PaperArtsy Blog Summary of Topics 10-12 {Curated by Leandra Franich)

 Blog Summary: Doodles, Our House, Fabric.

 (My Creative Home: Astrid Maclean)

The year is drawing to a close, and we are at the halfway point looking back on our blog best bits of 2016.

Today's curator is me, Leandra and I'll be taking you back to Topics 10-12: Doodles, Our house, Fabric. Possibly my most favourite 3 topics. Let's check out what creative goodness the bloggers came up with! Hint: there are no words, just take a look at this eye-candyt!!

Leandra

Topic 10: Doodles

Doodles are just weird. You can doodle without thinking, like if you are chatting on the phone, or sitting in a lecture, and produce the most amazingly random creation, but if you try to be deliberate, you can just stare at a blank page for ages. This is when Pinterest is handy... or the PaperArtsy blog!! Once I 'see' the idea I can then doodle so much more easily. Here's a few ideas from our happy doodle crew...

My first pick is this candle holder by (Laura Bomber, Laura Art) I love how she doodled into texture paste, and then distressed the effect with paint to highlight the texture. The stamped flowers provide a lovey detail,

Penny Nuttall, our stitchery expert, taught us how to paint, stamp and accent with stitches using Kim Dellow's perfectly suited stamps! Penny's ideas never fail to please, she really masters the art of crossover between textile and paper arts.

I simply can't leave out this fantastic Vintage-inspired Keepsake Box by Hazel Agnew. I adored Hazels color palette AND her doodled flowers were to die for!

This was really unique from Pavla, floating doodles! Everything about this is bright, cheery and fun! Sometimes you really do wonder how people dream up these amazing ideas!! Well done Pavla, this was a fantastic post!

Topic 11: Our House

The House Topic really seemed to stretch all boundaries. We love throwing in a 'loose' theme every now and then, because people seem to dig deep and come up with the most bonkers things! The attention to detail in this topic was astonishing. I guess everyone just thoroughly enjoyed the topic and kept going to create such gorgeous pieces of art. Perfect!

Here is a gem from Lucy Edmondson who created a delightful row of houses, with tiled-face-roof (that's not something you say every day) and she jumped into a Lynne Perrella tribute along the way! If you get a second, take another look here, its truly wonderful!

Speaking of roofs, Etsuko didn't hold back on this stunner! The turrets had leafy, mossy tiles, and the textures on the exterior walls were fabulous.

From this point she added colour and the most amazing details to pull it all together. A masterpiece! See the finished result here.

Lin did a wonderful mash of her stamps with flowers atop houses for her roofs! It seems anything is permissible when it comes to your crafty roof! No rules!

I have to make space for one more house-themed creation! I told you houses are just too much fun! Trish Latimer did a beautiful box-arrangement decorated with our Retro style Cat's Meow stamps (released 2004 by Marieke Blokland TIP: follow the link and check out Marieke's online classes, I know a LOT of you would love them!). I love that Trish really created a circus vibe on her stunning arrangement

Topic 12: Fabric

Textile art seems to scare a lot of people. I try to think of it a malleable paper, and if you approach it as you would a piece of paperl the fear disappears. Paints, infusions, Ink, all can be applied, and you can use the different types of weave and thread to great effect too!

Ruth Mescall is another textile genius. Hessian is one of those surfaces you generally stay away from, its so rough and uncompromising. But look how Ruth becomes the conqueror! She adds detail stamping onto tissue paper adhered to white zones, and fine stitching. You can see the steps clearly here.

Darcy created a bespoke pencil case. I love the end result ...

...but check out the lush layers along the way...If it were me I could not have gone past this point, look at the colours!! This is my idea of perfect layers and intensity of colour!!!

 

   
And finally Helen Chilton made an infusions background to create this heart using Ink and the Dog minis. She always finds out something new, and yup, she's at it again. This time she sprinkled infusions onto a stamp, spritzed and stamped. That's the gorgeous spots of intensity that you can see.

It's lovely to highlight just a few of the amazing artists we feature on the blog every year. I hope you have enjoyed looking back with me!

Tomorrow we are back with another night of remembering! See you then!.

Leandra

2016 #11 Our Painty House {by Trish Latimer}

2016 Topic 11: Our House

Hi everyone Trish here!. Tonight I'd like to share a post about making houses with you this evening :) 

As you might expect, the first thing that came to mind when I thought about a house theme was a 3D creation! As I started working though, it got a little out of hand and ended up just a smidge larger than I had thought! With such a wacky house, I needed some wacky 'people' to live there, and the range of critters and fairies in the Cats Meow stamp range were just perfect for this! 

Step One: The base for my house is a selection of MDF cubes, some with apertures. Perfect for my residents to peek out from! These can be stacked up in whatever combination you choose, I went for a 'the taller the better' kind of arrangement!

Step Two:To decorate the cubes, I made lots of masterboards. I smeared on paint (Granny Smith, Mermaid, Beach Hut, Snowflake), stencilled a little, then did some background stamping. All the stamps used throughout the piece are from EEG07, CM-BLOOM, CM-FAIRY, CM-ICE CREAM and CM-SAFARI.

EEG07,

Step Three: I then did a lot of measuring and cutting up of the masterboards! I added a little Cherry Red smeared paint around the edges of the squares, then stuck them on to the MDF cubes. 

CM-SAFARI.

Step Four: Some extra stamped details can be added to the cubes at this point, I used the stamping on tissue paper technique to add some flowers along the bottom of the base cube...

CM-BLOOM,

Step Five: I stamped the figures onto a combination of scrap masterboard, painted card and watercolour paper...

 CM-ICE CREAM

Step Six: These were then cut out and placed in random places in (and on!) the house!

I added to the whole '3d-ness' (is that a word?) of the piece by adding a fairy and a bee on a wire, and also the title banner. A few words, and a roof, and the whole thing was done!

CM-FAIRY

I really like creating houses, whether they are bold, bright and a bit wacky like this one, or more sensible! Houses are something that can really grab the imagination, altering techniques and themes to suit just who you may imagine living there! In this case, a bear, an elephant and a couple of fairies... :)

See you soon,

Trish

www.inkpaintbeads.blogspot.co.uk

Wow Trish, this is so much fun. Your tower looks such a happy place to live. The background masterboards are delicious, how could they not be with such yummy names, and the pops of red really bring the whole piece to life. The whole thing is the perfect antidote for the grim weather we are having. I think I might need an elephant now!

We would love to see how you interpret this House topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #11: Our House, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas, particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Our House link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, June 12th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2016 #11 My Creative Home {by Astrid McClean}

2016 Topic 11: Our House

Hi everyone, Astrid here, joining you this evening with a post with the current theme Our House. I love my home, - it is my happy place and so I was delighted to create a project related to this theme. Having said that, I chose to take quite a free interpretation and created a journal page incorporating words that express how I feel about my home. I am a teacher, close to retirement and cannot wait to spend more time creating mixed media art in my craft space. My journal page represents how I feel about my home and that space.

Step One: I started by creating some texture on a double spread in my altered book journal, using Grunge Paste through a Tim Holtz layering stencil, I then added a thin layer of gesso, making sure that some of the text could still be seen.

Next I added colour, using the following Fresco paints: Caribbean Sea, Captain Peacock and Chalk. I used a brush as well as a baby-wipe and some crumpled up kitchen roll to achieve textures in different places.

Step Two: I love those wonderful turquoise hues, but wanted to add more warmth, so I made a mix of Brown Shed and Baltic Blue, using slightly more of the latter and went around the outer edges of my spread to give it a kind of frame, using the same technique of crumpled tissue to add further textures. I love the purply brown the mix of these two colours makes.

Step Three: I have been dying to use the new Infusions, and this was the perfect opportunity to have a play with them, so I picked A Bit Jaded and used it in several places to still add more texture to my background. I also used a bit of Sunset Beach.

Step Four: Usually I would at this point start to do some background stamping, but on this occasion I decided to create some focal points first, one for each side. The first is one of the stamps from the wonderful Lynne Perrella Collection LPCO17, this lady represents my muse, as you will see from the final photo.

LPCO17

Step Five: I gave her some wings from VID 09. My muse often is in need of wings, and I think they fitted her just perfectly.

VID 09

I stamped her in black Versafine and coloured with Vintage Photo and Rusty Hinge Distress inks, adding more definition with a couple of Inktense pencils. For the other side I created a little coin envelope, made with a Tim Holtz die, in its pocket I want to keep notes on things I want to find still for my house.

Step Six: I adhered both elements to my spread and then carefully added shadows to blend the elements into the background using Inktense pencils again.

Step Seven: Finally I used several other stamps from the VID 09 set to create further interest to my background. I also used some of the words from ESN18 to add sentiments that express what my home means to me, a place to chill, reflect experience peace and joy, and of course most of all create art! I also highlighted some of the raised textures with Treasure Gold Renaissance Gold.

Well, I hope you like my journal spread, - I actually made another one, using similar techniques and colours and featuring the main stamp from the ID09 set. If you want to see more details on that one, just visit my blog. Thank you for staying with me and why not create a page of your own to share what your home means to you? Oh and just in case you wondered, - none of the colours I used can actually be found in my home, which is mainly off white in most rooms. I just love the colours I used as they express to me the mood of how I feel about my home. Have a wonderful and creative week! 

Blog: astridsarticefforts

Facebook: astrid.maclean

Pinterest: astridchristine

Welcome Astrid and thankyou for sharing your journal spread, such beautiful colours. The layering and addition of Infusions brings a whole new dimension. our homes are so very important to us and this is a great way to celebrate how you feel about your home. ~Darcy

We would love to see how you interpret this House topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #11: Our House, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Our House link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, June 12th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2016 #11 Our House in Space {by Penny Nuttall}

2016 Topic 11: Our House

Hi everyone Penny here. Tonight I'd like to share with you a post about a rather unusual family in a very unusual house!

I recently came across a DVD box set of an early television series ( be careful before you admit to remembering so far back....) "Lost In Space". I think that is what gave me the idea for this contribution to the "Our House" topic.

It is very easy to make technique-wise....no complicated methods involved....but it took a lot of head scratching in the design department! How best to showcase Jo's happy robot friends. JOFY44.

JOFY44.

Step One: I started with the "house", by cutting a basic rocket shape from an A3 piece of foam core board. Any kind of firm card or mount board will do. I covered it with some cheap silver metallic fabric, but metallic Fresco Acrylic paint would be just as good....

...and glued on bright coloured felt fabric shapes as background. If you remember the TV series you might also remember Fuzzy Felts?

Step Two: Next to add the window: 

and a distant planet in a glittered black sky ( recognise the stamp from JOFY09).

JOFY09

All the elements are stamped on card in black, embossed with clear powder and coloured with watercolour paints.

I layered the shapes onto felt (felt sticks to felt). At this point I decided that I would like to hang my space rocket on the wall, but I still wanted to be able to move the pieces around so I added a layer of card and a velcro dot to the back for extra stickiness.

Then a few finishing touches

Metal bolts and ribbon flames 

And a few plants and pets in the basement (Kim's Dellow's hedgehogs get everywhere!)

I have tried to make this project as small-child-friendly as possible, all the bits can be moved around with lots of possibilities for play and story telling. Or it could just be something happy on the wall for a grown up child (like me).

Why not take your own journey into space, maybe greeting card size.

Bye for now, Penny.

Squeal! I remember fuzzy felts, I loved them. I wonder if you can still get them? Your rocket fuzzy felt is superb Penny, absolute genius! How perfect are the Jofy robots! ~Darcy

We would love to see how you interpret this House topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #11: Our House, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas, particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

ll links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Our House link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, June 12th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

2016 #11 The Door To My Imagination {by Lauren Hatwell}

 2016 Topic 11: Our House

Hi everyone, Lauren here again for the Our House topic.

I never lose the joy of planning a project from start to finish and watching it come to life. The start of this project was a great Hot Picks Sentiment Stamp and a sprinkling of pure magic courtesy of the new range of Infusions Dye Stains. You can get some amazing effects with them and they make distressing so easy.

Step One: I started with a box frame I found in the bargain basket at a local DIY store. It had no glass in it but I could instantly see the possibilities and I set about painting it with a basecoat of French Roast Fresco Paint, followed by a coat of PaperArtsy Crackle Effect and then a coat of Vanilla Fresco Paint for a nice distressed crackle. Next I stamped some of the words and numbers from HP1602 randomly over the surface before stencilling some harlequin pattern and the poppy heads from JOFY Stencil 007. For a bit of easy distressing I spritzed on some water and sprinkled on some A Bit Jaded Infusions. I was really pleased with the effect.

HP1602

 

Step Two: For the roof I cut out square piece of card, the same size as the frame (I used some heavy weight board saved from some packaging). I cut it diagonally across the middle from corner to corner to create two triangles and then cut two strips of card which were just a little wider than the depth of the frame and the same length as the short sides of my triangles. I glued them together to make a roof shape and then repeated the paint process above. I added a punched scalloped border which I coated with crackle paste as a final detail.

Step Three: For the inside of the frame I started with three squares of card and die cut three squares out of the middle in steadily decreasing sizes so that I had a kind of tiered square effect. I then stamped each of the pieces of card with the collage of pictures from HP1605 before colouring in. I chose to use just one colour on the background of each layer as I felt they would stand out a bit more. I offset the squares, trimmed and layered them with foam tape to give a bit more depth and before putting them inside the frame where the glass would have been

HP1605

Step Four: Now for my old pal "Shrek Girl"! I stamped her twice, once in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and once in Ochre Archival Ink, so I could emboss her crown with gold. I coloured Shrek Girl with my Copic Markers and fussy cut the pieces I wanted before layering onto a piece of plain white card I'd sponged with a simple cloud design using blue Distress Ink. I stuck this piece directly to the backing plate of the box frame to add more depth.

Step Five: I always love the final tweaks; the little details that really make a project come to life. My doorway needed some of those gorgeous butterflies from HP1602 so I stamped and coloured three with my Faber Castell Pitt Pens, fussy cut them and stuck them randomly over my little house.  

Step Six: Last but not least, I needed a key to my magical doorway. I thought about distressing the key but then realised it would actually be quite shiny as it is in CONSTANT use so I picked a key from my stash which looked used but not neglected, added a small tag made with some lovely linen effect paper and stamped with the sentiment from HP1605. The edges of the tag are distressed with a little French Roast Fresco Paint rubbed on with my finger to pick up the texture. 

I wanted the effect of a slightly distressed outer doorway (the real world, if you like) leading to a colourful world of possibility and it was so easy to do. Using the Infusions with the cracked paint effect really ramps up that feeling of distressed wood and I think they would work really well with 

the metallic finish Fresco Paints too. Copper with Emerald Isle would be a gorgeous combination,for instance.  I think Pewter and Black Knight would also make a lovely combination, almost like Mercury Glass. That's definitely on my list of things to try and I hope you'll give it a trtoo. Open up that doorway to YOUR imagination. Get sprinkling...

Lauren Hatwell

MarvelousMechanicalMouseOrgan

This is brilliant Lauren I'd stay there with Shrek Girl ... Love the offset frames in the centre along with the bold patterns and colours. The added additions of crackle and 3d butterflies make for an overall quirky piece of art. Thanks for sharing your creativity with us! ~Gillian

We would love to see how you interpret this House topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #11: Our House, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Our House link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, June 12th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.