Hello

Monday saw the release of many products from That's Crafty! a few I incorporated into today's project which began life as a piece of watercolour paper prepared for the Journal Kit sample made for HOCHANDA. At that time I had stained, folded the watercolour paper, stitching a stained, calico tab. It had no place in the completed journal. Picking up that folded piece of prepared watercolour paper got the cogs in motion to make a wee booklet, it seems too much to call it a book!

Dipping into the Journal Kit I worked with: watercolour paper, rice paper, corrugated cardboard and calico and amongst the other new releases, Flat Matte Spray in Basil and new stamps.


Supplies

That's Crafty! Surfaces A5 Mixed Media Journal Kit (Watercolour Paper, Rice Paper, Calico)
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Lynne's Wildflowers Set 1 - A5
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set Lynne's Affirmations Set 10
That's Crafty! Flat Matte Spray - Basil
Memento Ink Tuxedo Black 
That's Crafty! Multi-Purpose Craft Adhesive
Water Spray/Mister Bottle (HERE)
Sewing Machine
Black Thread
Eco Dyed Nettle Twine
Walnut Ink Crystals
Watercolour Brush (various brushes HERE)
Bamboo Dip Pen
Acrylic Drawing Ink - Black

Instructions

(Sorry, I don't have any stepped out photos - only lots of detail photos)

I started by mixing Flat Matte Spray - Basil with dissolved walnut ink crystals, this brings a more earthy tone which suits my particular style - this is when we love a product, when we can take it in different directions depending on the projects we are working on. The spray has a wonderful depth of colour.

My method is to spray water onto the watercolour card before applying colour with a watercolour brush, allowing the colour to drip. If required, I allow to partially dry (air drying - not with a heat tool) before re-applying more colour.

I deliberately stamped off the ink before stamping onto the bottom edge of the booklet, then with a bamboo dip pen and black acrylic drawing ink, I doodled over a few of the flowers.

All the papers I used in this booklet were already stained. Behind the "You have permission to ..." words, stamped onto scrap of eco dyed Rice Paper (rice paper from the Journal Kit) a mini booklet of cardboard paper, corrugated paper and rice paper, stamped with Wildflowers or sentiments.

Turn the booklet over and more Wildflowers, again stamped onto eco dyed rice paper, machine stitched to the booklet, with words from the same Wildflowers set. Sentiments were stamped onto cardboard paper.

Rice paper can be very fragile when wet, allow to dry thoroughly. If layering a couple of sheets of rice paper prior to staining/dying/wetting and leaving them stacked together until they dry, it can take on a beautiful textural effect akin to handmade paper - see stamped image below.

To bind the book, at one end, I stitched nettle yarn under the edge where the sentiment reads Secrets whispered in the secret garden, simply wrapping the yarn several times around the book to close it.
There we have it, a wee booklet!

If you have not managed to view the new products, they are available to view, for the moment at the What's New? category at the on-line store.

Until next time,
Wishes
Lynne

Hi everyone,

It's Donna here today featuring the cutest Narwhal from the Water World stamp set designed by Magda Polakow for That's Crafty!....see I told you he was cute!!

Hi there, I have another mixed media creation to share this week, this one being a tag with many layers and it was definitely one of those go with the flow projects so I'll just do a sort of layer by layer list to show how it came about.

Step by Step

I began by cutting a piece of mixed media paper the same size as the MDF tag substrate that I wanted to used and covered it with a thin layer of light texture paste. Once it was dry, I used the abstract grid stencil with texture paste to add a pattern in opposite corners.

Once the background was dry, I added some bits of lace and torn strips of muslin with matte medium and left these overnight to dry completely. I then added sand texture paste in the areas not covered with pattern and around the lace and muslin to blend everything together.


I then added colour by dabbing on some multi surface paints, starting with buttercup, following with mint and lavender. I misted the paint with water and allowed it to run down the tag a little to blend the colours together.


My next task was to create my embellishments so I stamped my chosen flower twice on mixed media paper with VersaFine Imperial Purple ink and painted the images with heavily watered down shimmer paint, using purple and green. I cut out just the petals in purple and the whole flower from the other image. I stuck them together with dimensional glue after shaping the petals with an embossing ball tool.


I then felt that my background needed an extra touch so I added a little more pattern in opposite corners using texture paste with the gorgeous new fleur de lys stencil (ooh la la!) which I know will be a firm favourite of mine. Once dry, I painted them with purple shimmer paint.

I assembled my panel using my shimmery flower with a mix of sequins, gems and some tiny glittery butterflies from my embellishments box, adding a gem to my flower for some more glimmer. The final touch was to add some bits of felting wool in lovely shades which toned perfectly with the purple and green theme of my tag. I then glued my background to the tag which I painted purple around the edges and tied some sari ribbon through the top.


Supplies 

That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF Size 10 Tag
That's Crafty! Clear Stamp Set - Fanciful Flowers Set 2
That's Crafty! 8 x 8 Stencil - TC8023 Abstract Grid
That's Crafty 6.5 x 7.5 Stencil - TC7030 Fleur de Lys
That's Crafty! Light Texture Paste
That's Crafty! Texture Paste
That's Crafty! Texture Sand Paste
That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints
That's Crafty! Shimmer Paints
White Mixed Media Paper
DecoArt Media - Matte Medium
Extras - Scraps of lace and torn muslin, gems, sequins and glittery fabric butterflies

Hello
My initial plan, a nature themed journal but when working with a nature theme, I like to crack on with projects, this journal I wanted as something where I could spend time, whether mere minutes or longer, on an area where I could view development over the journal - it was decided....faces. A journal to sketch faces and features and so it was easy to decide on the direction of the cover of the journal, the Lana stencil.

Supplies
That's Crafty! Lana Stencil
Pink Pig A5 Posh Matte Ameleie 270gsm Watercolour Paper Sketchbook Landscape
Distress Crayons: Ground Espresso, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo
That's Crafty! Multi-Purpose Acrylic Paint: Ivory 
Rice Paper (Eco Dyed)
Posca White Paint Pen PC-5M
WaterBrush (That's Crafty! stock a variety)
Extras:
Dip Pen
Bamboo Dip Pen
Acrylic Drawing Ink Black, White
Golden Fluid Acrylic Titanium White
Baby Wipes
Vintage Book Pages

Instructions

I had some eco dyed rice paper and vintage book pages to hand, which I adhered to the front cover of the Pink Pig journal. I would normal advise to wait until papers are completely dry, preferably overnight but I like to see how media reacts and in this instance, began stenciling the face while the papers were still slightly damp.

With Stabilo watersoluble pencil, I stenciled Lana, flipping stencil over after I stenciled the left side then penciling  in lines for her neck and hair. At this stage, I swiped on some Titanium White Fluid Acrylic, using a waterbrush to activate the watersoluble pencil.


Once the paste was dry, I began the process of bringing the face to life working with the Distress Crayons, watersoluble pencil and Titanium White building up colour then pushing it back, either rubbing with a baby wipe or squeezing the water brush directly onto the face, allowing water to dribble downwards. This process took me longer than I anticipated, I ended up over-working the face because I, somehow, made her lips too prominent and I lost a sense of emotion to her eyes.  At this point (no photos), I was tempted to ditch this as a project which would have been the easiest action but I also know, that is not the way to make progress.  So I battled through and it was a battle!

For mark making, paint was applied with the edge of the glue spreader also adding marks with the Posca pen. For her hair, other than the Light Texture Paste and Distress Crayons, there is also the colour of the eco dyed papers which peek through and working with the dip pens and acrylic drawing ink. Dip pens are lovely for creating loose tendrils. 

Hi everyone,

It's Donna here today with Baby Bear from the Baby Bear and Friends stamp set designed by Magda Polakow for That's Crafty!......don't you just want to hug him?!


I used the smallest That's Crafty! MDF Round for this (see I told you I was now addicted to creating with them) and painted it with a deep green from the That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints selection. I love how opaque these paints are, truly awesome.

Did you know that Magda has also designed some stencils for That's Crafty! too which match the stamp sets? Well, I used one of them here for the hearts you can see on the background. I then doodled on the background and added a hill for Baby Bear all using Posca pens.

I stamped the flowers from the stamp set directly onto the background and once again coloured them in using Posca pens.

Baby Bear was stamped using black Archival ink on a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper and coloured in with a mixture of diluted Mermaid Markers, then fussy cut out and adhered to the background making sure he was placed on top of the hill.

The sentiment, which is from one of Lynne's Affirmations, was stamped onto a scrap of Gelli print paper and then adhered to the background.

I added a piece of twine in the pre drilled holes ready for hanging

Isn't Baby Bear such a sweet little dreamer :)

Supplies Used:
That's Crafty! Stamp Set - Baby Bear and Friends
That's Crafty! Stamp Set - Lynne's Affirmations Set 10 (Coming VERY soon!)
That's Crafty! Stencil - Clouds & Hearts by Magda Polakow
That's Crafty! Surfaces MDF Rounds
That's Crafty! Multi Surface Paints
Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers
Black Archival Ink
Posca Pens
Strathmore Mixed Media Paper Pad
Water Brush
Twine

Hope you like it
Donna xx

Hello everyone, I have a mixed media piece to share this week with a decided shabby chic look as I've gone for lots of aged texture and crinkled my flowers to fit in with the worn look of the background. Read on to find out how it all came about.

Step by Step

I'm working on one of the new MDF circular surfaces in this case the 6 inch diameter circle and the first step was to add a pattern with texture paste through the leaf spirals stencil, the pattern being on the right side as you'll see below.


Once the paste was dry, I brushed on a good coat of midnight multi surface paint for my under layer which needed to be a strong colour as my intention was a more pastel finish.


I then added a coat of crackle glaze and once it was almost dry, brushed a coat of light blue multi surface paint over the top. I then sat back and waited for the crackle to appear - it doesn't take long!
As you can see, I gained a really lovely aged and shabby effect.