With 3 Things: Christmas Junk Journal {by Liesbeth Fidder-de Vos}

Hi everyone,  it's Liesbeth here with you for another With 3 Things post. 

This feature on the PaperArtsy Blog is where 3 bloggers are sent 3 items in the post. We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send us, there might be a slight variation (for example on this round we each were sent slightly different paints) but generally 2 of the 3 things will be identical.

This is what I found in the surprise package I got: Stamp set Jofy137, Jofy stencil PS439, two PaperArtsy Fresco acrylic paints Cloud 9 and the shiny Gold. Lovely! With this beautiful stuff  also came a big paperbag and 3 tags. My brain immediately started spinning! ;-)

I just started...had so much fun and  ended up with a little Christmas junk journal with a pocket inside for the tags. ...... let's take a closer look.

The cover of the closed book.

 

The insert of the book: the pocket for the tags at the left and some pages.
      

I loved the big paper bag and I decided to keep it's original form and natural look, and I just folded it in half and the cover of the book was there! First I sponged the entire bag with brown Distress inks (Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs and Scorched Timber)  to make it look old. I made white trees onto the cover with  PaperArtsy Fresco paint Cloud 9 and the stencil PS439. At the bottoms of the trees a bit of Fresco paint Gold, and also with Gold the 6 squares of the stencil on the front.  Christmas! :-) Perfect shiny gold!

                                       

Now I continued decorating: I stamped the trees (PaperArtsy Jofy137) with waterproof black ink (Tsukineko StazOn-Jet Black). I really love the fact that the shape is not exactly the same as the stencil. Wonderful, quirky effect! 

On a separate piece of paper I stamped the 6 squares, cut them out a bit smaller and sponged them with the 3 brown inks which I mentioned earlier. I bleached the images here and there with watered down bleach, and glued them on the golden squares. A pink colour appeared during bleaching... strange but so nice! It needed some snow and Cloud 9 is perfect for that! So I masked the squares and made small splashes with some watered down Cloud 9 paint and a fan brush.

I closed the top of the bag with some washi tape.The bottom of the bag was perfect to create a pocket, but there was some text and ugly things so I made a cover from a piece of music sheet, also at the right side. I softened the print a bit with Cloud 9 paint and sponged the brown Distress inks for the vintage, old look I wanted and glued the papers on the bag.

All of the stamps from stamp set PaperArtsy Jofy137 are used on the tags! 

First I coloured the tags with the brown Distress inks, stamped the different images and bleached here and there. I finished the tags with some accents made with a white gel pen, and some Fresco paint Gold at the edges, applied with my finger. I stamped the small tag stamp on a separate piece of paper, cut them out, made them 'old' with ink, punched a small hole and stamped the texts.

                                   

The inside was still a bit empty so I stamped it with the trees stamp and brown ink. The binding is easy: I punched two holes, added a piece of golden elastic and inserted some beautiful papers.

In the meantime I stamped the edges of the music sheets with the ,hearts and stars' stamp and black StazOn ink and painted the stars with the Fresco paint Gold. 

On the picture it's so hard to see how shiny the Gold accents are, in real life it's gorgeous!

I think this little Christmas book is nice to give someone as a present, or I'll send it to somebody as a very luxurious Christmas card!  It was great to do, a very nice challenge and it always surprises me so much to see what the other two girls have made of (almost) the same materials! Hope we inspired you to create, have fun! 

Hugs, Liesbeth XX

Blog: Liesbeth's Arts & Crafts

Facebook: Liesbeth Fidder-de Vos

Instagram: liesbeth_fidder

With 3 Things: December Daily Album {by Keren Baker}

Hi friends, it's Keren Baker (@craftstampink) with you for another With 3 Things post. 

This feature on the PaperArtsy Blog is where 3 bloggers are sent 3 items in the post. We have no clue what PaperArtsy HQ is going to send us, there might be a slight variation (for example on this round we each were sent slightly different stencils) but generally 2 of the 3 things will be identical.

A recent/current blog topic is/was Nature, so if we can tie that to this 3 things post, then that adds another challenge into this project. To be honest, I'm really shoe-horning it in, where it's not really fitting, but the stamp set has a lovely nature vibe (particularly the trees) plus the 'natural' brown paper bag...(so I think I've just about managed it ;-) ).

Today I have made a December Daily album...let's take a closer look.

I'll show you all the inside later. For memory keeping, particularly seasonal-style daily recording, you really need to have the album done before December, so you can just slot in a quick photo or jot down what happened. The chances of it actually happening are far greater if it's already pre-made!

I did add 2 colours (well 3 if you add the 2 shades of green) to the Chalk and Pewter: Cherry Red, Lawn & Slimed. I had them left out from a previous project and well, they're Christmas in 3 bottles, right?

I first started by deconstructing the paper bag. It was too big for what I wanted, but knew I'd use it for the front cover plus the handles would be a great form of texture later on. But the paper bag gave me the inspiration for the whole project- a paper bag album!

I purchased some inexpensive paper bags, trimmed and punched a half circle in the open end of each bag using a circular punch.

Compiling the body of the album is easy. Firstly glue the bottom gusset part closed onto itself and once all the bags are done (I did 12), then you glue the rectangular gusset onto the next bag, keeping all bags in the same position (i.e. with the glued gusset facing upwards).

The idea was to slot the tags that PaperArtsy had sent me into the spaces between the glued down gussets and use the open bags to pop little bits of ephemera that I'd pick up along the way. I needed to decorate the tags so began using the JOFY PS439 stencil (check out our stockists for this stencil and the stamp set).

Once I'd stencilled the greens onto the stencil and over-stamped the trees, I used the Pewter with the stencil to create a moody looking sky. I wanted to create a raised window for the front of the album.

The little square images on the JOFY137 stamp set are in Jo Firth-Young's inimitably fun style. I wanted to have the snowman peeking through the window and coloured him in with alcohol markers.

Using another of the stamps in the set, I coloured and trimmed out hearts and stars, attaching green thread to the reverse and adhering them with foam pads. You can also see the framed acetate front that I was going to add over this window. I could have added more pads and created a fun shaker front with some sequins etc.!

This photo shows you what the internal structure looks like. The patterning on the bags gave a unintended pattern to the edges which I love.

I added this photo to show you just how much shine you'll get from the metallic Fresco Finish range. If you've never used them, they give a real extra boost to your projects.

I wanted to add some sort of closure. I'd got some natural linen thread that wouldn't detract from the look of the album so found some old circles that had a foam pad underneath, just perfect for this. You could make your own version very easily. The twine wraps around in a figure of eight and keeps the album closed.

The album 'engineering' is very simple. Once you've stuck all your bags together, you make holes in the glued/closed edge. If you're doing a lot of bags, you probably want to do this step before you glue them together. This method also lends itself beautifully to stitched bindings. Then you create a front, back and side, so you're making in essence a book cover and then you glue your inside bags to the outer 'cover'.  I forgot to put some eyelets onto the back which would have made it look far neater!

For strength, I added extra eyelets on the top of the inner piece- this is the bit that hides the gusset of the top bag and can be as decorative as you like. Don't tie the ribbon too tight- you can see I've left some 'give' in the ribbon.

Now you just need to slot the tags in and add some twine to each tag to make them easier to pull out.

Here's a look at some of the tags. I had wanted some die-cut numbers but couldn't find any suitable ones, so created my own using my silhouette and cardstock matching the PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Chalk Acrylic colours. The 'waste' from the cut out numbers came in really handy for decorating the tags.

Underneath the '24' on that tag, you can see some brown wrinkled paper. That is one of the handles completely unravelled and it left you with some wonderfully textured paper!

Here's a closer look. It's worth mentioning that the PaperArtsy stencils work wonderfully by themselves, but you can often pair them with stamp sets like here. Because the triangles don't match perfectly to the stamp set, they give added interest and also a good leeway for user error, so you don't have to worry about alignment!

Another useful tip is, if your stamping doesn't come out as perfectly as you'd like, add a layer of vellum, which softens the effect and no-one will be any the wiser !

There's so many design variations with these square images and they'd make just perfect mini tags.

I hope that you might have a go at doing your own December daily album. It's really easy and great for adding in all those little leftover bits and pieces that might be hanging around your crafting space. Jo's sets work perfectly for this idea- she has so many Christmas themed sets to explore. Any sized paper bags will do, as long as you have enough of the same size for the project! Hope you get a chance to explore mini-album creating.

See you again soon,

Keren x

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NEW PaperArtsy Products {Jo Firth-Young} August 2024

A note from Leandra:

I have lost count of the Christmas stamps Jo has created over the years, but its 100% true that you can't have too many because they are, of course a timeless addition to your crafty stash! If one appeals to you this year, then it undoubtedly still will in another 5 or 10 years. In my book that's an investment in Christmas present and future! ;) 

Every year Jo offers us a delightful selection of designs that bring a smile and build the excitement that Christmas isn't too far away.

This year there are stencils that have double purpose - a simple stencil is often one of those you reach for time and again, and  once you see what Jo does with these they will be straight in your basket I'm sure!

But never mind the stencils and stamps - can we just say a big and happy Ho Ho Ho! for the Printed Tissue! That will be perfect for gift wrapping a pressie for any of your crafty friends for SURE!!!

 

Jo will be along to share with you LIVE all these new products and ideas over in our Facebook Group, 'PaperArtsy People' shortly after this post publishes, and ... don't forget

 

These stamps are available EXCLUSIVELY from our approved stockists. Please check the list at the foot of this post to find a retailer online or geographically near you, it makes sense to order within your country where possible. Our retailers also endeavour to join the designer's live to share their direct shopping links - this makes it super easy for you to find a store with product in stock immediately.

Hi everyone. Jo here with you for another fabulously festive JoFY Christmas release!  

I think I probably say this every year but I think this year's Christmas stamps are my favourite so far! The two sets work together perfectly and will blend brilliantly with previous JOFY Christmas sets.... and this year there is Christmas tissue paper!!! Very excited to show you everything so lets get going...

 

Lets start with the tissue paper....

Printed Tissue Paper by Jo Firth-Young (PT09)

Price: RRP €4.20 +VAT

Size: 30" x 20" (67 x 47 cm) 4 per pack

Printed with permanent ink, will not bleed when you add wet media. To increase tissue  strength, coat with Matte Glaze on a non stick surface, let dry, then apply a second layer of Matte Glaze to adhere tissue to your preferred surface (card, wood, paper, fabric etc). The more liquid the glue, the more easily the tissue will disappear into the receiving surface.

I have so much fun designing tissue paper! The images on my first tissue paper were smaller in size because I had card making in mind when I designed it, but for this new Christmas themed paper I was thinking more about decorative items and journal pages so the images are slightly bigger (don't worry there are still some smaller elements for the card makers out there).
Bold words, snowflakes, collage clusters and dinky little snowmen!

Deck the halls!

On this panel I have painted and attached (with PaperArtsy Matte Glaze) a tissue paper motif on to a background painted with one of my new stencils - PS438. I combined Fresco Finish paints with coloured pencils to create dimension.

Mash-up decorations!

In my introduction I mentioned how all the designs would work brilliantly together and these decorations are a great example of that - a mix of stamps, stencils and tissue paper! I think I may be hooked on creating these decorative wood slices!! They're fun to create and personalise - and they're not just for Christmas!

Red Rubber Stamps (A5 set)

Price: RRP €23.00 +VAT    

Size:5" x 6" (13 x16.5cm)

All stamps are individually trimmed onto cling foam, with a laminated storage/index sheet.

Jo Firth-Young - A5 stamp set 136 {JoFY136}

This stamp set just makes me smile!! And how can you not smile when you see the happy face of this year's snowman!

There are three 'word blocks' on this stamp set - I kept one empty so you can add a word or someone's name to personalise your project.

Cards, cards, cards...

I always want to design stamps that are versatile so you can use them in a variety of ways. The 'JOY' word is great as a stand alone image that creates impact on a card - great for a clean and simple design, or against a stenciled background as shown in the card below where I've teamed it with one of my new stencils (PS438).

To highlight the versatility of the stamps I made these cards to show you how the bauble can easily be separated from the word 'Joy' and used on its own... On the card below I've used that bauble and placed it with the scribble-wreath.

The card below uses the same elements - this time I coloured and cut several baubles and the tag (there's no such thing as too many tag motifs!).

Stargazer

This year's snowman may be the 'cutest' I've designed so far - look at that face! lol He's gazing up at the star but that motif could be masked off and replaced with something else.

I played around with ways to alter the snowman - by cutting/shortening the snowman's height and changing the angle of the head I was able to create a group (family?) of snowpeople. The left-hand snowman is looking at middle snowman, middle snowman is looking up at the right-hand snowman who is the original & looking at the star. Simple changes but effective.

Jo Firth-Young - A5 stamp set 137 {JoFY137}

This stamp set, JoFY137, has a matching stencil, PS439 (more on that below) - 6 apertures that match the square motifs and triangles that 'complement' the trees.

Elements of this stamp set were inspired by grid journaling. The structure of a grid is simple to work with - especially when making cards. 

The image is stamped and background colour stencilled over the top using a pale Distress Oxide ink. Additional colour is added using coloured pencils. I like the vintage, muted tone of this card - the images' are a relatively plain style - so use different colours of pencil paint to create a different vibe. Vintage, bright, whatever you wish to coordinate with your preferred Christmas colour story.

When you receive these stamps, they come as one block of 6 stamps as shown in the picture below. You can use the stamp as a single block or cut them apart yourself. It is possible to repeat stamp it for a bigger background, and then also cut up the resulting pieces. 

I intended it to be used as a 3x2 block but as I mentioned at the start of this blog post I want you to get maximum, and varied, use out of them.

The photo above shows a couple of ideas for using the blocks. The blocks are repeated on an A5 panel of card - this can be used on the front of a card (shown on left), or the panel can be cut up and the squares coloured and used individually (shown on right above and in the photo below).

The 50/50 phrase is designed to fit inside the blank tag. I've created separate stamps to make it more versatile - it can be stamped to run up or down the tag, and having a blank tag is always useful!

The hearts & stars strip can be used as a background or a border- would also look lovely stamped as a washi tape strip.

The squares from the 3x2 block are easy to separate with minimal cuts and can then be used singly. This means you can create less grid-like designs such as the mandala style pattern shown below, this one was created using the Sizzix Stamp and Spin tool.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Oh I do like a doodled Christmas tree!! Use these ones as a strip or singly. 

The trees look gorgeous coloured with a media of your choice - I used coloured pencils on the sample below but I'm looking forward to colouring them with watercolour pencils and paints too. I look forward to seeing how you colour them!

The matching stencil doesn't 'match' exactly - it is an off-set design which give a lovely retro screen-printed effect, deliberately 'on the wonk' offers an arty vibe.

The photo above show the trees stamped onto a gel print made with stencil PS438. 

Some of the lines have been shaded with pencil to add volume to the trees. I added the stamp set's greeting strip along the top and bottom of the card.  It is actually designed to be separated into 2 pieces - you could also split this sentiment by adding 'season's greetings...' on the front of the card and '...from our house to yours' on the inside of a card.

PaperArtsy Stencils {Regular}

Price: RRP €5.64 + VAT

Regular Size: 6.5" x 7" (16 x 18cm) 

Robust 250 micron mylar designed to offer longevity, deep texture and easy clean up

PaperArtsy Stencil by JoFY 438 {PS438}

This is going to be a really useful stencil - stars and spots can but used for so many occasions in card making - and also a fun background on a journal spread.

Deck the Halls!

I played around with the stencil to show how different it can look if only certain motifs are coloured - and as the spacing of the motifs are fairly open, it's easy to use several colours together (bottom right)

PaperArtsy Stencil by JoFY 439 {PS439}

 

This is a much more versatile stencil than you might think... like Leandra said in the intro, it looks 'simple' but it packs some punch!

The photo above show the basics shapes.
The squares can be used to colour through, or draw around, template style, to create open space or can be used as a grid journal page to doodle inside the squares.

The triangles can be used in the same way - as colour blocks or outlines.

I combined the grid stencil and stamped blocks on this card - I drew outlines of the squares in white pencil for an overall structure, and then added the stamped blocks to some of the squares. The positive and negative spaces work well together.

Here are the stamped trees and 'matching' triangles coloured with an ombre colour fade using Distress Oxide inks.

I said this was a more versatile stencil than you might think ... turn the trees upside down and you have bunting!! lol Colour the triangles, use a fine liner pen to draw around the shapes, add hanging threads and a touch of doodling! Ta daaa ....Bunting!! 

Perfect to use throughout the year.

I hope these new products have made you feel fabulously festive! I've loved creating with them and I still have lots of ideas buzzing around in my head! 

I can't wait to see what you create with them - please share on social media - we love to see what you make!

Happy Christmas!!

Jo

You can see more and visit me at... 

YouTube: Jo Firth-Young

Pinterest: @jofyjo

Facebook: JoFY Jamboree!

Twitter: @jofyjo

Instagram: @jofyjo

Classes coming up ....

15 September 2024  Stampers Grove, Scottish Borders, www.stampersgrove.co.uk

19 October 2024 Artistic Stamper, www.theartisticstamper.co.uk

26 October 2024 Loobi Crafts, www.loobicrafts.co.uk

 PaperArtsy Stockist List

Our stockists are your go-to  source for all PaperArtsy products, and we suggest that you also use the PaperArtsy People Facebook group to source a retailer in your country. Many are members of our FB group and will happily share links to their online stores.

Australia

A Place to Create, Brisbane a place to create

Bev's Cross Crafts, Spreyton, Tasmania bevscrosscrafts

Crafters Cupboard, Berwick, Victoria crafters cupboard

Hillbilly Scrappin, Nikenbah, QLD hillbilly scrapping

Memories on the Murray, Murray Bridge, SA  memories on the murray

Natalie May Scrapbooking, Dover Gardens, SA natalie may

Scrapbook Superstore & More, South Penrith, NSW scrapbook superstore

The Scrapbooker's Confetti Box, Swansea, NSW the scrapbookers confetti box

The Scrapbook Store, North Perth,WA the scrapbook store 

Belgium

Cart N Scrap Art, Antwerp, cart n scrap art

Créatelier Caracolle, Liège, createlier caracolle

Canada

Clipper Street Scrapbook Company, Langley BC, Clipper Street Scrapbook Co

Glitter & Ink, Belleville ON Glitter & Ink

Paper Art Creations Inc, Leduc, Alberta, paper art creations
Scrapbook Centrale, Dollard Des Ormeaux, Quebec scrapbook centrale

Scrap Addicts, Edmonton, Alberta scrap addicts

Scrap and Bean, Edmonton, Alberta scrap and bean 

Scrapbooking Fairies, Drayton Valley, Alberta scrapbooking fairies

The Paper & ink Boutique, Calgary, Alberta paper and ink boutique
The Scrap Yard, Calgary, Alberta, the scrap yard 

Denmark

Hobbyboden Scrapworld Samso hobbyboden

Finland

Korttipaja, Istunmaki Heidin Korttipaja 

Klemmarikellari, Turku Klemmarikellari

France

Eirl Bancon Cartoscrap, Midi Pyrenees, www.cartoscrap.com

Emispheres Eurl Ruy Montceau,38300   

Fée Du Scrap, Saint Sébastien-Sur-Loire, fee du scrap

Horizon Créatif, Ste Jalle horizon creatif

Instant Créatif, La Possession, La Réunion, i creatif

Katzelkraft, Ingwiller katzelkraft

Kerudoc Creation, St Yvi kerudoc creation

Le Grenier des filles, Pierre Benite

Page de scrap, Saint Pavace, page de scrap

Passion Scrap, Vieux-Conde, Passion Scrap

Scrap by Jo, Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, 31650 Scrap by Jo

Scrap Déco Home, Goutrens, www.scrap deco home

Toutencolle, Dun sur Auron toutencolle

Germany

Stempeloase Munich, Munich stempeloase

Stempelfee Shop, Hilden stempelfee shop

Stempellaedle, Stuttgart, stempellaedle

Tue Was Di Liebst, Bayern, Tue Was du Liebst

Italy

Immagine SAS di Rapaccini, Rome, immagine lab

Il Negozio Della Mamma Di Cle, Torino, il negozio della mamma di cle

Marte Savona, Savona, marte savona

Pezze E Colori, Lissone, pezze e colori 
Piccole Passioni, Siena, piccole passioni

Japan

La Wadao, Odawara, Kanagawa, la wadao

Tiny Dots, Funabashi-shi, Chiba tiny dots

Netherlands

De Hobbystudio, Genemuiden, de hobby studio

Doe@ding,Spijkenisse doe @ ding

Hobbycompleet de Duif, Leeuwarden hobby compleet

Stampingcorner, Capelle Aan Den Ijssel stamping corner

Puerto Rico

Paper Boutique, Fajardi Paper Boutique

South Africa

Kcraft imports Ltd, Centurion 0014  kcraft

Spain

Cien por Cien Manualidades, Barcelona,  100 x 100 manualidades

Ideas 10 Manualidades Y Scrapbook, Bilbao ideas 10 manualidades/

Marakiscrap, Tarragona, maraki scrap

Scrap & Papers Experiences, Barcelona, scrap papers experiences

The Paradise Corner, Barcelona, the paradise corner

United Kingdom

Amelia's Creative Crafts, Studley, Warwickshire  amelias creative crafts

Art from the Heart, Harrogate, Yorkshire art from the heart

Crafts at The Malthouse, Herstmonceux,  East Sussex, crafts at the malthouse

Countryview Crafts, Potton, Bedfordshire countryview crafts

Loobi Crafts, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, loobi crafts

Procraftynation Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk Procraftynation

Sir Stampalot, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire sir stampalot

Stampers Grove, Springbank, Lilliesleaf, Melrose,Scotland stampers grove

The Artistic Stamper Craft Store, Faversham, Kent the artistic stamper

The Forget me not Kraft Kabin, Rochford, Essex, The Forget Me Not Kraft Kabin

USA

Artistic Artifacts, Alexandria, VA artistic artifacts

Artistic Studio Creations, Fayetteville, Georgia Artistic Studio Creations

Craftiness, Chatsworth, CA, craftiness

Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, Lake Worth, Florida Everything Scrapbook & Stamps

Frantic Stamper, Oregon frantic stamper

Free Heart LLC, Denver, Colarado, free heart llc

Joggles, Coventry, Rhode Island, joggles

Messy Papercrafts, Temecula CA Messy Papercrafts

PaperCraft Clubhouse, Westbrook, Connecticut, papercraft clubhouse

Roadtique Boutique, Hilton NY 

Runaway, Art & Craft Studio, NE Salem, Oregon runaway

Scrap-A-Latte, West Babylon NY scrap a latte

Scrapbook-N-Memories, Harrisonville Missouri Scrapbook N Memories

Simon Says Stamp, Columbus, Ohio simon says stamp

Topflight Stamps, Irmo, South Carolina topflight stamps

If you are interested in becoming a PaperArtsy stockist contact Dounia@paperartsy.com for more information

PaperArtsy Links

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Blog blog.paperartsy.co.uk

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