25 March 2021

4th Birthday Blog Hop for Topflight Stamps

Update - thank you to everyone who left so many lovely comments on the entries to the Topflight Stamps 4th Birthday Blog Hop. Each of the designers randomly chose a winner and mine is Clintine Steele! Congratulations Clintine - please contact me at buttonscraft@btinternet.com to claim your prize code.

Hi everyone and welcome. Today is a special day for Topflight Stamps as they reach their 4th birthday!!! To celebrate they are hosting a Birthday Blog Hop, showcasing birthday cards created by a team of Guest Designers 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! You should have arrived here from Ericka Strange's blog.


Of course, it wouldn’t be a birthday celebration without prizes! Topflight Stamps is giving one lucky winner a $100 Gift Certificate to the store. But wait, there is more, each stop on the hop has an additional $25 Gift Certificate up for grabs for some lucky commenter. For a chance to win, make sure to visit every stop on the hop and leave a comment by March 29th. Winners will be announced on the Topflight Stamps blog on March 31st. Good Luck!.


The birthday card I've created is based around one of the new Sara Naumann stamp sets from PaperArtsy together with an older set and one of her new stencils. A few elements have been layered together on a stencilled background to create a collage with a feel of Spring.


Here's a quick tutorial to show how this card came together, starting with the purple flower in the centre. It's good to keep a stash of Gel Plate prints in reserve when you need to whip up a card and I had one pulled on thin tissue with a predominance of 'Spanish Mulberry' Fresco Finish paint visible. As shown below I stamped the flower collage image from Sara Naumann's stamp set ESN47 onto the tissue with embossing ink and covered those areas with clear embossing powder. Once heat set the tissue was painted with 'Heavy Cream' Fresco Finish paint and rubbed over with damp tissue just before the paint dried; in this way the image of the flower and the script around it could be 'revealed' in a slightly non-uniform way. To remove the shine left by the embossing simply add a layer of clear gesso, then cut away any parts you don't want to appear on the final card.


Moving on to the leaves I pulled another Gel Plate print onto tissue using mainly 'Zucchini' Fresco Finish paint with a dash of 'Seaglass' Fresco Finish paint. Another of the images from stamp set ESN47 was stamped over it before I turned over to the back. Wanting to reverse the leaves I glued some card to the back of the tissue, stamped the leaves (again from stamp set ESN47) and cut them out ready for the next steps. Yet another piece of Gel Plate printed tissue was added to a tea stained blank postcard onto which I re-stamped the flower collage in a deep brown permanent ink. The mulberry flower tissue piece, leaves and a piece of single ply tissue coloured with 'Violetta' Infusions were layered over the top ready for placement on the card with a little hand stitching for good measure (and extra texture).



With lots going on in the foreground of the card it was important to keep the background relatively simple. After brayering and brushing on various blue Fresco Finish paints I applied PaperArtsy Grunge Paste through Sara Naumann's PS219 stencil, and then once dry scraped a little more across the top. Cut into a square the stencilled paper was inked around the edges and distressed before being matted onto layers of complimentary coloured card, with yet another piece of coordinating purple Gel Plate printed tissue added on top. It's easy to pick up on the dotty design below by running a brayer over the top to apply a little white gesso.


To finish the card the main floral panel was matted onto a piece of vellum and dimensional foam tape before being stuck onto the background. You'll see from the close ups below that the little rectangular element in the floral collage was further enhanced by being stamped onto a contrasting piece of card, fussy cut and glued in place. The birthday sentiment, stamped onto more tea stained card, comes from Sara Naumann's stamp set ESN37 by PaperArtsy. After being edged with ink and distressed it was mounted onto a piece of coordinating card and layered over the floral panel.



That's all from me. Follow along with the rest of the Birthday Blog Hop by hopping over to Autumn Clark's blog here and if you get lost you can always start at the Topflight Stamp Blog. And don't forget to comment on each of the blog posts to be in with a chance of winning!

24 March 2021

Mandala Collage Folio Journal featuring Seth Apter for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. Last week I shared the progress of my latest mixed media folio journal journey featuring Eileen Hull's 'Mandala' and 'Folio Journal' dies, many of Seth Apter's stamp sets (a mix from PaperArtsy and Impression Obsession) Izink pigment inks, PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paints and Seth's embossing powders from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies.

This week I'm back to share all 18 completed pages, each an individual collage piece in it's own right and bound together inside the Folio Journal covers. A quick reminder that you can see how the basic journal was created here.

Some of the pages have circular 'windows' in them which means you can see other pages beneath. In the case of the first page that helps to add to the design. Around that window I've used a die cut of Eileen's 'Mandala' to act as a stencil through which texture paste has been applied along with a coating of Seth Apter's 'Rocky Road' Embossing Powder. Underneath the stencilling a little stamping is visible and layered over the top are two die cut rings of  faux rusted card, created using layers of Izink Pigment Inks on top of a base of black gesso. To finish I added fabric/lace scraps, some hand stitching and a word from one of Seth's 'Journal Jargon' stamp sets.


The second page has more faux rusted card, this time sanded back to reveal the layers of ink beneath and, in the case of the central circle around the 'window', stamped and clear embossed for added impact. There is more stamping in the background, an extra die cut circle around the window, more hand stitching and another 'Journal Jargon' word. As the pages progress you may also spot the little trail of 'breadcrumbs' (various card scraps) leading the eye from page to page and linking the designs.


Following one of Eileen's many FB Live tutorials I've used the 'Mandala' die to emboss another piece of faux rusted card. Here it's been teamed with a piece of Gel Plate printed tissue, cotton lace and some hand stitching. I've continued the Mandala pattern across the page with a little stencilling and added hand stitching to the background.


The next page has a heat embossed/stamped piece as the focal point; after stamping the image onto a piece of card and cutting around it I covered the card in layers of 'Rocky Road' Embossing Powder, re-stamping into the final layer to create the deep impression. Re-stamping with Fresco Finish paint made the image stand out even further. Gel Plate printed/stamped tissue, more stamping, more hand stitching and another word completed the layout.


This page has a lot going on, with part of a tea stained postcard in the background covered in embossed stamping and hand stitching. On top is layered the die cut 'Mandala' that had previously been used as a stencil and various die cut circles of inked and embossed card. The 'window' reveals part of the page underneath including another 'Journal Jargon' word.


The 'window' on the other side also reveals the page beneath and in this case it's the embossed/stamped focal point. More stamping and bits of fabric, lace and card scraps are layered up around the window to add to the design. The die cut circles in centre have been clear embossed to make them stand out against it all.


The main elements on this page have been stamped/cut from the faux rusted card, with Gel Printed tissue that has been stencilled in the background alongside some heat embossed vellum. The hand stitching surrounds the 'Journal Jargon' word.


For this page the 'Mandala' has been used as a stencil again with the high spots hit with some darker and lighter Fresco Finish paints to emphasise the the design. There's more Izink Pigment Ink rusted card, some embossed stamping, hand stitching and a heat embossed die cut cog shape in the middle along with another of the 'Journal Jargon' words.


The corrugated card on the page below has had layers of paste, embossing powder and ink applied before I took the decision to sand it all back and reveal the layers below which produced the blended worn look. After cutting a hole through the middle of the page and stamping the crosshatched circle image I've added a piece of coiled wire, some stitching, a leftover piece of rust coloured lace and a 'Journal Jargon' word stamped on a left over scrap of background paper.


The second half of the Mandala embossed card has been added to the reverse side of the coiled wire page. I've used Seth Apter's 'Chunky Rust' Embossing Powder on the circle in the middle, dots have been stamped and embossed to one side and the bands at the top and bottom have been stitched in place.


On this page some of the embossed stamping has been done on vellum and more Gel Plate printed tissue used along with hand stitching and lace. Even the 'waste' from the edge of the background paper has been used to trim one side and add more patterning.


This page is one of those happy accidents where a bundle of mixed paper and fabric over-stamped several times with in and paint have become a focal point when layered with lace and a stamped dial. The stamping on the bundle has been extended across the page along with the stitching and a lot of the background left exposed to reveal yet more stencilling.


This page began with the other half of a Mandala stencilled piece seen previously. This time a larger hole has been punched through the centre of the page to reveal the stamped piece of vellum captured between. More stitching and stamping add to the texture whilst the die cut rings that surrounds the cut out hole have been clear embossed.


The next page has been the trickiest to resolve given its asymmetric layout. The layers of heat embossed stamping, die cut circles and stamped vellum sit to one side of the page leaving the rest of the background exposed as on previous pages. I completed it with a 'Jargon Journal' word sat on top of gauze and Gel Plate printed tissue scraps.


On this page there's Gel Plate printed tissue, heat embossed stamping down one side, lace, hand stitching and die cut elements included. The stamped circle border has been fussy cut and embossed with a larger stamped circle added over the top to draw the eye down the page.


I've used another of the embossed elements as a focal point on the following page, created the same way as the previous one and this time surrounded by some faux rusted card. The Gel Plate printed tissue, fabric and book page paper has been stamped over and heat embossed to compliment the line of hand stitching to the side of it. 


The second piece of tea stained post card has been used in the background of the next page, over stamped either side of the little 'window' and with lots of layers of fabric, paper, lace and hand stitching underneath. As on previous pages the die cut circles have layers of card stacked beneath them to add to their dimension.


The final page combines the other half of the sanded corrugated card along with another die cut 'Mandala'. The circle surrounding the 'window' has been inked and embossed to give the impression that it has been rusted whilst the paper edging, hand stitching and lace once again add to the texture.


I hope you've enjoyed seeing how I've filled this Eileen Hull 'Folio Journal'. Make sure to check out the projects and tutorials from the other Inspiration and Educator Team members using Eileen's Chapter 1 dies in imaginative ways - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now, thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

17 March 2021

Seth Apter Collage Folio Journal for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team are continuing to share projects using her Chapter 1 2021 Sizzix Scoreboards and Thinlits dies. Last month I shared a tutorial for creating a new folio journal lined with handmade decorative papers and with pages ready to decorate. Here's a reminder of where I got to;


With a colour scheme picked and a bunch of decorative elements already gathered together it was time to start designing the pages inside. In this post I will be sharing half of the completed pages with the rest coming soon.

Throughout the journal I used my collection of Seth Apter stamps (a combination of designs from PaperArtsy and Impression Obsession) and dies alongside Eileen's 'Mandala' Thinlits Die which was used a lot for stencilling and embossing. And it's that embossing that's most evident on the first of the pages. Following one of Eileen's many FB Live tutorials I used the Mandala die to emboss a piece of card that had been given a rusted metal effect using Seth Apter's Izink Pigment Inks. Here it's been teamed with a piece of Gel Plate printed tissue, cotton lace and some hand stitching. I also continued the Mandala pattern across the page with a little stencilling.


The Mandala was used as a stencil on this page too with the high spots hit with some darker and lighter paints to emphasise the the design. There's more Izink Pigment Ink rusted card, some embossed stamping, hand stitching and a heat embossed die cut cog shape in the middle. As with the first page some of the background paper has been left exposed.


The corrugated card on the page below had layers of paste, embossing powder and ink applied before I took the decision to sand it all back and reveal the layers below which produced the blended worn look. After cutting a hole through the middle of the page and stamping the crosshatched circle image I added a piece of coiled wire, some stitching and a leftover piece of rust coloured lace.


The second half of the Mandala embossed card was added to the reverse side of the coiled wire page. The circle in the middle had Chunky Rust embossing powder applied to it, dots were stamped and embossed to one side and the bands at the top and bottom were stitched in place.


On this page some of the embossed stamping was done on vellum and more Gel Plate printed tissue was used along with hand stitching and lace. Even the 'waste' from the edge of the background paper was used to trim one side and add more patterning.


This page was one of those happy accidents where a bundle of mixed paper and fabric over-stamped several times with in and paint became a focal point when layered with lace and a stamped dial. The stamping on the bundle was extended across the page along with the stitching and a lot of the background was left exposed to reveal yet more stencilling.


This page began with the other half of a Mandala stencilled piece seen previously. This time a larger hole was punched through the centre of the page to reveal the stamped piece of vellum captured between. More stitching and stamping added to the texture whilst the die cut ring surrounding the cut out hole was embossed with an older Eileen embossing folder and highlighted with more Izink Pigment Ink.


The next page still needs some work doing to it but at the moment I haven't found the right combination of elements to make the final design work. The layers of heat embossed stamping, die cut circles and stamped vellum sit to one side of the page leaving the rest of the background exposed as on previous pages. Sometimes it's worth 'walking away' from creative blocks like this because eventually (and usually by accident) the final pieces of the jigsaw will emerge.


On to the final page for this reveal and as before there's Gel Plate printed tissue, heat embossed stamping, lace, hand stitching and die cut elements in an asymmetric design. Working to a narrow colour scheme as has been the case throughout this journal means it's easier to concentrate on the overall design of the page.


There are still another nine pages to share with you in another post. I hope you've enjoyed seeing how I've been filling this Eileen Hull Folio Journal. Make sure to check out the projects and tutorials from the other Inspiration and Educator Team members - links to their posts can be found on Eileen's blog throughout the month.

For now thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

6 March 2021

Saturday Showcase ATC's for The Funkie Junkie Boutique

Hi everyone and welcome. Today the Design Team over at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog have collaborated for the latest Saturday Showcase post and we have taken the opportunity to make ATC's as part of the current 'Anything Goes' challenge theme. Here are mine;


The background for each of these came from the masterboard I made and used for the card shared in this recent challenge post. As promised I have put together a tutorial to show how it was created and how it has been used for these ATC's.

It all started with a large piece of heavyweight mixed media paper which I covered in part with strips and chunks of paper from books, old projects, music score, gauze fabric and maps. 'Carnation' and 'Apricot' Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints were brayered over the top in patches before White Gesso was applied through the Tim Holtz 'Stripes' and 'Latticework' Layering Stencils. When dry areas were spritzed with water and 'Tea' and 'Sunflower' Izink Dye Sprays were dripped through them to create stronger patches of colour.


By this point it looked a little scary and there was more to come. Wendy Vecchi's Crackle Paste was applied through the Tim Holtz 'Slate' Layering Stencil in patches and allowed to dry. I then brushed a little heavily diluted Seth Apter 'After Dark' Izink Pigment Ink over the top to make the cracks stand out more.


Adding to the texture I spread Plaster Paste over other areas to blend some of the different patches of paper, fabric and stencilling together.


With this mish mash of textures totally dry I set about unifying them by brayering over the top with more White Gesso followed by the Carnation and Apricot Paint. This gave the finished background paper a look reminiscent of the crumbling plaster and brickwork seen on Italian architecture.


As well as chopping some of the background into pieces for cards (like the one shown last Wednesday) I cut three ATC pieces and set about adding further layers of interest to them, beginning with some torn tissue which had a Gel Plate pull mainly made up from 'Aloe' Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint.


Even more stencilling was applied with texture paste through the stencil which comes with Wendy Vecchi's MAKE ART Stamp/Die/Stencil Set 'Thanks A Million'. It is the ideal size for smaller projects like ATCs. I also added some hand stitching across the bottom of each ATC.


To decorate the ATCs various flowers, leaves and butterflies were stamped, coloured, die cut and layered together; these included images from the Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Stamp/Die/Stencil Sets 'Thanks A Million', 'Thank You' and 'Bravo', all coloured with Seth Apter Izink Pigment Inks in various combinations of 'Burnt Orange', 'Mimosa', 'Roast Chestnut', 'Cotton Candy', 'Purple Haze' and 'Avalanche'. The leaves were stamped in Wendy Vecchi's 'Prickly Pear' Archival Ink.


Wendy's Tip Tuesday fb video prompted me to cut into some of the stamped images to create more dimensional layered flowers, buds and butterflies. These were all then added to the ATCs to complete them. Here's a closer look at the individual ATCs;




That's it for today's tutorial. Make sure to check out the amazing ATC's created by my team mates over on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and to enter the current 'Anything Goes' challenge.

3 March 2021

Anything Goes with The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. For the latest challenge over on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog we are going with an 'Anything Goes' theme and are looking forward to seeing your vintage/shabby chic projects.

The Design Team will choose their four top picks with the overall winner receiving a $25 gift certificate to go on a spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. All four top picks will receive badges to display on their blogs in recognition of their outstanding contributions.

I've made another collage card for this challenge but in contrast to the last set there's plenty of colour on this one as we look forward to the imminent arrival of Spring and all it holds.


The flowers come from Wendy Vecchi's 'Spring Bouquet' Stamp It Stencil It set and have been painted using Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paints. To ensure they stand out against the paler background I've used some of the brighter paint colours (Apricot, Carnation, Blushing, Lemon and a Lime/Umber mix) and stamped them on top of a deeper coloured gel plate print (which is mainly Sedona).



As well as some hand stitching there's a little lace trim and dots of Wendy Vecchi 'Sunflower' Liquid Pearls. The sentiment comes from the Wendy Vecchi MAKE ART Stamp/Die/Stencil Set 'A Million Thanks'. The pale textured background has been designed to emulate the crumbling walls seen on Venetian buildings - I'll be back this Saturday with a tutorial for that and some extra projects using it.



For now that's my take on the 'Anything Goes' theme. For even more inspiration my amazing team mates have come up with their own projects for this challenge so make sure you hop on over and check them out HERE.

For now, thanks for visiting,
Jenny xxx

Products used to create this card are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

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