Saturday 9 February 2008

Knave of Hearts

Wow - I saw this in the Graphicus Sale - Knave of Hearts and at half price ! I wasn't too sure what I might use it for but at £6.25 you can't go wrong. Boy was I wrong - ( gob smacked as they say in Yorkshire ) the detail in this set of stamps is fantastic and I hope the pictures go someway to showing this.
My first reaction that sprang to mind was the old Medieval architecture, the colours of the stonework and etchings as often seen in these old places and I've tried to bring this out in the card.

1. Using direct to paper techiniques I created an old stone effect background, over the top of this I stamped the large acanthus styled design in a deeper shade, then over this in various shades used in the DTP I randomly stamped the crown.


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2. The border edging on the left and bottom of the card was stamped using a sage green with an odd hint of holly green. The emblem in the bottom corner was a flourish stamp which was then embossed in copper to resemble a seal ( no - not the ones that live in water ! ). I'll explain about the top right emblem lower down.


2.

3. The scroll was made by taking some paper and aging it using Vandyke crystals dissolved in distilled water and used in a spray bottle. You can add more or less water dependant on the depth of stain you require. I made sure that I also did the back of the paper where I was going to roll it. When dry I stamped the Knave using Versafine Sepia and also added the border stamp to the top and bottom.

4. The scroll edges were torn and then inked with a copper ink pad. I used one of my paint brushes to roll the scroll and some good ol' double sided tape to ensure it stays in place. I placed the scroll on the card as though it wasn't attached, just a bit of tape under the top and bottom of the scroll but with the scroll centre off the page, this gives it some movement as though it had just been unrolled.

4.


5. The copper emblem, made by triple embossing a piece of card with copper colour embossing powder, on the 3rd embossing while the powder is still fluid stamp into it.
The verdigris aged effect was done by allowing the embossing to crack and then using my sage and holly ink pads to rub into the embossing.

5.


Overall I was really pleased with the stamp set, even more so as I have also purchased the matching Queen of Hearts set too ! But that's another story that will be coming to a blog near you very soon !

6 comments:

Glenda Waterworth said...

hi Deby

I love what you've done with these stamps - the scroll and the colours are just perfect. I hope you'll use the Queen to make a matching pair? I've always loved these stamps, they were some of the very first designs I did back in the early days of Elusive Images! Thank you so much for sharing.
Glenda

Deby said...

Thanks Glenda,

I've spent today playing with the Queen of Hearts - very nice Lady she is too !

I'm just trying a few new ideas with her as I really want to show off the detail in the stamps, even my husband has noticed so much detail in them from the sweet little dog/lion that sits at the feet on the Knave and the Stag at the Queens.

I'm still so taken aback by them and what an unbelievable bargain !

Anonymous said...

Deby, your use of the Knave is fantastic. You really are good! Can't wait to see what you do with the Queen of Hearts.

Must say I debated over those stamps quite a bit while the sale was on but I ordered so much recently, I decided I had to draw a line somewhere.

Perhaps it's a good thing though 'cos I've got so many new goodies to try that I've not had time to open the packaging on yet.

By the way did you say that you used H2os on your acetate dragonflies on your other DTP piece? If so could you tell me what medium you used to make them bind to the acetate. It's something I've been wanting to try for ages and haven't been able to find out what to use. I'd be really grateful for the advice.

Lesley GG197 X

Deby said...

Thank you Lesley.
The Queen will be here in the next day or two, just been doing a bit of research courtesy of the British Library online - more will be revealed !

I too went a bit ballastic in Glendas sale, ordered loads but these two sets just really caught my eye when upacking the parcel. The rest I haven't touched yet even though I was so desperate for the new Damask ones !

When using H20's with acetate I just make sure that they aren't too watery - more like a guey paste and paint on the reverse of your stamped image, dependant on what effect you want you can build the colour up. If you still find it's not sticking as you'd like then use a little really fine sandpaper on the back before painting. On things like the dragonflies you have to be careful handling them afterwards but my daughter makes fairy acetate aperture cards and she doesn't colour them in untill after she has fixed the acetate in place in the card, she can then leave it standing while it dries.

Deby x

Anonymous said...

Thanks very much Deby. I'll have a go with the H20s soon. The advice is greatly appreciated.

You have really piqued my curiosity about the Queen of Hearts. Can't wait to see the results.

Lesley X

Gail Is This Mutton? said...

Thanks for sharing the technique...I have used H2Os on acetate and agree they shouldn't be too watery. Good luck!