April 2025 - With 3 Things - Happy Easter Basket {by Mi Mii}

Bonjour à tous, c'est Mi Mii ( @themy32 ) ici avec vous pour un nouveau projet.

Hi Everyone, Mi Mii here with another project for you

Cette année, sur le blog, nous sommes libre de nous plonger dans l'une des gammes de produits PaperArtsy.

Du coup pour cet article, Pâques approchant, j'ai choisi de travailler avec les tampons et pochoir de Kate Crane, notamment la planche avec les petits lapins (KC001) et le pochoir aux fleurs graphiques (PS430)

This year on the blog, we're free to delve into one of the PaperArtsy product ranges.

So for this article, with Easter just around the corner, I've received Kate Crane's stamps and stencils, in particular the bunny stamps (KC001) and the graphic flower stencil (PS430).

J'ai également sélectionné 2 peintures PaperArtsy Frescos Finish aux couleurs douces et fraiches, la bougainvillea (FF93) et la limelight (FF48).

L'idée de mon projet est de réaliser un petit panier décoré, que j'offrirais à ma petite fille pour la collecte des œufs de Pâques ! allez c'est parti je vous montre les différentes étapes.

I also have 2 PaperArtsy Frescos Finish paints in soft, fresh colours, Bougainvillea (FF93) and Limelight (FF48).

The idea behind my project is to make a small decorated basket that I'd give to my little girl to collect Easter eggs! Here we go, I'll show you the different stages.

Sur cette photo vous avez les 3 produits qui constituent la base de mon projet. Je vais utiliser d'autres produits que je vous détaillerais le moment venu.

This photo shows the 3 products that form the basis of my project. I'm going to use other products that I'll tell you more about as they each appear in the project.

 

J'ai commencé par imprimer sur le Papier PaperArtsy Smoothy (SCA4H) le gabarit de la boite.

I started by printing the box template onto PaperArtsy Smoothy Paper (SCA4H).

Je colle quelques chutes de papier sur le fond de ma boite afin de lui apporter un peu de matière et de texture.

I glued a few scraps of paper to the box to give it a bit of substance and texture.

Je pose ensuite mes couleurs en commençant par la PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Bougainvillea (FF93). Je vaporise un peu d'eau sur mon fond afin que la peinture s'étale bien et que cela fasse juste un voile translucide.

I then apply my colours, starting with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Bougainvillea (FF93). I spray a little water on my base so that the paint spreads well and just makes a translucent wash.

Résultat de mon fond après la première couche diluée. Je prend soin de bien sécher avant de passer à l'étape suivante afin que les couleurs ne se mélangent pas.

This is the result of my base after the first diluted coat. I take care to dry well before moving on to the next step so that the colours don't mix.

Avec la seconde couleur, Limelight (FF48) et une éponge à maquillage, je viens faire des impressions sur mon fond rose, avec le pochoir de Kate Crane (PS430)

With the second colour, Limelight (FF48) and a make-up sponge, I'm here to make prints on my pink background, using Kate Crane's stencil (PS430).

 

Pour apporter du contraste je commence par retracer chaque détail du pochoir avec un feutre noir.

To add contrast, I start by tracing each detail of the stencil with a black felt-tip pen.

et au feutre acrylique blanc je rajoute des éléments plus clairs, quelques points de-ci, de-là.

and with a white acrylic paint-tip pen I add lighter elements, a few dots here and there.

Afin de créer des effets de lumière sur les fleurs et je complète par des éclaboussures pour un aspect grunge.

...to create light effects on the flowers and I add splashes for a grungy look.

Pour compléter la déco de ma boite œuf, je tamponne en noir les minis tampons texte et chiffre présents sur la planche (KC001). J'ai ensuite découpé la boite.

To complete the decoration of my egg box, I stamped the mini text and number stamps on the board (KC001) in black. I then cut out the box.

L'intérieur blanc de la boite ne me plaisait pas plus que ça j'ai donc décider de le peindre également en rose bougainvillea (FF93) et d'y ajouter des tamponnages de fond et des éclaboussures de feutre acrylique blanc.

I didn't like the white inside of the box any more than that, so I decided to paint it bougainvillea pink (FF93) as well and add some background stamping and splashes of white acrylic paint-pen.

 

Et la voila terminée et collée !

And here it is, finished and glued!

Passons maintenant à la déco ! Pour garnir l'intérieur de la boite, j'ai formé un petit nid avec de la fibre d'emballage que j'ai récupéré dans un colis.

Now for the decoration! To line the inside of the box, I made a little nest with some packing fibre I got from a parcel.

S'agissant d'un petit panier qui servira à ma petite fille pour le ramassage des œufs de Pâques, je décide d'écrire la phrase "HAPPY EASTER" avec l'alphabet de la planche PaperArtsy word2 (W2) j'adore cette police d'écriture :)

As this is a little basket that my little girl will use to collect Easter eggs, I decided to write the phrase ‘HAPPY EASTER’ using the alphabet from the PaperArtsy word2 (W2) board - I love this font :)

et les voilà les petits lapins de Kate Crane (KC001) graphiques et si mignons. 

and here they are, Kate Crane's cute little graphic bunnies (KC001).

Pour lla colorisation, je me suis servie des PaperArtsy Fresco Tints, la couleur acid (MT14) un joli jaune acidulé et la High Viz (MT15) un joli orange pep's. Je les voulais simple et colorés. J'ai réhaussé quelques détails avec mes crayons de couleurs.

For the colouring, I used PaperArtsy Fresco Tints, the new Acid colour (MT14) a bright acid yellow and the High Viz (MT15) a peppy orange. I wanted them to be simple and colourful. I highlighted a few details with my coloured pencils.

Tadam !! résultat final, un joli écrin pour de petits œufs de Pâques ! Hâte de l'offrir à ma petite fille ;)

Tadaaa. The end result is a pretty case for Easter eggs! Can't wait to give it to my little girl ;)

Quelques photos de plus pour voir les détails. 

J'espère que cela vous a plu et j'en profite pour vous souhaiter de belles fêtes de Pâques et attention de ne pas abuser du chocolat ;)) ... ou pas ! lol

A few more photos to see the details. 

I hope you enjoyed this and I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for Easter and be careful not to overindulge in chocolate ;)) ... or not! lol

A bientôt, avec un nouveau projet !

See you soon, with a new project!

Mi Mii xx

Facebook :  Mi Mii 

Instagram : @themy32 

April 2025 - With 3 Things - Spring Floral Fiesta {by Katy Norgate}

Hi friends, It's Katy Norgate with you for another 'With 3 Things' challenge post. 

For this feature on the PaperArtsy Blog 3 identical items are sent to 3 members of the PaperArtsy Blogging team. Typically we will receive a stamp, a stencil and a couple of Fresco Paints.

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 ... And oh my, spring has bounced right out of the box with one of Kate Crane's very first stamp sets and stencil!! Lucky me!!

So let's take a look at what we have here: Kate Crane stamp set KC001; her stencil PS430 (See PaperArtsy stockists for these); along with two fresco finish chalk acrylics: bougainvillea and limelight. I was delighted to see this combination, right up my street, so to speak. I decided to create a journal page. Here are some images of my finished page ....

Lets take a closer look .....

Here is the whole page 

A close up of Mr Rabbit. He reminds me, as does the whole stamp set, of Alice in Wonderland.

You've got to love a bit of bunting at your spring garden party 

Collaged florals made from the stencil design.

So let me show you how I made this layered journal page. I tried to carefully stick to just the items sent ... though you will see as we progress, that I did add a few more goodies.

I chose to work in my 8 inch square black page journal. I started by adding a layer of white gesso, so that when I added the fresco finish chalk acrylic paints provided, bougainvillea and limelight, the colours would be true and pop. I used the end of my brush handle to make some scribbly texture.

While that was drying, I decided to play with the two paints to see what colour palette i could get, allowing myself only the addition of black and/or white to vary the tone and opacity. Even with a quick play, I was able to really stretch the palette to mauves, olive greens and peachy skin tones (one to remember). I think the yellow-green of limelight is clearly quite a versatile hue, when it comes to colour mixing.

Here is a close up of the swatches.

Now to add colour to the page. You will see that despite these colour swatches, I decided to stick as much as possible, to the true colours. Allowing each layer of paint to dry before adding the next, I added Fresco finish chalk acrylic snowflake to keep the first layers pale, then I could add more depth of colour to the top layers. I applied these layers in a rather scruffy fashion, though as the page progresses you won't see this. Here are images of these first layers.

 

Now for some stencilling, to help blend these colours together. Kate's stencil (PS430) is such a lovely floral design and therefore great to play with in developing my spring floral theme. It brings the page together, but doesn't cover up too much of the under layers. As you can see from these images below, I used the limelight first, using a sponge to apply the paint through the stencil. Because limelight is a translucent paint, I wasn't getting the boldness of colour I was after, so mixed it with a small amount of the snowflake to make it more opaque. 

I then added bougainvillea, and finally snowflake to knock back the colours a bit. 

Can you see how this stencilling hides some of my untidy under painting?

I decided to let this page dry and get on making some of my collage items .... the pink flowers!

As I was stencilling the page, I could envision the potential to create dimensional flowers. So time to get the gel press out. Laying the stencil onto the 'clean' gel plate, I used a couple of shades of pink alcohol markers to apply the ink through the stencil. The markers create clear images, without making a mess, and dry quickly. Once applied, I then removed the stencil, and applied 2 shades of green to the centre of the images, as shown below.

Next is to apply white acrylic paint with a brayer, any brand will do for this process, to enable lifting a print. While the paint is still wet, work quickly here before it dries, lay down a piece of smooth card, massage the page a little, then pull the print. 

Hey presto, ready for cutting out. 

Next is to stamp, fussy cut and colour the other collage images. I used mattints to colour the stamped images ...... The pink, Ash and Mojito, (see PaperArtsy stockists) and coloured pencils to add shading.

Now to build the final layers. I gathered some oddments of old book paper, stamped with black ink using stamps from Kate's set of texture stamps KC005, coloured Dura-lar film and an old gel print image, made with infusions and one of Kate's mini stencils PM034. See PaperArtsy stockists for both these products.

I used archival inks to apply texture stamping to the page, using tone on tone colours, as well as some black. 

I used a white acrylic paint pen to scribble around the stencilling, I think this helps to define them. Then with a touch of water added to white and black acrylic paint, i applied splatters all over the page ...not to mention all over my desk and face!!

Here's a close up ...

Nearly there in deciding how to arrange everything. 

I glued everything in place, and decided to staple the flower pieces together for a more grungy effect. A final touch of glitter glue to the bunting and Mr Rabbit's ears, as well as some dimensional gel to the flowers, and hearts on Rabbits tummy, and I'm calling the page done!!

I hope you give this a go, it was good fun to create, getting messy in a journal gives you the freedom to experiment and play. I think the pink and green shades of bougainvillea and limelight work so well together in giving a colourful springtime vibe, as well as making some fabulous colour swatches. It was fun to challenge myself to stick ....as much as possible .... to working with the 3 things supplied by PaperArtsy.

Thank you for tuning in, until next time, have lots of creative fun.

Katy Norgate

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