3 Things - Fussy Cut Fish {by Zoe Hillman}

Hi everyone, it's Zoe Hillman 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 ...

PaperArtsy HQ sent me some fantastically fun Kate Crane products which included 3 mini stamps, KCM006, KCM008 and KCM021. A stencil, which was a special limited release for Simon Says Stamps STAMPtember event PSSSS25 and a bottle of A Bit Jaded Infusions.

Kate Crane's designs always inspire me to "play" and I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to make when I started, but I knew I was going to have fun. I wanted to create lots of elements using the gorgeous products I had been sent and decide how to assemble later.

I used the A Bit Jaded Infusions to create backgrounds which I later cut down for finished pieces. I love infusions, you need such a tiny sprinkle and a spritz of water to create these incredible inky backgrounds and you never get 2 backgrounds the same, which I personally love.

I love using my gel plate to pull backgrounds, especially with paints. I used the stencil PaperArtsy sent me and some of their Fresco Finish Paints in Coastal and Pumice. I brayered the pumice Fresco Finish paint onto my gel plate, allowed that to dry and laid the stencil over the top and brayered the coastal Fresco Finish paint through the stencil. To lift the background I used another thin layer of the pumice Fresco Finish paint.

I cut down the gel plate background I lifted, stamped and fussy cut some stamped images from mini stamp KCM008 and coloured with a gold pen, before assembling.

As well as using the stencil to pull backgrounds off my gel plate, I blended Distress ink through the it and, holding the stencil in place, lightly spritzed with water to create a mottled effect.

Using a stamp from the new Hot Picks HP2601 stamp set from PaperArtsy, I stamped through the stencil with Archival ink. I don't use a stamping block for this as I find it's easier to push the stamp through the stencil with my fingers.

I used part of the background I created with the infusions, cut down and stamped with hearts from mini stamp KCM021. Mounted onto the stenciled background and finished off with a Stabilo Aquarellable pencil to add some shadow detail. Kate Crane introduced me to this pencil in her class that I took and it's something I use a lot now.

I stamped fish from mini stamp KCM008 and watercoloured, then fussy cut, carefully, very carefully! I know fussy cutting isn't everyone's jam, but I find it really relaxing and very much enjoyed the challenge of fussy cutting around the intricate hanging hearts.

I used the A Bit Jaded Infusions to add some colour to a background and stamped on top with mini stamp KCM006 ready to create some sentiments for my finished cards.

You can probably tell how much I was enjoying stamping and fussy cutting the hanging hearts from mini stamp KCM008. I stamped lots and fussy cut ready to add to a background I created with the A Bit Jaded Infusions and cut down.

Here are my assembled pieces using a variety of the backgrounds I created and the stamped images I fussy cut and watercoloured. These are ready to send to friends.

Here are some close ups of my fin-ished cards.

And of course, I had to make some mini moos as, to me, these are a Kate Crane signature piece and I was lucky enough to take a class with her a couple of years ago where she introduced me to this cool tiny creative format and I've become obsessed with them.

I have loved this challenge and as I suspected when I began, I had a lot of fun creating with these cool products from PaperArtsy and Kate Crane. I hope you've enjoyed my post and it inspires you to create something.

Thanks for stopping by.

Zoe 

Blog: igirlzoe

Instagram: igirlzoe

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