Christmas Cracker 1- Sanded Foundations

Leandra from PaperArtsy has put together a fab video showing how to tint grunge paste and then after it's dried to sand it back, see here.

I've used the method on another page in my journal - I've used distress inks (Peeled Paint & Faded Jeans) for the background as I wanted to flick this with water to mirror the rain day here today. I tinted my GP with Tinned Peas and Guacamole for the stems and Blood Orange and Claret for the flowers (all become one colour though).

This stencil is mini cornflowers by The Crafters Workshop - I got in a bit of a mess with the smaller flowers, need to invest in a mini spatula.

To finish the page off I've added some stamping in Mowed Lawn and a few butterflies that were floating around.

Happy New Year !

Journal Page Inspired by Jo Myhill

Well I hope everyone has had a truly wonderful Christmas. I've family coming to mine today then it's definitely diet time !

I loved all three of Jo's projects over at PaperArtsy this week, see here for her first one.  I've used some of the ideas from this project for a journal page.  I've firstly painted the page in Fresco Moonlight and Pansy.  Then I scrunched up some preprinted tissue I wanted to use and applied it with matt medium, keeping lots of texture in it - apart from where the birds are. This was a bit too white so I've used DI in Dusty Concord and Milled Lavender to tone it down.

Then came the scary bit of adding the GP - I was intending to apply a thickish layer but loved the way a thin layer hi-lighted the texture in the tissue. I went over this in DI again and watered down Pansy Fresco paint.

To keep to the birds theme I've added a picture from an old book - I cadged a few pages from a shop in Camden a while ago, wish I had the whole thing though. I've perhaps created a new species as it had to be coloured in purple DI to match ! 

An escape from Christmas preparation !

I didn't think I'd have time to make anything this week but with most of my Christmas preparations done I thought I'd spend a while in my craft room. I took inspiration from the last of Liz Borer's projects over at PaperArtsy. Before ploughing straight into a whole book cover I've made a tag to test out the techniques - need to practise the mock fabric panel a bit more (and get it straight next time lol). The colours I'veg used are Eggplant, Pansy, Nougat, Very Berry and Snowflake. (the colours aren't quite true on the finished project - not enough light yet for a good picture)   

Wishing everyone a Very Happy Christmas !

Christmas Stocking

I thought it was about time I started thinking about wrapping and making sure I've everyone's present.  I've a couple of small items I wanted to make a box for.  My friend Karen popped round this week and we made a couple of these stockings - fiddly but worth the effort. 

I'm entering this into the PaperArtsy challenge this week which showed a number of different bag and boxes.



Lin Brown Workshop

I was lucky enough to attend a Lin Brown workshop with my friend Karen a few weeks ago, I've been meaning to post these pictures ever since.  This was a fantastic day and flew by - cutting out so many flowers by hand certainly takes some time !

Christmas House !

Beginning to feel a bit Christmassy  - Jo Myhill and Darcy Wilkinson have showed us some really imaginative projects over at PaperArtsy this week, see here. I was inspired to work on the house that been on my desk for months now.
This had a coat of Tinned Peas, crackle glaze and the Honey Dew.  The top and sides were stencilled with a spot of GP and then blended in with some more Honey Dew.  I've also added some treasure gold hi-lights.
I was a bit stuck when it came to the decorations as mine as still safely stashed away in the loft, so I decided to make my own to add to the bauble I made last week.  OK, I cheated with the robin  - couldn't resist him when I was shopping earlier.
All the decorations are removable as I might give it a make over after Christmas!

 

Lady Plaque Inspired by Liz Borer

I really loved both of Liz Borer's project this week but was inspired by the colours and feel of her third project.  I started with Honey Dew and a touch of Tinned Peas round the edge. The central panel is a Very Berry wash the stencilled over in Very Berry.

I then stamped the border and girl from School days plate 1 - the border is on tissue paper.  I did have a go at grunge paste painting - OMG how difficult is this ? in the end I edged the shapes I cut in paste and painted, gilded and dotted with liquid pearls. In end I quite pleased how all the bits came together.



Mini Project

My first project for this week was a mini one inspired by Darcy's Christmas ideas over at PaperArtsy.  I love using crackle but had never thought to use it over treasure gold - now hooked !

I painted this little bauble shape in LBD fresco paint, dabbed on treasure gold (this looked good as well), dabbed on crackle glaze then painted in Nougat.  To reveal some more of the gold I've also distressed the edges.  From the start this shape reminded me of a skinny lemon so I've made so leave using wire and seed beads.

Must get back to my next project !

Christmas Cards !

Thank you Joanne Wardle, I now have 3 Christmas cards made for this year !  Joanne has come up with 3 really different ideas using the wonderful JOFY stamps, see the step by step instructions over at PaperArtsy here.

The batch idea is excellent. though I still couldn't leave them all exactly the same lol ! They just needed a bit of sparkle or bling.

You never know I might just be finished in time for Christmas x



Tags Inspired by Alison Bomber

I really wanted to have a go at a little house "similar" to the one Alison has shown us over at PaperArtsy this week, see here.  I've had one of these sitting on my desk since the first Ally Pally show earlier this year but time hasn't been on my side this week.

I was inspired to have a go at mixing fresco paints and distress inks as a background.  I love how these have turned out and will definitely use this method again. 

I stencilled first of all with Space Cadet and Lake Wanaka (yes they're my new favourites!) then blended over bundled sage, peeled paint and mowed lawn distress inks. I was going to stamp something on the background in white the same as Alison but changed my mind and stencilled with grunge paste and hi-lighted with treasure gold instead.  The stamps are British wild flowers from Creative Expressions.  I think I might make these up into cards later.

Using my new paints - Inspired by Jo Myhill

My work this week is inspired by project 3 from Jo Myhill over at PaperArtsy, see here.  As soon as I saw this I knew that this would be a great idea to use my new paints on - these are Lake Wanaka, Space Cadet and Antarctic.

I used space cadet on the grey board first, crackle glaze then lake wanaka. I couldn't find a small stamp that worked well paint so opted for faded jeans distress ink instead.  The flowers are cut out of black card and embossed, 2 painted in lake wanaka and sanded back to the dots and one painted in antarctic and edged in space cadet.  I found these lovely little word brads in my stash earlier this week so opted for them rather then separate text. The top looked a bit bare so I've stamped a butterfly (ELB02) onto to patterned paper and cut out.

Just love these new colours ! 

Quick thank you card

Personally I find the clean and simple styles harder to do - Joanne Wardle has given us 3 such projects this week over at PaperArtsy.  I did intend to have a go at the first project, a fab technique for all manner of cards, but couldn't resist using my "leaf window" as a stencil for the background. The main leaf is Ferro with gilding wax on top. This is something I'll definitely but using for added interest to men's cards in the future. Thank you Joanne !

Second project inspired by Alison Bomber

I really loved Alison third project of the week - it was so fun and quirky - but as I don't have any stamps with faces on them I was a bit stuck. I have how ever used the inspiration from her project for the background and also the buttons from her second project for the middle of the flowers.

   

Journal Page Inspired by Alison Bomber at PaperArtsy

Well thanks to the very talented Alison I've completed my second ever journal page !  I've followed alot of the techniques she showed us over at PaperArtsy in her brilliant step by step guide, see here, and had great fun in the process. I think spraying is now one my new favourite techniques ! I did get a bit messy though lol

My background is an old map so I've stuck to the red and blues on this as my colour scheme.

PaperArtsy Challenge inspired by Jo Myhill

Jo has treated us to a myriad of techniques over on the PaperArtsy blog this week, see here.  I can't wait to try the image transfer but need to get some satin glaze.

I've incorporated bits from all of her projects - I've layered together two boards for the background - used grunge paste to give a rough texture to the smaller heart and stencil with on the strips - pleated lace - crackled (of course!) - applied gilding wax - and got lovely and messy in the process. Most people at work wear nail varnish but I turn up with paint and gilding wax under my nails ! lol

I've left the pendant on the smaller heart empty as I think I'm going to give this to my daughter, I'm sure she'll want to put a picture of her and her boyfriend in it.

   



Fabric Picture

I enjoyed creating my fabric panel so much I decided to have another go - on a smaller scale this time using a very pretty stamp from PaperArtsy, HP1109EX. I also crackled the frame using Pansy as the base coat, topped with Stone. 

Fabric Painting inspired by Liz Borer

The wonderful thing about following the fantastic PaperArtsy blog is the wide range of work you get to see from their guests. This week is the turn of Liz Borer, check out her projects here.
From following this blog I've attempted projects/techniques I wouldn't have otherwise thought of or wouldn't have had the courage to have a go at.

Liz has made some beautiful projects this week with fabric.  So armed with a value brand pillow case as my material off I started - very nervously to begin with.

Here's the initial stamping using 2 of the JOFY stamps sets;

Then the finished painted panel - not sure how I'm going to use it yet, I think may be frame it as a picture. I was thinking a cushion front but then I couldn't wash it.  I would like to find out what paint to use that would give a permanent on say aprons, cushions etc.

The paints I've used are;

Butterflies - moon light and eggplant
Leaves - tinned peas
Flowers - claret and butternut
Background - honey dew, hey pesto, butternut and moon light

To finish off I've made a couple of buttons and hi-lighted the large flowers with some gold seed beads.

Thank you Liz for the inspiration and great tutorial.



CaS Inspired by Joanne Wardle

Just a quick post this week - how difficult was this ? ....very....the temptation to add something more is unbelievable.  No layers, no crackle, no stencils, no dimensional paste.......

But thank you Joanne over at PaperArtsy for the great idea. This is something I'll definitely use for a quick card and to use stamps that don't get much of an outing.

My First Triptych!

This week has been Alison Bomber's first week as the guest over at PaperArtsy and what a brilliant week it's been, click. here to see her truly inspiring projects.

I've used a bit of everything from her "trio" projects - especially like the idea of embossing with Fresco paints !

I didn't have any canvases or boards so cut 3 shapes from some spare cardboard. I peeled back the edges and painted them with Tinned Peas, applied a layer of Crackle Glaze and then used Nougat once this was dry - I am still ooooh every time I use Crackle Glaze, it never ceases to amaze me how brilliantly it works every time !

After that I stencilled the stars with Mermaid (unfortunately not very evenly) and clear embossed.

Next I applied some dimensional paste through another stencil and hi-lighted using Coffee Archival ink.

I used the same ink to stamp out the bottles, flower,butterfly (just for Alison) and dragonfly - the last 2 I stamped onto card and cut out so I could mount them with 3D pads for some extra dimension. Everything was looking a bit brown so I've washed over the bottles and butterflies with Hey Pesto.  

The finishing touch was a smidge of treasure gold along the top edges.

I'm not sure how I'm going to mount these yet - I'll see what I can find later on ! 

Heart Inspired by France Papillon

This week PaperArtsy celebrate their 10th Anniversary with a different guest designer each day. There sure is a lot of love over on the site with a number of gorgeous hearts up-loaded already. I did try to use my chain to leave an impression similar to France but I think the links were too small, so I've left it place instead.
The flower is especially for Leandra, she'll know why ! lol

Arched Doorway

As soon as I saw Sue Carrington's doorway I knew I wanted to make something similar - but as I don't have a die I made a quick template from images in Excel and cut the front and back from a pizza box. I also didn't have a brick mask so improvised again by cutting my own bricks from card. I've used Nougat as the base coat on the front along with Tinned Peas and Hey Pesto. The inside had a base coat of Pansy, crackle glaze and Nougat on top. (I'm officially addicted to crackle glaze - it fab how it works so well every time, unlike other products I've tried). The JOFY flowers were stamped onto tissue and coloured with promarkers before being applied with multi-medium. I had real fun making this project and will try something similar another time - it's a great way to try out techniques and use different stamps.

Table decorations inspired by Darcy at PA

After seeing all the amazing items created by Darcy week ( see the PaperArtsy blog) I had to have a go at a couple of things. Afraid I've still a way to be before I cam host a party but here's a start with a cupcake box (unfortunately minus the cake!) and a pot of flowers.  The pot of flowers started life as a container for cotton buds, a few straws and a couple of sheets of patterned paper !

I watched Lin Brown demo-ing at Colemans Warehouse yesterday (she has such a wonderful way with colour and makes everything look so easy). I treated myself to a new set of stamps so I can have a go at her 2 tone flowers on black card. Just need to time to go with them !

Paint Combination Tags

If you haven't popped over to PaperArtsy do so NOW !!!  Darcy Wilkinson has been on fire this week - her projects have been truly inspirational !  For now I only had time to have a go at the tags. I think my favourite is the scraped one in Mud Splat, Honey Dew and Blood Orange (messy but worth it). Followed by Mud Splat and Pansy - thought I think this more to do with the chocolate bar connotations rather than the colours.

Shrink Plastic Charms

I've dabbled with SP before, without much success. But after reading this weeks comments on Paperartsy following Carol Quance's project it looks like I'm not alone.
Anyway here's my attempt at making charms, I didn't have enough to make into a bracelet so added a few other bits & bobs and went with a bag charm. Not perfect but I've learnt alot in the process.  I did have a problem with the paint flaking when I shrank the SP so if anyone has some tips for next time.  (promise I wont use green or blue next week lol)

 

Tag Screen Inspired by Sue Carrington

Sue has shared 3 fantastic projects over at Paper Artsy this week - click here to see.
I'll definitely be having a go at the frame another day but in the meantime have made my version of the tag screen.
I already had the 4 individual tags and joined them when finished with a sheet of card scored just wider than the tags to give a neat border. I kept to a limited pallet of Honey Dew and Tinned Peas fresco paints with just a smidge of Mud Splat. The script was my first go at using bonding powder and foil - this is sure to be a frequent feature on my projects now. All finished off with a  bit of random stamping and the phrase "Age is an issue of mind over matter, if you don't mind, it doesn't matter".

PA Inspired by Darcy Wilkinson

I hope everyone has seen the wonderful projects from Darcy this week over at Paper Artsy. Just when you think her projects couldn't get any better along came Geisha Kitty - I was blown away.  Well I'm afraid I've been pushed for time this week and only managed to have a go at the tissue tape. I meant to say "we" as my son Jack joined in my crafty evening yesterday - yes I managed to drag him away from his PS3. Together we used masking and micropore tape - I like the blue best of all, this is PA translucent Beach Hut paint.

As this didn't take long we decided to have a go at a cardboard tag each - I don't feel quite so mad for saving this cardboard for so long now !

I went with a very girly pink tag - a bit of stencilling with dimensial paste for the butterfly,background stamping and best of all flowers from the JOFY stamps I received for my birthday but haven't had time to use.

Jack went for different look with beige, greens and blues.  I like it that he used just the same techniques of painting, stenciling with paste and background stamping but the end result was completely different.

Hopefully we'll manage to make some more things over the weekend.

Tag Inspired by Carol Quance at PA

I will definitely be keeping the tag book project in mind for when I have more time. I've cheated and used a tag from a ready made pocket book that been in the drawer for a while.  It doesn't quite show in the picture but the tag is pearlised and this give a great sheen through the paint.  I've used PA Hot Picks Xtra 01stamps for the small white snow effect blobs and cogs and Tim Holts umbrella man and wording for the main image.
Gutted I've been away all weekend and didn't get time to post this for the challenge .

Just got the rest of the tags and pockets to go lol !

PA - Inspired by France Papillon

I've been toying wth the idea of starting an art journal for a while - after seeing France Papillon's page ealier this week on the Paperartsy blog it gave me that extra push to have a go! All her projects this weeks have been amazing.

I didn't want to go straight into my book (just in case it was complete disaster) so have created this page to stick in later - quite pleased for a first attempt. I've had this IndigoBlu stamp for a few weeks and haven't had a chance to use it yet. Stamping onto mulberry paper didn't quite work out but I suppose it's all about trial and error to see what works. 

Might just have caught the bug !

Purple Canvas

I'm very pleased with my first attempt at a whole canvas - the inspiration came from a step by step project in the January copy of Craft Stamper.

The canvas background was made with cut out embossed paper, punched paper strips, chip board shapes and dimensional paste used with a mask.

This was them painted in various layers, blending the blue and purple towards the centre.

The final stage was flitter glue and gilding flakes on the edges and loads of lovely embellishments !