Memories Canvas

I came up with the idea for this canvas months ago for a challenge on Grungy Monday relating to remembering those we've lost, but the idea got bigger and bigger and it's taken me til now to add all the finishing touches.

I covered the 12" box canvas with 7Gypsies printed tissue paper, then added a photo of my grandparents' wedding plus lots of little details which remind me of them - they both died before I was ten so my bank of memories isn't huge but I do remember particular moments and items quite vividly. Some of the embellishments which signify particular memories include: a crown as my Nana was a Royalist; a clock mechanism as my Granddad bought me my first watch when I learnt to tell the time; a teapot as they used loose leaf tea in a pot; a rose charm as I used to make rose petal 'perfume' in jam jars in their garden; buttons as I remember my Nana's button jar (she was a hoarder like me!); a bird charm as I remember watching goldfinches in their garden through the window.

The flowers are die cut with the Tattered Florals die from Glassine paper then scrunched, inked and layered up, the trim has been coloured with Distress Stain and the words are die cut, inked Grungeboard at the bottom and TH Salvage Stickers on GB blocks at the top.

It's quite a personal piece and I've added a tag which slips in behind the photo with all this info on to refer to in later years!

Enjoy! JulieD x  

7 Gypsies Workshop Project

Thought I'd blog some projects I've created over the last year or two - this one was made a few months ago when Gwen asked me to come up with something to showcase the 7 Gypsies products we had in stock which customers were showing an interest in but weren't sure what to do with - once created I ran a workshop with it!

 It started out as a paperbag book but as I sat playing, I liked the look of it portrait rather than landscape and so after a few attempts at something a bit different I came up with this - no idea what you'd call it - a hanging pocket folder I think Gwen called it on the workshop list! The covers are pieces of greyboard which I've covered with 7 Gypsies papers then brushed melted wax from my meltpot at the top and over the collaged images - it sets really quickly so I remelted it several times with my heat tool until I was happy with the result and brushed gold mica powder over. The flower started life as a white paper rose which I sprayed with Espresso colourwash (Ranger) and brushed yet more mica onto! A few more embellishments and a length of chain and the file was finished - the bags are stuck together down the sides then the front is attached top of cover to top of bag and the back is stuck bottom to bottom so the back is higher than the front and the whole thing hangs forward when put on the wall (hence the bad third photo).  I've added decorated tags as an arty addition but it could be used for more practical purposes such as keeping notes, recipes etc in. Most of the elements I've included are 7 Gypsies - the ephemera pack, ATC elements, tags, keys and brads - all available from the Stamp Pad!

Hope you like it. JulieD

Grungy Pink Canvas!

Thought I'd blog a canvas which I created a while back for a workshop at the Stamp Pad - I ran the workshop a few weeks ago which the participants seemed to enjoy! It's an eight inch square box canvas which I painted roughly with dark pink and cream acrylics then went to town embellishing with mini Paperartsy papers (from the swatch strip they created to advertise the range of papers!!) plus embossed and inked grungeboard, charms, stamped fragments, gems, corners, fibres, bead trim, seed beads, stamping and glossy accents ... Quite a frenzy of activity!! I particularly love those black cogs from 7 Gypsies.  It has pride of place on the wall of my craft area. Hope you like it - I'll be running another workshop next month at The Stamp Pad using loads of goodies from 7 Gypsies so if you're in the area check out the website here if you fancy it! JulieD

Uk Stamper Swaps

I started my new job this week and have been busy stocktaking at The Stamp Pad! There are mounds of stuff that I never knew was there despite spending hours in the shop before I worked there - I can't wait to do the Tim Holtz, 7 Gypsies and Kaisercraft sections - who knows what I'll find!!

I've done a couple of swaps:

Terrible photography I know but I've already sent it so I can't take another! The recipient (hi Pat!) has put it in the gallery on UK Stampers so there is a much better image of it in there! The remit was to produce a three inch square mini wallhanging. I had a serviette which I'd been mopping ink up with in a previous craft session and, being a hoarder, had kept. I wanted to do a springtime piece and the colours on my serviette were perfect so I tore pieces off and glued them to a three inch square of card with matt medium. Once it was really dry, I randomly stamped over it with a text stamp, stamped a Paperartsy butterfly collage onto flowery patterned paper and a Crafty Individuals botanical image onto some die cut cork. I added some gems, punched holes and threaded some ribbon and fibres then stamped the work 'spring' - job done!

Another blurry photo (again Pat's is better in the UK Stampers gallery!) I must have been having a bad day with the camera. I really enjoyed making this - it's a piece of grungeboard which has been inked with Distress Inks then stamped with Coffee and Black Archival ink. The butterflies are die cut grungeboard and I added patterned paper as a background to tidy the back up, give it a border and make it a bit more sturdy.

Thanks for stopping by!

JulieD x

One of My Old Favourites

Good morning. This isn't a new project, in fact I created it about a year ago when some of the elements were brand new! However, as it's one of my favourite pieces, I felt it deserved to be blogged. It's a really inexpensive Ikea mirror with grungeboard, stampbord and fragment tiles carefully arranged to cover the frame. There is embossing, inking, stamping, alcohol inks, Tim Holtz Salvage Stickers, Lost and Found papers, Ideaology embellishments and more going on here. Apart from the large key which is Life's Journey (K&Co), the small key which is 7 Gypsies and the metal flower, I think all of it is Tim Holtz. I LOVED creating it. Hope you like it too!

JulieD

Back from my Crafty Weekend

Been away on the Stamp Pad crafty weekend up at the Huntsman in Holmfirth and thought I'd blog what we got up to! Had a great time, worked on some fab projects, made new friends and ate delicious food.

This plaque was my favourite project of the weekend - it was good fun to make and I learnt to use some products I wasn't familiar with before such as the Terra and Ferro pastes from Viva Decor. Lots of dry brushing, metal embossing and generally getting my hands dirty!

We also made this pretty vintage canvas - quite a different style from the plaque!

We used 7 Gypsies papers, Alterations dies to cut cork and chipboard, buttons, beads and lace.

This next project was our Friday evening project - to ease us in gently. 

  

The box was gessoed, painted with green Eco paint, sanded and inked then we used these great  veg images which were from a CD rom and printed onto canvas. The images on the labels were printed onto self adhesive vellum. 

The fourth project was a Bo Bunny naked binder which we covered and filled with papers and embellishments from the Bo Bunny Shabby Princess range - hot pink, lime green, orange, yellow and red - not my thing at all normally but the colours are perfect for the photos from my youngest daughter's Princess Party so it will be put to good use! It's nowhere near finished - too much chat and not enough crafting went on during that project on our table!! Here's a photo to give you an idea of the colours we were working with.

I'm going to get messy with something a bit more grungy now!

JulieD