Artsy Stamping

Hello and welcome to Magpieheaven. Some of my favourite roses have burst into life at the end of the Magpie garden; but it's been raining all day so I haven't been able to take a photo to show you them clustering around my purple shed. I must add that they do look wonderful with the raindrops on their petals! I did manage to pluck one lovely bloom and use it as a table decoration on Monday and it's still looking radiant.

This has inspired me to create something for the Simon Says Monday Challenge - The Artsy Stamp. I love the way Nature has blended the colours on this flower and I wondered how I could convey something of the texture, colours and the way it makes me feel in a project that included some 'artsy stamping'. I wasn't quite sure what was meant by this term, but I checked with Tracy Evans who had created a superb piece of inspiration for the Challenge and I decided it was just the kind of stamping I like!

Because I love those roses so much, it seemed that a heart was the best place to begin as a surface for stamping! I used a wooden 'folk art' style one; as I prefer this shape. To make my heart fly just as the roses do, I took some wings, a gift from a great crafting friend, Kerry Ann. I painted both with some PaperArtsy Blush, Fresco Finish Paint.

Next step was to apply a thick coat or two of PaperArtsy Blood Orange. I wanted somehow to capture the radiance of these roses, which I think are known as 'Dawn'. The wings had feathery patterns embossed into them, so I made a mental note to accent these with some Treasure Gold eventually so that they would not be lost under all the paint!

After applying a thin layer of PaperArtsy Crackle Glaze to these, I put them to one side to dry. Now it was time for the first piece of artsy stamping. Another lovely, crafting friend, Lin had given me this little Frozen Charlotte she made from a mould. I painted her with PaperArtsy Bora Bora (The Frozen Charlotte - not Lin!) and then, with the leftover paint, covered some ordinary white tissue wrap. When the paint was dry, I stamped a script stamp, a PaperArtsy mini over it using Wendy Vecchi Cornflower blue Archival ink. I heat-set this and then covered Charlotte in tissue text, using PaperArtsy Satin Glaze. I placed the tissue onto the surface and then applied glaze underneath, pressing down carefully from the middle: a hint from my very dear friend, Lucy here.

Now a few more bits and pieces have been finished! You'll see I kept the flower nearby as my inspiration. I coloured some seam-binding with Frescos and Distress Inks (Fired Brick and Vintage Photo on one and Broken China and Peacock Feathers on the other.) I also painted a sheet of heavy card with Snowflake then Yellow Submarine and a little Tango. I stamped my script with Wendy Vecchi Red Geranium Archival. The circles were stamped by dipping a bottle cap into puddles of paint. You might be able to see in the background that I have applied a peach colour to the wings and the heart and they are drying nicely, ready for some Artsy Stamping! Here is the final piece! I have decided to call it 'Le Spectre de la Rose.' I dry-brushed the edges of everything with Blood Orange, a touch of Yellow Submarine and some French Roast Frescos.

As you can see, I die-cut my heavy card into wings for the Frozen Charlotte. It looks as if her wings have been tied on with that seam binding! The little blue butterflies are punched out from a Martha Stewart punch, painted with Bora Bora and then stamped with Wendy Vecchi Archival Cornflower Blue. I wanted those 'pops' of blue because my roses look so beautiful against a bright blue sky. I added a few touches of Sapphire Treasure Gold to my Frozen Charlotte.

When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a ballet dancer. There was no money for ballet lessons, but my mother would always buy me a ballet annual for Christmas, and I remember reading of one ballet, featuring, the Great Nijinsky. In it he danced as the spirit of a rose from the bouquet given to a young girl at her first ball. I should like my 'make' to symbolize the spirit of my rose.

I hope that this photo shows how the Treasure Gold (Rose Quartz) picked up the feathery embossing. To create the colour of the rose, I mixed Blush, Yellow Submarine and just a touch of Tango together. I was really pleased with the way the Blood Orange showed through the Crackle like the veining on the rose. I used a Lost Coast stamp of a butterfly girl for my focal stamped image! These are wonderfully, artsy and quirky stamps. I stamped her onto wrapping tissue with the Wendy Vecchi Red Geranium, heat-set her and then adhered her with Satin Glaze. I also added some script stamping in Potting Soil Archival and Red Geranium to the heart and wings respectively.

I was really pleased with the aged effect on the wings and how the stamped image on the heart blended in. Nothing can be as lovely as those flower petals, but I hope that when I look at this project I will remember their subtly tinted petals.

I didn't want the back of the project to be neglected, so there's some Crackle and  stamping on this too: a wash of Blush over the Blood Orange. You might have noticed I removed the string and replaced it with stamped seam binding.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and looking at my project. I should like to enter it for the Simon Says 'Artsy Stamp' Challenge. Have a great day wherever you are. I hope the sun is shining on you gently!