Tutorial Tuesdays - Pound Store Finds

Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday!  It has been a while I know, but I have been busy making projects to share with you and this one today incorporates my love of paper and working with my hands.  I thought I would share with you what I have been working on lately.

Here in the UK we have what is call 'Pound stores' or 99p stores in which they sell everything very cheaply, and as the name says either £1 or 99p.  I guess in the states you have your 'Dollar Tree' and I am sure that most places would have the equivalent.

You can often pick up a range of crafting items, not the best quality, but depending on what you are going to use them for can be quite effective.  I recently picked up these bags of all sorts and was attracted by the flower that was in the packet, it had a lot of waste and off cuts that would normally be recycled but some bright spark has realized that if they bag them up someone will buy it.

Anyway, it came with lots of different type of paper, flower off cuts, a bag of beads, foam and as you can see strips of paper.

Because of my love of paper and making things I thought it was a good idea to see what I could create with the contents of the bag.  Due to my love of making journals, I decided to set myself a challenge and see if I could make a workable journal with only the contents of the bag.

I started out with two pieces of recycled card, which along with paint were the only external additions, and I measured the cardboard to the size that I wanted the journal to be.  This was also dependent on the size of the biggest piece of paper within the paper pack.

measuring out the cardboard

After I had got the size that I wanted, I began to cover the cardboard in strips of paper from the pack, which would provide a base for the flower and any other additional decoration on the front.

I put together the pages and made 3 signatures for the journal, decorating each one as I went along.

Signatures being decorated before stitched

 With any spare paper left I made tags and a front pocket for the journal, I had placed a series of encouraging statements on the tags

I kept the sewing of the signatures very simple and with some of the shiny paper left made some paper beads to hang from the spine of the journal

paper beads and a simple stitching on the journal

 Here is the finished journal, I decorated the flower with a pearlesent paint and attached it to the cover, and finished off with stitching around the edges of the journal.

Completed journal

 Here is one of the pages within the journal that I have worked on, with a reminder that you need to take a break and dive into your creativity.

Completed page - take a break

I still have a bit of the paper left and that will go towards the next project, I also didn't get to use the beads, so we will see what we can do with these as well.  Try and get on down to your local store and see what paper packs you can find to make a journal from, that are inexpensive and encourage you to stretch your imagination as you use a limited range of resources in a different way. 

 I will be making a few more of these over the coming months, and towards the end of August next month I will be making another journal from the contents of one of these paper packs and also be hosting a giveaway, so keep an eye out!

Join me next week for Tutorial Tuesdays and see where your creativity can take you!!

Tutorial Tuesday - Creating with Washi Tape and Buttons!

Ever busy in my creative activities I had a couple of products from Fantastic Ribbons to review, which consisted of a packet of their Candy Buttons, in assorted colours and some washi tape from their Pastels collection. It has been great to use both of the products in creative activities and I will be sharing what you can do to incorporate both of the products in different pieces of work.

I started out with the Washi tape and, I have used it in two mixed media paintings and a wall hanging.

The pink and blue washi tape was used in this painting called "Why Not", on the neckline of her top and with paint and stamps blended in with the rest of her top.

I used some of the washi tape in this painting called "Honouring your Story", I applied the tape in random places to add colour before the addition of acrylic paint and inks. It is great using different types of patterned paper within the paintings, and it adds different dimensions to the pieces without being too bulky.  

Wall Hanging

With the wall hanging it was great to be able to keep it simple and allow the colours of the washi tape to show through.  I had these wooden circles and covered them with the washi tape, then embossed it with embossing powder.  

With the bottom panel I added two strips of washi tape with the butterfly made from Fimo clay and then painted to match the pink in the tape.  I then added gel accents in gold to the panels.

With the buttons, I went overboard, there is so much you can do with buttons.  the colours are great, bright and fun and really bring your project to life.  Here are some of the other projects I made:

Fishes

I used some of  the buttons as decoration on this fish.  I shared how to make them HERE and the fish has two looks depending on its mood.  Using some painted fabric I cut out, sewed and filled a mini fish shape, added the tail using laces and then used stitching and beads to decorate.  You could make a mobile for a kids room or put an encouraging word on it and put it in a prominent place:)

Wrist Cuff

I made a crochet wrist cuff with the buttons, decorating it with a flower.  I had added the buttons and it showed the pattern well with the silver flecked wool of the main parts of the cuff.  A larger button served as a clasp.  This took around a couple of hours, and you could mix and match with different wool and designs.

I have had these mini Dollies for a while and arranged the buttons on the Dollie and stitched them together. I think that it will make an addition to another project such as a fabric journal.

Quirky Doll

My final piece was this quirky doll.  

The doll is originally made from two crocheted flowers that had been sewn together, and decorated with buttons from the Candy range alongside acrylic gems.  there were some lovely buttons in shades of purple that I was able to use to decorate the doll.  I attached a mini hat and eyes and the shoes are made from green and pink buttons.

Quirky doll

So as you can see, several different activities from a couple of products, there are lots more that you can do with them if you put your mind to it!  When you get a chance check out Fantastic Ribbons  and see what you can find to spark your creativity, and allow your mind to run free with some of the delightful products in their range.

How did you do that? Things to do with Paper Stencils!

I shared on Saturday some cool Paper Stencils that I was inspired to make after seeing Matrices site and having a go.  Here are some more that I created, and I will at some point share with you some of the designs that I manage to make.

Creating new styles, these would make really cool reusable stencils!

I promised I would share some of the cool effects once you cut them out that you can get, you can use your Gelli plate apply the stencil and transfer an image to paper and you also get paint on the stencil itself.  Because the paper is quite thin your unlikely to use the stencil to transfer an image again, but you can use the stencil in your art and they can provide you with some interesting backgrounds.  By creating the paper stencil on thicker card or paper you will be able to use it a number of times, even try transferring the image to an acetate sheet and cutting out.

Once you start cutting you are not going to want to stop, you can come up with some really pretty designs as seen above.

 Here is one that I used with the Gelli plate, using a selection of colors will add to the effect

Simple cuts in the paper can create interesting results

 I got more adventurous with cutting and came up with more intricate designs, but due to the thinness of the paper once you had put it on the gelli plate they tore when being picked up.  I guess if you used it with sprays it would have been easier.

I wanted to see how they would print on fabric and used this design on the gelli plate

Chamois leather used on Gelli plate with paper cut

  Here is some cheap chamois leather that I printed on, and it came out quite well.  I am and looking forward to making something with it and will show you next week in Material Mondays.

Once you have used the stencil in on the gelli plate you have some really interesting colors and designs on the paper and you can use these to make your own wrapping paper by sticking it to your paper of choice

Paper cuts used on gelli plate can be used for other creative projects!

 I am going to attach some of mine to some white or black card and frame it as it, I think these are gorgeous.

Another thing I did with some of the thinner cut outs, was to apply them to journal pages as a background layer.

Paper cut applied to journal page

 After it dried I began to sketch out an image, keeping it simple and trying to keep as much as the design of the paper as possible.

Once dry add your image

 Once I was satisfied I added gesso and started painting

Adding gesso and paint to paper cut

 It was interesting starting a painting in this way, seeing what comes up as you add more colour

 Not being prescriptive as to what you wanted the finish piece to look like, but enjoying the play

And here is the finished painting.  

Mixed media Painting using Paper cutting

I am sure there are other things you can do with the paper stencils, if you come up with some ideas do share.  Check back for Material Mondays to see what I do with the Chamois leather.  Stay blessed and be a blessing!

Tutorial Tuesdays - Faith in the process

Every now and then you have to unleash yourself on to your supplies.  You have to throw out what you think you know and just spend some time playing.  Forget technique and rules, and what should be placed where, or what goes with what and let your hair down.

I took a break from the courses and decided to play with my supplies, which included decorated paper, paints, modelling paste and whatever else I could lay my hands on and started to lay down colour and texture on the surface.

The more I let go the more that started to be revealed. I wasn't focused on the finish product but making my way on a journey of discovery that needed a bit of faith.

With each stroke it can help you relax and take your mind off all the stuff and clutter of the day, it is a necessary process to tap into your creativity, 

Giving yourself the time, space and the freedom to play allows you to find some special surprises as they emerge from the page.  I dare you to try something, take a leap of faith and have fun with your tools, and remember to play!

Faith - Mixed media Art

Tutorial Tuesday - Using your Gelli Plate

On Saturday I shared images of the Gelli Plate that I had made, and thought I would show you how I have been using it.  If you want to make one of your own go to Linsay - The Frugal Crafters site, they are very easy to make, all you need is:

Gelatin

Glycerin

square container to set the mixture

water

2 x acetate sheets to prevent drying

Container to store Gelli plate

Once you have made your gelatin plate you are ready to go.

I decided that I was going to print on some fabric.  I have a mini book that I want to make a cloth bound cover for.  It is a piece of white cotton that I have cut to size of aprox a piece of A4 paper.

I also selected some paints and stencils that I would use for the design

I applied some paint and used the brayer to move it around

 I lay the material over the plate and smoothed over it with my hands.

 This is the first layer of paint, I then added some more paint to the surface of the plate and applied the stencils

 Here is the finished material.  I will let this dry and then show you how it turned out for my mini book.

The Gelli plate is a great way to add interesting backgrounds to your work either on paper or materials, here are a few more designs that I completed on paper. 

You can get some great designs using a variety of stencils

and paint combinations - I can see two dancers in this one..

most importantly, have fun, and share what you come up with.  Blessings!

Gelli Plates - DIY

I thought I would get on board the Gelli Plate train, without the expense of having to purchase one - for this size it would have been around £30, which seemed quite expensive for trying something out and not knowing whether I would really use it often enough.  

I came across Linsay - The Frugal crafters website and YouTube channel and she goes through the technique of making your own gelli plate - the ingredients including - gelatin - (6 sachets) and 2 bottles of glycerin cost me in total £8

Tada! Here is the one I made, measuring approximately  7.5inch x 12inch

Home made Gelli Plate

I managed to find a storage container for it at our local £1 store and I placed an A4 sheet of acetate on the bottom and top of the gelli plate which stops it from drying out.

Here are some of the prints I have made so far...

By using several layers of paint and stencil, masks and tools to make marks I have enjoyed creating the different layers on the papers.

 Some have come out looking quite interesting and I will be taking them a bit further by creating an image from them, or use them as background papers.

If you come back on for Tutorial Tuesday, I will show you how I made and have been using the Gelli Plate, who knows perhaps you can make one of your own and open up new ways for creating backgrounds.