Xmas 2014 #3UP {Resists}

Hi everyone Leandra here, It's Boxing Day here in the UK, the day when you should really go for a walk to relieve some of the calorific intake over the last 24 hours! So if you've eaten your fill, had a walk with a fruity mince pie and a cuppa tea, then you must be ready for some more #3UP posts. 

3UP evenings like this highlights the creativity of our blog followers. They volunteer for this task with no idea of what they are letting themselves in for, are then given a brief, and this time they were asked to show us their favourite techniques.

Tonight is all about resists.  Using embossing powders as a resist could well have been one of the first techniques you ever learned, but oh how useful it can be when colouring in a stamped image to stop you going outside the lines. 

In a mixed media sense, gel medium, paint, gesso, wax all create amazing resists. A resist is a product that will resists or deflect the layer that sits on top. For example, wax will resist watery paint, gel through a stencil will resit ink or dye sprays, a layer of wax on furniture can be painted over, then wiped back to show the unpainted sections underneath to generate that shabby chic french distressed furniture effect. So what are out #3UP people resisting tonight?

First up it's Mariette. From the Netherlands, if you take a look at her blog, Mariette loves ink resists in particular, there are many example of beautiful backgrounds, do take a look. Tonight Mariette is using gesso resist with ink. A soft and subtle resist that creates a wonderful starting point for a card. Remember, as our paint is a chalk base you can get the same effect with Snowflake Fresco Paint if you don't have any gesso to hand.

Hi everyone. Tonight I want to show you another method of using gesso. Most of the time it is used to cover a whole background. Or perhaps used in combination with stencils. But you can also stamp with it, which will create a perfect resist on your background. 

TIP: make sure you clean up your stamp direct after you have stamped it with gesso!

Step One: 

Adhere a thin layer of gesso on your craft sheet and "ïnk up" the PaperArtsy  Ink and the Dog Mini 18 with it. Stamp this on your white background paper. Repeat this step but make sure you randomly stamp your image, we don't want to have a static background, it need to be loose and playful.

Step Two:

Once the gesso is dry you will need to wet your background again with water :-) This makes sure your distress stain colors will flow better....

So once your background has been spritzed with some water you can apply the 3 different colors randomly on your background. I have used spiced marmalade, peeled paint and peacock feathers distress stains. Let the colors mix with each other, if needed spritz some extra water on it.

Once satisfied you can dry it with your heat tool. You will see that the gesso will act as a resist, if needed you can wipe off some ink residue with a damp cloth.

Step Three:

To finish up your background stamp randomly the PaperArtsy Ink and the Dog Mini 44 with distress ink crushed olive. Ink up the edges of your background with distress ink vintage photo to give it some depth.

Step Four:

Stamp off the flower branch from the PaperArtsy set HP1009 with Versamark on a separate piece of cardstock and adhere white embossing powder on it. And heat set this with your heat tool.

Now you can start coloring the flowers with distress stain peacock feathers using a water brush. I used spiced marmalade for the center of the flowers. Once done and dry, you can fussy cut out the flower.

Finally:

On a separate piece of white cardstock stamp off only the part Happiness of the happiness text from the PaperArtsy set HP1009 with Archival Coffee Ink and create a label of it.

Now you can finish your card. Adhere the background on white cardstock and adhere the flower on it. Use thick foam for the text so that it will create some depth to your card.

I hope I have inspired you to go stamp with gesso!

Mariette

Next we have Gail from Norway, her blog is here, ionabunny  She is going to show us some embossing resists.....

Hi, my name is Gail.  I'm known around blogland as ionabunny.  I was very pleased to be selected to be part of PaperArtsy #3UP.  The technique I want to share with you tonight is using embossing powder as a resist, and particularly a technique called Joseph's Coat of Many Colours which I first saw HERE . I love the bright colours and the contrast you get with this technique and was interested to see if it would work with detailed stamps, in this instance stamps from PaperArtsy Hot Picks 1105.  

Step One: 

I coloured a piece of 160g A4 off white card with various yellow/orange distress inks.  Just smear them on there.  Dry the surface and then stamp and emboss with clear embossing powder.  I started with the large oak leaf stamp (HP1105EZ).  Then I covered everything with Barn Door distress ink.  In the picture I have half the sheet covered.  Wipe excess ink off the embossed areas and let it dry.  Using your heat tool is fine.

Step Two: 

Then stamp with the second stamp (HP1105EZ) and emboss again.  I used the large heart stamp.  I tried to stamp between the leaf stamps so there will be good colour after the next step.  Then I covered everything with green acrylic paint!!  This technique usually uses black but it being Christmas, or thereabouts, I thought gold, red and green was a good combo.  I used a stencil brush which gets the paint well into the detailed embossed areas.  Paint a small area and then wipe the paint off the embossing.  This picture shows me half way.  Once the whole sheet is covered you should have a nice backing sheet with great colour contrast.

Step Three:
But wait!!  A couple of weeks ago I saw this post by Ellen Vargo where she removes the embossing powder by sandwiching the piece between newspaper and ironing. Wondering what effect this would have, and thinking this was the best use for an iron that I had been presented with in a while, I gave it a go.  As well as removing the embossing, and confounding people as to how you made your art, it also brightens the colours and increases the translucence of the paper, which inspired me to this......

Step Four:

I made a solid base by cutting a 9cm and 11cm circle of card.  Stick them together and run a score tool around the 9cm circle.  Then cut out some little wedges, approximately 1cm apart.  The score help the tabs fold easier.  Put a piece of double sided tape along one of the short edges of the backside of your paper.  Then put another piece of double sided along the long edge, but do not overlap the tape at the corner.  Leave a small gap, or it will be too sticky.  Fold up the tabs on the round base and roll it along the longer piece of double sided tape.  When you have rolled all the way you can stick the overlapping short edge down.  Add a battery tea light and sit back and admire your lanterns.  I got the different heights by cutting 4 and 8 cms respectively off the width of 2 other sheets I had coloured in the same way.

Hope you have enjoyed my project.  
Hugz, Gail

Next up tonight is Deb Wainwright. (@lilacsparkles) Deb is showing us a technique called ghosting. Check it out....

Hello, Debs here again with another project, this time using the technique ghosting, which I first saw on a video by Dyan Reavely on you tube. There are lots of videos demonstrating how to achieve this look.

Step One: 

I sprayed several colours of Dylusions Ink onto my page added my stencil by Lin Brown (PS001 and PS005) then sprayed the page with some water. I took off the stencil and waited about 30 seconds before rolling my paper towel over the page to blot.

Step Two: 
I continued to spray and remove different colours until I was happy with look. Sometime the colours on my stencil also came off too, which I really liked.

Finally... 

I used this as the background for a mixed page which you can see full details of my blog but here is the finished page. 

Take care Debs xx

Finally tonight it's a #3UP newbie (although yes she is the 4th #3UP tonight, boxing day bonus!) it's Lou Collins (@LouCollins). Lou is doing my favourite resist technique, the one with Vaseline. I first saw Claudine Hellmuth do this in her book, Collage Discovery Workshop way back when ....(2003), Claudine called it 'Peeled Paint', and it is frequently used by artists, by artists for many years, and it is also the main way you build up layers of paint to achieve that French Shabby Chis distressed furniture style, you can see what Lou has done below easily translates to furniture. Take a look....

Hi Everyone
Every now and then a technique catches my eye that I just have to try out straight away, and this one I saw on a YouTube is no exception. I usually tweak techniques to make them my own, and this particular one has remained one of my favourites for a very long time now. 

Step One:
For my wooden trinket box, I chose three Fresco Chalk Paints, including a dark and very pale colour.

First I covered my wood panels in Haystack with a stiff brush to add texture. I stamped all over the paint when it was dry with the cobblestone stamp from the JOFY12 set with Timber Brown StazOn. This adds even more texture to this bottom layer. To tone the StazOn down I dry-brushed over it with a little more haystack in places.

Step Two:
For the second layer I rubbed Vaseline onto parts of my wood panels, over the yellow, keeping it quite thick. I painted Space Cadet over the top, again with a stiff brush and dried with a heat gun. I roughly stamped the drawn grid stamp from the same JOFY12 set over parts of the blue paint. Finally I used some kitchen towel to rub away the paint where it laid over the Vaseline, which revealed the yellow underneath.

Step Three:
To finish the technique, I repeated the second step but with a much paler colour, Antarctic. When applying the Vaseline this time, I ensured I was covering over parts of both yellow and blue, so that both colours would show through when I removed the resisted paint later. After drying and rubbing down as before, I watered down some Snowflake paint and brushed it lightly over the panels to tone down the contrast of the colours a little.

I used this technique to create a trinket box. After using the resist technique on the wooden panels, I constructed the box and stamped some leaves in the corners from the JOFY12 set and coloured parts of them with the Haystack paint and a small brush.

Thanks everyone
Lou

Wasn't that beautiful! Another fabulous night of #3UP with 4 totally different resist ideas!

So, I guess, not only are you stuffed with food, but ideas too! There's more tomorrow, so don't hang up your skates just yet! Enjoy the festive season! 

Leandra

We would love you to go in our challenge draw for a prize from PaperArtsy, a voucher to spend in our online shop. Link up your creativity HERE. All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. This link will close 17:00 (London Time) December 31st 2014, the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00, Dec 31st, 2014.

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Xmas 2014 #3UP {Masterboards}

Hi everyone Leandra here, it's Christmas eve, but we are squeezing in a few more #3UP posts. 

3UP is a feature we run at the conclusion of each semester. We highlight the creativity of our followers.They contributors volunteer blind, are given a brief, and this time they were asked to show us their favourite techniques. 

Tonight is all about masterboards.  The concept is perfect for backgrounds, and can be interpreted a myriad of ways. Layers of collage, stamps, colours create one big interesting background. This is then often cut up into smaller sections, and can be used as a mosaic, or independent sections on their own. Endless combinations, methods and options. Tonight we have 3 of those to share with you.

First up it's Margaret Brackenbury. (@brackmarg) Margaret is an awesome PaperArtsy stamper, she's not been as active as she would like this year, so it is fabulous that she volunteered to be a contributor this round of #3UP. We really love seeing Margaret at shows. On her blog you can see she uses so many of our different stamp collections and successfully incorporates a wide variety of styles and techniques in her crafting.

Hi everyone, Margaret here. This is one of my favourite techniques at the moment, as it is so versatile, you can use so many different mediums.  I have stamped and used coloured pencils, painted.  

For this board I used Fresco paint and the brayer.  Using Lin Brown’s Limited Edition Paints I dotted stamping card with paint and spread it out with the brayer.The next stage was to add some stamping using JOFYs Christmas stamps some from this year and some from last year until I got the background I wanted.

I then set about cutting the board up using as backgrounds and tops and adding more stamping etc for the following cards.

It's amazing how the same background can be used in so many different ways

Thanks
Margaret

Next up we have another long term supporter, Helen Lindfield. (@stampingbyh) None of us quite understand how Helen manages to craft so competently on the floor. This year our ears have pricked up at her more frequent mentions of a bit of a clear out, maybe we could dangle a desk as the reward at the end of the sorting process if she does! Mind you clearing up is always more complicated than you anticipate, my studio-shed is yet again in dire need of another JOFY makeover....Let's take a look at Helen's masterboard shall we...

Hi everyone. My favourite technique using PaperArtsy Fresco Paints is to make masterboards. I think it was Jo Firth-Young I first saw using this technique but since then I have been well and truly hooked and have used it for most of my 2014 Christmas cards!

Step One:

For my 3UP project I took a piece of copy paper and a selection of Fresco paints in shades of blue – Antarctic, Ice Blue, Bora Bora and Pea Coat (the old, translucent version). Starting with the lightest, Antarctic, I spread a small drip on a spare piece of craft mat and brayered it on my paper... 

Step Two:
Repeating with each colour in turn, to nearly fill the paper,  I added a little South Pacific (a translucent) for a bit of brightness, and then repeated the process with Antarctic and Ice Blue to knock back some of the darker areas.

Step Three:
Now for the stamping!  I used Ellen Vargo’s sets EEV02 and EEV07, the scratchy circle and diamonds, using South Pacific and Antarctic respectively, applying to the stamp with my brayer for a light touch. I randomly stamped these over the page. That completed the background.

Step 4:
For my main stamped images, I used the new Lin Brown Christmas set, ELB10. First I took the Tree Branch and Watering Can archival ink by Ranger; which I stamped across the paper, then the small bauble and the robin, in Black Archival and again stamped them randomly over the paper.  I coloured these with Inktense watercolour pencils in yellow and red, blending with a paintbrush.

You can do so much with your masterboard – journal backgrounds, bookmarks, you name it – this year as I mentioned, I’ve made Christmas cards.

Thanks to you all

Helen

Our final contributor tonight is Jules Bell. (@pinkjules50) Jules has been playing along with us of late, and you can see the results on her blog. Take a look at this amazing canvas project she made using Finnabair techniques with Lynne Perella Stamps. Its a stunner! Tonight shes a masterboard genius....

Hi Everyone
So after to speaking to my follow masterboard enthusiast's, I settled on a Christmas theme, my desk was already filled with Christmas goodies so I was already in the mode.


Step One:
I choose the JOFY28 set, grabbed a piece of white card and started randomly stamping. 

Step Two
I overlapped the baubles and then filled in all the gaps with the lovey star/snowflake stamp in the set. I use the word joy in the longer baubles for extra impact.

Step Three:

Next I choose a traditional red and green colour scheme and using a range Promarker pens started to colour. Its such a wonderfully peaceful and relaxing thing to do. If you haven't tried this technique before please give it a go. Its not anywhere near are hard as it may look and it only took me and hour and a half to finish the board. you can choose any PA stamp theme for any occasion. 

I was very pleased with how vibrant this turned out, and decided to carry on and make some cards from it. I added an green and a red mat as a base and then a couple of embellishments to finish off. 

From one plain piece of white card stock I end up with 3 beautiful 6x6 cards to add to my Christmas card collection.

I thoroughly enjoyed this project and taking part in another 3up challenge. I hope you enjoy, and Merry Christmas :)

Jules

What a lovely way to spend Christmas Eve. We hope you have a fabulous day with friends and family tomorrow if you are able to. If not and its a quiet one for you, then get crafting while there is some peace and quiet. We'll be back to resume this round of #3UP on boxing day (26th), or we'll chat on twitter I'm sure! 

Wishing you all a very, very, Merry Christmas !

Ho ho ho .....

Leandra

We would love you to go in our challenge draw for a prize from PaperArtsy, a voucher to spend in our online shop. Link up your creativity HERE. All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. This link will close 17:00 (London Time) December 31st 2014, the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00, Dec 31st, 2014.

December Challenge 2014

Hi everyone, Darcy here. Wow, what a great month. As we are almost in the holiday season we had lots of wintery and festive projects. Our designers brought you everything from cards and tags to wrapping paper and gift bags, not forgetting a video on making bows. All you could ever need for your Christmas gifts. Between the flurry of Christmas themed projects we also had birthday cards and canvasses, a stunning Mardi Gras mask, some shabby hearts and a fantastic folio for storing your artwork.

Thanks to everyone who joined in with our November challenge. It is a busy time for everyone and we really appreciate that you take time out to join in. 

You know we love seeing how you interpret these ideas in your own projects so keep them coming. Thanks too for all your support and comments over the month, it means a lot to our designers, and they read all of them. 

The winner of the November Monthly Challenge is: Jane Castle

Please get in touch with Darcy (darcydotneedles@hotmail.com) to find out how to claim your prize. 

December Challenge {2014}

Our challenge is a monthly one, open from the first to the last day of the calendar month. 

This is the final month of the last semester for 2014. We will be saying sad goodbyes to our fabulous guest designers of the past 4 months: Lelainia, Wanda, Anneke and of course Liz and Clare, our newest signature designers did a job-share this semester. 

They and we would love you to join in via the linky system and show us what you do in your spare time. We know you are busy at this time of year, so if you can't link a project, please at least leave a comment to say thank you to each of them as the month progresses. We know our designers come up with some fabulous ideas, and we hope this makes you want to have a go and play along too. So go ahead, make something, blog about it and share the link so we can see what you've been inspired by in the calendar month of December!

If you enter the challenge, you will go in the draw to win £50 (this includes VAT and postage) to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. (Think of it as £40 prize with £10 to cover the VAT and postage costs, worldwide) 

You need to add your link by 17:00 (London time) Dec 31st 2014. To finish the year, the announcement of the winner will follow shortly after at 19:00, the same day December 31st, 2014. Please ensure you are familiar with our challenge guidelines below.

Challenge Etiquette:

1. The challenge is to show how you have been inspired by our designer(s) to try a particular technique. Your entry should contain:

- a mention of which designer inspired you and why, and 
- a link in your blog post to that designer's original post on the PA blog.
The whole concept of this challenge is 'play along with us'. You are encouraged to put your own twist on ideas you see on our blog, don't feel obliged to copy an idea exactly.

2. The link must come directly from the specific post on your blog where you have explored the technique/ idea mentioned in point 1 above. You cannot link to the home page of your blog, or we will be unable to find the post to leave you comments. (NB. Linking to your home page also looks like you are spamming us to drive traffic to your blog)

3. Spam links will be deleted. 

4. We prefer your post is created exclusive to our challenge. Multiple challenge links in one blog post is poor challenge etiquette. We know you have busy lives, and it's easier to do multiple links, but from our point it can potentially result in a conflict of interest. 

5. You are welcome to use stamps/ products/ substrates you have to hand from a variety of companies, we do not expect you to exclusively use PA products - but of course it's lovely when you do! Try to be sensitive to these things :)

6. You can enter as many times as you like. We don't want to restrict your creativity or participation!

6. Entries can be inspired by any post on our blog for the duration of that same calendar month.

7. The winner of the random draw will receive a £50 credit to be redeemed on the PaperArtsy Website. We request that one of your purchases is an A5 rubber stamp. You can add any other items to your basket, but the final total (including VAT and postage) must not exceed £50 The voucher can only be used once, so you must redeem it in a single transaction.

8. The first day of every month (in this, the Challenge post) is when the winner of the month will be announced, also, in the same post, the link for the new month is posted. It's your responsibility to claim your prize coupon from Darcy: email her darcydotneedles@hotmail.com

9. Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!