NEW RELEASES AT PAPERARTSY - KAY CARLEY

Oh happy day! It's time for some new releases at PaperArtsy. Kay Carley is kicking things off with some gorgeous new additions to her collection. I am so excited I got to play with them. They are an absolute delight.

 

Here's a sneak peek of what I made. You will have to head over to The PaperArtsy Blog to see the rest.

Don't forget to check out Kay's own projects using the new stamps here. Wanda Hentges put an amazing spin on the stamps too. You can see her brilliant ideas here. Honestly, they will knock your socks off! 

Lx

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.

DAY 3 IN THE PAPERARTSY HOUSE

and it's Emma Godfrey's turn to share her new releases tonight. I LOVE THESE STAMPS. Emma's gone big and bold with this release which is PERFECT for some mixed media art, journalling and a bit of Bluebertie madness along the way... Emma has such a knack for putting together great elements you just know you'll go back to again and again. I love the bigger wording this time around and I think you will too.

Here's the video round up - enjoy



I've gone a bit more mixed media tonight as you will see...

I just kept layering up elements from the heart set until I was happy with this one. It's not my usual style but that made it all the more fun. The elements in the set are all so beautiful and well thought out. I would have thought this set is an absolute must for Valentines Day.

 Next up is my swirly girly. I so wish we'd video'd the unveiling of this little lovely when I handed over my samples to Emma and Leandra. We all laughed so hard. Leandra, in fact, nearly needed oxygen at one point -  I thought we were going to lose her :oD  I made her using elements picked from the flower collection and the circle collection. The germ of an idea just kind of grew and there she was... I'd recommend stamping out all the elements every time you get a stamp set. Cut them out, move them around and see what occurs to you.... It's a bit like reading tea leaves, only way more fun...

Another Fresco frenzy here! I love the bright colours Emma picked for her samples, so I threw them ALL in there and I think they look great. The flowers are just so big and happy. I particularly like the swirly centres. They layer up beautifully. I turned them into chipboards and cut them out, layering them onto my base board. I love those scribbled squares (you probably noticed) so I decided to make them stand out and add some structure to the page by embossing them in white. I think the black and white flower stalk in the set makes a great frame. I can see it would be really useful for framing a page or giving yourself lines to write on in your journal too.

And just because I like to mix things up a bit and try out lots of different things I thought I'd show you how great the images work with a more delicate approach  using Copic Markers and my favourite blues and greens. It changes the look completely.

and last but not least, here's a little door hanger I made for That's Crafty where I turned the circles into Sunflowers and used the sort of buckle shaped square from the flower set to make petals.

I hope you've enjoyed my samples tonight. Please do stop by the PaperArtsy Blog to see Emma's own amazing step outs and take in Clare Lloyds latest release too. See you again soon... Enjoy the rest of the week.

Lx

PAPERARTSY RELEASE DAY TWO! KIM DELLOW!!

Yes, the amazing Kim Dellow has joined the talented team of Signature Designers at PaperArtsy. I was chuffed to little bits to be invited to be on Kim's team for her launch and I had an absolute ball playing with these fabulously cool, slightly retro images.

Here's Leandra's video roundup with all the details for your delight and delectation...




Aren't they great! They are in the shops now so get on over to your local PaperArtsy stockist and fill your crafty boots.

Here are my samples and a quick rundown of how I made them. I haven't gone for step outs as they're all pretty clean and simple but I hope you'll find the information useful.

The colour scheme was Chartreuse, Cheesecake, South Pacific, Autumn Fire and Hey Pesto. I mostly used Fresco Paints but I have used Prisma Pencils and Copic Markers here and there too.

My first sample is a mixed media piece. I kept the background really simple and applied Fresco paints using a credit card. I stamped the layered circle and the sort of dotty grid in Cheesecake and heat embossed with clear embossing powder before adding two large flowers made from the layered circles and the gorgeous leaves. I've stamped them very simply in black and kept the shading to a minimum.

When I first picked up the stamps it struck me how much the square flowers looked like 70's style retro lighting. I've used washes of watered down fresco paints to colour them so that they look like glass and then added a mix of crackle glaze and glossy accents to add to the illusion.  The chair was made using the cloud stamp. I curved the card with a ball tool and raised it with foam squares to give the impression that it is upholstered. I couldn't resist adding a little cushion (for extra comfort).

The inside was done using the random squares stamp from the set which I coloured with Fresco's and glossed with glossy accents to give a bit of added interest.

All those cool squares and circles are perfect for a little robot. I've used the paints with lots of water to give a sort of metallic glow with lots of highlights to give the impression of a shiny surface. I curled the paper with a ball tool again to give more dimension and I've applied glossy accents to add a little extra shine which hopefully suggests metal. The cogs and gears were made using that gorgeous layered circle again and a little bit of doodling with a fine tipped marker.

I just love those little birds and the funky flower shapes. I've used my Prismacolour Pencils to colour this sample and blended the colour using Sansodor and a paper stump. I did the doodling with an ordinary fine liner and gave the birds little glossy orange jackets to add to the space age feel. I LOVE their little tape measure waistebands. Aren't they great!

So then, enough of my blather. If you haven't done so already, I hope you'll head on over to the PaperArtsy blog to see detailed step outs of Kim's own amazing samples. You can also find stockist details and further links to blogs and social media for Kim and her design team, though I've included some blog links below for you too if you want to take the scenic route.

Kim Dellow's blog
Keren Baker's blog
Tracy Evans' blog

PEACE!

For all you CAS fans, here's a Clean and Simple card I made using lots of gorgeous gold embossing powder and some fabulous stamps from PaperArtsy.

I really look forward to a nice long walk with my dogs every day and on a recent foray I noticed how beautiful the teasels look at this time of year. It gave me the idea for this card.  I've used Lin Brown's beautiful Teasel stamp here and one of her gorgeous Christmas sentiments.

Don't you just love it when you find a stamp that's a real multi-tasker. I love the gold with the white and the deeply etched red rubber stamps mean you get such a lovely crisp clean image. Yum!

Lx

STENCILLED ROBIN CARDS

Morning all

Sorry for the prolonged absence. You know what it's like leading up to Christmas. Busy, busy, busy... especially when you're making your own cards... I know you'll all be nodding vigorously and probably be nursing a serious case of Crafter's Crouch - LOL

I love Robins so I was very excited when I saw this Dinky stencil at That's Crafty. I'm really pleased with how these little cards turned out. Pretty much just a simple resist technique using Golden Gloss Gel but it really makes my little heart happy :oD

Find yourself a piece of patterned paper you like, push some clear gel medium through the stencil and leave it to dry. Then you can paint the background however you like. I used the Abstract Squares dinky stencil to put down some fresco paint. I used cheesecake, snowflake and antarctic to keep the background very understated and reflect some of the colours in the patterned paper. If you get any paint on the robins themself you can just wipe it off. When the paint was dry I stamped and embossed some musical notes and some flourishes.

I used the dinky star stencil and some Dreamweaver silver embossing paste sprinkled with silver heat embossing powder and I love the dimpled texture you get. Sprinkle on the embossing powder while the paste is still wet and heat in the usual way then set aside for the paste to dry thoroughly.

Here's one I did slightly differently as I wanted a more masculine card. This one is a bit grungier and I used a slightly different dinky star stencil. I painted the background rather than use patterned paper for this one.

I think this would be nice with some metal embellishments on it too.

That's all from me today. Not many sleeps until the big day :oD

Back tomorrow with a clean and simple card using more fab Lin Brown stamps.

Lx

ACRYLIC BUTTERFLY PANEL

Don't faint. It's me AGAIN. I know! This is becoming a regular thing isn't it.

More acrylic I'm afraid, but this time I got a lovely round piece to play with. One of things I love most about acrylic is the opportunity it gives for lots and lots of lovely layering. You can really make the most of being able to see through to all the layers on your piece.

Here I've used stamping, heat embossing, dry embossing, stencilling, flock, Treasure Gold, the works! I've used a favourite Stampers Anonymous stamp set for this and the lovely Dinky bubble stencil from That's Crafty to create that lovely confetti effect on the back.

The butterfly is embossed acetate. I used the lovely Sizzix Butterfly with Texture Fade by Tim Holtz. Money well spent, that. I love, love, LOVE IT! :oD

The Seed Heads are a JOFY Stencil by PaperArtsy. I stencilled them in white flock and I love the contrast of textures. You get the smooth shiny surface of the acetate and acrylic, the varied textures of the embossing and the fluffy white seed heads. Add that gorgeous butterfly to the mix and you've got a whole lotta lovely going on there.

I LOVE how the back turned out. I used the latest colours from PaperArtsy. I think they're gorgeous. I added a touch of Snowflake Fresco Paint for contrast too. I'll definitely be using this background again. Yum!

Lx

I want tohttp://craftstamper.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/take-it-make-it-challenge-november.html enter this for the Take It Make It Challenge at Craft Stamper

YOU ARE A FRIEND FOR ALL SEASONS

Obviously I need some more ATC's for my little crate so here's another one I've made using the acrylic ATC's from That's Crafty. Having not made an ATC for YEARS, I am now slightly addicted to these little beauties. I can't seem to put them down at the moment. The leaf stamp I used is a favourite of mine and has long since left it's packet (it is by U-Mount if memory serves) but I did see some lovely Sheena Douglas leaves at That's Crafty on Saturday that would do just as well as they're just the right size.

I used Fresco paints randomly applied in autumn colours on one side of the ATC and then stamped and embossed leaves on top of the paint when it was dry. When you flip the ATC over you can see the painted background on the other side so I shadow stamped more leaves around the edge and added a sentiment embossed in black. I love how you can still see the pattern showing through from the other side.

Lx

AN ACRYLIC TRIPTYCH

I particularly love these beautiful arch shaped acrylic shapes by That's Crafty and I think they work really well here as a Triptych.  I think they'd be perfect for all kinds of projects as you'll see in the coming weeks.

I've stencilled some birch trees onto the back (I will never tire of the gorgeous Birch Trees stencil by TCW) using PA Fresco Paint in Chalk for the trees and Squid Ink Fresco Paint for the sky.

On the front I've layered some writing embossed in white with some wild flowers and some birds embossed in black. Really simple but I think it looks really effective.

Lx

FUN WITH GELS AND MEDIUMS AT PAPERARTSY

I hope you've been keeping an eye on the PaperArtsy blog. If not you've missed out on some really fantastic techniques with an extensive array of Gels and Mediums. I think I can honestly say this has been one of the most inspiring topics on the PA Blog so far this year.  There seems to be no limit to what you can do with these amazing products and I've been gripped by what can be achieved.

Here is a quick peek at my own humble offering using a selection of my favourite Gels and Mediums, some gorgeous JOFY stencils and stamps and lovely Fresco Finish paints. Full step outs and all the links can be found at the PaperArtsy Blog, as always.

The fabulous acrylic tag was cut to order by the lovely Graham at That's Crafty. (Thanks Graham. I think I'm addicted :oD)  If you fancy playing with acrylic yourself That's Crafty offer a range of items and will cut to order if you don't see what you want.

Thanks for looking. I hope I've given you some ideas for your own projects. If not then please do check out Leandra's inspiration posts and the truly brilliant work of the PA Design Team. There's bound to be something there to tempt you.

Lx

SNEAK PEEK - BOTTLE LUMINARY FOR PAPERARTSY

As you will have noticed, the current PaperArtsy Theme of Bottles has really caught my imagination. Here's a sneak peak of the project I'm sharing on the PaperArtsy Blog tonight

Hope you enjoy it. You will find it here

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