30 June 2021

Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters - The Funkie Junkie Boutique Challenge

Hi everyone and welcome. Laura is hosting the latest challenge over on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and she's called it 'Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters'; "Your challenge is to create a vintage or shabby chic project inspired by this quote and it must have a time piece like a clock, pocket watch or photo of a time piece."

The Design Team will choose their top four picks, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and three additional outstanding entries will receive Top 3 Badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

We are heading back to Paris for this one with another of my journal spreads, inspired by a family holiday to that wonderful city. Thinking back it was particularly special sharing time with them in a city that I'd first visited many years earlier.


The clock requirement for this challenge made the choice of building to depict easy; I remember seeing the large gilded clock at the front of the Musee D'Orsay, a former railway station that now houses an impressive collection of gorgeous art and fabulous sculptures. In fact I added a photo of that very clock onto a small fabric page adjacent to the sketched page.


As is the case with many of my architectural drawings this is a representation taken from photos rather than a detailed depiction. Having previously experimented with drawing directly onto journal pages this time my sketch was done on tea stained paper that had gesso applied in patches. The gesso is great for causing a reaction with later layers of watercolour paint and charcoal pencil. I then cut around the drawing before adding it to the final journal page.


By including the drawing as a separate layer I was able to add various collage elements underneath; gel plate printed tissue and text from a French book about architecture were glued in place with soft gel medium as were scraps of lace.


To add some colour and pattern I used the Dina Wakley Media stencils 'Marks' and 'Bumps', one with 'Ruby' Acrylic Paint and the other with texture paste; the bumps very much echoed the distinctive arches at the front of the museum and the Ruby marks added a flash of colour and contrast. In the bottom corner is one of the metal embellishments Linda sells in the store, altered with some Prima Art Alchemy Matte Wax in 'Faded Denim'.


Thinking back on those happy memories I recall getting to see so much breath-taking art up close and in particular some of Monet's paintings. Often it is when you see these works of art in person that you can truly appreciate their skill and artistry; his use of the colour white to depict the beauty and iridescence of snow so realistically is something I think back to often. Returning to my humble journal page, Dina's words from the 'Ledger Girls' stamp set summed up many of the feelings and recollections of the visit. I also stamped some of the figures from the same set to represent the people visiting the museum.


So that's my take on the 'Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters' theme. For even more inspiration the rest of the Design Team 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 these journal pages are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

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24 June 2021

Happy 100th Country View Crafts!!!

Hi everyone and welcome. It's a really special month over at the Country View Crafts Challenge blog because they are celebrating reaching the 100th challenge milestone - what an achievement that is! Huge congratulations to Susan, her team and all the designers who have worked so hard behind the scenes over the years to make it happen and inspire you with so many wonderful projects.

Lots of fantastic designers have queued up to offer their congratulations and share a little something as part of the celebrations. This is my contribution - can you spot the hidden 100?


Following on from an initial foray into the world of urban sketching last month (a book of Venetian architecture that can be seen HERE) I moved on to making a start on documenting some of the places visited during a family trip to Southern France a few years ago. The first couple of pages featured my take on views of the castle walls at Carcassonne (these can be seen HERE).


Since then I have experimented with different ways to combine sketching the buildings with collage elements and pops of colour, seeing what works best for me. This time, rather than using simple pencil sketching and shading, I decided to combine three shades of blue PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Paints (Wolf Eye, Blue Smoke and Surf's Up) to add detail and dimension to the drawing of the old church in the village of Montblanc (in the Herault department).


You'll see how the darkest has been used to add deeper shading with the mid and lighter tones blending out towards the highlighted areas. I also added a little Snowflake Paint to strengthen those highlights. A permanent black marker has then been used to re-draw the lines, deliberately keeping it simple to allow the various shapes of the buildings to become the main focus.


I used stamps to enhance and embellish the sketch, applying them over the layers of collage papers and painted wet strength tissue. The images come from Sara Naumann's PaperArtsy stamp set ESN52, including the rows of zeros - have you spotted the 'hidden' 100 in there? Using different colours of permanent ink with them helps to prevent them overshadowing the painted building and also allows for the details of each one to remain visible even when they are stamped and layered over one another.


The phrase from Alison Bomber's PaperArtsy stamp set EAB12 'Travel & Journeys' seemed apt, both for the first page of this journal as the experiments continue, and for the Country View Crafts Challenge blog which has reached an amazing milestone one challenge at a time. The layers of lace beneath help to make it stand out; not only has some of the paper been stained with a combo of dilute tea and a sprinkle of Rocky Road Infusions to get that pale berry hue, some of the lace has been dyed with it too. My tip if you want a subtle colour is to thoroughly mix the Infusions with water to activate the dies and Walnut crystals, soak your lace in the mixture to allow it to be absorbed and then rinse off the excess in running cold water.


That's it for this journey into Southern France. I hope you've enjoyed finding out how the page came together and look forward to sharing more of the pages with you soon.

In the meantime please do make sure to check out all the blog posts this month over on the Country View Crafts Challenge blog. A big thank you to Susan for inviting me to be a part of the celebrations. I am so looking forward to getting back to going to workshops so a return trip to her wonderful shop and fabulous workspace can happen.

For now, thanks for visiting.
Jenny xxx
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16 June 2021

Snarky, Silly and Sassy Summer at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. Tera is hosting the latest challenge over on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and she's called it 'Snarky, Silly and Sassy Summer'; "Is the summer heat getting to you like it is me? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE summer...But, sometimes the heat can make me feel a little extra sassy! Show my you love of all things sassy, snarky , and just plain silly! I love a good bit of snark, so make me laugh!"

The Design Team will choose their top four picks, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and three additional outstanding entries will receive Top 3 Badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

After a bit of head scratching I came up with a card that features the silly sayings from the Dina Wakley Media stamp set 'No Refunds' and selected some summery paint colours to go with it.


I started this card by spreading a few of the brighter colours from the Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint collection onto some Ranger Tim Holtz Mixed Media Heavystock. The fun, quirky figures were stamped on top and trimmed to fit the card.


The background was made using a tutorial I shared for the recent Saturday Showcase post over on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. I stamped one of the rectangular shapes from the 'No Refunds' set onto the background using Wendy Vecchi's new 'Mulberry' Archival Ink and then added the quirky people on top. The words came from a couple of the phrases in the same set and a faux stitched border was included using a tracing wheel.


Here are a couple of close ups showing more of the background which includes Dina's funny phrases. You can also see some of the stencilling and collage paper used to create the background along with some splatters of the Peacock paint.



That's my take on the 'Snarky, Silly and Sassy Summer' theme. For even more inspiration the rest of the Design Team 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.

Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Lemon, 1oz Bottle
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Lime, 1oz Bottle
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15 June 2021

Camper Card for Eileen Hull Designs

Hi everyone and welcome. This month Eileen Hull's Teams are sharing projects with a theme of 'Summer Adventures'. For so many people this year a summer escape will be a domestic affair in place of those trips abroad. I decided to celebrate these homegrown holidays by using Eileen Hull's Sizzix Scoreboards 'Camper' Die to create a fun summer card.


The textured background for this one was made as part of a masterboard earlier this year (the tutorial can be found HERE). I added a 'woodland' scene on it by die cutting and painting some Eileen Hull 'Spring Leaves' with PaperArtsy Fresco Finish Acrylic Paints. To make up the camper each of the parts were die cut from card covered in gel plate printed tissue. For the silver parts I used a Sizzix Aluminium Metal Sheet (handy adhesive backed foil sheets).


More gel plate printed tissue was used to cover the flowers (most of which came from the 'Folio Page Pocket & Flowers' Die Set. As well as dots of Liquid Pearls, a phrase from Alison Bomber's 'Travel' stamp set by PaperArtsy created the perfect finishing touch.


I hope you've enjoyed seeing how Eileen's dies have been used to create this card. Make sure to check out the 'Summer Adventures' 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
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2 June 2021

I'm Feeling Like Royalty for The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog

Hi everyone and welcome. Suzz is hosting the latest challenge over on The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and she's called it 'I'm Feeling Like Royalty'; "On June 2, 1953 the then 27 year old Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom. I thought why not honor this event by having a challenge that includes inspiration from royalty. Think crowns, castles, elegant and regal patterns, or gilding your project with touches of gold! Create a shabby chic or vintage project inspired by royalty!"

The Design Team will choose their top four picks, with the winner being invited to join us in a Guest DT spot at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and three additional outstanding entries will receive Top 3 Badges to display on their blogs. Everyone who enters and follows the rules will be entered into the draw to have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

When Suzz picked the theme for this week you would be forgiven for assuming I would honour our Queen whose service to this country has been outstanding, but with gold mentioned my mind immediately turned to the magnificent golden gates outside the Palace of Versailles, Paris. And once through those golden gates you get to enter the incredible Hall of Mirrors where even more 'bling' awaits. We were lucky enough to get to see all of this on a family holiday a few years ago and it has been so special remembering some of that experience as I created a three page spread in a new Parisian themed book.


On the first page is one of our photos inside the Hall of Mirrors, gel transferred onto fabric with a layer of texture paste applied; the Prima Paper one is great for this because it is lightweight and has a paper-like finish. I love the ageing that is achieved as you rub away at the print and remove a little of the original image.


After applying some white gesso and more texture paste to the remaining two pages I drew in a rough sketch of the famous gates and a very basic outline of the palace buildings behind. This gave me a clue about where to place all the other elements on the pages.


Using a gel plate and a combination of the Dina Wakley Media paints listed at the bottom of this post I pulled a few prints onto wet strength tissue (in the US you use deli paper) and stuck a couple of torn pieces to the pages with gel medium. I also stamped some French text over the main area of the gates with permanent black ink (this is an old background stamp from Wendy Vecchi called 'Les Roses') before going over the pencil lines with permanent black and white ink markers.


In the top corner of the gel transfer printed page is a gold (of course!) heat embossed chandelier which comes from Wendy Vecchi's 'Party Art' stamp set. As long as you seal your transfer with a layer of soft gel medium this should be easy to do. It really fits with the opulent feel and style of the Hall. Lace was added to the underside of the page and starts a new page/tuck spot overleaf.


Below you can see how the gates have a raised texture; Dina Wakley's 1oz bottles of paint have a fine nozzle which means you can trace along your sketching with a layer of 'Gilt' paint that then dries firm and dimensional. To make the gates stand out further I used a mix of red and orange watercolour paint (designed to match the 'Sedona' shade in the gel plate print) over the stamping. The black permanent ink pen was used to add a hint of shadowing.


To finish the pages I added a couple of filigree metal corner pieces at either end of the gates - you can change the colour with paint to make them fit with your overall look - and some hand stitching in lines, a nod to the long, long queues of people who lined up patiently outside waiting to enter the main palace buildings on a warm summer's day. Having applied texture paste through the Code Layering Stencil I dabbed a little glue on top in a few places and added gold flakes before sticking bits of lace on top.


That's my take on the 'I'm Feeling Like Royalty' theme. For even more inspiration the rest of the Design Team 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 these pages are available from The Funkie Junkie Boutique and are listed/linked below.

Dina Wakley Heavy Body Acrylic Paint - Mineral - 1oz BottleDina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Gilt, 1oz Bottle
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Night, 1oz Bottle
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