Wednesday 23 July 2008

MADJAK DESIGNS - Butterfly Stamp

I am entering this for This Thursday Challenge Blog


At last I got to use one of my beautiful stamps from MADJAK designs. It is one of a set of four ATC sized stamps and they are gorgeous - I am trying to do them justice!

After a visit yesterday from Paula I was inspired by the way she colours her backgrounds with different shades of ink - so I had a go. O.K. so it looks mainly black - but there are different shades to make it look like that!

After shading the backing card, I stamped out a butterfly on acetate and coloured the back with firstly alcohol inked gold - then once dry added red acrylic paint. Although you can't see it here - it gives the butterfly a lovely gold shimmer on top of the red. A bit like painting in reverse!

I had a whale of a time with textured paste - as you can see - and incorporated butterfly red, gold, silver, black shades, and white.

I stamped on layers of ferns - with the top layer having some sea foam embossing.

I sprayed some dried twigs black and that was 'sunk' in place with a No Nails product and coloured to match the rest of the texture.

The butterfly is resting on the twigs - its head is the 'bud' from a dried twig as cutting out the head and antennae of the butterfly out of acrylic was a bit out of my scope. The butterfly antennae are twigs with 'buds' conveniently on the top, painted with gold leaf

It hangs by gold thread at the top.

I would just like to thank Linda for the stamps, together with Zuzu, Ginger and Paula all of whom have inspired and encouraged me - and I think that their guidance and influence is beginning to show in my work.

'Butterfly' ATC house shape swap



Firstly I stamped (with my new second hand stamp -thanks BB) the Asian Lady. Then I masked her.

The backing colours were done next in pastels (they look brighter and softer in real life) and then over the masked lady I stamped Oriental Calligraphy which I embossed to give texture.

The butterfly was an image I bought - which I covered in UTEE to enamel it. It sits proud of the lady so that the wings are not glued on just the body with a glue dot.

Mermaid - Third Coast Designs



I finally got around to finishing my texture mermaid - I bought the stamp from Third Coast Designs and wanted to make something to do it justice.

I got the chance when Zuzu and Ginger came to visit for a few hours and they showed me how to use texture paste. I didn't get to finish it at the time - but have spent a while adding bits and finishing it off since then.

In real life - it is lovely and shimmery and 'wet' looking just like a mermaid under the sea. The pearls around the edge and her necklace are all done with liquid pearls. There is silver and sea foam embossing too - and of course lots of texture!

I have been trying to find something to dangle at the bottom - a single pearl - but alas can't find one anywhere - so she is hanging in my studio until such times I can find what I have in mind.