Altered Books

These little books are my demonstrations for a workshop I will be doing in January 2015 at Keep on Crafting in Bury St Edmunds.  The top one we will be doing in the workshop. Using paints, stencils, stamping etc.  If you live near and would like to come along please contact Mandy.

Inspired by Wanda

I loved Wanda's take on this canvas, so I altered just a bit to make a card.  I also changed the colours and used Fresco paints, Dolly Mix, Candy Floss, Spanish Mulberry and a little bit of Chalk, also a spot of mixing of colours, as you do.I used Darcy's stamps EDY10, I love this stamp set and used it quite a lot. Finally I added Liquid Pearls Petal Pink and a piece of ribbon from the stash!!!

Thanks for looking.

Thank you

Oh dear another month has past and no blogs, very bad blogger, resolution for 2015 get organised and blog.

I had a lovely Christmas with family so now is the time to say some thank yous, so I have done a few cards ready to write and send, mostly they are using things that I found on the side of my desk and a few stamps, JOFY ones, my favourites.

Thanks for look and I promise to improve in 2015!!!

Inspired by Anneke

This card was inspired by a book Anneke De Clerck altered over on the Paperartsy Blog, which I decided to translate into a Christmas Card. I started by painting, stencilling and stamping three different designs on to paper, which I then cut into strips to make the tree and finished off with Lin Browns stamps and a few stars.  I have made several cards like this using craps of double sided card, this is all on another post.

Cards from scraps!!

Two cards made from leftover bits of card, a good way to use up bits and bobs!!

Bows by Darcy

I was inspired to have a go at making this lovely bow, I almost followed Darcy's instructions on the Paperartsy website, so have a look there to see how to make the blue bow, which is made from copy paper, paint, I used Turguoise, Dusty Teal, Hint of Mint and Pewter, also some stencilling and stamping.

In the second picture I decided to try making the bows in different weights and types of card and paper, all reasonably successful, but I do think you need a lightweight paper/card which is double sided. 

Thank you for looking at my blog.

Bows

Sorry I have been a very bad blogger this last month or so, lots of workshop to run and all sorts of other things going on, have left no time for blogging.  But things are settling down now so I hope to get more time.

So here are a few bows, the original idea came from a post by Darcy on the Paperartsy Blog, more about this on another post. I did one, bottom left, made from copy paper and painted, stencilled and stamped.  The others are all made from different types of card and paper.

I think they are better made from card/paper that is double sided, but this does not need to be very thick I think the maximum weight paper/card would be 120 gsm, the thicker card it is much harder to fold and stick.

A Tile inspired by Wanda

I have been very bad a blogging recently.   I was inspired by Wanda Hentges on the Paperartsy blog to have a go at painting on a tile.  I really enjoyed it, just need to get to the DIY store to get some more tiles.
So how did I achieve the above,  I stamped one of my favourite Darcy stamps on to a tile in Archival Ink and coloured using Fresco paints.Left to dry and then added a layer of Fresco Gloss Finish and a touch of Treasure Gold around the edges. Really pleased with the effect thanks Wanda and Paperartsy.

Mosaic Mirror

I had a really great day making this mosaic mirror one day last week. I did draw the flower free hand which I weas quite impressed with!!!

Another Christmas Card

Another Christmas Card, really pleased with this little card, I used Sue Wilsons Die and matching stamp, It made a really quick card.

Christmas Cards Inspired by Anneke

I love this Christmas Tree which Darcy designed last year, so I took inspiration from Anneke's post on the Paperartsy Blog to make two cards and combined some of JOFY's stamps two.  Instead of using book pages I decided to use a piece of Tim Holtz music tissue paper, attached to card with Gel Medium and painted with Chalk.  I thne made card 1 using Fresco paints and a bit of giltter, I dont do sewing very often. Card 2 uses more of Darcy's stamps and Fibralo pens again more glitter glue, well it is Christmas. Thanks for looking.

Patchwork Panel - Inspired by Darcy

I love Darcy's patchwork Money Box, because it uses up odd pieces of painty backgrounds, which I love making and using for cards etc.  but there are usually lots of bits left over and I cant bring myself to throw them away, so this is a great idea. So I took a piece of 6"x6" black card and sorted out some leftovers that blended together, some were a bit plain so added a few of Darcy's stamps and faux stitching around the edge of each piece. Very pleased with the panel and will certainly use this technique again.

Inspired by Wanda

These cards were inspired by Wanda Hedges, on the Paperartsy blog her post is called Joy to the World.  I love making this type of background using paints and I also love Lin Brown's stamps so the combination of both inspired these four cards and I will be making many more over the coming weeks.  I basically followed the blog post but added a few ideas of my own, for one I did not have the LB sentiment stamps so had to use stamps from my stash. And as its Christmas there had to be a bit of glitter, I am not normally a glitter girl but Christmas is different.  Thanks for looking.

Crackers!!

No not me although I sometimes think I am! And my family definitely think I am. These are what I call posh crackers as they are more gift boxes than those that you pull.

Christmas Cards

I love Jo Firth Young's stamps and her idea of making a stamping masterboard and cutting up to make cards etc. For this one I did one on white card and one a kraft card and coloured with intense pencils, then cut up to make cards, I got three cards from each board and was very pleased with the effect.Thanks for the inspiration Jo.

Trying to catch up

I have been very bad at putting things on my blog of late, so I am trying to catch up with things I have been doing. One of my recent makes is this Christmas Wreath, made from Hessian and Wired Ribbon wrapped around a polystyrene shape. Then embellished with die cut flowers.  I made a similar summery one earlier in the year.  Thanks for looking.

Workshop with Michelle Webb

I had a really fun day yesterday at Its Crafting Time at Shepreth, with Michelle Webb, we were making a Journal, I really only completed the front cover, which would you believe started off black, so there are lots of layers of paint, book pages and patterned paper, then on to stenciling and embellishments.  The inside is part done but as I plan to use this journal to record a big birthday party later this month, this really is as far as I can go, but I will be back to show the finish journal soon.  Thanks for looking.

Inspired by Penny

Penny Nuttal was one of the designers on the Paperartsy blog this week.  Penny showed a technique using fusable webbing.  Now I am not too good with anything to do with sewing.  I have used this before but forgotten what to do so I did two versions one using the webbing as instructed and the other my version, I am happy with the results on both, but for the instructions go to the Paperartsy Blog.  I used Fresco paints and a stamp from one of Darcy's new stamp sets.

Stamperama Part 2

Well this is quite something, you can tell I have only been crafting today, but if I dont practice what I have learnt, I forget, you know how it is.  So here is another post following my day at Stevenage, same process as last time but now using JOFY's new set of stamps, again there are more and some lovely Christmas ones all of which are on my wish list!!  But will have to wait for a little while.  Thanks for visiting my blog.

Stamperama Fun

I had a great day at Stamperama at Stevenage yesterday, I spent quite alot of time watching Leandra from Paperartsy demonstrating Fresco paints, Fibralo fibre tipped pens and new stamps from her Designers.  So I treated myself to this set from Darcy, she has another new set which is on my shopping list, as they mix together so well. So lots of layers of Fresco paint and stamping with paint, and lightening up, finally stamping Darcy's new stamps in Archival Black and colouring with Fibralo pens and water, again lots of layers and blending.  Thanks for looking.

Inspired by Jo

This tag is a take on Jo Myhill's post on the Paperartsy Blog this week.  No quite the same but similar I used Fresco Paints, Tango, Yellow Submarine, Haystack and Autumn Fire, together with Lin Brown's stamps. Visit the Paperartys Blog to see Jo's work. I built up several background layers without using the Crackle medium, I am running out.  Hope you like thanks for visiting.

Mini Birdhouse

I was inspired to make this cute little house after seeing Linda Cain's double storey birdhouse on the Paperartsy blog.  I recently bought the Sizzix Birdhouse die. So die cut using mountboard, then cracked with black Fresco paint, Crackle Medium and Lake Wanaka and Elephant Fresco paints. I stamped using JOFY stamps and coloured again with Fresco paints and little bit of Fibralo markers. Thanks for looking.

Faces three and two

Here are my versions of Clare Lloyd's faces.  Clare is one of the guest designers on the Paperartsy Blog this week, have a look for a better picture of how they should look.  This week was Face 3 which is the first one, but whilst in the mood I decided to do face 2 as well. I have already blogged face 1 a while ago.  Dont think I am getting better but I am trying hard!!!

Darcy's Journal Challenge

So here is my first attempt at this Challenge, I must admit I am a hit and miss at Journalling, sometimes I am inspired and other times not.  So my inspiration for this page came from the fact that it starts with a masterstamping board, I have making these, secondly I had some not all of the stamps and stencils that Darcy used.   Have a look on the Paperartsy blog for Darcy's brilliant work.

I tried to use as many of the techniques as possible and I am pleaed with the results.

Clean and Simple Cards

Oh dear I so ran out of time last week, these are the cards I made for one of the challenges on the Paperartsy Blog but did not have time to photograph or blog so I am on catch up this week.  They are very simple just kraft card and archival ink.  All the stamps are from Paperartsy. So hope you like and thanks for looking.

Stencils

Karen has a very good idea for a different way of using stencils over on the Paperartsy blog this week, which I have adapted a little bit to fit in with materials that I have.  I used one of Lin Browns leaf stencils and inked the stencil with various Distressed inks, sprayed and followed the instructions. To add dimension to my card I then used another one of Lin's stencils and layered up the flower using the colours in the background and cut out, a hame made embellishment or two finished the card.

My version of Lin's Journal

Here is my version of Lin's little handbag journal.  i have know Lin for several years, and often visited her shop for workshops when she was in Olney.She is one of the guest designers on the Paperartsy Blog this week, so for all the instructions pop over there.  I altered the size slightly to fit in with the mountboard and canvas that I had in stock. I used Fresco paints, Antartic, Sky and South Pacific together with stamps from two of Lin's sets.  The dots I made using the handle of my paint brush. The final addition was the brown stopped ribbon to pull everything together.   Thanks for looking.  i highly recommend Lin's workshops, she is truly inspiring.

Inspired by Liesbeth

I really liked Liesbeth's idea of stamping on to a piece of background card and then paper piecing on to the original image.  I managed to get four swipes through the Fresco paints, so I used two pieces for these two cards and I have two pieces left for another project.  I did card no. 2 exactly as per Liesbeth's instructions on the Paperartsy blog and the first one I just paper piece some of the card and left some blank, just for something different, I like both effects.  Thanks for looking at my work.