Blog Hop with Catherine Scanlon Designs and Art Gone Wild!

I am absolutely thrilled to be part of Catherine Scanlon's blog hop today (my first ever) showcasing her wonderful stamps from Art Gone Wild. 

Catherine has been a wonderful friend and teacher to me over the last few years - leading me into mixed media work and encouraging me in so many ways with the result that I feel I have managed to find my own mixed media style. It is therefore a pleasure, and an honour, to be supporting her today.

You can see the current collection of Catherine's stamps and stencils in this wonderful catalogue HERE and the Summer 2013 release HERE at Art Gone Wild. To see a list of stores (on-line and in person) that carry the stamps you can go to Catherine's blog and look at the link here.

  

In the UK Catherine's stamps are available from the Artistic Stamper - click the link HERE to see the lovely range that Jennie is currently stocking. More stamps and masks are on the way - so do revisit.

So to the blog hop and I am super excited to see what this wonderful talented group has created! If you have come to my blog from Nathalie's then you are nearly through! If you are starting with me then you might want to start with Catherine and work you way through.

• Art from the Heart by Catherine Scanlon Designs: www.cmscanlon.blogspot.com
• This Art that Makes me Happy by Vicki Chrisman: http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/
• The Mermaid's Closet by Martha Richardson: http://themermaidscloset.blogspot.com/
• Pearl Maple by Mandy Collins: http://pearlmaple.blogspot.com/
• Kooky Delucy by Kathie DeLuca: http://kookydelucy.blogspot.com/
• n*Studio by Nat Kalbach: http://www.nathaliesstudio.com/
• You are here:  Live the Dream by Jennie Atkinson: http://jennie-livethedream.blogspot.com/

And so to my project - I have made a small words book from a set of beer mats I picked up in a pub recently! As they were black (Carling Black Label!) they took a little covering with Paper Artsy Fresco Finish Chalk Paints, but I love the finish.

I used the fabulous Black Eyed Susan stamp on the cover and inside the Edna's Flowers set.

Each beer mat got a covering of gesso then a mixture of Orchid and Pansy Fresco Paints with a bit of Snowflake on the top.

On the reverse side I used the Pansy Fresco Paint and when dry gave it a coating of Crackle Glaze and then Snowflake Fresco Paint.  I just love this finish!

Once everything was dry it was out with the Grunge Paste and some Tim Holtz masks to create a bit of texture.  I then stamped the flowers over the top in Arcival ink.

After that it was great fun painting the flowers with the same Fresco Paints.

Finally I stamped a flourish in Dusty Concord Distress Ink over the Crackle Glaze and some of my favourite Tim Holtz life quotes.

I do hope you enjoy this blog hop and the wonderful versatility of Catherine's stamps. I love the clear drawn lines of these flowers which are fabulous for just adding colour, but they also look great cut out and layered too. 

Do leave a comment on Catherine's blog by Friday April 18th as she has a few prizes to give away. Make sure you leave an email address when you comment as she will be picking two winners!

Thank you for visiting!

Jennie x