JoFY Bingo Wk.4

This week's bingo draw has thrown another festive curve ball...

I planned a triptych for this week's bingo and started with 3 plain pieces of card (7.5x12.5cm) connected on the reverse with tape to keep them together while I worked on them.

I coloured the background with Distress Oxide inks (Picked Raspberry and Carved Pumpkin) (making sure each card had both colours) and splashed them with water to break up the background.

I stamped the swirly border from JOFY40 in Picked Raspberry and the words from JOFY31 in black Archival.

I spritzed the flower image from JOFY31 with water and stamped on each card - this removes some of the colour.

I dried the cards and created 'flowers' by stamping the circles (JOFY31) in Versamark and embossed them with white powder - I did this rather than stamping in white because sometimes the Distress Ink can bleed into wet layers.

I stamped a heart on each card using black Archival. I wanted to make more of a feature of the circle 'flowers' and so painted water inside the image to lift the colour.

To make them look more flowerlike I drew stalks and grasses using a white pen.

I wanted to have words on each card so used the block words on JM40 - once removed from the phrase they could be used in lots more situations...

The hearts were made more solid by colouring with a pencil, & I added hanging threads to each one.  Small hearts were punched from card and added (with 3d foam) to the big hearts to cover some of the stars making them less christmassy.

I separated the cards and attached them to a white backing panel - this makes them looks crisp and the colours really pop!

I really like working with Distress inks - especially the Distress Oxides - and a pink and orange colour scheme makes me happy!!

Now its your turn - I hope you can join in this week and if you can here's what you need to know!:
:o)

The numbers are drawn on Monday, along with a project I've made using the corresponding stamp sets, then the plan is to:

• Use/combine 2 stamp sets (use only those stamp sets - not all the stamps in each set - that would be too much of an ask but as long as there are one or two stamps from each set then its OK!)
• 7 days to create 1 project, makers choice:  cards... atc... journal page... dimensional project... tag...
• Use any paints/media, colours, embellishments, stencils/masks
• Load up your project to Instagram any time during the week.  Please use Instagram links #jofybingo and @jofyjo in the text (not 'tagging' me please) so I can find it :o)

If you don't have an Instagram account you can add your make in the comments on the Facebook post linked to this blog post (facebook links:  https://www.facebook.com/JoFY.JoFirthYoung/ or https://www.facebook.com/jo.firthyoung )

I hope you can join in - I look forward to seeing what you create!

Bring me sunshine!!

Its a lovely sunny day here in Essex today (cold, but sunny!)...

I bought the Concord & 9th 'Dahlia Turnabout Stamp Set' and matching 'Dahlia Turnabout die' before christmas and this is the first chance I've had a chance to play with it.

I watched the company's video on YouTube HERE to understand how to use both (watch the video - its worth it!).
When I first saw the design I wanted to create a stencil using it and luckily they showed how to do that in the video.  Having done this my tip is: mark on the die (with a Sharpie) which leaf bits you are using to line up when rotating- makes it much simpler to keep track of.

I cut a stencil out of plain white card (I'm going to do this again in acetate so I get more use out of it).

I applied Distress Oxide Inks through the stencil - Picked Raspberry and Wild Honey (pink & orange - always a fabulous colour combination!) creating flowers randomly across the white card...

The stamp set has the turnabout flower stamp and some nice big words...

I stamped one of the sentiments (lots of mix & match options on the set) onto the white space, mounted the dahlia panel on to a white card and sewed in place.  I finished off the card with a button and gems...

A lovely sunny card for a lovely sunny day!

BOO!

... yes BOO!  just grabbing your attention as its been a while since I blogged - once a month for the past few months really is not good enough is it!. Life, work and 'stuff' got in the way.. but I'm back with a new determination to do better! (well lets be honest - I can't do much worse can I!)

aaaanyhoo

let get things started...

At the beginning of August I demo'd at Birds in the Barn near Colchester in Essex (lovely shop in the grounds of an equally nice garden centre - worth a trip) and in the morning I was using the fabulous Distress Oxide inks.... if you don't have any of these yet you need to get yourself down to your nearest craft shop and get some - you won't regret it...

Here are some of the samples.... look at the prettiness - the opaqueness of these inks...  and that's the main difference I think between the Oxides and original Distress Inks....

and because they're opaque you can build up layers of colour - the samples below illustrate that... add a colour, dry, add another colour:

Water will affect the Oxide inks in the same way as the originals.  The sample top right in the photo below shows a blended background where I spritzed a stamp with water and pressed it onto the surface - this removes the ink (left hand panel) and on the panel on the right I over stamped using the Distress Oxide (oh yes, you can stamp with them as normal)

The sample on the bottom left of the above photo is where I've added Broken China ink to a kraft panel (using a blending tool), dried that layer and then overstamped with the image using the same colour ink.

The kraft panel sample below was created by pressing ink onto craft sheet, spritzing with water and then laying the kraft panel onto the ink - this was Peeled Paint ink - look how the Oxide has drawn out the blue that goes into making up the green colour - love how different colours are drawn out.

The other sample above was created with lots of layers of Distress Oxide, water splashes and stamping with the Oxides. I stamped on numbers (using black Archival) and they seem to 'hover' on the surface don't they?! as if there is a layer of acetate between the oxides and the archival... interesting.  I painted the right had set of numbers with water to lift some off the colour.

When I get inks or paints I like to create a sample swatch of each for reference and with the Oxides I splashed each one with water to see how water affected the Oxide side of the inks....  The most interesting of these was Frayed Burlap - it was a surprising result when splashed with water and dried - so much so that I repeated it with a second tag. The first tag is on top on right, second tag on left underneath.  Look how different the effect is!  I think this is one of the interesting things about the inks. (note: the ink was applied by rubbing the ink pad over the tag so the ink is quite saturated/intense).

Here's a card I made using one colour of ink - Walnut Stain, bit of a favourite of mine.  Blended the background, splashed with water. Dried the ink. Stamped with same colour (seedhead from JOFY38, another favourite). Dried. Then spritzed the stamp with Perfect Pearl Mists in Heirloom Gold - this removed the ink and left a lovely sparkly image that catches the light (photo on right)... a little bit lush isn't it!

But it isn't only backgrounds and stamping you can do with the inks - I am loving how you can water colour paint with them as I've done on the sample below... (image is from JOFY53)

I hope these simple samples inspire you to try the inks - they really are worth it (but please don't blame me when you realise you NEED the entire set).

x

#365Challenge.... 01-07 April

Hi

April has been a quite a busy month so far and I'm playing catch-up with the #365 Challenge.

Each month I plan to work on a different size page/different size book.  April's pages are 5 inches (12.5cm) square.... I chose this size because (Goldilocks stylee) it wasn't too big, it wasn't too small - it was just right... or so I thought at the start of the month.

Each month I also use a different font/stamp set for the dates/page numbers - so far these have been quite discreetly added to the page in a corner (or on a tag or similar)...

  (January Alphabet: Purple Onion Designs; February Alphabet: PaperArtsy; March Alphabet: Ma Vinci's Reliquary

For April's pages I decided to bring the alphabet front and centre - make it a feature of each page... The alphabet I chose is one by DoCrafts/Papermania - its the 'Typography Clear Stamp' and each number is 5x8cm... 

this seemed like a great size to work with - nice and big, an clear outline so I would be able to use it in lots of different ways...  and this was OK for dates 1 to 9 (single figures) but when there are two numbers for each day (which, lets face it, is the majority of the month!) things were going to get a little bit crowded on the page... 

but I will  not be beaten and will try to resist increasing to a 6x6 inch page... 

(I like a challenge.... sigh!)

(and lets not forget the 'Flow' calendar questions...)

01 April:  'How good are you at setting boundaries?'  hhhmm not really something I set myself - more like guidelines to live/work by... (very flexible guidelines.. lol)

02 April:  'What would the title be of my autobiography?' lol I seriously considered 'I came, I saw, I created a mess!' but went instead with the one on today's page... the background is created with the new Distress Oxide inks - Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade and Walnut Stain.

03 April:  The number on this page is stamped onto the surface - I cut around part of the image so the journalling panel could be slotted underneath.

 The poppy heads (JOFY34) are stamped and embossed in copper (WOW!)

This is a great stamp set - the diamond background and the washi tape strips are handy little elements, as is the tag (I used it on April 1st's page)... handy for journalling..

04 April:  Yes, the writing is upside down, the number and stamped flowers aren't - and thats how I planned it - another way of 'disguising' the journalling...

05 April:  I really like stamping on top of vintage book text - this is a Polish music book, the stamps are JOFY23 and JM33.

06 April:  Flow question: 'Do you find it easy to admit your mistakes?' lol  Make mistakes?!? Me!! Never lol

07 April:  Flow questions: 'What would I never do again?'  I am NEVER EVER going on a loop-the-loop rollercoaster again - EVER!!  I didn't mean to do it the first time and it is a never to be repeated experience.
The background on the page was created with the Distress Oxides again, I was experimenting how bleach (basic thick household bleach) affected the colour...

So that's week one of April... Don't get me wrong I'm enjoying using the big numbers - definitely going to be a challenge though when I get to the latter half of the month....

All part of the fun... I didn't call it the #365 Challenge for nothing! 

Thanks for popping by

x

#365Challenge.... 01-07 March

Hello there!

A new month means a new book for my #365challenge.  This month's book is made up of an abandoned 'journal' I found in a box (while I was looking for something else.... isn't that always the way!), the pages are 16.5x12cm... I really like the book's colour scheme so am happy to use it this month AND it means I'm using up the stash - win win!

I wasn't even put off by the liberal amount of yellow in this collection of papers! Its 'Brook' by Crate Paper, I really like the patterns and the slightly retro designs.  I teamed it with plain pages of dark grey, buff/kraft and white.

This month I'm 'framing' each of my pages to get photo continuity through the month. Marion Emberson, of Sugar&Spice Crafts & WOW! Embossing, used this frame on the WOW! retailer day - such a nice, interesting & inexpensive frame... originally it was white but I painted mine (Slate, Fresco Finish) grey  (we seem to paint a lot of things grey in our house!.... its the new black lol)

01 March:  I wanted to set myself 'goals/aims' on the first day but didn't necessarily want them on show so I stamped (in white ink) a pattern all over a sheet of vellum, cut it to size and attached it with wood print washi tape to the main page... cute way to disguise images and text you don't want seen...

and I also doodled onto the stamped images...  (I used stamps from EKD05, PaperArtsy)

02 March:  I doodled flower heads onto this cute flower print paper, and because I wanted to retain the print I painted a 'fade' over it so the paint (Chalk, Fresco Finish) is more opaque on one side of the page than the other - done by painting over in layers (drying between each layer).  The grass and stems were doodled on when the paint was dry.

03 March:  The word 'focus' always seems to be on my 'list of words to live by this year!' Always and this year is no exception - but this year I am actively doing this... not being swayed/ distracted by the things around me. (big white flower is from EKD05, again! Such a great set of stamps!)

04 March:  This page was created when I was experimenting/playing with the new Distress Oxide paints... that page was as dark as the frame when I started applying the ink - look how opaque they are! Really interesting inks. The background black images are from EKD05 (yes again!... they're on the desk - I can't help reaching for them!)
The 'flowers' are created with a die from a French company called SimplyGraphic.

05 March:  Today's question in the Flow Calendar (yes, I'm still considering those when creating my pages) was 'What can you not throw away?'  Corrugated cardboard!! love it! its so useful and easy to get hold of  - this page was made out of a box that tins of cat food came in.. :o)  Always happy to help with the recycling! lol

The sparkly splats were created using WOW! Mint Macaroon embossing powder - such a pretty colour.

06 March:  I'm getting ready for a demo day at Birds in the Barn, Marks Tey, Essex this coming saturday (11.03.17) and this is one of the samples I made in readiness for that.  Demo'ing paints, stencils and stamps (Kim Dellow's designs).  If you're in the area please come along, its free and runs from 10-3.30.

07 March:  Flow Calendar question of the day: 'What countries would you like to visit?'  For this page I cut up the atlas that formed the cover of February's book.... attacking the stash!  its a book that keeps on giving lol

So that's week 1 of March done... I'll try and post a page a day on Instagram, and a weekly round-up here on the blog... that's the plan... fingers crossed.

Thanks for popping by - if you have any questions pop them in the comments.

x

#365Challenge.... February!!

Here are all the pages for February in one picture packed blog post - you might want to get a cuppa before you sit down... :o)

I'm simply going to show you the pages and give some background information/explanation on a few of them - when I think/hope it might be helpful to you in some way...

Here we go:

The pages in this book are 6x8inches, the book is an upcycled atlas I bought in a charity shop aaaaages ago (and according to the inscription on the front page is the property of the 'Geography department, South East Essex Sixth Form College'! lol)

 

Gelli printed page + stencilled flowers (PS055) + small flowers (JM49) in Snowflake Fresco Finish Paint.

This page was created from a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper....
I really like the starburst effect but really couldn't use the cowboy illustration (!!) but I didn't want to waste the background, so I started thinking of ways to cover it up (still only using things from the stash)

I liked how the doily covered pretty much everything but the sparkly burst still shows from underneath which is what I wanted...

 Panel of paper added to cover the word 'cowboy' and another smaller one to stamp the date onto

 Then I realised that the whole page looked better rotated 180degrees - allowing for the binding holes and also for the other elements that I was planning on adding...

 The strips of music score running under and over the patterned strips help tie everything together (stops them 'floating'), the bird is die cut from a gelli print (there are lots of those in my workroom! lol) and the branch is a die cut (Tim Holtz/Sizzix). The phrase is from JOFY15.

and not a cowboy in sight! lol

 I've 'rediscovered' my spirograph! can you tell! (its cropping up on several pages this month)

This page was created by taking a clean-up gelli print, stencilling on top with  PS056 (using Snowflake Fresco Finish) and adding words from Emma Godfrey's EEG17 & 14

The question in the Flow calendar for the 22 February (yes, I'm still considering those questions when I make my pages) was 'Who knows you the best?'... well it has to Matt, my husband... but, he's not overly keen on having his photo taken so I disguised his face by writing over his photograph - I really like the way this looks and I think it works really well (& I think printing the page in black and white helped too)

lol, yep more spirograph! lol  I should clarify - this isn't the kit I had as a child. This is one I bought relatively recently (probably in The Works) - it came with an activity book - the book has long gone but I am making full use of the kit that was attached to the front!

Question for day 24 was 'does wisdom come with age?' hhhmm I hope so! but I also think that you should keep on learning, keep trying new things... learn something new every day - however big or small.

Phew... another month finished... 59 down, 306 to go.....

I'm still enjoying creating these pages - March's book is 5x7 inches in size and landscape!  oh yes.. another small challenge- most of my stamp designs are portrait ie tall rather than wide so working landscape might be a bit of a challenge but that is what this year long project is all about - goal setting and learning something along the way..,

Thanks for stopping by.

Jo