Welcome Back Julie Ann Lee #1: The Green Man {Part 1}

 "Hi, it's Julie Ann here. I am so thrilled to be back again at PaperArtsy with my project for March, which uses Hot Picks and Minis. I have to confess that I'm still nervous when my turn comes around each month! Will you like what I have created this time"? 

Tonight I'm working with the hugely adaptable Hot Picks1006, 9 and Xtra02 and Mini95. I hope you will play along because my March project features an element that fascinates me, but which I know some people find scary - a mask! I trust these little mini-masks will look too kindly to scare you! I expect everyone in the UK knows at least one pub called 'The Green Man' and that they may have seen the mysterious little carvings in obscure corners of old churches with their tiny faces seeming to grow out of unfurling leaves. I've always found these intriguing and wondered if there is a story behind them symbolising that sense of new life and hope that the return of Spring suggests? I wanted to create three matching canvases that celebrate the green world of the Green Man and the approaching Spring: this is my first.

Hot Picks 1006

Hot Picks 1009

If you don't have a tiny mask or the idea of The Green Man doesn't appeal, why not play along with some of the techniques I've used in the project on some handmade flowers or a gorgeous Eclectica Lin Brown  at the centre of a canvas burgeoning with green leaves?

I began with one of these little ceramic heads, available from craft shops for you to decorate yourself ...

and three of these little box canvases from PaperArtsy. I love how chunky and solid they are to work on.

The moment of truth! I was worried that when I came to paint my 'Green Man' the shiny porcelain would not take the paint and I would have to re-think how I coloured him! However, Fresco Finish paints really gave me the look I wanted - stony and weathered. I used several coats of opaques, Honey Dew to start, then Guacamole and finally I highlighted with some Hey Pesto and just a touch of Limelight translucents to suggest that my 'Green Man' was maybe a garden ornament in the grounds of an old house with lichen forming over his features. Perhaps he is one of the mysterious statues in The Beast's rose garden in 'Beauty and the Beast.'

Using the same colour scheme, I sponged paint over my canvas and two sheets of PaperArtsy Smoothy Heavy Card. This is such beautiful card to work with and to stamp on.

Although, I knew I would be covering most of my canvas, I still shaded it with the darker shades of green at the edges. I then stamped with Mini 95 on the front and the sides of the canvas using Hyde Park sponged onto my stamp and then sprinkled with clear UTEE and embossed (sorry about the very mucky heat gun!)

Mini 95

I used the same technique for the birds in the grasses on Hot Picks 1009.

For my next embellishment, I couldn't resist my favourite material, Shrink Plastic. As always I sanded my plastic with cross-hatching strokes then painted with Guacamole. I die-cut with PaperArtsy flower die-cut and stamped with two flower collage images from Hot Picks Xtra02

Hot Picks Xtra 02

In the past, I have created a glossy seal on the shrink plastic with a coat of Glossy Accents, which I've then left to dry. This time I tried something different, which I've also used on some of the leaves. My Patwits friends will know that I recently discovered the thrill of UTEE! I waited until my flowers had cooled and set and then coated them in Versamark and sprinkled with UTEE before melting with a heat gun from underneath.

Here they are fixed on the sides of the canvas. You can see I have started to add some leaves.

I die-cut some leaves, some from Smoothy White Stamping Card and some from Shrink Plastic ...

I edged some with Inky Pool...

I kept some plain and painty!

and had lots of fun with cracking UTEE

I built these up and added the moth and Hot Pick die-cut leaves with the swirly pattern from Hot Picks 1006 stamped onto painted card and fussy cut.

Always remember when stamping with Frescos to have a damp cloth handy so that you can wipe the paint off quickly and keep the stamp clean.

The little punched out leaves looked as if they were part of the carved face when I stuck them with some Heavy Gel Medium and curling my leaves round a paint brush handle when they were damp helped me to create the look of them unfurling.

Thank you so much for looking over my shoulder at first Green Man project. No doubt you will notice how I've added Treasure Gold (Aquamarine and Green Amber) to my curled over leaves and some gold UTEE to the edges. I'd be so happy if you could drop by tomorrow to see what I do with the second canvas and I can't wait to see what ideas you come up with for mini Spirit of Spring canvases of your own!

Leandra Says: Cracked UTEE looks magnificent! Great project Julie Ann, you have covered lots of great ideas! brilliant.

Gillian Says: Wonderful textures achieved using the paints and UTEE. Love this 1st canvas, can't wait to see where your creativity takes you next.

If you would like to join in this week's challenge and play along with Julie Ann's techniques, then do link up your creativity here, and go in the draw to win some PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by 17:00, Sunday March 16th 2014

Weekly Challenge and Winners {March:Week 2}

Hi everyone Darcy here. 

Last week we had another fantastic week, packed with inspiration. Clare wowed us with her genius idea of making a frame from a pencil box. Sue and Jacqui both got a head start on beautiful Mother's Day projects: while Joanne gave us the low down on how to make a simple card with stamped layers. 

Thanks to everyone who joined in and made projects last week. And thank you also for all the comments left on blog posts.We love to read your comments and to see how you have been inspired. 

1. And the winners are...

Random winner #1 from the First Challenge draw (every single entry linked, including multiple entries) is: Shirley-bee

 Congratulations, you have won a PaperArtsy A5 stamp of your choice. 

 Random winner #2 the winner from the Second Challenge draw, (only one entry per name)

 is: Lesley

 Congratulations, you have won a PaperArtsy A5 stamp of your choice.

*Winners please get in touch with Darcy (darcydotneedles@hotmail.com) with your full  name,  address and choice of stamp plate. 

2. The week ahead...

Tonight we start by welcoming back Julie Ann Lee  Let's see what Julie Ann has been creating since we last saw her.  

Julie is a prolific blogger, you cannot fail to be inspired when you visit her blog. Just look at the wonderful shading created here on a fabric base using Lynne Perrella's new stamp  LPC030 Check out Julie's blog for more stunning photos of this project. 

Julie has had great fun playing with Lynne Perrella's new releases, and has used the stamps to great effect with this gorgeous colour combination. 

Here is another piece from the same post, so many wonderful little elements that all come together by using the limited colour pallette. 

This piece is jaw droppingly gorgeous. Julie made this card  for a friend, you must go and see all the stages. Not only did Julie create stunning paint effects on the card she also decorated the envelope. 

Julie's first project will be here soon ,pull up a chair and get ready for a trip back to nature. 

3. P.A.Weekly Challenge from....{Julie and other guests}

Julie Ann will be joined in the latter part of the week with other surprise guests, and of course, if you are inspired by any item you see on the blog this week, then please share what you get up to, and link your creativity here on the weekly challenge link. 

Your challenge entry can link to your own blog, Pinterest or Flickr pages, or any webpage that shows us what you have made in response to the posts on the blog this week. Just make sure you come back to this post, and use the linking tool below to show us your entry. We have extended the challenge entry deadline to 5pm on Sunday evenings.

Make sure on Sunday 16th March by 17:00 (5pm London time) you need to have your link entered below, and you will go into one of 2 draws to win new stuff.

To help you find the linky tool when you need it, just look at the final green paragraph on each blog post, there you will find a link that brings you back to this post.

Weekly Challenge guidelines
The first draw is for every single entry listed, so if you have multiple entries, you get entered multiple times. 

The second draw is only for one entry per name, and the winner of Draw 1 is not included in this second draw. Having 2 draws makes it fair for everyone, no matter how many times you can join in during the week.

As this challenge is to show how you have been inspired to action by this week's designer, make sure in your blog post you explain what prompted you to create.

Please don't feel you need to copy a designer's work exactly, it may be one small aspect or idea that you want to explore that sends you into the creative zone. You are also welcome to use any stamps/ products / substrates you have to hand, we do not expect you to exclusively use PA products - but of course it is lovely when you do!

The winners are announced Sunday evenings in the 7pm blog post (as above). It is your responsibility to check back and see if you have won. If you are a winner, email Darcy darcydotneedles@hotmail.com with the name of the stamp you would like, and your snail address. We do not chase people for unclaimed prizes.

If we are away at an event, then the winners post would generally be updated by Monday evening with draw details.

Framed Flowers {with JoFY Stamps by Jacqui Hall }

Hello everyone, Jacqui here. You have no idea how chuffed I am to be writing this, although as you read this I’ll be hiding behind the sofa.. I began this little piece by thinking how nice it would be to think of spring coming and as it’s Mother’s day soon, I decided to make a little framed picture. 

I started by base coating a piece of grey board cut to fit my frame and used Limelight, Guacamole, Bora Bora, Ice Blue and Beach Hut Fresco Finish paints to get the landscape feel. Blending each change in colour to avoid harsh lines. I also selected some colours for my flowers. 

I had painted my background with the board in a landscape orientation, but then realized the stamps I wanted to use wouldn’t work this way round.  So I recreated the background but in portrait orientation and then got to work adding the flowers

 I stamped JOFY 10 and JOFY14 in Olive Archival ink and set about painting in the flowers. 

JoFY 10

JoFY 14

I chose to use Pumpkin Soup, Limelight, Sage, London Bus and Nougat Fresco’s, however I watered them all down so they were more the consistency of watercolours. Once finished, I re-stamped the big daisy over the top of itself to redefine it. I then used a combination of pinks and purples on the frame, gently blended,with the darker shades in the corners.

I then stamped the flowers from  JOFY 09. up the sides of the frame, before adding a little Royal  Amethyst and Renaissance Treasure Gold .

JoFY 09

Finally I stamped the words from JOFY09 along the bottom of the frame. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my framed flower project come together, thanks for reading. Jax. 

A huge thank you to Jax from all at PaperArtsy HQ, it is great to have one of our #PATWITS on the blog tonight. We really love how you continued the flower stamping from the picture over onto the frame. Often frames are neglected and this is a great way to create continuity on a piece. 

If you would like to join in our weekly challenge with any of this week's guests who have blogged since Sunday night, then join in to link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by17:00 (London time) Sunday 9th March 2014.

One Layer Card {with Eclectica³ Lin Brown Stamp & JoFY Paints by Joanne Wardle}

Hi Everyone, Joanne here. I'm back again with another quick project. I have been totally inspired by the new range of Jofy Paints. Quick, simple and one layer doesn't have to be clean and I've gone for a shabby chic style collage. 

I started with stamping some of my favourite PaperArsty stamps with the dolly mix, amethyst and dust teal paints.

These are the  stamps I used in this project, I layered them up to create my background. 

 Mini 56

mini 72

mini 57

Frames 4

  I then used the flower from ELB02 over my background stamps. 

ELB 02

I opted to use a text stamp from HPXT03, placing it just under my focal image to ground the whole piece. 

HPXT 03

 I  then added  a few coordinating buttons to create texture and dimension. 

Finally I created the shabby chic corners by cutting a corner into the card as shown with a craft knife and then distressing it with the blade of the knife. Curl these corners forward slightly to add movement to the card. 

I hope that you've enjoyed this quick project, and I'll see you back here soon.
 Joanne.

A huge thank you to Joanne from PaperArtsy HQ. An SAS card, shabby and simple! You used Jo's new paints perfectly, layering them up and showing how well they work together even though they don't form a regular paint family. 

If you would like to join in our weekly challenge with any of this week's guests who have blogged since Sunday night, then join in to link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by17:00 (London time) Sunday xxx 2014

Mother's Day Card {with Eclectica³ Lin Brown Stamps by Sue Carrington}

Hello, it's Sue here sharing my March project, and I've taken the opportunity to make a Mother's Day card. As it's fast approaching it makes a change for me to be a little ahead of myself !

I started this card by sticking a piece of paper from the new Chatsworth papers onto some Smoothy Heavy card. I then gave it a coat of Multi Medium Matt so it would protect the paper from the paint.

I then used the Lin Brown PS004 and PS001 stencils with Snowflake Fresco Finish paint.

I dried the paint and then used Tikka and Autumn Fire Fresco Finish paint and brushed it over the top.

I then die cut some leaves from Smoothy Heavy card using the Eclectica Branch die and blended Hey Pesto, Yellow Submarine, Autumn Fire and Green Olives Fresco Finish paint over it. I then stamped the leaves from the new ELB07 set onto the card.

ELB 07

I used the PS004 stencil again this time for the poppy seed heads. I used a technique that Lin Brown taught in a recent class and used Chocolate Pudding first of all. Then I moved the stencil slightly  and stencilled them again this time with Snowflake. Using Snowflake makes sure that the translucent colours are more vibrant. I then used Hey Pesto, Tikka and Autumn fire, dried the paint in between colours and then replaced the stencil and stamped the text through it using Mini 44. I also stamped the text without an  acrylic block over the rest of the background using Archival Tree Branch.

Mini 44

The flowers are all made using the stamps from the ELB04 set and I've stamped them onto more Smoothy card using a mixture of Haystack, Tikka and Claret.

ELB 04

 I decided that they looked too white so gave them a wash of watered down Tikka, and liked them much better after that ! I stencilled the words using the PS004 stencil. The eagle eyed among you will have spotted one of the leaves has the word Mum on it! I stamped it with one of those cheap alphabet stamp sets, masked it off with a small piece of Post-it note then stamped the leaf stamp over the top. To finish I added a Petaloo butterfly and brushed the body and antennae with Florentine Treasure Gold.

I hope you've enjoyed tonight's post, see you again soon. 

Sue

A huge thank you to Sue from PaperArtsy HQ, this is a stunning card Sue,any Mum that receives this would absolutely love it. You have combined fabulous use of colour, and have shown not only how Lin's products all work so well together; but also how  the Chatsworth papers provide a perfect base. 

If you would like to join in our weekly challenge with any of this week's guests who have blogged since Sunday night, then join in to link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by17:00 (London time) Sunday 9th March 2014.