Smeared and Smudged 31 Days of Halloween 2014 Blog Hop- Day 5

Welcome to Day 5 of the 31 Days of Halloween Blog Hop. As you know by now, I am participating in this month-long blog hop with some extremely talented artists.  The complete list of Wicked Bloggers (that's what we are called) are in my side bar.  There are lots of prizes in the daily scavenger hunt, and a Grand Prize worth over $300.

To see all of the rules and regulations for 31 Days of Halloween 2014, please visit THIS POST.
To see Scavenger Hunt winners from previous days, please visit THIS PAGE
My next project is a journal card-holding mini album from my Silhouette cut file.  This pic shows it put together and covered with the MME papers.  I used mini magnets to keep it closed.

 Here it is, spread open with the help of my creepy friend!

It will be a continuation throughout the month, as I fill it with more journal cards and embellish the pages.  Each day I will show you another "piece" of it until it is completed.

Each journal card measures 3"x5".  You could certainly make your own, but using the Silhouette just made it quicker and easier.  Here is my first journal card using a paper piecing technique.

I first stamped the moonlight witch with black StazOn ink onto yellow and grey CS.

I used a 1-3/4" circle punch to cut out the moon and adhered, aligning it with the bat's wings and witch.  I also stamped the image directly onto the journal card.  Next, I fussy cut witch on grey paper, and the broom on a separate scrap of grey paper.  Layer those, as shown.

I wanted to do something a bit different with my embossing folder, so I embossed it onto a piece of grey CS, hit the high spots with the black StazOn, which helped me to see where to fussy cut it out.

Add white pearl Pan Pastel on the journal card from the bottom up to about mid point before layering the graveyard scene at the bottom of the journal card.  It gives it that feeling of spooky mist in the graveyard.

Stamp "Life's a witch, then you fly!" onto white scrap paper with black StazOn.  Color with Peeled Paint, then cut each word out in a funky fashion, edging with Black Soot, and layered onto journal card.

Supplies:

Black card stock (CS)
Yellow CS; Orchid CS; Grey CS
My Mind's Eye (MME) 12x12 Haunted paper pad
Silhouette machine and cut file (mini album with tags)
Sin City Stamps Halloween Takes Flight stamp set
Quickutz Graveyard embossing folder
Distress Ink Pads:  Peeled Paint, Black Soot
IMAGINE Crafts Jet Black StazOn midi ink pad
1-¾" circle punch

Well, I'm last on the list of bloggers, so no need to send you to the next blogger unless you are skipping around.  In any case, have fun and I hope you are enjoying the hop.

Barbara Rankin

Mixed Media Vintage Tag with Altered Pages and Pan Pastels

Hey there my fellow crafters!  I hope your week has started off well.  This month, the Altered Pages Design Team has had the great pleasure of working with PanPastels, and we hope you have been following along and are enjoying the projects we have been creating for you.  PanPastels are now available AlteredPages.com, too!

I have for you today a vintage mixed media tag  that I think you will like.  There are a lot of steps, so I have included a lot of pictures. But rest assured, it is so easy to do and lots of fun.  So I hope you will follow along and make it all the way to the bottom.  

I chose one of the manila tags from the tag assortment and adhered a vintage text page over the entire tag.

 Trim excess and repunch hole through tag.

Pounce white pigment ink through stencil.

Add Bright Yellow Green and Turquoise Pan Pastels with Softt sponge over the tag. Spray tag with a workable fixative.

Print mirror image from Simple Science collage sheet, cut in half and adhere to tag with gel medium, as shown.  Burnish paper well and allow to dry.

 Mist paper image with water and use your finger to begin removing as much paper as possible. The gel medium transfers the ink from the printed image, so continue to mist with water and rub the paper off until the area is clear, not cloudy.  You should see your image transferred to the tag. Because I sprayed with a fixative, the water is not hurting the background paper at all.

 If you look closely, you can see the design beneath the transfer still showing through ... a very nice effect, don't you think?

 Edge tag with black gelato.  

 Use a baby wipe or slightly wet finger to blend.

 Trim beautiful flower lady from Les Fleurs collage sheet and adhere to tag.  Outline edge of image with charcoal pencil and blend with blending stump to make it look more dimensional.

Cut a key hole escutcheon from chipboard or grunge board.  Coat with white pigment ink.

 Sponge Copper Pan Pastel over escutcheon.

Dip key hole into melted UTEE.  Remove from UTEE with tweezers and lay onto craft sheet.  Be very careful with this step.  The UTEE is extremely hot and will stick to your fingers and burn you.  

 A funny thing happened during this step.  The pigment ink and Pan Pastel caused the UTEE to bubble, so I reheated it on my craft sheet with my heat gun, and then the pigment ink and the Pan Pastel began to move, allowing the white ink to show through again.  I love the effect I got from this, and can only imagine the color combinations I could achieve just by changing the pigment ink and Pan Pastel colors. 

These next three pieces were inked with the white pigment ink and colored with the Pan Pastel metallic colors using Bronze and Rich Gold, but I left it to dry overnight.  When I came back, I dipped them in the hot UTEE and there was no bubbling, and you can see I am still going to need to clean them up a bit by hitting them with my heat gun to level out the UTEE.  

 And here are all four pieces coated completely and looking fabulous, don't you think?  I ended up using only two of these pieces for my tag today, but I am definitely saving the other two for another project.  

Shape a variety of flowers, adding stamen where needed, and adhere to tag, as shown.

Cup two daisies with large ball stylus on piece of foam and layer.

Cut two petals away from six petal flower.

Glue two outer petals together and pinch at bottom.

Glue to center of layered daisy.

Fold pointed six petal flower (yellow) in half and squish each individual flower towards the center, similar to the green flower.  It is 

Fold the top three petals down, as shown.

Add a few stamen to the center and pinch the bottom while carefully arranging the petals to your liking, then glue all in place in the center.

 To make some leaves, cut petals from large daisy.  Add Permanent Green Pan Pastel to leaves and adhere beneath flowers.

Here are a few more closeups for you.  Here, I simply added a couple of metal stickers to the escutcheon, but you could also use brads.

 Add some beautiful silk ribbons through the tag hole for that extra UMPH!

Supplies:

Altered Pages:  Manila tag; Vintage Text Pages; Simple Science Collage Sheet; Les Fleurs Collage Sheet; Gel Medium; Gesso; Triangle Plaid stencil; Gelato Black; Petaloo Flowers; Ribbons and Trims

Pan Pastel: Turquoise, Bright Yellow Green, Permanent Green, Copper, Rich Gold, Bronze, Softt Sponges

Other:  White pigment ink, Clear UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel), Hot Pot or Heat Gun; Tweezers; charcoal pencil

I hope you enjoyed my project today, and I always hope that I have been able to inspire you to try new things like Pan Pastels.  Be sure to comment each day on the Altered Pages blog for a chance to win a set of your very own PanPastels.  A random drawing will take place at the end of the month, and for each comment you leave, your name gets entered again!  More comments, more chances of winning! (one comment per day please).

Have a wonderful, creative week, and be sure to make time to play!

Barbara

Hot Air Balloon Card with Sin City Stamps and Pan Pastels

Hello everyone, Barbara here today for more fun with Sin City Stamps and our sponsor this month, Pan Pastels!  If you have been following along with the team this month, then you know, by now, how wonderful these pastels are, and how easy they are to use.  I absolutely love this product and cannot say enough good things about it.  

I can only give you a sneak peek today, because I have prepared an entire step-by-step on the Sin City Stamps blog for you.  There you will find much more details and information for this project.  So please pop on over and see what fun you can have with these products, too!

Supplies:

Sin City Stamps:  Up Up and Away 2 stamp set; Urban Grunge stamp set; A Wing Above the Rest stamp set
Pan Pastels:  Turquoise, Ultramarine Blue, Raw Umber, Permanent Green, Bright Yellow Green, Magenta, Magenta Ex. Dark, Sofft sponge and knife tool
Miscellaneous:  White card stock, black ink pad, purple card stock, blue pre-folded A2 card, post-it note

And be sure to check out the awesome products at Sin City Stamps, too!

Have a wonderful, creative weekend!

Barbara

Pan Pastels are professional artists’ quality soft pastel colors packed in a unique pan format (cake-like). The special qualities of PanPastel Colors mean that artists can blend and apply dry color like fluid paint for the first time.  All PanPastel Colors are made using a unique manufacturing process requiring minimal binder and fillers, resulting in rich, ultra soft and super-blendable colors.

Each color is loaded with the finest quality artists’ pigments for the most concentrated colors possible. The colors have excellent lightfastness and are fully erasable. Uniquely, for pastel color, they can be mixed together for a complete painting palette.

Sneak Peek - Art Journaling with Altered Pages and Pan Pastels

Hello everyone!  Barbara here for Altered Pages, and I am so excited to be working with PanPastels this month.  PanPastels are now available at AlteredPages.com!  So, what are Pan Pastels, you might ask.   Leave a comment on the blog for a chance to win a set of Pan Pastels.  

They are "Ultra Soft Artists’ Painting Pastels for Painting, Drawing & Mixed Media! A revolutionary new way to use color! PanPastel Colors are professional artists’ quality soft pastel colors packed in a unique pan format (cake-like). The special qualities of PanPastel Colors mean that artists can blend and apply dry color like fluid paint for the first time."

Here is a peek at what I made.  You can view the project in its entirety over on the Altered Pages blog. 

Products Used:
Dylusions Small Journal; Vintage Text Pages; Sheet Music Brahams Lullaby collage sheet; Think Pink collage sheet; Mailbox collage sheet; Victorian Beauty Labels collage sheet; Vintage Wings collage sheet; Red White and Blue collage image
Pan Pastels:  Permanent Green Ex. Dark, Magenta Ex. Dark, Yellow Ochre Ex. Dark, Turquoise, Phtalo Blue, Bright Yellow Green; 
Softt Tools
Gel Medium
Stencils
Light Molding paste
Dotto style tape runner

I hope you can take a moment to stop on over at the Altered Pages blog to see more of my project today, where I also shared a few tips along the way.  Each day, the design team will be sharing more and more inspiration with these wonderful Pan Pastels.  I have to tell you that I really enjoyed working with them, and they are going to be one of my go-to art supplies.  

And be sure to comment on the Altered Pages blog each day for a chance to win a set of  Pan Pastels.  A random drawing will take place at the end of the month. So, for each comment you make, you get another chance to win.  The more comments, the more chances of winning. (One comment per day, please).  

Have a wonderful, creative week!  And remember, creativity is contagious, so pass it on!!!

Barbara

Art Journaling with Sin City Stamps and Pan Pastels

Hello everyone, and welcome to a new month of fun and inspiration with Sin City Stamps!  This month, we will be using a fabulous product called Pan Pastels.  Before I begin, let me first tell you a bit about this product.  

Pan Pastels are professional artists’ quality soft pastel colors packed in a unique pan format (cake-like). The special qualities of PanPastel Colors mean that artists can blend and apply dry color like fluid paint for the first time.  All PanPastel Colors are made using a unique manufacturing process requiring minimal binder and fillers, resulting in rich, ultra soft and super-blendable colors.

Each color is loaded with the finest quality artists’ pigments for the most concentrated colors possible. The colors have excellent lightfastness and are fully erasable. Uniquely, for pastel color, they can be mixed together for a complete painting palette.

Now that you know what Pan Pastels are, let me show you what I made with them.  I started out with a blank journal page, and here is my finished piece.

To view my directions in their entirety, I have included a SnapGuide tutorial.  Just click on the Start Here button to view the process and more detailed pictures.  

Check out How to Stamp With Sin City Stamps & Pan Pastels by Barbara Rankin on Snapguide.

Sin City Stamps supplies used:

• Natural Beauty stamp plate
• Bingo stamp plate
• Love of Butterflies stamp plate
• Rose Stencil
• Entangled Stencil

Other Products used:

• Pan Pastels colors:  Burnt Sienna (bricks), Red Tint Magenta, Hansa Yellow Tint, Ultramarine Blue Tint, Permanent Green Tint
• Cottonwood Arts Coldpress Notebook Journal
• Light Molding Paste (Golden)
• Versamark, Memento black, StazOn Midnight Blue ink pads
• Spatula

I hope you enjoyed my project and tutorial today, and be sure to check back for more inspiration from the team.  And while you are exploring the internet, I hope you will visit both the Sin City Stamps and Pan Pastels shops for all the supplies you need to make a journal of your very own. 

Have a wonderful, creative weekend!

Barbara

A Classic Masculine Card with Spark

Happy Independence Day!  I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday with family and friends.     I am so excited to get to play with my new Sin City Stamps collections.  I love making cards, and my father's birthday is coming up.  I thought the Classic Spark stamp plate images would work beautifully for a masculine card, as well as my "go to" Art Journaling with Terri Sproul stamp sets.

Check out How to Make a Masculine Card by Barbara Rankin on Snapguide.

I hope you enjoyed my masculine card project today, and will try making one of your own with these techniques.  Oh,  by the way, have you seen all the new stamps and chipboard available at Sin City Stamps. They are awesome.  I even have a new Gothic Shrine chipboard piece that will be super fun to alter and decorate.  Stay tuned for more on that, because I am going to have a giveaway for one.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check out the rest of the team's projects this month over on the Sin City Stamps blog.

Have a happy and safe holiday.

Barbara

Faber-Castell Mixed Medial Mini Journal

Hello everyone and welcome back.  Today, I want to share a little preview of a fun mixed media project I made for the Sin City Stamps Design Team.  We also have the pleasure of using wonderful products supplied to us by our sponsor, Frog Dog Studio .  Included in this month's kit from Frog Dog Studio was this cute mini mixed media journal by Faber-Castell.  The book has six, heavy duty chipboard like pages, but I only finished two pages, front and back.  Here they are:

Front Page 1 and Page 2

Back Page 1 and Page 2

Supplies:

Sin City Stamps:   Romance; Rosette Hearts; Metal Madness; Clockworks Inspired

 by Terri Sproul; Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2;

Frog Dog Studio:  Mixed Media kit containing Faber-Castell mini mixed media journal

       Pan Pastels Magenta, Permanent Green

         Sofft Art Sponge

     Collage sheet of Valentine images

          Domino love charms

          Faber-Castell Gelatos

I have a complete list of supplies and a tutorial on the Sin City Stamps blog, so I hope you will visit me there as well.  Be sure to check out all the new stamps and fun products in their online store, and while you are shopping around, check out these awesome kits and products at Frog Dog Studio.  And please come back to visit me here on my blog to see what I come up with for the rest of those pages.

Have a wonderful, warm and crafty weekend.

Barbara