Dilly Beans....!

...is today's Sponsor over at LOC! And what super images they produce too! :D

My project today is using Dilly Beans Zentangle 'Owl'  - a super image with lots of possibilities!

I've made two images and coloured them, mirroring one and paired them with my own 'Eiglassing' image 'Tree#1'  (not yet instore) to make either an anniversary card or a card for one of a couple - almost any gender and age would be covered I think. Just colour/size the owls to suit!

I really do love this image and will use it lots!

Please do look on Dilly Beans site - there are loads of super images - this is only one!

My teamies also have new projects over on LOC so do please go and share the love over there and on their individual blogs too, if you have time!
Hugs
Ei x

Left Of Centre Challenge 28 - Ribbons and Flowers

At LOC, we like to try different things and although we aim for the quirky and sometimes downright dark, it's not all dark and macabre, we also have our 'normal' theme running alongside of the  slightly off-centre!

This week it's Ribbons and Flowers - and you can use your own mojo as to how dark, light, macabre or cutesy you want it to be!

This week, I happened to have been given, by a friend, a little wooden blank in the shape of a hollow heart so I decided to make it into a picture frame.

The blank was a pale cream originally, so I painted it with Tim Holtz Distress Crackle paint Old Paper) and because the base was quite non-absorbent, I lacquered over with a matte lacquer to hold the crackles in place and help it not flake too much.

I then dabbed very sparingly with Forest Moss Distress Stain and dabbed it back off again so it just went into some of the cracks.

I used TH Paint dabber in Lettuce, once again very sparingly and dabbed it off again leaving it thicker in some places. I then left the frame to dry whilst I stamped  my Honeycomb and Carpenter Bee (both Eiglas Polymer Stamps) onto a scrap of canvas.

Once again, I used a TH product - Distress Inkpad in Wild Honey (appropriate, wouldn't you say? LOL!)

I touched the image up with my Copic Sketch, also in Honey (Y38) and one of my Tria Fineliners in R934 ( I think - it's a VERY small number on the cap!)
and touched up the wings with Stickles Ice Diamonds.

I edged the heart-shape with a mix of Copics and pencils in different greens and used a Honey coloured pencil to lightly surround the body of the bee.

Once I'd stuck this to the frame, from the back and finished off the back with a nice scrap of cream pearlescent card cut to shape (keeping the holes in the card where the holes in the frame are) I used my Eiglas Honeycomb stamp with the Wild Honey again and dabbed small areas of the frame lightly with it.

A few finger-dabs of the Stickles on the frame here and there pick up the sparkle from the bee's wings 

Samaflora created the beautiful little daisies - you really do need to pop over to their page - the flowers are perfect and so beautifully made.

A ribbon, a thread and a small heart-shaped amber pendant finishes it off.

I hope you enjoy this project - it was fun and show not all LOC entries have to be dark! ;)

Please do pop over to the blog and have a look at my team-mates projects - they're all talented ladies and have made some interesting projects.

Hugs
Ei x

LOC Anniversary Event!

Well, it's day 15 of our Anniversary Event over at 'Left Of Centre ' and my lovely, talented teamies have made some wonderful new projects - some of them have even chosen to use my Eiglas digital stamp images from my Digistamp site 'Eiglassing' - which is a great honour for me!  :D

For my own demo card, I'm using an image I've used many times in the past, just because it's the one of my faves that my teamies didn't choose to use! LOL!

This digi is called 'Attitude' and you'll fine her over at my Eiglassing site under the 'Peeps' tab.

I'm really enjoying my time with LOC - the team are all lovely and Maureen, the bosslady, is crackers.......but in a nice way! ;)  I always like slightly 'Left of Centre' peeps...I wonder why? ;)

Rachel Gilham has used my 'Skyclad' but just look a the background she has created for her! Fabulous or what!
What's more she has kindly made a tutorial for the whole process too! I'm so impressed. She's a very talented crafter and I'm very proud to number her as a friend as well as a teamie!

Susan Renshaw  used my Eiglas 'Nasty Bug' image to perfection over on her blog - she did some super paper-piecing which was inspired!

A little birdie might have just blabbed that more of my images may be used very soon....  (wink wink...!)

Please do pop over to LOC and have a look - there is LOADS more stuff over there for you to drool over and there is still time to enter the challenge too!

See you again very soon!
Hugs
Ei x

LOC Challenge 27 - Favourite Book

This month, the themes is 'Favourite Book' but being LOC, it has a dark twist.
I would have real trouble naming my favourite book - there are so many wonderful books that I've read and still more I've not got around to yet.

But from the darker side of my reading matter, there is no doubt who is right up there with my very favourites and that author is Edgar Allen Poe. 
I've read (and own) most of his tales and it's a toss up between 'The House of Usher' and 'The Raven' so for this time I've come down on the side of.....

....The Raven, not least because the amazing Teri Sherman of Delicious Doodles has drawn this magnificent image of that very bird.

Isn't it a fabulous drawing? I was so inspired by this one, I actually decided to make a book-cover for it and I wanted it to look like leather and so I used a technique I learned about eight or nine years ago called Faux Leather.

It's not a difficult technique but it IS rather messy! LOL!

I have started to make pages with techniques in, so they're easier to access in the tabs at the top of this page.

I've also used the 'Polished Stone' technique for the actual image. That to will be in the pages at some point - hopefully I'll get these in before this article goes live.

I hope you like my project and will pop over to 'Left of Centre' Challenge Blog to have a look at some of my teamies amazing work and to, perhaps, enter something yourself.

If you don't fancy this particular themes there is always an alternative theme available.

See you over there! ;)
Hugs
Ei
x

LOC - Anything Goes....

Today is the launch of our 'Anything Goes' challenge over at LOC in honour of our 1st Blogaversary! :D

We're having parties on all of the team's blogs and many super sponsors to add to the mix!

Today, we have a brand new Temporary Teamie and she's being thrown in at the deep end by debuting today as out Guest Design Team member.

Welcome Helen (Crom) Cullum!  :D

You can see Helen's work here and over at LOC too! Please pop over to her blog and give her a warm welcome!


For our 'Anything Goes' first day, I'm not scheduled to do a piece but I came up with a little bit of something you all may like.

They're not new - they've been around for donkey's years and I certainly don't know who originated the original techniques, I only know I've been using them for at least 14 years.  However, slight variations pop up now and then bearing a different title and claiming to have been 'invented' by the craft world's latest 'wunderkind'.   

These techniques I'm about to showcase, are just what I have been using since I've been crafting in my present incarnation as Eiglas.

JOSEPH'S COAT TECHNIQUE

This technique has been called many things over the years but I like this title - it describes it well - the coat of many colours!


Materials

Plain white standard cardstock bigger than your stamp (I use Ryman's coated 200gsm usually)
Dye ink or inkpad(s) ‘Big & Juicy’ multi–colour are brill (sadly, they've now stopped producing these - I've no idea why) or you can use a variety of smaller pads. Distress inks would work well too but the brightest colours work best.
Ink blending pads (Cut & Dry works well) or brayer
Rubber stamps(s)
Clear embossing inkpad (Versamark is brill)
Clear embossing powder
Heat Gun
Black pigment ink or inkpad (Distress inkpad in Black Soot will also do the job)
Kitchen roll or soft cloth.

Method
Using either the brayer or the blending pads, cover the cardstock with patches of DYE inkpad colour in linear (brayer) or random (pads) pattern. Heat set with heat gun or leave overnight to dry.

When cool/dry, ink up stamp with clear ink (Versamark etc) and stamp your image.
Use the clear embossing powder and heat gun to clear emboss the image.

Wait for the image to cool, then apply black ink to the whole surface of the card using either the brayer or the pads—your own preference. Don't worry - you won't spoil it!

Then the magic........! 

With your soft cloth, wipe over the embossed image and it will reveal the lovely colours behind the resistant embossing powder.

Joseph's Coat!

For my top image, I mounted the finished image onto acetate and also trimmed the edges of the acetate with Joseph's Coat treated card pieces.

I hope you'll enjoy trying this out and we all get to see what you produce!


                                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For my second technique, I'm bringing you another resist technique which, when I learned it, didn't have a name but I believe it's now titled 'Ghost Resist'.

I love this one - it's very addictive!

 Materials (pic 1)
Gloss cast-coated cardstock bigger than your stamp. Colour is your
choice. Astralux is brill. (I don't use photo paper because it doesn't like the heat-gun)
Dye ink or inkpad(s) ‘Big & Juicy’ multi –colour are brill or you can use a variety of smaller pads. Distress inks work well.
Ink blending pads (Cut & Dry works well) or brayer
Rubber stamps(s)
Clear embossing inkpad (Versamark is brill)
Heat Gun
Black dye ink or inkpad (for overstamped verse at the end.)
Kitchen roll or soft cloth

Method

This method differs to the Joseph's Coat in a couple of ways.

Using your clear embossing inkpad, stamp your image onto your cast-coated card.
‘Set’ the ink using your heat gun.

Then, using either your brayer or your pads, cover the whole of the card with your lightest colours (pic 2)

Using cloth or kitchen roll wipe over the stamped image and the
original card colour will remain.
Repeat step one with your next stamp.
Repeat step two with the next lightest ink.
Polish with cloth again.
Just repeat these steps, avoiding the very lightest bits if you wish to keep the original colour anywhere.

The image will remain the original colour of the card as the embossing powder resist will protect it.

If liked, overstamp the finished image with black dye ink as I have with my verse.

I hope you enjoy both of these techniques and have a go!

Please do join us over on the LOC blog and have a look what my teamies have been getting up to!

Hugs

Ei x

LOC Challenge 26b - Die cuts

Still continuing our die-cuts challenge, this is our halfway reminder and I have a new project for you.

This time I've used another Ike's Art image - 'Finch on a Pine'

I've coloured mine in the style of a great tit with my Copic Sketch markers and re-produced the snow with Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue (any white glue would do though) and Polar White Flower-Soft mixed with a bit of fine white glitter. 

My background die-cut is from Spellbinders Shapeabilities Collection  - Botanical Swirls and I've used a Bazzil-type cardstock in two shades of moss/olive green for this and the frame round the bird.

The frame around the bird was cut with a die from Go Create  ( 6x6" Frilly Square #8) though which I sponged Tim Holtz Distress Inkpad  Peeled Paint.

The pine cones are also Tim Holtz - Tattered Pinecones Bigz Die but the fir branch die-cuts are from a Marianne die.

I hope you like this card and feel inspired to pop over to LOC to see the wonderful work of my teamies. We all have such varying styles that there will be at least one demo that will 'speak' to you and, perhaps, inspire you to enter your own card into our challenge!
See ya there!
Hugs 
Ei x



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