Metal Flower {with ELB Stencil by Designer Lin Brown}

Hi, Lin here today to share one of my metal techniques with you. I have a passion for working with metal and it's been on the back burner for a couple of years. I re-kindled my interest recently when I started to use metal in conjunction with stencils again. In the past I had always used brass stencils as they have a bit of depth to them, then my curiosity kicked in and I wondered if I would get good results using the stencils that I designed for PaperArtsy...... I am very happy to say that the answer is yes!!!

I started with a little wooden frame and a 10cm canvas.

I painted the frame with Marlin which is one of the new paint colours from my latest Limited Edition set of paints. When the paint was completely dry, I used a stiff brush to dry brush a small amount of Little Black Dress Fresco around the edges.

Now to start work on the metal flower. You will need a foam mat, an acrylic mat (one of your large acrylic blocks will do the trick), some masking tape, stencil PS005, a stylus, a paper stump and some aluminium (about 2cm larger than your canvas), Grunge Paste and a palette knife.

Start by taping the stencil to the aluminium with some masking tape.

Leaning on the foam mat, with the stencil facing down, use a paper stump to rub over the back of the metal ( a bit like brass rubbing) to highlight the design of the stencil.

Using a stylus (I used a tool by Mercart but Ten Seconds Studio also have these although you can improvise with a small embossing tool), I carefully traced around the edges of the design.

Working with my paper stump again and still leaning on the foam mat, I gently stretched the metal inside each of the small petals using a sweeping, back and forth motion.

You may find that the metal has become distorted during the embossing process but this is simple to fix. Working from the front of the metal and leaning on the acrylic block, use the paper stump to smooth out and creases or lumpy bits. It is important to start in the centre and work out towards the edges.

Once the metal is nice and flat again, take the stylus and draw around the embossed areas to define the image. This should also be done whilst leaning on the acrylic mat.

Stippling is a great way to add texture to the background. Simply add a whole load of dots while leaning on the foam mat and you will notice that the flower image really pops.

I also added dots around each of the petals, this helped to disguise a few wayward background dots....I got a bit carried away with the stippling!!!!!! 

                                                

Now to protect your hard work. It is important to fill the back of the embossed metal with something that will set hard to help prevent the embossed areas getting squashed. I used Grunge Paste to do this. I used a palette knife to apply the Grunge Paste in just the same way as applying it through a stencil. I would recommend you lean on you foam mat to do this.

Once the embossed areas are filled, use a babywipe to wipe away any excess paste and leave to dry.

I cut some acetate the same size as my canvas to help me position the metal correctly as this is tricky to do because you can't see through the canvas. Lay the acetate over the embossed design and mark the four corners.

I applied a sheet of double sided adhesive to the canvas and after removing the backing sheet, I was able to lower the canvas to the metal, lining up the corners with the corner marks. I was then able to fold the excess metal to the back of the canvas.

I painted the metal with a layer of Little Back Dress Fresco, using a small piece of Cut'N'Dry so that I could work the paint down into all the textured areas.

Having painted it, I'm now wiping it off!!! Don't wipe all of it off though. Leaving the metal like this is an option and is one of my favourite looks. It looks simple, striking and in my opinion, very elegant but for this project, I wanted to experiment with layers of Treasure Gold and I knew that it would need a light layer of paint for the Treasure Gold to grab on to.

I used a small brush to apply Indigo Treasure Gold to the background (this photo doesn't do justice to the colour I'm afraid, it's not easy photographing metal!) followed by Classic around the edges and on the flower.

I painted four Tim Holtz metal corners with Marlin and added some Classic Treasure Gold to the embossed areas to highlight the design, these along with a touch of Treasure Gold on the painted frame added the finishing touches. I think the colours are much better in this final photograph.

I hope this little project has inspired you to look at your stencils with a different eye. You can use them in so many different ways......I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Lin. 

A huge thanks to Lin from all at PaperArtsy HQ. Metal working is so fascinating, the way the metal stretches is like magic. The end results look stunning but for the uninitiated can seem complicated, you have shown here how easy it is to achieve a fantastic and detailed piece. Thankyou for such a great tutorial. 

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Sept 1st 2014 and Sept 30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time) Sept 30th 2014

Moulding Experiment {with Grunge Paste and Fresco paint by Trish Latimer}

Hi Everyone, Darcy here with another of my 'experimenters'. Remember they are just showing you the results of experiments and not a step by step project. This time Trish has been building houses, quite literally, take a look at her different options and the results. At the end you will find a great example of how to use this experiment. 

Hello! Trish Latimer here, reporting in for Guest Designer duty!

I have been a huge PaperArtsy fan right from the very beginning. I remember waiting with bated breath for each new Ink and the Dog stamp release and as a result now have a massive collection of PA images, ranging from those very first quirky designs, right up to the newest collections! I was thrilled to be asked to share a project on the blog, and it was a very tricky decision as to what to use…so many ideas!

I want to share a Grunge Paste experiment today, and I’m actually a bit embarrassed letting you in on the reason why this all came about! I’m a very messy crafter in all senses of the word, I love nothing better than getting covered in paint, ink, glue, pastes, you name it. Consequently, my studio gets just a *little* messy as well! During a long overdue tidy up session, I unearthed a pot of Grunge Paste which hadn’t had the top put back on properly. See, told you it was embarrassing! The paste had set rock solid, and I mean ROCK solid. Which led me to wondering, can you make strong, study, stand alone embellishments from Grunge Paste? I had seen Alison and France create thin Grunge Paste embellishments ( here and here ), and Lin had created some thicker, but still quite small flowers in her post here . Just how big could I take it?

I made a mould from moulding putty, and made sure it was quite deep. The idea was I wanted the resulting shape (if it worked!) to be free standing. It was an easy (messy, but that’s nothing new!) job of filling the mould with Grunge Paste. I wanted as smooth a surface as possible, so used a palette knife over the top. Then I waited….and waited…. And waited! Five days later (!) It was dry enough to remove from the mould.

The house shape was totally rock solid, but as you can see, had cracked completely across one corner when drying out. On to plan B! I decided to add a little paint into the Grunge Paste. (Approx 1 teaspoon of paint to 4 tablespoons of paste) As acrylic paint has an element of plasticity about it, I thought it might help hold the dry Grunge Paste together. At this point I also decided to have a plan C in place, adding Gel Medium ( again approx a teaspoonful) as well as paint to the Grunge Paste. This should give even greater plasticity to the mixture, just in case paint alone didn’t work!

The other two houses took about the same amount of time to dry out (again, 5 days), and once all were dry I compared them all to see which had worked the best.

From left to right… the white ‘Grunge Paste by itself’ house has clearly broken, so not much use! The blue house is the Grunge Paste plus paint experiment, and as you can see it has also cracked, but this time the crack isn’t deep, and the house remains rock solid. The pink house is the paint/gel medium/Grunge Paste combo. Again, cracked, but a shallower crack than the paint/paste combo. What you can’t see from the picture is that the pink house, whilst solid, is quite bendy! The gel medium obviously adds more flexibility, which wasn’t what I was after! The last ‘test’ came about because I wasn’t too happy with the finish on the dried out houses. Not as smooth as I would have liked! So, can you sand the houses down without them falling apart?

As you can see, if it’s the paint/Grunge Paste combo, then yes! This picture also shows just how thick and solid the house is, great when you want it to stand up by itself! The pink house was much harder to sand, the plasticky (is that a word?!) texture didn’t want to play at all.

So…. Results of the experiment? Mix paint and Grunge Paste together to create some unique, stand alone embellishments!

I used my house to create this whimsical shadowbox assemblage….

The House was decorated with painted and stencilled tissue paper, and stands solidly. The small red heart is also a 'grunge paste' mould. 

I’ve had a ball experimenting with Grunge Paste, thank you PaperArtsy for having me!

Trish xx

A huge thanks to Trish from PaperArtsy, for agreeing to be an experimenter. This is a huge chunky experiment, and it is so interesting to see the effects of the acrylic paint on the paste. All this arty stuff really does have its roots in Science! It is very cool that your house is freestanding, and it looks great in the shadowbox. 

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Sept 1st 2014 and Sept 30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time) Sept 30th 2014

Christmas Candles {with ELB Stamps by Sue Carrington}

Hello it's Sue C here and tonight I'm sharing a quick project using the new Lin Brown Christmas stamps.

This is something that I've wanted to have a go at doing for some time and when I saw Lin's new stamps I decided to go for it ! 

I bought 3 large church candles of different heights as I wanted a group rather than a single candle.

I then took a piece of ordinary tissue paper and stamped over it using stamps from ELB10 with Cornflower Blue Archival ink. Be careful when stamping on to tissue paper as the ink does come through to the otherside, so I found it better to stamp a little then make sure there was no wet ink on my craft sheet before carrying on. The sentiment is from ELB11 and is stamped using black Archival ink. I then used my heat gun to heat set the ink.

ELB10 

 ELB11

I wrapped the tissue paper around the candles and used my heat gun to melt the wax. This then seeps through the tissue paper and when cool sets holding it in place. For the two other candles I used stamp sets ELB10 and ELB11 again using Cornflower Blue Archival ink. I did over heat the smallest candle a little so the wax has dried a little lumpy, but I quite like it !

Hope you've enjoyed this simple project tonight, see you again soon.

~ Sue

A huge thanks to Sue from all at PaperArtsy, this is a brilliant and inexpensive way to decorate candles, making them ideal gifts. it is quite magical how the tissue seems to disappear leaving behind just the images. Lin's stamps, especially the sentiments are perfect for this project. 

Candles like these are the perfect way to personalise your house decorations this Christmas! Get organised now, make a few, and enter the September blog challenge at the same time! Link up your blogged project HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from PaperArtsy. Add your link by 19:00 (London time) Sept 30th 2014.

GD: Anneke De Clerck Project #3 Have Yourself A Very Merry Xmas

"Hello all,  Anneke again with my final project of this month. In this post I'll show you how I made this Christmas Card".

Tonight I'm featuring the EDY04 stampset designed by Darcy.

I used 2 colours from the JOFY Limited Edition Paint set 2: Chalk and Cherry Red (an awesome red) together with Ice Blue.

I worked on a page from an old book. I covered the text with a thin layer of Fresco Finish Chalk.

 I stamped the Christmas tree on top with Archival Ink Jet Black.

I stamped a frame with Cherry Red and Ice Blue. I used two homemade stamps (3/8" square) and made a temporary inkpad with paint on an acrylic block. I've cut these stamps out of carving rubber but if you don't have carving rubber on hand, an eraser will do.

I coloured some of the ornaments and stamped the wish from the EDY04 set in the upper right corner. 

As an accent I made some handmade stitches.

I overstamped the squares with Chalk for a more distressed look. 

I added some extra hearts, some penwork...

...and mini pompons.

Love that off white/blue/red colour combination for Christmas!

I hope I have inspired you with my projects this week. I would love to see your take, so join the PapeArtsy September Challenge!

I'll be back in October with more projects. I'm looking forward to it!

~Anneke~

A huge thanks from all at PA HQ. This is exquisite ... love the off white/distressed effect and the hand made stitches (faux tinsel) are a neat addition to the tree. A clean/simple but very effective composition. Thank you for sharing your creativity/art with us all.

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Sept 1st 2014 and Sept  30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time)  Sept 30th 2014

GD: Anneke De Clerck Project #2 Notebook/MiniBook

"Hi everyone, Anneke here. Tonight I have a notebook/minibook to share with you, one that is very easy to make. If you're not familiar with book binding but always wanted to make a book yourself, you should definitely give it a try".

For this book I used the brand new EDY09 stamp set.

Let's start with the cover. I used a sheet of PaperArtsy Smoothy Heavy Weight Card Stock for the cover. These sheets are A4 size. I've cut away a strip (lenghtwise) so the book measures 7" from head to tail. As you can see on the picture I folded the sheet of paper in half and I made 2 extra creases at 1 2/8" from each side.

 

With the help of a ruler I sketched a checkered pattern on the cover.

I used sticky notes to mask the squares/rectangles. I used a selection of Fresco Finish Paints Space Cadet, Ice Blue, Lake Wanaka and Inky Pool applied with a piece of Cut N Dry foam.

Next up is the pink/orange colours: Orchid,  Candy Floss, Smoked Paprika and Tango.

I added colours randomly and used sticky notes for each block. That way I could make straight lines. 

After drying I covered the surface with a layer of Chalk using a nearly dry brush.

I did the background stamping with Fresco Finish Paints too. I love stamping with these paints, it gives a great result. Just make sure to clean your stamps immediately after stamping.

I used Candy Floss Tango and Chalk.

I overstamped the front cover with the same stamp and Archival Ink Jet Black. 

I added more stamping at the bottom of the front and back cover. I used a Tim Holtz stencil along with some Chalk and Candy Floss to add the dots. With a fine pointed brush and some Tango I added some more tiny dots randomly.

As I'm intending to use this book as a notebook I used text paper for the inside pages. If you fancy an Art Journal or sketchbook you could easily replace the text paper with more heavy paper or watercolour paper. I've cut and folded 6 pages from A4 sheets with the same hight (7") but slightly smaller than the cover.

I arranged the pages together as a signature/section. I used a 5-hole pamphlet stitch binding method. There is a video tutorial by Lori Vliegen (Elvie.Studio) on YouTube on how to make a 5-hole pamphlet stitch binding. Lori shows you all the tips and tricks, very helpful if you're not familiar with that binding!

CLICK

I'm a messy painter, the back of the paper I'm working on (in this case the back of the covers) never stays spotless. That's why I glued the first and last page of the book to the back of the covers. 

I worked with waxed thread but for a small book you can use any thread. 

When working on a project like this I often put it away for a while. The following day I look back at it with fresh eyes....and here I came to the conclusion I had to add more stamping. So I picked a stamp from the new EEV09 stamp set and stamped circles randomly with Chalk.

I added some details with a black fineliner pen and a white Sharpie pen to finish it off.

I'm fond of cute book closures so I've made one for this book too.

I tore a strip of white linen fabric (approx 1" wide and 29" long).

I coloured the fabric with Fresco Finish Paints, used the same colours as for the book cover. I damped the fabric with water first and used a brush to paint both sides of the fabric. Painted fabric has to dry for a while, overnight if possible. You can speed it up with a heat gun if you wish.

After drying I wrapped the fabric twice around the book and made a simple knot at the front.

Tomorrow evening I'll be back with my final project for this first week.

Thanks for watching, see you then!

~Anneke~

A huge thanks from the team at PA HQ. The background using the colour blocking technique looks wonderful and the softness of the colours used make a lovely combination. The overstamping/layered effect really draws the eye to the added pen details. Fab project Anneke.

We would love you to join in with our monthly challenge. If you are inspired by any of this month's guests who have blogged between Sept 1st 2014 and Sept  30th 2014 then join in and link up your creativity HERE. You will go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. You need to add your link by 19:00 (London time)  Sept 30th 2014