They Call Them The Diamond Dogs by Moira Sutton

I was contemplating one of our paper mache Torso's when I came over all Moulin Rougey! The Diamond Dogs was the name given to the dancers at the Moulin Rouge, so I decided to try a small homage to them.

To cover the torso I spritzed copy paper with lots of spray inks in deep red and purple shades, tore them in pieces and dipped each piece in water for a moment to soften it so it was pliable, an then stuck to the Torso with Ranger Glue n Seal. When dry I added some images cut out from the Prima "Moulin Rouge" 6 x 6 pad, added feathers and bling from stash. 

The skirt is a scarf that I had managed to damage so it got recycled. The fringe tassel shawl is a recycled scarf and those tassels mean it has "dangly things" which fits our theme for the current Challenge of "Dangly Things".

New Challenge Theme - Dangly Things by Carol Fox

This key ring features the Lost Coast Designs "Three Flying Flower Girls" stamp which has been coloured with alcohol inks and embellished with charms.

In response to lots of requests we are changing our Challenge to make it easier for people to enter.  From now on challenges will run for one month and you can enter in one of 3 ways:

• Blog your entry and use the Linky widget below to link to your blog entry
• Load to the Happy Daze Facebook Page
• Sent a pic by email to info@happy-daze.net 

The current challenge ends at Midnight Sunday 31 July 2011. Any type of work based on the theme is fine. One entry will be drawn at random to win a £15.00 Gift Voucher plus free P&P for the Happy Daze shop. Maximum of 3 entries per person. Entries must use at least one product which can be purchased in the Happy Daze shop.

Could it be magic? by Carol Fox

A bit Barry Manilow there I know lol. But the new Magic gloss resin that is in the shop surely is magic. I got a bottle last week and since then I have been busy trying it out on different surfaces and in different ways and in no way has it failed, add to that the fact that it sets in 10 minutes under a UV light and I am one Happy Bunny.
I have four items to share with you, all using the resin on a different surface to see how it behaves.
This small flip top shrine was stuck onto a piece of Gaffer tape and filled from one side in layers so the small watch cogs were "floated" in it. I then flipped it and filled the side that was originally stuck down on the tape adding a few more cogs in the final layer. It had dried crystal clear and looks lovely (It just was very hard to photograph as it is so shiny.


This is one of the small wooden boxes from the shop that I have altered using paint and rubber stamping. I wanted to see how the resin would dry when it was quite deep in a glass watch front. I set all the cogs in this in the one go so at the deepest point there is about 1cm of resin and it dried really well. Again ignore the nasty bit of camera glare on the lid.


Now this one was the real test. I have tried a few brands of resin and I have never found one that sets well over a stamped stazon image.

I stamped the image on the back of the optical lens using the StazOn. poured on the resin waited for it to smudge the image as it usually did but it was fine, so after a few minutes of doing the happy dance I flipped it and added a couple off cogs and a game spinner to the front, layered it in the resin and there it was in under 20 minutes it all set and made instead of the overnight wait that I usually have.


Lastly a basic pair of cuff links. I just wanted to see how easy it was to dome the resin well and to get a good finish on a basic item like this. I filled these in layers to get a good float affect with them and then I finally domed on a final layer to finish them off. Perfect and the thin layers dried in 5 minutes so these were really quick to make.
Also this resin in odour free and no mixing is involved so if you have ever fancied using resin but the smell or the mixing has put you off, look no further I think this is the perfect product.

A Postcard from Faraway

This is a postcard for out current Facebook challenge featuring my favourite gesso resist technique with Jenni Bowlin and Distress inks, stamps are Glitz Distress Stamps, Leopard Queen, French Text, Splatter long and Splatter Blob from Stampotique Orignals, Cancel from Scrolls Work and Faraway from Paperbag Studios.

A Postcard from London

For the Happy Daze Facebook challenge  "Postcard"  Helen Chilton has used the new Artistic Outpost stamps London Underground and Loverley London to make this card.  She built up a background in red and blue using various stamps from both plates. Each time I’ve used the second impression of the stamp as I didn’t want it to be too dark. I’ve then trimmed it and stamped over in black. Then she sploshed around a bit (technical term) with the Wild Honey inkpad. It’s mounted onto a white card that’s been stamped in red and blue, over-coloured with Wild Honey and then stamped with words in black.

The Greatest Show On Earth

A postcard sized concoction in keeping with the current theme on the Facebook page. Using Artsitic Outpost stamps from the plates Vintage Circus and Send In The Clowns. Other odd stamps have been used as fillers.
The background has been done with Claudine hellmuth Paints, and the tickets and wording were coloured using Distress Inks.

On the Tiles by Helen Chilton

 

These London coasters are very quick and easy to make. The tiles came in a box of 25 and were called ‘satin finish’ – the surface is matte and much easier to stamp on than the glossy tiles.

Stamps used:

Artistic Outpost: London Underground; Loverly London

  

Other Materials:

Coaster tiles: satin white

Stazon inkpads: Jet Black; Black Cherry; Hydrangea Blue

Krylon pen: gold

Glossy spray varnish

Step by Step:

1.    Get everything together: StazOn inkpads, tile and cotton 

wool balls. 

 

2.    Sponge on the colour, leaving a white gap in middle. 

 

3.    Use the newspaper text stamp to add tone on tone stamping.

 

4.    Start stamping in black, building up a collage picture. Use parts of stamps to fill in gaps. 

5.    Add the gold krylon pen round the edge.  

6.    Varnish to seal and add felt underneath if desired. 

Postcard Challenge

Our new Facebook Challenge is Postcards, make anything you like as long as it is 6 x 4 inches - flat or as deep as tou like! Joanne Wardle has made thiis piece to get us started using the Gorjuss Girl "Flying Above it All" stamp.   

Closing date is midnight Sunday 26th June and one entry will be drawn at random to win a £15 Gift Voucher plus free P&P fror the Happy Daze shop.  Entries must use at least one item which can be purchased from the shop and there is a maximum of 3 entries per person. Looking forward to seeing your work.

A Dolly Card for the Dolly Challenge

Joanne Wardle has used Scrollswork Stamps, a Crafters Workshop mask and Jennie Bowlin ink to create this Dolly themed card. 

Don't  forget the challenge closes at midnight on Sunday 12 June, so for a chance to win a £15 Gift Voucher plus free P&P just load your dolly themed work, any type of work, to our Facebook or sent it to info@happy-daze.net and we will load it for you.  Winners are drawn at random.