Sunday 6 October 2013

Inspired by Jo

Over at Paper Artsy Jo Myhill has been creating some stunning projects using the most exciting techniques. Please click HERE and be prepared to have your socks knocked off by the vivid use of colour and the wonderful textures of her creations. I really wanted to join in the fun, but - once again - I had a busy week with my daughter's twentieth birthday and lots to sort out and arrange with my mum's house sale. Now that the Autumn Term is well and truly under way I'm busy tutoring too! However, I recently learned how to make little notebooks using canvas boards and Coptic stitching. I have already created one for my daughter and one for myself so I decided to use something I'd learned from Jo to decorate one for my collection of possible Christmas gifts and I would like to enter this for Jo's Paper Artsy Challenge.

I started with the image transfer. I used a vintage photo of two gypsy girls that I had downloaded. I used Satin Glaze to transfer this onto yellow cotton. I then die-cut it into an oval and mounted it onto a slightly larger oval painted with Fresco Butternut, Smoked Paprika and Blood Orange and edged with Wendy Vecchi's Archival ink in Potting Shed.
 My image suggested a vintage theme for the notebook, so I decorated the background with Grunge Paste through a Harlequin stencil, stamping a little script into some of the raised diamonds. I had a go at filing the edges so that they seemed to blend into the canvas background a little more as Jo had done. I stuck corrugated cardboard to my corners to give a grunge look and painted the whole cover with first Snowflake then Butternut, Smoked Paprika and Blood Orange. I randomly stamped script from a Hot Picks plate in Potting Shed and accented my diamonds and my corners in Rose Quartz Treasure Gold. For a little extra dimension I used gold UTEE in the corners.
 The embellishments are a Mini of a feather, embossed with clear embossing powder on Black Archival to make it contrast strongly with the background and a wax paper flower painted with Treasure Gold in Aquamarine and Classic with a Prima brad at the centre. I added charms to the right hand corner: a tiny fan and a hand-made paper bead and finished off with one of the lovely resin roses I bought from Paper Artsy, coloured with Aquamarine Treasure gold.

The back of my notebook was painted in the same colour scheme and decorated with tissue napkin images and script from a Paper Artsy Mini.
Although time only allowed me to complete one project inspired by Jo and not put into practice all her techniques, I should definitely like to have a go at some of the other wonderful projects one day, especially something inspired by her truly impressive final piece. Thank you, Jo for sharing so much creativity and talent this week! And thank you, visitors and followers for taking a look at Magpieheaven today.

21 comments:

  1. That's gorgeous hunni. Well done! I adore it! xxx

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  2. There were so many wonderful techniques to try this week, weren't there?! I love your notebook, it looks fantastic, and the image transfer worked perfectly.

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  3. Wow, that's gorgeous!! The image transfer looks great, mine was a total failure, need more practice. :)

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  4. Fab covers and the image transfer worked out brilliantly!!

    Sam xxx

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  5. That's gorgeous. Just wish I felt well enough to have a play along this week. Excellent work, enjoying trying the others out too

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  6. Wow, it looks really fantastic, loads of texture, glad you hd fun! Jo xx

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  7. a great idea to decorate a note book - this is gorgeous x

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  8. This is beautiful Julie Ann! As always you have paid such attention to detail and the outcome is super. You managed to incorporate a lote of Jo's techniques too. Somebody is going to be very lucky to receive this as a gift!

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

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  9. This is gorgeous! Particularly love the corrugated card corners, and I can't believe that feather is stamped!

    Lucy x

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  10. Wow! Fabulous notebook! Perfect finish. Mini99 feather is good result.

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  11. I love everything about this notebook cover: the colours, the textured diamonds, corrugated cardboard, treasure gold etc... but I am soooooo envious of that feather stamp!

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  12. Gorgeous artwork! The colours & textures are wonderful Julie Ann xx

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  13. The image looks beautiful, and I love the colours you've used over the gorgeous Harlequin texture, and of course the corrugated card! Another fabulous altered notebook, Julie Ann. Apologies for being missing in action lately - house-moving is an awful nuisance!!
    Alison xx

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  14. Stunnning work... the texture & fantastic colours are amazing...Love your notebook.... Hugs May x x x

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  15. Hello Miss Julie Ann, I did see that post and thought it was gorgeous, looked like the doors in Barcelona, at Gaudi, Sagrada Familia cathedral. Ilooooove this note book,the colors are fabulous, that transfer on to material, amazing, love the harlequin pasted with the script very kool, loooooove the feather, a wax paper flower, tha'ts beautiful, how the heck did you do that :), gorgeous corrugated corners, that was a brilliant idea, the back is so beautiful, and the tiny fan with your beautiful bead for a book mark is perfect, what a fabulous gift this will make, thanks for sharing, you know the parliament is cheering you, it's a winner in our book... Have a wonderful day.. (((( BIG HUGS ))))

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  16. Vintage - Orange, how cool is that? The texture and colours look amazing and i hope you don't mind, i love the backside, too. I'm a french theme lover and the distressed look makes my heart beating faster (:o)

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  17. Your little book is wonderful - everything about it is amazing and they are going to make spectacular gifts. What more could anyone ask for I want to know. The back looks so elegant - yum!!
    sandy

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  18. Front and back are stunning! The vintage image is so beautifully transferred, the colours and composition perfect!

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  19. Love the notebook cover! The image came out looking great!!

    Peace,
    Kay

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  20. Wow wow wow your really wowing me with all your amazing creations and this is truly stunning and so inspirational. The image looks fantastic I bet you were mega pleased. Lots of hugs Kezzy :-) xxxxxx

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