Seth Apter Book Cover using PaperArtsy

Happy Thursday & time for my Topflight Stamps blog post. This week the team are playing with PaperArtsy. They have some of my favorite stamps with one of my favorite artists so this was super fun. I decided to join in the challenge over on the PaperArtsy blog. The blog is full of great inspiration you can check it out here.I was really inspired by all the wonderful art on their Intro to the challenge which is here.  

This challenge is #18 the theme is "Torn, Ripped & Burnt". I decided to cover "My Favorite Book Project" book. I have done a few pages recently in this book which you can see here & here. It is getting super chunky & I am running out of space so it seems like the perfect time to put on a cover.

First off check out all the fun Christmas Specials that are going on at Topflight Stamps. From the 3rd to the 14th, there is a different deal every day!

OK back to the project. This is the book I am using, purchased from a thrift shop. I love re-purposing books that are not old or special or rare, just the ones that might otherwise end up in the trash.

The stamp set I used is Eclectica3 Set 4 by Seth Apter.

 

They match perfectly with Seth's Wood Chips.

Step 1: Burnt- I took a piece of slightly used watercolor paper & using a match over my kitchen sink burnt the edges of the paper. *  be super careful doing this obviously. Make sure if you have long hair put it in a pony tail. I was surprised as the paper burnt in strange patterns. I did find that even when I had blown the flame out the paper continues to burn. I think this is because watercolor paper is made from layers of paper. I used water to make sure the flame was totally out. Fun tip: the leftover match can be used to distress the edges, cause charcoal!

 

Step 2: Ripped: Well first off I am using Seth Apter's Wood Chips & their edges look ripped! Next I ripped the right upper corner of the watercolor paper, I wanted the star compass on the scrapbook paper to show.  

Step 3: To make the sunburst I spritzed water on a sheet of card stock & added PaperArtsy Infusions powder, letting it move & spread. Adding more water or powder as needed. I used a tag to mop up the excess. After drying thoroughly with a heat gun this paper was cut out using the Sunburst die. 

For the bookplate & title I used the rectangle piece from the Wood Chips, covered with some layers of Fresco Paint. The background had some stamping from the set using the paint. The edges were distressed with ink, some tiny brads added & my title using a Dynamo Label Maker. A piece of batik fabric was used as ribbon. I had also stamped randomly on the background paper. 

The main embellishment was layered using the paper cut out with the Sunburst die. This had been doodled a bit with Chalk Marker. The Wood Chip circle was heat embossed with the matching stamp pushed into the hot emboss powder. It left a great image that makes it look like metal. Once cooled the words were painted with a marker so they would stand out. The clock hand was painted with Fresco paint & the piece layered & glued. 

Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope you get a chance to play with something fun & inky today. 

Other Supplies:

• Seth Apter Sunburst die by Spellbinders
• PaperArtsy Fresco paint in Mud Splatter, Mermaid & Teresa Green
• PaperArtsy Infusions in Lemoncello, Emerald Isle, & A Bit Jaded
• Emerald Creeks Emboss in Burnt Copper
•  Distress Ink in Walnut Stain
• Distress Oxide in Broken China & Cracked Pistachio
• Tim Holtz Ideology metal bits.

Finding Inspiration to Art Journal

Hello Inky Friends, today I am writing about where to find inspiration for your art journal. As it is Thursday, you know it is my turn on Topflight Stamps! Sometimes the mood or time to be creative strikes, but inspiration to break out that blank page is no where to be found. The simple solution for me, is to get an idea from a challenge site. Even if you don't feel you can participate for whatever reason it helps to narrow the focus and is a good jump off point.

 

I decided to play in my My Favorite Book again this week, just art some stress away! I am loving how chunky this book it getting! I'll show you later in the post. 

I chose the Mix Media Monthly Challenge site to inspire my page. Their challenge #42 this month is Silhouette. I used the Seth Apter die Sunburst to create my silhouette image. 

I thought my journal page would look great with these Crafty Individuals stamp sets. I used this stamp called Floral Postcard.

 I wanted to make a secret journal spot so I also added this stamp Tall Wild Flowers. 

 

I used water color to color my stamped images. On the Tall Wild Flower panel I adhered notebook paper to the backside for my journal spot. 

I don't have a full tutorial this week but I will show you how I made this cute hidden journal spot. Really simple but it allowed me to make my page interactive. Once the water color was dry on the Floral postcard image it was adhered to my page.

Using a couple of strips of washi tape to create a flap was a simple way to add more interest & that secret spot. 

I added a cute resin bee as sort of a tab. You can check out how I made my bee here. 

 

I am loving how chunky this book it getting!!! Can't wait to get it finished and make a cool cover. Well that is it for this Thursday. I hope you had fun & get a chance to get inky!

My Favorite Book Halloween Page

Hello Topflight Stamps fans, it is Thursday so it is time for my blog post! Today I am playing with My Favorite Book & I have made a Halloween page. 

Halloween circa 2006

This is a photo from 11 years ago! How time really flies. We always love going out Trick or Treating & dress up as a family. I wanted to put a larger photo on this page so I cut it to fit across 2 pages. I left a slight gap in the middle so the pages will close properly.  This photo was edited using the Rhonna Designs app on my phone.  

My memory journal page started as a wipe up page in my book so it was almost ready to go. All I had to do was add some stencil with paste to create the perfect background. The Katzelkraft stamp set has the just the right amount of spooky! You can find it here.

 Pumpkin Head

I love being able to recycle & I thought the Tim Holtz packaging was pretty cool with the spider web & distressed look. It made for a great tag. All I had to do was add washi to cover up the words, Distress Oxide some paper & heat emboss it. The spider charm was just painted with copper so it would show up more.

 It's French!

Love this title! As a French Canadian this is the perfect title for my page. These stamps are really crisp & detailed. I used Memento in Tuxedo Black, really love this font. This year I am going as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas- even though my kids are older we still dress up. I hope you have a spooky fun Halloween with lots of nummy candy & most importantly some wonderful memories! Until next time...BOO!

Cactus Art Journal Page

Happy Thursday, it is time for my Topflight Stamps blog post. Let's play with a mix media, smash book, art journal type page from My Favorite Book Journal. Even though the photo shows us having super fun & doesn't match the title. I wanted to remember the over all feeling which was walking through the gardens, quiet & calm with lots & lots of green.

Green Was the Silence

Last January I was in Phoenix, AZ for the first time. Creativation is the big winter convention for AFCI (Association For Creative Industries). It involves days of setting up a booth, demo's, classes, tons of people, lots of talking, laughing and just noise in general.  After the convention there were a few days to just be tourists. My bestie Suzie & I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon at the Desert Botanical Garden. It was amazingly, awe inspiring as I had never seen a cactus in the wild. Not to mention Cacti that were massively huge like trees. There were very few people there so we were able to wander in almost silence looking at the gamillion different types of cacti.

Art Journal Fun 

My page started as a wipe up page from using stencils & modeling paste. I was totally inspired by the Words & Paintery Challenge for this layout. Especially the line "Green was the silence". 

This background had the perfect colors to work with their prompt. Again the quote immediately made me remember the feeling of walking among this forest of amazing vegetation, it was almost like walking through a museum. It also helped that it was in the middle of the week & not that many people were around.

Carabelle Cactus

 It took just a few minutes to complete this page using the stamps from Topflight. For the tall cactus I simply stamped on patterned card stock, the middle one was done using a spritz of glimmer mist & the roundish one was water color marker. The pots were also card stock. I added foam dots to the one on the left to add some depth. 

Remember the Story

I added a bit of the story on the back of the tag & tucked it in the side of the photo. Simple to only adhere tape to 3 sides of the pic & create a side pocket. I love how these stamps just make the page. Remember if you want the coolest European stamps bought from an American Company just go to Topflight Stamps!

A Page From My Favorite Book #2

Awhile back I started My Favorite Book, an art journal featuring my favorite pictures along with some inky fun. You can see the first post here. I love working in this and keep it by my desk as a place to slap down extra paint or stencil work. I want to work in it more and to help that happen I have printed out a few photos and will put them in an envelope at the front of the book to make my process faster. The idea is to use stuff from my stash, that new cool stamp that doesn't quite go anywhere yet or what ever fun things I may have lying on my desk. 

This favorite photo was taken with my daughter when we were living in Vancouver, Canada. I love the colors and the memory that is attached to the photo. I played with Dyan Reveley's stencils and paint for this one. Love it! The journal spot is a post-it note. 

I added a tab on the side cause I love em! I will try to post more of these just for fun! Hope you are having a Happy Valentine's Day!