JUNK JOURNAL - Stage One Completed

Hello folks, I hope life is treating you well and the sun is shining where you are.

Now, when I say "junk" what I actually mean is scraps (and actually I think it's more like a Smash Book), but I've had such a great time making my junk journal using bits from my scrapbox. I already want to make another one. Once I got going I found it was SUPER addictive. I just couldn't stop.

Sincere apologies for the length of the post. I did TRY to keep it short, but you might want to gather supplies before you start :oD I would definitely recommend a comfort break, a cuppa and maybe some biscuits (essential sugar) to sustain you...

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin:-

I started with some packaging we got when we bought new plates. This piece looked perfect for a book

You may be able to see I've written measurements on the inside of the box so I remember how big to make the pages and what size pieces I was looking for to make the cover.  Initially I was thinking I would cover up the card but by the end I decided I actually wanted to see it in all it's glory so I've made smaller panels.

I sewed my pages in as I don't have a book binding machine. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube and Pinterest. All you need is a long needle, a pokey tool and some strong thread. Couldn't be easier.

After a few happy days rifling through my scraps, old chipboards, and various bits and bobs this is what I came up with

I used velcro dots for the fastening

Now for the inside. As you can see, it's jam packed

I won't bore you with pictures of the ENTIRE book but here are a few little highlights. As you will see, I used tags I've already made, some die cuts, chipboards, strips of paper etc etc. I also made lots of pockets to keep things I like or want to keep particularly. There are places for lists, quotes, pictures; anything I thought I might want to put in AND I've left a couple of gaps where I can add more pages if I want to:-

and last but not least I added a couple of pockets at the back of the journal for keeping odds and ends I might want to put in when I've got more time

Of course some of us are more impressed with it than others. I think poor Luna might have lost the will to live :oD I'm stripping our bedroom out at the moment ready for some building work so she's been having to wait ALL DAY for her walk. She's NOT impressed...

Somebody's got a frown-y face...

Lx

DRAGONS DREAM TAG IT ON #189 - BLUE AND WORDS

A bit of fun this week for the Dragons Dream Tag It On Challenge.  I've been sorting out my craft room lately and I dug out these gorgeous (and long neglected) Grumpies from the depths of one of my files. I'd forgotten just how great they are. It cost me a fortune to have them shipped at the time but it was SO worth it. They make me laugh so much and they go perfectly with the hilarious Dylusions Say It How It Is stamps. It just had to be done quite frankly...

I used three shades of acrylic paint for the tag itself and the Grumpies are coloured with my Copics. I'm not usually one for bright colours but I like how they go together here.

Clare showed us a technique on her blog a couple of months back where you scrape through the top layer of paint with the handle of your brush to create texture. I put a layer of aqua paint on the tag and when it was dry I applied blue and white paint over the top. I then scraped through the blue and white paint while it was wet to reveal the aqua underneath. I love how that works. Thanks Clare.

LOL... Too cute!

Lx

A Journal Page - You Will Always Be My "A"

Hello everybody. I hope you've all had a good weekend. They fly by so quickly don't they...

In between chores and lots of quality time in the garden, I've been nipping into my craft room to fiddle with this journal page

I'm still on a steep learning curve where Journalling is concerned. I'm not sure this is quite right to be honest but I suppose I can add to it or paint over bits later if I want to. I've left some blank space on the right hand page so I can add some hand written journalling at a later stage (when I've decided what I want to write AND how I want to write it??). Decisions, decisions....

Looking forward to starting my tag for Dragon's Dream tomorrow AND I'm starting a junk journal using some packaging I got in a new set of plates. Oh dear; I don't know what I was more excited about; the plates or the packaging!?  What it is to be a crafting SADDO :oD

Have a great week everybody.

Lx

PAPERARTSY - NICHES

Hi everybody

Here's my Niches project for PaperArtsy. I decided to use an old catalogue and a box lid to make a kind of shadow box in a book. Just a bit of whimsy for my Easter scheme in the house so I wanted ice cream colours and a sense of Spring. I've used pretty much what I had to hand, so it's paper, glue and paint PLUS the all important catalogue and lid box. Nothing fancy but it does make a really solid structure so it's not going to fall apart any time soon.

It struck me how well Clare's stamps would go with my much loved Squiggly Ink stamps. I knew I wanted to make a paper doll and the rest was easy...so...

Once Upon a Time there was a sad neglected catalogue and a lonely box lid who wanted to be together always...

I carefully trimmed out the pages from the catalogue and stuck the box lid to the back panel of the book cover (my glue of choice for most things is Cosmic Shimmer but any strong glue will work well).

Now line the whole thing with paper. I used little strips of waste paper glued on and sealed with Mod Podge, which is another staple item for me, but you could also use a gel medium or PVA glue if you prefer. My waste paper was a horrid shade of green so I laid down a coat of gesso as well.

The swirls were drawn free-hand with Cosmic Shimmer glue.

When it goes clear it's dry; then you can paint over it. How I love that Mermaid Fresco paint! When dry I sealed with Liquitex Iridescent Medium but actually I could have mixed it with the paint and got the same effect (brain not firing on all cylinders that day...). Finally I highlighted the swirls with Treasure Gold in Aquamarine

Now for the paper doll. I used the girl from Clare's latest release EDC04. There are lots of fantastic free resources for paper dolls on the internet but in the end I decided to draw a pair of simple arms and attach them with brads so I could move them and pose the doll when I assembled my project.

To make my niche I cut three identical tag shapes with my die cutter using some old packaging. I've stuck a small piece of acetate on the back layer to give my doll's heart something to "float" on and then layered the other two tag pieces on top with foam squares to give the heart a niche to sit in.

I made the skirt with plain old white tissue paper and, to be perfectly honest, I'm still wondering if I should have stamped some pattern onto the tissue paper using the additional stamps on the plate. The only reason I didn't was because I wanted the eye to move across the top of the page rather than be distracted by anything at the bottom. It seemed like a sound enough reason at the time but all that white space is kind of tempting.

A bit of paper ribbon for a belt, a magic wand made from a punched star, some gold glitter and a quilting pin (they're longer with a larger head) and I was ready to move onto the other side of the book

I used Squiggly Ink stamps for the sentiment (from the Mini's range) and the dragon flies. I used my Copics to colour them in and sealed them before fussy cutting them. I used some dies to make a sort of hanging sign. The leaves were painted with Fresco paint in Guacamole and then highlighted with Treasure Gold. The little magic stars are just bead spacers. I thought they were pretty and they draw your eye from the doll to the sentiment

I kept the cover of the book pretty simple because I loved all the swirls so much AND because I didn't want anything too bulky that's going to get knocked off when I slide the book in and out of my book shelf. I couldn't resist adding a few little flowers though. I'll have to see how they fare over time.

...and that's it. They all lived Happily Ever After...

THE END

Blimey! That was an EPIC post. I hope you're not too traumatised. I hope it's been interesting and I've given you some useful ideas. You could definitely adapt this idea to make all kinds of things. I have plans to make a junk journal and a printer's tray by adapting the same technique.

If you haven't lost the will to live please check out the PaperArtsy blog for links to all the PaperArtsy products I used.


Lx

STILL PLAYING WITH MY FAB FRESCO PAINTS

from Paperartsy. I love what you can do with them. The texture is great and you can get some really great effects. Check this out. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with it yet but, having tried a few ideas out on tags I wanted to move to a larger surface.

I've used Orchid, Candy Floss, Mermaid and South Pacific to create this. No thinners or relaxers required and no special base. Just pour straight onto your canvas and this is what you can do...

Cool huh! Though not, I hasten to add, a technique for the super tidy and/or super frugal crafter. You do need a fair bit of paint for this and you won't need to mind letting it fall off the canvas (though I let mine drop onto a glass mat and mopped it up with tags and you can get some great effects). Just look at the dimension on those dots. They are literally just where I dropped dots of paint onto the canvas after the first layer was dry and left them to see what would happen.

Now all I have to do is decide what I want to do with it next...

Lx

GRUNGE GRUNGE GRUNGE CHALLENGE AT THAT'S CRAFTY

I couldn't resist the Grunge, Grunge, Grunge challenge at That's Crafty this week

I used Fresco Paints by PaperArtsy for the background and Treasure Gold on the metal leaves and flowers in Aquamarine and Spanish Gold. I painted the wax straight onto the metal, heated and let them cool before buffing and you get this cool enamelled effect. I mixed them up with some pieces from a broken necklace I had and you can't tell the difference between the two. Impressive! I clearly NEED more Treasure Gold in my life :oD

I'd forgotten how much I LOVE these Squiggly Ink dragonflies from PaperArtsy. I think they look great stamped on black card and embossed in gold. All they needed was a little bead spacer topped with a black pearl to finish.


Lx