Wednesday 14 January 2015

All About Cats

Hello.  Welcome.  You may know, or maybe not, that I am taking part in Claudine's Altered Playing Card challenge.  We all took a pack of playing cards, some people are doing two packs, and are making them more arty under Claudine's crafty guidance.  I did have plans to take some group photo's of my pack but since I am currently peddling fast to try and catch up I haven't got there yet.  Best plans and all that.  Anyway, here we are on week 16.  OK, I'm on week 16, with week 15 still in the wings, and Claudine is on week 18.  So not too bad........

Claudine's week 16 cards can be found HERE.  This week Claudine was using the same technique for her backgrounds.  So I painted one card pink, left the other white and added tissue I had stamped with Kaisercraft Graffiti stamp.  Well scrunched for  added texture. 


Then I took a girl stamp and decided the best thing was to stamp on tissue and then stick it on the inky background.  


I used Unity Stamp Co. Nancy Girl (new).  I coloured her with galaxy markers which give a nice painty effect but they will obliterate your stamp lines.  The joy of stamping on tissue is you colour on the back and when you flip it over the stamp lines are still all totally visable.  Result!!  One thing about colouring on tissue is go gentle or you will make holes!!  LOL.  I added glossy accents to the hearts.  I stamped part of the sentiment from the same set onto yet more tissue and glued that sucker down.  Layers and layers and layers.  Aren't those cats cute!!  

It gets a bit long winded from here cos for my second card I couldn't find a stamp I liked.  Cos like I don't have many to choose from ha, ha ha, hahahahahahahaha.  Anyway, I had been playing with Wendy Vecchi gold embossing paste for another project, yet to be shared, and decided to go with that.  And cats.  So I grabbed my Dreamweavers Retro Cat Sitting stencil and away to go.  


This is the second time I have used this embossing paste and the results weren't exactly what I was expecting.  What was I expecting??  Don't know really!!  Ha.  Maybe it's because the background is black and white I could appreciate some characteristics of this product I hadn't really noticed the first time I used it. I didn't like the cat at first.  It seem a bit invisible cat so I went round with a black sharpie, not so easy with all the tissue texture, and also filled in the eyes and nose.  Much better.  Maybe you can't see that so well cos some idiot stuck a watermark across cat's face!!



The paste is semi-opaque.  I thought it would be opaque.  Look you can see the background lines under cat's body.  



But if you change the angle it's wow.  This is not a flash photo.  I just altered the angle of the card so it caught the light differently.  Bling!!  What a great fun product.  


I found a sentiment I liked in Unity Stamp Co. I am Woman set.  Stamped, distressed, inked and winked.  I decided a needed a shadow on the RHS so I did some creative inking.  Then I wanted some stars.  More dilemmas, til I found some little wooden ones and decided to try out the Wendy Vecchi silver embossing paste (new), bought at the same time as the gold because I can never decide.  Silver? Gold? Silver? Gold?  Both!!  



I patted the paste on the stars pretty thick and then messed about with it til I was happy with coverage and texture.  I can't tell if this is also a semi-opaque product but it looks pretty opaque on the wood.  Will let you know if I find out different.  Or maybe you can tell me if you know.  Maybe I'm the only one on the planet that's hasn't played with this!!


So there they are.  Same background, different cat. 

Joining the fun at
Claudine's Art Corner- Altered Playing Card Challenge Week 16
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes 
Fashionable Stamping Challenge 89 - Something New
Unity Stamp Co. Friends With Flair  

I am also going to join the embossing paste cat card over at Make Art Challenge 1 - Embossing Paste

Thanks for your visit.  Sorry this was a bit long.  Hope you survived.  If you want to see my other playing cards click on the label Altered Playing Cards and you will be able to see all my other posts without wading through the whole blog LOL.  Hugz

24 comments:

massofhair said...

Two fantastic APC's, both have amazing textured backgrounds and the cats are lovely. Never played with anything Wendy Vechi so not able to help, sorry :-) xxx

Claudine said...

Love both of these, I really like that tissue paper that you created. Beautiful! The second card with the metallic cat is awesome.

Becca Cruger said...

Hmmm I think the paste is designed to be fairly opaque, but it definitely absorbs ink - especially if you're using a water-reactive ink like Distress Ink. I haven't played with the gold - but I've played with the white and crackle. I'm liking the grungy backgrounds on these!

ionabunny said...

Thanks Becca, that certainly explains the effect I noticed the first time I used it, on a project I can't blog yet LOL. Ooh, suspense. Hugz

Pamellia said...

Fabulous Gail! I love the tissue paper technique and you have really great job creating texture and interest! I do also find that even clear pastes will absorb the colours, so I have been using a spray sealant to seal the inks before continuing with pastes and such. I tried Krylon Workable Fixative which works great and dries fast but the fumes are bad. It has been recommended to me to try Americanna, low odour sealant, so that's next on my list. Anyway, love the metallic kitty, until next time, big hugs :)

Kay Wallace said...

Two great ATCs, Gail! Rarely do things go as planned or expected! Ha!

Craftymoose Crafts said...

Both are really cute! The texture is excellent, and the foil cat is amazing!

Ruby said...

Cute cards.

DIANA L. said...

I saw you on Unity FWF
Both cards are super fun I think I will give it a try. I love that background
Have a Blessed day, DIANA L.
http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com http://dianamlarson.ctmh.com

Janis said...

Oh, you hit all my sweet spots with the cats, Gail!!! Love your altered playing cards. I haven't tried stamping and coloring on tissue. Sounds....eeek!...difficult. But your result is fabulous!!!
<3 J

jwoolbright at gmail dot com
HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

Mandi said...

Great cards love the backgrounds you created!

Tanya~Studio 5380 said...

These are so much fun! I've never tried this but I really love the way it turned out. Fabulous work!

Gaylynn said...

Very creative and unique. :)

Sue D said...

Very cool--I like the texture.

Dawn Fields said...

Stunning projects!

Kim said...

Adore altered playing cards and these are fantastic! Great shine on your cat card...so much fun! Thanks so much for playing along with the Make Art challenge!

Shirley said...

Beautiful makes Gail especially the background.

Thank you for sharing with us at Fashionable Stamping Challenges.

Warm crafty hugs from Shirl x x x
ShirlsCards.

Unknown said...

Brave girl doing this! Love the technique and stamp on the card!

Donna K said...

What a fun challenge. I just love these altered cards! Absolutely gorgeous. I must try this! Thank you for inspiring!!

Unknown said...

Very interesting and cool technique! I'm going to have to give it a try :) I'm glad you shared with us at Party Time Tuesdays!
Cheers!
Sara
www.PolkaDotRosie.blogspot.com

Mary Anne / MA54K said...

That tissue technique is so awesome! Wonderful cards!

ionabunny said...

Thanks for all your lovely comments. Thanks for the tips Pamellia. Hugz

Claire said...

Gorgeous artwork, what a fab background technique! Thanks so much for joining us at Fashionable Stamping Challenges this time
Claire xx

wendy vecchi said...

now that's a CUTE cat!
thanks for playing & sharing your art!