Sew Special. . . . .

Today sees the start of a new challenge at A Vintage Journey. Our host this month is the wonderful Jenny and here's what she has to say:

'Add fabric to your entry in some way be it felt, burlap, ribbon or cloth and if you're really feeling brave maybe include a touch of real or faux stitching! We are looking forward to seeing what ideas you have to incorporate this sew special theme in your vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journalling; industrial or steampunk projects'.

Recently, I was given a small roll of untreated painting canvas and decided that this was the perfect time to cut into it! I love to sew and use fabric and wanted to combine this with paint, stamping with found objects, old book paper etc. in order to make something useful. Here's what I made:

I've made a gift card and wallet which is designed to hold a voucher, plastic gift card, cash etc.

The card will slide into the wallet so the gift is not immediately seen.

The back of the gift holder has a white card layer to enable a personal greeting or message to be written.

The back view when the gift holder is inside the wallet.

The wallet and gift holder are die cut from canvas. The canvas is painted using DecoArt media fluid acrylics and some tinting base to calm the colour. Metallic gold is stencilled onto the background followed by some stamped rings using a bottle lid. The green is applied using a piece of old credit card. The white dots are made using a white paint pen. The red dots are made using an acrylic paint pen. Machine stitching is added on the stencilled design using a multi coloured thread.

I drew and cut out a leaf template then copied this onto old book paper to make the number of leaves required. To add strength, the book paper shapes are glued onto card shapes. The leaf shapes are coloured using a mixture of fluid acrylic colours on some and Inktense pencils on others. Leaf 'veins' are stitched onto the shapes. Dots are stamped onto the leaves using metallic gold paint followed by some white pen dots.

On the gift card holder, leaf shapes are stitched around the outside of the book paper leaves to add another dimension. Small gold dots shown here are stencilled and embellished with a white pen.

To make the gift secure, a little open pocket is made from canvas. The canvas has been coloured with the same DecoArt paint as before. A scalloped shaped design is stamped onto the painted canvas with black Stazon. The shape is cut out and some stitching added to the bottom edge after which, the pocket is secured in place. More dots and rings are added as before.

The pocket extends to the back of the card and some more embellishing is done. An extra gift or private note could be added to this pocket.

Detail shot of the leaf tops.

The backs of the leaves on the wallet have been grungily painted to avoid white areas when placed down on a surface.

Detail image.

Jute string is added to the wallet as a finishing touch.

A home-made clay 'button' shape is made using Fimo clay. Once baked, the button is painted with the metallic gold paint used previously followed by a gentle swipe of metallic lustre in a green shade. The button anchors down the jute string.

Our wonderful sponsor this month is:

Calico Craft Parts make the most amazing items to produce and embellish your work. One lucky random winner will receive a wonderful prize from our sponsor. As usual there will be three pin worthies, selected by the Creative Guides. These lucky people will in turn be invited to return as Guest Creative Guides for a future challenge.

Before you go, don't forget to visit the challenge blog here and see the wonderful inspiration on offer the rest of the Creative Guides - you won't be disappointed!

Thanks for joining me today. xx

Hit The Books. . . . . . .

Morning everyone. Today sees the start of a new challenge at Our Creative Corner. Our host this month is the hugely creative Jennie and here's what she has to say:

'Hi! Jennie here with you this month hosting my first challenge for Our Creative Corner. 

I adore old book paper and old books and I am always glad to be able to breath new life into a dilapidated book which most people would consider throwing out!

For your projects this month we would like to see you searching through your stash for old book paper or books and create a project with what you find. You might want to use papers within your project or you might want to breath new life into an old book by altering it in some way. I hope I have chosen a challenge theme with huge scope for projects small or large.

Whatever you make let us see you give those old book papers or books centre stage!'

This is a wonderful challenge from Jennie and I could have gone in several directions. For my project I finally decided to make a card using pieces of old book paper:

I'm not really a card maker but I needed one for a friend and couldn't find what I was looking for. Help! Nothing for it but to sit down and produce the sort of card I'd hoped to find!

The butterfly is stamped onto old book paper and coloured with Inktense pencils which I used dry. The image is fussy cut and inked around the edges.

A background is built up on kraft card using gesso and stamps. . . . 

. . .randomly torn strips of old paper from a book

. . .text from old book paper removed with sticky tape and applied to the background to mimic washi tape

. . .circles stamped with rubber and bottle tops, stencilled circles and finally some machine stitching in toning colours

. . .lots of tiny dots made with a white pen. There's even some stamped gesso stars if you look carefully!

A sentiment is made using some brown coloured dymo tape and machine. White pen has been used to highlight the tape.

The edges of the kraft card layer are inked for definition and outlined with machine stitching in a toning shade of brown. The white vertical lines are added with some gesso and a credit card. The larger brown dots are made with an acrylic paint pen.

A pen top and some gold acrylic paint adds a touch of bling around some of the stencilled dots. There's even some journalling in there made with a white pen. A wash of acrylic paint (DecoArt fluid acrylics) has been used to add further age to the piece.

A second background layer has been made from old book paper stuck onto card for strength. Gesso comes first to seal the paper. Followed by stamping text with white acrylic paint. Next stage is to add 'stamping' with bottle lids and gesso to make rings and a little bubble wrap stamping in there too to add depth. The final stage is to roughly dry brush with gold fluid acrylic to highlight the texture and dirty up the book paper.

Just love the colour those pencils achieve even when used dry!

I hope you like my latest offering here today! There is lots more inspiration over at Our Creative Corner from the uber talented ladies.

Our wonderful sponsors this month are:

Crafty Individuals

The winner this month will receive a huge bundle of goodies from our generous sponsor!

Thank you so much for joining me and I look forward to your wonderful creations throughout the month.