2020 Topic #19 Happiness and Friendship with ECF (by Noguchi Etsuko)

   2020 Topic 19: Words Of Wisdom

A terrific trio of wise tags from Etsuko tonight. It's amazing how much design you can pack into a small space and despite having a unified theme, they are still all really unique and lovely.

~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Etsuko My favorite things with you today, and I'd like to share with you 'Happiness and Friendship' tags using fabulous Courtney's stamps and Alison's quotes.

Since this fortnight being the 'words of wisdom' theme, I simply wanted to make three tags with a different design for each.

First I pasted old book pages with matte gel and when dried, painted with white gesso on the whole tags surface, (I used two tags with book paper.)

The third tag has been processed with Crackle Effect. I used a technique to create the Crackle Effect between the two Fresco paints--Toffee, Nougat. If you want to see the technique tutorial which you can see on YouTube 'Crackle Glaze Demo' by PaperArtsy.

This is how I made the tag's background; the two tags on the left I used Grunge Paste by stencils then after dried to painted with Fresco paints Bougainvillea and Yellow Submarine. Also I used ECF04 crackle stamp by Watering Can Archival. To on the left tag tearing off the washi tapes and stuck it on the edges. Smeared Grunge Paste in places, dried it a little and then stamped it with ECF04.

I painted the two tags on the right with Heavy White Gesso in places.

I have prepared materials to use for each tag--Oak leaf -ECF05, Bubbles -ECF06, Sign -ECF01, Stamps -ECF06. These were painted and embossed.

Finally I attached these materials to each tag and added Smoothy heavyweight white card and cardstock from the back and tied a ribbons or string to complete the project.

Just looked at each tag one by one. This pink tag is Alison's quote stamp EAB10 'Friendship' author is Plautus.

This is Alison's quote stamp EAB14, the 'Happiness' author is Mahatma Gandhi.

This is Alison's quote stamp EAB14, the 'Friendship' author is Walt Whitman.

Get closer to these tags!!

Making tags has been always fun and reminds me of when I started paper crafting. Courtney's stamps can be used as focal points and backgrounds, and the fresh designs are fun to work with and evoke new imagery. It was fabulous collaborating with Alison's quotes which I love.

Thank you so much for visiting.

Etsuko xxx

Blog: My favorite things
Facebook: Etsuko Noguchi
Instagram: Pixienest
Pinterest: Etsuko N

2019 #7: Turquoise & Tango with ECF01 {By Lotte Kristensen}

2019 Topic 7: Turquoise

Sometimes, stamping alone can produce such depth and Lotte shows exactly how with clever colours and real attention to detail you can produce gorgeous patterns and a pair of great looking bookmarks. 

Hey everyone, Lotte here!  Now, turquoise is my very favourite colour, so I was delighted when it came up as a Topic.  I really like Mexican-inspired colour schemes, with hues so bright and contrasts so exciting, and decided to pair Turquoise with orange.  You know those 3D pictures that suddenly come into focus when you've looked at them long enough?  This colour combo gives you that  same, slightly vertiginous feeling 😀  So let's get started!

I started off by coating my tags with white gesso, and then divided them into two parts, painting one with Turquoise Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint and the other with Tango Fresco Finish Acrylic Paint.  I did the paints rather roughly, watering down the Turquoise, as I wanted a sun-bleached effect.  This wasn't quite shabby enough, so I lightly sanded before stamping.

 

This stamp set by Courtney Franich is one of my absolute favourites - I love the variety of images which you can use to make your own patterns.  Sometimes I like using the images as the focal point, but just as often I use them for pattern making, as here.  I simply used two small pieces of printer paper to use as masks for the striped effect.  

On the square top tag,  I stamped the man hole cover in Vibrant Fuchsia Ranger Archival Ink Pad,  then the Traffic Control in Bluebird Ranger Archival Ink Pad. Next the bottles, sideways in Vibrant Fuchsia, 'Don't even think of Parking' was stamped in Bluebird, the manhole cover in Vibrant Fuchsia, and last the bottles in Bluebird.

On the round top tag, I did 'Don't even think of Parking' in Vibrant Fuchsia, the bottles head to head and sideways in that same colour, with some random manhole covers in Tiger Lily Ranger Archival Ink Pad, beneath that manhole covers in Bluebird, and finally Traffic Control in Vibrant Fuchsia.

Then I decided that a bit of contrast was needed, so used a white Posca pen to mark the lines between each bit of stamping, and then used a fine tipped black permanent ink pen to colour in black, cos I just really like black & white stripes!  If you use a ruler to mark out with the Posca, you might need a piece of kitchen roll at hand, to wipe off any excess that goes beyond the line.  Make sure it's thoroughly dry before drawing with the black fine liner.

I had wanted to use the 'Slide the light' stamp to do the words, but instead printed them out on white paper, cut, then stuck onto the tags. 

These tags make great book marks, in fact they already have new homes!!  Instead of the sentiment I used, you could put lines of your favourite songs, poems or quotes.  I would love to see what you make - don't forget to share on the Facebook group page!

Until next time!

Lotte x

2018 #21 Matchbox Art: No Parking with ECF {by Corrie Herriman}

 2018 Topic 21: Matchbox Art

Corrie has undertaken some serious 'outside of the box' thinking to get her matchbox idea to come together! A book, a roof and much more! Great how she figure out 'No' Parking too!! You'll have to read to find that bit out! ~Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Corrie here with you today, and I'd like to share with you my take on the Matchbox Art theme. 

I didn't want to use the matchbox as just a matchbox so I decided to change it into a house. It is still a full functioning matchbox and it also has a little surprise in it's drawer. 

This project was very enjoyable to do; as usual I thought about it for a while and when I had it done in my head, I sat down and started. I wasn't sure what colours to use yet but that sort of happens when I begin.  I started with cutting the pieces for the top and gluing them in place.

This photo shows the 'extension' I built on my matchbox to turn it into a house. I also took a piece of approx. A4 size pattern paper and folded it into a little book. This type of book is called a 'Zine' fold and there are plenty of examples on YouTube if you are interested in making one. 

Of course, because of the roof, I had to make something to open the drawer. Normally you would push it out but that was not possible in this case.

So I added a little tab so it can be pulled out. This works really well. I painted the house itself and the drawer with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics using {Vanilla} for the house and {Sea glass} for the drawer. I also stencilled the sides of the drawer with {PS023} and inked the edges with Archival ink in {Aquamarine}. While this was drying I turned my attention to the little surprise that was going in the drawer. 

From the Zine folded book I made a mini art journal and also did four little tiny spreads in it. It fits nicely in the drawer. I used Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics {Vanilla}, {Yellow Submarine}, {Pumpkin Soup}, {Blue Oyster}, {Bora Bora}, {Pine Grove}, {Seaglass}, {Surf's Up}, {Twilight}, {Eggshell} and {Mushroom} and Courtney's new stamps {ECF01} and {ECF04} for this. I also used some washi tapes and some thread. The girls in the book are from the Tim Holtz' Photobooth photos. 

Eclectica Courtney Franich Set 01 (ECF01)

Eclectica Courtney Franich Set 04 (ECF04)

Here is the house, painted and stamped; I also added a bit of stencilling with {PS023}. I tried to stamp the Traffic control stamp straight on the house but found it difficult. So in the end I painted some thinnish paper in the same yellow, stamped the stamp, cut it out and glued it to the house with gel medium. I also randomly stamped the rest of the house and inked the edges. I used different inks for stamping. Some Archival and when I don't have the colour I need I use Distress Oxides. Added advantage is that they cover really well. Disadvantage is that they are not permanent. You could get around that by heat embossing with clear powder. 

PaperArtsy Stencil 023 (PS023)

Here is the finished article. I really like how it turned out. The blue tab is to open the drawer where you'll then find the mini journal. I also added a little 'fractured doll' by Tim Holtz that I wrapped in thread after adding a rub on. The sentiment was made from the "don't even think of parking here" by cutting out the word "parking" and "Don't"of which I cut off the D and the 't and flipped it upside down so it spells 'no'. 

This was a great project to make although it took me the best part of a day to do ! It was all worth it though as I really like the result. 

We hope that you will have a go at Matchbox Art; it is so much fun!  I might have another go and use a tiny one, with and ultra small journal inside. Or maybe something completely different; it could hold photos, little keepsakes etc. I really enjoyed making mine and it has pride of place in my craft room. Of course you don't have to change it into something else, it works just as well as a matchbox. 

Thank you so much for visiting the blog today ! I hope you'll visit me here too:

blog: www.MadeByCHook.blogspot.nl

FB: https://www.facebook.com/corrie.herriman

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/corrie.herriman/

Pinterest : https://nl.pinterest.com/corrieherriman/

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXiCjfVOYI9ZmOtfRTazOcA

To join our challenge and win a £50 PaperArtsy voucher:

Simply make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 21: Matchbox Art will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, December 9th 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy voucher. Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

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

NEWS FLASH

Annual Sale on now at PaperArtsy

HERE

on our new look website

Sale ends Dec 16th

Discount applied at checkout automatically

A good time to stock up, or make your Xmas requests from family.