3 Things - Traveler's Notebook {by Martine Dubé}

Hi everyone, Martine here from @martined.crafts with you today for a ''With 3 things'' challenge post.

For this challenge, PaperArtsy sends the same three items to 3 people from our blogging team. It is really interesting to see how each maker comes up with different ideas and techniques with the same 3 items.  Typically we will receive a stamp, a stencil and a colour product. We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send, the whole idea is to do something crafty in our personal style restricted to these 3 items.

So let's take a look at what I received from PA HQ ...

When the PaperArtsy package arrived with the ''with 3 thing'' materials, I was surprised to find the Holiday!/New year Theme  stamp set ZA35 from Zinski Art, a Rusty Fresco Finish paint and a snowy stencil PS245. It was still summer  when I received the kit, so I wasn't ready  for winter yet ! That's when I decided to create something totally not holiday themed.

I also used other Fresco Finish paint colours in my project in my project. They are Buff, Magic Moss, Prawn and Snowflake, to complement the Rusty.

Lets go look at what I made.

The first thing to do is prepare the paper for the size of journal you want. I use a sheet of copy paper folded in half and cut my other papers the same size. 300gms watercolor paper is used to make the cover and the copy paper, the grid paper and the 200gms watercolor paper are used  for pages.

Now I have to decide what design I will make for my covers. I choose simple, clean shapes.

On the first one, I decided to do hand drawn lines in Fresco Finish Rusty. It doesn't have to be perfect  lines.

I added some black pen lines for more definition and texture.

On the second cover, I went with circles of all sizes to cover the page using Prawn. I will add some stencilling and black details to this one.

On the third journal cover, I used a paint brush to make some marks with Magic Magic Moss. 

I also added some black line details with a marker later. I outlined the shapes and sprinkled dots for more interest.

Next I prepared the fabric for the traveler's notebook cover. I cut 2 pieces that are about 1.5 cm or 1/2inch bigger then the papers for the journals. I created a template for the oval shapes I wanted to add. This helped me evenly distribute and align them.

I used the same 3 paint colours, Rusty, Prawn and Magic Moss to do my fill the shapes.

I use the stencil on the Prawn circle journal to make dots by using different parts of the stencil. You can even make some outside of the circles like I did.

 

I also added free hand black outlines to help make the circles look finished and tie the covers together.

With the journal covers ready, the next step is to create the booklets by folding everything in one go. This includes the cover and the inside paper pages. You then need to put something heavy on top of the booklets over night so they stay flat. 

    

When I folded the booklets, the edges became uneven so we need to trim them. I cut them to 20cm x13.5cm (about 5.25 x 8 inches).

Before sewing the booklets, we need  to pierce holes using a craft pick. I made a template for easy spacing!

The last step to finish the booklets is to sew them!

                                                       

Now, for the main cover. Using my 3 colors, I stencilled the ovals with different densities of dots using different parts of the stencils.                                        

                                                                        

I love the different effects it creates, while still being cohesive.

Instead of using a black marker on the fabric, I sewed some black lines around my ovals to create texture.

Don't forget to prepare the pockets before sewing around the cover! With all the structure done, I was then ready to work on my focal elements.

I stamped and coloured my images using the same colours of Fresco Finish paints. I know my stamping look bad, but I will stamp again once they are all colored. Stamping this way ensures the lines will be on top of the colours and the images will look nice and sharp.

The 3 bears worked perfectly for my 3 journals and the Fresco Finish Rusty makes a great bear fur color! Then I fussy cut my images and placed them on my 3 booklets.

For the fabric cover, I wanted a fabric embellishment. This step is always fun to do. I used one of the images I have coloured, scanned it and printed it on fabric with the help of freezer paper. Freezer paper can be found in sheets or rolls, it's used by quilters for paper piecing quilting. Since mine is a roll, I cut a piece the size of my copy paper and iron my fabric on it. I then put a piece of tape at the end going in the printer to help it stay put when printing, otherwise it will get stuck in the printer.

Before printing, I set my printer to enlarge the image 40%. I felt the bigger size worked better with the ovals, and made it different than the inside one.

Before sewing the contour of the cover, I sewed the bear on it. Since my cotton was on the thinner side, I used some double sided adhesive (for fabric not for paper) to secure my fabric to a second piece of cotton, ironed both piece together and then stitched it all around.

Here's my traveler's journal with 3 little booklets made of different kinds of paper!  You can sketch, paint or write and in the pocket you can collect tags ,ticket, stickers and much more.

I hope this project will inspire you to create your own and for anyone that is not into sewing, you don't have to made the cover out of fabric, it can always be made out of cardstock.

Meet the bears!

Thanks for stopping by hope you enjoy!

Martine

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Shades of blue with NEW Tracy Scott Products {by Nikki Acton}

Hello everyone

Nikki here with you today and I'll be showing you how I created these floral cards using a stamp set and stencil from the new release from Tracy Scott.

I selected the coordinating stencil - PS535 and stamp set - TS110 from the recent release by Tracy Scott along with three Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics - Azure (FF187), Blue Oyster (FF99) and Midnight (FF123).

I decided to create some monochromatic cards using different elements of the coordinating stencil and stamp set, knowing they would work well together. Different shades of blue Fresco Chalk Acrylics were used in varying ways to create contrasting layers.

I wanted to create the card background with different patterns, so created some masks to allow me to do this. I cut a circle from some copy paper, keeping both the circle and paper without the circle, to allow me to mask different areas.

I began by placing the 2 circular masks along the opposite edges of some white card and used PaperArtsy stencil PS535 (by Tracy Scott) and Fresco Chalk Acrylic - Azure to stencil this area.

I carefully masked the painted area with the other paper mask - revealing only the white circles. For one card I sponged Fresco Chalk Acrylic - Blue Oyster into this area.

I then gently sponged (using a sea sponge) Azure over the top to give a mottled effect. Once dry I stamped one of the flowers from PaperArtsy stamp set TS110.

For the second card I used the mask in a similar way, but just stamped the floral image.

With cardmaking it is often beneficial visually to add a matt layer under the main layer to frame it before adding to the card base. I often use some of the paint or imagery I have already incorporated onto the card.

For one card I needed a darker layer for my matt - so used Fresco Chalk Acrylic - Midnight and sponged some watered down paint around the edges of the matt. By watering down the paint and using the sponge it gives this watery mottled effect.

For the second card, I needed something more subtle - so added stamped images of one of the flower stamps.

With the background and matt layer finished, it was time to focus on the flowers.

I began by stamping several of the images in Ranger Archival ink - Jet Black. 

I used PaperArtsy Fresco Acrylic - Midnight to colour the flowers. I used the wet on wet technique, to get some variation in the the depth of colour.

First I added some water to a small amount of paint on my craft mat. I first 'painted' the area to be coloured with water - staying within the lines. I then added some watered down paint to this wet area and allowed it to move a little. I added extra paint or removed some if it was too wet. The paint should only stay in the wet area.

Wet on wet is usually done with watercolour paint - so the results are a little different here as we are using acrylic paint with different properties.

I fussy cut the flowers and leaves and began arranging them on my cards. The larger flower is made up of the leaves shown above.

 

I added a greeting to both cards using PaperArtsy Eclectica³ Mini 18 (by Emma Godfrey). I was looking on my messy desk for some bits of card to stamp onto and found a scrap I had brushed with some paint. 

I love how this came out - a complete accident. The partially painted element sits over the darker matt later, and the blue part of the greeting over the white card.

Thanks for visiting the blog today. 

See you next time, Nikki.

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