Encore - A little bit of inspiration

Encore Posts

While I'm away, there are some scheduled posts with new creations coming your way, but I'm also taking the chance to do some catching up here at Words and Pictures.   Projects which made their first appearances elsewhere for Design Team duties or Guest Designer opportunities, but which only had a sneak peek here, are being gathered together in the pages of my virtual scrapbook.  I'm calling them "Encore" posts and they're formatted differently (all the way down the centre), so you can spot them easily.

Please don't feel that you have to comment all over again!

This is the last Encore for a little while (there's some new stuff coming your way!), and to be honest I'm not sure whether this really is an Encore...  I don't think that it ever put in an appearance anywhere, even though it was meant for eclectic Paperie (now embraced by The Funkie Junkie Boutique) way back in March 2013.  I think I had this little booklet ready just before I left the team, so I'm not sure it even got an outing at eP.  There again, the post seems to have been ready and written, so maybe it did.  In any case, if it doesn't ring any bells it's probably not your memory going funny on you!  But here's what I wrote back then...

___________________________

Hello all, and I'm very happy to be here at eclectic Paperie to share another project with you.

This one is a very simple little ATC book (I seem to have a thing about handmade books), with lots of little pockets - brilliant for using up paper scraps when you really want to make the most of every last little bit of your favourite papers!

It's a tiny book of uplifting and thought-provoking words and phrases, so that you can turn to it for a little bit of inspiration when in need.  And of course you can add more phrases, or other memorabilia, pictures and ephemera as time goes on... plenty of room in those pockets.

I started with six of the Inkssentials natural canvas ATCs.  One of the great things about these is that they are sticky-backed, so you get all the great canvas texture and you can apply it really easily to cardstock or chipboard to create a really sturdy, dimensional ATC.

I adhered my six ATCs to some kraft cardstock, and then started juggling with my papers.  These are from the Basic Grey Serenade set.  I worked out I had enough to do a couple of ATC-sized pages and a couple of "pockets" out of each of my selected papers.

I wanted to leave plenty of the canvas on display, and also to keep things pretty minimalist, so I kept my pockets nice and simple: a plain rectangle, alternating (mostly) between vertical and horizontal positioning.

And I gave the canvas a good going over with the Vintage Photo Distress Ink to really highlight all that lovely texture.

I thought about doing some stamping on the canvas, which I always love the look of, but I was quite enjoying the clean lines of the whole thing (couldn't bear to leave out the distressing though!)... it's probably the nearest I'll ever get to a CAS project!

All the sentiments - from the fabulous Donna Downey sets, Empowered Words and Art and Possibility - are also stamped onto paper scraps, so they look pretty cute either way up, and they've also had a touch of the Vintage Photo DI of course.

On each facing page, the design paper side, I've added one of the larger sentiments, stamped on plain white cardstock and inked to tone in with the rest of the look.

I particularly love this Picasso quote... and I've tried to match the quotes in the pockets with my "main" quotes each time - I've tried to create satisfying groupings that "speak" to each other.

Another sentiment stamp serves as the title on the front cover (in the picture at the top of the post), and I've stamped some of the Hero Arts Music Background to surround the title, and all over the back cover.  This stamp is designed to coordinate with the Serenade music paper that I've used on the inside, so it fits in with the overall look beautifully.

Finally I added the little corner pieces cut with the ATC and Corners die by Tim Holtz onto the front and back covers.  I love the "finished" look it gives.

The binding is incredibly simple too (seriously, you can knock up a whole little album in well under an hour) - just some crinkle ribbon dyed with Vintage Photo Distress Stain, and tied through the punched holes to give a pretty bow at the front.

I had to do a little bit of retying to get the tension right, so that the pages would turn easily without the whole thing flopping about uncontrollably, but that was about the hardest thing in the whole project - and, really, what's so hard about tying a bow a couple of times!?

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I do hope my ATC inspiration album has given you a little bit of inspiration to go off and create something yourself.  See you again soon...

______________________________

So, that's about your lot for today.  There's a brand new project up next here at Words and Pictures in just a few days... in fact, quite a few new projects in a row, plus a first little travel update for you, so I'll hope to see you again soon.  Happy Crafting all!

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.
From The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

Coming soon...

Hello everyone, and a warm welcome to a wet and chilly (and slightly sad - as you'll see at the end) Words and Pictures today.

I'm here with a gift tag which was used as a "promissory note" recently for one of my brother's birthday presents (a remote-controlled helicopter - what can I say? - with the dollshouses and all the crafting... we're all overgrown kids round here!).

When we ordered it, we didn't realise it was coming from China, so unfortunately it hadn't arrived on the day we wanted to present it.

I went into action with some rapid stencilling, stamping and embossing with some of my eclectic Paperie goodies, and came up with this...

The background was created with the Crafter's Workshop Mini Numbers Collage stencil and Dylusions sprays, including the yummy opaque White Linen, which softens all the other vivid colours when you mix them together.

I blended a bit of Pumice Stone Distress Ink around the edges for definition.









I don't have a helicopter stamp, sadly; the Tim Holtz aeroplane was the closest I could get.

It's embossed in the fabulous Ranger Liquid Platinum powder.
















I added the compass - embossed in SuperFine Black...












... and lots of hands pointing in various directions (the new Idea-ology tissue tape: Elements) to symbolise the long journey on which the present had gone astray!














The calendar stamp is there to offer an estimate of how many days he might still have to wait for it to arrive...











... so the sentiment was an obvious choice (in Liquid Platinum again).














I left plenty of room on the back of the large tag to write out the explanation that the helicopter was on its way, but on a "slowboat from China"!















And I was delighted that the mushroom-coloured ribbon I had in my stash toned in perfectly with the platinum embossing.  I tied it together using some of the fab Tim Holtz paper string.










Thank you so much for stopping by today.

You're in at the closing chapter of one of my adventures.  I'm very sad to say that this will be my last official post for eclectic Paperie.

There's just too much going on in life at the moment (craftily and otherwise) for me to continue trying to squeeze everything in.

I've had an absolutely wonderful time working with the lovely Kim, and the fabulous Design Team there over the last six months.  

I do hope you'll all continue to pop over to the eclectic Paperie blog to see what my incredibly creative team-mates are getting up to there, and to join in with the fabulous challenges.

I know I will!






Don't be dismayed at goodbyes.  A farewell is necessary before you can meet again.  And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.
Richard Bach

So, for one last time, you can click on the links to go straight to the eP store:

Tools of the Trade

Hello everyone, and a happy Sunday to you.  

So, after my altered keepsakes box, we're back in tag territory... and another chance to play with some delicious eclectic Paperie goodies - so you'll find links to all the ingredients at the foot of the post.

I loved playing with the stamps from Tim Holtz's fabulous new Artful Tools set when I created my craft table storage jars, so I got them out again for this tag.  

As well as the paintbrushes and geometry tools, I used the wooden rulers this time too...

And I have to say, I completely failed to nail down a favourite ink pad for Simon Says Stamp and Show - too many favourites - but there is one that seems to put in an appearance pretty dashed frequently, and that's the wonderful Coffee Archival.  

Since I work so often in a blue/brown palette, or in vintage tones, I find it a delicious alternative to bold black - so it's definitely one of the main "tools of the trade" for me - and it's come to the fore again in this project.








I started with an inky background for the tag - wrinkle-free distress technique with Distress Stains in Broken China (big love), Frayed Burlap (currently much in favour), Pumice Stone (greatly adored... you see what I mean with this favourite colour thing?!).  

I did some ink blending with the same colours in Distress Inks, and added some chicken wire stencilling - both full (Pumice Stone and Frayed Burlap) and reversed (in Peacock Feathers) - for extra texture.










Next it was out with the Picket Fence Distress Paint to add some stamping of the rulers... love this effect over the inks, and the clarity of image you can get stamping with the DPs.











Next up, it's the Coffee Archival - and I decided to stick to the very upright straight lines and right angles dictated by the rulers, so the paintbrushes went straight up one side...












... and the tools straight along the foot of the tag.

Love that the paint gives a slight resist, so you get the white holding its own within the images.

Coffee Archival takes centre stage on the ARTIST too... this time stamped straight onto white cardstock.

















Then I cut it with the Stacked Artful Words decorative strip die, and gave it a coat of clear embossing powder for glossy strength.

The word ARTIST needed to go vertically (to match the ruler markings), so I needed some horizontality to balance it - so one of the Idea-ology Word Bands got pressed into action.  

Definitely a thing in there about whether I feel right applying that particular vertical word to myself yet - or maybe there's some more creating still to be done.







As regulars will know, the tag toppings are something I take great delight in.  

I used the Distress Stains again to dye some crinkle ribbon, and it was a particular delight to me that two colours from Tim Holtz's Paper String were exactly the right colour to tone in with the tag.

And after all those straight lines, I just had to go a little bit curly-wurly-twirly with them!

So there are my Tools of the Trade... 

It still feels to me, in many ways, like a very new trade - even though, at the same time, I can hardly remember life pre-crafting!  There's always so much more to learn, to discover, to experiment with - it's brilliant...  

Thank you so much to all of you for being part of this adventure in (re-)creating myself.  I'm so happy to have you along for the ride - it means the world.  

Happy Crafting!





I've just found this quote which seems unbelievably appropriate as a bridge between my creative worlds, so it has to go on this post...

If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.
Émile Zola

I'd like to enter this in Simon Says Stamp and Show's challenge to use your Favourite Ink - Coffee Archival - though I hereby respectfully refuse to be held to that as life and times and tastes change!!
At the Inspiration Journal the theme is Don't Quote Me...  I'd been saving this WordBand as it shares a thought I completely believe in - and now seemed the right time to take the plunge.

Click below to go shopping!

Wonder no more...

Hello all... I won't keep you long here at Words and Pictures today, but I am sending you on your way elsewhere!

Lots of you were curious about how the background for my Think and Wonder tag was created... well, wonder no more.

All is revealed over at eclectic Paperie today, so if you hop on over you'll find out how it was done.

Thanks so much for your continued company on this crafty journey.  Your amazing support is a constant source of strength, and hopping around Craftyblogland provides endless inspiration - what a wonderful place it is!


Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.
Socrates

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.
Albert Einstein

Simply Irresistible

Hello all, and a very warm welcome (though it's pretty chilly here, yet again)!


A new challenge starts today over at eclectic Paperie, and it's a really cool one!  Our host is Julie, who would like to see what we all get up to with Gel Medium.


It's such versatile stuff, and there's lots of different ways to get crafty with it - check out Julie's amazing technique here, along with all the challenge details and rules.


I decided to play one of my favourite games and create a resist for some inky loveliness.  Yes, I'm back with another tag!!


First of all, I gave the tag a coat of Picket Fence Distress Paint, so that the colour coming through the transparent resist would be paler than the straight manila of the tag.











Then I splodged some Golden Gel Medium (Soft Gloss) onto the craft mat, and used a sponge to apply it to my stamp... yup, you spotted it: the wonderful Unity hedgerow flowers, Delicate Flowers by Donna Downey.

After stamping, it was straight to the sink and plenty of nailbrush action to make sure I'd got all the medium off my precious stamp!








One of the lovely things about using the medium like this is that you get not only a glossy finish, but also a bit of dimension to your image.












I used Distress Stains and Inks to build up layers of colour onto the background.

The opaque Distress Paint underneath slightly alters how the colours "take", which I quite enjoy.









I used another Unity stamp, Christy Tomlinson's yummy SheArt Print Texture to add some, yes, texture to my inks.  Some stampings are done in Faded Jeans Distress Ink, some in Memento Teal Zeal, and some in Olive Archival.

I rolled it on and off pretty randomly...

The three sentiments are also Unity - Donna Downey again - and I stamped them in Olive Archival onto a sticky-back canvas ATC.










I cut round them and then used Faded Jeans to give the edges some definition







I love the texture of the canvas, and I also love that you can just peel off the back and stick it down - dead simple!








Well, it wouldn't be right not to top the thing off, and I went with one of my current favourite combinations: some dyed crinkle ribbon tied together with paper string.

I dyed the ribbons initially with Distress Stains, and then decided that they'd look better with a touch of the opaque shabby look that using Distress Paint gives them, so I added some Picket Fence DP to the mix.










So that's one pretty simple game to play with Gel Medium... I can't wait to see what creative games you all get up to with it!

There's a prize voucher for the eclectic Paperie store on offer, generously sponsored by the lovely Kim of eP - so get out your sticky thinking caps and show us what you've got!

For now, thank you so much for stopping by, and I'll see you soon - either here, or elsewhere in Craftyblogland!

Stand before the people you fear and speak your mind - even if your voice shakes.
Maggie Kuhn

Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow".
Mary Anne Radmacher

It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.
Madeleine Albright


Click on the link to go straight to the product (I used Golden Gel Medium, which I think might be in stock quite soon - but either of the options here would also work):

Inspired by... Part I

Hello everyone... well, what a month May has been so far.  Such strange, but good, timing for the Blogworthy Link. (What's that? You hadn't heard?  I was picked out as a Blogworthy Link by none other than Tim Holtz.  Just click on the link if you don't believe me.  I certainly had to pinch myself a number of times!)  Thank you everyone for all your lovely responses to the news.

Actually, I'd been having one of those quavery times, trying to deal with the scale of this new and overwhelming obsession:- what am I doing? where did all this crafting turn up from? how did it get so full-on so fast?  have I bitten off more than I can chew? where do these ideas come from, and what happens if they stop coming?  

I know it's all linked in with undergoing another period of change and upheaval in my real life... hang on - you see, what's that about?  What's not real about the crafting?  Time for a deep breath...

And then not only did my April tag make Tim's list, but the Blogworthy Link bobbed up, taking me completely by surprise - hyperventilation, here we come, but in a good way this time!

So when Simon Says Stamp and Show came up with the challenge Inspired By... this week, it seemed a perfect chance to get to grips with things a bit, to go back to basics and focus on what it is I love about this whole creativity "thang".  This post is the first of three bits of self-therapy - by all means feel free to just look at the pretty pictures and move on!



Let's see the first piece, then, shall we?

I got into this whole mess when I fell immediately and passionately in love with inks (especially Distress Inks) and stamps in February last year.  

So inks and stamps are what I've been playing with for the last few days (okay, some paints and stains too... oh, and some embossing... and embellishing obviously - see, that's the trouble with this business: one thing leads to another in a slightly terrifying snowballing kind of way!).

And I have colour comfort zones - blue & brown is where I started; I love the neutrals; and when I do vivid colours, I tend to stick within one tonal area - all greens or all blues or all oranges (on occasion!).  

Interesting that A Thousand Splendid Quotes, linked by Tim, was one that completely bucked that trend, and is therefore one that I'm not very sure about myself.

But I'm hugely inspired by the work of Marjie Kemper.  Her work with vivid colours - and especially with bold colour combinations, is sensational.  I'm so happy to be on the DT alongside her at eclectic Paperie.  And Barbarayaya is another crafter whose work with colour really excites me.  So I took that inspiration into this tag and splashed out into some contrasting colours...



There'll be a "how-to" on this over at eclectic Paperie later in the month, so I'll stick to the essentials for now.  And as usual, you can click on the links at the end if you're tempted to go shopping!

I got nice and inky with some bright pinks and oranges - ooh, that feels strange, but in a really good way.














I layered up some stencilling, and some background stamping using various Artistic Outpost stamps (DT duty calls, but it's never a chore with these stamps - they're inspirational in themselves!).  

Some of the stamping is in Archival ink, and some in Distress Paint.

Then it was time for the focal image: one of my all-time favourite stamps, the girl from the AO set, Think and Wonder.

When I stamped her, I realised she was looking positively diseased because of being over one of the darkest inky areas, so I used a water brush and some paper towel to remove colour from her face and neck.  

She still looks slightly peaky close up - measles, maybe? - but overall I'm happy with the result - her ethereal gaze gleaming palely out of all that colour.










I almost got stuck in monochromatic mode, liking the look of the coppery gears when I put them down, but then I thought, "no, we're here to try something different, something Marjie-esque or à la Barbarayaya" - how fun are all the 'a's in that phrase?!

So I got out some contrasting Distress Paints and got busy and, oh, how I enjoyed it, dabbing the paint on with my fingers, as advocated by Sir Tim himself, and loving the look of the vivid contrast.

Once I'd done the cogs and clock hands, I decided to add a pair of ribbons in the same complementary tones. 

And I used some black paper string to tie them together - bound forever in zingy contrast to one another.  The black string was another bold move for me, but I find it also helps the black ink of the image pop a little more.










But by the time I was done, there still wasn't enough of the blue-green for my liking (yeah, I know, I'm heading back towards my comfort zone), so I decided to make another layered tag (if you saw the last one, you'll see what I mean about sticking to virtually monochromatic tones).  


That would give me the chance to frame the oranges within completely contrasting blue-greens.


So I had a play with Tim Holtz Distress Paints and Distress Inks, and a Crafter's Workshop stencil to come up with this background. 


It's similar to the one on my Wonderful Journey, but achieved differently (more about that later in the week at eP).

I love the contrast of the jewel-like translucent inks with the opaque resisting paints.












For the first time in ten weeks I had some really concentrated time at the craft desk, rather than snatched
half-hours, and I could feel myself get into the flow of things.  


Playing with all this colour was tremendously freeing, and I do love the result (and it led to other discoveries and creations, as you'll see in weeks to come).  


So huge thanks to Marjie and to Barbarayaya for your inspirational, colourful work.  And thank you to SSSaS for asking the question which is helping me so much this week.


I'd like to enter this in Simon Says Stamp and Show where they want to know who or what we are Inspired By... Colour, especially the work of Marjie Kemper and Barbarayaya





For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
Vincent van Gogh

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.
Andre Gide

Click on the links to go shopping!

Inkssentials Surfaces #8 Manila Tags	TCW 6x6 Template - Harlequin	Archival Ink - Jet Black Ink Pad	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Paper Strings - Solids	Tim Holtz - Idea-ology - Crinkle Ribbon 10 Yards	Tim Holtz Water Brush - Detailer Brush	Inkssentials Foam Blending Tool
Distress Ink Pad - Mowed Lawn	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Peeled Paint	Distress Ink Pad - Peeled Paint	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Salty Ocean	Distress Ink Pad - Salty Ocean	Distress Ink Pad - Broken China	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Broken China
Distress Ink Pad - Picked Raspberry	Distress Ink Pad - Worn Lipstick	Distress Ink Pad - Wild Honey	Distress Ink Pad - Dried Marigold	Spiced Marmalade	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Picket Fence	Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Antique Linen