Neon flowers

The sun is so bright so the colors feel like they would be even brighter than normal.

I made a set of ATCs with such colors bright that they look almost neon.

The flowers have been stamped, the stamps are by Artistic Stamper.

 I have no idea which flowers they are, but let's just call them snowdrops, roses and bluebells.

Background is a thinner wash of gouache. It has been layered over with stenciling, stamping, painting and finally with white rub-ons.

I am entering this in:
Fashionable Challenge: #133 Springtime
Rubber Dance Art: April Pink-Green-yellow

In memory of...

,,, no, nothing serious, just my birthday. It's sunny, it's hot, it is the quintessential day of summer, just perfect. Add a scrumptious raspberry-chocolate cake and it's even more perfect :-)

entering this in:
Rubber Dance Art: July / Ribbon or twine.
Simon Says Wednesday: Anything goes.

Background done with sanding a piece of cardboard, swiping distress ink 'linen' and dotting with distress paint 'Picket Fence', then stamping, coloring etc.

Just to say - -

There are stamps that get a lot of use and then some that - while lovely - don't get much use at all. I think it's the more complex stamps that get less use - they are more or less 'ready' and don't require much thought.
Nevertheless, today was time to use my favorite pretty stamp:

I stamped and inked the stamped picture, added some rub-ons, washi tape and words. (The stamp is by Crafty Individuals in case you are wondering.)

entering this in:
Fashionable Stamping: #122 My favorite things.
Frilly and Funkie: Put on your inking cap.
Rubber Dance Art: Black+white+one more color.

Delicate

Delicate colors and a spring motive - this is my answer to Rubberdance color challenge this month.

The flowers are made with a lovely stencil that I bought in Sweden last year. I mixed some Finnabair frost blue mica powder with a texture paste, then added TH picket fence white for a semi-opaque color. Background is white gesso which allowed me to water down the brown ink to a delicate pale color. Birds are stamped, then colored in, and lastly came the sentiment (by Rubberdance).

Can it be spring?

I believe so. I hear the birds making a racket, the sun is out at the long last, and soon there will be leaves in the trees and flowers and grass everywhere. But not yet! That's why I felt drawn to the springy colors and making a flower themed something.

It is also heavily layered - ink through stencil, stamping, texture paste through stencil, some washi tapes and cut out stamped circles. Finally topped by a flower that was created with texture paste and infusions.
Here are the punched shapes on my desktop. (Notice the colorful paper? It's my desk cover, to be used afterwards for backgrounds.)

And here they are ready. I gathered all the materials in one picture so you can get an idea how I made them.

entering in:
Simon says Monday: Handmade flowers
Frilly and Funkie: Welcome spring
Rubber Dance Art: Color challenge using stamps from the plate Round in circles

Consider yourself loved

 We all need some love - so here are the love fairies sending good thoughts and some magic your way:

The color scheme  is just perfect for soon-to-be spring, shabby and very very chic, courtesy of RubberDanceArt February challenge.

I made these on a grey card stock, then used a stencil with pink texture paste and grey distress ink for the background. The fairies and their wings have been stamped using Rubber Dance Art stamps. Lastly I colored in the leaves and added some green dots.

entering into:
Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge: Anything goes
Rubber Dance Art: February Color Challenge
MixedMedia Warriors: #13 Love / Miłość

Airy and Light

There are a few challenges at the moment that work wonderfully together. I have so been wanting to do an airy and light background in watercolor. This was done mainly with watercolor with just a bit of water-soluble crayon for depth and interest.
Next came stamping. Two different stamps were used here, a strip of butterflies and a beautiful script. Black and white ribbon gives it a romantic touch in combination with the pink.

entering this into:
Lost Coast Portal to Creativity: #27 Watercolor background
Stampotique: SDC254 Text Background
Rubber Dance Art: Black, white plus one other color

Christmas in July

These deer would like to wish you am merry festive season. Walking in grass, but with snowflakes... that's Christmas in July for you.

I started with a tissue paper on cardstock. I sprayed blue mica spray through a stencil of tree branches. The circle was done with white embossing powder. I used three different stamps, they are by PaperArtsy, RubberDance and Inkadinkadoo.

Background was treated with mint green acrylics, the snowflakes stamped with blue, grass with green. (That is the only deviation from the color inspiration, I just could not see deer walking on sand.)

The deer are picture transfer (my new love). I painted them with acrylic.

entering this into:
Country View Challenges: Fun with Circles
Stamps and Stencils: Tic Tac Toe (tissue-circle-embossing)
RubberDance Art: Christmas in July
color inspiration:

Crackle background

First time crackle ever! I used a no-name brand and was delighted with the results:

This very last minute, mainly because the drying time has been extra long due to the humidity.
My colors are brighter than this - the quality is too yellow. It seems hard to be able to capture these vivid shades. Down below you'll see my color inspiration.

I have cut up my French book some more for more random text: 'Please be assured' and 'the necessary freedoms'. The pictures are open for interpretation really, so I thought the text should be, too.

Stamps are by Rubber Dance Art.

entering in:
Country View Challenge: Crackle
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Anything goes
Rubber Dance Art:  color palette

Messing with paper / Hauskuutta roskapaperin kanssa

I had such fun with my mess paper again. You know, the paper I cover my desk with and which picks up all the splatters and overflows from my brushes, stencils and stamps. I use old school papers for that, printouts, handouts, anything with some text on them. I place them mostly the text side up, I like the grungy element it adds.

I stamped some more elements to the background to unify it, mostly curlicues and small scale stamps. Other than that, I added some tapes (tissue tape and the thicker yellow variety), further some flower cutouts (Lunagirl) and the last of my butterfly stickers. (I wish I remembered where I got them, so adorable!)

entering into:
Emerald Creek Dares: Anything goes
Rubber Dance Art: Stamp into Spring (with moodboard colors)

Tein taas taustat sottapaperistani. Panen mielellään paperit pöydän suojaksi tekstipuoli ylöspäin, koska tykkään kirjainten antamasta rakenteesta. Lisäsin leimailua, sitten kaikenlaista muuta tilpehööriä. Ja vallan riemastuttavia sanoja!

I promise myself I won't ever be hopeless again.

I finished my beer calmly.

I was happy, lively and immature.

I am good and obedient, I said with a sigh, - at least it makes life more calm.

Here we could blend into the crowd.

It was a wonderful evening but I closed my door for the night. (jää itselle)

linkitän KK-haasteeseen #181, jossa pyydetään sanoja, kirjaimia ja tekstiä.

Granpa traveling

What a lovely granpa - pocket watch and tickets on the ready.

He's traveling with nana, who points out there is still time enough and she would like to take her photos.

Mamma ja pappa matkalla Joensuuhun. Pappalla on jo piletit ja hän kiiruhtaa mammaa, mutta tämäpä tuumaa, että juna ei lähdekään ihan heti ja hänpä aikoo ottaa kuvia. (Kameraa ei ehkä heti tunnista, se on vanhanaikainen haitarikamera.) Kiitokset sukulaiskuvasta Piikulle! Kaksi korttiani TJK-haasteeseen / sukulaiset.

entering granpa into:
Unruly Paperarts: Men

both into:
Take a Word: Vintage Photo
Rubber Dance Arts, September challenge

Traveling

For Rubber Dance Art challenge, here's the breakdown: I used  July colors (with some darker shades for the photos). I collect stamps, and after dissolving them I am left with these lovely wavy postal imprints and circles with names of towns. I have been collecting the prettiest ones. I now collaged them onto the card, then painted over with transparent gel paints and some diluted acrylics so the postage lines would stay visible. I stamped with Rubber Dance stamps Round in circles. It's a useful set to own, I have used it for sea life and flowers before this.
Thanks for looking!

August Flowers

How I wish that I would have all the crafting supplies at my fingertips that I could ever wish for! Don't you?  I imagine that being a lot of fun.
But then again, it might just be a pain to remember everything you have and look for them.

So I decided to see how precious little I could get away with. Just for fun, for a challenge. Work with a kind of "make-do" attitude.

First I sanded some cardstock and painted this with "linen" acrylic. Then I chose my products: one stencil, three colors and some small colored scraps in those colors. I took two geometric stamps (circles, chevron) and a book page. (And then I felt like I had much too much product already. Where did the downsizing go??)
And finally I chose three challenges.
Let's see.

I stamped the backgrounds through the punchinella in pink and yellow, then added stamping with green ink and the chevron stamp.

Bloom where you are planted

Next I took the circles stamp (Rubberdance Art) and the book page, stamped all sizes, then repeated this onto some yellow and pink scraps. I cut them out and set aside.

Create the world you want to see

Using the chevron stamp and green ink I stamped onto the green paper, then drew freehand stems and leaves and cut them out.
I assembled my cards, and as a finishing touch added some sentiments or affirmations.

Flowers dancing together

entering into:
Mix it Monthly: Mixed Media Flowers
Lost Coast Portal to Creativity: #15 Circles
RubberDance Art: August challenge

A summer romance

It's a great idea to be supplied a mood board and having to take one's inspiration from there. Makes one feel like a pro :-)

I wanted to create something about romance and travel (Paris!) and use that great color combo blue-white-brown.

Instead of making another ATC card I took my cue from Stampotique challenge where Twinchies are asked for.  What could one use twinchies for? The size is that of a small tile, and has nice space to work on.
I decided to make a set of magnets. It will be a nice gift for someone.

clicks for larger

I stamped the background curlicues with porcelain blue chalk ink, fussy cut a few butterflies from an old nature guide, stamped the sentiments (Hero Arts, Cherry Pie) on a tissue with brown Archival. The Eiffel tower is from a Crafty Individuals picture pad, the musical instruments from a magazine ad (in 1923).
I backed the twinchies with brown cardboard and inked the sides in brown too.

The shiny finishing is called Dimensional Magic. It creates a almost resin-like glossy raised surface. My thinking was that it will make the magnets smudge free and easy to clean.
That stuff needs to dry 3 hours, but I left it overnight.

Entering this project into:
Anything but Cute:  #3 Summer Romance
Stampotique SDC204: Twinchies
and last but not least into Rubber Dance Art July color challenge

Tein lahjaksi setin magneetteja. Nämä ovat kaksituumaisia, eli pienen kaakelin kokoisia. Oikein passeli koko, siihen mahtuu tekemään kunnolla. Tuumaiset on olleet vähän liian pieniä minun makuuni (tai sitten nakkisormeni ovat estäneet näin pienimuotoista näperteyä...).
Leimasin vaalealle taustalle sinisellä musteella, liimailin päälle erilaisia kuvia. Tekstit on leimattu silkkipaperille. Lopuksi liimasin ruskean pahvin taustalle, mustasin reunatkin ruskealla (haasteiden värimaailma oli sini-valko-ruskea) ja päälle valutin koholakkaa. Magneetteja liikutellaan usein, ajattelin että niiden on parasta olla helposti puhdistettavia.