3 Things - Arty Party Cards {by Miranda Degenaars}

Hi everyone, it's Miranda from miracle_art_inspirations12 with you today for a 'With 3 Things' challenge post. 

This feature on the PaperArtsy Blog is where 3 identical items are sent to 3 members of the PaperArtsy Blogging team. Typically we will receive a stamp, a stencil and a colour product.

We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send, the whole idea of this challenge is to do something crafty in our personal style with these 3 items. 

We can incorporate other PA products into the mix if we feel it is necessary.

So let's take a look at what I received from PA HQ ...

I received three products from PaperArtsy HQ from designer Tracy Scott, a lovely mandala set TS055, a mini stamp TSM19 and the Fresco Finish paint Ochre.

I had no exact idea where I was going with this combination and for a long time they were just staring at me....but as time passed an idea come to me....it must be something with embossing powders, fussy cutting and putting a lot of elements together.

Lets take a closer look at what I made ....

For my background I used Fresco Finish Snowflake to create different tones of the Ochre Fresco paint. I made an A4 master board on mixed media paper with a sponge. It was difficult for me not to add more other colors, but I wanted to challenge myself only using yellow (which is absolutely not my fav color). But working with it ...I felt the warmth and  summery vibe of it.

To add some interest, I used PaperArtsy Stencil 490 (large) by Tracy Scott from my stash.

Well, I needed more shades of the yellow color so I added these two Fresco Finish paints:  Caramel and Pumpkin Soup.

I then cut my A4 background in 2 and decided I wanted to use black as a contrast too (with still no idea what I was going to do...)

I had fun with the different elements of the TS055 stamp set: A lot of gold and black embossing on to watercolor paper (185grs) for them to be easy to cut. And I wanted to change the girl from TSM19 a bit too.....so no black stamping for her!

 Now onto a lot of cutting....

I have colored the elements using water based markers. I colored the girl using colored pencils and doodled her beads with the same patterns as the leaves of the mandala. I love how stamping in a light colour allows the lines to integrate with the colouring.

Now the shuffling started... where to put the elements.....looking at the lay-out...what should I do?

When I looked at it...I felt a lack of contrast in the background so I took out some other stamps from Tracy Scott.....(the advantage of collecting them over time LOL). I have used also: TSM21 & TSM04 and for the sentiment KCM006.

Adding gold and white markers in the dots.....Now onto some details for a finishing touch!

I spattered with some gold ink and most of the time I give accents to the edges with a gold marker.

Than I had some left overs.....well a lot of leftovers ...so I could create two more cards! Same techniques only different lay-out and of course one (could not resist) with more colors.

This time I have the changed the girl from TSM19 even more....you can do so much more with your stamps! I drew some sleeves and cut most of her hair and a lot of leaves from the TS055 mandala stamp. For her hands I used some of the leaves of the mandala. I also created something to put over her dress using a piece of the mandala.

I also used the full mandala for a bit of background embossing on the black paper.

This was how she came out.....I have added a sentiment from the mini stamp SAM026 (was EM66).

And the last small left over...I finally used the swirls too from the TS055 mandala stamp set!

Also used this sentiment stamp MN90. A quote so true .....I did a lot of thinking for several months before I started working with these products because I had no inspiration but during this creative process more and more inspiration came to me and I had really much fun....so reminded myself that I have to do less thinking and more doing.....and listen to Pablo Picasso LOL!

All created work together.....

Thanks for stopping by today, hope to have inspired you. Loved doing this and let's make the world a bit more beautiful by creating with our (HE)ART.

with love,

Miranda xx

Blog: 'Mir'acle Art Inspirations

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Oct 2025 - With 3 Things - Boxed Birds Nest {by Zoe Hillman}

Hi friends, 

It's Zoe Hillman aka igirlzoe with you for another 'With 3 Things' challenge post. 

For this feature on the PaperArtsy Blog 3 identical items are sent to 3 members of the PaperArtsy Blogging team. Typically we will receive a stamp, a stencil and a couple of Fresco Paints.

We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send, the whole idea of this challenge is to do something crafty in our personal style with these 3 items. We can incorporate other PA products into the mix if we feel it is necessary.

So let's take a look at what I received from PA HQ ...

Today I've made a boxed birds nest using the Printed Tissue PT11 - Birds, Eclectica Stamp set EGL19 from Gwen Lafleur and Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics in Pumice and Coastal. Let's take a closer look...

To start, I glued the Birds Printed Tissue onto a piece of PaperArtsy Smoothy Heavyweight Cardstock, cut to fit inside my vignette box and using a brayer to smooth it as I glued. Sanding is a great way to remove the excess tissue and give a nice clean edge. I then brayered Mattint Ash onto the background and dried. Next I added some Infusions in Sleight Blue to my non stick craft mat, spritzed with water and picked it up with the background by gently taping into the wash. (Please forgive that my non stick craft mat is a hot mess, it's well used).

To finish the background I blended in some walnut stain Distress ink to the edges.

Adding Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics to my vignette box, I was so focussed on what I was doing and forgot to take photos so used a piece of vignette wood to show the step out process (below).

Working in layers and drying between each layer, I covered with a layer of Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic Pumice. Next using a dry brush method, (adding paint to a dry brush and using kitchen paper to remove most of the paint), added a layer of Coastal. Finally, dry brushing French Roast over the top very lightly. You only want to highlight the wood grain with this layer and not cover the previous layers.

The Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics work really nicely on metal pieces. I covered a Tim Holtz idea-ology pull with Pumice using a sponge and then dry brushed on some Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic French Roast.

Next I added some idea-ology hardware heads to cover the pull handle holes and then glued to the top of my vignette box. I love the weathered finish of the Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics.

To create a birds nest for my vignette box, I took idea-ology tiny eggs and covered with my supplied Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylics in Coastal and Pumice. Once dry I used a splatter brush to speckle the eggs with Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic French Roast.

This gorgeous little birds nest was a treasure I picked up years ago and had been hoarding, it was perfect to add my eggs to, which were hot glued into place.

The birds nest was hot glued into the base of the vignette box with some nesting moss. I added green moss to the top and side also with hot glue.

Using the supplied Gwen Lafleur Eclectica stamp set EGL19, I stamped with Versafine Clair ink and watercoloured the images. Next I fussy cut and mounted onto my background using 3D foam to create layers and give some depth.

You can see the different depths of the stamped images here. I'm not going to lie, the flowers were a fussy cutting challenge, but worth it. All the stamps on this Gwen Lafleur Eclectica set are wonderful, but I'm particularly obsessed with the tape measure and book keeping ephemera stamps.

I have absolutely loved this challenge and had such fun creating my boxed birds nest. I hope you've enjoyed my post and it inspires you to create something with these fantastic products from PaperArtsy.

Thanks for stopping by

Zoe

Blog: igirlzoe

Instagram: igirlzoe