Cardz 4 Guyz: Metallic Madness

Hi everyone!  today it's my turn to choose the theme at Cardz 4 Guyz  I've chosen a theme of Metallic Madness - use something metal or metallic on your card.

I decided to do some metal embossing, which is something I hadn't done for quite a while.  I started with a piece of thin copper, stamped an image on the back with Stazon ink, then placed my them stamped metal on a foam mat and used an embossing tool to go over the stamped image.  I added the frame using a roller tool.

I wanted to make the embossed panel look old, so I painted it with black acrylic paint and then rubbed it off with a piece of kitchen roll.  I left it to dry, then matted and layered it onto black and gold card.

To create the background of the card, I dabbed Versamark ink through a stencil then gently brushed on  mica powder in various metallic colours.

To finish off my card I added some die cut cogs and wheels and a stick on sentiment.

I hope you can join us this week at Cardz 4 Guyz.

Sian.

Doodling on Metal

These are embossed alumininium which I coloured using alcohol inks before embossing.  I've done them all freehand, which is just like doodling on metal.

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Friendly Plastic Pendant

I don't make much Friendly Plastic jewellery, mainly because I'm not really sure what I'm doing, (anyone want to teach me?), and I never think I will be able to come up with something that someone actually wants to wear.  Anyway, I was feeling  very inspired yesterday after doing lots of blog hopping (and I have lots of blue clothes and no jewellery to wear with them), so I decided to use of some of my FP scraps.  This is what I came up with, and whilst I know it's not perfect, I'm actually quite pleased with how it's turned out! 

I started off by making the frame using ArtEmboss aluminium.  I rolled in the edges using a cocktail stick to start me off and make sure they were reasonably straight, and pressed down with an embossing tool to create the indentations.  I used acrylic paint to create the slightly aged effect.  Then I found some FP scraps, heated them with my heat gun and pressed them into the frame, makign sure there were no gaps.  If the FP started to cool too much I just gave it a blast with the heat gun whilst in the frame - this helped it to stick too.  Then when I'd filled the frame I added a glaze over the top and left it to dry.  I was originally going to solder a jump ring onto the top, but have discovered that soldering doesn't really work with aluminium (or maybe I just need more practice)!  Anyway, I settled for  punching a tiny hole through the top and adding wire.  I added some FP beads and some small seed beads on the wire and twisted it around to make a loop at the top.

At Last! Something other than ATCs

This is my (rather late) RR Journal page for Heidi.  Heidi had an open theme for her journal but (I hope) I know what kind of thing she likes.  The page is created from mountboard and I've cut a recess for the figure, backing it with regular card.  I've added freehand embossed aluminium on the left, which I painted with black acrylic and wiped off when almost dry to age it a bit, then added some metallic rub-ons over the top to add a bit of colour.  I painted the page with black acrylic (bronze in the recess), added some book text and painted over the top of that with an acrylic/PVA wash, then added some clear UTEE on the right hand side and stamped into it.  I then went over the top of it with various colours of metallic rub-on and set it.  The head of the figure is moulded and I pressed a metal chain into it for texture.  The body is a poker chip painted black and covered with metallic rub-on.  The wings are Grungeboard painted in silver acrylic, the arms are wire with beads on the end, and the legs are made from wire and sea glass.  (I spent my entire holiday this year picking up bits of glass from the beach - they must launch a lot of boats on their maiden voyages from Brixham!)  The word "fly" is Grungeboard painted with silver acrylic.

To those of you I still owe journal pages to (Cindy, Sherry and Yvonne, I think), I am really sorry for the delay.  They will be done as soon as I can find some inspiration.

Faux Verdigris

I had fun making this one.  The paper was aged using distress inks which I spritzed with water.  I freehand embossed the copper and then created the verdigris effect using acrylic paints, first adding a layer of black, letting it dry a bit and then wiping it off and then adding a further layer of light green and white (a bit of both, not mixed) by stippling it on, letting it partly dry again and then wiping it with a tissue.  The star is cut from Makin's Clay and I created the texture on it by pressing a piece of vintage lace into it.  I painted it black and added some metallic rub-on over the top.  I made the wire look rusty using Distress Embossing Powder.

Some More Metal and Friendly Plastic

I've been doing some metal embossing again. These are embossed aluminium coloured with alcohol inks. The bacground on the left one is inked and stamped. On the one on the right I've added a marbled Friendly Plastic piece that I made ages ago and hadn't got around to using yet.

I'm doing well at the moment. I think my inspiration has finally returned after deserting me for almost a year. Now I just need to get back to doing something other than ATCs...

(The lower one is cut straight, I promise! It's my photography that's wonky.)

... and Some Friendly Plastic

It seems like ages since I last did anything with Friendly Plastic. These are a couple of ATCs I've made using various techniques. I've combined the Friendly Plastic with metal embossing on the one on the left.

Metal Embossing

This is the name badge I made for the meet. It's ATC sized and is embossed purple metal which I then went over with some fie sandpaper. It's all done freehand.

Passion

This is the first "just for the sake of it" ATC I've done in ages. The background is heated acrylic paint and metallic rub-on. The heart is freehand embossed on aluminium and I've coloured it using alcohol inks and sanded it for a distressed look. I've added a heart gem and some mesh, and the word "passion" which is stamped into Friendly Plastic.

Unfortunately I couldn't get a very good photo of it, probably because it's dark, or maybe because my photography skills are not up to much! It's not quite as dark as it looks in the picture.

Metal

These are some ATCs I made for a metal swap on ATCsforall. For the top one, I made the heart from Friendly Plastic and stamped into it. I then freehand embossed a piece of aluminium to fit around it and aged it using acrylic paint and sandpaper. The background is acrylic paint, which I heated to make it bubble, and I added shiny mesh, brads and knitted wire.

The second one has an acrylic paint background which I creased a bit to age it. I stamped over it in black Stazon and added some more black Stazon around the edges. I attached a piece of aluuminium mesh using brads. I made the doll's head and dress from aluminium which I again embossed freehand and aged using acrylic paint and sandpaper, made the arms and legs using wire and beads and the hair from bent wire which I attached using a flower brad.

The third one has a textured background which I created using lace and mesh attached with PVA glue then painted over with acrylic and added metallic rub on to bring out the texture. I cut the heart from copper and freehand embossed it, then heated it until it went bright orange. I painted it with black acrylic and then sanded it. I added a piece of aluminium mesh behind and German Scrap wings, and a tiny gem on the top left. Finally I added a German Scrap star border at the bottom.

Number 4 has a background made from mesh and heated copper acrylic paint. I then dry-brushed it with various metallic paints. I added the wire, and the brads which I aged using black Stazon ink and sandpaper. The hearts are freehand embossed aluminium which I coloured with black Stazon and then sanded.

My final ATC has a background which I created using extra heavy gel medium, painted over with black acrylic and then added metallic rub-ons in shades of red and gold. I stamped the image onto copper using Versamark and then heated it. (The Versamark protects the copper, so it changes colour around it but the image remains unchanged.) I then freehand embossed around the image. I layered the image over a piece of aluminium mesh and added some brads to finish it off.

Metal ATCs

These are some ATCs I've made for the monthly swap on UK Stampers. This month's theme is metal. The top one is stamped and embossed on alcohol inked copper and the background was done using acrylic paints and stamping.

The middle one is stamped and embossed on alcohol inked aluminium and the background is inked and stamped.

The bottom one was done by alcohol inking a piece of aluminium, stamping the image onto it using archival ink and then wiping over it with a damp baby wipe to
take off the archival ink and leave the negative image. The background is inked and stamped.

Three Ms - Metal, Mesh and Messy

Yep, I'm still alive! I haven't been feeling very well, hence my lack of posts lately. I haven't done much arty stuff either, which is not good, although I have managed a few ATCs.

These ATCs are for a swap I'm hosting on the DoCrafts forum. Each ATC must have an element of metal, mesh and something messy (eg. paint, ink, etc.)

On the top one, I created the middle section by freehand embossing some copper, heating it until it went all nice and orangey, painting over it lightly in black acrylic and then sanding it lightly with fine grade sandpaper. I created the texture around the edges using extra heavy gel medium, copper mesh and plasterboard tape, painted with copper acrylic and a black acrylic/PVA wash. The words were painted on shrink plastic in acrylic and then shrunk.

The background on the second one was done using two different types of mesh. I painted over it with a thick layer of acrylic and heat dried it to create some texture, then added copper embossing powder around the edges. I made a tile from Makins Clay, which I rolled with a piece of lace on top to create the texture. The face was also made using Makins Clay. I made it in a mould and then pressed a flower bead into it three times, leaving it in place the third time. I painted the tile and the face the same colour as the background, stuck them on and then went over the whole thing with some copper metallic rub-on to bring out the texture.

The background on the third one was done in a similar way to the second, except that this time I dry brushed it with two different colours of acrylic rather than using a metallic rub-on. I used aluminium mesh on this one. The house was stamped onto aluminium which I coloured with alcohol inks and then embossed. I rubbed over it with some sandpaper to bring out the embossed lines and make it look distressed.

The background on the final one was done again using different types of mesh. I painted over it with black acrylic and then covered it with red and gold embossing powder and stamped into it. The main image is stamped onto alcohol inked aluminium and the words and stars were painted onto shrink plastic and shrunk.

Think Monday Think ATC - Purple

This week's theme on TMTA is purple. I love purple and I got a bit carried away and ended up making three.

The one on the left is the first one I did, and I ended up rescuing it after it went wrong. I did an emboss resist background and originally stamped the image over it. Unfortunately it didn't show up because both the image and the background are a bit too detailed, so I embossed the image over the top. I still didn't like it because the detail on the image didn't show up very well when I embossed it, so I stamped it on acetate and layed it over the top, slightly offset from the embossed image so the embossing shows through a bit.

The top right one is aluminium which I've coloured with alcohol inks and embossed freehand, bent over the edges then sanded over the top. I've layered it onto aluminium mesh and card which I've coloured using reinkers dripped onto a baby wipe and pressed the card onto it. (It gives a lovely blended colour effect but if you ever do this, make sure you wear gloves, unless you want to spend the next two weeks with purple hands!) I've also added some tiny purple gems to finish it off.

Th one on the bottom right again has an emboss resist background, but on this one I've used a less detailed background stamp and have stamped the image straight on top. I've added a metal flower and some flower brads which I've coloured using alcohol inks, and have added a bit of Stickles around the edges.

Spooky Slide Mailer

This is an altered slide mailer that I've been working on over the last couple of weeks. It was originally going to be my replacement entry for October's UK Art Raffle (link on the right) after Matt nicked the first one, but unfortunately I didn't get it finished in time so couldn't enter.

The front cover is stamped into UTEE over black acrylic paint with metallic rub-ons over the top, with heated and embossed copper layered 0n top which I've painted with black acrylic and sanded, a Grungeboard skull painted with acrylic and covered with metallic rub-on and a plastic lizard painted in acrylic with metallic rub-on.

This picture shows a close-up of the detail on the front. (I love my new camera!)

I covered the inside left with tissue paper and painted with acrylic and added metallic rub-on over the top. The letters are stamped into clay and painted with copper acrylic with a black acrylic/PVA wash, and the skeleton is stamped and cut out. The inside right is painted in black acrylic and heated for texture, again with metallic rub-ons over the top. I painted the slide slots in copper acrylic and added a stamped on slide in the right one and some grungy mesh, micro beads, a plastic spider and a Grungeboard skull in the left one.

The back is a thick later of UTEE over black acrylic, which I've stamped into and covered with metallic rub-ons.

To finish it off I added fibres down the middle with a few beads.

This picture is a close-up of the detail on the back.

Metal Madness

It's what I'm suffering from so it's what I've decided to call this ATC. I've bought some proper embossing metal for the first time ever. (Usually I use bits cut out of the bottom of aluminium trays and roasting tins bought from the pound shop!) I'm having a lot of fun with it at the moment.

This is freehand embossing using a fine ball tool on copper. (Basically doodling on metal). I painted over it with black acrylic and then sanded over the top to give it a distressed appearance and added a bit of metallic rub-on. I used a mountboard background and created some texture around the edges using tissue paper and acrylic paint with a bit of metalic rub-on over the top, attached the embossed copper and added eyelets at the corners. I then added some fibres through the eyelets in co-ordinating colours to finish it off.

Indian Summer

These ATCs are for a swap being hosted by Crafty Vonx on the DoCrafts forum on the theme of "Indian Summer". Each ATC had to include the colours pink, orange and red and some metal. These are not colours I would normally use together, but I enjoyed the challenge.

I used some handmade Indian papers that I'd had hanging around unused from my card making days for the backgrounds. The elephants are embossed on aluminium. I did them using a clipart picture of an Indian elephant as a template and added the rugs and headpieces freehand. I coloured them using alcohol inks. On the one on the left I applied the inks after embossing by dripping them on, adding a bit of blending solution and swiping a piece of felt over. On the one on the right I inked the metal first, then embossed it and sanded over the top to take the colour off on the embossed bits.

New Stamps!

I spent yesterday at the Happy Stampers North West show at Port Sunlight, where I had a fantastic day, met up with a few people I know from the DoCrafts forum and bought some nice new things.

These ATCs are for this month's swap hosted by Sam on the UK Stampers forum, the theme for which is "newest stamps", and I made them using some of the stamps and other bits and pieces I bought yesterday.

The background on the top one was made using spray inks and then stamped. I added UTEE over the top and stamped the image into the UTEE. (The white bit to the right is just a reflection).
The background of the second one was created using distress inks and Glitz Spritz spray and stamped. The main image was stamped on aluminium (which I'd coloured using alcohol inks) and embossed. I sanded over the top to highlight the image and added touches of colour using a Sharpie pen.
The third one has a stamped and embossed background (black embossing powder on black card, which I would never have thought of doing until I saw it today at the show but love the effect of). The house is stamped and embossed (also black on black) and then painted using interference paints. It has a shiny metallic finish that doesn't show up on the photo. I've cut the house out and stuck it on raised slightly on foam pads. I thought it needed something in the window so I've added a cut out butterfly.

The final one has a background that I created using spray inks and a water spray. I then stamped a background pattern and the borders. The main image is stamped onto a piece of linen which I also coloured using the spray inks. I cut it out and layered it onto the card over a piece of shiny mesh.

Copper and Texture

This is my other ATC for the texture swap. I created the background by sticking various textured items into PVA glue, then painted over it in copper acrylic and added a couple of other metallic colours over the top to pick up the detail. I took a small square of copper sheet, curled the corners, bashed it up a bit with an embossing tool and then heated it until it changed colour. I then wrapped copper wire around it and stuck it onto the background. Finally I added the frog, which is moulded from Makin's Clay and painted with three colours of metallic acrylics, and two small copper brads at the corners.

Metal Madness

These are for a swap hosted by Sam on the UK Stampers forum on the theme of metal/metallic. For the top one, I cut the heart out of the bottom of a disposable aluminium tray, alcohol inked it and stamped it and then alcohol inked some aluminium duct tape in the same colours. I painted the background in silver acrylic and stamped it, then stuck the ADT around the edges adn attached the heat usign silver brads.
For the middle one, I cut the ATC from the same aluminium tray, alcohol inked it, stamped the image in the middle and then embossed freehand around the edges of the image using a fine embossing tool.
For the last one, I created the background using tissue paper and copper acrylic paint which I heated with my heat gun until it bubbled. Then I stamoped it and rubbed over it with baclk Stazon ink to distress it and added some creased up copper mesh at the bottom I than alcohol inked a piece of aluminium from the bottom of a pie tin (I didn't have any copper so it was the next best thing), stamped the image onto it, added some distress embossing powder around the edges and attached it with brads.

Dans Ma Maison Il y a Du Métal

In my house there is metal.

I've been dying to make one of these little houses ever since I first saw them, so when I came across the Dans Ma Maison challenge blog I decided to give it a go. This week's challenge is to include metal.

I did the embossing for this first. The metal I've used is from the bottom of a disposable aluminium tray and has a slightly embossed pattern. The main image was done using a Paperartsy stamp which I embossed, folded over the edges and then painted with black acrylic paint and wiped off with a sponge to create the tarnished look. I did the same thing with the chimney and the strip underneath the roof. For the strip under the roof I also embossed it to look like it was riveted. My house is made from mountboard. I did the background using Cosmic Shimmer Powders in various metallic shades, (unfortunately the shimmer doesn't show up very well in the photo), and them stamped over it. I added some silver embossing powder around the edges and then added my metal bits and some aluminium mesh on the roof (which I also added some acrylic paint to to make it look old).

I'm quite pleased with how my embossed image has turned out - it's probably my best so far - but I still have a lot to learn!