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.
So then..... Number Five... There have been so many great takes on this theme already over at Dragons Dream that I really had to wrack my brain (cell!?) to come up with an idea. I rummaged around in my scrap box for a bit and this fairly clean and simple design is what I came up with using a well known phrase.
Yup, it's Five O'clock Shadow... I did kinda spell it right out didn't I :oD
Ooooh! Just squeaked in this time around, but I do LOVE the challenge over at Dragon's Dream. I like to have a good think about what I want to do and I've been dying to get this Time Traveller set by Tim Holtz inky SO....
Here is my No 8
...and, after a bit of a dry spell as far as colouring in goes, I coloured in my very dapper traveller with my Copics. I usually love nothing more than fussing over my colouring but I was up against it today and had to rush a bit. That said, I still think he turned out okay, which is more a tribute to the lovely stamp than it is to my colouring...
The current theme at PaperArtsy is Time and I thought it would be a great excuse to crack open a new A3 size journal for a bit of time related whimsy. (Apologies as I found it quite difficult to photograph such a large page)
My starting point was a quote from Tom's Midnight Garden "Nothing stands still, except in our memory."
Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail from Jo Firth-Young asking me to make some samples for her upcoming release. WOW! Me!? Really!? Let me think about that for a nano-second...YES PLEASE!!! I am SO excited to share some samples with you tonight for Jo's latest JOFY release. The stamps are amazing, as always, and I feel so lucky to have been on Jo's team for this release. Thanks Jo. I had a ball.
Guess who my teamies were!! All crafting heroes of mine, so quite scary to have my samples sitting alongside their fabulous work. Who were they? Well you'll have to nip over to the PaperArtsy blog to see.
...and just when you thought it couldn't get any better, here's a video
I know you will want to check out Jo's own amazing pieces. You can find her blog here and, of course, her samples will be on the PaperArtsy blog.
Here are my samples. I used the fab Fresco paints on all of them. I haven't done step-outs but if you have any questions do please ask and I'll be happy to answer them.
Bloom and Grow
I do love making my own home decor items so a frame was the first thing I thought of. It's all there for you in this set, so it was a bit of a no brainer. It was really easy to transform a plain old chipboard frame with Fresco Paints and some PaperArtsy Crackle Glaze. I wanted an alternative to paper or card so I used a roll of canvas I had lying around for the backing and stamped elements
You can see the texture of the canvas better on this close up. You can buy a pre-gesso'd roll of canvas for a couple of pounds.
Then I turned my attention to the gorgeous circles stamp at the bottom of the plate. Honestly! What couldn't you do with this stamp. I LOVE it. Here are just two ideas.
Lollipop Trees
As you know, I do like to get the most out of my stamps and I think this card really demonstrates how flexible this set is if you look beyond the obvious. I used the mushroom tops to make hills, the flower stem for the tree trunks and the circle border for the treetops. All stamped and embossed in white onto luscious kraft card and then painted with Fresco's for a lovely matt finish.
Beautiful Blooms
I made some paving slabs using a word stamp from JOFY11and used the circles as flower beds
...and last but not least... Here's a little bit of fun that didn't make it to the video...
I love those really fluffy/spikey caterpillars you see and I thought it would be easy and fun to pimp up my caterpillar a bit for a clean and simple card. He made me smile and I'm pleased to say Jo says she laughed out loud when she saw him, so clearly he did the trick.
Feeling Prickly
That's all for today. Thanks for dropping by. Hope you enjoyed your visit. Do please head over to the PaperArtsy blog and leave Jo and the gang some love. Pop back tomorrow evening for Day 2 of Jo's launch. There's more to see.
