The Stamp Man Best Project Challenge...

The current challenge at The Stamp Man  involves looking at work you've done over the past year and trying to pull out something you think deserves a second mention on your blog.  Strangely, the projects I'm most proud of are perhaps not my best projects in the normal sense of the word and yet Im really thrilled by my first Encaustic Art creations.   

On my 'Under the Sea' card the seahorses were stamped on to acetate and then laid over the encaustic art work.  The full write up can be found here.

Another encaustic art creation I was pleased with is this 'Winter Wonderland' one.

I'll be honest here and admit that this one came about via the happy accident route in that I applied so much wax trying to get things to look right that when I polished the wax (rather too heavily) most it came off leaving me with a lovely misty background to stamp on.  Don't you just love it when a disaster turns out good in the end?

This is my first encaustic work and sadly it's still waiting to be made up into something.  I haven't fully decided whether it's going to be a card or a journal cover.

The unicorn was printed on to acetate and then mounted over the wax painted background using brads.

When creating the seahorse birthday card I was left with a strip of 'sea' type background that just seemed too good to throw away.  I had it mind that it would make a pretty good bookmark, but didn't get round to doing anything about it till today.

 

It just didn't feel right entering a challenge with only old creations and seeing as I'm an avid reader an extra bookmark is always useful.  
This time the seahorse and shells were die cut using a Cuttlebug die I picked up really cheaply at the NEC.  The acetate is a proper bookmark sleeve with a ready done hole to add a tassle or ribbon.

I'm so glad I didn't throw this strip away as I'm really pleased with the results.  One of my New Year Resolutions is to do some more encaustic work.  I bought the tools and waxes as an early Christmas present to myself so I really have no excuse.

Watch this space, but not too carefully as I have some gorgeous new LOTV stamps to use and one or two more fabulous Christmas presents too..

Thanks for looking and reading my strange ramblings.  Do pop over to The Stamp Man blog to check out other people's favourite work and join the challenge. There are some fabulous prizes and stunning inspiration from the DT.

Hugs and Smiles 

Ann xxx

Happy Birthday Jenny...

This is a card I made after the fab work shop I did last Saturday.  Jenny was one of my friends on the course and so it seemed appropriate to try to create an 'Encaustic Art' card for her birthday.  I do hope she likes her card and that it has arrived safely.

The sea horse is a new stamp I bought on the course and was stamped on to acetate and then attached with brads on to the encaustic art seascape.  I like using this method to add a stamped image to a scene as it means that you can position the image really accurately and protect the wax from scratches at the same time.

The black gems were clear gems coloured with a black Promarker and the sentiment is a rub on by Letraset.  I really love their rub ons as they have never let me down.  If anyone knows of a supplier please let me know as I only have a few left and I can't find them on the Letraset website for some strange reason.

Have a great day everyone especially Jenny.

Ann xxx

Encaustic Art Workshop Day...

Oh yesterday was just brilliant.  I went with some forum friends to an Encaustic Art workshop at Elsecar Heritage Centre.  It was run by a very talented artist called Brian Nelson and the course was one of the most fun day courses I've been on for some time.

As you can see in the photo as well as being creative we also had a good laugh and as an added bonus were treated to the most scrummy buffet too.  Talk about being spoilt - we certainly were.  If you are interested in exploring Encaustic Art do check out Brian's website Encaustic Art Plus and if you live in the South Yorkshire do let me tempt you to try out one of Brian's workshops.  You won't regret it.

Here's some more of the work I did on the day.  Please bear in mind that I'm still very much at beginner at this art form and there is some reflection on the photos too.  They are much better in real life - honestly!

These pieces were mounted and framed by Brian's team while we were on the course.  I also made a snow globe which has disappeared into my daughter's bedroom so she must like it.  Tons more to show and a finished card that I must keep secret until Wednesday. 

Of course there has to be at least one challenge involved so my Encaustic Art work is also for Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Around the World (framed card is Yorkshire Moors, black monochrome is Loch Ness and blue monochrome is -answers on a postcard please?!)

Hope everyone has had as good a weekend as I have.  Even with the worst sore throat ever it's been brilliant.

Ann xxx

Winter Wonderland...

This week our theme at Bah! Humbug! is to create a Winter Wonderland.  For my card I used the encaustic art work I did a couple of weeks ago and made it up into a card that could either be sent out as a Winter birthday card or a Christmas card.
Do pop over to Bah! Humbug! and check out the stunning work by my team mates Irene and Max.

The Unicorn has been found...

Well I googled and found loads of unicorn silhouettes, but most of them were under copyright.  I even emailed one of the artists, but received no reply.  Luckily in the end I found one that could be used freely from the Daisytrail site.  Only a line drawing one but I was able to fill it on a Serif photo programme I have and I think it turned out pretty good.

I had to do quite a bit of experimenting to work out the best way to use the unicorn on top of the encaustic art work that I posted here. Firstly I printed the unicorn out on printer paper to get the right size.  Then I printed it on normal acetate to ensure I had the unicorn in the right place on the acetate.  I didn't want to print the unicorn right in the middle and use up a whole sheet of quite expensive inkjet acetate.  Using normal acetate and wiping the ink of in between trial runs worked really well and ensured that when I finally put the real stuff in the printer I knew it would work.

After printing I just attached the acetate over the top of the encaustic art using silver brads.  Now I need to decide whether to make it up into a card or something else.  I quite fancy making a note book for me or maybe a present for someone.  We'll see.

If you happen to be reading this and live in the Rotherham/Barnsley area I can really really recommend Brian Nelson who has a studio at Elsecar Heritage Centre.  Honestly if he can get me doing scenes with the hot iron in only one session he must be good.

He does one day courses and shorter sessions such as the one I did last week.  Check out his website here .  If you do visit please mention that you saw the stuff on my blog cause I think I drove him nearly batty last week at the session with questions about how the art could be combined with rubber stamping!

Have a great start to the week everyone.

Ann xxx

Avoiding housework...

Well just a couple of weeks ago I discovered a far better way of dusting - Ink Dusters - and now better ironing!  I've been playing with wax and loving it.

These are my first works from an Encaustic Art class I went to yesterday and okay maybe not that wonderful, but I feel like a kid bringing a painting home from nursery and just have to show my work.  I'll keep the burn mark on my arm well hidden and next week I'll remember not to reach over a hot iron!

The one below went completely wrong when I polished it as I rubbed too hard and most of the wax came off, but I loved the misty effect and decided to stamp over it with a stamp of a log cabin that has been in my collection for years.  It still lacked something so I added a touch of glitter.

My daughter thinks it looks like a forest fire, but I'm not listening to her.  It's a magical morning in the midst of winter.  LOL!

I really want to add a unicorn to the first one so if anyone knows of a fab unicorn silhouette in digi format please let me know.

Have a fantastic day.

Ann xxx