Seahorse Reef, The Canvas

 Hi again for part two of my post in the creation of my Seahorse Reef Canvas.

Last time I explained the process that went into creating the background that

I used on this canvas, this time I'll explain how I created the three dimensional

embellishements and how I put everything together!

For this part of the project I used the following products:-

Polymer Clay (Fimo) and Paper air dry clay (Hearty)
Various moulds from

 Pebeo Gilding wax and various colours of Viva Decor Inka Gold,

silicone glue and some screws.

Step 1 Using the background I created in the first part of this two part
post, I used some cardboard that was cut to the same dimensions as the
canvas frame and stuck it to it..

Step 2 For this canvas I used a deep canvas frame and coloured
all four sides using black acrylic paint. Once dry I then cut off the
canvas material, as this project uses the reverse of the canvas and
not the front.

Step 3 Taking my background that I stuck onto cardboard, I glued it to
the canvas frame and left it to dry.

Step 4 Once dry I flipped the whole thing over and using small screws
I screwed the background to the frame, as glue alone most likely
wouldn't hold it because of the weight both the wooden frame and
embellishments I would add later. Using black acrylic paint
I painted the back of the canvas and lastly added a metal hanging
loop, so that the canvas could be hung up.

Step 5 Using crafting clay (either polymer clay or Hearty paper clay)
I started to make all of the 3D embellishments that I wanted to use
on the canvas. All the moulds are from Katy Sue Designs and can
be used for all types of projects, from mix media, card making
or even cake decorating. I placed the mould onto my glass mat
and rolled some clay to form a sausage like shape.

Step 6 I then placed the clay into the mould, going with it's shape
and started to push it in using my fingers.

Step 7 Using a large metal ball tool I pushed the clay into the
mould. Don't use a sharp tool to press in the clay, otherwise
you could end up damaging the mould.

Step 8 Once all the clay was in the mould I used a smaller
ball tool to push the clay right into all of the finer detail. Then using
the larger ball tool, I gently pulled the clay back from the outer
edge of the mould, so that you could clearly see the entire outer shape
of the design. This porcess helps when you release the clay
from the mould.

Step 9 Folding the mould almost in half and supporting the clay,
I eased out the clay shape. 

Step 10 Some of the embellishments required a marble type
mix to the clay. To do this I took two colours of polymer clay and
rolled them out. I used more white than brown clay, but it's up
to you depending what sort of look you are after.

Step 11 I twisted, folded and rolled the clay to lightly mix
the two colours together.

Step 12 Then I pulled the clay apart until I got the marble effect I
wanted. Don't do this too much, otherwise you'll start to
totally blend the colours together, this will happen even more
so if you're using Hearty air dry paper clay.

Step 13 Finally I pushed the clay into the mould and used the
same process as before to ensure I got a good cast, before
releasing the clay out of the mould. The really beautiful thing
about using the marbling effect, is that every single time you
will get a totally unique colour mix.

Step 14 Depending on what type of clay you have used, you'll
either need to let it air dry or bake it in an oven before you can
start using and decorating them.

Step 15 I used Pebeo gilding wax to bring out the detail on almost
all of the clay pieces. Simply apply a very small amount to the tip
of your finger and then tap you finger onto a glass mat. Lightly
run your finger over the area you want to gild. Let it dry for a 
few minutes before buffing with a clean white cloth.

Step 16 Now for the fun bit! Arrange all the pieces to start forming
your final canvas. I used a silicone glue to hold everything in place.
For the two seahorses, I painted the clay using various colours
of Viva Decor's Inka Gold, but any type of decorative paints
would do. I also added a few air bubbles to the background
using Glossy Accents to help create that under the sea feel.

I Hope you've enjoyed the second half my post.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

 
Samantha and Antony

Seahorse Reef, The Canvas, creating the background

Hi! Antony here for my first post of 2018. This is the first of two posts
showing you how I created my Seahorse Reef canvas. In this post
I'll explain step by step how a made the background using
Distress Oxide inks and some home made stencils and a splash of water.
The Canvas itself is a reverse canvas, where you decorate the reverse of
the canvas opposed to the front. This helps give the canvas a really 3D effect!

For this part of the project I used the following products:-
Distress Oxides (various colours), some white card, low tack tape
apllicator sponges for the inks, silver Inka Gold and a toothbrush!

Step 1 Using 3 different colours of Distress Oxide inks I created
a background, laying down the colours in bands working on the white
card at 45 degrees. I used glycerine on the applicator sponges
to help spread and blend the colours together.
The colours I used were:-
Cracked Pistachio at the top
Salty Ocean in the middle
and Faded Jeans at the bottom.
Once I had all the colours in place, I then flicked water over them
and then placed a white paper cloth over it to help absorb the water.
This effect is called faux bleaching, as it removes the ink where
the water was. Then I used a craft heat tool to dry the background.
I then went into selected areas of the background and used
 Wilted Violet Distress Oxide. Once again I heat set it and then
flicked water over it again and absorded the water with a white
paper cloth.

Step 2 Using some white card I made myself some stencils.
All they are, are two cuts going to a point, these will create rays on
the background. I made 3 versions of the ray stencil, each one
just a slightly different width from the other.

 
Step 4 Using an alcohol pen I marked a cross on my glass mat about
2 - 3cm above my sheet of coloured card.

Step 5 I positioned the first stencil in place, making sure that where
the two cuts go to a point, they were over the top of the black cross
on my glass mat. I then used Salty Ocean Distress Oxide and
started to add colour, working from the top of the stencil going
down and then blending into the background colours.
I then moved the stencil round, still making sure that the top part
was still over the black cross.

Step 6 Changing stencil and Distress Oxide colour, I created
more rays and repeated the process of lifting and moving
the stencil.

Step 7 For the final lot of rays using Distress Oxide, I used
the Antique Linen colour and once again repeated the process
of adding the rays.

Step 8 Using the Antique Linen colour I started adding colour to the
very top of the background and blending into the lower colours.

Step 9 For the next set of rays I used a clean applicator sponge and instead

of ink I dabbed it in a little water. I then used one of the stencils and very

lightly dragged the damp applicator sponge from the top of the background

to the bottom. The water will almost erase the Oxide inks from the card.

Just be careful not to over do it with the water on the applicator.

I heat set the background and then flicked a little more water over it.

Step 10 Next I used some silver Inka Gold from Viva Decor. I took a

small amount out of the tub and placed it onto my glass mat and added

some water to it. Using a toothbrush I dabbed it into the mix.

I then took the toothbrush and placed it over the background and

dragged my thumb over the bristles, so that a fine mist of the silver

Inka Gold went onto the background. I force dried it with a heat tool

and then lightly buffed over the surface with a white paper cloth.

Step 11 Finally I went round the outer edges of the background

using firstly Faded Jeans Distress Oxide and then Black Soot.

Well that wraps up the first part of this two part post, I hope

you can join me for the second half, where I'll show you

how I went about creating the rest of the canvas using

some beautifully detailed moulds from Katy Sue Designs.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

 
Samantha and Antony

Fairy House using Katy Sue Designs moulds

Hi, Antony here, with what has proved to be my longest project yet, but also

the most enjoyable. For this mixed media project I turned a coffee jar into a

Fairy House.... the magic came from Katy Sue Designs. Most crafters

probably know them for Flower Soft®, which is a fine decorative embellishment

that you sprinkle onto your projects to replicate tiny flowers. Well a few years

back they started to produce the most amazingly detailed moulds...

what's more they are actually designed and made right here in the UK

at their factory in South Sheilds!

Although most people use these to create decorations for cakes, they can be

used to great effect within mixed media and card making projects too!

For this project I have used: An old Douwe Egberts coffee jar, A door
cutting die from Tonic Studios a petal cutting die from Studio Lights,
various moulds from Katy Sue Designs, Polyfilla,
Viva Decor Inka Gold craft polish
Fimo clay in various colours decorative pebbles, Flower Soft® (Sweet Pea)
from Katy Sue Designs, gilding wax and a string of tiny lights.

Step 1 Firstly I cleaned a coffee and then made a hole in it using a drill.

I stuck some masking tape over the place I wanted to drill the hole, to
to prevent the drill from sliding. I turned set the drill on to a slow
speed and started drill into the glass.

Step 2 I placed the string of lights inside the jar and then pull through

all but 2 of the lights and the battery pack with the on off switch on.
This will make the process of turning the lights on and off a lot easier.

Step 3 The next step was to cut myself a door using a die from Tonic Studios.

I then stuck this to the jar using a thin coat of silicone glue and held it
in place using masking tape. I used some decorative pebbles and
formed an arch round the door, I used Polyfilla to stick these to the jar.

Step 3 Working with the string of lights, I placed them round the

jar, keeping them in place with masking tape to start with and applying

Polyfilla to hold them in place. This process took quite a while, as you

can only really work on small sections at a time, because you have

to allow the Polyfilla to dry.

Step 4 Next step was to start working with the moulds from

Katy Sue Designs. For my project I have used

Maple Leaves Silicone Mould, Flowers Silicone Mould 

Rose Leaves Silicone Mould, Wings Silicone Mould

Decorative Keys & Locket Mould and Clock Silicone Mould.

For my project I used a polymer oven bake clay such as Fimo.

To use the moulds I rolled up a small amount of the Fimo clay and

then pressed it into the moulds using a round ended metal tool.

I then pressed the clay flush to the level of the outer part

of the mould and then gently eased the clay out. Once I had made

a large amount of the leaves and flowers, I baked them in the

oven at 110°c for about 5 to 10 minutes.

For the clock and hands, I left the clay in the moulds and baked

them. After about 10 minutes I took them out of the oven and let

them cool down before removing the moulded Fimo pieces. As you

can see from the close up photos the detail on them is amazing!

Step 5 To make the roof I used some 1mm thick cardboard, old
cereal boxes are perfect for this. I used a petal die, with embossing
detail for the tiles. Firstly I drew round a plate and then made a flat
cone out of it. I then started to add the petal tiles, starting at the
bottom and working my way up the roof.

To cover the top part I used a circular die and again made a fairly
flat cone and stuck it in place.

Once all the glue was dry, I painted it using Viva Decor
Inka Gold craft polish. I used three colours, a deep pink base coat,
followed by a light brushing of gold and finally a dark slate colour.

Step 5 As it was the middle of summer I decided to craft in the garden,

Not that often you can do that in the UK! I used Inka Gold craft polish to

paint the outside of the jar, over the Polyfilla. I used a purple colour and

then lightly brushed over with a gold and a slate colour to help bring out

the texture I had created with the Polyfilla. I also used a sponge with Inka
Gold on to add a bit of extra colour to the stones.
Once dry, I sealed the Inka Gold with a water based sealer.

Step 6 Using silicone glue I went round certain areas of my project

and then sprinkled Flower Soft® from Katy Sue Designs over it.

This added a bit of colour and further texture, whilst giving the effect

of tiny flowers growing.

Step 7 Back to the moulds and a bit more baking!

Step 8 After all the baking, I started to arrange the moulded clay,
making sure not to cover up any of the tiny lights.

The great thing about using Fimo clay, is that after baking you can

reheat with a craft heat tool and bend the moulded clay to
shape and then place in cold water to set it's new shape.
Once I had shaped all the moulded clay, I then stuck them onto
the jar using silicone glue.

Step 9 I stuck the roof onto the lid of the jar, firstly by using silicone glue

and then once that had set I filled in the space using Polyfilla.

Using the leaf moulded clay, I stuck them round to cover up the

Polyfilla. Once that had set I then used silicone glue and filled in

the remaining gaps and sprinkled some more Flower Soft® on.

Step 10 The finishing touches included adding a touch of gilding

wax over the clay to help bring out the amazing detail. I also filled

some gaps here and there with silicone glue and Flower Soft®.

Step 11 With the main jar decorated it was time to add a few clay

flowers and leaves to the roof. Once again I used silicone glue to

hold the clay moulded pieces in place and finished off with some

gilding wax.

Last thing to do was to turn on the lights!

I hope you've enjoyed my Fairy House post and that it's inspired
you to have a go using some of the moulds available from
Katy Sue Desings.

Just a quick mention... as well as polymer clay such as Fimo
you can also use paper air dry clay such as Hearty Clay
or as I did concrete and of course icing to decorate your cakes!
Just be sure that if you're going to use moulds to help decorate
cake then I recommend you have a mould just for that use.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!

 
 Antony