Secret Garden Photo Book {with Hot Picks Stamps by Michelle Webb}

Hi Everyone, Michelle here. When Leandra asked the alumni guest designers if they’d like to come back to do a spot blog post, I jumped at the chance. I had such a blast being part of the team last year, Leandra and Mark are just amazing, love em 

 Darcy said it’s doesn’t have to be a big project, so I immediately thought of something tiny with lots of detail. I had a cardboard photo book just waiting to be altered. 

So I reached for my Fresco Paints and went for a pink theme, using Snowflake, Vintage Lace, Very Berry and a contrast of Taupe. I painted up my photo book in a distressed pink vintage style.

I used tissue tape to fill in the frames. To get a neat edge I cut round the shape with a craft knife.

On the reverse of the book, I painted up the same as the front and used the music stamp from the  ESN07 stamp set.

ESN 07

 I then  used the Flourish stamp from the  HP1005 stamp set to decorate the front and the back. Then painted some Snowflake over the Tissue Tape to knock it back a little bit.

HP 1005

I added some doily tape on the end edges of the photo book, then added some gesso through a stencil in random places, then flicked some pink mica spray over the whole book. On the front panel I stamped the Secret Garden stamp onto a piece of cotton, and mounted it onto a small piece of bandage. To finish I added a couple of metal leaves from an old piece of jewellery.

In the middle panel I stamped the MN09 Dream Girl and added one of Tim’s Idea-ology quotes. I picked the one that said “Dream as if you’ll live forever”. I rubbed Snowflake paint on the quote, and then wiped it off, to make the words stand out in white.

MN09

On the end panel, I stamped a butterfly on white Mulberry paper and cut it out and glued it on the last frame, with some small piece of bandage too. I’ve also stamped the word FLY onto a piece of cotton and attached it with a clip to the top of the frame.

 Here is the finished Photo book. 

I love making things in miniature, its so cute. Thank you PaperArtsy for giving me this opportunity. Miss you guys 

Michelle

A huge thank you to Michelle from all at PaperArtsy HQ. It is so lovely to see you back here. I love the vintage qualities of this little book, from the choice of stamps to the embellies. Inspired use of an unusual substrate too with the gauze bandage. I like to see Vintage Lace Fresco being used, it has just a hint of pink and is a really versatile colour. 

If you would like to join in our weekly challenge with any of this week's guests who have blogged since Sunday night, then join in to link up your creativity HERE you will go in the draw to win PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by17:00 (London time) Sunday April 13th 2014

Michelle Webb {Special 10th Birthday Post} ....

Tonight we are thrilled to welcome back Michelle Webb, one of our Guest Designers from earlier this year. Michelle is fantastic at making interesting backgrounds, and she proves that tonight, and then goes on to do marvellous things with the JOFY stamps.

Welcome back, if just for a fleeting moment!

Happy Anniversary PaperArtsy! Look how far you’ve come in 10 years!

Well done Mark and Leandra for being massive workaholics and bringing us amazing products to play with. I love em all and you two too! x

I was delighted to be asked to take part in the10th birthday celebrations this month.

First of all I started out with a 40cm x 40cm plywood frame from PaperArtsy.  A lovely surface to paint on it’s so smooth.

I painted the frame with Snowflake Fresco Finish Paint, and then sanded it down to make an even smoother surface.

Then I painted a mix of Nougat, Taupe, Smoked Paprika and Cheesecake in vertical streaks. Love the way these colours blend. When this was dry, I decided I wanted some Crackle Glaze on the right hand side with a dark undercoat. So I painted some dark Chocolate Pudding and dried it with a heat gun. Then I poured on some Crackle Glaze and spread it out thinly using an old store card.

I waited for the crackle to dry a bit and finished of the drying process using a heat gun. Then I painted over the top with my creamy colours and watched the magic happen. I never tire of watching the paint crackle it’s amazing.

Once everything was dry I set to work making the surface more interesting with lots of layers. I used some Grunge Paste through the Mini Birds Of A Feather stencil and coloured it with Distress Ink. 

I used some bubble wrap, a crackle stencil, Mini text stamp, and flicked some Cosmic Shimmer Mist at the board for some shimmery splats. 

I used some Cut N Dry foam with some Chocolate Pudding, Hey Pesto and Pumpkin Soup and made random areas of paint over all the layers.

Then I used the edge of a store card with some Snowflake to put lots of white lines on all over the board. Then I splattered some Snowflake too.

Well I just loved the board background exactly how it was. I didn’t want to do anything else to it now. I’d made a background but I didn’t really want it to be  just a 'background' at all.

I had planned to use the JOFY stamps to make a birdy-flower scene but I loved the board just the way it was. So I made another similar background using a 30cm x 25cm canvas board to use the fab JOFY stamps on. Here’s the finished board below.

I’ve used the JOFY 11, 12, 14, 15 and the MINI 12.

It has a bit of a 3D effect going on.

For the flower stems I’ve used florist wire, and added some brighter green wire in loops wrapped around the stems to highlight Jo’s fab quirky squiggles.

I’ll be making a hanger for it with the bright green wire, so I can hang it on the wall.

I’m so pleased to have come back to visit with you all again.

Happy Anniversary

Michelle xxx

Leandra Says: Wow, well, you are a background guru, but i love all the little additions to Jo's stamps with wire, and leaves cut out and layered. Just so much fun to do! Thanks Michelle, great to have you back. xx 
{PS My 'pop-up-pool' is crystal clear sparkling gorgeousness...finally!!!}

Gillian Says: The "Paint Queen" has returned with a BANG!! Your use of colour and the layers are utterly stunning as is the 3d elements. Thank you for being a part of the birthday celebrations, FAB to have you back. xx

Remember, this week's challenge is open until Sunday noon. Go to this post to link your creativity. The rules are simple. If you have been inspired by any of this week's posts, and spurred on to try out a new technique, then make something, put it on your blog, pinterest page, Flickr etc and you will go into one of 2 draws to win an A5 PaperArtsy stamp of your choice! Thanks for joining in with the birthday fun, we love to see what you do every week!