Art and Craft News

Have you used your Tim Holtz's groovy gadget or seen it in action yet? I used mine the other day for the first time. 

I've had it unpacked for a couple of weeks but it's been sitting on my couch looking at me while I used my Dylusions journal block.... ooooh! Did you see the new one? Its a fantastic size - long enough for all Dyan's new long stamps and Darkroom Door's border stamps.

Anyway... back to using the Stamp Platform...

I placed the stamp in position then took it off again and flipped over the lid - works much better when its the right side! Thankfully, I hadn't inked it up yet :)

Note from the wise (me! lol), if the lid doesn't close flat, the stamp is on the wrong side of the lid. There are words on the lid (see pic) but I wasn't sure which way up the words should look.

This pic of the dragonfly stamp shows the lid for rubber stamps the correct way up... see how the word "rubber" is the right way round?

Its also smooth on the rubber stamp side too, whereas on the clear stamp side, it has a grid marked.

The phrase I've used is from Tim's Stuff to Say stamp set. Given how it is such a fine typeface I thought it might get a double effect with stamping it twice but I'm impressed. It just went darker, not even a blurry line! AND it didn't give me those inky lines around the stamp like I usually get when stamping with words :) Yay!

The magnets were so useful. Being so thin they didn't interfere with the stamping at all and held down the card so well it didn't budge a millimetre. 

I ended up using 4 magnets to hold it down anyway because the card was so buckled from the amount of ink and water I'd used. I'm a bit heavy handed with ink sometimes! I needed to stamp it twice because my ink pad was dryish and the paper was a tad damp.

I highly recommend buying additional magnets. Alternatively, if you have thin fridge magnets or magnetic sheeting in the craft cupboard, put them with your platform.  

edit ... sadly this is discontinued but there are other stamping precision gadgets out there - or use the old L-shaped acrylic block to line up stamps the old fashioned way.

If you need more information or help with anything, please ask anytime :)

Have a happy day!
:)
Jenny

Making tiny plastic charms is easy when you know how!

To make teeny tiny Pumpkinheads for Halloween I used Tim Holtz Stamps - Pumpkinheads, Shrink plastic (like Shrinkie Dinks), StazOn ink pad, Watercolour Pens, sharp scissors and a heat tool.

Basically, place your favourite Pumpkinhead (or 5) onto an acrylic block, ink the stamp and print onto the plastic. Trim around the image, add colour and then heat to shrink. That's the short version!

Always follow the instructions on the pack of the shrink plastic. While most instructions say to use an oven, a heat tool can be used for small creations like these. Always be careful when you're using heat :)

Shown above from left to right: Pumpkinhead stamp, clear shrink plastic and presanded shrink plastic.

I used StazOn black ink then trimmed the pumpkins with sharp scissors before colouring. 

The clear plastic is best coloured with permanent markers (Copics, Chameleon Pens), while the sanded plastic is great with anything including pencils and watercolours.

I used watercolour pens on both :) It beads on the clear plastic but still adheres to the plastic when shrunk. The colours blended well on the sanded plastic.

I also added white Sharpie to the eyes :)

Pumpkinhead is shown above on presanded plastic waiting to be shrunk.

Here are the finished pumpkins... they shrink to about a third the size while atthe same time, the plastic gets thicker.

The top pumpkinhead in the photo is the clear shrink plastic, while the orange one is the presanded shrink plastic.

This photo shows both tiny pumpkinheads next to a full size untrimmed Shrinkie and the original cling stamp. Aren't they totally adorable :)

Sing out if you need help or have questions.

Happy Creative Day!

March 31 Update

PreOrder Update - Oxide Ink Pads are in stock!

The Distress Oxide Ink Pads are becoming scarce! If you miss out on an ink pad, buy a couple (or all) of the Oxide Reinkers. You can easily stamp and paint with these. The ink is smooth and creamy so sticks to rubber stamps quite well, with or without using an ink pad. I squirted some out onto my craft sheet and used my finger to dab onto my stamp. Worked out ok :) The colours themselves are different to the original Distress Inks... they're opaque, making the colours appear brighter. Well worth a try I think :D

New products are instock and online - Tim's Idea-Ology treasures including the gorgeous Boutique paper flowers, Transparent Alpha Tiles (so cool), Paper Dolls Die Cuts and the beautiful Design Tapes... plus lots more still to add :)

Actually, all that's left to add online from this delivery are the new binders, a few stashes of 12x12 and 8x8 paper pads, a "couple" of other Idea-Ology newbies, the Broadway Bigz Dies (its huge!), the cling foam alphabet stamps and 2 sets of Thinlet Dies (Tattered Florals and Wildflowers #2). Plus! New Darkroom Door stamps (more!) and Dina Wakely's Scribble Sticks will be added online soon. Dina's watercolour crayons (Scribble Sticks) are in stock now :D The colours are gorgeous!

Click here to buy new arty treasures

March 21 Update

PreOrder Update - My 2nd Delivery for Distress Oxide Ink Pads is next week, 28th March 2017 :)

I received a shipping notification today (21st) and had a wonderful surprise... the Oxides are on their way sooner than expected! Woo hoo! Wait till you see them in real life too - the colours look gorgeous :)

Single colours for each the ink pads and refills will be online later today along with everything else in my shipping notification - lots and lots of treasure! Gonna be a busy girl today :)

What else? I received a shipping notification from Stampers Anonymous a week or so ago, so more of the brand new CHA / Creativation releases will be here any day now!
- edit : 5 new stamp designs arrived last night - Slate & Stone, Vines & Roses (so pretty), Flower Jar (love it), Illustrated Garden (gorgeous) and Scribbles & Spirals.

Click here to check out the newbies :)

Dyary News

I know, the  Dylusions Dyaries feel like they're taking forever but they'll be here very very soon. My sources say they'll be here with me at the end of next week (around the 28th) with Dyan's other groovy treasures like the journal tape, flip journals, Dyary ink, Dyary tape, Dyary stickers and a whole stash of Tim's Idea-Ology - boutiques of flowers, paper dolls, alphabets and more! So much more :D
Sadly, my order doesn't include the Dyary die cuts - but I do have in stock 3 collections of colouring sheets.

Its pretty awesome! I just need to get my skates on and get them online so you can find them. Which reminds me, if you ever want to buy Tim's set of 12x12 metal drawers or spinning storage tray, sing out any time! I have deliveries from the US every month so its easy enough to add 1 or 3 extra items just for you :)

Darkroom Door have just announced a set of fantastic NEW Eclectic Stamps and they'll be here late March or early April. The pics look amazing :) I'll download them and add them to this blog post. Sing out if you want to PreOrder :)

Tim's Hipsters look so groovy in real life... just sayin' :)

Thanks for waiting with me for these treasures. I wish you a happy, creative day!
:)
Jenny

Feb 26 Update

They've arrived! Tim's stamps of Hipsters, Motivation series, Illustrated Garden, Brush Strokes plus Darkroom Door's beautiful new collage stamps.

Dyan Reaveley's newly designed Silhouette Stencils arrived as well, named from left to right - Jay, Ben and Emmi. These 3 stencils are the replacements for the dearly departed Flossie, Ruby, Lottie, Bert and Fred.

Etcetera now means 'Tim Treasure'!

The Tim Holtz Etcetera tags are here! These look and feel amazing :D

Tim Holtz's Etcetera range of tags are different to any surface you've used before! Made by Stamers Anonymous from what they call thickboard, a type of craftwood or thick chipboard. These tags are strong, smooth and ready for anything you want to create, embellish, paint, sand or drill - anything at all. Available in 3 sizes - 5.5"x10", 6.5"x12" and 8.25"x14.25".

click here for New Treasure!

Love stencils? Me too! Finally, I've ordered my faves of the Mini Tim Holtz Layering Stencil range. The new ones aren't far away. The estimated release date from Stampers Anonymous is April (must check this!). If you come across any that I've not put online and would love to buy, let me know and I'll get them in for you. You can find all the stencils and masks here.

The Distress Oxide ink pads are arriving soon! Have you seen them? So much fun to be had I reckon. I've added them into the shop now as a PreOrder (click here) with the first delivery of ink pads and reinkers arriving mid to late March. Order today or contact me to be notified when they are here.

Dyan's dyary has had a slight delay but they'll be here very soon, also in mid March! Along with ALL the stickers, stamps, washi and more. The accessory bags aka stencil pockets will be here soon too.

So many treasures! Are you lucky enough to get your hands on any of these yet? Had time to play yet? I hope so. After all, that's what buying all these treasures is all about - more to use for art, craft and being creative in any way!

Thanks for your time :) Have an awesome happy, creative day!
:)
Jenny

Feb 12 Update

Some of Tim's stamps are flying across to us as I speak (type) ... Hipsters, Motivation series, Illustrated Garden, Brush Strokes and more. Darkroom Door newbies are instore now :D

I received the shipping notification from Stampers Anonymous yesterday (11 Feb) and it usually takes around a week for treasures to arrive so look for "nearly here" or "on its way" in the product name to see what's included. I've left the word "PreOrder" on as they're not here yet :) Any questions, sing out any time!

Tim's latest stencil designs will be here any day now... the tracking estimates Wednesday this week :D Sooooo exciting! Travelling with them are refills for the Masters' Cleaner, Yupo paper, most of Tim's stencils plus a "few" other treasures. Prismacolor blending pencils sold out again but will be back in March.

Dyan's groovy Dyary (diary, journal) is on its way to us too. I've only ordered 1 box (10) so get your order in quick so you don't miss out! Next delivery is in March for these. 

That's it for today's news. So far! lol :) There's always something exciting happening in the art and craft Universe!

Have an awesome happy, creative day!
:)
Jenny

Jan 31 News

As you probably have already seen and heard, there are so many arty treasures from Tim Holtz, Tonic Studios, Dylusions of Dyan Reaveley and Ranger about to be released.

Just like every new product announcement, they show off their new ideas and favourite new toys, then make us wait until the products have been manufactured. But its a good thing - this way we all get to have a good dose of retail and art therapy each and every month, not all at once!

Arrivals from Tim, Dyan and friends are happening every 4 or 5 weeks starting mid February. So exciting! Can't wait to see the bouquets of flowers (Idea-Ology), Tim and Tonic's fabulous new stamping gadget (like the Misti but half the price!) and Dyan's groovy new diary, I mean Dyary. I'd say sorry for my excitement but I'd just have to take it back because I simply love love love it all! The colours, designs, textures, ideas, inspiration, and more colours... {{happy sigh}} lol :)

This link will transport you to the "What's New" category to see what's just arrived

Click this link to see and preorder all the brand new goodies

Gorgeous NEW Darkroom Door stamps are on their way - arriving in a couple of weeks... can't wait :) I love the look of it all (as always! lol), the Grunge Marks, Butterflies and Classic Cars. And the Hummingbirds are gorgeous too! Rachel's special occasion sayings are practical as well as beautiful.

The Texture Stamps and more of the other collections are planned to arrive this year. Slowly I'm building up the shop to have every single Darkroom Door stamp available for you to buy.

This is a direct link to all Darkroom Door new arrivals

Speaking of my wishlist, Liquitex acrylic paints are arriving in the next few weeks. I'm ordering the basics plus a few favourites like veridian, aqua and turquoise! You've just got to have all the gorgeous mermaid colours at hand, it saves so much time and hassle mixing them. With basics you can create nearly every colour under the sun but if you want other colours, simply ask :)

The Liquitex bottles of ink are on their way too. I love ink :) Such a versatile medium - it can be used for drawing, colouring, painting, splashing, dripping - anything at all. Plus if you add it to the thick gel mediums, it becomes a thick paint. AND it works beautifully with all the Distress, Winsor & Newton and Gansai Tambi ranges too :) Yay!

Paint brushes are still here waiting to be added to the shop... along with Winsor & Newton mediums (watercolour paints in tubes and pans are on the way), Liquitex gesso, IndigoBlu stamps ... I've got Rain Drops, Kibble Puppies and Kittens, Rebecca, Ella Bella and a few more.

Anybody still want Brusho or Ken Oliver watercolour powders? I haven't ordered them again because I find my Tim Holtz Distress Ink Sprays to be so much easier to use. And cleaner if you can believe it! I ended up with watercolour dust everywhere when I last used Brusho powder - I've given it to a friend who simply loves the stuff :) Obviously it was something I did because she doesn't make a mess at all. lol :)

If you want them, let me know. Both Brusho Crystal Colours and Ken Oliver Color Bursts can easily be ordered from my supplier.

FYI ... Below is a background made for my latest ATCs using Tim's Distress Ink Sprays.

I've found that Tim Holtz's ink sprays and stains are permanent once heat set and if sprayed with a mist of fixative, the colours don't fade. Most watercolours need to be set with a fixative before adding other layers so the colours don't reactivate with water or other ink.

I always spray a fine mist of fixative over my art, just in case. Any brand will work - just make sure it says "non yellowing". If you can't find it or aren't sure what you're looking for, ask me anytime :)

Thanks for reading my shop's blog. I'm off to Blogger now to upload my latest creations... its been a while so there'll be a few pics to see. Have a wonderful, creative and Happy day!

:)
Jenny

Kuretake's Hikkei Double Ended Brush Pen and Fudegokochi Fine Point Brush Pens are Japanese professional pens with black archival ink, designed to be used for art, drawing, writing and calligraphy. Kuretake are the people who make Gansai Tambi watercolour paints and other very high quality art and design products.

Normally marketed towards artists who draw comics, cartoons and anime, these pens are versatile and flexible. The brush tips on both pens are springy and precise. They are extra fine if you mark with the very tip and wide if used on the side or pressed firmer. Only time will tell how well the tips last but so far the tips don't go furry and thick, meaning they'll stay beautiful and precise for a long time. I love drawing with them, so light and smooth to use! They glide over the page :)

Click here for the 'Pencils, Pens and Markers' category in the shop

The black ink is a clean neutral grey base. Alot of black inks have a red, green or blue base, meaning when the black is thinned down, it has a coloured tint. This ink is totally grey, not even a hint of another colour when I was cleaning off my Crazy Cat stamp.

The pencil drawing in the background of my play space was a sketch of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Starry Night... well, it started out as that then turned into just a few hills that the astromoner could climb to watch the various flying objects! lol Just noticed they're very feint in the photo so may not be visible on small devices but you can see the tent and mountaineer easily (top right) :) Here's my other one...

Anyway, back to the pens!

As a test, I drew a row of scribbly trees with the silver barrelled Hikkei to the right of the page. The 2 thick sweeps are drawn with the side of the pen. Below this I stippled with both the side and tip of the brush, then a few dashes... it can be extra extra fine if you go lightly :)

I then drew more trees with the Fudegokochi, both ends. I found the fine tip drew thinner than the Hikkei. Just realised I didn't draw with the side of this pen before taking the main photo but its about twice the thickness as the Hikkei's thick sweep as shown below.

Using the Tim Holtz layering stencil "Mini Twisted", I traced a couple of branches. The Hikkei was best for this as I could get the finer twists traced without filling in the space as much. See the yellow branch, its cleaner than the green.

Adding colour with my Zig waterbrush and Gansai Tambi paints, I discovered the pens were permanent on paper (and wash off plastic using water). No amount of water made the lines bleed.

Quick link to all waterbrushes :)

Cooooool :) So got out my Crazy Cat stamps! Love these guys :) I used the Fudegokochi thick end and brushed over the stamp... it inks up rely well and washes off easily. Great for precision and selective area stamping. Normally I use my Tim markers, Distress inkpads and Archival inkpad for inking up stamps... using this pen for the image will stop me getting black ink everywhere its not wanted!

I only inked up this kitten's head once but stamped the three times. You can see the nice cool grey outline better in this pic. Perfect when you want to ink up in grey not black. Just remember to stamp on scrap before your project to get the grey!

I've drawn on the last available page in my Strathmore "drawing paper" visual journal so the paper is absorbant (unlike mixed media, acrylic or mixed media paper) and water makes the paper pill (go fluffy) and swell. I'll draw and paint on anything though unless I'm working on a particular project (that requires a certain paper or object).

I love Strathmore's paper ... so here's another quick link, this time to Strathmore.

So my overall thought? Love them :) Thanks for reading my blog.

Have a happy day!
:)
Jenny