulate bubbles and then applied blue and green glitter to them.  I also stamped some circles from Dina Wakley's new stamps and some lines from a Hampton Art stamp.  I am using a lot of items from my stash lately and this was no exception.  I pulled my "Mermaid in a Bottle" tag out of a box of old projects and glued a message in a tiny bottle onto her long, slender Stampotique hands.

  I added another stamped message that says "just a note" on top of the "sunshine & seashells" message and did a few rub-ons from Tim Holtz's collection warning that it was Fragile Glass.  This was a great way not only to play with my new stencils but also to re-purpose old discarded projects.

 I was inspired by the Artistcellar new stencils but also by the altered Bottle art work on display at the Craft Stampers Take It, Make It Challenge.  I hope you will check out the Artistcellar blog and see the other fabulous creations made by the rest of the members of the design team.  There is also a blog hop taking place that you can participate in.  Who knows maybe you'll win a fabulous prize!  In the meantime, thanks for stopping by, take care ~ Renee

April 12 – Lisa Cousineau http://www.artistcellar.com/wp

April 13 – Chris Cozen  http://chriscozenartist.typepad.com/my-blog/

April 14 – Lynn Krawczyk  http://smudgedtextilesstudio.com/blog/

April 15 – Effy Wild www.effywild.com

April 16 – Jill K Berry http://jillberrydesign.com/blog

April 17 – Carmen Whitehead  www.serendipitystudiobycw.blogspot.com

April 18 - Lea Cioci www.leacioci.blogspot.com

April 19 – Guadalupe Brizuela Cabal http://guadasartplace.blogspot.com.ar

Take It, Make It Challenge for April~ Bottles!

The theme this month from the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It Challenge is Bottle Art.  The technique is to use a bottle somewhere in your project.  This could be an altered bottle, using small bottles/vials in your project, or using a stamped image of a bottle.   I must admit that for me this was a real challenge as I have never altered any bottle other than the obvious alteration....taking it from full to empty.

I looked at Pinterest for some inspiration and the only thing that really caught my eye were the dolls made from bottles.  Never having been a doll person I thought this would be a way to channel my inner child and do something whimsical.  When I think whimsy I usually think Marie Antoinette. Other than to buy a pretty pink bottle from Michaels for $3.00, I decided to work with items completely from my stash .  I'll show you my finished project and then follow it up with a short tutorial in the event that you want to see how she was put together.

Washing the bottle before construction makes sure that there is no trace of  residue that might show later.  I worked on the headpiece first.  The head is from a collage sheet and was attached with a strong glue to one of those pins from Idea-ology, it is sharp enough to penetrate the cork.  The bow was tied and glued to the cork piece.

I added Distress Stickles to the flowers in her hair and the pearl around her neck.  The skirt is made from the elastisized ribbon in the Idea-ology ribbon pack.  I measured the ribbon, cut it and sewed it to make a circle.The trim with beads was applied on top of that with red line tape then the unit was put in place.

I used a stamp called "Forget Me Not" for the bodice of her "dress".  It was stamped on 90 lb watercolor paper, colored with pens and cut out.  Instead of arms I used the wings from Pam Carriker called "I Will Soar" and stamped them with Neon Purple, Pink and Orange inks from Tsukineko. It was easy to secure the winged heart image to the bottle with the strong clear double-sided red line tape.  I glued a large red rhinestone heart to the stamped image.

Just one more detail.  I used Tim Holtz's rub-ons,  which by the way work perfect on glass, to put just one word, "Imagination" at the bottom of the bottle.

With that my altered bottle doll is finished!

I hope that you will check out the challenge going on at the Craft Stamper Take It, Make It site.  The beauty of a challenge is that it gets you out of your comfort zone and helps you to experiment with things you never would have even thought of doing.  That's what challenges do for me anyway.  Thanks so much for stopping by, please leave a comment if you have time.  I love to read what you think.  Take care, talk to you soon!
~Renee xx