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Friday 2 May 2014

#3UP April - May 2014


Here we go again..... a new #3Up challenge from PaperArtsy! 

I postulated for the evening showcasing  Ellen Vargo new set of Eclectica3 stamps.... 
You  can see the full collection at the end of the post but here are the 2 sets that I have and used for this challenge...
(I will be buying more...they're so much fun)
sets 1 & 2




I’ve had two of promotional puzzle cubes from work hanging about the house for ages and had been wanting to transform them long before the #3UP challenge.
A publicity item that we give away at shows, exhibitions and communication events

I first thought of simply priming the cube with Gesso them then stamping but the Gesso didn’t adhere too well so I scraped off the paper, cleaned the plastic cubes with alcohol and started from scratch, time consuming!
one of the eight cubes

eight plastic cubes to be gessoed after hours of cleaning with alcohol

All the black cubes were primed with white gesso, I really should have painted them with my background yellows since I had to go around all the edges after I'd stuck the paper on!!!

I painted and stamped my background on quality cartridge paper but then realized that it was going to be too thick for the folds so.... yet another change of plan, but not the goal.

I started again from scratch using a sheet of address labels. the kind you put in your printer. It worked - solid enough to take the wet paint and thin enough to fold.

The “scratchy circles” were stamped in "Library Green” and “Crimson” (discontinued) Archival”, I base-coated with splotches of Zesty Zing, Yellow Submarine and Limelight. then highlighted the inside of the “swirls using Yellow Submarine and Limelight.
"Scratchy Circle" Ellen Vargo

For the stencil I used a Tim Holtz Dot Fade layering stencil with Smoked Paprika mixed with Metallic Glaze, which didn’t give the full metal jacket effect that I had hoped for but turned out interesting all the same....Maybe because Smoked Paprika is a translucent?? Leandra....?. I used the JoFy mini 16 to stamp on more labels and coloured the images with Spanish Mulberry, Orchid, Blood Orange, London Bus, Limelight, Hyde Park, Zesty Zing, Pumpkin Soup and Smoked Paprika.

The words for the quote were printed on standard copy paper, coloured with Promarkers from the limited edition set for 2013. All flowers and words were fussy cut, edged with waterproof black and then collaged using Glue and Seal.
Quote part 1
Quote part 2
Quote part 3

Finally I made a little tray from cardboard, using cardboard and kraft gummed paper (rolls I use for cartonnage). I then covered the outside and inside with strips ....
love my sticky kraft paper rolls

I then painted a strip of micro pore with my background colours and stamped it with the same "scratchy circle" stamp and Archival colours as the cube puzzle. 
Micro pore again! easy washi tape

The "swirl circle" is a piece of Grungeboard painted with Limelight, and stamped with Crimson Archival  on both sides. I painted a piece of Grungepaper with my background colours and using Library Green Archival stamped with Ink & The Dog Mini 09.
Library green Archival stamped over grungepaper painted with Zesty Zing and Yellow Submarine


I then hot-glued some acid coloured buttons threaded with thin strips of contrasting ribbon. 
assembled tray
view face on with puzzle
from above with puzzle
3/4 view



"Voilà, Voilu, ...." 
...as they say here in France..... all finished. 
Now that I'm inspired what can I get up to next??

Oh nearly forgot!! ....  There's no secret safe with Leandra...... the figure skating was supposed to be  my "...something we perhaps don't know about you" bit!!

Here are the first four sets in the Eclectica 3 Ellen Vargo collection

01- have this set
02 - have this set
03 Need, need, need!!!!
04
 The latest two to appear (want/need/longing for them both!!)

05
06

Documented Life Project - Let's get started!!

Well here we are at the long 1st May weekend here in France and I've been preparing to actually start this project this weekend! What is it??? You’ll find all the details here: 

But basically it’s “One part planner plus one part art journal and one part weekly challenge”. Take a diary and add journal pages or make your planner from scratch. Every week there’s a challenge, for example this week is, April 26, 2014 - Week 18 Challenge - Add an inspiring quote to guide your week. I saw this project on Facebook or Darcy mentioned it, can’t remember! Anyway we, and many other people, are doing it, and it’s not too late to start. I used a Moleskine Large 2014 Planner.

In preparation for this long weekend. I gessoed the covers taking care to mask the elastic and covering the pages with silicon paper to keep them clean.
Covers gessoed ready to start decorating
For the tabs I cut 1½ inch strips of cardstock and folded them in half to give me ¾inch high tabs which I cut in to approx. 2¼ inch long pieces.
1½ inch strips of cardstock, folded in half  = ¾inch high tab

I trimmed the ends using  my my Tab punch from Stampin Up (I managed to get this fab punch on ebay in the states before it got a ridiculous price). The other punch that is good for this is the McGill punch but it too is no longer available. You could use the envelope board punch but you’d have to do arithmetic to position the curve!!
The Stampin up Tab punch
trimming the ends to make the tab curves
The final tabs are approx. 2inches long.
tabs cut
Next I dug out all those Making Memories Magnetic Stamp Tins. I bought loads of these cheap on ebay and finally I get to use them, they're a fun alternative to printing on the computer and remind me of John Bull printing sets when I was a kid.
Set with dates, months and some holidays
the magnetic stamp handle
a couple of alphabets
unnamed alphabet
working backwards
testing on plain paper, I finally chose the bottom one
I decided that the police size in the date set was too small so I then tested all my alphabets and settled on one (which has no name!).  I stamped all the months of the year on the back and front of the tabs, I stamped them on plain paper first to test, thankfully because you have to remember you’re working backwards and it’s very easy to spell Fedruary and not February!!! 
All the tabs were distressed with Frayed Burlap using a dauber. 
stamped and distressed
love the fact that they're not perfectly aligned!

I haven’t decided if I’m going to use clear sticky vinyl or gell medium to stiffen them and make them resistant. 
a Seawhite notebook cut to size for the pages
Next I took an A4 Seawhite watercolour journal and cut it up, yes even the black covers, to make my journal which are 4⅞ x 8⅛ inches. I managed to get 46 I believe, which gives me enough to get going.

Hopefully this weekend I'll get time and peace to get the covers finished so I can then get the pages started. Here is a glimpse of colours and ideas going around in my head. I really like the Journal page Darcy did for PaperArtsy using the Ellen Vargo Stamps
Think I'm going to base the design on what Darcy did with the Ellen Vargo Stamps


I have less space than in the journal that Darcy used so I'm going to have to reduce the sizes. Perhaps I'll draw the Greek keys by hand, perhaps I'll use another border....
Stamping on book pages and using Promarkers


 Not much getting done these days but hopefully be back soon with makes