Wednesday, 20 April 2016

April's Forgotten Stash

My monthly quest to use or move along stash that I've forgotten about is still going strong and for April I've chosen three little leaf stamps by Impress.  I have many leaf stamps but they are all quite realistic and I use them a lot.  However, these are more stylised - when I first saw them they really appealed to me, but I'm afraid I just put them away and forgot about them! 

I decided to emboss them onto my very favourite fabric of the moment - this vivid green velvet!  For anyone interested in embossing velvet I have some instructions on an old blog post here.    





I must admit I'm rather taken with the stamps and am now thinking of other ways to use them, so perhaps they'll stay with me for a little while longer!  The samples will probably end up in my Spring sketch book, or I might make cards with them as they are just about small enough.
   
I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday.

34 comments:

  1. lovely spring green, you also could link up with Carolyne Dube's link party Let's play where this month is to use up your stash,. happy WOYWW from Vicky #10

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  2. I SO love what you have made with the gorgeous lime green velvet fabric and all the other bits and bobs, adorable. BJ#17

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  3. I think every week that surely I can't love this bit of work more...and then I visit your blog and fall in love again! Wow, this embossed velvet is glorious, I adore the green and the stylised stamp, a match made in heaven. 💖💖💖💖
    Looking forward to seeing you next week,
    Hugs, LLJ 14 xxx

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  4. You manage to take my breath away every week. Simply stunning and I will now be going over your old posts to look at that amazing technique.
    sandra de @11

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  5. I am so glad you decided to keep these stamps I think they are gorgeous. I love what you have done with them. Embossing velvet sounds complicated. Who would think it was such an easy technique and so effective. I love these pieces, but then I love everything that you do Diana.

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  6. Fabulous, love the green too. Take care Zo xx 35

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  7. O oh, I can see something else to add to my list of awesome things to try! Love the effect, sounds so easy ..... will read the instructions carefully and have to give this a go! Happy Wednesday, Cindy #29

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  8. Wow, Diana, that velvet embossing is beautiful. I will have to go have at look at the 'How to'- I think you may see this popping up on lots of blogs, we all seem to love it! Have a great week, Hugs, Shaz #8 xxx

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  9. Stunning! I must hop over and check out the original blog! Elaine no 24

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  10. Your fabric collage is amazing with this stamped velvet! So cool!

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  11. What beautiful work and thank you for sharing the technique. I love th colour of your velvet. Enjoy the rest of your day. Barb x #26

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  12. I haven't done velvet stamping in years! (I made pillows for Christmas one year.) Yours is gorgeous!!! Happy WOYWW!
    Carol N #47

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  13. Wow - what a great technique and of course, so beautifully embellished as usual. If you call by my blog you will see how you have inspired me to "have a go" with my little collages. Thanks for showing us your lovely work. x Jo #51

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  14. SO, so lovely! I'm just in awe of your work! Happy Wednesday, LisaDV #48

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  15. I am in the office reading this and can see in much more detail than on my iphone or pad. They look really good Diana. I'm going to have a look at the process, its very interesting. I love how you have embellished them.
    Lynn xx 20

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  16. I had no idea you could emboss velvet! It looks amazing! Will follow the link to find out how you did it! Have a happy week! zsuzsa #36

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  17. Wow that's really beautiful. I never would have thought to emboss velvet. I should challenge myself to use bits I haven't used before.

    Have a great week
    Sharon K #49

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  18. This looks stunning! Every time you come up with these incredible creations! Awesome!
    Hugs
    Gabriele 53

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  19. Gorgeous Diana, great choice of colours too. Have a happy woyww, Angela x 25

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  20. Beautiful forgotten stash Diana. Great to see the green velvet again. Xx

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  21. Wow! How fantastic are these two creations, utterly gorgeous!!

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  22. Fabulous stamps, used to perfection! I love your forgotten stash projects, such a great idea!

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  23. Thank you for your nice comment Diana. I forgot to mention that you can get a discount on Rubberdance stamps by using the code Gabriele2016. Just saying...

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  24. More totally stunning work, Diana! I keep thinking you can't possibly excel yourself yet again, but you do! Funnily enough I was thinking about embossing some velvet myself - I rescued an old velvet cushion cover recently and thought it would be ideal for this. Have you tried embossing Angelina fibre? That's a really fun technique too. I love the beadwork you have done, and the white fillet lace and flowers which really set it off. Your use of materials is always amazingly just spot on!

    Happy belated WOYWW,
    Shoshi #62

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  25. Such beautiful fabric work - the embossing looks amazing on that thick velvet. It brings those stylised leaves to life so well. And I love how the fresh green looks against the other neutral fabrics. Gorgeous!
    Alison x

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  26. So beautiful...that spring green is so wonderful. I love your leaves.

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  27. Thank you for your return visit, Diana, and for your lovely comment. Close up, my roses aren't that good yet - part of the problem is going over the yellow two or three times, and this destroys the lovely flow and sponteneity of the single brushstroke that characterises this style of painting. Thank you for the tip about mixing in some titanium white - I must try that! This morning I spent a short while experimenting with my Dylusions paints which do seem to be more opaque and the yellow was better, although it's a paler, more lemony shade and needs some red mixed in - the main problem now is my brushes, which are either not the right size or worn out or not good enough quality - I'm ordering some new ones off Ebay! I'll get there in the end, and practise makes perfect.

    As for the velvet embossing, I'm not going to use it as a cushion cover as it's rather a strange rectangular shape and the velvet is a bit worn in places. I'm going to cut it up and use it for other things. Angelina fibre is a fusible, very fine and soft synthetic fibre which is quite iridescent, available in lots of different colours. It fuses to itself but not to anything else - I recently got some fusible powder for attaching it to other things, called Bo Nash Fuse It, which is like the stuff on the back of iron-on interfacing but in powder form. You can lay some angelina fibre onto a rubber stamp face up, and then put on some parchment paper and iron it, and it will fuse where the stamp makes contact with the iron. You can see one I did using a stamp by Designs by Ryn:

    http://shoshiplatypus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/card-for-ryn.html

    I've just read through that post again and see that you commented on it! I'd completely forgotten about that, the same as you apparently lol lol! Anno domini... Reading it again, I've reminded myself that you can also use wooden printing blocks for this technique so I must dig them out and experiment a bit.

    Don't you just love the exchange of ideas here on WOYWW? We all learn so much from each other!

    Have a great week.
    Shoshi x

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  28. So pretty Diana ... I love all the contrasts here, the lights and darks, different textures..... so appealing.

    Karenx

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  29. I fell in love with your embossed velvet before, now I remember why! I printed out the instructions as well, I'm sure they're in a pile somewhere. I guess the first step would be buying some velvet. I absolutely love how these turned out, especially on that glorious green - definitely keepers!

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  30. Haha Diana - thanks for your fun response! You made me smile too! I'd completely forgotten we'd corresponded sbout this too. It's been a long time since I visited that post and I'd forgotten some of the details. I am going to try using my wood blocks for this too. Not all stamps (or all colours of Angelina) work terribly well so it's worth experimenting. The more deeply etched the stamp, the better, and not too complex a design either.

    I've found the brushes I want on Ebay so have ordered them. My Dylusions paints seemed to work a bit better (the yellow one at least, although it's too pale). I've got a bit more experimenting to do but I know I'll crack this problem eventually, and hopefully with your tip re the titanium white I'll get a bit more opacity.

    Thanks again!
    Shoshi

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  31. Oh my goodness - I AM behind!! So glad I didn't miss this - LOVE that green velvet and shall definitely investigate the embossing of velvet - thank you for providing the link! Thanks for your inspiration to reacquaint one's self with all the stash - love what you are doing as you travel through yours! xxx Lynn

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  32. Sorry not to have commented on this before. I have been missing in action with 6 weeks of chest infection and beastly cold, it certainly stole my oomph! Now I am playing catch up with everything! Anyway, just wanted to say what beautiful results you have achieved with this green velvet, Perfect for stamping into and such perfect results. I love the projects you have created, as always so beautiful. Elaine

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  33. I have just had the nicest time visiting you and as always am so delighted by your creativity and sharing Diana!
    You have taken those embossed velvet pieces to new heights with all of your artful touches ♥♥♥
    Happy May oxo
    p.s. embossing on velvet was one of the things that brought me back after a family tragedy many years ago...I feared I would never create anything again but forced myself to take a class and made accordion book covers (lots of them for gifts!)... velvet is such a yummy fabric and the magic that happens with the iron and stamps!

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  34. You've made me want to go and buy some velvet just so I can try this out...but I will resist. Another wonderful post. I do love your work. Ruth x

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