Paris in Spring

Hello again! Today I bring you Paris in Spring...I have been working on this on and off for the last few days (that long? I hear you say) Yes that long.  I had an idea, and that is always a bad sign as usually I just start with either a stamp or some colours that I want to work with and the project just evolves.  When I have an idea...well lets say I have difficulties in the translation!

I am still not sure whether I am happy with it as I am still raw from the emotional journey...haha just kidding...though the first bit is true. 

The background is 4 x Paperartsy Frescos ( these are my favourites) applied with cut and dry. I kept layering up the colours until I achieved the blend and effect that I wanted. I then stamped in the same paint colours using a variety of background stamps...this part I am very happy with!  Then using a selection of browns from the same range I coloured another piece of card onto which I stamped the tags and the Eiffel Tower, cut them out and edged with some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. Using an embossing pen I wrote on each tag Romance and Love and embossed with Vintage Frantage (unfortunately it didn't look very Vintage) and then wrote Paris in Spring and embossed with the same ( not happy with my writing either!) 

Then I gathered together the flowers, leaves, grey board flourishes I wanted to use and various embellishments that I distressed with some texture sand paste and paint. I played around until I found an arrangement that I was pleased with...this is what took days! That and the fact either Borrowers or Fairies keep running away with essential pieces of kit (my scissors still haven't turned up!) , family wanted dinner, Saph needed walking, yadayadayada...

Anyways, back on topic...Despite the colours being harmonious they just didn't look quite right together...so I glued them all down anyway...then knocked it all back with a coat of diluted gesso.  I think this pulled it all together - what do you think? I then distressed the edges of the board and the tags and added Vintage Photo Distress Ink, then doodled around the edge to frame. 

Thank you once again for popping over, next time give me a little notice and I'll have some nibbles ready.. 

I am entering into these challenges:

Stamping Sensations One for the Girls

Country View Challenge Spring

Moo Mania Spring

The Artistic Stamper All things Distress

Spring has Sprung

That is an original title isnt it? I think thousands of posts published today here in Blogland have used that title today, well I never promised to be original did I?
I have had a lovely crafty day accompanied by my pal from the naughty corner, Trish. No pressures, no plans or deadlines, just grabbed some paint and off we went!
Amidst the chat, lunch (chicken wraps with sweet chilli mayo= yummy) copious mugs of coffee (and the resulting trips to the loo) we did actually achieve some good work!
I produced this Spring journal piece whilst my partner in crime raced ahead and had had at least 3 pages on the go all  of which are fabulous and all very different, but unfinished ....nicky nicky nah nah! (sorry, but that is our level of intelligent chat!)
To begin with I layed colour down with a brayer using Leandra's (from PaperArtsy) technique ( corner, corner, side) with Fresco Snowflake, Tango and Limelight. It took quite a few layers as the brown of the weetabix box kept showing through (yes, I know,  only the finest of substrates used in this house!) With hindsight, I think I should have gessoed first, which would have allowed the translucent Tango and Limelight to really Pop (I promised myself I would never say that!)   Using the same paint colours, I then used various background stencils to build up the background. Using white gesso I stencilled with the circular Dinky stencil around the top of the page in an arch and highlighted with a white pen.  Trish had some spare diluted green paint which she kindly splattered over the background, and I added some splatted white to balance it out. Then using the Decoart Texture Paste (my personal favourite) through a Tim Holtz stencil I padded out the background with the aim to having these in silhouette. However by the time it was dry - which wasnt long as I used my trusty heat tool - I had changed my mind. Laying the stencil back over, I added a a couple of the Fresco greens to the paste. The flowers are Tim Holtz beauties, that I stamped many times onto card (white this time not Weetabix!) and coloured with my beloved Polychromos. My first was yellow, but it was lost on the background, so I then chose a mix of dark orange and reds, which in the photo look all orange! The flower heads were stuck into place with some 3D gel  and Cosmic Shimmer for the stems. The word was stamped with my bargain alphabet stamps (£1.64 from China!) and the page was finished with a doodle around the edge. I am very pleased with the page (it looks better than my photo - honest) and when I look back in my journal it will remind me of the lovely day I had whilst making it.  Have a good weekend and I hope to see you back here next time. In the meantime, be kind and say hello....everybody needs some lurve!

I have entered this into the following challenges:
http://craftstamper.blogspot.co.uk/Take it make it Challenge
http://countryviewchallenges.blogspot.co.uk/
moo-mania.blogspot.co.uk Spring

Crazy Birds

Hello my lovelies, here I am again! Don't get used to such frequent posts, or indeed live in fear of them, it is the school holidays and I am enjoying some play time!
I practised the brayer technique again this time with the purply tones of the PaperArtsy Fresco range with a little hit of Bubblegum pink. These are my go to colours, I am unashamedly a pink and purple gal, however I will try variation so not to bore you to tears!  This time I used a variety of stencils to provide extra texture, using the Fresco paint applied with some cut and dry. I tend to use analogous colours (ooooh get me) , those that are next to each other on the colour wheel, as these create a more harmonious design that I am comfortable with. 
I have been itching to use these Crazy Birds from Tim Holtz, you have to admit it, they are undeniably cute. I chose 3 and stamped them repeatedly on a spare piece of card in black Archival and heat set with a blast from my heat tool. I then coloured them with my Polychromos in a range of colours as at this point I still didn't know how I was going to use them! As I was colouring I noticed 2 of the birds shared a view point and so the design fell into place. 
I cut out the birds,  this time amputating all their legs and hair quiffs (I am going to be known as the Butcher of Heybridge before long) as they were too tricky to cut out. I gave the yellow bird (Shane MacGowan) a branch to hang from using the Dylusion stamp (Round the Edge Dyan Reaveley) and then stuck the other birdies (Elvis and Phil Collins) into place. I drew back their legs and quiffs, not as good as Mr Holtz I admit, but they seemed happy enough and  grounded them with a few flicks of the paintbrush for grass. I wrote the quip on a separate piece of card with a black micro pen and added a few highlights with white. After cutting them out I applied some black ink around the edge and stuck them into place with cosmic shimmer.  The piece was finished off by inking around the edge and a doodle border.  
As usual, my photo doesn't show the full vibrancy of the colours I have used, (note to self, watch some Youtube vids!), but hey ho. Thank you for taking the time to read my mutterings and I look forward to chatting to you again. xx

Entered for the following Challenges:

Thats Crafty All things bright and Beautiful

Red and green should never be seen

I hope you have all had a Good Easter break and that Storm Katie hasn't kept you busy repairing damage to your garden fences etc. We have been lucky, our fences are still erect, though we seem to have gained some else's felt roof, and a bucket!
A few weeks ago it was my birthday and my fabulous family gifted me some spondoodlies to spend as I wish. So off to my favourite craft shop I went ( That's Crafty run by the lovely Laura) and filled my basket to my hearts content. However with life being life, today has been the first chance I have had to play. So, with a nice hot cup of tea and some Easter Eggs for sustenance I set myself up in my craft area (aka the kitchen table) and hey presto....my mind went blank! Drinking the tea and eating the chocolate didn't help so I had a browse of the various blogs and found that That's Crafty run a challenge, this months being Red and Green, so hey ho ......
I began by brayering a background with PaperArtsy Fresco paints (Hey Pesto, Guacamole, Tinned Peas and Cheesecake, then began building on the background  with various texture stamps and used a couple of bottle tops to stamp the larger circles. Using black Archival I stamped Dylusion Fancy Floral flowers and stems then filled in the gaps of of my dodgy stamping with a black pen and extended the stems until they joined in all the right places. I first painted them with the Fresco paints, and then I added shading with a selection of Polychromo pencils ( that you cant see because my photography skills are pants!). With great trepidation (wonky is my middle name) I stamped the quote (from Rogue Redhead Designs Floriculture) in black Archival (phwew it was reasonably straight) at the top. I wanted a bee for balance and to fit in with the quote, however the stamps I possessed were either too big, too small or the wrong style so I had a go at drawing one! Rather pleased with my squillionth attempt I painted him and cut him out (I shall name him Baldrick as I am watching Rowan Atkinson in Maigret as I am writing this and I keep expecting Baldrick to pop up with "I have a cunning plan"....) stuck him in place with Cosmic Shimmer and drew on his antennae that I accidently amputated while cutting him out! I edged the page with Forest Moss Distress Ink and then doodled around the edge with my black pen. I hope you like it and can forgive my ineptitude with the camera, and please be gentle about Baldrick!

Entered into the following challenges:

That's Crafty Red and Green should never be seen?
Moving along with the times
The Artistic Stamper Springtime

Hello

Hello to all my crafty friends ( all 3 of you!)
Today I have taken the big step/leap/dive into the world of Blogdom....scary. I am hoping I will remember  

•  That I have a blog 
•  To write something on it
• To create things worth blogging 

Not sure what my chances are, but hey ho lets give it a go!
First a little about me......
My name is Debbie and I am happily married  to my soul mate (when you have finished reading that bit and chucked up into the waste paper bin please carry on) and we have 2 teenage sons, a Cocker Spaniel,  Saphy,  (who forgets she is a dog unless she is scaring the postman, eating purveyors of junk mail or chasing the other two inhabitants of the house) Wes and Bubbles,  cats, who are sisters and heartily dislike each other. Their dislike of each other is only matched by their hatred of Saphy!
I have been into crafting for the past 4 years or so and still class myself as a beginner, with so much to learn. I began with card making as so many do, and as time went on developed interests in Mixed Media and Journalling. I don't really have a 'style'  as I am willing to have a go at most things,from grunge to shabby, but I do like 'pretty' and my go to colour choices are cottage garden flower colours; pinks, purples, lilacs, blues, yellows and oranges. If there was one thing  in the whole world I could have, craft wise, it would most definitely be MORE TIME!  I have so many things that I want to try, or projects that I want to do, that when I do get a little time to myself I become so overwhelmed with what to do,  I generally go and have a coffee...then someone comes in and says "what's for dinner?" and I am back to square one. That is the main reason I didn't blog, as I wanted to "do" with the little time I have  rather that write about it! However, I have come to the conclusion that by having a blog, I can enter challenges more easily, therefore will be more focussed on creating...lets see eh?