So much going on! ArtsyCrafts Retreat and YouTube Update

Hello all, what with one thing and another (CreativeWorld international craft trade fair in Frankfurt, launching new stamps and stencils, filming for online courses, plus another big secret I can't even tell you about yet!), I've been neglecting the blog again. 

Here's just a quick update on the treats available over on the Words and Pictures YouTube channel, in case you've missed them... some of them including some playtime with the newest stamps and stencils released last month. 

Click on any of the links to go and enjoy the fun!

We had a very rusty January - watch some of the episodes in the full Rusty Patina Playtime playlist, and you'll see what I mean.  Here are a couple of highlights.

Rusty Mixed Media Moth

Using tags and ephemera elements created during the season to give the fabulous Tim Holtz moth a place to take off from.

Rusty Playtime 2

Using Grit Paste and various colour mediums to create rusty and coppery patinas on diecuts by Seth Apter and Tim Holtz for Sizzix.

Watercolour Berries

Creating a watercolour effect with Distress Ink stamping of my new PaperArtsy berries from EAB54 Twisted Branches and EAB56 Berry Branches - an addictive technique, this one!

Bubbly Women

These curly-headed women are a new element in the Words and Pictures stamp world, but I've been doodling them for years in the margins of my playscripts. Time to take centre stage...

Winter Sunrise Triptych

There's even been time for a little bit of wintery watercolouring (some of it including my PaperArtsy stamps)...

And there are so so so many more since I last caught up here!  Hop over to the channel and explore - and I hope you'll enjoy all the inspiration.

Oh, and by the way - there are just a few places left on my PaperArtsy ArtsyCrafts retreat this June, in the glorious French countryside. If you're curious, these links will help with anything you need to know.

Listen to Leandra and me discussing the retreat here...

For information packs click here...

For booking details click here... 

For a brief little introduction to the whole thing, click here...

Thanks so much, as ever, for your company on this creative journey - it wouldn't be the same without you.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.
Ursula le Guin

Change is the end result of all true learning.
Leo Bascaglia

Brand new PaperArtsy stamps and stencils... with something new in the mix!

Hello all!  Yes, it's that time again... I'm delighted to be sharing my newest PaperArtsy designs - three new stamp sets and three stencils.  And there's something new in the mix.

For these new designs we have berries, branches... and bodies! Head over to the PaperArtsy blog to see more (it'll be live at 8pm European on Monday).

I often combine my botanicals with vintage photos or the Tim Holtz Paper Dolls, so I've dug back down into my past for these figures.  I used to doodle in the margins of playscripts when I was working in the theatre, and these curly-headed women always featured.  Come and meet them over on the PaperArtsy blog, and see how they interact with my botanicals. There are stencils and masks to match, which creates so many artistic possibilities!

Catch up with the live launch video here in the PaperArtsy People FB group, to hear all about the inspiration behind the designs and the samples.

I hope you'll join me either live or on catch-up to hear more about the inspiration behind the new designs and see lots of samples.

Have a great week, all!

I've always been intrigued by cutout silhouettes. They are so intriguing, so poetic - the shadow of a soul. They tell everything about a character and they are open to be filled with one's own imagination.
Ann Demeulemeester (fashion designer)

You cannot do silhouettes in fantasy. Ah, no, you must be faithful. It is, the art, a, what you call, paradox. It is always that you must be simple, and then, if you are simple, you will stimulate the imagination of the observer.
Ugo Mochi (silhouette artist)

PaperArtsy ArtsyCrafts Retreat - June 2026

I'm so excited to be teaching for a week at PaperArtsy HQ in the French countryside near Bergerac, June 10th - 17th.  This ArtsyCrafts Retreat is sure to be an extraordinary experience, and I can hardly wait!

The event includes four days of art-making and creative exploration with me (all class materials provided) and so much more. 

Our crafting journey will be inspired by the nature and landscape around us, by the handmade papers from the local paper mill, by vintage finds at the brocante.

It will include sketching, painting, stamping, printing, distressing and more, building into an altered journal by the end of the week.

And there's so much more to the week... We’ll share the delights of the Dordogne region; a visit to a nearby château, the chance to explore a local brocante for vintage finds, and local markets and restaurants.

PaperArtsy offer relaxed evening apéro by the PAHQ pool each evening, and wonderful meals prepared on site by our talented chef, featuring regional produce and wine (all this is applies to both packages). This will be a truly memorable creative and travel experience.

The ArtsyCrafts information pack (that sounds quite dull - it's actually a beautiful brochure!) and the booking application form are now available to read and download.  Click on the link below and you'll find the files so that you can digest all the information in your own time.

ArtsyCrafts Retreat Information Pack and Application Forms

This Saturday 17th January, Leandra and I will be live on my Words and Pictures YouTube channel and in the PaperArtsy People FB group to chat about the event and answer any questions, before booking opens on Saturday evening.  Join us at 5pm Europe, 4pm UK, 11am Eastern, 8am Pacific to hear all about it.

If the video highlights above aren't working, they're also available on my Instagram as a Reel.

Of all the adventures coming up this year, I think this might be the one I'm looking forward to the most!!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.
Friedrich Nietzsche

I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.
Albert Einstein