Something New

Hello all, I'm delighted to welcome you to Words and Pictures today for my first post as an official member of the eclectic Paperie Design Team.

eclectic Paperie have an online store packed with lovely stash goodies, and a fabulous blog where you can find lots of inspiration and tutorials for how to use them.

And my fellow newbies Marjie Kemper and Annette Green are also making their first contributions this week, so be sure to check out their amazing creations too!

I've been having a play with some gorgeous Graphic 45 papers - the ABC Primer (which is on offer in the store at the moment), as well as my favourite Distress Inks, lovely Idea-ology lettering, and some texture paste, to create this dimensional hanging.
















And if my "something new" for today works out, then you'll find all the product details at the foot of this post, and you can click through to eclectic Paperie and put them straight in your basket!!







I started with a paperboard frame which my sister-in-law picked up for me at a bargain price in The Range (it's about 15x6 inches), but you could use these techniques on any untreated frame.

If your surface is already painted or varnished, you might need to sand it down first or you could do the same as me and start with a coat or two of gesso, which should give enough "tooth" for other paints and inks to adhere to the surface.










Once I'd done one rough coat of gesso (instant "shabby chic", I call it!), I used a palette knife to apply some paste through the Crafter's Workshop Mini Ledger template.  

I love the raised texture this gives the text.  Another coat of gesso once the paste is dry makes it look part of the frame itself.









I then used Distress Inks in Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Black Soot and Wild Honey to build layers of colour on and around the raised text.  











On the sides of the frame I used the same template, but this time I blended Black Soot Distress Ink through it using a blending tool.  

I love how versatile these templates are - you can use them in so many ways, with inks, sprays or texture pastes... the list goes on.

Then I started selecting papers from the lovely ABC Primer set... I wanted to stick to a neutral colour palette for this project, so those were the papers I pulled out and started putting in place.  

Once I had my three main panels, I chose a letter, a sum and a bookplate for each frame, edged them and the main panels with Vintage Photo DI, and adhered them using mounting tape for a dimensional effect.  

Each element within the frame has a different number of layers of tape so that they sit at different heights as you look at them.

And I left the interior walls of the frame in plain gesso - it really makes the contents of the frame pop, I think.










Finally, we come to the sentiment.  It's a thought I really like to live by - for me the most exciting thing in the world is learning and discovering new things.  It's one of many reasons why I've been so lit up by this whole new crafting hobby - the learning curve is huge, and there's so much inspiration and information out there to discover, explore and play with.




The lettering is from Idea-ology: the brilliant Newsprint AlphaParts (also on offer right now). 

I love these little plastic letters... you can alter them with inks and paints as I've done in past projects or, as here, leave them in their basic state.  















They're sticky on the back, so you just twist them off the frame and adhere them to the project.
 














One of the main things I love is that you get plenty of each letter within a set; so, even though I've used four 'e's for this sentiment, there are still some left for next time.  







So that's me for today... I'd love to know what you make of today's offering.  Your thoughts and comments are so much appreciated, and it's great to have your company as I set out on this new adventure.  I'll be sharing an eP project with you here at Words and Pictures once a week, and every so often I'll be letting you know about a post over at the eclectic Paperie blog itself.  But for now I'll just wish you a wonderful week, whatever it is you're up to, and I look forward to seeing you again soon - either here, or elsewhere in Craftyblogland!

Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.
Henry Ford

I am learning all the time.  The tombstone will be my diploma.
Eartha Kitt

Products used:  
(Click to go to product page at eclectic Paperie)

GR45- An ABC Primer 8x8 Paper Pad	TCW 6x6 Template - Mini Ledger	Findings - Alpha Parts, Newsprint	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Distress Ink Pad - Antique Linen
Distress Ink Pad - Wild Honey	Distress Ink Pad - Black Soot	Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gesso	Wendy Vecchi - Studio 490 - Embossing Paste - White	Scotch Foam Mounting Tape

I'm entering this for the following:
Artful Times are playing Anything Goes this fortnight
Simon Says Stamp are also playing Anything Goes at the moment
Top Tip Tuesday are playing Kids and Teens
Sugar Creek Hollow's challenge this week is Distressing - and by that, I don't mean that it's upsetting me... oh, you know what I mean!