Gift inspired by Lucy at PaperArtsy

Welcome to Magpieheaven, where I'm trying to be well-organized for Christmas this year! I want to make some of my Christmas presents, so when I saw the highly experimental Lucy's idea for marbling with PaperArtsy Frescos and Shaving Foam here, I was so inspired, I decided to adapt it to a gift I had in mind!

 A while back I re-cycled an Amazon folder, giving it a new life as gift-packaging for a book. This time I wanted to use Lucy's technique along with Lynne Perrella stamps to create a stationery wallet. I began by painting my folder with Gesso.

I then wanted to try a little experiment of my own! How would Lucy's marbling work over Grunge Paste?

I used a harlequin stencil and a Prima stencil. I coloured the Grunge Paste so that it would show through the marbling and create a  more colourful effect. I've also added a coat of PaperArtsy Fresco in Irish Cream.

 I used drops of Plum, Autumn Fire, Yellow Submarine, Inky Pool, a blob of Pearl Glaze and Hey Pesto. Sara Nauman text in Snowflake; a decorative corner and a blend of Treasure Gold in White Fire, Green Amber and Aquamarine all contribute.

 You can see the different ways Lucy used to apply the Frescos and Shaving foam here. I used the cling-film and the brayer on my folder and on a piece of Smoothy card.

I haven't used Pearl Glaze very much in the past, but I was very pleased with the effect. After die-cutting this oval, I edged it with gold flakes of Frantage.

Here is the back of my folder. For the front, I used a square of Stampbord and trimmed the edges with die-cut Chatsworth paper. A wooden Prima word completes the cover.

I wonder what the lady on the front of my folder writes and what kind of mail she receives? Does she engage in witty discourse with companions; is she a writer of passionate love letters, or do her epistles give a vivid glimpse of her daily life? I sometimes think that it's sad that the art of letter writing has such a small place in our modern world of texts, emails, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

When we open the folder, it's lined with Chatsworth papers, which I painted with a wash of Inky Pool. I've used the motif of pens on the folder, which kept reminding me of the phrase 'The pen is mightier than the sword'. If you look this phrase up you'll find that it can possibly be traced right back to 1621 and Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy' in which he says '..it is clear how much more cruel the pen can be than the sword.' Well, let's hope this lady has sent out no cruel missives! As you can see I edged the Stampbord with a touch of White Fire Treasure Gold.

I will be putting a writing-pad on the right hand side, I have slipped some cream envelopes under the flaps.

I stamped the Lynne Perrella pen onto a slip of Chatsworth, adding some faux stitching in white pen. The great thing about this technique is that a large surface like this can be covered with relatively small quantities of paint and glaze.
Thank you so much for stopping by Magpieheaven today. I do hope your Christmas preparations are going well. I am linking up this project to PaperArtsy here  before the month of November ends! Have a great day, wherever you are.