Flapper Compact

I've been meaning to make this for ages! I bid for some gold compacts on e bay with a view to making some little collages inside, and in particular I wanted to make one with an art deco feel to it, using the Flapper Fashions and Gatsby sets by Artistic Outpost. I finally got round to it and am entering this into their monthly referral programme for July which is here.

The art deco paper is from Joanna Sheen, many moons ago, and I got the tiny hand mirror charm from e bay and filled in one side with silver ink to look like a mirror. As she has her hand outstretched I wanted her to look as if she was holding it. The car from the Gatsby set has been stamped onto shrink plastic.

Lynne Perella Shrink Plastic Charm Bracelet inspired by Carol Quance for Paper Artsy

This week on Paper Artsy, one of my favourite guest designers is back, Carol Quance. Carol made a gorgeous bracelet made up of shrink plastic charms with Lynne Perella stamps and Fresco paints, so of course I had to give it a go! I am entering the challenge here.

I didn't have a heart die or punch so I used circles which wasn't ideal. I tried using the translucent Frescos but I think as Carol suggested the opaques would have been better. I embossed before shrinking so that only one layer of embossing powder was needed.  It was a fun project and I'm sure the left over charms will work well on cards, etc.

postscript:

I decided to make some charms using Bora Bora opaque paint and making my own heart templates but I'm not sure whether to remake the bracelet or not - what do you think:-

Indigo Blu Gilded Heart

 The current Indigo Blu challenge is Summertime and I am entering this heart which I have made for my dear friend, Pauline. We went to the Newbury Artstamps show the other week and had a great time. It was quite quiet which was great for us as customers, so we had a rare chance to have a chat with Kay from Indigo Blu who was demo'ing and was very sweet to us. What a genuinely lovely lady she was! We bought some new Indigo Blu stamps which will make it easier for me to join in the challenges in future. In fact Pauline lent me the main stamps for this heart, which are the ones I bought her for Christmas from the Bloomin' Great set, which comprises the flowers which I thought were perfect for the theme, and the frame which gave me a chance to use their gilding flakes and Flitterglu which works brilliantly. I have also used their Script stamp and Kroma crackle.

I used shrink plastic for the centre of the largest flowers, and added leaves from the set. I finished off with Treasure Gold in Ice Fire round the edges and sprinkled over some tiny turquoise beads.

Distress Stains Canvas Board - Sue Carrington at Paper Artsy

Over on the Paper Artsy blog this week, Sue Carrington is back! I love Sue's work and I was lucky enough to meet her briefly at Ally Pally this year. I was really inspired by the canvas board piece she made and have stuck as closely to her inspiration as my supplies allowed, for my challenge entry piece:-

I have used a smaller canvas board than Sue used, a 5 x 7. I need to try to make items which either take up less space or are useful. Colin has told me this week I have to 'get rid' of all my 'art work' that has been on the mantelpiece in the living room. He didn't use the word 'art work' actually. So I will be offering things to anybody who comes round to craft! Fortunately I don't feel any attachment to things once I have made them; the fun is in the making, so I'm not bothered. I started off by stamping with Frescos on some old telephone directory sheets from France. I haven't had such fun since Helen Chilton was last on Paper Artsy, so thank you, Sue! I made a couple of sheets as I thought they would be useful for future projects. They are real people so please don't call any of them up (the French people I mean, not Sue and Helen):-

I remember years ago stamping with paint and giving it up as a bad job, but this was great. I don't know whether it is to do with the quality of the PA stamps or the Frescos, or a combination of the two, but you do actually get a good clarity of stamping. I love the viscosity and vibrancy of paint compared to inks. I chose the French directory because I wanted to use this Hot Picks image with the Eiffel tower. I added some cogs which are cut from the Tim die in shrink plastic, then dabbed with Versamark and two types of embossing powder before shrinking, for a rusty look (I think I used some Vintage Photo ep - sounding vague here as they were in my pre-made embellishment stash).

This is the base of the canvas before I added the main image. I used the harlequin mask with Bora Bora mixed into the Grunge Paste as per Sue, highlighted with Ice Fire Treasure Gold, and similar colours of Distress Stain although I think I will try to pick up Squeezed Lemonade at Newbury Art Stamps tomorrow as I didn't have that one and I think it would have lightened it. I used the flourish from the Hot Picks set in Snowflake to try to lighten the effect although maybe my stains were a bit damp as they sucked up the whiteness a bit.

 I used a bit of the pink washi tape I made following Darcy's instructions last week with a stamped button I saved from when I made the wooden block when Helen was on some time ago. I love how the bits and pieces we are learning, are starting to build up over the weeks!

Ok, I feel I'm rambling today and explaining things in a very back to front order. I took some migraine tablets yesterday which have left me feeling very odd as some of you have witnessed before! So I shall leave it at that.