Today is {Monster Monday}

We announced on Aug 1st that every Monday in August was going to be #MonsterMonday.

We do love an exciting event (or maybe its just dreaming them up that is the fun part) and this one is a small part of our 10th Birthday celebrations occurring throughout August.

On Monday evenings from 6pm GMT (18:00 GMT) we will be releasing a number of mystery boxes available for you to purcahse from our website here. The contents are either:

Mystery Box 1 - worth at least £50

Mystery Box 2 - worth at least £75

Mystery Box 3 - worth at least £100

The terms and conditions are listed below, so please be aware that the boxes are listed online as EX VAT, but including postage for within the UK. We had to do it this way as sending boxes in the3 post involves all kinds of different postal charges depending on the weight AND size, so this was the easiest way. And we have boxes of all kinds of weights and sizes, as you can see from the picture above!

Each Monday evening we will release a set number of boxes, once they are gone, that is it until the following Monday evening. These will make great gift boxes for you partners and family to stash away for Xmas. Or perhaps you just want to treat yourself to a surprise box. 

Contents include stamps, substrates, colouring options (eg inks, paint) and embellishments of all kinds of shapes and sizes.

So enjoy the birthday surprises with us, and get your Mystery box tonight here!

Talk soon

Leandra

Monster Monday Terms and Conditions - please read

1. Postage is added into the price of your box

• Due to the idiosyncrasies of Royal Mail's complicated postal charges within the UK (weight and size: small pkt, med box, large box) the fairest way to apply postage to this item is to INCLUDE the postal price within the cost of each box. But you will only pay our FRANKED RATE, which is slightly less than you would pay yourself at the post office.
• This means the price of EACH BOX within a category (1,2,or 3) WILL VARY because of the differing postal costs based on its unique weight and size.
• We recommend you DO NOT add additional items to your shopping basket, as you will incur a further postal fee because the weight of your basket will increase and automatically trigger a £3 postal charge (small packet rate)
• To see the price of each box, and how it was calculated click on the item description of each box listed in the shopping cart.

2.Our online prices are listed EX VAT, so remember 20% VAT will be added at checkout

3. If people outside the UK want to buy a Monster Monday Box, we will manually re-calculate the charges after receiving your order. We may need to invoice you for additional postage (or refund you) if applicable depending on where in the world you live, and if you are liable for VAT or not.

4. Types of Boxes
Mystery Box 1 - £20 (contents at least £50)
Mystery Box 2 - £30 (contents at least worth £75)
Mystery Box 3 - £40 (contents at least worth £100)

Welcome Back Sue Carrington #1 Box Frame ....

" I’m starting my last week of projects with a little recycling. I decided that this box frame needed a serious face lift, so this was the perfect opportunity"! 

After I’d removed all of the embellishments I sanded it down and then gave it a coat of Snowflake Fresco Finish Paint. 

Then I spread some Grunge Paste on the inside of the inner part of the frame. I didn’t want it to be smooth. I was thinking of the walls you see on Mediterranean properties where the plaster is left with lots of texture.

The first colour I’ve used on the frame is Limelight. To add the paint I’ve used an artist sponge, the sponged adds a little more interest and not a smooth finish.

I carried on sponging Limelight over the rest of the frame, making sure that I didn’t completely cover it as I wanted to build up the cover with different colours.

For the next colour I’ve used SmokedPaprika and carried on sponging it over the frame.

Then I used London Bus and the same technique, by now the colours are starting to blend together.

I wanted the edges of the frame darker than the rest so I used some Cut N Dry foam and Claret and dabbed it around the edges.

I left the frame at this point and moved on to what I wanted as the background. I covered a piece of card with Sticky Back Canvas. Before I started to add paint I spritzed the canvas with water and then started to sponge the same colours as I’ve used earlier.

The paint doesn’t completely blend together but it achieved the look I was after.

I then used the lovely flower stamp from the Lynne Perrella Collection 023 and stamped it with black Archival ink and heat set it. 

 
I wanted to make some of the flowers ‘pop’ a little so I’ve used Limelight, Smoked Paprika and London Bus and painted random flowers.

The image I chose to sit inside the frame is this gorgeous stamp from the Lynne Perrella Collection 023. I cut it out and trimmed a little off the bottom so that it would fit inside the frame, then painted it. 

For an embellishment I’ve used this wonderful sun image from the Lynne Perrella Collection 005 and stamped it with Black Stazon onto some gold metal. 

 

I hand cut it out and used a nylon tip tool to add some detail and a paper stump to ‘puff out’ the sun’s face. I added some Glossy Accents to the rear of the puffed out area to prevent the face from being squashed.

 

I then painted some Tando leaves with Little Black Dress and then lightly brushed Florentine Treasure Gold over them.

The letters have been cut from thick cardboard and then painted them with Little Black Dress and then I brushed some more Florentine Treasure Gold over them. You’ll see this in a later photograph.

I cut out the bunting from the LynnePerrella Collection 005 and then blended Ripe Persimmon Distress Ink over it. 

 

Now all of the embellishments are made I went back to the frame and stamped the sides with a stamp from the Lynne Perrella Collection 023. 

I mounted the main image on several pieces of Grunge Board so that it wasn’t sitting flat on the background. Then I used the little script stamp from the LynnePerrella Collection 014 and stamped on the front and around the edges with black Archival Ink.

I decided that the edges weren’t dark enough so I used some Cut N Dry and dabbed some Little Black Dress around all of the edges.

Before I assembled everything I brushed some Florentine Treasure Gold around the edge of the frame too.

I really love how this project turned out hope you’ve enjoyed it too.

I will be back tomorrow !

Sue

Leandra Says: Wow Sue, such fabulous colours together! Its really zinging! Those treasure gold accents give a real nod to the 'japanese-style' colour scheme. And I really like how some of these Lynne Perella stamps are more traditional, and others, like the one you used are really modern, manga style.

Gillian Says: Love the hot colour palette for this particular LP image, accentuated with the darker tones of Little Black Dress and Treasure Gold. Welcome Back Sue x

Challenged by... {Sue Carrington}

1. And the winners are...
Haaahaaaa ...tricked you! 

As you know, we kind of had a week off our usual routine this last week, so there were no 'winners' as there was not a challenge on offer! But, of course we do thank two of our past Guests Helen Chilton and Linda Cain for dropping by to share projects with us.

2. The week ahead...
Coming up in the week ahead we welcome back Sue Carrington.

I adore Sue's classic vintage style, she has a wonderful touch with inks to get just the right depth of tone, and she embellishes with such great judgement and clever positioning.

Since we last saw Sue, here are some of the gorgeous things that she has been up to on her blog. This is just one of the wonderful construction projects she has done.

 ...and i love the brick work texture on this journal page! I have a sneaking suspicion that bricks might feature in a project she does this week too.... *taps nose*

and isn't this just the perfect summer card? Just a taste of the style you have to look forward to this week!

3. This week we are challenged by....{Sue Carrington}
I do hope that you will find time to test out your interpretation of Sue's ideas this week, and this is exactly the place where you can come back to and share your personal creative sparks with us all, and of course you should try and enter the weekly challenge. Don't be shy, we don't bite, just jump in and dip your toes!

By uploading a link below to your online art (perhaps from your blog, Flickr account, or Pinterest page and so forth), you will go in the draw this time next week to win some PA goodies! Just make sure you entry is linked by noon GMT Sunday August 11th.

As you know, the winners will be announced this time next week!

A Special Saturday {video}

Well today has been a busy, but very enjoyable day for me! 

I have had a lovely, lovely morning demoing at Sugar and Spice Crafts at Barleylands Craft Village, near Billericay. And lots of wonderful ladies came to see all the things its possible to do with Fresco paint, Grunge paste, Treasure Gold, crackle glaze, stencils and stamps. It was fantastic.  A big thanks to Marion and Nina for the warm welcome, and no stop laughs. My face aches still from all the smiling!!

Oh and they did remind me on more than one occasion that I'm a year older today. Not only did I get a card, flowers AND cake, but those girls sure can sing. And they did....... like every half hour by my reckoning! It was a bit bonkers!

So then I came home, and we've had cake, presents, chocolate....its been fantastic!

But I have just snuck away to let you know another quick video is up on YouTube.

 

 

If you are new to Fresco Paints, or don't know where to start, then this video is for YOU. I have been demoing this method to make backgrounds over and over this year. It's mess-free, fast, and you just use whatever opaque colours you like! its a good starting point, and you could do this  technique easily onto chipboard, wood, card and so on.

 

Enjoy, and don't forget, tomorrow night, we will be welcoming back our guest Designers for their August submissions! 

 

Have a great weekend, and thank you all so much for the birthday wishes & lovely cards you are too kind!!

 

Leandra   xx

Brown Owl By Guest Designer Helen Chilton ....

Tonight we are thrilled to welcome back Helen Chilton, who has been having fun with Grunge paste, stamps, Frescos and canvas...a winning combination! I'll leave you with her...

"I've only just got a pot of this stuff so had to have a go! What I love about it is that it dries so quickly and you can colour it".

For today's post I've used some of the Vintage Collection stamps ID02

I particularly love the owl collage on this and have teamed it up with a wood-grain stencil and a wood framed canvas.

I started off by stamping a collage onto white tissue paper with the owl stamp and some of the text and other images from the same plate. This is a good idea if you want a focal point, but need to make the composition larger to fill a bigger space, like the 20x20 canvas I am intending to stick this onto.

Where I wanted a bit of text, I didn't bother to mask off the owl, but just used the stamp without a block and curved it to fit the space:

Next I flipped the tissue paper over and painted the back with a range of Fresco Paints ... Zesty Zing, Butternut, Pumpkin Soup, London Night, Mushroom, Guacamole, Limelight, Hyde Park. Remember if you paint from the back, then the image on the tissue stays bold and clear from the front side.

Then I covered the whole of the back of the tissue with Snowflake

This makes the colours pop, and also makes the tissue stronger for handling. Plus if you are quick, and the paint is wet, then it also becomes a bit like a glue onto the receiving surface too.

After that I used the paint to stick it to the canvas, splodged on some Satin Glaze and smoothed it on with my fingers (couldn't find a brush!).

I then painted round the image in Hyde Park and Guacamole to blend in the tissue paper, finishing with highlights of Limelight (got to have some brights in there!).

Next came the Grunge Paste. I used a Prima stencil that I bought on impulse - wood-grain pattern - got it home and thought 'what am I going to do with that?!'

The main problem was that wood tends to be brown and I realised that I don't really do brown. However here I thought I'd use it to make a tree with a hole effect for my owl. The Grunge Paste goes on beautifully with a palette knife.

Ending up like this.

I was tempted to leave the Grunge Paste au naturale (ie. avoid the dreaded brown!), but eventually I plucked up the courage, plonked back the stencil and painted through with London Night which I'd also used on the owl.

I used a stencil brush for this to really get in the nooks and crannies but in the end had to touch up with a brush after as well as the nooks and crannies defeated me! In hindsight, I could have tinted the GP with the paint first, and then this would have made the process more straightforward, but highdsight eh...if I had a pound.....!

Finally I painted my frame with London Night as well, used one of the text/pattern stamps to randomly decorate it in black:

...and added some die-cut leaves (a bit chopped around) to finish:

And that is my owl, or should I say, my Brown Owl!

Until next time!

Helen

Leandra Says: Fantastic Helen, thanks for dropping back in to see us this week! It's been great to see Grunge paste used through a chunky stencil in this way! Thank you. You come up with such different ideas!

Gillian Says: The use of the Grunge Paste with the Woodgrain Stencil to create a natural habitat for "Brown Owl" is genius Helen. I love the contrast of London Night against the bolder green hues. Lovely to have you back with us this week.