WOYWW # 210

Morning all! Where did that week go?Wednesday again, time for our regular drop-in at Auntie Julias Stamping Ground. Show & tell for this week then:

This arrived in my Happy Mail on Monday, from my ATC swapper, Monique. Fab ATC, gorgeous cover for it, a bunch of gloriously old dictionary pages, and a beautiful stamped mail art envelope holding it all. Did I get enough adjectives into that paragraph, do you think?

 Also arrived since last week, a lovely card from Debs, (Pen Pot),as a thank you for the flower die cuts. Already putting them to great use I see, thanks so much Deb.



What I'm doing at the moment:( well, what I would be doing if not typing):

I came across the stamped image while I was sorting stuff to take to the crop- another one of those things I keep meaning to use up. I've had the unmounted stamp set, there is four of them, for so long, I have no idea who made them, but they are old style botanical prints. I used a sheet of watercolour paper, torn from the pad, and did the crackle glaze thing, using two colours of acrylic paint, with a layer of crackle glaze between them. Overstamped it with Staz-on, and they are coloured with H2O's, I think.I'd intended using it for a card, but having seen the Art Journals going on at the Crop, I'm thinking to make either an Art Journal, or a Garden Journal, or maybe even an Arty Garden Journal, lol. I'm such a decisive person, ..... not!

 By the way, this will get me into all sorts of trouble, I know but yesterday, Tuesday, was Maggies ( Silvercrafters) birthday.......

 ENABLER ALERT........... Skip this part if your ability to resist temptation is not at its best!

I had a link in one of my e-mails the other day, from a place called  Creativity Direct. The link takes you to the page to get the free catalogue.  This LINK takes you to an e-version of it. If you like altering stuff- don't we all- you will love this!

You name it, they've got it- Canvases, frames, bird houses,magazine holders, journals, shapes, door hangers, animals,torso's, boxes - the list is endless, in wood, card, papier mache, foam,  porcelain, glass. Pretty much every craft you can name is covered too- embroidery, sewing, knitting, altered art, decoupage,glass/ceramic painting, Christmas crafts.
 Loving my night shifts- never seemed to have so much time to myself, or been less tired. Nights aren't part of the rotation shifts where we work, everyone  who works nights has asked for it. I can imagine it being miserable if you HAVE to do it & don't like it- the way I felt about having to do earlies. I was born to work nights, lol. I remember reading a long time ago, that the time of day that suits you best depends on the time you were born, and I was born in the evening. So I'm an evening/night person. Its still weird getting up and its still the same day you went to sleep though.

WOYWW #93

Happy WOYWW, pop over to Julia's blog at The Stamping Ground to join in,if you are new to this. So here is my desk for today.
The stamps I have used are four Botanical plates, unmounted, and I have had them for a few years, and long since forgot where I got them from, sorry. A few months ago I made up some crackled background paper to use  with stamping, and I thought the botanicals would work well. I used watercolour paper, I bought an A3 pad from The Works (Yes, I know I shop there a lot!). The first coat of acrylic was a pale yellow/ brown, which I got by mixing white and Wheat. This was coated with a layer of crackle medium, then an off-white top coat. I stamped in a mix of inks, Versafine Sepia & Olympia Green, Adirondack Espresso, and Memento Tuxedo Black.Just staring the painting process now, using H2O's, will be trying Promarkers, and maybe watercolours on some of them.
As I haven't got any finished projects, and haven't been shopping anywhere to find any bargains, I thought I would share one of my absolute favourite craft books with you this week.I'm sure I'm not the only one who has occasionally ordered a book, only to get it & open it and think, hmmm is that it? Wish I hadn't bothered.
Well this book definitely does NOT fall into that category.

The title is  Paper Transformed, A Handbook of Surface Design, Recipes & Creative Paper Projects, By Julia Andrus. The link will take you to it on Amazon.It contains an amazing number of techniques for ways to transform paper with paint, ink, pearls, glosses, glazes- you name it, its here.

All the finishes and effects are displayed as tags, this one shows 'cosmos paper'-simply put, a tag is inked, covered in Perfect Medium (or Versamark works the same) , and coated with UTEE 3 times. Then coat once more with medium/versamark, lightly brush on Perfect Pearls/ Mica Powders. Then sprinkle with UTEE again, and start heating from a distance, so it doesn't blow away. As it melts, bring the gun closer.The micas begin to sink into the UTEE. I have done the three first layers, then coated again with Versamark, flicked on some mica powders, sprinkled with UTEE and heated. This worked the same, and I didn't have to worry about the UTEE blowing away.

A page on overstamping, gilding and crackle effect.

There are pages on ageing, distressing and creating fake metal looks and effects, like rust/verdigris etc.

Batik effect

The last half of the book has projects using the effects & techniques shown in the first half of the book..

The book is 174 pages long, and every page is a delight.

There is something for everyone, and all the techniques are explained clearly in at most half a dozen steps, so they are not difficult, but they ARE all stunning. Even the cover is full of scrumptious looking projects, and unlike some, they are not just showing the best from the book on the cover!

This is one book that comes off the shelf regularly, and I guarantee it is an investment you will not regret.( You could always put it on your Birthday wish list, lol.)It costs just under a tenner on Amazon,which seems the average price. By the way, Julia Andrus has her own website,which I found earlier, and it looks stuffed to the gills with wonderful ideas.