Topflight Stamps Inky Fun

Hello Blogland, here today with my Topflight Stamps project that is super quick and simple. Finding time to Craft during the holidays can be hard but getting that few minutes of stress free fun is critical. Here is a simple way to steal 15 - 30 min of time for yourself to help keep your merry intact! 

Here is my 1st page. I decided to just stamp on card stock to make it easier, but then I will fussy cut or tear my design & put it in this Jane Davenport journal. This way I can build my coloring book as I go but can also add in art journal pages if I have more time. 

The stamp I used fits this journal perfectly. It is also chock full of fun! I thought it would make for an awesome coloring page design. It was stamped in black archival ink so if I wanted to use a wet media on top I could. I did use the Stamp Press for this to get a good image. 

Then it was a matter of pulling out some color pencils & just having a few minutes of old time coloring fun. I could literally feel my shoulders relaxing as I did this. Hot Tip: Spend a few extra minutes stamping these out ahead of time so you can just grab your image & color pencils & have an art relax.I also added in just a bit of watercolor paint in the more open areas. Thanks for joining me for my last 2019 Topflight Post! Remember code KARENBEARSE KARENBEARSE gets you a discount. I hope you have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate, a Happy New Year and you get to spend precious time with family & friends.

AALL & Create Stamp- Bloom & Grow
Jane Davenport Mixed Media Journal  
Washi Tape


**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This may help me continue to bring you techniques & more inspiration.

Christmas Junk Journal Part 3 with the Pocket Notebook.

Hello Inky Friends, I am here today with Christmas Junk Journal Part 3. Today I start working on the inside of the book focusing on 5 techniques to add some mix media fun & shiny details to your tags, pockets or cards. I also have a flip through video with more tips! I may have gotten carried away because this book is JAMMED with Joy.

Here is Book 1 of my Christmas Junk Journal Organizer. It is the journal portion of my December Daily which is a documenting concept by Ali Edwards. Every year I threaten to do DD & some years I get all the way past the 25th and some only to day 4. Most years I manage to buy an entire collection of paper & stuff though!!! I do always manage to document the story- usually just in a note book. 

Last year I did my journaling using The Journal die & added a few photos along the way. This book as you can see is not finished-opps. This year 2019 I am doing the same with the idea of printing out at least 1 photo a day that would not make the December Daily cut. Those random yet fun pics that are never printed. This way I have my story but also some pics & bonus get to use up some of my stash! 

There are 15+ papers plus tags & flip outs, folded that equals over 30 pages.

Here is a video flip through of my book! I start by showing the cover & then a flip through of Book #1- The December Journal. There are tips & tricks along the way explaining how I did things as well as part 2 which shows how I got those fabulous foiled snow flakes. I used a lot of Eileen's die cuts in this book!

I tried to do some batch crafting where instead of making 1 tag, assemble line 3... I thought for this blog post I would pick out 5 techniques & show you the fun! 

Technique 1: Epoxy Look- Die Cut & Emboss-this one is fairly self explanatory. I picked some different shapes, die cut them out of patterned paper, then heat embossed. Some were done with Eileen's clear Molten Glistening Glass & some with color. This flower is from Journal Card Flower & Leaves die cut. 

This is just a fun technique to do! Options are to distress the edges especially when using patterned paper, sprinkle glitter into the hot emboss. For this flower I added some of the Molten Golden Rod while my Glistening Glass was melted- just adds that wow factor. 

Look at how much better the deer on the left looks with the embossing added. This card also gets the wow factor with the Dec as a pull tab.  
 

Technique 2: Fun Pockets- Using the outline of the house from the House/Pocket die cut multiple patterned papers to use as pockets. 

You can either cut the paper in half or fold it in half & glue it on the edge of a page creating a pocket on either side of the page. Another idea is to actually create a house like the packaging & put it the middle of a signature as a double pocket.  

Technique 3: Decorative Napkins- Cover card stock with paper napkin using decoupage glue. Use this to create pockets, flips & tags  or background pages.

Technique 4: Foiled Accents-Make a sandwich of card stock, double sided adhesive & rub on a piece of foil. This one is a new favorite- Rainbow Shattered Glass. Cut out some Sizzix snowflakes by Tim Holtz. If you want a puffy image use Double sided foam instead.

*The lower snowflake I also added a layer of Glistening Glass emboss. Totally changes the look & now the foil is protected from scratching! The downside is you do lose the look of the shattered part of the foil.

Technique 5: Metallix- to add a touch of raised metallic shine. Grab your favorite Christmas stencil. To help keep stencil in place spritz with Pixie spray, wait a minute and now your stencil is sticky & will adhere to your paper. Scrape Metallix Gel on with a palette knife. 

Keep the gel level with the stencil to get a good crisp image. Set aside to dry. You can add details to tags, pockets, frames etc this way. Once it is dry highlight the letters with a paint pen. Hot Tip: Take your favorite die cuts & make your own stencil. 


This month the Eileen Hull Inspiration team are making Christmas projects or doing a roundup of favorite projects or both so check Eileen's blog every week for inspiration. If you haven't I highly recommend you join the Eileen Hull Fan club on Facebook, where she does weekly live teaching videos, it is just a great group of encouraging inspiring folks. Remember to answer the few questions to make sure you are not a spammer. 

Here is the cover that this book will slide into as I continue to build it. Here are the links:
Christmas Junk Journal Part 1- the Book Cover
"                           "      Part 2- Tags & Ephemera

Supply List:
Eileen Hull Pocket Notebook die by Sizzix, Journaling Words, Journaling Cards- Flowers & Leaves, House Pocket, 
"             " Molten Dimensions Embossing Powder by Emerald Creek 
ColorBlends Ink
Tim Holtz dies by Sizzix
Therm*O*Web Deco Foil, Metallix & Double Sided Adhesive. 

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration. 

Inspired Book- Creative Mess Booklet #1

Hello Topflight Stamps Fans, I have post #2 for my Inspired Book that I made last month. November has been a crazy month of travel, teaching & kid stuff. This is going to be an inky post with a favorite technique for making the booklets that go in your journals. If you are on the Journal craze or just want to make a creative notebook I hope you have a chance to make one of these books. 

My 1st booklet is to write down ideas, inspirations & anything artsy that comes to mind. I made the cover a separate piece & the lined booklet was sewn together. This way I can simple replace the booklet when full leaving the cover intact. My pages were cut from lined paper 8"wide x 6.5" tall. It is hard to see the booklet in this pic, more on that below.

I have been playing with Gel Plate a lot lately mainly due to some of the classes I am teaching. I love the way ink moves so differently on the plate & allows for some unique quick & easy backgrounds. For the cover of my book I decided to experiment with Infusions to see how it worked on the plate. Basically sprinkle the Infusions on the plate & spritz with water. Dab the paper on the plate picking up the colors. A little goes a long way so just sprinkle a bit to start with and add a generous 2-3 spritzes of water. 

Infusions colors are so rich & concentrated. I did one layer (left hand side) of dabbing the paper down, dried with a heat gun & then added a 2nd layer (right hand side) more sparingly. Love how rich this color is! The interesting thing is I think the gel plate holds the walnut crystals allowing for more pigment to show through. 

I added a 2nd color- Royal Blood and just added a touch here & there. Love this background!!! I think you get a richer color with the Gel Plate, less of the brown from the walnut crystals. Just an extra tool in the tool box. 

Speaking of tools, did you know that on the Topflight Stamps shop page, a lot of the stamps shown have inspiration right there for you? Just click on the mini image to the right of the main image. I used this sample by Rachel Greig owner of Darkroom Door to inspire my cover. 

Loving the look of the background created, & not wanting to potentially wreak it meant putting the sentiment on another paper. The sentiment was embossed so it would really show. Adding the quote in Glistening Glass which is clear seemed a good idea. That means my sentiment will be white like the card stock. I put a few sprinkles of A Bit Jaded on the Gel Press, spritzed with water & once my image had cooled dabbed the paper in it. The emboss will resist the ink as it is water based. Sorry the colors are off in this photo you see the true color below.

I mistakenly rubbed off some of the word "am" but mistakes often create opportunity. I  re-stamped the word on white paper & cut it out, distressed the edges & popped it on my card. Love how that looks, really adds to the sentiment. I also carefully stamped some of the splats from the stamp with black ink, then distressed the edges.

Lastly I stamped some random images on my background just to add some interest. I used Grunge Marks & Arty Hexagons both from Darkroom Door Stamps.

I used a variety of stamps which I got from Topflight Stamps to add fun & interest to my pages. Some of the images were direct to paper but because it is thin the images were seen on the other side. Most were stamped on copy paper & cut out then glued.

Just stamp away- off course I used a trusty stamping press to make sure my images were crisp. These stamps are Seth Apter.

I also added some stenciling using different colored inks & a dabber to get a nice image. Some pages also had washi added for more color & interest. What I love about this project is I can use any colors or themes as the book goes on, it doesn't have to be matching. This washi is Alexander Renke & the stencil is Pronty.

Seriously love how these wee foxes look! They are from washi tape. The stamps are PaperArtsy Scrapcosy 5. Look at the fox looking up are the mushroom- too fun. 

Lastly I added some more Glistening Glass embossing powder to the outside of my book to give it the same shine as the spine. It will also protect that crackle paste so it doesn't chip off. I also added the A Flair For Buttons butterfly. For the full tutorial on this book you can go here. That's it for this post. I hope you can get some arting done today!

Supplies:

PaperArtsy- Infusions in Blackcurretn, Royal Blood & A Bit Jaded

"          "      Stamps-Zinski Art 41, Scrapcosy 05,

Seth Apter Stamps by PaperArtsy

Eileen Hull Glistening Glass by Emerald Creek

Stamperia Steampunk News Stamp

Darkroom Door - I Am Creative,
Collage Stamp & Polka Dots Stencil

Pronty Grunge Circle Stencil

Washi Tape- various & Foxes
Gel Press 

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration. 

**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This may help me continue to bring you techniques & more inspiration.