Tuesday 31 December 2013

PaperArtsy Christmas Cracker #2

Leandra at PaperArtsy has put another great video up, with a new technique.
Here is my take on the project.

I did try the patchwork effect Leandra did (on the lid of the box), but it not work on the small notepaper box, so I just smoothed the GP off, then did another tinted layer, and stamped into it.
I over painted the dried GP with Mermaid (so it went into the indents from the stamp) and then wiped the excess off with a wet baby wipe.
The rest of the box I painted with Snowflake to get a white background, then painted over with Mermaid, Limelight and Zesty Zing


I used Fresco Paints (Mermaid, Limelight, Zesty Zing and Snowflake)
Grunge Paste (tinted with Limelight)
Stamp : my well used absolute favourite Mini 44

Sunday 29 December 2013

PaperArtsy Christmas Cracker #1

Over at PaperArtsy, Leandra has created some fantastic technique videos.

I am joining in with video #1 - Sanded Foundations
This is all about tinting your Grunge Paste with Fresco Paints.


My background Fresco paints are : Vanilla, Haystack and Guacamole
To tint the Grunge Paste I used : Mocha Mousse, Smoked Paprika, Hyde Park, London Night, French Roast, Bora Bora and South Pacific
The stencil is Mini Birds of a Feather
The bird stamp is from Hot Pick 1007 and the sentiment is from Tim Holtz

Saturday 28 December 2013

PaperArtsy Challenge : Jo Myhill

This week, Jo Myhill is back at PaperArtsy. I took inspiration from all 3 of her projects, taking bits and ideas from each to create a Steampunk card


I used Fresco Paints : London Night, Sky, Baltic Blue, Nougat and Inky Pool
Mini Tile Texture stencil and Grunge Paste
The main stamps are Oxford Impressions, the background stamps are Mini 22 and Mini 44

Friday 20 December 2013

PaperArtsy challenge : Liz Borer

Liz Borer is back for her final semester at PaperArtsy, and once again her amazing art has blown me away.
I wanted to try and recreate a tiny bit of one of her projects, #2 Ornate Case, as a card.
When I looked at the case, I thought "Grecian", and as I don't have any pillars, I chose a Grecian style lady stamp as my main focus


For the background I used Liz's instructions (and Fresco paint mixes), learning so much about mixing colours from the expert!
I coloured with the paints, stencilled and stamped (mini harlequin, mini cornflowersmini 44 script stamp)
I stamped the lady on my treasured remaining Crackly Paper stash, and painted behind her face and shoulder in Vintage Lace. I then glued it on with Matt Medium and sponged more of the background colours around the edges to blend her in.
The flowers are the same as Liz chose (Hot Pick 1009), painted with the colours mixes of Fresco paint Liz used (I would never have tried a wash of Blood Orange over, but it is perfect!) I didn't emboss my flowers (wish I had!).
Then I just added the sentiment. Sorry I don't know who the girl or sentiment are by. I unmounted many of my wood mounted stamps and put them on easy mount to create more space, and in the early days I did not make a note of the manufacturer. Pity.

Thursday 12 December 2013

PaperArtsy challenge : Joanne Wardle

Joanne Wardle is back with PaperArtsy this week, and I was inspired to try her gift tags.

I used Egg Nog 1 stamps, and coloured them in with distress markers.
I stamped the trees thrice, once on the tag, once on masking paper and once on white card.
I masked the tag to stamp the backgrounds in sepia, and then coloured, cut out and glued on the white card trees.

Saturday 23 November 2013

PaperArtsy Challenge : Liz Borer

Liz Borer is back at PaperArtsy this week, and wow, it is really worth seeing her posts - they are amazing!
I really can't create anything near the wonderful pieces of art she created this week, but I had a go at her second project.


 
I have used Fresco paints Mermaid, Bora Bora, Beach hut, South Pacific, Stone and Snowflake
I used Grunge paste through a Crafter's Workshop stencil (I can't remember which one)
The sail boat is stamped on Crackly Tissue Paper (yes, I still have some stashed away...)
I have used Treasure Brass on the swirls (doesn't show up much in the photo)


Friday 15 November 2013

PaperArtsy challenge : Joanne Wardle project 2

I decided to do another of Joanne Wardle's projects his week : project #2


I used the baubles from JOFY Collection 03, and the sentiment (which I only used part of to balance it) from JOFY Collection 02.
I used pencils to shade the baubles and stickles to add some sparkle.

Tuesday 12 November 2013

PaperArtsy Challenge : Joanne Wardle

The week Joanne Wardle is back at PaperArtsy, with her clean and simple style of card making.
Christmas is fast approaching, so that's the theme this week.
I have followed her first project (although I added some extra stamping and a bit of doodling, sorry Joanne, I just HAD to...)



I have used JOFY Mini 06, Fresco Paints colours Tinned Peas and London Bus, and the sentiments are from JOFY Collection 02.

Friday 25 October 2013

PaperArtsy Challenge : Liz Borer

The is week the talented Liz Borer is back at PaperArtsy with some fabulous projects.
I chose her 3rd project and created something completely different. Going through her post, at the point where she finished her background I thought : Oriental card!
I didn't have the same stencils (pity), but used what I had to sort of create the background, and add the Lynne Perrella stamp to complete the Oriental look.


I used Grunge Paste through Mini Vine and Mini Birds of a Feather stencils.
The background is painted with Fresco Paints in Inky Pool, Eggplant and Baltic Blue (with a touch of Nougat to lighten bits and for the moon)
I have used Treasure Gold - Brass to highlight the raised areas.

Tuesday 15 October 2013

I did another one!

I really enjoyed making the card for Joanne Wardle's first project back at PaperArtsy this week, so I decided to make another, as a Christmas Card (yes - they need to get done :))
Once again I made the card as per Joanne's example, but then used the inner die cut to make a sort of mirror image second card.



The die is Provocraft (cuttlebug). 
I used Fresco paints : Snowflake (of course), Sky and Baltic blue.
Splatter stamp is once again Ink & the Dog Mini 72.
Once again I went around the edges of the card with distress ink (Stormy Sky this time), and then a touch of stickles icicle around the edge of the top card, and on the snowflake itself for the second card. (Got to have a touch of sparkle on Christmas cards!)

PaperArtsy : Joanne Wardle

Joanne Wardle is back at PaperArtsy this week, with her clean and simple style.
This is really not my style at all, so I plunged in to have a go at her first project. I must say - I'm rather taken with it!

I made 2 cards, the first is following her example, the second was to use up the die cut (and left over paint on my craft sheet) - so I just made a kind of mirror image.



I used the Eclectica Branch die, Fresco Paints : Blood Orange, Pumpkin Soup and Smoked Paprika
The splat stamp is the wonderful Mini 72.
For both cards I added a border of Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Rusty Hinge), just to add a bit of a frame.
I did not raise the cards on 3d foam though, as I will probably be posting them to the recipients.
I'm rather pleased with the results!

Friday 11 October 2013

PaperArtsy Challenge - Alison Bomber

It's seems like such a long time since I was able to join in with the PaperArtsy challenge. It's good to be back :)

I chose Alison Bomber's second project : If I had Wings as my inspiration.


I used Hot Pick 1007, Clocks 5, Grunge Paste through Mini Vine Stencil.
Nougat and Snowflake Fresco Paints. Finally I used some Vintage Photo distress ink and highlighted with Treasure Gold.

Friday 4 October 2013

Christmas Cards

It's time to really get going on making my Christmas Cards. I recently bought Tim Holtz Christmas blueprint stamps, and made these 4 cards.

 
 


Tuesday 10 September 2013

PaperArtsy challenge : Alison Bomber #1

New semester over at the PaperArtsy blog, and it's the turn of Alison Bomber to inspire us this week.
I have chosen her first challenge, Lucky Number 3 (and made a card as always).
I really enjoyed making this card - all the layers and textures are amazing! Thank you Alison - I am certainly looking forward to the rest of your week!


I have used Fresco Paints in Snowflake, Vanilla and Haystack.
Some Tim Holtz tissue wrap, then painted over them again to blend them in.
Mini Harlequin stencil with Hey Pesto and Tinned Peas, and clear embossing powder over the top (inspired idea Alison!)
The stamps are HP1008, HP1009 and Mini 96, and I've stamped in Adirondack Stream and Archival Sepia.
The stencilled circles are done using some sequin waste, and distress inks Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass and Broken China.

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Leandra's Saturday Videos

Each Saturday in August, for PaperArtsy's 10th birthday, Leandra has been spoiling us with her wonderful video tutorials. I always love her videos, and so decided to follow them some of them for my next card inspiration.

I started with her first video here
I had not heard of using the back of cut 'n dry foam to paint with before, it was great to learn a new technique!
I have used the same colours of Fresco Acrylic Paints that she used.


Then I moved on to her next video here, to stamp and paint the images.
I have stamped with JOFY 09, and used Fresco Acrylic Paints to colour the images.


Saturday 24 August 2013

PaperArtsy challenge, Carol Quance Pencil case

My PaperArtsy inspiration this week was Carol Quance's pencil box.

I used my (finally) acquired Grunge Paste (why did I wait so long??? It's amazing!) through stencils
I also used Fresco Acrylic paints, and some stamps from Crafty Individuals and KatzelKraft

 
 

Friday 16 August 2013

PaperArtsy challenge : France Papillon #2

The week I chose France's #2 challenge as inspiration for my card.
Like France, I used Tim Holtz Terminology Tissue Wrap, then applied Fresco Paints (Beach Hut, Pumpkin Soup and Inky Pool) with a baby wipe.
I used texture paste (still not grunge paste *gasp*) through a circles stencil, then coloured them with Portfolio Oil Pastels.


Saturday 10 August 2013

PaperArtsy challenge : Sue Carrington #4 {special 10th birthday post}

Over at PaperArtsy it's their 10th birthday!
Part of the celebrations, Sue Carrington has created a box using stamps she created. I made a card, using all the great inspiration she created.


I've used texture paste in the corners (sadly I don't have grunge paste...yet...)
Paint colours are Sky, Inky Pool, Baltic Blue and Pansy
The stencils use Pansy and Snnowflake.
I've stamped the background with Mini 22, Mini 44 and Mini 72
The mans is from Hot Pick 1110

Saturday 6 July 2013

Another card from Sue Carrington's Tag Screen

I so enjoyed making the previous card, using the techniques on the PaperArtsy Blog, from Sue Carrington's Tag Screen, that I made another one.


I have used the same Fresco Paints (Beach Hut, Limelight, Snowflake) plus I added some Pea Coat to the frame around the word Sanctuary.
The dragonfly is painted with Pearlescent Watercolour paints, so if you tilt the card it becomes electric blue (with hints of gold).
The stamps are from Hot Picks 1006 again.

Sue Carrington at PaperArtsy

Gosh, it seems like ages since I was last able to  join in with the PaperArtsy semester (I really did want to, I was just not able to)
I managed a card this week, using Sue Carrington's post #3, her gorgeous tags as inspiration.


I've used Fresco Paints in Beach Hut and Limelight (applied with a babywipe), with the stencil circles in Snowflake.
The stamps are Hot Pick 1006, with the overlaid saying from Lin Brown #3
The other saying, I'm afraid I have no idea what company it is from - I have a sheet of sayings that I cut up and mounted, and never wrote down who the company was.

Friday 21 June 2013

Tim Holtz challenge - 12 tags of 2013 - June

I thought I'd have a go at Tim Holtz's challenge this week.
12 Tags of 2013 : June

It's been a while since I did distress, and I needed to use my new distress pens for watercolour painting. It was great fun!


Friday 7 June 2013

PaperArsty Challenge - Sue Carrington

Sue is back for her next week at PaperArtsy.
I loved her altered pencil/sewing case, and decided to finish a project that has been hanging around my craft desk for ages : a wooden tissue Box.

I did have a go before, and hated the result so I stripped it down, and have been waiting for inspiration...



The top of the box is from the original attempt - it was texture paste that I stamped into. I just repainted it with Fresco Paints (Nougat, Irish Cream, Claret and Chocolate pudding)

For the sides I used metal. I embossed them, mounted them on black card then painted them with the same colours as the box.

Okay, it very subtle colour wise, but I like it :)

Friday 31 May 2013

PaperArtsy challenge : Darcy Wilkinson

The amazing Darcy Wilkinson has burst onto the PaperArtsy semester, wowing us all with her outstanding creativity.
Her work is truly amazing, and well worth looking at!

I chose her first post for my card this week.


I created the background using her techniques (and Hot Pick 1009 stamps), then used Lin Brown stamps for the flowers and words.
Both the background and the flowers are all made using Fresco Acrylic Paints.

Saturday 25 May 2013

PaprArtsy challenge : Carol Quance

This week I was quite taken by Carol's Oriental Tag, as I have just bought the Lynne Perrella #22 stamps.
Here is my card version of her tag


I used the same Fresco Finish paint colours as Carol.
The girl is coloured with Prismacolor pencils and blended with sansodor.
The Chinese style writing (gold embossed) and the background bamboo (stamped with distress inks) are from The Stamp Man.

Friday 10 May 2013

New Semester at PaperArtsy!

So the new Semester over at PaperArtsy begins with Sue Carrington, who is making magic with Lin Brown's new PaperArtsy stamps.
Well, I got my Lin Brown stamps only today, and immediately set about having a play!


I followed Sue's first project, Golden Hours (but made a card).
I used Gesso through a stencil to create the harlequin raised areas, then started painting with my Fresco Acrylic paints. I used Nougat, Irish Cream and Brown Shed on the background. Then I stencilled with Baltic Blue overlayed with Nougat (bump technique) and stamped with Baltic Blue.
I highlighted the raised areas with Inca Gold to make them stand out more.
The stamps are all Lin Brown of course (#1 and #2) and I used her new die to cut the leaves.

Friday 19 April 2013

Final Week for Linda Cain...

I can't believe the PaperArtsy creative fest is nearly over - it has been so much fun.
This week was Linda Cain's last week, and her "If I had wings journal" really inspired me.
I've never done anything quite like this, and it was great fun to make (very messy...)
I don't do journaling, so I made a large card instead.


I have used Fresco Finish paints, stencils, and my stamps are from Hot Pick 1006, Hot Pick 1007 and Hot Pick 1008 .
Then a White Sharpie marker and a black fine point pen to highlight the various elements.

Friday 12 April 2013

Final week for Helen Chilton

Over at PaperArtsy Blog, it's Helen Chilton's last week, and she is going out with a bright bang!
I have tried her second post, using distress staines as "splats" for the background, and bleach to lighten the girl's face after stamping.


I have used Hot Pick 1008, with a Tim Holtz sentiment.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Fun with shaving cream...

Wow, I didn't think I'd get to join in this week, but luckily I managed to squeeze in some crafting fun.
Suzanne Czosek is at PaperArtsy this week, and has reminded us all of shaving foam with paint. I hunted down a  bottle in one of my craft drawers and had a messy load of fun creating the background.


I have used Fresco Finish paints (Ice Blue, Limelight and Chocolate Pudding)
My stamps are from Hot Pick 1208, Vintage Collection ID04, and Mini 44.
The die is from Tim Holtz, which I coloured with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.

Saturday 23 March 2013

Linda Cain's Brightness

Linda Cain is back at PaperArtsy, with some bright and colourful creations.
I chose Linda's Believe Journal page (but made a card). This one was a hard one for me - I am not great with bright colours, or the collage effect she uses, but I had to have a try.
I chose to make my main stamp really stand out (sorry Linda...), in fact I made it a contrast to the colours around it.






I have used Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels, Love Kisses 1 stamp, Ink & the Dog mini's 22, 44 and 72 with Fresco Finish Snowflake paint.

Saturday 16 March 2013

Helen Chilton's week

My weekly PaperArtsy entry - Helen is back, inspiring us to create.
I chose her credit card (and paint) technique, and went with a collage style card, using my new ID04 Vintage stamps.



I used the Mermaid, Guacamole, Hey Pesto and Pea Coat Fresco Paints.

Thursday 7 March 2013

Another Michelle Webb week at PaperArtsy

So over at PaperArtsy the guest designers continue to amaze us with their beautiful creations.
This week, Michelle Webb's first creation has inspired me to make this card.
I seem to be a bit short of PA stamps this time (I guess I need to buy more :))
I had great fun making it (getting very messy), but I am not sure if I like it, it seems a bit busy to me.


I have created the background with Guacamole, Zesty Zing, Pumpkin Soup, Smoked Paprika and Brown Shed Fresco Acrylic Paints.
The flower die is Grunge Flower 1.
I have stamped with a mix of Hot Pick 1009, Bricks Mortar 1, Mini 44 and Tim Holtz Nature's Moments.

Wednesday 6 March 2013

A card for Tim...

Tim Holtz is holding a challenge, simply use his Tattered Floral dies in any way you want, post and 5 lucky people will win $100 worth of his products - well worth entering!

Here is my card, using Distress Inks, a stencil, some of Tim's stamps, and of course the Tattered Floral die to create the flower.


Thursday 21 February 2013

Another Spring Card

I decided to have another go at the spring flowers by Linda Cain on the PaperArtsy website, but using Distress Inks this time. I've not used my DI for ages, and it felt weird (I've been using paint only for a couple of months now).
I used the same stamps as my previous post, from Hot Picks 1009, as they are the only PA flowers I have (it's okay, I love them!)






My white pen doesn't show up that well, can anyone suggest a good white pen for this kind of highlighting?


Spring Card

Linda Cain is back at PaperArtsy this week.
I kind of mixed up the spring tag and the metal from the triptych.


The background is Fresco paint added with cut 'n dry foam (I used Guacamole and Hey Pesto for the grass, and Sky and Baltic Blue for the sky)
I then stenciled with Nougat. The stamps are Hot Pick 1009, and the background stamp is Mini 44.
The flowers are stamped onto Metal Card, and  PaperArtsy papers.



Wednesday 13 February 2013

Helen is back!

This week at PaperArtsy, Helen Chilton is back, with some amazing techniques and wall hangings.
So following Helen's idea, I took my door hanging from last week, flipped it over and decorated the other side. Now I can change it around for a different feel.
I've gone a lot simpler in my overall feel, less is more (I hope!)



The background is Nougat and Ice Blue Fresco Finish Paints.
The flowers are from Hot Pick 1009, and stamped onto Crackly Tissue Paper.
I then painted them with watered down Ice Blue and Pea Coat.
The Crunchy Paper was embossed, and I added some Nougat to highlight the pattern.
The words are from Petal Plate 3, and stamped in Sepia on cream card.
Finally the flower is the same as yesterday, 3 layers : card, crunchy paper and Crackly Tissue, painted with Nougat, Irish Cream and Chocolate pudding, with the word script on the middle layer stamped in Claret.

Friday 8 February 2013

PaperArtsy challenge, Michelle is back!

Michelle Webb is back as guest designer, and is really wowing us all! Her work is so amazing, with so much technique and many interesting layers.


 I decided to try my hand at a door hanging thingy. It had already been decorated (many years ago), and so I just painted  a layer of Snowflake Fresco Finish paint over the top to get back to a blank canvas.
I added the flowers from the  Mini Daisy Cluster stencil, using Gesso. This makes a much subtler raised surface than Ferro.
Then I painted the background using blues and purples (Ice Blue, Sky, Baltic Blue, Moonlight, Lilac, Pansy, Eggplant)
Next I highlighted the flowers with Inka Gold (violet and platinum)
I took the PaperArtsy Die - Grunge Flower #1, and made 3 flowers from it. The bottom one on white card, which I painted with Eggplant and streaks of Ice Blue, then covered it with Metallic Glaze and curled the petals under.
The middle layer is made from Crunchy Paper, painted with Pansy, scrunched it, then stamped script over it. The final one was on Crackly paper, which I painted with Moonlight and a little metallic glaze, and scrunched it up in the middle to make it smaller. In the middle is an old button from my stash.
Back on the wood, I did some background stamping (with snowflake paint), and stenciled some diamonds with Mini Harlequin in the purples.
Finally I stamped the words from Hot Pick 1009 on Crackly paper, and added them using Satin Glaze.
I seem to have a problem with the Satin Glaze though - I stamp using Versafine, but never seems to dry! This one was left for 24 hours, and was still wet when I added it (hence a few thumb prints in the background...)
Anyway, I attached the flower with a glue gun, and was finished.
I really enjoyed making that!



Friday 25 January 2013

PaperArtsy Challenge - Linda Cain (2)

I'm getting another card done this week! I chose the second of Linda Cain's projects to work from (see here) - a Valentines card
I was a bit heavy handed with the Claret and Baltic Blue, and no amount of Nougat seemed to make any better.
I think my background is more "Chainsaw massacre" and less Valentines... 
Still, Dave likes it (and as he's probably getting the card, that's okay).
I stamped the house from Squiggly Ink Bricks & Mortar 1 onto white card,  then painted it with Claret and Baltic Blue (using a black marker pen to redraw the bricks on the roof), and cut out the square in the middle, so you can see my background through it.
I also stamped the heart from Squiggly Ink Love & Kisses 1, painted it and cut it out. The words are from the same set (Love you more stamp), I just masked out the words and stamped what I wanted.
The hearts down the sides are a stamp in my collection (not sure who by), that I stamped with a bit of nougat paint.


Thursday 24 January 2013

PaperArtsy challenge - Linda Cain

More from the PaperArtsy challange
I'm a bit behind this week, uber-talented Linda Cain has posted 3 wonderful creations already, and I am still on number 1...
I must say, I am loving creating the paint backgrounds with Fresco Finish paints - they are so much fun to work with.
Linda's idea of spritzing with water to apply in a more washed out way was great - I will be using that a lot more. I also used the same colours as she did, as they are not colours I would normally put together. It worked so well!
My background stamps arrived from Leandra today (great timing) - Ink & the Dig Mini's 22 and 44
I went for a steampunk theme again, using the same sheet as last week, Hot Pick 1110.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

PaperArtsy Challenge Week 2

Over at PaperArtsy they have some amazing Guest Designers showing ideas and techniques. Anyone joining in has a chance of winning some (gorgeous) PaperArtsy stamps.
I didn't get around to it last week, but I am right here ready for this!
Guest Designer Helen Chilton has been creating some fab projects using Portfolio Water Soluble Oil Pastels. I have a set already (phew) and they are such great fun to work with.
So here is my card: the background is the Pastels (smudged with a finger), then the "sun rays" are created with the Mini Harlequin stencil and Fresco Acrylic Paints (which I am so in love with), Claret and Haystack, using the "bump" technique (see Leandra's video here).
Some background stamping with Distress and Adirondack inks, and the main stamps are from Hot Pick 1110.


Sundried