My friend, Mary, told me about some portraits she'd seen that were painted with espresso! She said they were striking and looked like sepia photos!! She knows me and knew that I'd be challenged to give it a try! Thanks, Mary!! The most difficult part was brewing the coffee so I could get lots of different shades of brown to use. I drink very weak coffee so the palest shade was easy. The darker shades were much harder to achieve. I felt like a mad scientist brewing espresso double strength multiple times, but that gave me the medium color, then I took some of that and added a few spoonfuls of instant coffee to get the darkest color. Once I had the medium and dark color, I added some water to each to get shades in between. Altogether I had 5 colors to paint with ranging from dark to light!
When I started painting, I was hooked! The coffee behaved exactly like other watercolors and smelled delicious!! I enjoyed it so much that I didn't want to stop so I have 3 cards to share with you. On the first one, I used a flower from Tim Holtz Flower Garden stamp set.
After I finished painting with the coffee, I masked the flowers and added some interest to the background with stencils from My Favorite Things and Tim Holtz. I used Distress ink and a blending tool for this. The swirl at the top is from a Stampin' Up set called Baroque Motifs and the sentiment and "beautiful" die are from Concord & 9th.
I wanted to see how coffee painting would look on a more whimsical image, so I painted one of the cute little boy stamps from Lilli of the Valley. I was very pleased with how it came out! The browns fit perfectly with the old-timey look of the image!
For the extras on this card I used MFT's double stitched rectangle STAX and Picket Fence dies
On the last card I have to show you, I embossed Altenew's Persian Motif stamps with white embossing powder. I was worried that the coffee might stain the white embossing, but it didn't. I liked the simplicity of this card and thought it would make a good sympathy card.
The frame around the sentiment on this card is from MFT. It is called Stitched Rectangle Scallop Frames and the sentiment is part of Hero Arts Prayers stamps and die set.
This was a really fun experiment. I hope you enjoyed looking and that maybe you might give painting with coffee/espresso a try! Thanks so much for visiting!
Janet
Tim's tag this month is beautiful. I couldn't wait to make this one until I realized that the only things I had for making the tag were glossy paper and a handful of alcohol inks. I decided to go with what I had and see if I could make it work. Here is what I came up with...
Making the backgrounds was a blast! I didn't want to stop. The technique is just like the one TH does with his Distress Stains, but the Alcohol Inks are much more vibrant and the addition of gold is really pretty. You have to be careful not to smoosh too much because the colors blend to make mud quickly. After making the background I stamped some butterflies. I used an old Hero Arts butterfly stamp and then added clear embossing paste through a swirly Tim Holtz stencil. I'm hoping you can see it in this photo.
I also didn't have the the frosted sheet that he used to make the 3D butterflies. I used a piece of acetate and I really like the effect that I got when I heated it. When it was hot it was very pliable and you could position it any way you wanted. Once it was cool it would stay in that exact position. Wow...very cool. I'm going to have to think about ways to use this for other things. It's hard to photograph. I hope you can get an idea of how it looks here.
I used some strips from a green alcohol ink background to bring some more color to the bottom of my tag and added a TH number embellishment and a quote. I died some seam binding ribbon with Peeled Paint Stain and Twisted Citron reinker to use at the top of my tag.
This was a fun one and I learned a few new things!
Thanks for visiting,
Janet
I have to be honest, I didn't like the 2015 June tag. I'm not exactly sure why, because I like coffee and everything related to it. Maybe it was the green color of the background, I can't put my finger on why, but I didn't want to make this tag. So instead, I looked back at the prior years and decided to make the June 2014 tag instead. I like the technique to make the background and had fun trying that out. I used an MFT flower stencil that I had and I like the outcome. I have the large distress ink pads so it was a bit of a challenge to get the ink onto the stencil without messing up my ink pads. I ended up using the rectangular sponges from inking tools and that worked just fine. It's always a surprise to pull the stencil off and see what you have!! I wish that I had stamped my sentiment a little more to the left so I didn't end up with an empty space between the words and the butterflies, but some vintage sequins from my friend, Kim, helped.
Thanks for stopping by :)
Janet
I find making masculine cards a challenge. I tend to buy cute or pretty stamps and they don't work on "guy" cards. This week, I needed two thank you cards for men that I don't know very well. I had been thinking about a technique using my Crazy Bird stamps and Pan Pastels and I had one of those "Aha"moments...I realized that the Crazy Bird stamps would be perfect for the thank you cards!! Everyone loves them and they are definitely not feminine!! The technique I wanted to try was to use Versamark Ink and Pan Pastels to add some texture to the birds while coloring them. I got out a bunch of texture stamps...crackle, numbers, swirls, harlequin, chicken wire and a word stamp. First, I stamped the birds with Ranger Archival black ink, then I masked the eyes and beaks and stamped a pattern/texture onto each bird with Versamark Ink. I took my brightest Pan Pastels and colored the birds. When you color over Versamark with Pan Pastels, the stamped areas get much darker so the patterns although subtle, looked great! Here are the two cards that I made.
I didn't want the sentiment too mushy because like I said, they are guys and I don't know them very well so the outside says, "Life is tough..." and on the inside, it says, ...Kindness matters. Thank you". Short and to the point! You can see the crackle texture on the blue bird much better than on the red bird but it is on both of them. Here's a close up of the red bird card. You can see the crackle a little better here...
I wanted to make a little scene for the bird to stand in, so I used the new MFT die-namics called Rolling Hills. I love how you cut the fence and then cut another fence out of green and use the waste for the grass to glue below the fence! It is so cool. I know I'll be using this die a lot!
I used Pan Pastels to color the sky. I used Pthalo Blue Tint and Violet Tint. The leaves are another one of MFT's Die-namics called Wild Greenery. Here are some of the texture stamps I used. I found that I got the best results when using stamps with smaller less dense textures...although I really like how the bird with the numbers came out. Here is a sampling of the texture stamps...
I put Crystal Laquer on the birds eyes to make them shiny. I love how the shiny eyes catch the light...I just love these birds, they make me laugh!
I hope my cards inspire you to get out your stamps and play!
Thanks for stopping by to take a look :)
Janet
I couldn't wait to see what Tim Holtz had in store for us this month! It's only the 2nd of the month and my tag is already finished! Making these tags is really fun! When I saw the one for this month my first thought was, Yikes...there's a lot of stuff on this one! As usual though, once I got started it wasn't bad at all. I didn't have any old timey photos so I found one on Pinterest and printed it out and I didn't have any craft colored burlap so used the white burlap that I had and stained it with with Ranger Old Paper Stain. Here is how my tag came out...
I followed Tim's directions as best I could with what I had. What do you think? I never would have thought this one up myself. It's busy but I really like it! Here's a close up...
I printed the girl's picture onto white card stock and it didn't look right but once I distressed the edges and put some Brushed Corduroy ink on them, it looked much better. The cancellation stamp and signature made it look more authentic, too! Love that :) The expense list was cut from an old receipt page that my friend Wynema gave me. I sure wish I'd collected this kind of ephemera in the past, it is so cool! The Bliss disc came from another friend. I distressed it with some Ranger alcohol ink. The arrow is made from a Stampin' Up punch. I punched it out of black card stock 5 times and silver metallic card stock once and then glued them together.
I wanted the flowers to be small and soft looking so I cut 4 layers of white tissue paper all at once with the MFT small rolled roses die. It was kind of a pain to roll and glue because the layers separated but it was worth the effort. I sponged some color on the edge with Tattered Rose Distress Ink.
I LOVE the buttons on the pin!! Leave it to TH to think of doing that! It's a wonderful embellishment! The zig zag stitching is fun too!
I have another tag to show you because my friend Alita made one and let me take pictures of it! I can't give you all the particulars because I wasn't paying close attention to the colors she was using and exactly what she was doing but it is gorgeous and I'm so happy she let me share it with you! Here's her tag...
And here are a few close ups...
I hope you enjoyed seeing our attempts at this month's tag. If you haven't tried this challenge, you should. I think you would really like it!
Janet
I am really having fun making these tags! For April, I made two versions. I think I did it because I had to use my new Bird Crazy stamps! For my other tag I used a Stampin' Up background stamp called Pleasant Poppies. When I first looked at Tim's April tag I didn't think I was going to learn very much. I've done lots of watercoloring and that's all I saw when I looked at the tag. It's when you sit down and try to duplicate what he's done that you realize there are lots of little things that make it look like it does. Here are my tags...
I just love the background. It was made by spraying lots of water on the watercolor paper and then using a spritzer to spray little dots of color into the water. When the ink hits the water it floats and moves and does weird things and as the water evaporates it sinks down onto the paper where it is. You really don't have any control of where it goes or how it lands. It is subtle but really gorgeous when it dries! Here is a close-up of the poppy tag.
And the Bird Crazy tag! Everyone has been talking about how much fun the birds are to color and they are right! You can use any wild combination of colors and they look amazing! I'm so glad that I got them! The birds needed something so I added some Brushed Corduroy dots around them using one of Tim's layering stencils called Bubble
Here are some other things that I learned while making these tags.
I learned that I've missed using markers and a water brush to color stamped images on watercolor paper. If you are like me, you've put your watercolors away and you're using your Copic markers instead. I also learned that my Pumice Stone reinker is the perfect color to add a shadow around the edges of my images to give them a more 3-D look. It worked well for both the poppies and the birds!
Another thing that I learned is that you don't have to always use another layer. You can make slits in the original and slide something underneath!! Love this idea! This tag reminded me that distressing around the edges and sponging on some darker color adds texture and interest. I really need to make a list of these things and keep it close by..so they will be in my face and I will use them more often!
I didn't have the word blocks dies so I used Emmit Alphabet from My Favorite Things! I laid the letters down how I wanted them and then used a piece of Post-it tape to hold them together and in place while I ran the tag through my Big Shot. It's a bit crooked, but not bad at all! I really love the new Adventure Words Script dies from Tim Holtz and Sizzix! They are small enough for all of us card/tag makers to use...and the font is gorgeous! There are a few more sets of these and I think I "need" them!!
Oh and one more thing...I used my markers to color on satin ribbon and it is beautiful! We all have lots of that in our stash, but who knew it would take dye and you can even blend two or 3 different colors to give it a variegated effect!! So cool.
Thanks so much for visiting. Stay tuned...my plan is working and making these tags is decreasing my mixed media anxiety. I just finished a botanical mixed media canvas and had a ball making it!!!! I'll post pictures soon :)
Janet
Supplies Used:
Card Stock: Canson Aquarelle Watercolor paper, Ranger Kraft tags
Ink: Ranger Archival black, Distress Brushed Corduroy & Pumice stone reinker
Stamps: Tim Holtz Bird Crazy, Stampin' Up Pleasant Poppies
Markers: Tombo 025, 126, 173, 177, 335, 397, 725 845, 847, & 885; Stampin' Up Early Expresso marker
Dies: Sizzix/Tim Holtz Adventure Words Script, MFT Emmit Alphabet
Miscellaneous: Tim Holtz Spritzer, Idea-ology Philosophy tags & Mirrored stars and his Bubble layering stencil & dauber, satin ribbon, Janome sewing machine, white thread
Sorry for the delay, sometimes life gets in the way of my best intentions! I am loving doing these tags! The March tag brought some new challenges, e.g. using paint to make a swirly multi-colored background without getting mud! I didn't have any Tim Holtz Distress paints but I have almost 100 bottles of acrylic paint that I used years ago for tole painting. Since Distress paints are described as very fluid water based acrylic paints, I thought my tole paints would work just as well. What I found out is that although they did work and looked very nice, they weren't anywhere near as vibrant as Distress Paints. Here is my March tag...
See what I mean? Very pretty, but not as vibrant. Actually this photo makes the colors look brighter than they really are. I started by putting some pieces of Tim Holtz tissue tape here and there on the tag. Then I dropped random acrylic paint drops onto my craft mat. I spritzed with a lot of water and then mixed them a bit with my finger and dropped my tag on top. When I picked up my tag, there were some bare spots so I put those back down in the paint until the entire tag was covered. Once the paint was dry, I stamped the butterfly in black ink. The butterfly is from Art Institute Glitter. I used a stencil from thecraftersworkshop.com called Numbers and Dreamweaver stencil paste to add the numbers. I sprinkled gold glitter over the paste and embossed it before the paste was dry. I know TH said to wait for it to dry, but I couldn't! I was very happy when it came out ok! The next step was to add embellishments. I used a pin that I had in my stash and a key, a Heidi Swapp Ghost Letter M for March, a butterfly wishes ticket that I found as a printable on-line and a butterfly image in a tiny frame that I've had in my stash forever! I collect quotes and decided to add one to my tag. I thought the blue that I used around the edges matched when I made it but it isn't right. Despite that, I'm happy with how my tag turned out.
Here are some close up pictures...
Isn't the little frame cute?
You can see from this picture that the Dreamweaver texture paste works just fine when heated before drying. It didn't bubble up or distort at all. It may have something to do with the fact that my paste is a few years old. It was kind of stiff but still worked very well through the stencil.
A friend who was doing the tags with me used Distress Paints and the colors were much clearer, more vibrant and more transparent than the acrylic paints that I used. I bet you know what happened when I found that out. If you guessed that I needed them...you are right!! It was a no-brainer, especially when I found out that Joanne's had all of their paper crafting supplies 1/2 off that day!! Yikes, that was serendipitous!! I was a very happy girl! Once the tag was finished and everything was cleaned up, I went directly to Joanne's to take advantage of the great sale! Can you blame me?? I "needed" them right?
On this tag I learned how to make another beautiful background, this time using multiple colors and my craft mat...the color combinations are endless! I also learned that using texture paste with a stencil adds a lot of texture and dimension and that you can make it any color by using different embossing powders. Embellishing is my biggest sticky wicket. I never know what to use or how to combine things but doing the tags is teaching me to let go of the anxiety and just try things that I have on hand and that eventually...if I keep rearranging them, I come up with something that is OK!
If you have any suggestions or ideas on mixed media or collage that might help me or others, I sure would appreciate hearing about them!! I like blogging, but it would be so much better to be able to sit together with some coffee and have a long chat with you about all of the things we love!!
Thanks for visiting,
Janet
