A case in question

Hello

I'm sharing something a bit different today and done just for fun and a little experimentation. In the summer my mother-in-law and I visited The Craft House, home of DaliART, and had a lovely time being looked after by Dali and Paul while we browsed the shelves. We were treated to a preview of the amazing journals which aired on Create and Craft this week.

Dali recommended some Stamperia moulds and Pentart light modelling paste and I'm always up for something I haven't tried before. The big selling point for the paste is how light and flexible it is when it dries so I wanted to test it out.

It's important to make sure that the paste is pressed right down into the mould and that there is a thick layer over the back. As it dries it gets thinner and the sections will break apart if it's not thick enough. I left mine for two days to really make sure it was dry before peeling it away. The detail achieved is very impressive.

To test its strength and flexibility I decided to revamp an old phone case. I gessoed it first before gluing the moulded pieces on and then gessoed over them again. It was easy to cut holes with a sharp craft knife.

I painted it with Viva Decor Maya Gold paint in lilac and magenta, which is flexible and quite plasticky when it dries. The depth of relief and detail in the moulds meant that it didn't really need much more embellishment other than a little highlighting with gilding wax.

 

One pot of modelling paste is enough for about four sheets so I still have some left to play with. The result is strong and flexible and I'm unlikely to lose it in my handbag! 

 

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely day xx

Butterfly

Hello

I'm sharing a quick make today and one that is great for using up those patterned papers from magazines which seem to multiply behind your back.

The inspiration, stamps and die are from Indigoblu's Mixed Media Magazine Box Kit 3. I'm afraid I can't remember where the papers came from.

I covered the front and inside of the card blank first, before die cutting a circular aperture and scoring the front and back down the centre. I inked the edges to help it blend together. The leaves were also stamped and die cut from patterned paper.

Always good to have a quick make up your sleeve.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a lovely week xx

Whiter than white

Hello

Something a little bit different today for this mid week post. I am always on the lookout for a good white pen. I tend to find the ones that flow freely are not very opaque and the ones that are really white clog up quickly.

In the summer I found myself in the marvellous Jarrold's art shop in Norwich, where a casual enquiry about white pens, coupled with a very helpful assistant resulted in this...

Well they were crying out for a side by side test. I also added in my trusty Posca.

Faber-Castell Pitt Artist £2.95 (water-based India ink)

Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip 8mm £2.40 (pigment gel)

Pilot G2 Gel Retractable Rollerball £2.98 (pigment gel)

Pentel Paint Marker Super Fine £3.50 (paint)

Pebeo 4Artist Oil Marker £3.35 (oil-based paint)

Uni Posca PC-1M £2.60 (water-based pigment)

Chinagraph £1.60 (pigment and wax)

1. glossy card

2. matt black card

3. alcohol ink on yupo

4. Cosmic Shimmer pixie powder on matt white card

5. acrylic paint on white card

6. Ranger Distress Oxide ink on matt white card

Faber-Castell Pitt Artist (water-based India ink) performed well on the black matt card and the acrylic paint, only semi-opaque, quite thick nib, wrote smoothly.

Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip 8mm (pigment gel) performed well on all substrates, took longer to try on non-porous surfaces with the risk of smudging, fine nib and flowed very smoothly.

Pilot G2 Gel Retractable Rollerball (pigment gel) not very opaque on any of the substrates and virtually disappeared into the alcohol ink, fine nib, wrote smoothly.

Pentel Paint Marker Super Fine (paint) performed best on non-porous substrate and virtually disappeared on the distress ink and pixie powder, thick nib, too thick for small writing, flowed fairly smoothly.

Pebeo 4Artist Oil Marker (oil-based paint) performed best on non-porous substrate and virtually disappeared on the distress ink and pixie powder, thick nib, flowed fairly smoothly.

Uni Posca PC-1M (water-based pigment)performed well on all surfaces except the pixie powder which bled through the paint, the most opaque of all the pens, thick nib even at 7mm but fine for lettering, flowed smoothly.

Chinagraph (pigment and wax) most visible on matt black, did not want to 'grip' on the very smooth surfaces, best used for creating a wax resist where you don't really want it to be visible later.

The real surprise was the Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip 8mm, which I very nearly didn't pick up because it felt light and cheap. For fine detail this has become my preferred pen, although I don't think I will be giving up my trusty Posca paint pens any time soon.

I hope you have found this useful. Of course I'm not giving up the search for the perfect white pen. I'd love to hear your recommendations.

Thank you for stopping by xx

Another fine mess

Hello

Holidays over and back to some kind of routine this week. I'm sharing a quick one today using the Aall and Create Stan and Ollie stamp set, with Giogiocraft stencils and some Kaisercraft borders. The background was done with masking so that it is actually flat, but the sentiment and Stan and Ollie are decoupaged.

Laurel and Hardy were real favourites as children. We had a film projector and the only film we had for it was Two Tars from 1928. Happy days sat in the dark watching it over and over. I've no idea what happened to it.

Hope you have a lovely day with plenty of smiles xxx