Layers and Dimension

Hello and welcome back, todays crafting session is a card with not only layers of card, hessian and thick board but also layers of acrylic paint forming the background of the artwork.

Items Used

White smooth card

Kraft card

Brayer

Piece of scrap cardboard packaging larger than the white card

PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk paints in Toad Hall, Snowflake, Pumpkin Soup, Inky Pool, Beach Hut, Autumn Fire and French Roast.

PaperArtsy Grunge Paste

Tando-Creative Baroque Stencil by Andy Skinner

Distress Ink in Antique Linen and Walnut Stain

Archival Jet Black

Versa-Mark and Clear Embossing Powder

Stamps From Graphic 45 Secret garden and Clarity Word Chain no 5

Distress Stain in Gathered Twigs

Tando-Creative Flowers and Stems Grab Bag

Treasure Gold in Olive Bronze

Decoart Metallic Lustre in Black Shimmer

Small piece of frayed Hessian

2 Brads, 1 Feather and 1 Wooden Bead

Small Tag cut from white card

I started by brayering the smooth white card with all the paints except the french roast. The cardboard packaging was placed underneath the white card so as the when brayer went over it took the impression of the corrugated ridges. The white card was turned from portrait to landscape and back 4 or 5 times. I began with the toad hall green around all 4 edges and then gradually built up the remaining colours.

Next I cut the card to size and added the grunge paste through the corner part of the stencil.

Once the paste was dry I replaced the cleaned stencil and coloured the paste with antique linen ink and then applied some treasure gold.

The flower from the grab bag was painted with autumn fire and toad hall mixed with a little french roast for the stem and leaves. Once dry this was stamped with the text stamp using the black archival ink. This was then given 3 coats of clear embossing powder.

Next onto the small tag for the centre, this was coloured with antique linen all over, then the clock was stamped in black archival ink. Once dry the edges were lightly coloured with some walnut stain and then I dabbed some gathered twigs DS onto the craft mat and flicked this at the tag with a small paint brush. ( great fun!!) The edges were lightly rubbed with the metallic lustre.

I then tore the edges of the kraft card and stamped randomly round the edges with the text stamp using 2nd generation walnut stain ink.

Now onto the finishing touches--- Dream was stamped on the side of the background card in black, this was then stuck onto the kraft card and 2 metal brads were attached in diagonally opposite corners.

This was then attached to the card blank with double sided tape. String was tied to the top of the tag and then a bead threaded through and a knot tied to finish it off. The hessian was frayed to the right size and stuck with pin flair glue, next the feather before attaching the tag and finally the flower was stuck on also with a good blob of pin flair glue to give some height.

I really like the texture of the brayered background.

And the richness of the colours.

I would like to enter this card for the following challenges;

Tando Creative 'Lovely Layers'

and

Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers 'Depth and 3D

Thank you as always for stopping and reading this blog, I hope you have enjoyed it. All comments are much appreciated and if you have any questions I will endeavour to answer them to the best of my ability. 

I hope you all have a good weekend when it arrives and hopefully the weather will cheer up a little bit as its been very dull the last few days here.

Take care and hopefully see you here again soon,  bye for now Jane x

Inspiration From Linda Cain's Journal Page

My blog entry today was inspired by Linda Cain's wonderful journal page for PaperArtsy's weekly blog challenge, to view this masterpiece click on the link.  Here

This took me several days to complete as after the first stage I was not sure whether to continue, then having gone back to it a day later and added the main 3 flowers I was convinced it should go in the bin! Then I read Deborah Wainwright's blog on her interpretation of the same journaling page and I thought ok I shall look again tomorrow with fresh eyes and a clear mind and hey -- this is how it turned out. Although I really would like to start a journal I haven't got round to it as yet so I have made this into a birthday card.

Items Used

PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk paints in Guacamole, Nougat, Snowflake, Blush, Mermaid and Spanish Mulberry.

Archival ink in Jet Black

Imagination Crafts Stencil Bay Leaf

PaperArtsy stamp sets; Bloom, Tops and Tails 6 and Jofy 12

Permanent ink pens in black, blue and white.

Light grey water based felt tip pen.

Happy Birthday peel-of.

DI ink in Bundled sage, Victorian Velvet and peeled paint

To begin with I sponged the paint onto the white card, details can be seen on PaperArtsy's Blog.

I didn't take any photos of the various stages as I felt all the way along that it would end up in the recycling bag.

Next I drew around the stencil for the 3 delphinium type flowers and coloured in the stripes for the stems. Wasn't sure about the colour of the middle flower so I added a little victorian velvet DI through the stencil to tone it down slightly. I then cut out various pieces of an old book page for the larger flower, stuck them on and added some shading with the grey pen.

Next I added a little snowflake paint with my finger to the area where I wanted to add the sign, I then stamped the bird and sign ( this is so cute) in black archival ink , added some shading and coloured in the beak with a pencil. The bottom border of grasses and flowers was then stamped in the black.

The daisy type flowers were then randomly stamped without putting the stamp on a block. These were then painted with watered down snowflake paint.

Next the leaves were added by sponging the 2 green DIs through a home made stencil. Once dry the white edges were drawn on with the white pen.

Still not quite convinced about the project  I added some paper petals to the daisy flowers, started to add some dots and circles with a black pen--- hmm I'm beginning to think this is ok.

Added the blue dashes to the edges--- but now wished the pen had been a little thicker and a tad darker but hey ho.

Lastly I stamped don't eat the daisies and I was then feeling reasonably happy with the end result.

I really think the added dots etc are what made the biggest difference.

I love this little character.

I would like to enter this piece for PaperArtsy's Weekly Challenge.

Thank you for reading this page and if there is one thing we should all do sometimes is take a step back and start afresh another day. Have a good Bank Holiday Weekend if you are lucky enough to not be working, take care and hopefully see you soon for another crafty session  Jane x

PS thank you all for your lovely comments on my last entry, they were all much appreciated X.

Painting on Fusible Webbing !

Good Morning all, just a quickie this morning as we are off to a wedding today. The clouds are beginning to clear and there are large chunks of blue sky appearing so fingers crossed for a lovely day.
Todays entry was inspired by Penny Nuttall over on PaperArtsy's Blog, she made a material book using hessian and fusible webbing, material and paint---- had to have a play! to view her brilliant book click on the link .
 http://blog.paperartsy.co.uk/2014/08/welcome-back-gd-penny-nuttall-project-1.html

To begin with I made a paper pattern of the heart shape by folding a piece of paper in half and drawing the half shape I was happy with before cutting out. This was used as my template for the natural coloured calico material. Once this was cut I then frayed some of the edges.

I then painted the iron-on fusible webbing with PaperArtsy Chalk Acrylics in Zesty Zing, Nougat and Guacamole. My first attempt I was not happy with, I don't think I added enough water but the second go was much more successful. The paper backing was then removed and using baking parchment to prevent it sticking to the iron it was ironed onto the calico heart. This then had a little Treasure Gold in Olive Bronze rubbed over the paint.

Next I stamped the butterfly from Tops and Tails 6 onto some tissue paper in Archival black. This was then cut out leaving a small margin around the edges and a coat of PA Fresco Metallic Glaze was applied.

The swirly tree in the stamp set was used to stamp around the edges of the heart. As I save various seed heads from the garden I decided to use a couple of poppy heads on this project, so part of the seed head was cut away with a craft knife to allow it to sit on the card and the raised edges were also rubbed with the olive bronze wax.

The flowers that you can see at the edges of the photo I decided not to use on this card in the end.

Using some packaging cardboard I then cut out some trellis using the Tim Holtz die and painted this in the same 3 colours as the fusible webbing. This too had touches of the olive bronze wax.

I always keep some of the cut-outs from the trellis so I decided to add one that was from some linen textured card.

The card was then assembled, the blank has a very small dark pink fleck in it so I used a piece of torn Tim Holtz Kraft-Core no 5 and lightly sanded some parts. Before sticking this down I added some tissue tape above and below where the kraft-core would go. The trellis was cut in 2 as it needed to be just a bit longer!

The seed heads were tied with a length of hemp string. As I was not sure who this card would be for I made a flower from brown wrapping paper using the tattered florals die of TH and stamped the swirly tree onto the petals in Brilliance Pearlescent Olive ink. Then passed it through the Cuttlebug text embossing folder. I had some spare card the same as the card blank and cut out a small tag so I can then add a message or name at a later date.

I would like to enter this card for PaperArtsy's Weekly Challenge and 

Sunday Stampers Challenge by Hels Sheridan titled "Natural"

Well I must away, nails to varnish, hair to wash etc, hope you all have a great weekend, thanks for stopping by and take care Jane x

Faceted Cone for Favours or Presenting a Gift

Sunday I was having a play with shaving foam and alcohol inks prepping a batch of background papers and I was just about to clear everything away when I thought hmmm, what would kraft paper look like dipped in the foam mix----- well I quite liked it. So I decided to put it through the Brenda Walton's Sizzix die and make a cone.

The Alcohol inks I'd used were cranberry, mushroom and eggplant. After cutting the cone from the kraft card I decided on a plain deep mauve for the base part.

The top edge of the inside of the cone was stamped with Lavinia mini hearts in Versa-Magic Perfect Plumeria, to add a little interest to the inside.

I then stamped along the top outer edge of the cone in versa-mark using the Lavinia trailing leaves from the recent Magazine free gift set. This was sprinkled with Judi-Kins Embossing Powder Sticky Stuff, once heated this remains sticky so you can then sprinkle on gilding flakes, glitter, mica powders etc. I chose Distress Glitter in Antique Linen but wasn't completely happy with the colour so I then brushed it over with Perfect Pearls in Heirloom Gold and that made a huge difference.

Next just up from the bottom of the cone I stamped small mushrooms also from Lavinia Stamps in Brilliance Crimson Copper and lightly brushed parts of them in Cosmic Shimmers Antique Red mica powder.

The fairy Mia was stamped in the centre in Adirondack eggplant and once dry the wings were high-lighted with Stickles in crystal. I also added a few drops of fairy dust in the Stickles. 

The cone was then assembled but I felt is needed some form of embellishment so I stamped the Spiral of Spells in jet black Archival onto some frosted shrink plastic, cut it out, punched a small hole before heating. I made a small rose from waxed craft paper, using Tim Holtz tattered floral die, passed the die cut petals through an embossing folder and then spritzed with various coloured perfect pearls.

The very tip of the cone was dipped in pva glue and then dipped into pale mauve glitter. Ribbon was tied to make a handle at the top and fastened with a pearl bead each side. the shrink plastic spell was attached using bakers twine and the rose was glued in place and a small bow added behind the rose. 

Wouldn't a little girl love to be given this with a few sweets in or even a pack of Loom Bands which are all the craze at the moment!

I would like to enter this into Lavinia Stamps monthly Challenge titled ' Add Some Glitter '

Right I must away as the tomato plants are calling me to water them. Thanks for stopping by today I hope you have a good week and all of your comments are greatly appreciated. Take care, Jane x

Wedding Card with Vellum Flower

Hello, and happy friday to you all. My card today was inspired by mondays entry over on PaperArtsy's Challenge Blog by Keren Baker titled Sky and Grass. I needed to make a wedding card for a work colleague and dear friend but hadn't been able to decide on the design until I saw Keren's vellum flower and leaves and here is the finished card.

I started with a piece of cartridge paper which I coloured with Distress stains, a brush and lots of sprayed water. Once dry I random stamped the wire netting stamp from Jofy 12 in Walnut Stain and then stamped the marriage sentiment from Personal Impressions Love Text by Lindsay Mason in Versa-Mark and embossed with white EP.

The edges were then rolled and inked using Vintage Photo.

The card base was coloured on the edges with Distress Inks in Tumbled Glass, Victorian Velvet, Bundled Sage and Milled Lavender very lightly using brushes. Then the top righthand and the bottom lefthand corners were stamped on versa-mark and clear embossed using the seed head stamp also from the Jofy 12 set.

The flower and leaves were stamped onto some rainbow coloured vellum using versa-mark and white embossing powder. The flower was from PaperArtsy HP1001 stamp set and the leaves from Jofy 12. These were then cut out and curled over a pokey tool.

The flower without the stalk was layered onto of the other one using double-sided foam.

The outer frame was cut using Memory Box Trailing Vine Frame Die from white card.

The mdf heart was given a coat of white gesso before painting with PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic in Mermaid. Then once dry a coat of Americana Weathered Wood was applied left to dry and then a top layer of Fresco Chalk Acrylic in Nougat. This was then stamped in walnut stain using a Docrafts stamp.

The tiny cream card tag had the edges coloured with the victorian velvet ink before applying the peel-off numbers---- this being the date of the wedding.

I gathered some cream cotton lace for the back of the heart and threaded 3 pearl beads onto some sewing cotton to attach the tag to the heart. The bow was tied from a length of cream silk wool.

Once everything was stuck in place I then added 3 dots each side of the frame in liquid pearl in bisque and entwined the couples initials in white glitter card and stuck these just to the side of the lace.

It's hard to pick up on camera but you can just see the clear embossed flowers in the 2 corners.

I like the texture this gives to the card base.

I was really pleased with how the vellum flower turned out.

I wanted a non-traditional wedding card  and I feel I've achieved that but with the date and initials it's been made very personal.

I would like to enter this for PaperArtsy's weekly Challenge ending on Sunday 10th Aug

and Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers titled Bits and Pieces.

Thanks as always for stopping and reading this blog and if you have time to leave a comment they are always much appreciated. Until next time have some great crafting time, take care Jane x

Peeled Paint Wooden Christmas Hanging

Todays offering was inspired by Liesbeth Fidder's Peeled Paint Hanging Board over on PaperArtsy's weekly Challenge, if you have a few spare moments do pop over to their blog and have a look at the DTs gorgeous samples for the week.

Main Items Used

An off cut of tonged and grooved wood

Cardboard packaging

Smooth white card

White Gesso

PaperArtsy Fresco Paints in Mermaid, Snowflake, Pewter, French Roast and Inky Pool

PaperArtsy Grunge Paste

Vaseline Jelly

PaperArtsy LPC 011 stamp set

Stampers Anonymous Mini Holidays 2 stamp set

Tando-Creative Reindeer Masks

Archival Jet Black ink

White Embossing Powder

Stampendous Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel

Dovecraft Wooden Sentiment

To begin with I sanded the wood to a very smooth finish.

I gave it a coat of white gesso before applying several layers of mermaid and snowflake paint. Once dry areas were then lightly sanded to reveal touches of the wood.

2 screw in eyes were attached to the back of the wood for hanging and 2 screwed onto the bottom to attach the cardboard to.

The cardboard packaging and the white card were also painted at the same time.

The wood and the bottom edge of the cardboard were then stamped with the pine needles image using the black archival. I then added some Inky Pool paint around the edges with a sponge.

Next I lightly coloured some grunge paste with the french roast paint and applied this through the reindeer masks, the smaller one was done first. Once these were completely dry I then rubbed them with Treasure Pewter Wax Gilt and Metallic Lustre in Black Shimmer and buffed with a soft cloth.

The painted card was then stamped using the bottom edge of the main stamp from LPC 011 in black archival ink. 

Once dry areas were then applied with the vaseline jelly and then a coat of pewter paint was brushed on with a couple of small areas of the inky pool also. This was then left for several hours to dry.

Using a soft tissue the artwork was then rubbed all over, were the vaseline had been applied the top coats of paint then peeled away!

Really love this effect.

The edges of the wood and the cardboard then had the stampendous enamel applied and heated.

The wooden Jingle Bells sentiment was give 3 layers of white embossing powder and before heating the finally layer a tiny amount of turquoise glitter was sprinkled on the J and B.

The peeled paint card was then stuck onto the cardboard before attaching the 2 eyelets at the top.

The glass star and silver bells were attached using 3 star shaped brads that I coloured with a silver Pro-marker pen.

Thin leather cord was then used for the hanging and tying the 2 pieces together.

I was amazed at how well the paint rubbed off where the vaseline had been applied, this is a technique I would definitely use again so a big thank-you to Liesbeth.

I would like to enter is hanging for 

PaperArsty's Weekly Challenge 

and

Sunday Stampers weekly Challenge titled Winter.

Thank-you as always for stopping and reading this blog, I hope there is something you might be able to take away and have a play with at sometime. Enjoy your week-end and take care Jane x

All comments and questions are greatly appreciated.