Monolith

I loved the idea of the new Visible Image monoliths and couldn't wait to order a pack, along with some of their stunning new stamps. Here's what I did with the first one.

I primed each side and the base with gesso, let it dry, then sponged with acrylic paints using a make up sponge to create landscapes. On the butterfly side I used the edge of the sponge to make some little flowers, which looked lovely. However, when it came to stamping the images, I couldn't fit in the ones I'd chosen without covering up the flowers, and I also decided the colours didn't look right, so I covered them up again with more paint!

I was aiming for the mood of each side to be different but still to complement each other, and the flowers just didn't work. The beauty of using the acrylic paint is that it was easy to get rid of them! Because the surface of the MDF became a little rough as the fibres swell a bit when painted, it was tricky to get a good stamped image, and I had to go over them in places with some ink and a paintbrush.

The large bird and tiny bird (Leave Your Fears set) are both on the one stamp, but I wanted the tiny bird to be further towards the corner, so I inked and stamped the two parts separately. I used the tiny bird on the other side as well, again to tie the two sides together. The butterflies (one stamped over the other) are from the  gorgeous new Own Kind Of Beautiful set, which is my new favourite Visible Image set! All stamps I've used are by Visible Image. To finish it off I sponged around all sides with pigment ink.

Here's a close look at each side.

I really enjoyed making my monolith. Now what to do with No. 2.........

July Challenge at Stamping Sensations

Well, it's time for a new challenge at Stamping Sensations, and we have what I believe will be a very popular theme for you this month!

* * * * * ANYTHING GOES WITH A STAMP AND RIBBON * * * * *

Who doesn't like adding a ribbon or two to their creations?! We're sponsored by the fabulous Crafty Ribbons, who have a superb range of ribbons, buttons, lace and more for your crafting needs. They have given us a fantastic bundle of ribbons and embellishments for this month's lucky winner.

I recently acquired the gorgeous new Bigz Butterfly 1 from Inkylicious, and couldn't wait to ink it up! I stamped it on to watercolour paper and coloured it with Be Creative alcohol markers, then masked it and sponged, stamped and stencilled the background. I added some shading around the butterfly with coloured pencil to make it stand out a bit. All stamps by Inkylicious. Tim Holtz Mixed Media die used as stencil. I mounted the finished design on to the base card along with a strip of patterned paper (PDA), sheer and satin ribbons, and pearl embellishments which I coloured with the alcohol markers to match the ribbon.

The base card is 7" x 5", which gives you an idea of the size of the butterfly, which is simply stunning.

In the knowledge that people will be busy with holidays and summer activities this month we've kept the theme nice and simple, so I hope lots of you will find time to enter for a chance of winning that gorgeous prize! We look forward to seeing your projects!