The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Over on the Happy Daze blog I have made a simple card using the Huck Finn stamps by the Artistic Outpost. It is quite a large card, 8 ins x 8 ins and I stamped a selection of the text stamps around the edge in different shades of blue, with the main Huck Finn image in the darkest blue in the centre. I thought it was quite a nostalgic subject for a card!

I am entering this into the Artistic Outpost Referral Programme for June. You can buy their stamps from them if you are in the US, and from Happy Daze if you are in the UK.

Canvas Inspired by France Papillon for Paper Artsy

Over on the Paper Artsy blog, France Papillon has returned as Guest Designer this week with some great projects! I was particularly inspired to join in the challenge this week by this particular make, where she suggested brayering Grunge Paste onto a canvas - the texture is amazing and I dashed into my craft room to try it. It is definitely something I will do again on other surfaces. I like the way when you add your Frescos over the top, the striated surface visually blends the colours.

I have taken several elements of France's project, the bottles, the bookplate, the keyhole, the background and colours, and the heart. I painted my background with Green Olives, Hey Pesto, Guacamole, Limelight, Toad Hall, and then a few streaks of Metallic Glaze. I dry brushed the edges with French Roast to frame it. I also stamped with the script from LP 014 in Coffee Archival which added a bit more texture.  I applied grungepaste to the die cut bookplate and applied the green paints and the French Roast and a little Ice Fire Treasure Gold (well, I've got some now!). For the inside of the bookplate I stamped the woman from LP 014 and painted her with Vintage Lace and Pumpkin. I added jump rings and a piece of chain.

I made the key hole out of clay and painted it with Beach Hut and a touch of Pumpkin and some more Ice Fire.

For the flower I used some tissue paper which I stamped with the two different sizes of 'flower' with the man/clock design from Hot Picks HP 1004 using Pumpkin and a little Autumn Fire and made them into a flower and added a little Spiced Marigold DI around the edges. I added some pieces of pearl trim and a metal leaf. I had some fabric leaves too which I stamped in Coffee Archival with the leaves from HP 1004 and the script from LP 014

I stamped the bottles Mini MN 63 twice in Coffee Archival and painted them with Green Olives and Hey Pesto, with shading with French Roast. I cut them out and covered them liberally with Crackle Glaze and zapped them with the heat gun to give a cracked and bubbly glass effect. I finished off with a little heart made from a mould, to match the key hole.

Gelli Print Think and Wonder Card

Over on the Happy Daze blog I have made a card using a Gelli print background and Artistic Outpost stamps from Think and Wonder, Flower Market, and Whimsical Melange.

This was my first time with the Gelli plate, in fact I booked the Andy Skinner class not even quite sure what one was. He was a great tutor and I was pleased to come away with plenty of background pages to use on projects in the current months, although many of the ones I made were no good at all! I tended to like the secondary impressions best which seemed to have almost a canvas texture look to them. This is the one I have used with the background stamping added but before I added the collaged pieces:-

I enjoyed the messyness of this technique. Wouldn't it be a fun thing to do in the garden in the summer with children and friends?

To finish the card, I stamped the butterflies on a couple of other pieces of Gelli background, one in lilac and one in turquoise and cut them out, and stamped the house frame from the Whimsical Melange set onto the tutquoise piece, to frame the little girl.

I am entering this into the June Referral Programme for the Artistic Outpost. You can buy their stamps from them if you are in the US, and from Happy Daze if you are in the UK.

Golden Age of Ballooning Altered Shower Gel Bottle

 

Over on the Happy Daze Blog I have altered a shower gel bottle using Artistic Outpost stamps. I used French Flight and Paris Exposition.

I used Glossy Accents and tiny green beads on the top.

I'm entering this into the June Referral Programme at the Artistic Outpost. You can buy their stamps directly from them if you are in the US, or from Happy Daze if you are in the UK.

Wooden Sewing Box - Inspired by Sue Carrington for Paper Artsy

I'm joining in the Paper Artsy challenge at the 11th hour this week. It's been a difficult week for a number of reasons, and my blogging is completely behind and out of synch as my internet (and landline) has been down for a couple of days. In my week of ups and downs though, I have as always enjoyed the Paper Artsy blog, and I love the work of Sue Carrington who is this week's guest artist, so thank you for giving us so much pleasure. I must apologize for uploading something that I may well go back and tweak a little, and I hope that isn't bad form, but I didn't want to miss the deadline and I have had lots of mishaps with this project along the way.

 

The box was wooden with silver hinges so I painted it with Snowflake Fresco Finish and then coloured the hardware with an alcohol pen which gave a dark bronze colour which I then knocked back with Treasure Gold in Ice Fire, which is a brand new purchase for me, and buffed it up. I covered all the inner sections and back and front of the box with Tim Holtz paper which I gessoed so that my stamping would show up more. I then basically stamped with millions and trillions of Paper Artsy stamps, I would challenge even Mrs PA herself to spot every one of them! My plan was to use neutral colours, starting with the palest first, with abstract stamps, and then build up to my sewing related focal images in the stronger colours, to give a very layered effect. Thank you so much to Petra who came round on Thursday evening with her sewing stamps. You see, it wasn't an entirely bad week! At this point the box was going a bit Pete Tong, mainly because I couldn't decide how it was oriented, and Petra pointed out that if it was laid flat on a desk and you were working from it, the sectioned part would be the base and the plain section would be facing you and would be the lid. But when you are carrying the box like a suitcase, the orientation of the stamping needs to be a different way up to when it is on a table. This is still making my brain ache, but I decided the only way is to have all the stamping going in multiple directions so this is what I have done, and that is why I will go back and tweak it some more and make that look more deliberate.

I used text stamping in grey around all the edges inside and out, although it doesn't show very clearly in the photos. I used Treasure Gold around all the box edges and buffed it up. I decided that as I wanted the box to be a practical item I wouldn't use any embellishments or dangly bits that could get knocked and scruffy in use, and I wanted to be able to stack things on top of it, but I may change my mind. What do you think?

I have a proper old fashioned sewing box upstairs, but in this photo you can see a very unaesthetically pleasing plastic pot I keep my mini sewing kit in downstairs for when I want to sew a button on in front of the tele. Doesn't this look better:-

What I really need, though, is something to take to the Stampin' Up class I go to once a month. I think this will fit the bill. Complete with Treasure Gold!

Key Spool Inspired by France Papillon - and a Photo of my Bro, John!

This is my second entry for the Paper Artsy challenge for this week as I was away last week and very much enjoyed seeing France Papillon's creations, and in particular her video of how she made the Key Spools, which you can see here. I was dying to try it so I ordered some wooden spools whilst I was away to try as soon as I got back. I think they will be very addictive!

Not much to say about the process as I followed France's instructions but I went for a pink and lilac colour scheme, colouring my seam binding with Fresco paints and dabbing some distress inks around the 'The Eyes See Everything' wording. I used the script mini for the top of the spool and the Movie Star and the Eye Mini for my shrink plastic danglies. I used lilac Bakers' Twine around the top and bottom of the wording.

And far more beautiful than anything I could possibly make, John holding his medal, photographed by my other lovely brother, David.

Canvas Board with New Lynne Perella Oriental Stamps

I am entering this canvas board for the Paper Artsy challenge. This week's Guest Designer is Carol Quance who has been one of my favourite artists and someone I have admired so much ever since I first started stamping. She has made a gorgeous hanging papier mache board using the new Lynne Perella Asian stamps and Fresco Finish paints which you can see here. She also made an Asian tag with an I Ching coin which you can see here, so I have used elements from both pieces.

I didn't have a papier mache board so I used a canvas board instead but used tissue paper and Fresco paints in the same way as Carol recommended, with one of the other new Asian Lynne Perella sets for a similar look, dotting some of the individual flowers around and using a border of them up the right hand side. I used London Bus for the background with some dry brushing of Snowflake. To finish off I have used a homemade I Ching coin and some chopsticks, wrapped in twine. The backdrop for my photo is the most amazing purple parasol that Petra gave me for my birthday!