2021 Topic 12 : Sustainable Crafting with I&D {by Jennie Atkinson}

  2021 Topic 12: Sustainable Crafting

There used to be a mantra that if as piece of leftover was smaller than 2 inches, you should throw it away. Jennie definitely doesn't subscribe to that train of thought and has got some wonderful ideas for the teeniest of pieces. She's definitely an advocate for sustainable crafting and when it's tea stained and curated into something lovely, who could possibly think differently?!

~ Keren.

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live the Dream) with you today, and I'm here to share with you some ideas for using up all your scraps!

I am known for hoarding paper...small, tiny bits, that most people would put in the bin! But when combined with a little set of stamps, these tiny bits of (especially) tea stained papers can be pulled together into little collages which can then be used to decorate a small notebook (also made from scraps!)

Sustainable crafting....using EVERY little bit! 

When my grandchildren were here a few weeks ago they sorted all my "bits" into piles of different colours and we made "scrap" books for their homework notes. They love little flaps and secret places where they can write little bits and pieces and so normally go home with at least two or three. So my supplies were a bit depleted!

For the collages I have kept mainly to the tea stained papers and you will see from the little video walkthrough later that I have used the other pieces for the actual notebook. Ink and the Dog stamps are my absolute favourite stamps for these little pieces and each set has some interesting stamps that can be used as background or sentiments.

                                                                            Letters 4

                                    Letters 2                                                 Letters 6

Letters 6 has to be my most used I&D - who doesn't love the fragile dreams negative strip but the text and little sentiments of Letters 4 come a close second!

This close up shot shows how the text stamp looks on tea stained paper with all those different fonts making it a great background layer. A little bit of stitching on the layers also pulls it all together.

It's worth investing in some tiny tag dies as they make the best use of tiny pieces. I love when labels on clothes come with thee little pins - they make a novel way of attaching the tags.

The little text stamp from Clocks 1 and the Paris frank from ID10 are again two of my most used stamps. They are just the perfect size for little tags.

Clocks 1

VID10

Larger labels such as this one from Letters 6 can be made into little pockets when sewn onto a backing piece of paper and again investing in a mini tag punch means every little piece is used.

Here I have layered tea stained papers with some coloured cardstock, the colour broken up by using a background text stamp. At this stage I have no idea how I am going to use these little collages and that freedom means I group things together which I might not have done.

The same stamps, but used in a different way on the coloured cardstock.

So what to do with these little collages? As I had some larger bits of the coloured cardstock I made a small notebook cover. I made a mat for the large collage by painting a piece of ribbed paper packaging with Fresco Chalk Acrylic (French Roast) and some lovely gold embossing around the edges.

The inside of the notebook was made using some of the larger pieces from my little stock pile of papers, including some of the PaperArtsy Tissue Packing Paper - I am becoming a huge fan of this lovely feel tissue! Some of the larger pieces were  made into flaps and run throughout the book.

As it is difficult to show this I have made a short walkthrough video so you can see what I mean!

I find making these little collages fun and without an end project in mind totally free and creative. They can sit in a box until I have time to use them and sometimes they find themselves as a topper for a quick make greetings card. 

I hope I have given you some ideas of how to use some of the smaller PaperArtsy vintage stamps and also how to then pull them together into a little notebook. 

As always thank you for joining me and happy crafting!

Jennie x

Blog: Live The Dream
Instagram: atkinsonjennie
 

2020 #12 Secrets with Ink & the Dog Stamp Collection {by Jennie Atkinson}

2020 Topic 12: Typography

If we were to count the textures in Jennie's lovely piece, we'd be there for quite some time. Neutrals need not be pale and insignificant, they can 'roar' with life too. There are plenty of typographical elements here too, so don't miss them!

~ Keren

Hi everyone, it's Jennie (Live the Dream) with you today sharing some super typography vintage stamps on a canvas style board. I always love stamps that give and give and these are superb in that they can be used in so many different ways and on so many different textures.

I have worked with two sets of Ink and the Dog stamps from the Letters range. These are quarter plate (A6) size and are available unmounted red rubber, or as trimmed EZ mounted where each image is trimmed for you:

Letters 2

Letters 4

I decided to work on a piece of heavy watercolour paper which I have torn into shape using a ruler (5 ½" x 5½"). Whilst this gave me a good heavy base to layer onto, I was unable to do any stitching with the sewing machine which I had planned as it became too thick. I sponged Chalk and a little Toffee Fresco Finish Paints onto the paper before adding some text tissue paper and texture in the form of some text elements of Sara's new stencil.

PS178

Before I start a project I always like to stamp onto different substrates .... I always have on my desk bits of tea dyed paper, coffee filters, (some of which are coffee dyed), linen and three or four different brown inks. 

I started randomly layering bits onto my background ... I really have no idea where I am going but try to adhere pieces around the outside edge.

I try and get the focus in as soon as I can otherwise it does become very random! It was at this stage I realised the thickness of the layers was going to prevent me using the sewing machine otherwise this focal image would have been outlined with stitching.

From here it was about building up elements of focus. I do love a little clump of linen, muslin and coconut buttons. I love that it doesn't lie flat but I love the softness of the textiles.

As I couldn't add any stitching I had to look for something else to fill the space so opted for a couple of lines of waxed cotton which replicated the lines from the stencil.

I'm afraid I am a bit of stickler for keeping everything straight and square .... it is a personal thing but I hate anything stuck down in my own work at an angle! 

You also may notice that I have 'turned' the lovely lady. I had intended to adhere flowers here but it didn't look right. I needed my lady to be looking into the canvas so stamped on tissue and adhered her onto watercolour paper back to front.

I have created a bit of depth on this side too by adding foam pads which allowed the little tags to appear to "hang".

I find that working in a particular shape really matters. I started this piece on a rectangular piece of watercolour paper and I just couldn't get it to work well. So I went back to basics , putting everything aside and worked out what I really wanted as my focus ... which was the leaf with the word Secrets across it and I realised it was square! Once I had that sorted I was away! 

I love text and words and use them all the time on my work. I couldn't imagine a piece without some words or randomly poorly stamped text. To me it is the basis and supporting element of my work. I have used the text stamps in both these sets in different ways, sometimes isolating words, sometimes using them as a background and stamping on different substrates to give different effects.  The lovely lady was a bit of an afterthought and goes to prove that you can design and create with text only!

As always thank you for joining me.

Jennie x

Blog: Live The Dream