All that glitters....

I may have mentioned before that I like a bit of sparkle and shine, and today its all about the SHINE!

I made several cards featuring the seedhead silhouette from JOFY63.  They are the same but different - on each card I used simple clean and simple layouts and the same embossing powder which was WOW's Metallic Gold Rich Super Fine - very lovely & great at keeping the delicate detailed line of image.

I think I like kraft as much (probably more) than I like shine! I like to team them up & I was keen to use the silhouette stamp solo on a card :

The second card I made teamed the silhouette seedhead with the original line drawing from JOFY38 on a white background. 
Very happy with how they look together! :o)  (its like I plan these things! lol)

This is my favourite of the three cards.
I painted an ombre background using Infusions (A Bit Jaded) on a wet Fresco Finish (Mermaid) base and brushed it in - how GORGEOUS is that background!  even before the seedheads were stamped and embossed on top! swoon!  I really like how the different colours in the Infusions become lines across the panel - especially the dark slashes which are the walnut stain powders.

Here are the cards together - great to see how they are the same but different... I would happily frame the Infusions one and put it on the wall!

Thanks for visiting!

BOO!

... yes BOO!  just grabbing your attention as its been a while since I blogged - once a month for the past few months really is not good enough is it!. Life, work and 'stuff' got in the way.. but I'm back with a new determination to do better! (well lets be honest - I can't do much worse can I!)

aaaanyhoo

let get things started...

At the beginning of August I demo'd at Birds in the Barn near Colchester in Essex (lovely shop in the grounds of an equally nice garden centre - worth a trip) and in the morning I was using the fabulous Distress Oxide inks.... if you don't have any of these yet you need to get yourself down to your nearest craft shop and get some - you won't regret it...

Here are some of the samples.... look at the prettiness - the opaqueness of these inks...  and that's the main difference I think between the Oxides and original Distress Inks....

and because they're opaque you can build up layers of colour - the samples below illustrate that... add a colour, dry, add another colour:

Water will affect the Oxide inks in the same way as the originals.  The sample top right in the photo below shows a blended background where I spritzed a stamp with water and pressed it onto the surface - this removes the ink (left hand panel) and on the panel on the right I over stamped using the Distress Oxide (oh yes, you can stamp with them as normal)

The sample on the bottom left of the above photo is where I've added Broken China ink to a kraft panel (using a blending tool), dried that layer and then overstamped with the image using the same colour ink.

The kraft panel sample below was created by pressing ink onto craft sheet, spritzing with water and then laying the kraft panel onto the ink - this was Peeled Paint ink - look how the Oxide has drawn out the blue that goes into making up the green colour - love how different colours are drawn out.

The other sample above was created with lots of layers of Distress Oxide, water splashes and stamping with the Oxides. I stamped on numbers (using black Archival) and they seem to 'hover' on the surface don't they?! as if there is a layer of acetate between the oxides and the archival... interesting.  I painted the right had set of numbers with water to lift some off the colour.

When I get inks or paints I like to create a sample swatch of each for reference and with the Oxides I splashed each one with water to see how water affected the Oxide side of the inks....  The most interesting of these was Frayed Burlap - it was a surprising result when splashed with water and dried - so much so that I repeated it with a second tag. The first tag is on top on right, second tag on left underneath.  Look how different the effect is!  I think this is one of the interesting things about the inks. (note: the ink was applied by rubbing the ink pad over the tag so the ink is quite saturated/intense).

Here's a card I made using one colour of ink - Walnut Stain, bit of a favourite of mine.  Blended the background, splashed with water. Dried the ink. Stamped with same colour (seedhead from JOFY38, another favourite). Dried. Then spritzed the stamp with Perfect Pearl Mists in Heirloom Gold - this removed the ink and left a lovely sparkly image that catches the light (photo on right)... a little bit lush isn't it!

But it isn't only backgrounds and stamping you can do with the inks - I am loving how you can water colour paint with them as I've done on the sample below... (image is from JOFY53)

I hope these simple samples inspire you to try the inks - they really are worth it (but please don't blame me when you realise you NEED the entire set).

x

Gelli® printed...

... pieces that didn't make into my previous Gelli® print related post.. because when you're getting ready for demo's you make lots of bits and pieces (well I do, I assume everyone does lol) .... here are some of those pieces.. all these projects were made using the new mini Gelli® plates

These started off as one long panel (10x30cm) and the background was decorated as one long panel -  but I think its much nicer cut in half and with decorated separately...

Oh I do like an ombre background! (& a 'before and after' shot) This panel had been on my desk for a while - great to use & show how different backgrounds and layers can work together... 

ombre background, gelli printing, stamping, painting and pencil work 

... here is Gelli printing at its most simple - one print (over punchinella) top left hexigon, and then 2 ghost prints... creating a background for a flower & bold word stamp... (oh, and a  border of gold painted/printed bubble wrap!  for a touch of sparkle/shine!)

I hope these samples inspire you to get Gelli printing!!


Thanks for stopping by

x

(Gelli® used with permission. Owned by Gelli Arts® LLC)

Well its a New Year....

... so that means NEW STAMPS!!  For the next 7 days over on the PaperArtsy blog there will be new releases - how awesome is that!!.. so many fabulous new products it will make your head spin!... and I'm up first.


I'm really excited to share these stamps with you - its my most varied release to date and I think (I hope) there is something for everyone.

Visit the PaperArtsy Blog HERE where you can see lots of lovely samples made with my new stamps by my group of talented wingmen.

I designed 2 little ladies - the one on JOFY41 has her eyes closed and I imagine has her face to the sun, while her friend on JOFY42 in her boots looks ready for anything!
See that little happy little character on the JOFY42? that's a Critter. Some of you may recognise the name from a page on my blog - funny/cute little fabric creations I made that were 'not quite right' - well I'd wanted to create a stamp of one...  PaperArtsy have a Critter - you may have seen him on the PA stand at shows - he's called PAMM (PaperArtsyMiniMascot), recently I made him a girlfriend... and a stamp was a natural progression!
Now everyone can have a critter.

 

Its a jolly little critter.. I could resist replacing its button eyes with googly eyes:

Here is a great video that PaperArtsy made detailing all the stamps:

On the blog is a card featuring one of my robots - LOVE these little 'bots!! Details of how I created the card can be found there...

The large nuts on the card are die cuts.. but I don't have a die for nuts and so I improvised:

I die cut a hexagon out of silver card, then cut a smaller circle inside the hexagon - a nut!  Bazinga!

So, a new year and new stamps I was inspired to create a book. I've been thinking about positive phrases to focus my thinking, aims and approach to life (the universe and everything! lol).. so I put some of these phrases into this 'little book of Mantras' using Fresco Finish paints and a little (9x9cm) upcycled book that I rediscovered (unearthed) while clearing out my workroom (I had a serious  (ruthless - with myself and 'stuff') clearout - it felt soooo good!)
I wanted this to be a simple book.. playing with new stamps (JOFY41 &JOFY42), creating an inspirational set of pages - really a 'just for me' sort of project.
I'll leave you to 'play spot the new stamps' :o)

I bought several books in a charity shop..

Dinky little board books... removed the printed layer of each spread - peel them off (very theraputic! lol)... and paint!

I covered each spread in a different type of printeed book pages, and allowed them to dry.

Here are the covers.  I painted them in Teresa Green and Dusty Teal Fresco Finish paint.., a book page circle, strip of washi tape and the year die cut from kraft card... and a 'go to' stamp image.

The first spread features is my word for the year... 

... using letters that I found during the 'great clear up'!..

I'm always a little nervous about writing on pages - its the little voices in my head saying 'what if its not perfect'.. 'what if its not straight' ... then I have a stern word with myself (does it matter if its not perfect?!!), take a deep breath & draw lines in pencil, write the words in pencil and then write over them in pen... I made a feature of the lines to link the words across to the photo (taken from an old nature encyclopedia I bought in a charity shop).. stamped a loopy border a few times and 'shaded' using a charcoal pencil (gotta love those!)

I like this phrase.. when I'm having a testing day I often say this to myself.. Slate and Chalk created the background, prints of small bubble wrap and stamps of flowers.. words were stamped onto book text that had been painted with diluted Dusty Teal.

This alphabet, from JOFY21, is great to use - nice and blocky, easy to read - and more importantly - easy to cut out!

This phrase resonates with me too - for those days when MS Fatigue makes a visit... Created with washes of Dusty Teal and Slate and stamped images with book text.

So thats my little book - featuring several new stamps and favourite paint colours... I hope its inspired you to take a second look at board books, and to use my new stamps.. available now from your local PaperArtsy stockist.

Keep an eye on the PaperArtsy blog all this week where there will be more exciting things happening..

Doodling inside the lines...

... My stamp designs lend themselves to all sort of treatments - watercolour, Copic/Promarkers, paint and paper piecing (naming just a few) but one day I wanted to play around with doodling into the designs - a sort of zentangle?? I stamped the same image/motif (from JOFY38) over and over & started doodling - I used the same design/motif because then I can compare the doodles not be swayed by different motifs.

  

Filling in the spaces with different pen marks or black&white print/pattern... this was a lot of fun and a good way or experimenting with ways of space filling & doodling.... who doesn't love a bit of doodling??

 

There's no wrong or right -its just pen on paper..

I encourage you to give it a go... pen on paper.... one doodle leads to another.. a little bit addictive.. :o (next step - colour!?!)

x

Bloom and Grow...

... is a phrase I like, and often use it on projects - it suits my JOFY flower designs.  I used it this past weekend in a workshop for Its Crafting Time.. They have lovely new venue for their creative weekends and pop-up shop - & its a perfect venue for workshops.

I taught 2 classes - cards in the morning (more about those tomorrow) - where we dipped our toes into christmas using the latest JOFY stamps that were released on Saturday.. and in the afternoon we created a hanging triptych...

I LOVE this project!! (its so pretty! lol)

Usually, I take a few photos of the group holding up their lovely projects but this time I forgot - sorry everyone - but I did take some 'work-in-progress' shots - people busy creating the triptychs in lovely colour variations:

I enjoy seeing the different colour variations people create of the same project - a really useful group experience.

l to r: Cathy (different coloured background - created a sort of night/dusk effect), Tanya (lovely bright red flowers (Prawn and London Bus, complete with caterpillar and butterfly) & Cheryl (coming out of her comfort zone and embracing yellow - nicely done!)

It was a day spent laughing, painting, stamping... bit more painting.. is there a nicer way to spend a day??  I don't think so :o)

Thanks to everyone who came along - and to Ann & Cheryl for the yummy snacks (ladies, you are not helping my waistline! lol)

x

A mini 'masterboard'...

... was part of a class I taught recently.

It isn't strictly a masterboard - more of a strip that we created and cut up....  This is the demo/sample I created in class (unfinished/unrefined) that I cut up and gave different borders to.

In class we mounted the panels onto white and kraft card blanks because I wanted to show how different the panels can look when you mount them on different colours... (apologies for the dodgy photo quality)

Here are the panels from the top photo mounted onto different backgrounds:

I really like how they all look - the black backgroun makes the panel look 'dramatic', while the white is very 'fresh'.

These are fun to create and make 'batch' card creation much easier - they're the same but different.. I like that.

x