3 Things - The Golden Girl {by Mags Woodcock}

Hi everyone, it's  Mags here with you today for a 'With 3 Things' challenge post. 

This feature on the PaperArtsy Blog is where 3 identical items are sent to 3 members of the PaperArtsy Blogging team. 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 of this challenge is to do something crafty in our personal style with these 3 items. 

We can incorporate other PA products into the mix if we feel it is necessary.

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

As you can see here, I received a gorgeous mini stamp (TSM19) and A5 stamp set (TS055) by Tracy Scott, along with a bottle of Ochre Translucent fresco Finish chalk Acrylic (FF195)

I must admit yellow isn't a colour I naturally gravitate towards, so I had to put my thinking cap on. A few ideas crossed my mind, including creating an art doll, but in the end I decided on a journal page with the sweet girl as the focal. I also decided to add my favourite Infusion, Just Walnut (CS25) into the mix

Lets take a closer look at what I made ....

I started with the background to my journal page, stamping the mandala randomly, overlapping the edge of the page sometimes. I used Versafine Clair ink to capture the tiny details in the stamp.

Whilst the ink was still wet I sprinkled on clear embossing powder, then tipped away the surplus powder and added heat to activate the powder.

I wanted a slightly grungy look to my page, so I spritzed the page with diluted Just Walnut Infusions

I liked the look of the infusions, but wanted more solid colour on the mandalas, so I used a brush to add more to the centre.

It was time for the Ochre Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic to come out to play. So I added some to the mandalas.

I was happy how the background was coming together, but it just needed a couple of finishing touches, so I used a gold and a white gel pen to add details to the mandalas.

The background was finished, it was now time to move onto the focal area of the page. I decided to create a frame for our girl to look out from. So I sprayed a sheet of copy paper with just Walnut infusions. Whilst that was drying I cut out a frame from recycled cardboard.

I covered the frame with the dyed copy paper, and also covered a panel with recycled tissue, this would sit behind the frame on my page.

The frame needed some details and interest, so I used more of the images from the large stamp set (TS055). 

To tie the frame into the rest of the page, I coloured the images with more Just Walnut Infusions and added gold pen details.

It was now time to see how I could use that lovely Ochre colour combined with the sweet girl stamp.

I began by stamping our girl in Archival ink onto Smoothy Card (SCA4). It was time to experiment with the just Walnut to create a nice skin toned Infusion. I diluted the Just Walnut and added a tiny touch of diluted Magenta Infusions (CS23), it was perfect. 

I always wanted the beads in our girls hair to be yellow, so I decided she also needed to have blond hair. Mixing some of the Ochre Fresco with a touch of diluted Just Walnut and plain water gave me the perfect blond hair colour.

The girls beads just needed some pure Ochre Fresco with a touch of shading and a white gel pen high light. I also added a touch of soft pencil shading in some areas of her hair. She was pretty as a picture.

All that was needed now was to add our girl to the frame , a few scraps of book pages, part of a stamped mandala, word sticker, and the dotty tissue background and she was ready for her close up.

I was excited to bring everything together to finish my page, so lets take a look.

I think you'll agree our girl looks very at home in the frame.

I think the frame adds a little more drama and focus to our pretty girl, I hope you agree.

Just a few more details to share with you.

The white pen work ties in with the lighter areas of the frame for a cohesive look to the page.

The gold tissue adds a touch of bling to the page, could our girl be a princess ? I'll let you decide !

I'm really please with how the shading and highlights on the beads and hair adds depth to the image.

Adding the book page scraps around the frame just lifts it a little and adds definition to the frame edges.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing how I used the mystery products sent by PaperArtsy HQ and how I overcame the challenge of using yellow Ochre. I will definitely be combining it with Just Walnut again in the future. I have lots of stamped images of our girl still to use, so I may well create an art doll or two with those.

Thank you for being here and I hope I have inspired you to try combing PaperArtsy products in unusual ways in the future. 

Take care and happy crafting

Mags x

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