My Wonderful Nan

Recently I've been sorting through lots of old photos of my Mums and came across this beautiful one of my Nan taken when she was 19 yrs old --- in 1903.

Violets were her favourite flower and as these are out in the garden at the moment I had to take this shot!

My husband scanned this original so as we can pass copies onto various family members and there was a spare one ----- so I felt it was only right and proper to make a small memoir.

Over on the PaperArtsy Blog the current theme is 'Niches" so the 2 went very nicely together. To find out more about the 'Niches' click on the link here.

I began by dismantling this small chocolate box which measures 3cm x 8cm. Here is a list of the paints, inks and stamps used in this project.

Fresco Chalk Acrylic paint in blush, lake wanaka, china, haystack, beach hut, inky pool and very berry.

Stamps from PaperArtsy ESN03 and HP1004, Clarity Word Chain No 5.

Ink brilliance crimson copper

Mica powder in antique red

Treasure gold in ruby and olive bronze

Grunge Paste

Crafty Individuals stencil

Blue watercress blaze embossing powder

The box was given various layers of paint and then I added the dictionary definition of niche to the upper part of the sleeve. The 2 sides of the sleeve had grunge paste added through the stencil and then once dry more paint was added.

I then stamped Inspire and heat embossed, added some stamping which was brushed with mica powder and then added touches of Treasure Gold to hi-light areas.

The inner part of the box was painted and then stamped with the text on the sides. The MDF heart was given 2 coats of blush paint, stamped, Nan added with peel-offs and the edges touched with Treasure Gold.

When I was growing up my Nan lived with us and many hours were spent on her lap watching her crochet, then when I was 5 yrs old she taught me to crochet and knit. The table cloth in the background of the picture was crocheted by my Nan and we used this on our wedding day underneath the wedding cake. The flower was a pattern I learned from the great lady all those years ago and I've never forgotten how to make them. 1884 being the year she was born.

I know niches usually have statues or such likes but this is my version.

The lovely Lucy - Annie,

at 19yrs old,

photographed by the Eastbourne Photographic Company on October 23rd 1903 !

The finished sides.

Lucy - Annie was a very special lady who inspires me each and every time I pick up a crochet hook. Sadly she died whilst I was carrying my daughter at the grand age of 96! so unfortunately  they never met, but now she too is a great master of the crochet hook.

Thank you as always for stopping by, I hope you have a good week, take care. Jane x

Stencilling with Grunge Paste inspired by Sara Naumann

Good evening and welcome, tonight I am sharing 2 cards that I've made using a technique being shown over on the PaperArtsy Blog by Sara Naumann. To follow this in technique in greater detail click on the link here.

For this I used a blank cream coloured card measuring 18cm x 13cm.

To begin with I cut 2 pieces of white card one measuring 17cm x 12cm and the other 9cm x 6cm, both pieces were given a coat of Fresco Chalk paint in Baltic Blue.

The larger piece was mounted onto the card base and then a piece of cream card was cut measuring 16cm x11cm and stuck on top.

Next I coloured some grunge paste with Toad Hall and Guacamole paint and spread this through a honeycomb patterned stencil. A small piece of white card was also spread with the coloured grunge paste ready to stamp on for the centre.

Using Versa-mark ink I stamped and then white embossed one of the images from Lynne Perrella 011 onto some kraft card.

Once the grunge paste was completely dry I distressed the edges of the card and then lightly coloured them with Antique Linen D.I. as this has a slight green tint. The 2 side edges of the kraft card were torn so as to be in keeping with the green honeycomb card.

The small piece of card with grunge paste on was then stamped using Walnut Stain D.I. and stamps from Hot Picks 1004.

A piece of navy twine was tied around the edge of the kraft card and 4 screw shaped brads were used to attach the stencilled card and the kraft card to the base.

The stamped grunge paste was mounted onto the small piece of painted card and then a piece of cream card. The clipboard top was cut from black card using Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Mini die and then rubbed with Decorate Metallic Lustre in Black shimmer to give a metallic appearance.

When I was using the coloured grunge paste I had some left so quickly grabbed another stencil and spread the remainder through the baubles.

Once the paste was dry I cut the baubles out leaving a slight margin all the way round. Then using a white linen card I stamped the bunting and the laying down baubles from Jofy 07 stamp set in Archival Watering Can. Once completely dry I then coloured these in using 2 water colour pencils and then blended the colours with a wet brush.

The grunge paste baubles were given some Treasure Gold in Olive Bronze before sticking onto the card and finally 'Believe' was stencilled on using Bundled Sage D.I. and Brilliance Pearlescent Olive and Crimson.

I really like how these extra baubles have turned out, a little bonus!!

The grunge paste mixes really easily with the paint and its a great to colour the paste if you are not going to paint the whole piece once the paste has been applied.

Thank you to Sara for the tips and inspiration, a technique that will be used many times.

Thanks for stopping and reading this blog and your comments are very much appreciated. Hope you have a good week, take care and enjoy your 'Crafty Time". Jane x

Reindeer Card Using Grunge Paste

Happy Friday 13th folks! Hope you are all having a good day and not being plagued by any old superstitions. Well todays card will probably be  the last christmas card I blog this year as the time seems to be galloping on but I will hopefully do one on something different time permitting.

Ok so here's todays card, this using various techniques but I feel it's worth that little extra time spent on as it's got a lovely variety of textures.

Items Used

White square card blank 

White card for centre image of good thickness i.e. 230mg

Gold or contrasting colour card for layering

4 Metal Brads

Distress inks in Brushed corduroy, antique linen and walnut stain

Brilliance ink pad in starlight black

Grunge Paste

Tando Creative Reindeer stencils

Lavinia Believe stamp

Snow flake stamp ( found in many sets)

Stampendous Frantage Aged Ivory embossing enamel

Treasure Gold in Renaissance

Water in a spritz bottle

Versa-mark ink pad

To start with I secured the reindeer stencil onto the white card with low tack masking tape spread the grunge paste through the stencil with a craft palette knife. This I left to dry over night although I think this would be ready to use after about an hour.

The next stage is to stamp "Believe" at the bottom of the greeting card in the starlight black ink. I love this make of stamps as they are so different to many on the market and they also seem to print out so beautifully with the Brilliance Dew Drop ink pads.

Once dry I then coloured the edges of the card with the distress inks starting with the palest, antique linen first and working through the shades. The very centre will be covered up so there is no need to waste time and ink on that. The snow flakes were then stamped around the edges in the starlight black to keep in tone.

Now for the fun part !

I started by inking the complete card with the distress inks, again starting with the palest colour first. Once I was happy with the overall colour and shading I gave the card a light spray with water, left it for about 20-25 secs and then blotted the card with kitchen paper. Its very easy to over do this part so it's perhaps best to do a little first and see how you like it once its dry as you can always give it another quick spray. Once you are happy with this stage its onto the embossing round the edges. This is quick and easy, just hold the versa-mark ink pad at an angle and apply small amounts to the edges then sprinkle with the aged ivory embossing enamel. This is quite thick compared to embossing powder so you will need to apply sufficient ink for it to stick to the card. Then emboss with the heat gun. Once cool apply the treasure gold metallic wax with your finger to the areas you want to shine and buff with a soft cloth after about 10mins when dry.

I love how this picks up the different textures on the reindeer, and you can add little bits of the wax to  give the effect of shading around the image.

 Now its just putting the card together, firstly I stuck the reindeer to the gold card with double sided tape and then added the brads to the corners. Then the mounted image was stuck to the card also using double sided tape.

So there you have it, quite a grown up card in a way but still on the magical side and fun to make as it's great to see how the image is transformed from the gooey pot of grunge paste at the start.

I hope you have enjoyed todays entry, do add any comments at the bottom of the page and I hope this will inspire you to give this technique a try.

Thank-you for stopping and reading this blog and I hope you will pop back soon, until next time, take care and Happy Crafting whatever it may be  Jane x

SPECIAL My entry for The Sunday Stampers Challenge

Hi Everyone, and a very Happy Weekend to you all. My blog entry today is also my contribution for Hels Sheridans Sunday Stampers Challenge, to follow her blog and weekly challenges click on the link ink on my fingers

List of Items used
Packaging card 15cm x 12cm
 White Gesso
Grunge Paste by Paper Artsy
Distress Stains in salty ocean, broken china, bundled sage, pewter and scattered straw
Archival black ink pad
Walnut stain Distress ink pad
scraps of craft card and white card
Aqua markers on various colours
Versa mark ink pad and clear embossing powder
Stamps : Jofy 12 by Paper artsy, Petal set by Clarity stamps and Text Background and words by Inkydoodles
Glossy Accents by Ranger
Treasure Gold gilding wax in Indigo, Pewter and Renaissance
Flower Charm by Tim Holtz
Scraps of wool

Firstly I gave the card a coat of white gesso, and once this was dry I applied the grunge paste through the mask in the top right hand corner. Unfortunately  I do not know the name or make of this mask as it's one I have had years and no longer have the packaging but I vaguely remember it being a german make ?
Next I applied various coats of washes using the distress stains, these were dabbed onto a ceramic tile and mixed with a light spray of water till I reached the tones I was happy with. Once all was dry I stamped the flower and petals in archival and the text background in walnut stain. The 3 petals with special on were scraps of white card coloured at the same time as the background, then the petal shape stamped on followed by the word special both in archival black ink.

The 3 individual petals were then heat embossed with clear embossing powder twice to give a smooth glossy effect.

The words You Are So were stamped onto the craft card in walnut stain and then distressed round the torn edges. Whilst still damp the edges were then curled using the point of a thin knitting needle.

The tag was stamped with the centre of the flower stamp from the Jofy 12 set in black archival and the edges distressed with the walnut stain also.

The centres of the 2 flowers were coloured with aqua markers and then once dry glossy accents were applied.

The flower petals with the small flowers inside were also coloured with aqua markers and the blue petals with the spirals in had a little of the distress stains brushed on just to give a deeper colour.

The leaves in the bottom right hand corner were embossed with clear embossing powder and then the centres were made paler by gently brushing over with a wet paint brush and then dabbing with some kitchen paper to dry.


The deeper blue to the embossed design was obtained by gently rubbing with the indigo wax using my little finger and then after a couple of minutes buffing up with a soft cloth.


The 3 special petals were cut out and glued on at a slight angle to the stamped image on the picture. The metal flower embellishment then had the wool secured through the centre hole and was then stuck onto the picture with glue.


The edges of the tag and words had a small amount of the treasure gold wax in renaissance applied, the wool was then attached to the tag before securing them all to the picture with glue.

The flourish in the top right hand corner was then given a thin coat of the treasure gold wax in the pewter and the indigo. This just helps to hi-light the fact that this is a raised image.



This was also buffed with a soft cloth once dry, this only takes a couple of minutes to dry but is essential otherwise you will just rub it off again. I have only used my finger to apply this wax, but if you use a brush then a solvent would be needed to clean the brush afterwards as it is not water soluble. Having said that it comes off my finger with a quick wipe with a baby wipe and a wash with soap and water.




Well thats my entry for today and the Sunday Stamper Challenge, hope you have enjoyed todays project and until next time, take care and happy crafting,  Jane x