I admit, I'm a messy crafter

OK, I've known for quite a while that I wasn't a clean and neat crafter who looked after her tools and kept in nice and clean and orderly fashion.

Now there is public evidence of my bad habits.

I completely and utterly destroyed Leandra's brayer at Stevenage and I made a scrapbook page with the photo she took.

Picking up the colour scheme from the photo I started off paint some blue card in Turquoise and Lavender.  Added some stamping using Hotpicks Xtra 8 Days and Months 3. in Aquamarine Archival.  I took the individual stamped and put on a large stamping block some horizontal and some vertical to make a grid arrangement.

Added some stencilling with Chalk and also fave it a wash with chalk to blend the colours.   I distressed the edges and added some Brown Shed to again echo the disgusting colour mess Id made of the brayer!

I drew around the photo on the page and then added some Lake Wanaka and Chalk and then used the little text circle from Emma Godfrey's Eclectica stamps No.2 to make a scallop border in Watering Can Archival. I went round the scallops with a black pen and also around the photo once it was stuck done.

I stamped a lot of the phrases from Emma's stamps in Sienna Archival, cut the appropriate ones out, edged in Black Soot Distress Ink and stuck on the page. 

The page is clipped onto my scrap board clipboard and I'm really pleased with the concept and how it looks.

And yes it really is too funny!

Hugs 

Jo

xx

Do you remember ... (Emma Godfrey PaperArtsy stamps and JOFY paints)

I take a lot of photos on my phone which I share on Social Media (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.  I've realised for quite a while that these Social Media sites are my scrapbook, documenting my life, the things I'm doing, the experiences I've had, the memories I want to remember.  But they often stay on my Phone or on social media and sometimes I want to actually see the photos printed and perhaps write a few notes about what the picture means to me.

So I decorated this clipboard to add mini journalling pages to and see and then collate into a scrapbook. The clipboard is approximately 6" wide and 9" in height. 

I've used one of the new Emma Godfrey stamps sets and the new JOFY paints.

I started off by painting the clip in Brown Shed and then dabbed Cinnamon.  Before it dried I sprinkled some Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder and gently heated to melt.  Remember its on metal and it will get hot! Once cooled I gently sanded to reveal the metal in places.

 

Then it was onto the front.  Painted a couple of layers of Mud Splat as a base coat and then scraped Crackle Glaze over this.  For the top layer I used Buff from the new JOFY range to get my crackles. I also sanded in places to reveal more of the Mud Splat base layer.

The first layer of stamping was the alphabet from EEG02 in Archival Tree Branch. I offset the lines of stamps so that it wasn't too regular and did repeat stamping to get the stronger (first stamping) and lighter (second and third stamping).  I then added a Chalk wash over the top to tone down the stamping.

To get some contrast and develop the used shabby look I dripped Southern Skies from the new JOFY range in the top corners.  To get those drips, dab some paint where you want the drips to start, hold the item upright and spray with water to allow the paint to run.  The more water you add, the more it will dilute the paint and the more it will run.  Alter the angle of the item to slow or fasten the paint running and have a cloth ready to mop up what you don't want.

I wanted more colour contrast, so in places I added the spot stamps from EEG02 in Prawn and the circles in Tree Branch.

I sealed the top with Matt Glaze and painted the back in Cinnamon and drips of Blood Orange.  Gave it a good sand to add scuff marks and edged the clipboard had Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

 

So the clipboard is done, next time I'll show you how I've been creating scrapbook pages.

Hugs

Jo

xx

P.S. my Instagram name is jomyhill and my Twitter name is jomyhill, I'm so original!

 

Peeled Paint Delight

A technique to that gives me a shabby, distressed grungy look?  YES PLEASE!

I had to try Liesbeth Fidder's peeled paint technique showcased on the PaperArtsy blog this week and I knew exactly the photo I'd use as well (well to be honest I have a whole series of rusty metal hinges, locks and peeled paint ones taken at Southwold, it was just a matter of choosing which one would work).

I started with a 12x12" sheet of Tim Holtz paper cut down to 11x11" to fit in my scrapbook and then proceeded to cover it in a mix of Very Berry and Blood Orange (it originally a pink piece of paper).  Next I used a whole range of Ellen Vargo Eclectica stamps in Maroon and Sienna Archival inks to go all over the paint.  Very subtle and hardly seen in the finished article, but they just pop through in places..

Next a few layers of  watered down Irish Cream to add depth and a very light layer of colour, it also knocks back the pinkness of the base colour and stamping. I then stamped some of my favourite PaperArtsy Words and Ephemera stamps in Black Archival.  I was going for the faded wall advertising you see on the sides of buildings (I tend to photograph that when I see it as well!) 

Finally the Vaseline!

 

I smeared in places over the black stamping and added a layer of Nougat.  When that had done its magic (see Liebeths post for the full technique) I added a bit more Vaseline over the Nougat and added Mocha Mousse.  For both the top layers I varied the amount of paint I dded so that in some places you could still see the brush strokes.

Chicken wire stencil in Elephant and crackle stamp in Watering Can Archival in places to add more layers.  Distressed and sanded the the edges and added Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress Ink with water spritzing 

The photo was distressed and scratched and Vintage Photo Distress Ink added. I then stamped and cut out a lot of label stamps from the PaperArtsy range.  These I scrunched up and added Distress Ink to the edges and the folds to add further shabbiness. Layered all this up with two tags and before adding the photo I flicked watered down Snowflake and Chocolate Pudding.

Really happy with this.

Right today will be would you believe stripping and peeling wallpaper off the walls at my mums new house.  She's downsized and the bungalow is stuck in a 70s time warp of yellow, oranges and browns.  Very retro as I keep telling her but hard on the eyes!

Hugs

Jo

xx

Bird man!

So I was working on this straight after finishing bird shed as the two are linked.  As I said not only was the shed to store the bird feed but it's also a bird hide so that husband can get closer to the birds and record his weekly count for the British Ornithology Society Garden BirdWatch.  He does this every Sunday morning usually with the help of one of the cats who likes to come into the shed with him!

Husband isn't usually this Grizzly Adams like, but he was acting in Victorian thriller and needed to have mutton chop whiskers.  I hate it when he grows a beard, so was really happy when if came off and I got my less hairy but a bit of 5oclock shadow is quite sexy husband back!

Same size (11x11") and pretty much the same colour scheme and elements (they were all out the desk, so my not use them up!) I've added in some red with the fabric and Distress Ink to pick up the red of husbands bobble hat.  Really rather like the white splatters which echo the grungy stencilled circles which echo the Grunge Paste stencilling!

Right it might be time to move away from the green colour scheme. 

hugs

Jo

xx

Bird Shed

So my husband is a bit of a bird man, not the human kind I hasten to add, no the feathered variety. We have some many bird feeders in our garden that we have to have a huge (and I mean huge) delivery of bird food stuff virtually every month.  In fact it's so much that it was decided it needed its own shed that could also double as a bird hide for my very own Bill Oddie!

Homework was done and a suitable shed identified, purchased and delivered. and one weekend husband and brother put it up.  I kept well out of the way as I knew there would be a clash of egos (no, you should do it like this, no it should go like that - you know what I mean) and I figured my input would only antagonise not soothe the situation,

So now we are the proud owners of a bird shed and as you can see its fairly well hid under the plum tree so makes an excellent bird hide.

It makes him very happy and that makes me happy!

The background 12x12" card had plenty of texture added with a thin layer of PaperArtsy Grunge Paste mixed with Guacamole Fresco paint, whilst it was still wet I gently pushed a piece of hessian into it to give more texture (you can see that hessian under the photo).  More green PaperArtsy Fresco paints were added along with Glimmer Mists.

Stencilling with Hyde Park Fresco paint and stamping with Ink & the Dog Mini 59 in Green Fern Archival Ink. Lots of distressing and sanding and Walnut Ink and Peeled Paint Distress Inks to highlight the distressing and sanding on the edges.

The embellishments are as you can see are lots of fabric, tags, book text paper, chipboard, staples and the lovely little mini bird from Hot Picks 1103. I used the the small songbird die to cut the shape before stamping. 

The photo is of husband and bro adding the roof and if you look carefully you can see some finger pointing from my bro!   

The photo had filters and layers added in Pixlr and I really sanded it around the around the edges. I added some Walnut Stain Distress Ink and spritzed with water, but because its a home printed photo the inks ran when I wiped the edges with a baby wipe!  I thought "oh %$$^&*!, but actually I think it looks OK with the smudging.  

Bit like an old 1970's Polaroid picture that's faded and got crumpled in the back of the drawer and squint at it because you can't quite make out what it is but you can vaguely remember it being taken and going "oh yes that was the weekend we put the bird shed up, do you remember ?"

Hugs
Jo
xx

My Dad

Today is Father's Day here in the UK (and I understand in other places around the world as well).  My Dad died a few years back and yes I miss the old devil everyday.

The "memory bit"

My Dad loved me very much, even if he did say to the midwife when she showed him me in my cot in the hospital, can I have that one instead. I was his first born and his only daughter and I was a tomboy, never a girly girl and he expected me to stand on my own two feet and not expect anyone else to do things for me (which means I find it really hard to accept help and people being kind today).

My Dad used to write me long letters when I was at Uni that he wrote over a number of days in the most beautiful copperplate handwriting learnt at the same primary school I went too. He'd tell me what was going on at home, what my brothers were doing, which cats were sat with him, what they'd all had for tea and what did I think to the Archers storyline this week.  

My Dad would come and pick me up from Uni early on a Saturday morning whenever I wanted to come home (I only got badly drunk on a Friday once, trying to pack suitcases on a Saturday morning with a hangover wasn't good).  We'd have to stop at the tool shop just outside Wolverhampton (where I went to Uni or Polytechnic as it was then) so he could buy another drill or socket set, he didn't need them, but tools were goodies, shiny new things to play with (umm sounds familiar, just swap tools for stamps)

My Dad used to laugh hysterically at the London Marathon every year when they used to show the poor souls who'd hit the wall and we're falling over and staggering along, he knew it was bad but he just couldn't help it.

My Dad a shy man who made a speech at my wedding in front of everyone and became every ones best friend and a disco king at the evening reception.   It took my Mum 30 minutes to walk him home from the Village Hall reception (its a 5 minutes walk max) because he walked into the hedge three times and fell off the kerb twice. He was desperate to phone me when he got in, Mum wouldn't let him and he never remembered what he wanted to say. 

My Dad was the first person I heard swear, the man that introduced me to photography, the man who'd be tutting at the state of my wheels on my car (get that brake dust washed off), the man who helped us make our vegetable garden, the man that introduced me to sitting in the living room with the curtains shut watching the cricket, the man who would wait patiently for the Grand Prix on a Sunday and then fall asleep withing the first 10 minutes, the man who would tell us to be quiet so he could watch the weather (a habit I've now developed), the man who played wrestling with me and my brothers every Saturday afternoon in the living room and nearly cracked his head open on the hearth when we'd all pinned him down to submit in Big Daddy style.

There are so many memories that I shared with my Dad, but this photo is his memory, his time doing National Service in the late 50's first in Honiton on basic training and then in Germany in REME, before he got married, before he thought about kids. A young man in the big wide world, who apparently went AWOL after missing the ferry in Harwich, refused his Sargent's strips, laughed on parade and wrote the best ever accident report his commanding officer had ever seen (even if he did drive a metal spike into a German road in order to tow a truck out of a turnip field in front of a busload of German housewives).

My Dad xx

The "art bit"

I stuck a load of scrap Kraft card that I'd embossed in folders on another piece of patterned Kraft card. A layer of Taupe Fresco paint, then Crackle Glaze and then a top layer of a pale grey Eco paint. 

Distress Inks on top of this in various Browns to catch the embossing and Glimmer mists in brown lightly misted on.  I also added a few drops of a Slate Glimmer mist to add contrast and pick up the black and white of the photo.

Stamped the clocks in Potting Shed Archival 

The photo is a photocopy that I glued on a page of text and then added layers of Fresco Matte Glaze to seal it. A thin wash of the pale gray to obscure the text top left and bottom.

This was stitched onto a piece of linen.  

Added pencil lines around  the photo and the Dad or Daddy definition.  Finally a layer of beeswax added all over and then Pebble alcohol ink in the corners. 

A spare piece of embossed card under the linen and a tag with various PaperArtsy word stamps.

Hugs

Jo

xx 

  

Gelli delight!

Well inspired by Pam over on the PaperArtsy blog this week I thought I'd get my Gelli plate out and give it a go. Goodness me it's addictive! I also wanted to do some more scrap booking and this lovely photo of beach huts taken at Southwold very early as the sun was rising last summer (or it could have been the summer before actually)  was the one I wanted to use for my happy moments scrapbook (the happy moment is Southwold and the seaside).

I picked a whole range of blue fresco's and just starting putting paint on taking prints, adding more paint and stencils, taking another print etc, etc, etc! The spare paint on the brayer I just brayered on more paper to give more stuff to play with, told you it was addictive!

I then took my Ellen Vargo Eclectica stamps and followed Pam's instructions for adding the circles. I also embossed the fine scribble circle to make it stand out more as I'd gone very tonal with the mono printing and it was all very subtle.

I've fiddled and faffed around with scraps of paper, fabric, embellishments and finally came up with this layout which I'm happy with.

I added some extra stamping using Jofy seaside stamps of beach huts and some of the Hotpicks sea themed stamps.

You can't see much of the Gelli print under it all, but hey ho! 

Hugs
jo
xx

Yellow ...well sort of

Well I brashly announced on Twitter this week that I was going to use yellow, it isn't in my top ten favourite colours list and I knew I had a lot (and I mean a LOT) of yellow Prima flowers in the hoard. So in the quest to use up stuff to justify buying new stuff (flawed logic I know, but it justifies the buying new, doesn't it???) plus a photo of the primroses in my garden that were yellow,  I set to looking for stash.

Yellow paint, as I'd expected not a lot. No Yellow Submarine from PaperArtsy, only Zesty Zing, Chartreuse, Cheesecake and Vanilla.  Bit more of a root around found some old Glimmer Mists in Lemon Meringue and Sunflower and ooh look a contrasting lemony lime green.

Paper, umm hard again. No bright yellows but some muted soft buttery yellows, plus some contrasting greeny blues. 

Years, years and years ago I dabbled in scrapbooking but came to a monumental halt as having no children I got stuck on what to scrapbook (if anyone is interested I have some old simple scrapbooking books waiting to go to a good home) and stopped.  

Recently though the world of scrapbooking appears to have moved on and is very much more about home decor as well as story telling an event or reflecting on an emotion, what makes you happy and content using a more shabby single photo style layout. 

Much more my style and the concept of capturing and recording what makes me happy appealed, as sometimes we get way too bogged down in the muddy quagmire drudge of life (I was going to insert a single swear word here but figured not everyone wants to read that single descriptive word, it works for me but I appreciate and understand it might not work for you) and we need reminding that on the whole we should be grateful and thankful for the experiences in life that make us smile, be happy and content.

I also figured that social media (Facebook ands Twitter) are sort of virtual scrapbooking tools, a photograph, a description and I use those a lot to connect with friends and family.  The photos I take and share on twitter and Facebook are going to form the backbone of my physical scrapbooking.

So I started with a sheet of 12x12" and cut it down to 11x11"to fit into my new Kraft scrapbooking album (its a justified purchase, had to buy in order to start didn't I?). Added some Chartreuse with a brayer (thank you Ellen Vargo) and then some Zesty Zing. Added some Grunge Paste to give some texture and stamping using one of the new Hotpicks from PaperArtsy (love those collage big text stamps) in Archival Monarch.  Sprayed some of the Glimmer Mists (I'd forgotten how sparkly they are) to get a "yellowish" base layer.

And then the rest of the layout is pretty much "me" style, ripped and distressed, felt (cut with one of the new Tim Holtz dies), fabric, stitching and some stamping using those lovely PaerArtsy Sarah Naumann stamps which I think I will be using a lot in this album.

I just need to add a title and I think the title of this post will work and I might do a second similar layout with the same paper and paint and add the journalling in as to why this photo makes me happy.

Happy Easter everyone.

Hugs

Jo

xx