UTEE... Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel

UTEE
Techniques
This is from a link i found which explains it better than i can lol
http://www.rubberstampsclub.com/tips/ultra-thick-embossing-enamel.html
First thing to know is that UTEE stands for Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel, but specifically it is Suze Weinberg's Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. There are other versions of the same thing, by a variety of names, but the key thing is it is THICK and GRANULAR, rather than the fine grain embossing powder. You can try some UTEE techniques with the thinner powder, but you may not get a satisfactory result.
I particularly like the idea of building layers of UTEE on a transparency sheet then bending it to crack and using the chips in collage work - try stamping on it when cool! Also, try mixing Pearl-ex into UTEE for a very cool interference look.
With this card i used UTEE melted in a melting pot bought online and some craft shops
melting together colours and layers after applying each layer it can be fixed with a hot gun then applied VersaMark watermark stamp pad which leaves a sticky surface for the UTEE ,
Each layer i used a different colour so the last colour shows through in places .................

So beautiful,i love this technique!
I just wish my picture was better for you to see the lovely colours,i also stamped a butterfly into the UTEE .

Altered Jigsaw Piece

Altered Jigsaw Piece
This is a simple one ! which I made last year for a Christmas card,
Just take a piece of a Jigsaw and alter it ! i embossed this one ,added sparkle and a pic of a Fairy. lots of ways to alter and just have fun.

Asian Glass Slide

As I am bored tonight,I thought I would give this an airing....... I created it a couple of years ago,which might be interesting for some of my Arty pals lol

Asian Girl
Glass Slide
Another passion of mine is creating art work under glass ,have a look at this link to inspire you ! It did me....
http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/cp.html
Basic instructions and tipsYou'll need microscope glass slides 1x3"collages of the same sizecopper tape (from stained glass suppliers) 1/4" wide
I had mine made to size at a glaziers i also used real lead on a roll self adesive as my glass was thicker than above,and a larger area to cover.
First off i painted the backing piece of glass in acrylic...after that i rubberstamped my lady onto the front glass and painted her with glass paints ,which you can purchase in Art shops........
Then fixing the 2 glass pieces together back and front and proceeded to wind the lead around pinching it in as i went with plyers,this is quite a tough job lol,
but you can get nice patterns on the lead if you so wish.
then comes the difficult part !soldering the hanging ring at the top which i used a keychain ring,please be careful attempting this as i did burn my finger at one stage !
Lastly braiding with beads to hang down........my friends love these and one friend has them hanging from her curtain pole in the window,where they catch the light.
There are so many possibilities and artistic ideas for these,i love to do vintage ladies with lace they look really nice.

ATC Shrine to Monet..N/A

Back Inside

Front

Watercolour overlaid with Pastels then fixed with laquer then with Mod Podge,inside collaged.

Draw Winners for My Christmas Giveaways !

The winners are ...................................
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The Altered book goes to............... Sherry in the UK

The ATC's to..................... Arlene in the USA !!

Thankyou for all your comments and taking part in my first giveaways, I enjoyed doing it.
Its getting me into the spirit of Christmas giving,and my thanks to all you ladies for all the pleasure you have given me this year trading and chatting about our Art ! Its been fun !
and of course all your lovely comments make it all worthwhile. xxx

MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR

Friday Challenge Dream.

Friday Challenge for..........
http://www.artcreationsfriday.blogspot.com/

This lovely lady was chosen to challenge us this week,I decided to do another Gothic Arch page for my book.
I started by making my background with Glimmer Mist "Snow Angel" also Raspberry (sprays by Sticky Fingers)the colours have not scanned in to well......then I spritz over with gold (spray by Sticky Fingers also),next i stamped my image,I wanted to try and portray her inner self as she dreams,then collaged the lady image,coloured with Stardust pens,added the diecut flowers and brads,also the gems at the top...embossed the edges in pink cosmic shimmers ......she is quite glittery lol.

Theme Thursday Challenge

CIRCUS !

My ATC for this weeks Theme "Circus"

http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

Alcohol ink background,collaged,with altered disc for balloon,with string,which I then 3D'd

My Blog Giveaways for Christmas !

2 Original ATC Watercolours......................................

Inside Page of Altered Book

Book Cover ..........

I am giving away 2 Original watercolour ATC;s all my own work of course lol........ also an Altered Book !
So if you are interested, comment on my blog within the next week , I will be picking 2 winners one for the book, the other for the 2 ATC;s. from the first 10 comments !( The names will be drawn by lucky dip)
Please leave your Blog address or where i can contact you,I will post the winner's on my blog this time next week Saturday 13th Dec.
Happy Christmas everyone !!

http://pattiensaffie.blogspot.com/

Chrysti's 29 Days of Giving !

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” -Winston Churchill.....ArtByChrysti says: I'm starting the First Installment of 29 days of giving - come to my main blog, to read all about it -- win a $100 Gift Certificate, and more! I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it!
chrysti.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/29-days-of-giveaways-for...

Friendly Plastic Pendant

Domino altered with Friendly Plastic,fixed with Dimensional Magic,for a glossy finish,Charm added to centre.

Altered RummiKub Pendant

RummiKub Altered with ,alcohol inks background stamped tree and drawn,Button's (black stones with silver inlay...top and bottom with looped backs for hanging ,Fixed with Dimensional Magic.

Baby First Xmas Card

For baby;s first Christmas,thankyou Margaret(mamma group) for bauble template......White card stock with silver mirror card embossed with Xmas tree cuttlebug folder, gems added,baby pic covered with acetate on disc,then layered onto sparkled bauble which i glittered with Mod Podge.Santa stamped and silver embossed then coloured,text done on PC.Merry Christmas ,stamped and embossed.

Christmas Angel Card ! at last

At last i have made a start on my Christmas cards,I was just going to make a few for family and friends as I couldnt seem to get motivated or come up with new and different designs,then I discovered Rummicub's (game pieces) to alter,that gave me the idea to use them on my Xmas cards.

This one I started with red card stock then layered on silver mirricard that I embossed with Xmas tree cuttlebug folder,next the image,then glued on an altered Rummicub with same image ,glazed to fix,added handmade paper beads and ribbon to it.
The lettering was done with my cuttlebug.

Its a start,to get me in the mood lol

Award

Thankyou Mayjay for my award ! I would like to pass it onto sooooo many people its hard to choose,My first choice is Holly.... here.. Barty aka Jan......... here ,... Holly's work blog..... here ,....Nancy.... here ,

and also Rita she writes beautiful fairy poems.... here .

Dancing with Roses

Another Gothic Arch page for my book !

Alcohol ink background,rubberstamped,roses coloured with Sukura Stardust pens.

Christmas ATC's

These two ATC's are for Mamma challenge on Flickr (Maggies Monday Musings)

http://www.flickr.com/groups/815984@N23/

The top one the Madonna and Child I made using UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel)

the corner broke out taking from the mould so i have glittered it,I think you can get something to put in the mix to stop this happening,I will have to get it lol

The background is script paper which i glittered.

Bottom ATC

Watercolour background and collaged.

They both look crooked lol i really must take lessons on photography !

Choir Boys Gothic Arch

This may become a Christmas card or it could become a cover for my book..........
Each choir boy is an altered domino which Istamped and coloured then glazed,fixed them all together on an alcohol ink background then layered onto gold card,the word Peace is stamped.
If you notice the choir boy in the middle is asleep lol....love this stamp !

Pink n Green

For a new venture on Art Creations,this is for Challenge 1 for the Friday challenge.

Pink n Green Gothic Arch

http://www.artcreationsfriday.blogspot.com/

Alcohol ink background,collaged ,flowers and metal butterfly added,metalic pens used on stamped butterfly,and Stardust pens.Lace and ribbon border at the bottom.

Snow Angel

For Wednesday Stamper Challenge..Theme.......... Snowflake kisses ...
Another Gothic Arch page for my book .
http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/

Background Glimmer Mists,Stamped and embossed collaged,snowflakes etc added

Musical Days 4"x4"

Another page for my chunky book,which i hope to bind this weekend !
The background is worked with Glimmer Mist sprays and brusho paints the tree sketched in with Acyrlic paint and pen then beads added from a pair of old earrings found on a secondhand market.

Peace Angel

For Wednesday Stamper Challenge..Theme Angels ...
Gothic Arch
http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/
Alcohol ink background, stamped and coloured with Stardust pens and Marveys........clear gems added and silver charm at top,collaged crown glittered with purple glue,,Lace for bottom border.
Couldnt resist an Angel challenge lol

Vintage Woman 4"x4"

A page for my chunky book completed,also the last creation in my lace series lol,I have really enjoyed playing with lace ........

So this one was a bit different as my background is fabric dye'd with brusho then Gesso painted on and stamped,lace attached and antique jewellery I found in a second hand market.

Captured in Lace

ATC (Artist Trading Card) Another dye'd Lace piece using Brusho Paints,Background Acyrlic with H20's

Brusho Paints

ATC .."The Hidden Word "

I do like these paints they are in powder form,just need mixing with some warm water,they go a long way,i mixed some up in pots,they last ages,the colours are sooooo vibrant,also work great on fabric,,watercolour paper,any sort of paper as you see here !

Working with Lace...Traded

ATC ..Lacy Dreams

A friend gave me some antique lace which was falling to bits,although still beautiful,I thought i would like to try Brusho paints on it as its like a dye,lethel for the hands,wish i wore gloves lol.

This is the result ! think my hands look better !

Gothic Arch Book

This is the cover of my now completed Gothic Arch book !

I triple embossed onto mount card then stamped into it while still warm the butterflies,the embossing powders were mixed with mica powders,which made a lovely pearl glitter feel which i love. I polished up with Rub n Buff for a nice finish.

Then i Cut a butterfly with my Cuttlebug and embossed that too the same way. attached a lovely charm piece fron an old broken bracelet,it match's perfectly,with the same colours,a lucky find at a second hand market !

Altered Scrabble Tile Pendant

My Poppy Pendant completed at last !

Altered Scrabble Tiles

Snow Barn...Winter theme Challenge. The smallest watercolor painting i have ever done lol,set onto a scrabble tile then applied a gloss coating which brings the colours out beautifully,added beads and a lobster claw clasp for hanging,either as a handbag charm or bracelet,this one was created for a challenge,theme Winter.

This is the front and back view.

Autumn Days ATC's

My autumn ATC's background Brusho paints,embossed and collaged.sketch pen.

Oriental Mini Book

Love making these books and as i now own a Bind it All machine it makes life much easier,not that i got the hang of it yet lol,this is my first try !

I was inspired to make this book as a lady on my Flickr site sent me a piece she had done with alcohol inks,we exchange little goodies when sending ATC's out,anyway i thought this would make a lovely cover for my book as you see here,so attached an altered domino to it.
Using the same colour theme running through the book ,it has about 8 pages all embellished,with oriental images/quotes/rubber stamping/tags, etc.Also enabled me to use up my evergrowing stash of Oriental stuff which i love !

I really enjoyed making it for my daughter in law's birthday,she loves arty lol.

Easy does it !

Last night I had a call fom a friend to say it was her mothers 100th birthday this Sunday,tomorrow !I would have dearly loved to spend time on making a special card,but had to choose from my already made stash.........this is it.
I am an admirer of Joanna Sheene,well known cardmaker on TV etc,and at one time bought her CD,s,which I then made up a few cards,this is just one.

If you want a quick easy card,where you dont have to think,but still be a little bit creative,this is the thing for you !,must say i did enjoy,making it,although not my thing,i like to be in charge start to finish lol.

This is just a matter of printing off the backing paper and imagine from the PC and assembling them,layering up etc.
The only thing i did do to finsh it off was add the butterfly,which I glittered also the rose image I covered with Dimensional magic,to give it a glass ,gloss feel.
The 100 No, was added last night using my cuttlebug machine. soooo one quick and easy card for a lovely lady.

Poppy Sketch

I painted this today,I dont know why but I have this need to just paint this week.but nothing on a serious note just to pick up the brush and paint whatever comes into my head.
So chose the ATC size,never having painted on this scale before,I really enjoyed it ! although saying that I have done a few this year when I was on holiday in Portugal,just packed my travel paintbox and small brushes and some bits of w/color paper,didnt take up much room and boy was I glad I did ! the evenings were so boring lol.

I look around my craft room and think,what on earth have I got all this stuff for when really all i need is a box of paints and i,m happy !!
Trouble with me is ,these ideas keep popping into my head,I must alter that or WOW thats a lovely image,i can do a lot with that.........I get inspired quite easy these days,it could be retirement,boredom,I dont know but I can say I enjoy my life,just to potter about doing what comes naturally haha.......
Dont get out so much these days either,not to just walk the countryside and paint whatever took my fancy,Like i used to do, life changes ,one door closes and another opens as they say...so most things I do now are from memory.

The other thing that helps is teaching others to paint,just one day a week, I think thats what did it for me this week,when watching them painting,I have this bad habit of grabbing the brush and doing it lol, always getting my hand slapped ! This week the lady was painting poppies,I was itching to do it haha.....so hey presto I got it out my system today !! not from real life though,just trying to capture from memory.

Playing with Pastels

Watercolour and Pastels experiment on ATC size.
Titles= River Mist & Summer Mist........

Just had to blog these as they are my first Pastel paintings I have done on this scale,I,m pleased with the experiment and may do more.

Always with my Pastel paintings I lay down the watercolour first its more as a sketch or guide for the finished painting,but nice to see the watercolour show through the pastel,hence ,light and shade.

The Pastels add more brilliance and colour to a watercolour making it more vibrant,I find.

I have always worked in these two mediums together,I love to move the pastel about and love the misty effect.

Tree of Life Birthday Card

This card i created for my Grandson's 23 Birthday

Over the years i have given him cards i created with Music and His favorite group themes,this year was difficult to come up with an original idea,thoughts running through my head,and knowing he was coming up against difficult times in his life,and i was in the middle of altering dominos lol,the idea came to me "The Tree of Life" !!

Soooo this is it !..I will give him some sound advice haha.

Starting with Ivory card stock.

I used my cuttlebug birthday embossing folder in gold,layered it up on dark green card.

Then using an ATC size watercolour painting i had done,I triple layered up onto that an altered domino,which i had used alcohol inks,then stamped and drawn the tree.

The rest was easy,finishing off with a poem i found,this is part of it=

Take the Life that you have and give it your best...
Think positive, be happy let God do the rest...
Take the challenges that life has laid at your feet...
Take pride and be thankful for each one you meet...
To yourself give forgiveness if you stumble and fall...
Take each day that is dealt you and give it your all...
Take the love that you're given and return it with care...
Have faith that when needed it will always be there...
Take time to find the beauty in the things that you see...
Take life's simple pleasures let them set your heart free...
The idea here is simply to even the score...
As you are met and faced with Life's Tug of War.

I was pleased with the outcome,just hope he likes it,bit different lol.

Time Flies Birthday Card

Old watch parts bought from Ebay,fixed onto stampbord which was embossed with mica powders first ,then painted the parts with gold leaf. The watch face i used dimensional magic to give a glossy finish,butterflies cuttlebug,lettering PC program.

Princess Gothic Page

Starry Starry Sky

Another page for my book ! i cant wait to get this project finished,i am planning the cover in my head !

Gothic Arch Page

Still working on my Gothic Arch book up to page 5 now,this one is called "All that Glitter's is not Gold "
The background is my own homemade inks which shimmer with mica powders,then stamped,lady collaged,her dress is coloured in with Stardust pens, with touches of glitter glue.

Altered Jigsaw Pieces

This is an ATC .......Altered Jigsaw pieces,coloured,rubberstamped ,the gold is coloured with Stardust pens,feather added .

My Claim to Fame

Here is another one of my watercolour painting,people have been asking to see more...so here is my claim to fame !

I was commissioned by Royal Doulton to do this scene for a plate,i dont know whether they used it,but they did buy the copyright !

I did four of these depicting cottage scenes with flowers they chose this one,the others have been sold.

I still have this one,which i would'nt part with partly because they have the copyright,also its nice to keep for my grandchildren.

When you work for publishers they just buy the copyright of your work not the actual paintings,i think they make some kind of printers plate from the original,i never went into all the details.
Its nice to be able to keep your original artwork

I also did cottage designs, for displaying on mugs.they kindly sent me the finished mugs lol

Watercolour ATC's

These ATC's I painted in Portugal,perhaps i was homesick as they are all scenes in Essex where i live,actually i painted them in the evenings,through boredom,Portugal TV i,m not into haha......... 2 have been traded,hence the gaps !

Button Fairy ATC

My first attempt !,little bit tricky than the normal,i decided to string the buttons first then stick on.This one is for a swap,i need to get busy and do 3 more !there is no end of possiblities,i have loads of idea's,just got to find the materials to use like pretty buttons haha.

My Blog Award

WOW Thankyou Jane for my Award !what a lovely suprise
Here are the rules if you would like to give an award:

(1) The winner can put the logo on her blog.

(2) Link the person you received your award from.

(3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

(4) Put links of those blogs on yours.


(5) Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you've nominated.


I am nominating these ladies ! they deserve it for all the lovely creations and pleasure they give me !

June
Holly
Daisy
Julia
Dee
Rita
Linda B

Diamond Wedding Card

Todays task was a Diamond Wedding card........This is where my cuttlebug machine came into its own,i really enjoyed playing around with colours,designing with butterflies,flowers and backgrounds.

First i decided to have the main colours silver and lilac,and keep these colours going through the theme,with a deep purple layering for the outside edge of the layer's.

I proceeded to do all my diecuts first using,my flower and butterfly embossing folders,and just one diecut for the shadowing the butterflies...........

I dont know what you call this fold i did for the actual card,maybe concertina,so using silver card for this,then layering silver and lilac panels on the inside as well ,I then layered the flower embossed lilac piece on the inside at an angle,to attach the poem.

On the front outside panel,which is layered the same,I attached the butterflies,oops forgot to say I embossed this panel with a embossing board. In the center I stuck two large faux diamonds in between the lilac silk flowers,they dont show up to good here,but look very impressive haha.

The hardest part was making a box to put this card in,but managed fine with my boxmaker,I bought recently, from Crafters Companion, its the Top Score multiboard.

There is a saying a "workman is only as good as the tools he uses",or something like that,Its sooooo true.other than pulling it all together design wise lol.