2019 #7: Turquoise with Squiggly Ink [By Miriam Grazier}

2019 Topic 7: Turquoise

Miriam's gorgeous colour combo along with the fab faux hinges makes a wonderful wrapped journal with the gorgeously quirky Squiggly Ink stamps.

Hi everyone, it's Miriam with you today, and I'd like to share with you a wrapped journal that I made using the amazing Squiggly Ink Bricks and Mortar stamps.  I have had these in my stash since they were released.  I love this collection.  They work amazingly well with bright colours as I have done so here, but they also look fabulous on more muted and vintage projects.

I wanted to create a small journal to not only show case the versatility of the stamps but to also create a keepsake where I can jot down a few memories.

I had great fun creating the journal and then the pages. I kept the backgrounds fairly simple as I wanted to showcase the Squiggly Ink stamps. Bricks and Mortar Sets 1, 2, & 3.

I used colours that would complement turquoise, opting for Slimed and Cherry Red as contrasting colours. I loved how these all looked together.

  

  

I used the same colours for the stamps, creating patches of painted surface and then simply stamped the images and cut them out.

The hinges were stamped twice as I wanted it to look as though they were attached to the front of the journal. My closure was made using a small magnet to keep the clasp together.

I also found that due to the heavy weight of the card stock that I used for the pages inside, the journal slanted to one side. To combat this, I added a belly band which I have also used as somewhere to keep trinkets and tags for memories.

I added splashes of gold, white gel pen and paint pens to highlight areas of my journal and pages.

I drew scribbly lines around the pages, this gives me the opportunity to add notes and memories, or in my case, happy thoughts.

I loved the splashes of red created by the wrinkle free water colouring.  In this case I thought it looked like red skies.

Turquoise is such a fresh and modern colour to use.  It really looked great on my journal.

I also made sure that I added decoration to the spines of the journal.

I also added a small amount of sparkle using a Sakura Gelly Roll pen.  I love the tiny add of sparkle here and here.

I had so much fun creating this. It amazed me at how I could use one collection of stamps and decorate a journal and pages in it's entirety.  I really hope that I have encouraged you to try this for yourself.  It makes such a lovely keepsake and was so fun to make.  I would actually love to make another but in more muted tones - I think that will work very well.  I think my next one will be to jot down my house improvement ideas.   

Thank you so much for joining me this evening.  Pop over to my blog to see further photos of the pages.  Happy Crafting!

Blog: Miriam's Creative Dreams
Facebook: Miriam's Creative Dreams

2019 #7: Turquoise and yellow with EKC [By Chris Dark}

2019 Topic 7: Turquoise

Floaty butterflies painted on teabag paper are the perfect foil to an Infusions bedecked background. Chris has supremely spotlighted Kay's stamps in this turquoise themed treat.

Hi everyone, it's Chris Dark here and I'm sharing my topic 7 turquoise project with you based around Kay Carley's gorgeous butterfly stamps EKC25 and stencil  PS128 which are perfect for bright summer projects.

I had in mind experimenting with some teabag paper bought recently for this project, hoping for a nice floaty effect for the butterfly. I was very happy with the results; the paper held up very well to the paint and Infusions treatments and when dry and cut out was malleable giving a lovely dimensional effect without the need for dimension tape or heavy gel medium to hold the layers up.

I never need an excuse to play with Infusions; they make the most gorgeous and easy backgrounds and that is how my folded tag card came about. I also used them on the base layer for my teabag paper. I eventually ended up cutting out the butterflies but it was nice to see how they worked on that substrate. If you haven't yet tried dying ribbon with Infusions I can highly recommend it, it's a simple one step process that gives you the instant vintage appearance because of the walnut crystals. Previously I would have needed ink from a pad or spray to dye it and then a brown ink pad swiped over after drying to create the aged look. 

I used Infusions in The Sage and A Bit Jaded, sprinkled onto a water spritzed teabag paper. I love watching the process of the crystals melting and spreading.

After drying the teabag paper, I got this gorgeous mottled effect and a much more subtle colour finish. I will have to try allowing it to dry naturally on another occasion to see if there's a difference.

I used the stencil to sponge through mixes of Bora Bora, Beach Hut, Turquoise and South Pacific for the turquoise effect with some Mustard Pickle as the final layer.

 

 

Yummy effects from the stencilling over the Infusions coloured teabag paper.

A gorgeous mix of Infusions here, with that little bit of yellow brightening things up a bit. I used A Bit Jaded, Lemoncello and The Sage.

  

I folded my tag in half to make a card.

The teabag paper cuts out really well without any tearing or fraying.

I've sponged Nougat Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic on the stamp and transferred by smoothing my fingers gently over the butterfly.

I repeated the process with black ink and got some very nice off-set stamping in places.

Dying ribbon with Infusions could not be easier, simply wet the ribbon then sprinkle with Infusions, dry off and crumple whilst still a bit damp. I used Terracotta and Golden Sands Infusions here. 

 

The tag base is stamped with the flower from the stamp set, coloured with pencil and a centre of paint followed by the sentiment in black ink with a white pen outline.

I added a few small Magenta pencil dots in the background and paint dots have also been added to the butterfly on top.I layered two together.

I like how the teabag paper holds its form well when shaped with fingers.

I also stamped the butterfly onto the tag base so that I got all the pretty curly parts of the image that weren't possible to cut out.

Having the butterfly in a solid colour helps it stand out from the busy background.

If you have some teabag paper in your stash I think you might enjoy it as much as I have especially if you like to have some dimension and movement in your projects. I hope you'll have a go at creating with the topic theme, it's a great opportunity to break out all those pretty blue/green paints!

Thanks for joining me today, I wish you a creative week ahead. 
Chris x

Blog: www.sketchingstamper.blogspot.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christine.dark.7
Instgram: @chrisd999
Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/cdark4163/