I Challenge Thee...

... Ellen and I have been at it again you know!  Well, actually, we set this challenge as a recipe for a crafty Skypey sesh way back in January and then poor Ellen got very sick so we decided to finish it "later" and blog "later".   Last Sunday we were yakking, as we do, and Ellen said "oh here's my I Challenge Thee from last time... finished!"  And I said... "oh whoops, I completely forgot about that...."  *or words to that effect lol*   So, we decided to blog this week and then poor old Grim got sick so we delayed it for a day (again, because mine was still languishing unfinished - hey, it wasn't even started!)  Finally, here it is!  Oh and the recipe... here's that too:

4" x 12" canvas
3 x mini square canvases - any orientation
Brand New &/or Unused Stamps
COLOURS:
Blue
Green
Black
White
"Pop" of Red
1 Metallic of choice
Washi Tape
A Crown

BTW, if you fancy using our recipe, please feel free... and do let us know what your creation looks like, we like to be nosey :O))   I used Claudine Hellmuth Studio paints... they are creamy and gorgeous and they blend perfectly, which means the way I applied the paints worked a treat.  I use one piece of Cut & Dry and imagine it is half and half for colour.  So, the Landscape Green is on one half of the foam... the Sky Blue is on the other half... so where they meet they blend together meaning no harsh lines when applying the paint to the canvas.  I apply it in a pouncy motion too, lots of light dabbery-tapping goes on and whilst the paints are still wet, I make sure I am blending them... once they dry, they are almost impossible to blend nicely - this goes for all kinds of paints too btw.

My mini canvases are about 3" square... each was covered with the paint and I edged all of them with Charcoal Black applied with a small piece of Cut & Dry Foam.  I tend to mask the fronts of the canvases so it isn't too messy.   I spied on the list "white"... well, where was that going to go huh?  White!  Pah!  So, I came up with a cunning plan.  Stamp my fave new background from Heirloom Art onto cosmetic tissue using Blank Canvas paint (which is white btw) and dry it, then pop it over the mini canvases with Glue & Seal... voila! It worked a treat and the stamping shows up without being too over the top.

I also added a smidge of white paint stamping behind the canvases but they got lost a bit by the time I added the mini ones on.  Measuring is never my strong point lol   The flowers are also new Studio 490 stamps, I popped the same green and blue paints onto cardstock and then overstamped with the flower... and gave them a spritz with Dirty Martini and Calypso Teal Dylusions sprays to add a bit of extra colour.  The sentiment was made by using my original piece of Cut & Dry and pouncing this onto cream cardstock.. you can see the blendy bit better on this.  The stamp is another new Studio 490 one, isn't it a FAB saying!  I realised I hadn't used "washi tape" so I made my own!  I coloured a strip of masking tape with A Dash of Red paint, drew a heart, cut it out and then popped it onto the middle canvas with a pen drawn line from the sentiment to the heart.  I used my Stabilo All pencil to add some shading around the sentiment and the heart too.  The ickle birdies have been living in my stash for 372 years so they were coloured with Distress Paints and I cut out some little crowns, coloured them Gold Dabber stylee and popped them onto the birdies.  The finishing touch is the Embellish Your Art resin blooms in the flower middles... how cute are they!  

Again, huge thank you's for all your lovely get well messages for my poorly man.  Oh bless him, he has been ever so ill this past few days and is still feeling rotten.   Right, I shall away... I have some more of those new Studio 490 stamps and I feel a late night playing coming on!  Don't forget to pop over and see Ellen's gorgeous creation... HERE.  Thanks for looking, Happy Valentine's Day y'all!  TTFN

Hels x