2021 Topic 7: Stamp Mash UP JOFY, EEG, ESN, I&D minis {by Claire Snowdon}

 2021 Topic 7: Stamp Mash Up

Love how Claire has pulled this journal spread together, the kraft paper makes a rustic, distressed border at the edges, framing her gorgeous arty layers beautifully.
~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Claire Snowdon with you today, and I'm here to share a spread I created in my kraft paper art journal for the mash up topic.  I used JOFY, Emma Godfrey (EEG) and Sara Naumann (ESN) stamps together with a little JOFY mini stamp too.

I love creating art journal pages - but sometimes when I just don't know how to start I find a plain white page is a little daunting!  But over the years I have come to realise that I don't have the same issue when using kraft pages......I'm pretty sure I can't be the only one - kraft paper seems to allow more freedom and expression!

 

I started fast and furious with this one - PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylics (Bubblegum, Butternut and Zucchini) were scraped on with a palette knife.  I tried not to overthink it but I did want to keep the Zucchini towards the bottom to act as a semblance of grass.  I added Cloud 9 over the top - I used a variety of techniques; the palette knife, my fingers and also a baby wipe to soften it slightly. 

I added some detail to my background using the flower stamp from Emma Godfrey set 22 (EEG22) stamped with Fresco Chalk Acrylics in Bubblegum and Butternut.  I also added some stamping using the quote stamp from Sara Naumann set 33 (ESN33) - I used Versafine Smokey Grey and Ranger Archival Jet Black inks to create depth and shadows.

 

 

I started to build up my composition - using the flower stalk on the left hand page from Jo Firth-Young set 14 (JOFY14) and the stem from Jo Firth-Young set 54 (JOFY54) on the right - which is to become the main focal point of the page.  I stamped flowers all along the bottom of the page to create a 'meadow' feeling using the Jo Firth-Young mini 33 (JM33).  You can see I had trouble stamping near the ring binding of my journal - I was using an acrylic block, so in the future I need to try to remember to take the stamp of the block to make it a little easier.

I stamped the large flower head from Emma Godfrey set 22 (EEG22) again onto a piece of scrap card that was leftover from a previous project (if you look closely you can make out a little bit of Kim Dellow's stamps - just to make this an even bigger mash up!)  I added it to the JOFY stem using foam pads just to lift it off the page a bit.

I used watercolour markers to colour in the JOFY flowers and stems, with a tiny bit of white paint pen added as highlights. This fabulous quote is from Emma Godfrey set 22 (EEG22) stamped using Ranger Archival ink in Jet Black, cut out and edged with the same black ink.  I love the way it stands out from the page as it's so bold and pretty large for this size of art journal.

 

I added some white highlights to the Emma Godfrey flower head which I think really make it pop.  This photo really shows how the background layers work together - the overlapping of multiple paint colours, stamp sets and ink colours adds a real textural feel. 

 

I decided to glue the quote directly onto the page as it's so bold that it doesn't need anything extra.  I also didn't want to detract too much from the lovely Emma Godfrey/JOFY flower.

The last step was the add some splatter - I used two paint pens in pink and blue, just to give a little bit of contrast to the page.  A few white paint pen dots here and there and I decided it was finished!

  

 I made the choice not the edge the pages like I typically would - I am really enjoying seeing the kraft colour showing strongly at the edges.

 

 

One final comment is to point out that I added the final section of the quote over the top of my messy stamping near the ring binding - it doesn't quite cover it totally but it definitely draws the eye away from the stamping underneath it.

   

I hope you enjoyed my art journal pages today. Art journaling is a wonderful way to express your creativity and just have fun - it doesn't have to be perfect.  Just relax and have fun with it! 

Claire x

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2018 #17 Colour - A Box of Eggs: Happy to be Me {by Anneke de Clerck}

 2018 Topic 17: A Box of Eggs (Colour Topic)

Seeing the new paints lined up above, you get a real sense of how beautifully they will all work together. Anneke uses the dark shades as a foundation, and then, as you can do so easily with our chalk opaque paints, she works the page to get lighter and lighter. Many great tips follow in this post!! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Anneke with you today. I'd like to share with you an art journal spread I made.

I'm very fond of art journaling. I'm using my art journals to experiment, try out new techniques, new color combinations....During the years I collected and filled all kinds of journals: small ones and big ones, purchased journals and homemade journals... I like journaling in vintage books as well.

For the 'A Box of Eggs' colour topic I worked in one of my homemade journals and I used the 6 beautiful Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics you can see in the picture above.

I love building up layers to create an interesting background. Let me walk you through the steps.

Eggs -especially bird eggs- come in a wide range of beautiful pastels. I've chosen to work with 5 of the new Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics designed by Courtney Franich together with my all times favorite: Fresco Finish Snowflake. 

I started by stamping on both pages with various stamps from the ESA09 set using Archival Ink Jet Black. To soften the stamped images I added a wash of Fresco Finish Snowflake using a flat brush. I created green flowers by sponging through the PS088 stencil using Fresco Finish Pine Grove.

On top of those foundation layers I applied a layer of Fresco Finish Blah Mange. As you can see the foundation layers still peek through.

Next I repeated stamping with various stamps from the ESA09 set using Fresco Finish Seaglass, Eggshell and Koala.

I again used the PS088 stencil and Fresco Finish Snowflake to sponge white flowers randomly. I drew a bunch of organic shapes, cut out and painted those simple flowers with 2 coats of Fresco Finish Seaglass. The stems were painted with Fresco Finish Pine Grove. I arranged the flowers on the spread as shown. 

I added details with a white pen and adhered strips of Dina Wakley tape randomly. Here you can see how all the different layers come together in the end.

To finish the spread off I made some splatters using a white Sharpie.

To create this journal I alternated regular pages with small pages. For this inclusion I used a large tag. Both sides of the tag were decorated as well.

For the quote I used a stamp from the JOFY 45 set.

Fresco Finish Blah Mange is a beautiful shade of pink, I will definitely use this color more often in the future. And I'm very fond of the Fresco Finish Seaglass as well. Those 2 colours make a great colour combination don't you think? 
I'm usually adding much more black to my art journal pages but here I wanted the soft colours do the job. 

I love how the abstract flowers turned out. I first stamped on the flower shapes with white paint but that didn't work out well on the busy background. I returned to the plain mint versions. I do prefer clean and simple :)

I hope I could inspire you to grab a few egg shell colours yourself and create something. Don't forget to link your project to the challenge page. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Thanks for stopping by!

Anneke

My blog

http://somefiddlingonthekitchentable.blogspot.be

Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/anneke1/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/somefiddlingonthekitchentable/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/anneke.declerck

 

To join our challenge and win a PaperArtsy £50 gift 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 17: A Box of Eggs (colour topic) will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, October 14th 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy £50 gift 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. 

Prize conditions: Please note if you are a successful prize winner our online shopping cart will give you £50 off the subtotal of products in your basket. This means you will need to pay the relevant postage on the order.  We cannot figure out how to create a prize with a  zero value, but I guess even paying the postage only is still a good deal right!

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

2018 #16 Reinkers: Coloring fabric with EEG {by Anneke de Clerck}

2018 Topic 16: Reinkers

 Wow, this looks like so much fun!! Fabric, paper, stitching and plenty of inky goings on! Anneke has created a truly wonderful project for you in this post! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Anneke here today. I'd like to share an art journal with you I made for the current "Reinkers" challenge.

I admire the work of Roben Marie Smith. She often works with fabric and ribbon and I see lots of stitches on her projects. Inspired by her I decided to make my own project using fabric, ribbon and stitches.

First I spent an afternoon coloring strips of fabric, ribbon and gauze with the regular Distress Ink reinkers. The next day I used the result of this coloring session to create an art journal. It was super fun and easy to put together. For the inside pages I've chosen a good quality watercolor paper. That's the benefit of making your own art journals, you can fill them with any type of paper you like working on.

For the base of the cover I used a piece of firm turquoise felt (17 x 30 cm). I stitched colored strips of fabric (+/- 2,5 cm wide) on top of the felt. 

To color the strips I applied 4 drops of the regular Distress Ink reinker on a craft sheet and sprayed water on top. I put torn strips of white fabric into that puddle. On some strips I worked with only one color, on others I used 2 matching colors.

Depending on the amount of water I added I ended up with softer or brighter colors.

I used the following Distress Ink reinkers: Shaded Lilac, Tattered Rose, Twisted Citron, Broken China, Picked Raspberry, Ripe Persimmon, Cracked Pistachio, Squeezed Lemonade, and Weathered Wood. I noticed it took some time for the colored strips to dry. 

After drying I machine stitched the strips on the felt with a simple straight stitch using turquoise thread. I started on the right side of the felt panel, aligned the edge of the first strip to the edge of the felt panel. I put each strip partially on top of the previous one before stitching. After covering the whole felt panel with strips of fabric I folded the leftover fabric at the top and bottom to the backside and attached it to the felt with double sided tape.

I alternated blue/green strips with pink/orange/lila strips. Love the distressed look of the torn strips. 

At the backside I covered the felt with a sheet of canvas paper. After decorating the canvas I used double sided tape to attach it to the felt.

I painted the canvas using a flat brush and a mixture of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics Snowflake and Bubble Gum. 

I overstamped the inside covers with stamps from the EEG17 & EEG22 stamp sets.  While art journaling the inspiring quotes will help me over the fear of the blank page :)

Love the font style of the quote stamps as well, they are very versatile!

The felt base of the cover is very bendable/flexible. I didn't have to make crisp folds at the spine as I'm usually doing while making covers. 

I added 2 signatures to the colorful cover. I started by cutting 10 sheets of watercolor paper from a watercolor paper pad by Prima (size 17 x 26 cm). I folded 5 sheets in half and nested the pages into each other, repeated this step for the second signature.

I set 6 eyelets into the spine. Two in the middle of the spine and the others 2 cm from the head and tail.

With an awl I made 3 holes in each signature and I used a three hole pamphlet stitch to attach the signatures to the cover. I did the sewing with turquoise waxed thread.

I colored a bunch of white ribbon with the Distress Ink reinkers as well. 

As my fingers were blue and green already anyway, I also colored a few strips of gauze.

I used the ribbon to make a removable closure for the art journal. I wanted the closure to be an eye catcher so I stamped the big flower from the EEG22 set on watercolor paper using Archival Ink Jet Black. I water colored the flower using Distress Ink re-inkers Twisted Citron, Cracked Pistachio and Broken China. I cut it out, set an eyelet in the middle of the flower and attached 2 long strips of ribbon by making a knot.

To decorate the cover I made a collage using gesso-ed book text, colored gauze, a pink strip of fabric, green ribbon and a stamp from the EEG17 stamp set. I stitched the collage to the cover before adding the canvas backside.

Because Distress Ink reinkers have intense colors I ended up with brightly colored strips of fabric. That's just what I'm fond of! And I love the Distress Ink color palette, don't you?

I rarely use my sewing machine while making art. I love seeing stitches on other crafters cards, books or art journal pages but most of the time I'm too lazy to pick up my own sewing machine :) On this occasion I had the courage to thread my machine and I didn't regret it. I have to do this more often. 

I kept the decoration of the cover simple. I wanted the flower and the collage/quote to be the focal points. I'm very happy with how the closure turned out. That flower designed by Emma Godfrey is one of my favorite stamps.

I hope I could inspire you to colour some fabric or ribbon yourself and maybe make your own art journal filled with your favorite type of paper. Don't forget to link your project to the challenge page.
I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Thanks for stopping by!

Anneke

My blog

http://somefiddlingonthekitchentable.blogspot.be

Pinterest
https://www.pinterest.com/anneke1/

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/somefiddlingonthekitchentable/

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/anneke.declerck

To join our challenge and win a £50 PaperArtsy gift 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 16: Reinkers will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, September 30th 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy £50 gift 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. 

Prize conditions: Please note if you are a successful prize winner our online shopping cart will give you £50 off the subtotal of products in your basket. This means you will need to pay the relevant postage on the order.  We cannot figure out how to create a prize with a  zero value, but I guess even paying the postage only is still a good deal right!

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