{3UP} Night 3: PaperArtsy Chatsworth 12x12 Papers

Hi Everyone, it's Leandra here for the third night of this semester's 3UP challenge. 

3 volunteers were selected to be featured each evening this week on the blog. This is a perfect opportunity for us to feature the work of you, our blog, twitter and face-book followers, and for you to show us your personal style with our newest products.

Tonight's #3UP volunteers are working with our new Chatsworth 12x12 Papers released in February. These papers have been a big hit so far this year; supplies are dwindling fast. Again we have used our favourite local printer, and the paper is the same smoothy cardstock that copes brilliantly with ink, paint, and everything else we throw at it. The papers weigh 240gsm, a really useful weight, not to thick, not too thin. In a pack you get 4 each of the 6 double sided designs, so 24 sheets in total. This means you can actually use them, not JUST stroke them!

FIRST UP: It's Jacqui with a fabulous mini book

So much wonderful detail has gone into Jacqui's project, and we can only show you a small portion, but if you go to her blog here, you can see more detail of the other pages. She also has a link there to a YouTube video she made of the book.

Name: Jacqui Chimes
Blog: jacquesjunque.blogspot.com
Twitter: @jacquichimes

Jacqui Says: I’m Jacqui Chimes in real life and have been ‘making things’ as far back as I can remember (a long time!). Stamping, Mixed Media, Papercrafting and Scrapping (in the form of mini albums) have been my main love for about 15 years. My style generally is quite ‘neat and ordered’ and not too ‘frilly’. I’m currently looking for a day job to fund my addiction to all things ‘art and crafty’ after recently giving up a too stressful career as an occupational therapist.

I received the beautiful Chatsworth papers...

...from PaperArtsy together with stamp set HP1009.

The papers are gorgeous – double sided and a real heavyweight good quality – they are great value. The box-packaging that my papers arrived in looked interesting too – lots of lovely corrugated card.

The papers make a lovely substrate for mixed media pieces but I wanted to showcase them, so I set about constructing a ‘mini album’ using the cardboard packaging which I cut to size for the cover. This was covered in black paper and then the Chatsworth papers. 

I then made the mixed media pieces for the front cover. I used a piece of 3” x 7” matboard. Fresco paints in Nougat, Pumpkin Soup, Vintage Lace, Hey Pesto, Blood Orange and Toad Hall were used to colour it to tone in with the  papers. I used a baby wipe to apply and remove colour and just kept blending and drying the layers. Once the colours looked good I added PaperArtsy Grunge Paste through a flower stencil in a couple of places. The flowers from HP1009 were stamped using Jet Black Archival ink.

Further layers of paint were added over the Grunge Paste and then a little subtle stamping using Coffee Archival ink and stamps from PaperArtsy set ESN03. Aquamarine Treasure Gold was added to the grunge paste areas. Then I re-stamped the flowers from HP1009 onto various red papers that were in my scrap box and also onto some book paper for contrasting accents. These were cut out to paper piece the flower stamp and to add extra flowers to the front of the album as shown. Red complements the Chatsworth papers beautifully. The title was stamped directly onto a piece of the Chatsworth collection and die cut with a Spellbinders labels die. I layered this up onto several pieces of black card to give it strength. All I had to do then was construct my inner pages and decorate them with papers from the collection.

If you want to see more of the pages and how the interactive elements work check out my Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhmEYNf7rYg.

Thank you 

Jacqui Chimes

SECOND UP: Gail from Norway with a wonderful snowflake
Often seen at Christmas, this 'snowflake' paper challenge looks wonderful in the Chatsworth papers, and is embellished perfectly. Not just for Christmas then ....

Name: Gail aka ionabunny
Blog: http://craftynomad.blogspot.no/

Gail says: Hi, my name is Gail, known online as ionabunny.   I've got an 'ology and an 'ography and in my former life I worked in a lab testing materials used in road construction.  Nine years ago I gave it all up and moved to Norway to pursue the good life.   I spend my time gardening, looking after rabbits and chickens, working now and again for a local farmer and of course crafting.   I enjoy trying new ideas, learning new techniques and mixing and matching it all together in a simple style.  You can find me at my own little corner of blogland http://craftynomad.blogspot.no

In my 3up package I received the gorgeous Chatsworth Paper Collection and two PaperArtsy dies, Spotty Dragonfly and Moth.   After recovering from the shock and the happy dancing I had a few ideas but decided I wanted to keep the focus on the papers, so no stampy painty extravaganza here.  

I have used all 6 paper designs to a greater or lesser degree in this project to make a snowflake. I found good instructions at:

http://www.theinspiredhousewife.com/2011/12/christmas-craft-reveal  

I made my pieces 15cm square.  I didn't want a crease across the papers so I drew the cut lines on each piece with a pencil, cut with a knife and then rubbed out the pencil lines.

Here's what a cut piece looks like before and after folding.  You need six of these.  The Chatsworth papers have a white core so I have inked all the cut edges with VersaMagic Jumbo Java chalk.  As long as the white edges were covered it didn't matter if there was a bit extra here and there.  All adds to the look.  I also worked each of the cut areas between my thumb and fingers to stretch the paper a bit in the direction I wanted to fold them.   You can also see some of the moths and dragonflies I have cut using the dies.  

I put the six folded sections together to make my snowflake using three of the six different papers for this.  I love that these papers are of a collage style.  Each side offers a variety of patterns and shades.  If I was doing this again with these papers I would probably make each section at least 20cm square as they were quite rigid and I had a few sticky moments trying to balance the tension once I put them together.  At one point I thought I would be sharing a hat or a fruit bowl but after a little tweaking and twiddling.........   

I've used all the different design papers to cut the moths, dragonflies and also for stamping the sentiment on.  The moth and sentiment are from PaperArtsy USNT4. NB this is an A6 size stamp set.

The dragonflies are stamped with modern girl from LPC022...

...and stuck to both sides of three layers of die cut cardboard.   The sentiment was mounted both sides on PA heavy greyboard.  The chain was from a PA monster box I bought last summer.  Thanks to PaperArtsy for giving me this opportunity and thanks to you all for looking and reading.  Hope you liked it.  

THIRD UP: Craftyfield with a fantastic scrapbook layout
It's been great to see such a wide array of ideas tonight, and a scrapbook layout bring to a close tonight's #3UP, is most fitting, as technically that is what scrapbook papers are for! I love the utterly mixed media approach to this layout, so much to look at.

Name: Craftyfield 
Blog: http://craftyfield.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter: @Craftyfield
Craftyfield says: I have been crafting for a long time, but until 10 years ago it didn’t fill up my spare time quite so much! My main crafts are card making and scrapbooking, and stamps are my favourite crafting items. You might be surprised to hear I involve Excel spreadsheets in my crafting and I have created a digital jar of ideas that pulls up random combinations of techniques/materials/stamps for me to use. I can also tell how much of my yearly budget I have spent so far (58% i.e. no spending until August - who am I kidding!) and what I spent most money on last year (stamps 36%) with pivot tables and pie charts, sad I know…

I used one of the darker Chatsworth papers as the backing. With so many beautiful designs in the collection, some only missing a photo, title and a few embellishments it would have been easy to make a quick layout but… I had other ideas! I wanted to use paint, texture, stamps and put the paper through its paces!

So for my top layer I settled on a subtle coloured background with a circles design and proceeded to add a colour wash with diluted Frescos in Claret and Smoked Paprika. I stamped in various inks with the script stamp MN30, cheque from ID02, “Joie de Vivre” and camera from Hot Picks 1205, and the small seal and the “Photographie” from ESN07.

Next I used the PaperArtsy stencil PS001 with Paprika and Claret paints as well as with Grunge Paste mixed with a touch of Limelight Fresco. The papers were sewn together along the edges leaving the punched areas open (hidden journaling)

Embellishments as follows:

• Feathers (MN97) on vellum embossed in black
• Film strip (MN87) on acetate with Archival which when dry looks more like celluloid than a craft ink or paint would.
• Leaves fussy cut from another Chatsworth paper.
• Faux lace die-cut from material and coloured with Frescos

To show more of the backing paper, I cut an aperture in my top layer instead of creating a mat for my photo. This is a technique I came up with, trying to use my punches more and in a different way.

First cut a rectangle slightly smaller than the photo.... but big enough to insert the punch through it! Align the punch centrally first, it's easy with the scored lines on the punch as shown in this picture:

Then punch left and right as far as you can aligning the already punched design as usual. Repeat for the other 3 sides and optionally use a corner punch, as long as you don’t mind losing some of the design and finishing with scissors. Here I have done this on 2 corners.

I can’t tell you how pleased I was to have been drawn for this challenge and how much I enjoyed working with the Chatsworth papers! Thank you Paper Artsy!

Thanks to all of our 3 upsters tonight, please make sure to visit their blogs and follow them! Thanks once again for your enthusiasm and participation. We love to see you all featured on the blog.

If you would like to play along with our #3UP volunteers this week, then feel free to link up by Sunday May 4th at 5pm and go in the draw to win a surprise prize at the end of the week. As it's the end of the semester, the prize will be a extra special goody bag with a variety of items to the value of £50. 

Each entry generates you a ticket in the draw to win. Maximum number of entries per person is 3. Your entry must be a new creation made this week, and explain which person's 3UP entry inspired you to play along. Good luck, winners will be announced on Sunday May 4th, 7pm.

All covered up... {with brand new JOFY stamps by Jo Firth-Young}

Hi everyone, Jo here.  My project this month is to give inexpensive notebooks a makeover... a 'JOFY' make-over.  I used my new stamps, stencils and paints!!.. and combined them with some old favourites - scallops and buttons.

I bought a pack of inexpensive notebooks from a high street shop - I chose these because they are spiral bound (my bookbinding of choice) - easy to use, work with and alter - the spiral binding is easy to take apart and put back together. 

I chose to alter the book with butterflies because if the image still showed after I had painted the covers it would be quite a nice 'hidden/ghost' image (though I was sure the opaque paints would cover successfully)

The covers had a slightly glossy surface and so I sanded them lightly to give a key for the paint.

I planned to create lots of washed, random layers- initial layers were using Chalk from the JOFY Limited Edition Fresco Finish paints:

I worked with the covers laid on the worktop with the open edges 'together' because these are the edges that, when the book is closed, will be closest/seen together.

I painted all over the covers with a mix of Chalk and Dusty Teal (also part of the JOFY paint set).

Then painted roughly around all edges with a mix of Chalk & French Roast, leaving the centre paler - ready for stamping and further embellishment.

I stamped the scallop border image (JOFY13) onto book text, cut it out and into small strips and laid them in place on the covers along with a text panel (JM40). I glued the scallop strips in place but removed the panel so that I could add stenciled images.

I added stenciled poppy heads (Chalk Fresco Finish). This is one of my four new stencils: PS007 

I decided to use paint rather than Grunge Paste on the cover as I wanted to keep the surface relatively smooth.

Next I stamped small stems (JM33) across the bottom edge of the cover (Black Archival ink)

Unfortunately at this point in the process I was 'in the zone' and so busy stamping I forgot to take a photo - I'd glued the white script panel onto the book cover and stamped large seed heads over the top.
The large seed head is from JOFY23:

Now I began painting the flowers with pops of colour (& remembered to take photos!) - a wash of French Roast on the large stems with Dolly Mix on the spots, Amethyst and Hey Pesto (with a touch of Tinned Peas) on the small stems. 

Here is the finished book - front and back covers, re-assembled, and painted with a couple of layers of Matte Glaze to protect the book when being handled/used & general wear & tear. I chose Matte Glaze because I didn't want to lose the 'chalk' matte finish of the paints.

As I said earlier I was in the creating 'zone' and I had 2 notebooks remaining so....
...one was given a book text makeover:

I covered front and back covers in book text. Blocked out a panel with Chalk. Stamped numbers (mix of Chalk and Dusty Teal) randomly over the cover & shaded on one side (French Roast). 

        

Stamped single stems (JOFY24, on left above) along the bottom along with the scallop border (JOFY13). A big flower was added (JOFY22, on right above)- painting and adding the flower head and leaves separately. Added a button for the centre (there had to be a button somewhere!).

... and the last remaining book had a paint & paper makeover: 

Pieces of Chatsworth paper - the lovely new PaperArtsy papers - were used to cover the notebook. A wash of Dusty Teal & Chalk was added all over and concentrated around the edges. Numbers were stamped on in Chalk (I really like using the numbers of JOFY22 as a background image).  Various flowers added (large star centre flower is from JOFY24) and coloured.  The covers were again painted in Matte Glaze to protect them from wear and tear.

Here are the 3 books together... all with the same colour scheme, with similar elements but given different treatments.

I hope this inspires you to find an old notebook that would benefit from a bit of a 'make-over' - if it does please link up what you make and join in the challenge.

Thanks for popping by.

Jo
(PS - apologies for the state/paintiness of my workdesk - I'll try to keep it cleaner next time!)

If you would like to join in this week's challenge and play along with Jo's techniques, then 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 February 23rd 2014.

NEW {2014} Products: PaperArtsy

Well, we have nearly finished revealing all the new products we have been developing for the last few months in preparation for the week ahead at the Craft hobby and Stitch International Trade show.

Under the PaperArtsy Brand we also have some new products to announce.

{NEW} Chatsworth Paper Collection
I am really excited about our new 12x12" paper collection pack; Chatsworth. 

In rich warm tones there are some neutral papers in shades of Sepia, there are a few in rich, warm golden-green and autumnal shades, plus the compulsory blues feature too. Thrown into the mix are some dark papers, really useful for matting and layering. 

If you look closely there are also a lot of script elements, sometimes soft and subtle, and sometimes a bit bolder. There are also plenty of blank areas for stamping directly onto the papers. 

In a pack you will get 4 each of the 6 double-sided designs, that's 24 sheets of paper. The weight is the same as Thorndon Hall was,  240gsm, and the paper we use is our Smoothy stamping paper: high quality Italian paper. The inks are all eco friendly vegetable based, so we tick all the enviro-friendly boxes as usual, and we choose to use our wonderful local printer who is just around the corner, so we are supporting another local business.

Here is a piccie of us packing up the papers with our automated munchkin packing machine - consists of Franich munchkins walking around the table (LOL). The light was a bit rubbish (raining again), so the colours look more washed out than in real life. Anyway, it's all packed up and ready to ship out. It smells divine!

Here's three 5x7" samples I made the other night using the Chatsworth Papers stuck onto our new White/Grey Board substrates. You can see I have done a mash-up of JOFY, Lin Brown and PaperArtsy GrungeFlower dies with Treasure Gold onto the 'Crunchy' waxed paper flower head. I also used ELB paint set with a touch of Beach hut. These are samples for the classes I will be teaching each day at the Stitches Trade Show this weekend. I reckon those retailers should be able to churn these out in 40 mins no worries!

{Coming Soon} New Hot Picks Stamps
Not too far away are some new Hot Pick stamps. Mr PaperArtsy is playing his cards pretty close to his chest on this one, but I don't think you have long to wait. Here's a sneak peek of one I stumbled across in his drafts file! (shhh) Can't wait to use this!

{New} Canvases and Canvas Boards

For some time now we have been selling deep edge/ box canvases, as below, and now we have some larger sizes available 6x16" and 8x20"

We also are adding a range of flat canvas boards; 8x8", 9x12", 10x14" and 10 x 20". We love these because they are easy to stamp on because they don't dip in the middle - watch the texture though, you may need to smooth it back with gesso or grunge paste. They are also really nice to cover with Chatsworth papers, and then work on them from there.

{New} Grey-White Board
Yes I know that sounds a bit odd (the grey-white thing), but these 'boards' are 3mm thick Grey board, and it is coated with white paper on one side. The white is like a layer of magic, because now you can paint, and stamp to your hearts desire, and the result is going to be beautiful fine detailed images, because the white side of the grey board is smooth! These are fantastic for construction style projects, is very easy to glue them together to make boxes etc, and they are perfect for bespoke book or journal covers. We have sizes 4x4", 5x7", 6x6", 8x8", also a nice fit with our canvas sizes. We are selling them in packs of 4.

{New} Treasure Gold

We had been tipped off pre-Christmas that there might be some new TG colours in the making, but I think Mr TG got a bit sidetracked, adn they are in the deep south of the UK that has been suffering from lots and lots of water, so the best plans eh?....But for now, you'll be pleased to know we do have the favourite colour of crafters around the world.....lilac! It's a stunning pale shade that I think you will *need*

All the new PaperArtsy products will be available via your local stamp store in the coming weeks. Initially shops can order online direct from PaperArtsy now, or in person at the Craft Hobby and Stitch International Trade Show, NEC Birmingham, Feb 16-18. PaperArtsy is stand A42, situated as usual in the back left hand corner of the main hall. 

We are closed until Wednesday. Shipping of all new products starts Wednesday Feb 19th