Doodle something BIG!

I hope you are all keeping well.... In the UK we are in week 4 (I think, I'm beginning to lose track!) of the lock down.
I've been keeping busy and one of the things I was finding myself doing was clearing things out, destashing... prioritising...
This inevitably results in me getting distracted (in a good way!) and finishing projects.. or in the case of this BIG papermache letter  START & FINISH a project!  I bought it in New York a while ago (along with a matching M (for Matt))... I decided the time had come to decorate it - its been through a plane journey and two house moves I think it deserves to be prettied up! lol

I've laid it out here with a smaller a J I decorated a while back (its a wood shadow box design) - it was a sort of trial run...

This big J measures around 2ft from top to bottom and is about 2inches deep - its quite sturdy and suitable for stamping on to... so that's what I did!
I stamped all over the front and sides starting with the big images - my JOFY big doodle flowers were great for this!

I then filled in the spaces with smaller designs - leaves, flowers, cicles.  I left enough space between images for a bit of doodling, I 'grew' some of the images by doodling around the edges - you can see how in the photos below.

I stamped in Snowflake Fresco Finish paint because its a REALLY good white opaque paint, and added additional doodling with a Uniball Signo pen.
I like to doodle in white or black because those two colours are easy to match between different mediums ie black pen with black paint.. I think a blue or brown would be trickier to match up.

I enjoyed working on this project so much!  It was a little tricky to stamp over the edges and around the curves of the letter but the end result was worth it... thoroughly recommend giving this a go - you could doodle onto any object really.

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe.

Oooh look what's new!

New stamps and stencils...

All products are available at your PaperArtsy stockist - a listing of shops can be found here on the PA blog along with all the details about the release.

Take care, stay at home, stay safe.

Coming to a craft room near you!....

These are strange times we're in at the moment aren't they. I hope you and yours are keeping well and safe. The Covid-19 restrictions mean that I can't travel to teach workshops, and you can't travel to attend workshops so how about we meet in the comfort of our own homes and on screens... I was booked to teach a workshop at LOOBI CRAFTS this coming weekend but this was unfortunately cancelled due to the CoronaVirus restrictions.... SO, Loobi Crafts and I thought we'd bring the creativity to you and offer it as an online Facebook live workshop!! It will start at 10.30am Saturday morning (04.04.20) and run for 90 minutes (maybe longer). This is a lovely project that can used as home decor or in art journals - paints, stamps, stencils & there's a touch a glitter (lets face it we could all do with a bit of sparkle and glitter to brighten our days at the moment couldn't we!).... did I mention there will be NEW stamps being used??

I would love for you to join me - head on over to the LoobiCrafts website ( www.loobicrafts.co.uk ) for more details and to sign up! Once you've signed up you'll receive an invite to a Facebook group where the workshop will be streamed. I look forward to 'seeing' you on saturday!

Take care, stay home, stay safe.

New Year... New Stamps!!

And not just a new year - its a new DECADE!!  Woohoo!!

Tonight over on the PaperArtsy blog is the release of new JOFY stamps!  Doing a happy dance as I love these!!  They make me smile and I hope they make you smile too, and inspire you to make lovely projects.

JOFY89

While on holiday recently I created several pages in my junk journal using the new stamps... here's a couple of them - you can see more over on the PaperArtsy blog.: 

Well if you're going to create a flower - create a REALLY big one - this one measures just under 11 inches!   - imagine doodling on all those black lines.. or paper piecing with different patterned papers!  So. Many. Options! 

Here's how the stencils looks when worked with a colour shaded background... lush!  This is going to to be a useful stencil for adding doodles onto around the edges of pages...

This is a journal page mock up - the black and white line images look great as a background element don't they!

Over on the PaperArtsy blog there are more ideas and 'guidelines' for the the petals on JOFY90 so pop over and take a look... when you've finished welcoming in the New Year of course!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Thanks for popping by.

Lets play a game....

... a game of 'Pairs'... JOFY stylee...

Pairs is a game we play with all the family, usually at christmas (as Monopoly was 'banned' many years ago lol) because all ages of the family can play.
So when I saw this in the Flying Tiger shop earlier this year I had to buy it - a lightbulb went on in my head:

... a box of blank memory cards (or Pairs as we call them) - I could make a set of JOFY Pairs!!!

And here they are:

All the cards are stamped with images from the JOFY range - part or complete, either from A5 sets or minis...  its taken a while to complete - I didn't rush it - I stamped pairs of cards when I happened to be using a suitable stamp.

And yet again I am thankful I have a stamping platform as this made the repetition of the images very easy:

I kept the images all black and white - it makes remembering where pairs are a little bit harder (no splashes of colour to jog the memory) and I also used similar images (such as the flowers on tiles in the photo above: centre/middle row and 4th from left/4th row)... I like to make the search a little bit challenging!  :o)

I love how these turned out - clean and simple - and I look forward to playing with them over the festive period!

Thanks for stopping by

Upcoming workshops....

WOW! November, really! Where did October go? Where has 2019 gone!!!! I was reading a blog post earlier today and it pointed out that this is the last few months of a decade!!! I'd never really thought about that until it was pointed out! Gives it a certain gravitas doesn't it.
I only really contemplated decades back in 1999 and we headed into a shiny new Century...
2020 is the start of another new decade - maybe its better to look at what is starting and not what is ending...

aaanyhoo... that's not what this post is about - but this does involve dates and calendars... (which is entirely unintentional but still quite a neat lead in!)...

During November I'll be running my final workshops of the year. I'll be teaching my 'Date Keeper' workshop at different locations, hopefully one will be close to you and you'll be able to join me!...

In this workshop you'll create a project that's useful and lovely! We'll paint, stamp, stencil two masterboards (in colours of your choice) and use these to create the pages of a perpetual calendar, - we'll also customise the frame. We'll use the brand new JOFY journal stamps too.
Also, with christmas only being 53 days away (just thought I'd mention it, don't panic just yet) this project would also make a lovely christmas present for someone (if you can bear to give it away! lol)... 

Saturday 02 November 2019, I'll be at Loobi Crafts in Leighton Buzzard- if you're quick there's still time to book a place - call 01525 838535, or visit the website at www.loobicrafts.co.uk

Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 November 2019, I'll be at Amelia's Creative Crafts in Studley - contact them on 01527 857 111, and www.ameliascreativecrafts.co.uk. I'll be there all weekend running two workshops:

Saturday: Merry & Bright, a triptych of wood blocks with a very christmassy theme.

Sunday: Date Keeper, I've included cards in the photo above to illustrate what else you can create using the techniques learned in this workshop.

Saturday 23 November 2019: I'll be spending the day at The Artistic Stamper in Faversham with the final outing of the 'Date Keeper' workshop. You can contact the shop on 01795 597757 and www.theartisticstamper.com


I taught this project at 'Handmade at Helen's' in Scotland a few weeks ago.  Here are a few photos of the gorgeous masterboards/ pages being created in the class:

Others went for individual pages, and seasonal colour batches:

Fabulous to see the different versions being created.


If you'd like to join any of these workshops please contact the shops direct.  I look forward to seeing you there!

New stamps!!....

.... and I'm getting organised! This new stamp release is a bit different for me - barely a flower in sight!

This release is all about planners, bullet journalling, calendars and dates in one form or another...

JOFY87 focuses on the months of the year....

JOFY88 focuses on the days of the week & month...

These are going to be such useful stamps!  Head on over to the PaperArtsy blog to see the variety of projects I designed with them.

These stamps were designed with a specific project in mind - its a version of a perpetual calendar where dates which occur every year can be noted so not to be forgotten...

I'm currently teaching this as a workshop - its a lovely project created with all sorts of techniques - starting with a masterboard created in your choice of colours it builds up with painting, stamping, stencilling, & die-cutting.  Its a great project to make & keep or give as a christmas present (by the way christmas is in less that 60 days!!)... if you like the idea of making one these please come along to one of the venues listed over on my 'teaching dates' page which you can find via the link in the top bar of this blog...  I hope you can join me!

I hope you like the new stamps as much as I do!

Enjoy!

Workshop at Handmade at Helens...'

.. I'm heading oop north tomorrow... and when way I say 'North' I mean way oop North - to Scotland!  I'll be spending the weekend teaching workshops at Handmade at Helens - you can find all the details HERE on the website.

Here are some (not so) sneak peeks of the projects we'll be creating - you can make the projects in colours of your choosing - and we'll be using new (previously unreleased) stamps I've designed specifically with one of these projects in mind...

On Saturday we'll be creating these gorgeous 'Nature Blocks'.... (decorated on all sides, they'll never be the wrong way round...)

& on Sunday we'll create this flip style calendar that will hold all those important dates you need to remember....  Created from painted, stencilled and stamped masterboards and (featuring lovely new stamp designs) this project will make a great christmas gift (if you can bring yourself to give it away!)... The photo below shows the project 'in progress'.... you can add as many dimensional details as you'd like but remember to leave space to write the dates!

Its going to be a lot of fun - there are still places available so why not come and join us for a lovely creative weekend!

Hope to see you there!!