PAPERARTSY TOPIC #4 ART DOLLS

Well hello again. Time sure flies by doesn't it. I can't believe we're halfway through March already. Can you?

I am LOVING the current topic at PaperArtsy. Art dolls have always fascinated me and there are so many different ways to make them. It's my turn to host tonight's blog post and I've made a chipboard doll using some of my favourite Squiggly Ink stamps. Here's a sneaky peak at my project. For full step outs you can head over to the PaperArtsy Blog. I hope you enjoy it.

THAT'S CRAFTY CHALLENGE - RED AND GREEN SHOULD NEVER BE SEEN

Morning everybody. I'm excited to be joining the team at That's Crafty Challenge Blog for their fortnightly challenges.  As ever, there is some fabulous inspiration to help you get your little grey cells ticking and we hope to see you joining in with the challenge.

I've called this piece Working to Find Peace and I've used to the cog and the key in the top left hand corner to signify that.

I decided I had to use those gorgeous PaperArtsy Poppies again from the latest Hotpicks release.  I really like the "field of poppies" layout I used for my cards but this time I wanted to used something a bit more permanent for my substrate. The lovely 6x6 MDF Squares from That's Crafty's own range of surfaces was perfect. I also added a bit more texture this time around with some DecoArt Crackle Glaze over the top to add that lovely crinkly quality you get with poppies.

 
I know you're going to have fun with the challenge and I look forward to swinging by your blogs in the coming weeks to see what you made.

Lx

Daily Journalling with Distress Crayons

I was lucky enough to be in Edinburgh for the weekend JUST as the crayons hit the shops so hubs and I hot-footed it to award winning PaperArtsy stockist, Stamper's Grove, to nab a full set of crayons while we were there. I have to say openly and honestly that I was a little sceptical when I first saw news of these "crayons" but having road tested them pretty thoroughly, I am absolutely addicted to them.

I've been making journal backgrounds pretty much on a daily basis and I'm prepared to say the crayons are beautiful "take them anywhere" sticks of pure alchemy. I LOVE them... There! I've said it :oD  Of course, everybody must decide for themselves Our crafty pennies are precious and, these days, in pretty short supply so I'll set out for you what I like about them and then you can make your own decision.

I love how vibrant the colours are. Here are a few experimental first pages from my Dylusions Journal so you can see what I'm talking about...

 For this layout I smooshed the colour onto a pre-gesso'd page. I lifted the colour back off through a couple of the new Dinky Stencils from That's Crafty and then I spritzed some water on the pages and lifted the colour off with a piece of paper towel. Brilliant! The reeds are a favourite PaperArtsy JOFY stencil. I dabbed Snowflake Fresco Paint through the stencil and the colour from the crayons hasn't bled at all. Impressive! Then I decided I'd try some Glass Bead Glitter Gel. Check out the picture below. It's crystal clear...

So now onto one of my favourite spreads.  I did this on the train home from Edinbugh. I had no gesso, only bottled water, crayons and my journal....

I did the background on the train and then did the stencilling and stamping when I got home. Just look how well the colour lifts, hours afterwards on a background that hasn't even been pre-treated. This for me is one of the major strengths of the Distress Crayons. LOVE those PaperArtsy numbers from the new Hotpicks range. If you look around the page I've stamped with Memento Ink, Staz On and Archival Ink and they all perform really well. My Memento ink pad actually needs replacing and it still performed really well on crayons. Can you see the white stamping? That's not embossed white, that's just a white ink pad, straight up. The colour doesn't bleed at all. So cool!

Wow! I love this spread. I've lifted colour with water and a flannel using one of Emma Godfrey's gorgeous stencils for PaperArtsy. I stamped the blue with Staz On ink using one of PA's new Hotpicks stamps and then stamped a number grid in white, again with one of PA's new Hotpicks releases. Next I stencilled the hearts and the numbers with That's Crafty's latest range of  Dinky stencils. I used the Picked Raspberry crayon with water and a stencil brush for the hearts and Distress Ink for the numbers. You can see how the colour changes depending on what colour you lay it over but the colour is still clear, true and definite.  again the speckles were created by spritzing water, leaving for a few seconds and then gently lifting with a paper towel. Love it!

Again this page is not pre-treated in any way. I had no water either. I smooshed the colour on with my fingers and then had to leave it until I got home. The colours don't lift off completely because the page is not pre-treated but when you stencil with water they do lift. If I wanted pure white stencilling I could always stencil with Fresco Paint and I know the colour won't bleed. You can't lose! I actually like the softer  effect here. Still a work in progress but I really like where this page is going. Lots of stamping in a variety of inks and it all works.

Love this new stamp by Visible Image. It is SO ME! :oD I can't wait to team it with "Shrek Girl" from the lates PaperArtsy Hotpicks release....LOL. Talk about a marriage made in heaven! All I had to do was wipe back the colour a little to soften it and stamp on my quote in black. It stands out beautifully. Take a look at those butterflies. They are gel medium through a gorgeous TCW stencil and when it was dry I swiped over the white crayon from set #3. Really impressed with how they stand out on the page. The crayons really pick out the detail beautifully.

That's me for today. I hope this has been a useful overview and, if you're wondering about Distress Crayons I hope it may answers some burning questions you may have. I do love stamping and colouring in so I will do some posts soon about how the crayons perform for more detailed colouring. On that note I'll leave you with a thought...

Imagine a world where you could lay down your background colour AND THEN stamp your image, wipe off the colour ONLY from that image and colour the image in with any medium you like. These crayons clearly will allow you to do that and I must admit I am really excited by that prospect. I've already started to explore that possibility and I'm impressed. But for now I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your day.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope to see you again soon.

Lx