2016#7 Garden Reverie {by Jennie Atkinson}

 2016 Topic 7: Resists

Hi everyone Jennie here with you tonight to share an ATB using Leandra's fabulous resist technique and Sara Naumann's wonderful new stamps.

Probably, like me, you have been using resist techniques in your projects for a long time, so I took the opportunity to find a technique I had not done before and loved Leandra's fabulous technique for stamping into Grunge Paste. The technique does require an open (as opposed to a detailed) stencil and Sara's latest leaf stencil was just perfect.

Step One: You can find Leandra's video here for the technique (Grunge Paste 106 Stencil Stamping), but I will show you the steps I took to create the individual panels for my box. I used the long leaf from Stencil 027 and used it to layer Grunge Paste onto PaperArtsy Smoothy Heavy Card Stock. I then used the music stamp from Sara's Eclectica 07 stamp plate to create the texture on the Grunge Paste. If you watch the video (which I hope you will!) you need to leave the stencil on the paper when you stamp into the Grunge Paste.

ESN07 

Step Two: Once the Grunge Paste had dried I used PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylics to create layers of colour on the paper. I started with Guacamole, then Bora Bora, Captain Peacock, South Pacific and finally Snowflake to knock it all back. Each layer didn't quite cover the last but I just kept building them over the top of each other particularly over the raised textured areas AND trying to keep each piece the same for some uniformity. You can see that I have made a fifth square for the top of the box using the Mini Specimens stencil, but without stamping over it. And while the paints were out I made a little flap for the front of the box.

Step Three: I left the paint to dry overnight so that it was completely dry before I started sanding back the layers with a Sanding Block. I loved the way the colours started showing through - the pop of Guacamole blending so well with the other colours. I used some of the smaller text stamps from ESN 20 to add a little interest and some background stamping with the clock from ESN 19 to fill in the spaces around the leaves using Archival Watering Can and Archival Jet Black.

ESN 20

ESN 19

Step 4: I used a heavy die to cut my ATB box from white board which got a coating of Snowflake before I added the panels. I decorated the top of the box with a quote from ESN20, finding two punches in my stash which fitted the individual sentences. Sara's stamp sets are full of quotes and which are wonderful to use in full, but I also love being able to look for parts of a quote to use in different ways, particularly on a small box such as this ATB.

A detailed shot of the lovely textures and colours resulting from this great technique. The colours remind me of lovely sunny day here in Shetland when the sky and the loch below our garden are the most glorious hues of blue.

I think this small ATB will make a lovely present for a gardening friend, perhaps with some handmade seed packets inside.

I hope this little project gives you some ideas for using Sara's stamps and stencil in a different way and DO have a look at Leandra's video as the textures and colours she creates on her tag using this technique are just stunning. 

Thank you for taking the time to join me tonight and happy crafting!

Jennie x

Blog: Live The Dream

Thanks Jennie for sharing this with us tonight. How fabulous is the Grunge Paste and stamping technique, especially when sanded back. Not only do you get the image standing out from the paint but you also get the texture and dimension. ~Darcy 

We would love to see how you interpret this Resists topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #7: Resists, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Resists link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, April 17th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.