Mar 26, 2024

PaperArtsy Jofy Mixed Media Gel Printed Cards and Topflight Stamps Birthday Blog Hop


Hi friends!  Thanks for stopping by today for the Topflight Stamps 7th birthday.  To celebrate, I’ve teamed up with some great designers to showcase celebratory projects using the unique products available at Topflight Stamps.  Please hop along with us and see all the beautiful talent from this group of amazing designers!  There is a master list of Hop stops on the Topflight Stamps blog! We are also Hopping on Instagram! You can start at the Topflight Stamps account @topflightstamps.  Did we mention there will be prizes?!



I've created a series of artsy mixed media cards using Gel Press printed backgrounds and fabulous stamps by PaperArtsy.  I fell in love with these moody prints I made using a combination of Fresco Chalk Acrylics in Sargasso, Bougainvillea, and Slimed.  I didn't use any stencils for these backgrounds, just vivid color.  I was able to get color variation on the plate by using my 2" Speedball Brayer and adding color in small sections to cover the gel plate.  



The focal stamp set is by Jofy, set JOFY112, an absolute joy to work with!  I stamped in black Versafine onto my prints, then again onto Bristol and colored with my Prism brush markers.  I fussy cut the leaves only and used foam tape to add them for dimension.  



For my backgrounds I did some white embossing with the Jofy branch and a fun mini stamp by Tracy Scott, EM61.  I also used mini stamp EM58 in black to resemble washi tape.  



I sewed around each of my panels and finished with some paint pen scripty doodles and sticker sentiments.  I just love how these cards turned out and hope they inspire you today!  


GIVEAWAY DETAILS: Of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday celebration without prizes!  Topflight Stamps is giving four lucky winners $50 Gift Certificates to the store.  Two winners will be chosen from commenters on the blog hop and two will be chosen from commenters on the IG hop.  For a chance to win, make sure to visit the stops on the hop and leave a comment by April 1st.  Winners will be announced on the Topflight Stamps blog on Monday, April 3rd.  (U.S.A winners only due to shipping issues.)  Good luck my friends!  Meanwhile, check out the fabulous birthday sale and have an awesome spring! xx, Autumn



Feb 12, 2024

How to Use Painty Papers to Create a Junk Journal

 


Hi everyone!  This year I've made a goal of getting more into mixed media art and less into cardmaking.  MM has always been my passion, but not necessarily my priority, so I'm working to change that. The process will include lots of exploration and I'll share with you what I can.  I've signed up for the Cathy Nichols Joy of Painting course for 2024.  One of the bonus courses was on creating large free paintings on giant papers.  I've been doing free paintings for years, but the idea of painting onto large papers was super exciting to me so I had a play with a friend and we ended up creating a pile of free paintings or painty papers...


I just love seeing them all rolled up.  I shared a video on Instagram with more details @sewpaperpaint.    Below is the paper I used to create this new journal.  The paper we used was thick and white and similar to kraft paper/gift wrap/package wrap?



I used the back of a watercolor paper pad to cut my two chipboard covers to 8.75x5.75", which is just larger than a sheet of paper folded in half.  I wrapped the two pieces of chipboard with the art paper, AFTER taking good photos/scans to use for other things (see below).  I mitered the corners and covered the inside (end papers) with neon gel prints.  


I had a small scrap of the painty paper left and made some scallops to decorate the end papers.



I created a closure by making a paper button, inspired by Francisca Nunes and tied a piece of sari ribbon to the back cover to wrap around the button.  



To create the spine, I cut a piece of cardstock 8.5x4.5" and scored from 1" to 3.5" every 1/8".  This creates a nice flexible "round" spine for the book.  I then glued the unscored 1" sides to the inside front and back covers I had made.  On the outside I adhered some beautiful vintage fabric over the cardstock, adhering only to the covers, not the actual cardstock.  I then repeated with the inside using the same fabric.


I used my Crop-a-dile to adhere three gromets to the top and bottom in increments. These simply tie around the tea stained copy paper inserts I made and stapled together using a long reach stapler.  I mixed in some folded book pages and clear page protectors to use as pockets to create really unique inserts.  


It was so much fun making this journal and I hope to fill it with everything I learn from the year long Joy of Painting course!  


I mentioned making copies of my painty papers...  Well here is how I used some of those!  First, I'm creating color charts of my experiments so I can easily reference the colors when I need inspiration for a new project...  I simply die cut a square from a large sheet of thin chipboard and used the negative space as a view finder to look for happy moments within the paper to cut out and highlight as shown.  I added in the PaperArtsy Fresco Chalk Acrylic paint colors to coordinate by finger painting!  FUN!



I used some of my prints to create some envelopes for my journal.  The flowers come from a practice painting I made and color copied.  It was fun to dig out my old envelope making templates from the 90's!  



I also covered some tiny composition notebooks from the Dollar Tree, which you can buy in bulk HERE.  I gave the notebooks with a matching neon pencil to my artsy friends for Valentine's Day.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing these projects, as I've had such fun creating them!  xx, Autumn


Jan 22, 2024

Sweet 'N Sassy Vintage Bird in Window Frame Card

 

Hi everyone!  I'm back with another project featuring the January new release from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps.  I was playing with the new Arched Window die and decided to pair it with a favorite image, the simple bird from the Singing Praises stamp set.  You may remember these projects that feature these lovely birdies...  click the photos to visit the posts.  I just can't get enough of them!  




I created an inky background using Distress Oxide in Iced Spruce, Pumice Stone and a little Vintage Photo.  I then used Peeled Paint and Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink to stamp the Christmas Pine, using the dies to pop out one of the boughs.  I colored the bird using Chipped Sapphire and Uncharted Mariner along with the aforementioned neutrals.  The sentiment is also from the Singing Praises stamp set.  I cut the Arched Window die from chipboard and gave it a dry brush of white gesso, and splashed the card with more watered gesso for a snowy look.  I've been very sick, but will be back soon with my remaining samples.  Stay warm and well my friends!  xx, Autumn

Visit Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps today!




Jan 10, 2024

Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps Doily Valentine & Anniversary Cards

 


Hello lovelies!  Happy New Year to each of you!  I'm so pleased to be joining Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps as a guest designer this January helping with their beautiful new release.  If you've followed me for any length of time, you know how much I love incorporating doilies into everything.  You will certainly understand how utterly delighted I am that Sweet 'N Sassy has released a new "Delicate Doily Die"!  Yippee!  It has quickly become a new favorite for me.  It cuts beautifully and has a truly beautiful shape, is perfectly symmetrical and is sized just right for a standard greeting card.  :)  For my first card I layered the Doily with a sentiment from the also new With Love stamp set.   I added a sentiment along the bottom from the Encouraging Peonies stamp set and cut it out as one.  I loved how the fonts worked together.  I then used the Encouraging Peonies stamp set to repeat stamp a background panel in Vintage Photo Archival ink and loosely watercolored it with Distress Inks in Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Bundled Sage and Pumice Stone for the background.  



For my next pair of cards, I enjoyed getting inky with and made two cards to give you some ideas of various colorways that can be used.  The With Love stamp set has an AMAZING 1 Corinthians 13 background stamp included so I stamped it onto each of my inky background panels.  The first was created with Seedless Preserves and Pumice Stone Distress Inks by dipping the panel into watery inks.


The second was created with Festive Berries and Pumice Stone.



I used flowers from the Long Stem Silhouettes stamp set and layered with both the Valentine and Anniversary sentiments from the With Love set.



I added a doily half and a seam binding bow to each card and some adhesive pearls by Studio Light.  I really like the pops of black in the silhouette stamping, sentiment & pearls against all the whites.



For my last card my mind strolled back to some beautiful Basic Grey paper from years gone by.  I snagged the Forever & Always stamp set at the last sale and used it to create a background with Distress Inks in Festive Berries, Aged Mahogany, Fired Brick, Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo.  I tinted the bottom half of the panel with the same reds and added some washi tape to break up the two sections.  


I adhered half of the Delicate Doily die then cut the other half into two pieces to adorn the bottom of the card.  I then embossed the beautiful Valentine sentiment from the With Love set in Antique Pearl EP by Ranger onto a scrap of inky red.  I finished by doodling around the hearts to add some extra black emphasis.  I hope these cards have inspired you today!  xx, Autumn









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