Orient Enchantment Event: In-Depth Look at Projects

Hello again, Lost Coasters, and welcome to a post where I'll tell you how I made each of the projects that were posted to the Portal to Creativity in the hopes of inspiring you to participate in our Orient Enchantment event.

I made three ATCs using stamps from the India Set ...the first is "Do More Than Exist," whose directions are the simplest...

I stamped the god from the India set onto a gelli print, then colored him with creamy colored pencils (leaving some of the background showing through) and with white and shimmery copper gel pens. Then I affixed stick-on copper gems to the card and outlined the pattern with more white and copper gel pen. Oh, and added a text label, of course!

For "Talk To The Hand," I scraped some white gesso onto heavy cardstock with a palette knife and let it dry. This gave a bit of texture and a nice base for the next layer. I got out some Distress Crayons, scribbled some color here and there, and blended it with my fingertip (the gesso helps the Crayons smear more evenly than they do on plain paper).

Using permanent black ink, I stamped the Calligraphy Square from Carmen's Veranda for a little background interest. Next I stamped the mehndi hand from the India Set, colored it with gel pens in fluorescent and glitter greens as well as metallic golds and white, and cut it out and collaged it to the card along with the computer-generated sentiment.

To finish the card, I scraped some black glitter paste through a stencil to get the little ball effects on the sides...added 3D dots made of shiny white Enamel Accents and metallic gold Pearl Pen...and edged the whole piece in more black glitter paste. This added dimension and texture to the finished ATC.

For "I Is For Indian Peafowl," I first stamped the peacock from the India Set onto white cardstock and masked him off, then stamped the Taj Mahal behind him and masked that off. Next I applied Distress Inks with a mini blending tool around the masked images, then used the spritz-and-flick method to forcefully apply water droplets to give a mottled effect to the ink background.

Next I stamped the Clover Scroll Border along the bottom of the ATC and embossed the image with silver powder. I colored the clover scrolls with colored pencils, and added a border of dots made with metallic blue, gold, and white gel pens.

I painted the peacock with various colors of Twinkling H2Os--the shimmer on him was amazing in real life! Since the famous mausoleum is white, I left the Taj Mahal uncolored, revealing the plain white cardstock underneath the mask.

Lastly, I stamped and embossed the capital I from the Old Typewriter Alphabet, collaged the genus label onto the card, and edged it all in black chalk ink.

And there you have three very different ATCs, but all with a touch of exotic India. I hope you have fun with the India Set (there are many more wonderful stamps included with it than shown by these three projects!), or check out the Persian and Asian stamp sets from Lost Coast Designs as well for a little more Eastern flavor.

UNMASKED! Building a (Black and White) Collage Doll with LCD Stamps

Greetings, Lost Coasters! Today I have a tutorial for you on how I made this zany collaged doll for our Black & White challenge over at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity. These same principles will help you build any sort of rubber-stamped collage.

PLEASE NOTE: This is the Cliff Notes version of the tutorial… For tons of photos, explanatory details, and A VERY COOL REVEAL VIDEO showing the masks being peeled off layer by layer to reveal the final collage, visit my blog! I lay it all out for you there!  😁

1. Plan out the composition. 

Gather the stamp images you'd like to use and start playing with them. You can stamp them and roughly cut them out to experiment with how to position them relative to each other. You could also use software such as Photoshop or InDesign to make a sketch. 

The stamps I used to make this piece were:

Elements from the Doll Accessories Set
Black Flourish

Bishop from Chess Set

Loopy Calligraphy

Diamonds Border & Circle Tiles Border

2) Decide on your focal point. 

In all likelihood, this will be the image you stamp first--the one that appears on top of all the other layers in the collage, in the foreground. In my composition, it was the eyeglasses image.

3) Determine the order of operations.

Now you have to figure out the order in which you are going to stamp. Determine what is "foreground" and what is "background," and proceed in a logical order. The things that go behind, in the background, get stamped last.

4) Using your sketch as a blueprint...start stamping! 

I recommend the use of a stamp positioner or stamp press tool such as the MISTI. This allows you place each stamp exactly where you want it to print, and to re-ink the stamp to get perfect coverage in case an image prints a little unevenly the first time. 

5) Cut a mask for each image as you work. 

After you stamp each image on the "real" paper, stamp off onto some scrap paper, and cut that print out to use as a mask. I used repositionable adhesive to stick down my masks precisely over each image before stamping the next layer atop it. 

6) Remove the masks; oooh and aaaah.

Again, for a much more in-depth explanation packed with tons of tips, visit me here. And if you have any questions whatsoever about this process, please ask me in the comments over there. I’d love to help you guys try this out if you’ve never done a stamp collage before!

Wanderlust ATC

Hi everyone!  I wanted to share with you how I created the Wanderlust ATC for the Orient Enchantment event.

I started by spraying a piece of mixed media paper with LSG Hi Maintenance Magenta, Luscious Lime, & Sassy Sapphire.  I then stamped the two larger stamps from the Travel Stuff Set using Versamark ink and embossed with black EP.

I cut a section of the paper out to ATC size and edged with black ink.  Next, I stamped the hansa hand from the India Set and cut out.  I colored the hand with Prismacolor pencils.  Before adding the hand to the ATC I splattered the background with yellow and orange paint.

Finally, I stamped Wanderlust from the Travel Quotes Set onto a piece of cardstock then sprayed it with LSG Yellow Rose of Texas.

Thank you for joining me today.  Until later........................
Smiles~
Marilyn

Journey ATC

Good morning everyone!  I wanted to share with you how I created the Journey ATC I made for the Orient Enchantment event.

 

I started by spraying a piece of mixed media paper with LSG Canna Lily Burnt Orange, wiping it with a baby wipe to remove some of the color.  Once it was dry I stamped the map from the India set using sepia ink and then cut it to fit my ATC. 

I then stamped the Matsya from the India set on another piece of paper using teal ink and clear embossed.  I painted the details using Metallique Ancient Coin and then cut him out.

Lastly, I stamped the "All journeys" quote from the Travel Quotes set using Timber Brown Stazon ink onto a piece of cardstock I had colored with watered down LSG Canna Little Burnt Orange.  I then assembled everything, popping up my image and saying with pop dots.

That's all for today!

Until later........................
Smiles~

Design Team Update

Good morning all!  I have an announcement to make!  We have a new Design Team Member.  Please help me welcome Laurie Davis to LCD/CV.

My name is Laurie Davis and I live part of the year in Andover, Mass. and spend the winters with my husband of 50 years (yikes!) in Palm Desert, CA.  We have two sons and a daughter and two grandsons - one in California and one in Massachusetts.  So we spend our time chasing them from one side of the country to the other.

I got into stamping and paper crafting about 15 years ago and was first introduced to rubber stamps at a Stampin' Up party.  I bought my first set and I haven't quit yet!  I not only love stamping but also journaling, mixed media, collage, assemblage, calligraphy - any kind of paper crafting really.  I am part of several swap groups and am a new member of the Lost Coast Designs Design Team.  I love Lost Coast Designs stamps.  To me, they are much more fun and interesting than some of the cutsie rubber stamps that are produced by a lot of the stamp companies out there.

I am excited by this new "creative" opportunity and look forward to working with all the other Design Team Members.
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I'm sure Laurie will amaze you with her projects.  Stay tuned!

Don't forget, the Design Team Call is ongoing.  Go HERE to view all the details, then mail your application to Marilyn at mcgoo4@gmail.com.  

Happy Stamping!
Marilyn
Interim LCD/CV DT Leader