Art and crafting by Rebecca Davies-Sandall. Art journaling, Spectrum Noir Design Team, Crafters Companion, paper crafting, mixed media, stamping and more.
Have you seen the new Crafter’s Companion Subscription boxes yet? Each month they are packed with lots of products to get you started making projects straight from the box. I was lucky enough to be asked to make some samples using the July 2018 box which happens to be based on the Sparkle pens! You get over 130 elements which includes 3 sparkle pens (a yellow, a blue and a pink/red) which are all the colours you need to get started with sparkle pens, cute 4” card blanks and envelopes, clear stamp sheet, plain watercolour card, watercolour card with white embossed images, watercolour card with printed images ready to colour and coloured paper for matting and layering. I wish we had sparkle vision as it never shows in photos – but basically imagine that everywhere these pens have touched is sparkling with microfine glitter.
Apart from glue and foam pads, I’ll mention on each sample if I’ve used anything else in addition to the box…
I’m sharing something a little different today created using the gorgeous 6” Paper Pad, Twine, Lace and Stamp set from the Vintage Tea Party Collection. These papers work fabulous on their own but I’m showing you a few samples on how to make the most of the stamp set in addition. These cards and more have been sent off to be shown on HSN in Germany.
If you are in the UK this collection is already available from Crafter’s Companion directly.
Stamped and coloured using Spectrum Aqua pens. Plus a little Stickles glitter glue.
I created a shadow box for this sample and the image was created by masking a few stamps together and coloured using Spectrum Noir Colourblend pencils.
This aperture card was created by distressing the edge of the paper using Aqua pens and glycerin technique. The image is coloured with Aqua pens.
Brace yourselves – the eagerly anticipated Spectrum Noir Metallic Brush Pens are heading to Hochanda for the UK launch!!! The pens are dual-nibbed with both fine and brush nibs. They are waterbased which allows you to work them the same as your other waterbased pens but these dry fairly quickly and become waterproof! They are highly pigmented and also are very opaque. All of this means that they work on a number of surfaces, including glass, ceramic and embellishments. You can also layer them up very easily. For more inspiration see my samples that I made for the HSN/USA Launch here: Metallic Brush Pen USA Launch
These new metallic pens from Spectrum Noir are amazing! They are highly pigmented and opaque which means they are they can be layered and are amazing on dark backgrounds including black card. They have dual nibs (bullet and brush) which means that they will be a complete game changer for both dark colorista colouring pads AND brush lettering!!! They are water based pens so you can try out your favourite water-based techniques but are stable once dry. The pens come in 2 packs of 6 colours and will be demoed firstly on HSN in USA and coming soon to Hochanda in the UK.
Summary: I LOVED using these pens!
Images from Colorista Dark pad: Under the Sea
Sentiment: brush lettering on top of Crafter’s Companion script lettering stamps.
Coloured with Spectrum Noir Metallic Brush Pens
Embossing folder and stamps/die by Sheena Douglass Day of the Dead collection
Premium black pad from Spectrum Noir
You can stamp or emboss black card for interesting colouring effects. I have also coloured straight over clear embossing with somehow goes super shiny.
After taking a break from making art journal videos to knuckle down and finish my final dance teaching qualifications I’m pleased to say that I am back! I really enjoy art journaling so I’m hoping I can get back into a regular routine for you.
In this first video of the new series I’ve decided to demonstrate some of my colouring techniques with you as this will be my first video since becoming part of the Spectrum Noir design team. This entire spread was inspired by my daughter (who micromanaged the different stages lol x) (Scroll down for video…)
YouTube Partnership Changes
Before we get into it I have a few points to make: firstly, my channel has been affected by the recent changes to YouTube’s policies and now all of my videos that I worked hard to make have become demonetised. This basically means that I can no longer receive ad revenue (which was only pennies on my channel) but it was a very good incentive for me to carry on creating and sharing content. It also helped me justify buying another art journal or replacing supplies that ran out. In order to get monetised in the future I need to greatly increase the number of hours my videos are watched by people. Each video takes several days to create, then edit the footage, produce the final video and give you the blog entry listing all the materials, etc. If you would like to support my channel (for free!) then the best thing would be to subscribe to my channel and maybe watch a playlist or two on there from time to time. This, as well as liking and commenting on my videos, lets me know that you like my content and that you’d like to see more. Of course, if you’re a company and would like to sponsor me to make a video using your products then please get in touch too!
Voiceovers or Background Music
I’ve had a chance to reflect on comments made and there have been some occasions that people have said they would prefer a voiceover and/or more descriptions of what I’m doing to help them make similar artwork or learn from my techniques. I am super happy to start doing voiceovers for you but I also know that other people prefer to have the background music as they find the videos quite relaxing to watch. Therefore, for this video I’ve created TWO versions – one with voiceovers and one without. To help me know which format you would like to see in the future please comment on the video that works best for you.
Materials Used
Templates and Stamps from Paperbabe: Female Profile, Long & Fringe and Profile Face Stamp Set
Spectrum Noir Colorblend Pencils
Skin: Walnut, Saddle Brown, Vanilla, Peach, Cream and Linen
