Super Funky Tote Bag

Hello, housemates! I see it's over 7 months since I last did the blog thing. Tut. All I can say is, when your daughter asks you to help out with her wedding invites and all the other crafty stuff, well, you just can't say "No," can you? More of that in a future post...

Anyway, yesterday, I received my much anticipated haul from Carabelle Studios. Some of you may know that Yorkshire's own Kate Crane is now designing for them and her first 'batch' is now available. Did I buy the whole lot direct from Carabelle in France because I was too impatient to wait for UK stockists? Yes. Yes I did. It was rude not to, quite frankly.

 Stencils (including a nice little freebie mask)

 Stamps

Art Printing Plates

So much lovely but where to start? I had to have a place to pin all of my button badges (Kate Crane's) and a tote bag was the perfect place. I was so desperate to monoprint onto the canvas bag using the Art Printing Plates. I thought I had a 6" round gel plate but I only have 4" and 8". 

I never need an excuse to use stencils. This Noughts and Crosses stencil is also available in a smaller size, but using the large one allowed me to do it in one go.

Magenta added when the Fuschia had been lifted.

Finger Painting in the centre. Lemon, Lime and Sky...

Squidge the Art Printing Plate on top...

And yum! A snazzy, bright mix of doodley patterns. I want to call it 'Crane Chaos' but only in a good way, you understand. It's for a tote bag and I'm going to keep it for myself so I can call it what I like. 

Oh, it's looking hopeful!  I should've wiped a bigger circle to allow more of the centre colours to show through...

But it just wasn't liking the canvas of the tote bag. 

I finally managed to get some marks down onto the bag, but it was just a complete mess.

Taking the advice of Mick Jagger and painting it black...

So anyway, the edge is neater. I know I should probably have prepared it somehow; washed it, at least. Pff. I don't have time for things like that when I'm possessed by the muse. So, stencils, it is.

I managed to line up the Noughts and Crosses again...

Then I just had to jump in with the Fiesta round stencil and kill the gorgeous Polka Dots from the Art Printing Plate (there's no time to get precious about these things - I'm nearly finished!)

Perfectly bright and totally fab and groovy.

After I've carefully placed the button badges (available on Kate's Etsy store) my bag is ready to go. I already have black and white pens inside it ready for the final doodle thing.

I LOVE IT!

The moral of the story is, if you get that flat feeling when your project just doesn't look anything like you thought it would, just keep going. Try a different technique or different materials and media. Go right in over the top of the mess you created. Don't get frustrated. And, whatever you do, don't give up.

Love and peace,

Wendy x

PS Art From the Heart in Harrogate is one of the UK stockists, but I think a lot of the items sold out pretty quickly. They will restock, so submit an email request on the items you want.

My Social Media:

Facebook

Website

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

Pinterest

A Little Whimsy and a Lot of Play

      

Hello there, my creative friends! I’ve been having fun over on the Paperartsy blog again, this evening. This time, I’ve been a bit more whimsical with a stamp set (ECL09) and stencil (PS023) from Clare Lloyd.  

    

I started by scraping some Dina Wakley paints over Smoothy card with an old gift card, letting the colours overlap a little. Then, placing the stencil in different directions, I removed some paint with a baby wipe to ‘grunge up’ the background.

Then added some black for a bit more interest with the edge of a palette knife.

I stamped the lovely girl with Versafine Onyx black and shaded her using a Derwent Inktense pencil in Deep Indigo. I love the effect of the monotone focal point on a brightly painted background.

All I had to do was fussy-cut her out, smoosh the edges with Archival ink in Cobalt and stick her down...

...along with the fab sentiment.

I just love the effect of subtracting the colour in the background.

I finished by edging the whole piece with some more Cobalt Archival ink and matting on dark blue cardstock. 

It’s been a refreshing change working with Clare’s stamps and stencils. I’m sure I’ll get loads of mileage from them. Why not try a different designer for yourself? A full list of  stockists are over on the Paperartsy blog right now. Have fun!

Love and peace,

Wendy x

PaperArtsy - Tracy Scott New Release - January 2018

Hello, crafty friends. This evening, I’m bringing you some examples of what you could do with the latest release from Paperartsy and Tracy Scott. As you would expect, Tracy’s new stamps and stencils will transform any project into something extra special. 

PS089

I used this stencil on a gel plate and then doodled on it with a white gel pen. So relaxing. Then I cut it into four squares and repositioned it onto a mat or two. 

PS087 & ETS14

More monoprinting with a gel plate, then I stamped the gorgeous scribbly flower and stem on top. I highlighted the stencil parts that were in the centre of the flower with a white gel pen and darkened the shadows with some Gelatos.

PS087, PS088 & PS089

Here, I began with a brayered background, then stencilled over the top with a dark blue paint. I used the outer part of PS087 to line the edges with white paint sponged through. Then out with the white gel pen and a black fineliner to polish things off. This time, I added some Zentangles for a different effect. These stencils are so versatile. This will make a perfect journal cover.

ETS 14

On a monoprinted background, I stamped the scribbly circles and collaged the centres from some book pages.  More highlights and shadows with Gelatos and Bob's your auntie's live-in lover. I'm definitely using these for postcards.

How about some more gel printing? 

ETS 16

After brayering teal and acid green onto the gel plate, I used the stamps to transfer colour from one half to the other. These are totally tropical flowers and worked beautifully for this method.

ETS17

On a separate sheet of Smoothy card, I stamped this lovely image and painted her with the same colour scheme as the rest of the projects. Then I fussy-cut the image and stuck her down. This way, I could choose which part of the background made her pop.

I also painted and cut the headdress a second time with a view to popping it up on the girl's head for some more dimension. However, it reminded me of a bird of paradise, so with a little addition for the head, nicked from ETS19, I turned it into just that.

Once you start, you can't stop. That's the Tracy Scott effect....

 ATCs

Valentine Card

Inchies

Selection of cards

Quickly skimming over the rest of the projects, (otherwise we'll be here all night!) my favourites turned out the be the inchies. I finished them off with about three coats of Glossy Accents and left the bubbles in because I liked them.

I hope I've inspired you to try Tracy's new releases for yourselves. The possibilities are endless. I'll be using them for a very long time to come.

Visit Paperartsy blog for a full list of retailers who stock the latest fabulous release from Tracy Scott.

Love and peace,

Wendy x

Facebook

Website

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

YouTube

"Beautiful" metallic book {Paperartsy Blog}

   

Hello again, my friends. I'm over on the Paperartsy blog tonight, sharing a fabulous book with a metallic look. This combines many of my favourite things, such as bookbinding, monoprinting, doodling and, of course, Paperartsy and Emma Godfrey's stamps and stencils. 

  

Luckily for me, all my pink and purple shades of Fresco acrylics are all in the same box. That made things easier.

I unearthed my mini hexagonal Gelli plate, something I hadn't used before, despite buying it several months ago! Then, alternating the first four purple colours, Blueberry, Purple Rain, Lavender and Wisteria, I used the gel plate as a stamp. I wasn't bothered about the little bits that missed. I think that adds to the effect. Anyway, they eventually get covered with stencilling. I carried on filling the Smoothy Card with the same four colours. 

By placing Emma's gorgeous mask (PM008) over the already printed hexagon, I 'stamped' over it with the same hexagonal plate covered in the first four pink shades of Fresco paints, Plum, Sour Grapes, Sugar Plum and Pixie Dust.

Then, by removing the stencil from the plate, it leaves you with a negative print which you can then press onto the cardstock...

I carried on with positive and negative masking until the whole sheet was filled. Some of the hexagons looked wonderful. Others not so...

Nothing that a black and a white pen couldn't fix though...

Finally, the main part of the cover was done. What it needed now was some flowers! You can never have enough flowers. 

I stamped up a good selection of Emma's flowers using sets EEG14 and EEG22 and painted them using Pansy and Moonlight for the purple flowers and Sherbet and Orchid for the pink ones.

After fussy-cutting the gorgeous blooms and then curling them over a stylus tool, I decided that I wanted a magnetic closure. 

The best placing for the magnets was under a flower and inaside the front cover. 

I made a bookmark from one of the offcuts and its own little pocket inside which would hide the other magnet.

Out with the Treasure Gold in Royal Amethyst. I rubbed it over the edges of the book, the flowers, the bookmark and the pocket.

Everything was looking shiny-shiny and beautiful. Now I just had to put this fabulous book together. The hardest part was tearing the cartridge paper edges. It's a bit rough on your fingers. I laminated the bookmark, then made a tassel and bound the book with silver thread.

I stamped and heat-embossed the "Beautiful" in silver, then gave it a drop-shadow as it had got a bit lost in the madness behind. Then I added the gloriously shiny flowers and, after what seemed like an age, the book was finished. 

Ta-daaa! 

I hope I've inspired some more bookbinding projects with you. I'd love to see whatever beauties you make. Thanks for sticking with me. I promise the next post will be shorter! 

Probably.

Love and peace, 

Wendy x

Facebook 

Website 

Instagram

Twitter

YouTube

Pinterest