TAG!! You're it!...

... and by  'it'  I mean winner!  Thank you for taking the time to leave comment - or 2 in some cases! lol....

The winning numbers picked at random were  5  &  28  ...

Comments at those numbers were made by  Gillian W & Sarah B  !! Yay!  Congratulations! You've won a set of the JOFY stamps - please send me an email (address in top left corner of screen - under my smiley face lol) with your choice of NEW stamps (sets 21-24) :o) and your address and I'll send you a set of stamps!   I'd love to see what you make with them!

:o)

... and because 'tag' is also an item we all love to craft on and pretty up.... (in best Blue Peter stylee) 'here's one I made earlier'..

Thanks again for joining in, leaving lovely comments and stopping by the blog.

xx

Presents, Gifts, Parcels....

.... what ever you want to call them...

JM30 is fast becoming a favourite of my 2013 JOFY stamps (but sssshhh don't tell the others)

I like to stamp it onto 3 types of papers, painting the details:

.... cut them apart and mix up the piles (bit of simple paper-piecing) - makes them more interesting:

.. and add them to card blanks with various layouts and greetings/stamps - quick'n'easy   :o)  The corner sentiment on the left hand card is from JOFY03, centre sentiment is from JOFY19, and the snowflake border is JM07

(the eagle-eyed among you may notice that the presents on the cards aren't the same as the ones in the top two photos but its the same technique/process)

Great way to create a few cards co-ordinated cards with minimal supplies (and effort) which is sometimes what we need at christmas isn't it.

(always happy to help)

samples, samples, & more samples Part 4

...coming to the last of the tag samples.. more flowers which is good - if the weather report is to be believed we're in for some nice sunny days this weekend (fingers crossed! lol) (I'll still be packing my brolly though)

Left tag:
This is colour using mainly Distress ink, the flowers are stamped and cut from misc' papers (scrapbooking, book text etc)... the panel running up the left side of the tag is stamped with Mini12 - lovely to use as a backbround stamp or use the individual flowers:

The words are taken from JOFY11 - stamp them and cut them out - easy way to add a phrase - these have been 3d mounted to create dimension/layers on the card (as have some of the flowers...):

Centre Tag:

The colours on this tag are sooo juicy! the peachy pinks (created with the help of Blood Orange Fresco Finish paint) (love)... its also a version of one of my favourite colour schemes - pink&green... also a slightly different treatment used on the ball stems... are they pussywillows or are they seed heads??? I don't know - use them as you want.. that's how I designed the stamps - so you could interpret them however you want...   On the this tag I've coloured them to look like berries...

The 'summer' tag is created with MINI15... here it has been used as a stamped on to kraft card, cut out and attached to the tag..

Right tag:
This tag is in a completely different style (I think) - very simple - the images are stamped onto paper (Prima) featuring ledger paper.  The leaves have been coloured/painted with Distress Stains to create a watercolour effect.  The flower was created with leave images stamped onto a dull red paper - I painted over that with London Bus - this worked really well because it brightened up the red and because it's a translucent colour none of the stamped detail was lost.

Enjoy the weekend - fingers crossed for a sunny one! lol

Another tag....

.... from the The Craft Barn demo day...

 This tag is fun.  When I drew the stamp designs I drew a path... but Mr PA thought it was a wall... and that to me was great - I love that someone saw a different application to that intended.  So on this tag I created a wall.  A traditional drystone wall, and from over the wall lovely flowers grow... through all seasons...

Just a quickie post today... hope you're having a lovely weekend..

This is that week that was.....

... mainly spent in a fog of poorliness! but that's all gone, and I don't think I suffered as much as others I've spoken to. I hope everyone else is on the mend too.  I've been back in the land of the living for a few days and am raring to go!  :o)

Last saturday (can't believe its been almost a week!) I was over at The Craft Barn demo-ing with my latest stamps.... several new-to-stamping people sat down and watched so I kept things quite clean and simple:

I think my favourite card is the one on the bottom right.. no.. stop.. its not fair to pick my favourite - there's aspects on each that I like!

I really like making flowers using the leaf stamps - makes a nice change from the round flowers (centre of flower above is cut from one of those)(mix'n'match)

Love the shading on these yellow/orange flowers... using Distress Markers (so easy to work with), the leaves are painted with Fresco Finish - LOVE that paint - can't wait to get my painty little hands on the latest colours - I've seen them.  They are gorgeous, must have, additions to the range.

On the more mixed media side here's a tag - I like this a lot - the red spotted ribbon on the top is, I think, one of my all time favourite ribbons!  On this tag is stenciling with Fresco Finish, background colouring with Distress Inks, stenciling with Distress Inks, stamping, decoupaging of papers.... quite a busy little tag!
I'd always wondered what the cute little wooden flowers would look like with my stamps - I think I like them.  The red scallop border along the bottom is a stamp from JOFY06.

I did rally long enough earlier in the week to book tickets to see Josh Groban in June - looking forward to that very much!  Here's a sample of the gorgeous velvet tones of the man himself:

{I'm going with the lovely Lin Brown, I think I remembered to tell (warn) her that I may cry, or sing, or both during the concert.... :o)  }

I also found my long lost pencil sharpener - its the little things that keep us happy isn't it! lol

I like this sharpener, it was a particularly good one and it comes in a little tin that collects the shavings!  Tidy!

Have a lovely weekend.

Jo

The Craft Barn on Sunday...

.... is where I spent a lovely day with a group of ladies creating cards using JOFY stamps, PaperArtsy Fresco Finish paints and Ranger Distress Inks - a recipe for a lovely, painty, inky, day.

Love it when a class table look like this - covered in all sorts of creative materials...

This is one of my sample cards:

 but I suggested that another flower stem be used as an alternative and here are the cards two of the ladies created (works in progress):

Love the blue ink colour - striking... the purple is a more gentle version...

This is one of my favourite cards of the day - the cropped from page and the overhanging flower, and the way the stamping continues inside the card...

I'll be at the Craft Barn on Saturday (2nd March) demonstrating my stamps as part of the March Inspiration day.

Hope to see some of you there!

black pen, white pen.....

.... sometimes it takes seeing someone else's project to remind you of what you have in the way of stash and equipment!
Linda Cain created a lovely tag over on the PaperArtsy blog (go here to see all the details) using my JOFY stamps, distress inks and hi-lighted everything with a white pen.  Light bulb moment!!! last year I spent ages searching for the 'perfect' white pen to buy... & when I had one used it a lot and then nothing for months! (there goes the way of lots of equipment and 'stuff')
Linda's tag inspired me to use the white pen again (when I eventually located it! shame on me...)

This panel is made from one of the chunky cardboard blocks (here in the PaperArtsy shop) - they are surprisingly sturdy and so ideal for stamping and painting.  I painted the surface with Fresco Finish paints - Mermaid, Guacamole & Nougat,  I used Peacoat around the edges and to stamp the flowers in the background.
Then I got busy with the white pen - I'm not letting that slip out of my sight again for a while!  Great of accenting.

I stamped the flowers (JOFY12, and JOFY10) in black and stamped the same images on to vintage text paper that had been given a wash of Snowflake & Nougat paint.  Cut them out and stuck them down.
I stamped the phrase onto a tag (oops, back on a tag roll again! and just when I thought I'd weaned myself off!)
I accented the middle of the flowers by adding a layer of scrapbook papers, and added some shading with Distress Markers.

Yesterday I blogged briefly about my ongoing (neverending) job to tidy my workroom - its still not tidy - because I keep finding things that would be great on a project and I find paints, pens, papers that inspire me to make something.... its so hard to keep on task! lol
New Plan:  I'm going to set a timer for 30 minutes and see how much I can tidy and put away in that time... a sort of beat the clock challenge!
If it goes well I'll post pics... if it doesn't you'll see nothing and we'll never talk about it again. OK, deal?!

I tried to tidy up my desk, I really did....

... but while doing so I found some left over bits and pieces that were crying out to be made into a project...

Loving this tag for several reasons:
1:  it has buttons
2:  it is made on a kraft corrugated substrate
3:  it has tags
4:  it's made with my stamps!

The big round flower at the top is layers of the flowers JOFY09 & JOFY10 (and left over from creating Gladys) secured together with a bit of 3d foam - always comes in handy doesn't it!
The tags were left over from creating the box canvas featured a few days ago.

but the tag isn't created entirely out of rubbish... lol  Sometimes its just nice to play with stamps to see what happens - the leaf with circular patterns on JOFY12... well that was crying out to become petals on a flower:

They make lovely flowers - liking those very much! ... .and those little circles - perfect for bling placement! lol

That's my quick project made.... I suppose I'd better get back to tidying the desk.......

Jo

JOFY stamps at The Craft Barn

There are still a few places left on my JOFY card class at the Craft Barn this coming Sunday, 24th February.
If you fancy getting inky painty and having a play with my new stamps give the shop a call to book a place.
:o)

Flowers JOFY stylee...

... chunky little box canvases are fast becoming my favourite substrate - so chunky (2in deep) but small (4x4in square) .. even the 4x6in size is really nice.  I think I like them because if you stand them on a shelf they won't fall over and there's lots of surface to play on....

Here's what I made using some stamps from my new releases...

This box canvas is decorated from the 'leftovers' from creating flowers for Gladys the Garden Fairy... I created the flowers by stamping onto various papers using images from my new JOFY releases:

I arranged several flowers and leaves and glued them together.  Initially I planned to cover the top of the white box canvas with a panel of vintage book text and corrugated cardboard (gotta love corrugated card!):

... but I later abandoned that idea in favour of a distressed inked surface to the canvas - I felt that this better showed the flowers (some of which are made from the same book text that had been white-washed)

along each side of the canvas I stamped the mesh border image from JOFY10 in Olive Archival Ink, and distressed the edges in the same way and colours as the top:

 I used double sided tape to attach a panel of corrugated card, and wrapped Bakers Twine around the canvas several times:

I used Black Archival ink to stamps words chosen from JOFY11 to stamp onto small tags.. I further distressed the edges (using Distress Ink):

I arranged the 3 tags and 2 additional flower stems onto the canvas gluing them to the surface. The tags which lay ontop of the corrugated cardboard are attached with a glue gun so that the glue sinks down into the ridges - I find this to be the most effective way (that and Claudine Hellmuth Matte Medium - but the glue gun dries quicker!)(not that I'm impatient or anything lol)

I used Distress Markers to give the flowers shading and dimension, and to age them slightly - the pens are great because you can smudge the colour for further shading - especially on top of a surface painted with Fresco Finish.

This is the side view of the canvas showing the mesh panel image and the depth of the canvas:

So that's my mini stepped out project - I hope its inspired you to tackle a box canvas - they really are adorable little projects bases.

Take care

More cards....

This card is a variation on the snowflake/present pile tags I created a few posts back- & I'm showing it to you so I can answer a question I've been asked.... which was about the ink I use for the snowflakes.  I use clear embossing ink and clear embossing powder over a white card - I find the clear embossing powder holds the detail of the image better (because it is finer).. (I'll have some other handy tips for you in the next couple of days...)

Here is a card using Mini-8 - the candle - this image is one of my favourites and I think it works so well with the 3 small candles on plate03..

I like how the 'ghost' images (tone-on-tone) fill in space on the background but aren't distracting... gives the card a lovely vintage feel...(makes me think of Dickens novels...)

I might put the Christmas crafting to rest now - except for when its used on wrapping of presents- I'd plan to pretty up gift cards/vouchers and there has been some great inspiration out on the web... I'll keep you posted...

Deck the halls....

... with pennants and bunting... tra la la la laaaaaa la la la laaaaaaa

Usually when I'm  playing around with new products I create tags but at the moment I am creating pennants instead (as I've said before I love a bit of bunting!)...

The above pennant uses the border strip from plate05 with the words on same plate dotted about - love how this turned out - the border is really easy to repeat if you mark on the back the position of the end blocks.

The motifs stamped onto kraft card are from minis.

Speaking of minis: I used the candle on mini08 on this pennant and combined it with the border strip across the top edge:

The candle is coloured with Distress Markers- being from the same palette as Distress inks they tone in perfectly, I like them a lot...

The embellishment on the centre tag is one of the snowflakes created with the Tim Holtz Sizzix die, aged with distress inks.. they're fiddly but i love 'em!

I know I'm shouldn't choose but I think the star pennant is my favourite - stars from several plates: top banner is plate01, big stars plates07 & 08, the white star top centre is from the minis over stamped with snowflakes (also on background) plate01.

I had fun creating these and they work as inspiration for other projects...  These pennants are about 15cm long - don't you think little ones strung on a piece of ribbon around a christmas tree would look cute...

and talking of favourites - distress inks - Iced Spruce and Evergreen Bough - my 'go to' colours this christmas - possibly using them a little too much! Jo, put the inks down, and move away from the worktable.. lol

...and just in case you were wondering - christmas is about 36 days away... just sayin'.....

When is a card not a card.....??

... when you start making a card & realise it would be better suited as something else and you turn it into an 'object'!

Like this:

I intended/planned this to be a card and/but was itching to use the box canvas - then I had a little lightbulb moment! lol   2-birds-1-stone! lol

I love these 4x6" box canvasses that PaperArtsy have in their shop - such a dinky size but lovely and chunky at the same time..  love it - I can see me using these a lot...

(tree plate1, 'noel' plate3)