Saturday 28 March 2015

Oops! I missed a birthday..................

Hi there everyone,

I hope you've all had a good Saturday and are looking forward to another pleasant day tomorrow.  For those who have to work I hope it's an easy day for you.  I've had a lovely day in my craftroom so the cold, wet and windy weather has not bothered me in the slightest and I now have something to blog about ;-).

A couple of weeks ago I was really annoyed with myself because I missed a crafting friends birthday (for some reason it was not in my book) and as I have been the lucky recipient of some of her fabulous artwork I decided to make her a little gift.  This is a very photo heavy post so either get comfy or skip to the end, lol!


My starting point was this piece of cotton which had been painted with Fresco Finish paints and PaperArtsy Crackle Glaze. I did this piece in a workshop last year with the fabulous Lin Brown and the crackle was amazing but by the time I finished with all the layers I add, you will see that by the end the crackle has been lost.


I added some stencilling.........and some more layers of watered down Fresco Finish .......
 

and then some stamping....... before adhering the fabric to a piece of card cut from the box my dog's dry food comes in ;D.  Love these boxes because they are quite strong!  I cut the piece in half to create my two covers......
 

and then mixed some Golden interference paste with Grunge Paste before applying through a stencil.  I didn't add enough of the interference paste for it to make a lot of difference as it's very subtle so will try more next time.  I still liked the softly tinted result though.  I also mixed more Grunge Paste with a spot of Brown Shed FF and applied this randomly through a piece of lace.  I saw the very talented Michelle Webb demo this on the PaperArtsy stand at StampMagic (Doncaster) a couple of years ago and love the texture it gives.
 

When the pastes were dry I added some inked stencilling and also spritzed with a shimmer spray allowing it to form a few runs in the texture. 
 
And here's where I forgot to take pics of the next step!
 
 
 I sanded the Grunge Paste to remove the spray from the peaks and to make it smooth and was really pleased with the result.  It looked and felt almost like marble!  I then added just a little Treasure Gold to the raised areas and the edges of the covers.
 

 I  also took some lace and dunked it in puddles of watered down Fresco Finish but I can't remember what shades of green I used, lol!  I  think it was Sage with a bit of Toad Hall and the other colour was Brown Shed.  When it was dry I hand stitched ribbon and ric-rac to one edge before adhering it to the covers.  I stamped the butterflies from my new Prima set of Finnabair stamps onto card, coloured them with pencils and cut them out.


This is the completed back cover with some pieces of die cut trellis which has been overstamped with a fab script stamp from a PaperArtsy Hot Picks set and had the Treasure Gold treatment.


And this is the completed front cover with the two larger butterflies layered on top of each other.  I also gave these two several coats of PaperArtsy Gloss Glaze which has given them a gorgeous subtle shine but I can't get the camera to pick it up.
 

I used my much neglected Bind-it-All to create the album/journal and tied a selection of ribbons to the O-wires.


 Inside I have put lots of blank pages of different types of watercolour paper, paper for acrylics, vellum and canvas and of course, with the O-wires it is possible to open it up to take the pages out to work on them.

Over on the PaperArtsy blog for the next 2 weeks the challenge theme is for us to use various texture pastes in different ways and as always there has been some fantastic inspiration from the DT guests already this week (Elizabeth Borer's project tonight is amazing) so I'm entering this project.  I had already started it and intended using Grunge Paste when the challenge was announced so it fits in very nicely ;-).

I hope this makes up for missing out on her birthday card when the recipient receives it.  

Hugs
Lesley  Xx




26 comments:

Helen said...

wow, that's fabulous!!

Lin said...

Beautiful Lesley just beautiful xx

sam21ski said...

Okay, so I need to know, who is it for? It's stunning, love the sanding back, it looks fab doesn't it xx

Etsuko said...

What a gorgeous book covers. Fabulous idea the lace to use to stencil and the sanding GP are lovely effected. I love the colours and side ribbons. This is wonderful gift for your friend. xxx

Sue's Crafty Corner said...

Wow Lesley, this is stunning. Thank you for giving the tutorial on how you put this together. I love the texture and the colours you've used.

Sue xx

Deborah Wainwright said...

Really lovely Lesley I love the subtle palette and contrast between the grunge paste and lace. Perfect xx

massofhair said...

I am sure the lucky recipient is still smiling at your beautiful gift/keepsake. Loving the textures and colours very much:-) xxx

Anonymous said...

What an absolutely fabulous gift... Something anyone, especially a crafter, would love to receive I am sure.
Love the way the shimmer mist worked when you sanded the grunge paste. Lovely use of the texture.
Catherine x

Sally H said...

A stunningly beautiful gift, Lesley! Wow! I am sure it will be treasured. Good to hear you have had some time in your craft room xxx

Claire said...

This is so lovely! The colours and textures look amazing xx

Hazel Agnew said...

It's absolutely gorgeous Lesley! The lace just gives it something really special! More treasures from you please! Xx

Julie Lee said...

Ooh, what a lovely little gift, Lesley! I love what you did with the lace! In case you didn't know - I love lace and accentuating the texture of it is one of my favourite things! I absolutely treasure some that I won from your blog a while ago. The subtle colouring on this is wonderful too! Your friend is going to be delighted! xx

snazzyoriginal said...

What a beautiful project, love the sludgy colours, so unusual x

Christine B. said...

Hi Lesley, as usual you have made a stunning project. I love it.
Sorry I've not been around, I've not been on my computer since January. I have been posting my cards onto Facebook as I can do that quickly off my phone.
Sending lots of hugs and love xx ChrisB

Words and Pictures said...

That's absolutely stunning, Lesley - I'm sure you'll be forgiven! The lacy texture is wonderful, and I love the warm coral/peach tones you've used.
Alison xx

Trish said...

Wow, that is beautiful! I am sure you will be forgiven for that!

Ruth said...

Stunning, love all the ribbons and use of lace. The colours are such a beautiful combination..so effective and you can't beat a bit of grunge paste! Ruth x

veronica said...

this is really lovely Lesley, gorgeous idea, and love the colours.

Lucy Edmondson said...

This looks gorgeous Lesley with that wonderful sheer fabric! Amazing!

Lucy x

Sarah B said...

wow - someone is a very lucky lady to receive this as a present xx

Unknown said...

What a super gift - its gorgeous! xx

Art By Wanda said...

This is totally fabulous!!!!!!!!

Elaine said...

I am sure this was a much appreciated gift. Really smashing layers of texture and colour, really brilliant and the lacy layer adds a really interesting accent, as does the lovely butterfly. Great work as always my lovely friend. Elaine xxx

Craftyfield said...

A sampler of different surfaces, a great idea for a gift to a crafter, I'm jealous... And it's beautiful too, the layers of paint and paste are wonderful.

experiments in paper said...

Wow - love your colors! The stenciling, the lace and the butterflies are so effective - wonderful!! What a wonderful gift! xx Lynn

Cumbrianlass said...

Wow Lesley this is so beautiful, and I read every bit of the technique.
Hugs Janet xxx